JP2002347233A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve high efficiency in recording images by an ink jet recording system without lowering the image quality of recording images. SOLUTION: Images are recorded by discharging and adhering recording liquid drops from discharge openings of a recording head 46 to a recording material 62. Thereafter, a hot air generated by a heater and a fan is supplied to the recording material 62 at a heating drying part 50, whereby a nearly entire amount of a solvent included in the recording liquid drops adhering to the recording material 62 is removed. A lamination material 70 is taken out from a roll at a lamination part 52. While a protecting film is taken up to a take-up roller 76 and separated, the lamination material 70 is sent between heat rollers 74A and 74B. A transparent sheet material is attached to an image record face of the recording material 62 by pressuring and heating the lamination material 70, and at the same time, a mount is separated from the sheet material and taken up to a take-up roller 78. As a result, a transparent coating is formed to an uppermost layer of the image record face of the recording material 62.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, and more particularly, to recording an image on a recording material by adhering recording droplets ejected from a recording head to the recording material, and forming a transparent image on the image recording surface of the recording material. The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for forming a coating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The most common method of photographing a subject and recording it as a color image on a recording material such as recording paper is a method using a silver halide color photosensitive material. An image recording method using a silver halide color light-sensitive material has an advantage that a large amount of images can be recorded at a high speed, but has a problem that the apparatus is large, the configuration is complicated, and maintenance is troublesome. , Miniaturization of equipment
Although various improvements have been made in the past with the aim of maintenance-free, further downsizing and maintenance-free are desired.

On the other hand, as another image recording method widely used for recording data output from a computer as an image on a recording material, an ink droplet ejected from a discharge port of a recording head is used as a recording material. An ink jet recording system for recording an image on a recording material by attaching the recording material to a recording material is known. The ink jet recording method has an advantage in that an image is recorded by directly attaching a dye solution (ink) to a recording material, so that fluctuations in image density due to fluctuations in environmental conditions such as temperature are small. This is basically advantageous in terms of maintainability as compared with the image recording method using.

[0004]

In the ink jet recording system, it is preferable to form a transparent film on the recording material on which the image has been recorded in order to improve the weather resistance and the like of the image recorded on the recording material. There are several methods for forming the transparent film. Among these methods, a method of forming a transparent film by pasting (laminating) a transparent polymer film formed in a film shape on an image recording surface is described below. This is an effective method that can easily and relatively inexpensively form a transparent film having a constant thickness.

However, the ink jet recording method is a method of recording an image by adhering a dye solution (recording droplet) containing a large amount of a solvent to the recording material. The transparent polymer film to be laminated has the property of preventing the passage of a gas containing a volatile solvent for the purpose of improving the weather resistance of the image, etc., so that when the transparent film is formed on the image recording surface, The solvent remaining in the recording material is prevented from volatilizing by the transparent film and becomes trapped in the transparent film,
There is a problem that the recorded image is deteriorated by the solvent trapped in the transparent film.

In order to prevent the deterioration of the recorded image, it is preferable to form a transparent film after the solvent contained in the recording droplets adhered to the recording material has completely evaporated. Takes a long time, so if a transparent film is formed after the solvent is completely volatilized, the image is recorded and the transparent film is formed after the image recording on the recording material is started. However, there is a disadvantage that the time until the obtained image recording material is very long. Existing image recording systems that record images using silver halide color light-sensitive materials have achieved high processing capabilities through long-term improvements, and have achieved the same processing capabilities as the above-mentioned image recording systems in the inkjet recording method. It is required to be realized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and has as its object to provide an image recording apparatus capable of achieving high image recording performance by an ink jet recording method without deteriorating the image quality of a recorded image. It is.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an image recording apparatus according to the present invention discharges recording liquid droplets from a discharge port of a recording head in accordance with an image to be recorded on a recording material. Recording means for recording an image on the recording material by causing the recording liquid droplets to adhere to the recording material; and applying heat energy to the recording material to which the recording liquid droplets are adhered by the recording means, thereby applying a recording energy to the recording material. Heating means for removing the solvent contained in the attached recording droplets, and by attaching a transparent polymer film formed into a film shape to the image recording surface of the recording material that has been heated by the heating means,
Forming means for forming a transparent film on the image recording surface.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, after an image is recorded on a recording material by attaching recording droplets ejected from an ejection port of a recording head to the recording material in accordance with an image to be recorded on the recording material, The heating means applies heat energy to the recording material to which the recording liquid droplets are adhered by the recording means, thereby removing the solvent contained in the recording liquid droplets adhered to the recording material. It can be removed in a short time, and high performance of image recording by the inkjet recording method can be achieved.

