JP2005329605A - Inkjet recording method and inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet recording method and an inkjet recording apparatus, which enable an image to be formed on a recording medium with not only characteristics such as image fastness properties but also such a complicated shape as to make conventional inkjet printing difficult, and enable the formation of the high-quality image while maintaining the feel and texture of high-quality printed matter, by sticking the image on the recording medium after the image suppressing the occurrence of beading and bleeding is formed on a laminate sheet. <P>SOLUTION: A reaction liquid is imparted to an adhesion layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 by a recording head 6. A flocculated ink image is formed on the adhesion layer 1c by making a recording head 7 impart ink to the adhesion layer 1c to which the reaction liquid is imparted. The adhesion layer 1c, where the flocculated ink image is formed, is stuck on the recording medium 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method and an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an ink jet recording method and an ink jet recording apparatus for performing image output by laminating a recording medium.

  Currently, as a recording method of an image recording apparatus that records and outputs a computer created image, a copy image of a printed matter, a FAX image, etc. according to a user's request, an ink jet recording method, an electrophotographic method, a thermal head method, a dot impact method Etc. are used.

  Among these methods, the inkjet recording method prints characters, images, and the like by directly ejecting ink onto a printing material (recording medium) such as paper / cloth and a plastic sheet in accordance with an image signal. This is a low noise printing method. Since this method does not require a complicated device, the running cost is low, the device is easy to miniaturize and colorize, and the size of the recording medium, from card size to large posters, etc. Thus, it has various advantages such as flexibility. In recent years, with the further development of the ink jet recording system, it has become possible to output a high-quality image having an image quality equivalent to that of a silver salt color photograph. In particular, based on an image generated by a digital camera or the like, high-quality image output equivalent to a silver salt color photograph can be output by an ink jet recording method.

  Since the recording apparatus using the ink jet recording system has the advantages as described above, it is not limited to a printer as an output apparatus connected to a personal computer, but as an output apparatus of an OA device such as a facsimile or a copying machine. Furthermore, in the industrial production field, various uses such as various card printing, package printing, and large-sized poster creation are made.

  As described above, with the widespread use, various demands are demanded for printed matter (inkjet printed matter) by the ink jet recording method depending on the intended use. For example, surface protection to protect the surface of printed matter from surface scratches and dirt such as posters and illuminated display printed matter, surface glossiness to give gloss to deepen the impression of printed matter, and scratches on printed matter such as menus and brochures There is a demand to have (strength). Furthermore, image flow due to contact with liquids such as water, image blur due to blurring, rubbing, etc., hue change due to the influence of gas in the atmosphere, deterioration after recording such as fading due to ultraviolet rays, etc. Since it was not suitable for storage, improvement in image fastness such as water resistance and light resistance is desired.

  Therefore, a resin film forming solution or powder was formed on the surface of the ink jet printed matter by applying and drying means, and then heated and melted and then cured, or an adhesive applied to the resin sheet was welded. There has been realized a method for forming a sticking layer (hereinafter referred to as “laminate”) with a resin film on the recording surface by a method such as later curing, thereby enabling long-term storage.

  By laminating a resin film on the surface of an ink-jet printed matter, it is possible to realize the above-mentioned requirements, such as improved image fastness, surface protection and surface gloss. There are various laminate sheet materials and their lamination methods used for ink-jet prints, but they are roughly divided into two types. One is a method of attaching a laminate sheet to the surface of a recording medium printed by inkjet recording, and the other is a method of attaching the laminate sheet to a recording medium after forming an image directly on the laminate sheet by inkjet. .

1) Laminate sheet pasting type
A general laminate sheet achieves this by attaching a laminate sheet as a post-treatment to a printed matter (recording medium) formed with an ink jet recording apparatus. These sheets are not limited to ink-jet printed materials, but are often used for printed materials such as offset and printer output materials such as electrophotography, and are effective methods for ink-jet printed materials. Patent Document 1 discloses a recording apparatus having a laminating function in which a laminating material made of a heat-meltable adhesive is attached to a recording medium (also referred to as a printed matter) by thermocompression bonding. . In Patent Document 2, a recording medium on which an image is output using a non-silver salt photographic hard copy recording method such as an ink jet recording method or an electrophotographic method is laminated with a laminate sheet, and recording is performed by applying heat pressure. A method of laminating a laminate sheet on an image of a medium is disclosed.