Further, in a state where the solvent is removed from the recording material by the heating means, a transparent polymer film is adhered to the image recording surface of the recording material by the forming means, so that a transparent film is formed on the image recording surface. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the solvent remaining in the recording material from being trapped in the transparent film, and to prevent the solvent from deteriorating the image quality of the recorded image.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the transparent polymer film has an adhesive layer formed on one surface and a support adhered to the other surface, as described in the second aspect. The forming means may apply a pressure at least by superimposing a transparent polymer film on the recording material so that the adhesive layer is in contact with the image recording surface (thermal energy may also be applied). At the same time, by peeling the support from the transparent polymer film, a transparent film can be formed on the image recording surface.

Since the transparent polymer film for forming the transparent film is very thin, for example, the transparent polymer film is formed into a long shape in accordance with the recording material and wound in a roll shape. In an aspect such as withdrawing and pasting,
Deformation and breakage of the transparent polymer film are easy to occur, and there is a drawback that the handling efficiency is lacking.However, by sticking the support as described above and peeling the support when forming the transparent film, the transparent polymer film is transparent. Since the occurrence of deformation or breakage of the polymer film can be avoided without providing a special mechanism, a transparent film can be formed with a simple configuration.

Further, in the second aspect of the invention, as described in the third aspect, a configuration in which a protective film is adhered to an adhesive layer of a transparent polymer film may be employed. in this case,
Forming means, after peeling the protective film from the adhesive layer,
The transparent polymer film can be superposed on the recording material so that the adhesive layer contacts the image recording surface.

Further, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, as described in the fourth aspect, a long recording material can be used. In this case, by sequentially arranging the recording unit, the heating unit, and the forming unit along the recording material conveying path, image recording by the recording unit, heating by the heating unit, and transparent coating by the forming unit are performed on each part of the recording material. Is continuously formed as the recording material is conveyed.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image recording system 10 to which the present invention is applied. The image recording system 10 includes a film scanner 12 as an input device for inputting image data, and is provided with an image processing device 14 for processing image data input from the input device. As an output device that outputs an image represented by image data,
An ink jet printer 16 that records an image by an ink jet recording method is provided. The ink jet printer 16 corresponds to the image recording device of the present invention.

The film scanner 12 is a photographic film 2
4 (for example, a negative film or a reversal film), a film image recorded on a photographic material (hereinafter simply referred to as a photographic film) (a negative image or a positive image visualized by developing a subject after photographing the subject) And outputs image data obtained by the reading. Light emitted from the LED light source 18 and reduced in unevenness in the light amount by the light diffusion box 20 is transmitted to the photographic film 24 set on the film carrier 22. The light emitted and transmitted through the photographic film 24 is formed into an image on a light receiving surface of an area CCD sensor 28 (or a line CCD sensor) via a lens 26.

The film carrier 22 intermittently transports the photographic film 24 so that the film images are sequentially positioned on the optical axis (reading position) of the light emitted from the LED light source 18. The LED light source 18 includes a number of LEDs that emit R light,
A large number of LEDs for emitting G light, a large number of LEDs for emitting B light, and a large number of LEDs for emitting IR light are arranged on the entire surface of a substrate (not shown) at a constant and high density, respectively. When one image is located at the reading position, it is driven by a driver (not shown) so as to sequentially emit R, G, and B lights.

Thus, the film images recorded on the photographic film 24 are sequentially read by the CCD sensor 28, and the CCD sensor 28 outputs R, G, B, and IR signals corresponding to the film image. The signal output from the CCD sensor 28 is converted into digital image data by the A / D converter 30 and input to the image processing device 14. The film scanner 12 is provided with a scanner control unit 32, and the operation of each unit of the film scanner 12 is controlled by the scanner control unit 32.
The reading of each film image may be performed a plurality of times (for example, a pre-scan for reading a film image at a relatively low resolution and a fine scan for reading a film image at a relatively high resolution).

Further, as an input device according to the present embodiment,
The above-described film scanner 12 reads a reflection original (for example, color paper on which an image is recorded) and outputs image data obtained by the reading.
And may be provided separately. As the reflection type scanner, there is a scanner provided with an automatic supply mechanism for sequentially and automatically supplying a plurality of reflection originals to a reading unit of the scanner so that a plurality of reflection originals can be read automatically and continuously. Preferably, it is used.