  However, in order to apply a laminate sheet having a resin layer neatly on a printed matter without wrinkling or foaming, it is effective from the viewpoint of handling that the laminate sheet is thick. However, when the laminate sheet is thick, the printed matter becomes thick, and the stiffness of the printed matter may damage the texture of the printed matter. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to use a thin laminate sheet. However, it is not easy in terms of handling to attach the thin laminate sheet while preventing air bubbles and dust from being mixed between the sheet and the printed matter. Therefore, to attach a particularly thin laminate film to a recording medium, the recording apparatus may be a built-in type or a separate apparatus, but a dedicated laminating apparatus is required, and a thin laminate sheet can be easily attached to the recording medium. I can't.

  In the laminate attachment type, it is necessary that the recording medium (image formation) is a recording medium (for example, a recording medium having an ink absorption layer) that can be recorded by an ink jet recording method. For this reason, recording media that are difficult to directly record with an ink jet recording method, such as recording media with a curvature, complicated recording media, non-ink-absorbing media, and recording media with low ink absorbability, and recording media that are difficult to draw with inkjet ink However, there is a limitation that it is difficult to use a laminate attaching mold. That is, in the case of the laminate pasting type, for example, the shape of the surface of the recording medium is limited. Specifically, when an image is formed by an inkjet recording method on a recording medium having a rough surface such as embossed paper, the ink flows into the concave portion, thereby causing color mixing between colors and beading in which adjacent dots attract each other. May occur. Therefore, in order to achieve high-quality image output, there are limitations on the surface properties such as ink absorbability and unevenness of the recording medium.

2) Laminate sheet direct printing type
There is a method of forming a printed matter by directly recording on a laminate sheet by an ink jet recording method and then sticking the laminate sheet on which the image is formed to a recording medium. According to this method, it is possible to form an inkjet printed matter on a recording medium, regardless of the shape, ink non-absorbability, and surface characteristics of the recording medium, which is a problem of the above-described laminate sheet pasting type. Since this method forms an image on a material (laminate sheet) different from the recording medium and affixes the material to the recording medium, if the surface of the recording medium can be laminated, An advantage is that an inkjet image can be formed on a recording medium.

JP-A-58-224779 JP 2002-67504 A JP-A-6-73368 JP 7-126536 A JP-A-9-118720 JP 11-348199 A JP 2000-44901 A JP 2002-264266 A

  However, a general laminate sheet is non-ink-absorbing. Therefore, when an image is directly formed on a laminate sheet with an inkjet head, ink “repelling” occurs on the laminate sheet, and at the same time, ink dots gather, resulting in uneven “beading” or overlapping color boundaries. A “bleeding” phenomenon in which the colors of each other bleed out may occur, and it is difficult to form a good image.

  In consideration of this point, a laminate sheet having an ink absorbing layer has been developed. A laminate sheet in which the protective layer of the laminate sheet is an ink absorbing layer, that is, an adhesive layer having adhesiveness with a recording medium on one side of both sides of the substrate of the laminate sheet, and an inkjet ink absorbing layer on the other side Laminate sheets having are commercially available. However, with this configuration, the ink absorbing layer, which is the recording surface, is exposed on the surface of the inkjet printed matter, and the surface protection of the printed matter and the image fastness cannot be improved.

  In order to solve the above problem, a structure in which an ink absorbing layer and an adhesive layer are sequentially laminated on one side of a base material has been proposed. In any of these laminated sheets, the sheet is generally thick because an ink absorbing layer is particularly required. The ink absorbing layer needs to be a layer that sufficiently absorbs the inkjet ink. For example, in the case of a secondary color or the like, the amount of ink increases, so the ink absorption layer must be thick. When the thickness of the laminate sheet is increased, the strength (strength) becomes stronger than the original recording medium, as described above, and the texture of the printed article may be impaired, so that high-quality image output can be achieved. difficult.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems. The object of the present invention is to form an image with reduced beading and bleeding on a laminate sheet, and then apply the image to a recording medium. An ink jet recording method and an ink jet recording apparatus that not only have characteristics such as robustness, but also can form a high quality image while maintaining the texture of image formation on a complicated shape recording medium and the quality of printed articles, which are difficult with conventional ink jets. It is to provide.

  In order to achieve such an object, the inkjet recording method of the present invention includes a step of preparing a laminate sheet comprising a base material and an adhesive layer having an adhesive function by heating, and an ink layer on the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet. A material applying step for applying a material for lowering fluidity, and applying the ink to the adhesive layer to which the material has been applied in accordance with input image data using a first recording head, and the adhesive layer An image forming step of forming an ink image on the recording medium; and an attaching step of attaching the adhesive layer on which the ink image is formed to a recording medium.

  Further, the present invention provides a process for preparing a laminate sheet comprising a base material and an adhesive layer having an adhesive function by heating, and material provision for imparting a material for aggregating ink colorant to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet An image forming step of forming an ink image on the adhesive layer by applying the ink to the adhesive layer to which the material has been applied according to input image data using a first recording head; And an attaching step of attaching the adhesive layer on which the ink image is formed to a recording medium.

  Further, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes a material applying unit that applies a material that lowers the fluidity of the ink to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet including a base material and an adhesive layer having an adhesive function by heating. An image forming means for forming an ink image on the adhesive layer by applying the ink to the adhesive layer to which the material has been applied according to input image data using a first recording head; And an attaching means for attaching an adhesive layer on which an image is formed to a recording medium.

  According to the present invention, a material that decreases the fluidity of ink (for example, a reaction liquid that agglomerates ink coloring material) is applied to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet, and the ink is applied to the adhesive layer to which the material is applied. Since the recording head is applied, a good image in which beading or bleeding is suppressed can be formed on the laminate sheet. Since this laminate sheet is affixed to a recording medium, a high-quality image can be formed on the recording medium.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In one embodiment of the present invention, when an image is directly formed on a laminate sheet by an ink jet recording method, a reaction liquid is applied prior to ink application to the laminate sheet.

  Hereinafter, a laminate sheet, a reaction liquid, and an ink according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in order.

Laminate sheet
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a layer structure of a laminate sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention. The “laminate sheet” according to an embodiment of the present invention refers to a sheet-like sheet (cut sheet or the like) prepared in a predetermined size, or a film-like sheet wound on a roll or the like.

  In FIG. 1, the film substrate 1a may be any material having excellent heat resistance, and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or the like may be used, and preferably an annealed material may be used. The gloss layer forming material layer 1b is a layer for forming a smooth glossy surface layer of a print, and is a layer for protecting the surface after thermocompression bonding (also referred to as a surface protective layer). The gloss layer forming material layer 1b is physically attached to the film substrate 1a so as to be easily peeled off from the film substrate 1a after heat-pressing on the recording medium. The adhesive layer 1c is further coated with a latex material on the gloss layer forming material layer 1b, and has an adhesive function for heat-pressing the laminate sheet to the surface of the recording medium. Further, the adhesive layer 1c has a function of softening at the time of thermocompression bonding and adapting to the unevenness of the recording medium to improve the adhesion. The materials of the film base material, the gloss layer forming material layer, and the adhesive layer are not limited to these, and can be appropriately selected from those that can achieve the object of the present invention.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the “recording medium” is not limited to paper used in general recording devices such as inkjet recording paper and plain paper, but widely accepts cloth, plastic film, and other inks. It is possible. Further, it may be one having low or no ink absorbability such as a plastic sheet made of PET or polyethylene, or a rough surface such as embossed paper. The recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention refers to an object to which a laminated sheet on which an image is formed as described later is attached.

  A laminate sheet 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is obtained by sequentially laminating the above-described film base 1a, the gloss layer forming material layer 1b, and the adhesive layer 1c. In addition, you may provide the peeling layer (not shown in FIG. 1) which makes peeling of these two layers easy between the film base material 1a and the material layer 1b for glossy layer formation. Further, even if the film substrate 1a and the gloss layer forming material layer 1b are integrally formed and not peelable, the present invention can be applied to one embodiment of the present invention, but the recording medium has a curvature or a complicated shape. If the thinner laminate sheet 1 is desired, it is desirable that the film substrate 1a and the gloss layer forming material layer 1b can be peeled off.

  For example, as the film substrate 1a, the shape can be stably maintained under pressure bonding conditions to the recording medium or under heat and pressure, and the surface layer of the recording medium (when the recording medium has an ink absorbing layer) May be any material that can be easily peeled off when the glossy layer is formed on the ink absorbing layer). As such a material, for example, a film or sheet made of a material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), or polyether sulfone (PES) can be used. The thickness can be selected from the range of 3 μm to 20 μm, for example.

  The resin layer for forming the gloss layer forming material layer 1b and the adhesive layer 1c can be formed using a paint in which a thermoplastic resin is dissolved in an organic solvent, or a latex / emulsion paint in which fine particles are dispersed in water. . In the former case, as the organic solvent that can be used for this purpose, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene and the like can be used, and as the thermoplastic resin, styrene type, acrylic type and the like can be mentioned.