The film scanner 12 is an image processing device 14
Is connected to the pre-processing unit 34, and the pre-processing unit 34
For example, predetermined preprocessing such as dark correction, density conversion, shading correction, and defective pixel correction is performed. The pre-processing unit 34 is connected to the image processing unit 38 via the image memory 36, and the image data that has been subjected to the pre-processing by the pre-processing unit 34 is temporarily stored in the image memory 36 and then read out by the image processing unit 38. As a result, it is input to the image processing unit 38. The image processing unit 38 automatically determines, based on the image data read from the image memory 36, the processing conditions for various types of image processing on the image data by calculation (setup calculation).

The image processing performed by the image processing section 38 includes, for example, gray balance adjustment, density adjustment, gradation control, hypertone processing for compressing the gradation of an ultra-low frequency luminance component of the image, and granular processing. Hyper sharpness processing that emphasizes sharpness while suppressing noise, IR
Image processing for improving the image quality of an output image, such as a defective portion correction process for correcting a defective portion of image data caused by a flaw on a photographic film, the attachment of a foreign substance, or the like based on the above data.

The image processing section 38 performs various types of image processing on the image data read from the image memory 36 in accordance with the processing conditions determined by the setup calculation.
The image processing unit 38 is connected to the image data storage unit 40 of the inkjet printer 16, and the image data on which various types of image processing have been completed is transferred to the image data storage unit 40 as recording image data and temporarily stored.

The film scanner 12 outputs a signal indicating completion of reading each time the reading of each film image recorded on one photographic film 24 is completed, and the image processing device 14 outputs the same signal based on this signal. Photographic film 24
Recognizes the image data corresponding to the photographic film 2
The image data corresponding to No. 4 is stored in the image data storage unit 40 so that it can be easily identified. For example, the file name of the image data to be stored in the image data storage unit 40 may be given in a code system capable of identifying the photographic film to be read, or, for example, a plurality of folders may be provided corresponding to each photographic film. This can be realized by separating and storing the image data.

On the other hand, a printer control unit 42 is connected to the image data storage unit 40 of the ink jet printer 16. A recording head 46 is provided in the inkjet printer 16.
Is provided, and the recording head 46 is connected to the printer control unit 42 via the driver 44. Further, the printer control section 42 includes a recording material transport section 48 and a heating / drying section 5.
0, a laminating section 52 and a cutter 54 are connected to each other.

The recording head 46 and the driver 44 correspond to the recording means of the present invention, the heating / drying section 50 corresponds to the heating means of the present invention, and the laminating section 52 corresponds to the forming means of the present invention. . The recording material transport unit 48 includes transport roller pairs 64, 66, 82, 84 described below, a pull-out transport motor, an intermittent transport motor, and a driving force for transmitting the driving force of these motors to each transport roller pair. It is configured to include a transmission mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vicinity of one end of a casing (not shown) of the ink jet printer 16 is set as a setting position for setting a recording material 62.
2 is set in the inkjet printer 16 in a state of being stored in a magazine (not shown). The recording material 62 may be a commercially available material, an ink jet paper image made by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. (or a roll form thereof), or an MCSP44R made by Epson Sales Co., Ltd.
1, MCSP44R2, and the like. Recording material 62
Is formed into a long shape, and the winding core 62A is arranged so that the surface (image recording surface) on the side on which the ink receiving layer is formed is inside.
Is shipped in a state of being wound in a roll around the outer periphery of the device, and is loaded into a magazine when used for image recording, and then set in a housing by the magazine to a predetermined position (the position shown in FIG. 2). Set.

In the present embodiment, a recording material described below is used as the recording material 62. That is,
As the support used for the recording material 62, either a transparent or opaque substrate can be used. For example, high-quality paper, art paper, resin-coated paper, paper such as baryta paper, and polyethylene terephthalate, triacetate, polycarbonate, polyacrylate, and a copolymer thereof, and the like, particularly a support used for a silver salt color photosensitive material are advantageous. It is. It is also possible to improve the water resistance and air resistance by applying a thermoplastic resin to a paper or a porous resin film having ink absorbency and performing post-treatment. In order to obtain recorded materials of the same quality as silver halide color light-sensitive materials, the current baryta paper,
It is preferable to use a support having high whiteness, smoothness and storability such as WP paper. Smoothness is surface Beck smoothness JIS-P-
It is preferably at least 20 seconds according to the method described in 8119, and 2 kg to 30 kg according to the method described in JIS-P-8113.