In the latter case, for example, as a configuration in the case of using a benzotriazole latex layer, a layer in which thermoplastic particles are fixed to such an extent that they do not easily fall off from the film substrate can be formed, and the film can be formed by heating. Things. Examples of the material for forming the latex layer include vinyl chloride vinyl acetate, styrene, and acrylic latex. By including an appropriate amount of an ultraviolet absorber in these resin layers, it is possible to improve the stabilization of the resin layer itself and the light resistance of the printed ink. As the material to be added as the ultraviolet absorber, the following compounds can be used.
1) 2-hydroxyphenylbenzotriazole 2) 2-hydroxybenzophenone 3) 2.4-diphenyl-6- [2-hydroxyphenyl] -s-triazine 4) salicylate 5) cyanoacrylate

The hydrogen of the benzene ring of the basic skeleton may be substituted with a substituent such as a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, a cyano group, a nitro group, or a hydroxyl group. Such a low molecular weight UV-absorbing material may deteriorate in performance due to volatilization or bleed from the layer containing it, or may deteriorate the strength of the polymer film due to the low molecular material being included. Therefore, the additive material is more preferably a polymer containing an ultraviolet absorbing group. In order to increase the molecular weight of a low molecule, it is necessary to introduce a reactive polymerizable group into the benzene ring in the ultraviolet absorbing basic skeleton. A typical example is —X—OOCCR═CH ₂ (R: —H or —CH ₃ ) (1)
The group represented by these can be mentioned.

A reactive monomer having a substituent as represented by the formula (1) is polymerized alone, or other monomer copolymerizable with the resin constituting the glossy layer of the present specification And a copolymer thereof can be used. Incidentally, X in the formula (1) is an alkylene group, an oxyalkylene group or a -CH ₂ C (OH) CH _2, having 1 to 12 carbon atoms - a divalent group such as.

  Such a resin having an ultraviolet absorbing group is also disclosed in Patent Literature 3, Patent Literature 4, Patent Literature 5, Patent Literature 6, Patent Literature 7, and the like.

The gloss layer forming material layer 1b and the adhesive layer 1c are formed by applying a coating solution on the base film 1a by a roll coating method, a rod bar coating method, a spray coating method, an air knife coating method, a slot die coating method, or the like. It can be done by crafting and drying. The layer thickness of the resulting gloss layer forming material layer needs to be sufficiently thick to maintain the shape of the surface of the base film by its rigidity and to prevent deformation due to cracks and time. The layer thickness is 2 μm to 10 μm, more preferably 2.5 μm to 8 μm. The layer thickness of the adhesive layer 1c must be a thickness necessary for finally adhering sufficiently to the surface layer of the recording medium and adhering so that no bubbles exist. When the surface roughness of the surface layer of the recording medium is expressed by R _MAX , it is preferable that the thickness is at least 70% to 150%, more preferably 100% to 150% of the amount.

  The gloss layer forming material layer 1b may be any material that can form a layer having a predetermined transparency and surface gloss in a state where the surface layer of the recording medium is covered with the adhesive layer 1c. It is not necessary to have transparency or surface gloss in advance.

  Although the laminate sheet according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the laminate sheet applicable to the present invention can be used without being limited thereto. For example, a laminate sheet described in Patent Document 8 may be used.

  Furthermore, when the reaction liquid described below is applied to the surface of the adhesive layer 1c, it is desired that the wetness with respect to the reaction liquid is high in order to form a better image. In this case, it is desirable to use a method conventionally used for hydrophilic treatment such as addition of a material (surfactant) that increases the surface tension of the adhesive layer or surface treatment.

Reaction liquid
Below, the reaction liquid which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated in detail.
The reaction liquid according to an embodiment of the present invention is a material for reducing the fluidity of the ink. For example, a reaction liquid that aggregates colorants such as pigments and dyes contained in the ink is preferably used. it can. Specifically, it is a liquid that plays the role of reducing the fluidity of the ink on the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 by contact with the ink and holding the ink landed on the adhesive layer 1c as much as possible (fixing the image). . Here, image fixing means that a colorant, a resin, or the like, which is a part of the composition constituting the ink, is chemically reacted or physically adsorbed, and a decrease in fluidity of the entire ink is recognized. Of course, this includes the case where the fluidity is locally lowered due to the aggregation of the solid content of the composition constituting the ink.

  When forming an image on the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 by the ink jet recording method, the ink flows on the adhesive layer 1c unless the fluidity of the ink landed on the non-ink-absorbing adhesive layer 1c is reduced. It causes beading and bleeding. Therefore, by reacting with the ink using the reaction liquid, the fluidity of the ink in contact therewith is lowered, and the ink landed on the non-ink-absorbing adhesive layer 1c is held at the landing position. As a result, even when ink droplets come into contact with each other on the adhesive layer 1 c, the occurrence of beading and bleeding can be suppressed, and a high-quality image can be formed on the laminate sheet 1.

As the reaction solution according to an embodiment of the present invention, a reaction solution containing at least a metal salt is preferably used. The most suitable as such a metal salt is a polyvalent metal salt. The polyvalent metal salt is composed of a divalent or higher polyvalent metal salt ion and an anion that binds to the polyvalent metal ion. Specific examples of the polyvalent metal ions include divalent metal ions such as Ca ²⁺ , Cu ²⁺ , Ni ²⁺ , Mg ²⁺ and Zn ²⁺ , and trivalent metal ions such as Fe ³⁺ and Al ³⁺ . As ^the anion that binds to _{^{these, Cl -, NO 3 -,}} SO 4 -, I -, Br -, ClO 3 -, RCOO - (R is an alkyl group) and the like. Examples of the water-soluble organic solvent that can be used in the reaction solution according to an embodiment of the present invention include amides such as dimethylformamide and dimethylacetamide, ketones such as acetone, ethers such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane, polyethylene glycol, and polypropylene. Polyalkylene glycols such as glycol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, alkylene glycols such as thiodiglycol, hexylene glycol, diethylene glycol, ethylene glycol methyl ether, Lower alkyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols such as diethylene glycol monomethyl ether and triethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethanol, isopropyl In addition to monohydric alcohols such as alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, and isobutyl alcohol, glycerin, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethyl-imidazolidinone, triethanolamine, sulfolane, dimethylsulfoxide, etc. Can be mentioned. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular about content of the said water-soluble organic solvent in the reaction liquid which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, 5-60 weight% of the reaction liquid total weight, More preferably, 5-40 weight% is suitable. It is a range.

  The reaction liquid according to an embodiment of the present invention may further contain, for example, a water-soluble resin such as polyamine or a polyamine derivative, a water-soluble cross-linking agent, an acidic solution, or the like as an aggregation auxiliary material. Since these agglomeration aids have a relatively large molecular weight and thus have a long reaction time, the internal agglomeration force and adhesive strength of the agglomerated ink image formed by the combined use with the polyvalent metal salt can be increased. As a result, fixing of the aggregated ink image on the adhesive layer 1c can be promoted.

  Furthermore, a surfactant may be used as a coating aid for the purpose of preventing beading of the reaction liquid onto the adhesive layer 1c and uniform application of the reaction liquid onto the adhesive layer 1c. The surfactant used in one embodiment of the present invention is a fluorine-based surfactant, a silicone-based surfactant, a water-soluble anionic surfactant, a cationic surfactant, a nonionic surfactant, an amphoteric surfactant, etc. Various surfactants can be used. The amount of these surfactants to be added is preferably about 0.05 to 10% by mass, more preferably about 0.1 to 5% by mass with respect to the reaction solution.

  In addition to the above, the reaction solution according to the embodiment of the present invention may optionally contain additives such as a viscosity modifier, a pH adjuster, a preservative, and an antioxidant, as appropriate. The selection and addition amount of the surfactant that functions as a penetration accelerator must be taken into consideration in order to suppress the permeability of the reaction liquid to the recording medium. Furthermore, the reaction liquid according to an embodiment of the present invention is more preferably colorless, but it may be light in a range that does not change the color tone of each color ink when mixed with ink on a recording medium. Furthermore, as a preferable range of various physical properties of the above-mentioned reaction solution, the viscosity at around 25 ° C. is 1 to 30 cps. What was adjusted so that it might become the range of this is preferable.

ink
As the colored ink (ink) used in an embodiment of the present invention, any conventional ink-jet ink can be used. Preferably, a pigment ink containing at least a pigment as a colorant is used. preferable. The pigment ink that can be suitably used in the present invention will be described below.

  The pigment in the pigment ink is used in a mass ratio of 1 to 20 mass%, preferably 2 to 12 mass%, based on the total mass of the pigment ink. Specific examples of the pigment used in one embodiment of the present invention include those listed below.

  Examples of the black pigment include carbon black. For example, carbon black produced by a furnace method or a channel method, having a primary particle diameter of 15 to 40 mμ (nm) and a specific surface area by a BET method of 50 to 300 m 2 / g. A DBP oil absorption amount of 40 to 150 ml / 100 g, a volatile content of 0.5 to 10%, a pH value of 2 to 9 and the like are preferably used. Examples of commercially available products having such characteristics include No. 2300, no. 900, MCF88, No. 33, no. 40, no. 45, no. 52, MA7, MA8, no. 2200B (above, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei), RAVEN 1255 (above, made in Colombia), REGAL400R, REGAL330R, REGAL660R, MOGUL L (above made by Cabot), Color Black FW1, COLOR Black FW18, Color Black S170, Color Black S170, Color S Printex U (manufactured by Degussa) and the like can be preferably used.