The ink receiving layer is a layer having a function of absorbing ink ejected by an ink jet with little bleeding, adsorbing and fixing a dye, and holding an image. To enhance water absorption, adsorb and fix dyes for image formation on specific layers, and obtain images with little bleeding and beading, provide a water-absorbing layer mainly on the side closer to the support, and adsorb the dyes It is preferable to form a multilayer structure by providing a plurality of layers for fixing. A surfactant is mainly used for an inorganic pigment that adsorbs a dye and a binder that has high ink permeability and does not hinder dye adsorption. Further, it is preferable to use a thermoplastic resin latex for protecting an image. Further, it has a porous structure to maintain ink permeability.

As inorganic pigments for adsorbing dyes, silica,
Known materials such as calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, diatomaceous earth, calcium silicate, colloidal silica, alumina, pseudoboehmite, colloidal alumina, and alumina hydrate are used. Particularly, alumina hydrate, silica, colloidal silica and the like are preferable. It is configured as a void in the layer.

The alumina hydrate can be produced by a known method such as hydrolysis of aluminum alkoxide and hydrolysis of sodium aluminate. The shape is not particularly limited, such as cilia, needle, plate, and spindle, and the presence or absence of orientation is not limited.

As the alumina hydrate used in the present invention, those commercially available or those processed from their raw materials can be used. It is more preferable to use a material having high coatability, glossiness, and dye fixability, and having no coating or the like at the time of film formation and having good coatability. Examples of commercially available products include, for example, AS-2, AS manufactured by Catalyst Kasei Co., Ltd.
-3, 520 manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd., and the like.

Some of these alumina hydrates usually have a fine particle size of 1 μm or less, and have excellent dispersibility. Therefore, the recording material 62 should have very good smoothness and gloss. Can be.

The amount of the inorganic pigment, particularly alumina hydrate, applied to the substrate is 10 g / m ^{2 in} order to impart dye fixability.
More preferably, the coating amount when the substrate has no ink absorption is more preferably 30 to 50 g / m ² , and the coating amount when the substrate has ink absorption is 20 to 40 g. / M ² is more preferable.

The method of coating and drying is not particularly limited, but it is also possible to subject the alumina hydrate and the binder to a calcination treatment if necessary. By performing such a baking treatment, the crosslinking strength of the binder is increased, the mechanical strength of the ink receiving layer is improved, and the surface gloss of the alumina hydrate layer is improved.

The binder for binding the inorganic pigment can be freely selected from water-soluble polymers. For example, polyvinyl alcohol or a modified product thereof, starch or a modified product thereof, gelatin or a modified product thereof, casein or a modified product thereof, gum arabic, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose, cellulose derivatives such as hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, SBR latex, NBR latex, methyl Preferred are conjugated diene-based copolymer latex such as methacrylate-butadiene copolymer, functional group-modified polymer latex, vinyl-based copolymer latex such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone, acrylate copolymer and the like. . These binders can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The mixing ratio of the inorganic pigment, in particular, alumina hydrate and the binder is preferably 1: 1 to 30: 1 by weight.
More preferably, the weight ratio is in the range of 5: 1 to 25: 1. The amount of the binder is selected within a range that does not cause cracking or powder drop.

As the inorganic pigment, silica or colloidal silica is used in a porous structure similarly to alumina.
As the binder, for example, cation-modified polyvinyl alcohol or a copolymer thereof can be used in addition to the binder described in JP-A-61-10483.

The image protective layer is provided on the ink receiving layer,
Protection of the physical strength of the ink receiving layer, improvement of image durability and weather resistance, and in combination with the back coat layer, transportability and damage due to adhesion of the ink receiving layer when the recording material is wound into a roll To prevent

As the image protective layer, a layer comprising an ink-permeable binder containing inorganic pigment particles or resin latex can be provided on the ink-receiving layer containing a porous inorganic pigment. The amount of the resin latex used is an amount that does not impair the ink permeability, and is preferably monodisperse, and is preferably larger than the thickness of the image protective layer. For example, it can be used by selecting from the materials described in JP-A-11-32080.

The recording material 62 can be provided with an image protective layer described below.