  Examples of yellow pigments include C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 1, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 2, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 3, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 13, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 16, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 83 and the like. Examples of magenta pigments include C.I. I. Pigment Red 5, C.I. I. Pigment Red 7, C.I. I. Pigment Red 12, C.I. I. Pigment Red 48 (Ca), C.I. I. Pigment Red 48 (Mn), C.I. I. Pigment Red 57 (Ca), C.I. I. Pigment Red 112, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122 and the like. Examples of cyan pigments include C.I. I. Pigment Blue 1, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 2, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 3, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 15: 3, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 16, C.I. I. Pigment Blue 22, C.I. I. Vat Blue 4, C.I. I. Vat Blue 6 etc. are mentioned. Of course, the ink that can be used in an embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition to the above, a newly produced pigment such as a self-dispersing pigment can of course be used.

  Any water-soluble resin can be used as the dispersant for dispersing the pigment as mentioned above in the aqueous medium used in the production of the aqueous pigment ink. Those having a molecular weight in the range of 1,000 to 30,000 are preferred, and those having a molecular weight in the range of 3,000 to 15,000 are more preferred. Specific examples of such a dispersant include styrene, styrene derivatives, vinyl naphthalene, vinyl naphthalene derivatives, aliphatic alcohol esters of α, β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, acrylic acid, acrylic acid derivatives, and the like. At least two monomers selected from maleic acid, maleic acid derivatives, itaconic acid, itaconic acid derivatives, fumaric acid, fumaric acid derivatives, vinyl acetate, vinyl pyrrolidone, acrylamide, and derivatives thereof (of which at least One is a block copolymer comprising a hydrophilic polymerizable monomer), a random copolymer, a graft copolymer, or a salt thereof. Alternatively, natural resins such as rosin, shellac and starch can be preferably used. These resins are soluble in an aqueous solution in which a base is dissolved, and are alkali-soluble resins. In addition, it is preferable to contain the water-soluble resin used as these pigment dispersants in the range of 0.1 to 5% by mass with respect to the total mass of the pigment ink.

  In particular, in the case of a pigment ink containing a pigment as described above, the entire pigment ink is preferably adjusted to be neutral or alkaline. With such a configuration, it is possible to improve the solubility of the water-soluble resin used as the pigment dispersant, and to obtain a pigment ink having further excellent long-term storage stability. However, in this case, since it may cause corrosion of various members used in the ink jet recording apparatus, it is desirable that the pH range is 7-10. Examples of the pH adjuster used in this case include various organic amines such as diethanolamine and triethanolamine, inorganic alkali agents such as alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, Examples include organic acids and mineral acids. The colorant such as the pigment as mentioned above and the water-soluble resin as the dispersant are dispersed or dissolved in an aqueous liquid medium to become a pigment ink used in one embodiment of the present invention.

  A suitable aqueous liquid medium constituting the pigment ink used in one embodiment of the present invention is a mixed solvent of water and a water-soluble organic solvent, and the water is not a general water containing various ions but an ion. It is preferable to use exchange water (deionized water).

  Examples of the water-soluble organic solvent used by mixing with water include carbon atoms of 1 such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, sec-butyl alcohol, tert-butyl alcohol, and the like. Alkyl alcohols of -4; amides such as dimethylformamide and dimethylacetamide; ketones or ketoalcohols such as acetone and diacetone alcohol; ethers such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane; polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol; Ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,2,6-hexanetriol, thiodiglycol, hexylene glycol, diethylene glycol Alkylene glycols having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, such as coal; glycerin; ethylene glycol monomethyl (or ethyl) ether, diethylene glycol methyl (or ethyl) ether, triethylene glycol monomethyl (or ethyl) ether, etc. Lower alkyl ethers of monohydric alcohols; N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, 2-pyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone and the like. Of these many water-soluble organic solvents, polyhydric alcohols such as diethylene glycol and lower alkyl ethers of polyhydric alcohols such as triethylene glycol monomethyl (or ethyl) ether are preferred.

  The content of the water-soluble organic solvent as described above in the pigment ink is generally in the range of 3 to 50% by mass, more preferably in the range of 3 to 40% by mass, based on the total mass of the pigment ink. The water content used is in the range of 10 to 90% by mass, preferably 30 to 80% by mass, based on the total mass of the pigment ink.

  In addition to the above-described components, the pigment ink used in an embodiment of the present invention includes a surfactant, an antifoaming agent, and an antiseptic agent in order to obtain a pigment ink having desired physical properties as required. Etc. can be added suitably. In particular, the surfactant functioning as a penetration accelerator needs to be added in an appropriate amount to play a role of promptly penetrating the reaction liquid and the liquid component of the pigment ink into the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1. As an example of the addition amount, 0.05 to 10% by mass, preferably 0.5 to 5% by mass is suitable. As the anionic surfactant, for example, generally used ones such as a carboxylate type, a sulfate type, a sulfonate type, and a phosphate type can be preferably used.