The image protective layer forms a porous resin using a thermoplastic resin latex, and the particle distribution of the latex is particularly important. The average particle size of the resin latex is 0.1
μm to 10 μm, preferably 0.3 μm to 5 μm, more preferably 0.3 μm to 3 μm. A monodisperse distribution is preferred, and a latex of uniform particles such that 90% or more of the particles fall within a range of ± 2/3 of the average particle diameter is preferred. In particular, it is preferable that fine particles do not enter. The thermoplastic resin latex has a porous structure, and preferably has a particle solid content of about 10 to 60% by weight. After forming an image without impairing ink permeability, a solid content to be a transparent resin film by heat treatment is selected. Good to do. A plurality of thermoplastic resin latexes having different MFTs (minimum film forming temperatures) and high compatibility can also be used.

The thermoplastic resin used in the present invention is preferably a resin having a property of making it nonporous by heat treatment, forming a film, and protecting an image, particularly a resin containing a component having high ultraviolet absorption.

For example, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride,
Styrene-based, acrylic-based, urethane-based, polyester-based, or ethylene-based material, or vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-based, vinyl chloride-acryl-based, vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride-based, vinylidene chloride-acrylic-based, SBR
And NBR latexes, and latexes of two or more copolymers thereof, for example, latexes such as SBR / NBR mixtures and vinyl chloride-acryl / vinyl acetate mixtures.

It is preferable that the component having high light resistance and further containing a conjugated double bond component is 50% or less. As a method for making the porous layer containing the thermoplastic resin particles nonporous, heat treatment is preferable, and by performing such treatment, the weather resistance such as water resistance and light resistance becomes good, and gloss is imparted to the image. And the printed matter can be stored for a long time.

The heating temperature at this time is preferably equal to or higher than the flow temperature of the thermoplastic resin particles, and more preferably the minimum film forming temperature (M
FT) or more, and varies depending on the type of thermoplastic resin, but taking into account the surface properties after film formation,
A range from about 60C to 180C is preferred. The minimum film forming temperature is a temperature at which the used image protective layer is formed and becomes substantially transparent, and also depends on the processing time.

For the image protective layer, silica sol or the like is used in an amount of 10 to 30.
% By weight. This has the effect of enhancing adhesion to the ink receiving layer, preventing beading and the like, and improving image sharpness.

In order to optimize the adhesion to the ink receiving layer, improve the sharpness of the image, and maintain the physical strength of the image protective layer, a hydrophilic binder used for the ink receiving layer, for example, polyvinyl alcohol, is used for the image receiving layer. It is preferable to add it to the protective layer.

An overcoat layer containing a material selected from inorganic pigment particles or a resin latex and a lubricant is preferably provided on the image protective layer.
The thickness of the overcoat layer is preferably from 0.2 μm to 2 μm. When the layer is sufficiently thin, the advantageous properties such as the transportability of the inorganic pigment particles or the resin latex in the image protective layer can be utilized together with the effect of the image protective layer.

The coating liquid for forming the ink receiving layer and the image protective layer may optionally contain a dispersant, a thickener, a pH adjuster,
It is also possible to add a lubricant, a fluidity modifier, a surfactant, an antifoaming agent, a waterproofing agent, a fluorescent brightener, an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant, and the like.

The back coat layer is provided on the back side of the side having the ink receiving layer. By providing a back coat layer,
By improving the transportability of the recording material in the image recording process, and substantially protecting the ink receiving layer and simplifying the function of the image protective layer, abnormal events in the image recording process can be reduced. The binder is a hydrophilic binder having high adhesion after surface treatment of the support or undercoating thereof, such as gelatin or a modified product thereof, casein or a modified product thereof, polyvinyl alcohol or a modified product thereof, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyethylene oxide, and polyacryl. Derivatives such as acid, polyacrylamide, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and the like can be used alone or in combination of two or more. In order to increase the adhesiveness and physical strength of the back coat layer, it is preferable to use a curing agent for the binder. For example, boric acid or a salt thereof is preferable for polyvinyl alcohol or a copolymer thereof, or another polymer. A known curing agent such as an epoxy compound is used for gelatin or a modified product thereof.

In order to improve the transportability of the recording material, a matting agent, that is, a dispersion of a resin latex or an inorganic pigment particle having a particle size sufficiently larger than its film thickness is used. The average particle size is larger than the dry film thickness and 0.5 μm to
30 μm, preferably 0.5 μm to 10 μm, and a monodispersed material is preferred. The amount is preferably such that about 10 to 30 projections are provided per 1 mm ^{2 of} surface.