  As a method for producing a pigment ink made of the above-described materials, first, a pigment is added to an aqueous medium containing at least a water-soluble resin as a dispersant and water, and after mixing and stirring, the dispersion described later Dispersion is performed using a means, and centrifugation is performed as necessary to obtain a desired dispersion. Next, a sizing agent and appropriately selected additive components such as those mentioned above are added to this dispersion and stirred to obtain a pigment ink used in one embodiment of the present invention.

  In addition, when using an alkali-soluble resin as described above as a dispersant, it is necessary to add a base in order to dissolve the resin. As bases at this time, organic bases such as monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, aminemethylpropanol and ammonia, or inorganic bases such as potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide can be preferably used.

  In addition, in the method for producing the pigment ink, it is effective to perform premixing for 30 minutes or more before stirring and dispersing the aqueous medium containing the pigment. That is, such a premixing operation is preferable because it improves wettability of the pigment surface and promotes adsorption of the dispersant on the pigment surface.

  The disperser used in the above-described pigment dispersion treatment may be any commonly used disperser, and examples thereof include a ball mill, a roll mill, and a sand mill. Among these, a high speed type sand mill is preferably used. Examples of such include a super mill, a sand grinder, a bead mill, an agitator mill, a glen mill, a dyno mill, a pearl mill, and a cobol mill (all are trade names).

  In addition, in an inkjet recording method using pigment ink, a pigment having an optimum particle size distribution is used because of demands such as clogging resistance. Reducing the size, increasing the filling rate of the grinding media, increasing the processing time, slowing the discharge speed, classifying with a filter or centrifuge after grinding, etc., and combinations of these methods The method is mentioned.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows members for directly forming an image on a laminate sheet.

  The ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided with a paper feed cassette 13 as means for storing a laminate sheet and a paper feed roller 18 for feeding the laminate sheet 1 from the paper feed cassette 13 to the downstream side of the apparatus. Yes. In the present embodiment, a laminate sheet having a predetermined size is used as the laminate sheet. On the downstream side of the paper feed cassette 13 and the paper feed roller 18, the transport rollers 19 a and 19 b, the recording head 6 as a reaction liquid application means for applying a reaction liquid for aggregating the ink coloring material, and ink are applied in this order. A recording head 7 as an image forming means, a drying unit 16 for drying the aggregated ink image formed by the reaction of the reaction liquid and the ink on the laminate, heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b, a conveying roller 21a and 21b is provided. On the downstream side of the transport rollers 21a and 21b, a paper discharge tray 22 is provided as a means for holding a laminated sheet on which an image is formed. Further, a conveying guide 20 for guiding the laminate sheet 1 conveyed by the conveying rollers 19a and 19b to the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b is provided at a position where the recording heads 6 and 7 and the aggregated ink image drying unit 16 face each other. It has been. In addition, a recovery system unit 15 is provided for maintaining the ejection stability of the recording heads 6 and 7 and preventing clogging of the nozzles of the recording heads 6 and 7 when left. Reference numeral 14 denotes an apparatus exterior. Further, a control unit (not shown) that controls the ink jet recording apparatus is provided.

  The ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment is not only capable of performing ink jet recording (also referred to as “ink jet recording according to the present invention” in the present specification) on a laminate sheet with a recording head, but also on a recording medium such as paper. Ink jet recording (also referred to as “normal ink jet recording” in this specification) can also be performed by the recording head 7. Switching between ink jet recording according to the present invention and normal ink jet recording can be performed by a signal indicating a result selected by a user on a host device serving as an image supply device. Further, the ink jet recording apparatus may further include an input unit for performing the above-described switching.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the CPU 100 executes control processing of the operation of the recording apparatus, data processing, and the like. The ROM 101 stores programs such as those processing procedures, and the RAM 102 is used as a work area or the like for executing these processes. The ejection of the reaction liquid and ink from the recording heads 6 and 7 is performed by the CPU 100 supplying drive data (image data) and drive control signals (heat pulse signals) of the heating elements to the head drivers 106 and 107. The CPU 100 controls the heating pressure applying roller motor 103 for driving the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b via the motor driver 103A, and the conveying rollers for driving the conveying rollers 19a and 19b and the conveying rollers 21a and 21b. The motor 104 is controlled via the motor driver 104A.

  Further, the control unit of the present recording apparatus can exchange information such as image data and commands with the host apparatus 200 such as a personal computer via an interface (not shown). Here, when performing inkjet recording according to the present invention, the controller can perform mirror inversion processing on the image data sent from the host device 200.