In order to improve the adhesion of the recording material in the form of a roll, a lubricant such as a silicone oil-based or fluorine-based surfactant is used as a dispersion or a surfactant.
In particular, it is good to use together with a matting agent.

The thickness of the back coat layer is from 0.2 μm to 10
μm, preferably about 0.2 μm to 5 μm.

On the other hand, the magazine set in the ink jet printer 16 corresponds to the recording material 62 from the magazine.
On the downstream side of the drawing direction, pairs of conveying rollers 64 and 66 are provided at predetermined intervals. Transport roller pair 64, 6
Numerals 6 are arranged so that their respective axes are parallel to the winding core 62A of the recording material 62, and are connected to a rotation shaft of a drawing / conveying motor (not shown) via a speed reduction mechanism (not shown). The driving force is transmitted to rotate. The recording material 62 pulled out of the magazine is transported by the transport roller pair 6.
4, 66 and are conveyed substantially horizontally at a constant speed.

A recording head 46 is provided between the transport rollers 64 and 66. Although not shown, the recording head 46 has a nozzle row composed of a number of nozzles arranged from one end to the other end in the width direction of the recording material 62 (direction substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording material 62). But the recording material 62
Are arranged in a plurality of rows along the longitudinal direction (conveying direction of the recording material 62).
A plurality of ink chambers are respectively formed in the inside of the print head 6, and a plurality of main tanks respectively communicating with any of the plurality of ink chambers are attached to the recording head 46. The plurality of main tanks have inks of different colors (for example, C, M, Y,
BK) is stored and supplied to each nozzle row via an ink chamber. Thus, ink of a different color is ejected from each nozzle for each nozzle row.

As an ejection method for ejecting ink from the nozzles, an arbitrary method can be adopted from various known ejection methods. For example, as a typical method, a pulse is applied to a piezoelectric element provided in an ink chamber. By applying a voltage to deform the piezoelectric element, the ink liquid pressure in the ink chamber is changed, and the change in the ink liquid pressure is used to eject ink droplets from nozzles, or a heating method provided in the ink chamber. It is possible to employ a thermal method in which the ink is heated by the element and ink droplets are ejected from nozzles by bubbles generated in the ink chamber by the heating.

A heating / drying section 50 is provided downstream of the position where the recording head 46 is disposed along the transport direction of the recording material 62. The heating and drying unit 50 has a built-in heater and fan (not shown), and applies a hot air generated by the heater and the fan to the recording material 62 on which an image is recorded by the attachment of ink droplets ejected from the recording head 46. To dry the ink (specifically, the solvent contained in the ink).

Further, downstream of the position where the heating and drying unit 50 is disposed along the conveying direction of the recording material 62,
A laminating section 52 for forming a transparent polymer film is provided on the outermost layer of No. 2. The transparent polymer film is for improving the water resistance and durability of an image and maintaining high image quality for a long period of time. Here, “transparent” means a state in which an image formed on the recording material can be observed through the polymer film. The material of the transparent polymer film is not particularly limited, and various polymer materials can be used. That is, it may be a water-soluble polymer such as gelatin or polyvinyl alcohol, or a hydrophobic polymer such as polymethyl methacrylate.

As a method of forming a transparent polymer film,
(1) A method of pasting a transparent polymer film prepared in advance, (2) A method of applying a polymer solution, (3) After forming an image, apply a liquid coating agent on the surface, and solidify it with ultraviolet light or infrared light and clear it. (4) A thermoplastic resin porous layer is provided in advance on the uppermost layer, and after forming an image, the resin porous layer is densified by heating (if necessary, pressing). A method of forming a transparent resin film, (5) a method of applying a latex-like polymer (may be applied to the entire surface by an ink-jet method), and heating and melting to form a transparent resin film. In this embodiment, the laminating unit 52 employs a configuration in which a transparent polymer film is formed by the method (1), which can easily and relatively inexpensively form a transparent polymer film having a constant thickness.

In the laminating section 52 according to the present embodiment,
A shaft 72 that supports the laminated material 70 formed in a sheet shape and wound in a roll shape, the recording material 62 (and the heat rollers 74A and 74B arranged so as to sandwich the laminated material 70, the winding roller 76, As shown in Fig. 3, the laminate 70 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the front and back surfaces of a transparent sheet material including a laminate layer (transparent polymer film) and an adhesive layer are separated from the support. The structure is covered with a backing composed of a shape layer and a protective film also composed of a support and a release layer.
The laminate 70 corresponds to the transparent polymer film according to claim 2 (specifically, the transparent polymer film according to claim 3).

Although not shown, heat rollers 74A,
74B has a built-in heater. The heat roller 7
The shaft 4A is movable in the direction in which the shaft center approaches and separates from the shaft center of the heat roller 74B, and is urged in the direction approaching the heat roller 74B by urging means (not shown) such as a spring. .

The laminate 70 pulled out from the roll supported by the shaft 70 is peeled off when the protective film is wound up by the winding roller 76, and is fed between the heat rollers 74A and 74B in this state. Are superimposed on the image recording surface of the recording material 62. Then, while being sandwiched and pressed by the heat rollers 74A and 74B and heated by the heat rollers 74A and 74B, the adhesive layer of the transparent sheet material is adhered to the image recording surface of the recording material 62, and The release layer of the mount is peeled off from the laminate layer of the transparent sheet material, and is taken up by the take-up roller 78. As a result, a laminate layer (transparent film) is formed on the uppermost layer of the image recording surface of the recording material 62.

Further, the recording material 6 is more
On the downstream side of the second conveying direction, pairs of conveying rollers 82 and 84 are sequentially arranged at a constant interval. Transport roller pair 8
The reference numerals 2 and 84 are connected to the rotation shaft of an intermittent transport motor (not shown) via a deceleration mechanism (not shown), and are rotated by transmitting the driving force of the intermittent transport motor. Transport roller pair 8
A cutter 54 for cutting the recording material 62 along the width direction of the recording material 62 is disposed between the recording materials 62 and 84.
Further, a rack 56 is provided downstream of the conveying roller pair 84 in the conveying direction of the recording material 62, and the recording material 62 cut by the cutter 54 is accumulated in the rack 56.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When the magazine containing the roll of the recording material 62 is set in the housing of the inkjet printer 16 and the instruction to record the image on the recording material 62 is issued, the printer control unit 42 drives the pull-out and conveyance motor to perform the recording. The material 62 is pulled out of the magazine and transported. Then, when it is determined that the leading end of the recording material 62 has reached the image recording position by the recording head 46 (this determination is made by detecting the passage of the recording material 62 by a passage detection sensor provided in the middle of the conveyance path or by performing recording. This can be performed by detecting the amount of the material 62 drawn out and conveyed), and an image is recorded on the recording material 62 by the recording head 46.

That is, based on the recording image data of the image to be recorded on the recording material 62, the image is recorded on the recording material 62 for each color component (for example, C, M, Y, BK) in line units. As described above, an image signal representing the drive timing of each nozzle of the recording head 46 (for example, the energization timing of a piezoelectric element or a heater provided corresponding to each nozzle) is generated for each image (FIG. 2 also). As is apparent, in the present embodiment, an image signal for recording an image in a direction in which the longitudinal direction of the recorded image coincides with the width direction of the recording material 62 is generated.
Output to

The driver 44 of the recording head 46 selectively drives each nozzle at a timing corresponding to the image signal based on the image signal input from the printer control unit 42 (for example, a piezoelectric element or a heater of each nozzle). (Selectively energized) is generated, and the generated discharge signal is supplied to the corresponding print head 46. Accordingly, ink droplets ejected from each nozzle of the recording head 46 at a timing corresponding to the image signal adhere to the recording material 62, and
When the recording material 62 is transported at a constant transport speed, sub-scanning is performed, and images are sequentially recorded on the recording material 62 in line units over the entire width of the recording material 62.

The recording material 62 on which an image has been recorded by the recording head 46 is supplied with hot air by the heating and drying unit 50. Here, when the solvent adhering to the recording material 62 remains in the recording material 62 when the transparent film is formed by the laminating unit 52, the remaining solvent is trapped inside the transparent film, and the trapped solvent is removed. There is a possibility that the image quality of the recorded image is reduced. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the heating / drying unit 50 supplies the recording material 62 to the recording material 62 so that substantially the entire amount of the solvent attached to the recording material 62 is removed before the transparent film is formed by the laminating unit 52. The temperature T of the hot air is set in advance.

Thus, the time from when an image is recorded on the recording material 62 to when the laminating section 52 forms a transparent film can be shortened, and the solvent is confined in the transparent film formed by the laminating section 52. Also, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the image quality of the recorded image.

The time required for removing substantially the entire amount of the solvent adhered to the recording material 62 is described in detail in
2 depends on the amount of the solvent attached to 2. For this reason, the temperature T is controlled based on the amount of solvent adhered to the recording material 62 (the amount of solvent adhered may be a unit of each recorded image or the amount of solvent adhered to a plurality of recorded images). Alternatively, the temperature T may be controlled in consideration of the temperature and humidity in the housing of the inkjet printer 16. Thereby, the power consumption of the heating and drying unit 50 can be efficiently reduced.

The recording material 62 to which the hot air is supplied by the heating and drying unit 50 is sent to the laminating unit 52 in a state where substantially all of the attached solvent has been removed, and
Transparent material is stuck on the image recording surface (lamination)
As a result, a transparent film is formed on the uppermost layer of the image recording surface. Thereby, the glossiness and the robustness of the recorded image (image protection such as weather resistance) are improved.

The recording material 62 on which the transparent film is formed is conveyed to the cutter 54. When the leading end of the recording material 62 on which the image is recorded reaches the position where the cutter 54 is provided, the printer control unit 42 drives the intermittent conveyance motor until the boundary position of the recorded image is positioned at the cutting position by the cutter 54. After rotationally driving the conveying roller pairs 82 and 84, the driving of the intermittent conveying motor is stopped and the conveying roller pairs 82 and 8 are stopped.
4 is stopped. Then, the cutter 54 is operated while the conveyance of the recording material 62 is stopped, and the recording material 62 is cut. When the printer control unit 42 repeats the above processing, the recording material 62 on which the image is recorded is cut for each recording image. Then, the recording materials cut for each recording image are sequentially stored in the rack 56 and accumulated.

The laminating material 70 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, but as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the protective film is omitted and the backing sheet is attached to one surface of the support. A release layer that is in close contact with the laminate layer of the transparent sheet agent is formed, and on the other surface of the support, a release layer that is in close contact with the adhesive layer of the transparent sheet agent while being wound into a roll is formed. May be adopted. The laminate shown in FIG. 4 also corresponds to the transparent polymer film according to the second aspect.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image is recorded on a recording material by applying recording droplets ejected from the ejection openings of the recording head to the recording material, and thermal energy is applied to the recording material. After removing the solvent contained in the recording liquid droplets, the transparent polymer film formed into a film is adhered to the image recording surface of the recording material to form a transparent film. It has an excellent effect that high performance of image recording by the ink jet recording method can be achieved without causing the occurrence.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image recording system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink jet printer.

FIG. 3 is an image diagram for explaining an example of lamination of a transparent sheet material on a recording material.

FIG. 4 is an image diagram for explaining another example of lamination of a transparent sheet material on a recording material.

[Explanation of symbols]

 16 Inkjet printer 42 Printer control unit 44 Driver 46 Recording head 50 Heat drying unit 52 Laminating unit 62 Recording material 70 Laminating material 74A, 74B Heat roller

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Osamu Takahashi Inventor 210 Nakanakanuma, Minamiashigara-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C056 EA01 EA13 HA41 HA44 HA45 HA46 2C060 AA04 2H086 BA01 BA02 BA05 3F108 GA01 HA04 HA14 JA04

Claims (4)

[Claims] Recording means for discharging a recording droplet from a discharge port of a recording head in accordance with an image to be recorded on the recording material, and attaching the recording droplet to the recording material to record an image on the recording material; A heating means for applying a thermal energy to the recording material to which the recording liquid droplets are adhered by the recording means to remove a solvent contained in the recording liquid droplets adhered to the recording material; Forming means for forming a transparent film on the image recording surface by attaching a transparent polymer film to the image recording surface of the recording material heated by the heating means. 2. The transparent polymer film has an adhesive layer formed on one surface and a support adhered to the other surface, and the forming means includes: The transparent polymer film is superimposed on a recording material so as to be in contact with the recording material, and at least pressure is applied, and a support is peeled off from the transparent polymer film to form a transparent film on the image recording surface. The image recording device according to claim 1. 3. A protective film is adhered to the adhesive layer of the transparent polymer film, and the forming means contacts the image recording surface after peeling the protective film from the adhesive layer. 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transparent polymer film is superposed on a recording material. 4. The recording material according to claim 1, wherein the recording material has a long shape, and image recording by the recording means, heating by the heating means, and formation of a transparent film by the forming means are continuously performed. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1.