  Returning to FIG. 2, each of the recording heads 6 and 7 is an ink jet recording head provided with a plurality of reaction liquid discharge nozzles and a plurality of ink discharge nozzles. In the recording heads 6 and 7, the heating elements of each recording head generate heat according to the external image signal corresponding to each color, whereby the reaction liquid and ink droplets are ejected from the plurality of nozzles of each recording head 6, 7. In this embodiment, the line type recording head is described as the recording heads 6 and 7. Of course, the conventional serial type recording head may be used to sequentially form an image on the laminate sheet 1 with the reaction liquid and ink. Further, the ink jet recording means is not limited to the above, and any type can be used as long as it can eject ink, such as a piezoelectric element driving type.

  The recording head 7 described above is shown in a single color, but is not limited to this, and there are a plurality of recording heads represented by yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). It is well known that it is possible to form a color image by arranging a plurality of recording heads corresponding to color and density.

  Here, application of the reaction liquid to the laminate sheet 1 by the recording head 6 will be described. In the present embodiment, the reaction liquid can be applied to the laminate sheet 1 according to the image data of the ink image. In consideration of longer drying time due to an increase in the amount of reaction liquid applied to the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1, it is preferable to perform a thinning process on the discharge data of the reaction liquid. Of course, in the present embodiment, the reaction liquid may be applied without performing the thinning process, or the reaction liquid may be applied to the laminate sheet 1 by the recording head 6 with the entire surface covered. In the present embodiment, a mode in which the reaction liquid is applied to the adhesive layer 1c by the recording head 6 based on the thinned data will be described. When performing the thinning process, the CPU 100 of the control unit sets a predetermined thinning rate for image data to be formed on the RAM 102 functioning as a work area according to a predetermined program stored in a storage device such as the ROM 101. By performing the masking process, reaction liquid ejection data for changing the ratio of the number of dots of the reaction liquid to the number of ink dots per unit area to the adhesive layer 1c is created. The reaction liquid is applied to the adhesive layer 1c from the recording head 6 in accordance with the reaction liquid ejection data thus created. The thinning rate is not particularly limited, but is 50 to 90%, preferably 70 to 90%.

  When an image is formed using a plurality of recording heads 7 such as Y, M, C, K, etc., thinning processing is performed on the image data obtained by logically summing the image data of each color sent to the recording head 7 corresponding to each color. To generate reaction liquid discharge data.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the image data is data sent to the recording head 7 and may be binary data or multi-value (index) data.

  In this embodiment, a recording head is used as the reaction liquid application unit. For example, a roller coating machine (detailed in the second embodiment), a wire bar, a coating blade, a spray, etc. Any means for applying the reaction solution can be used.

  By the way, when the laminate sheet 1 is attached to a recording medium by heating while the ink on the adhesive layer 1c is undried, the residual moisture on the adhesive layer 1c becomes water vapor by rapid heating, resulting in a blistering state. "Phenomenon may occur.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the drying unit 16 for drying the aggregated ink image formed by the reaction between the ink and the reaction liquid on the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate is provided, thereby forming the adhesive layer 1c on the adhesive layer 1c. Aggregated ink images are dried, and this drying process can increase the speed of image output and suppress the Brewster phenomenon. The aggregated ink image drying unit 16 according to the present embodiment includes a heater and a fan, and the aggregated ink image formed on the laminate sheet 1 is dried by blowing warm air from the heater to the laminate sheet 1 by the fan. I do. In this embodiment, warm air is used for drying, but a conventionally known technique may be used as long as the temperature can be controlled according to the characteristics of the aggregated ink image, such as an infrared heater.

  The heating pressure applying means according to the present embodiment integrates the aggregated image formed on the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet and the adhesive layer by melting them with heat. In the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b, a layer made of silicone rubber is laminated as a surface layer around a support made of aluminum. The material of the support is not particularly limited to aluminum, and for example, a metal such as nickel or iron phosphate, a thermosetting resin excellent in strength such as acetal, or a material molded by ceramic or the like is used. be able to.

  Moreover, although the surface layer of the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b shown in FIG. 2 is made of silicone rubber, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is a material that easily peels off the adhesive layer and the aggregated ink image of the laminate sheet 1. If there is, it can be appropriately used as the layer structure. That is, the surface layer of the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b is a necessary condition that the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet 1 and the aggregated ink image are not offset on the surface. As a material that satisfies this requirement, silicone rubber is one of the optimum materials for forming a surface layer because it has low surface energy and high peelability. Other examples of the material forming the surface layer include, for example, fluorosilicone rubber, phenylsilicone rubber, fluorine rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, natural rubber, styrene rubber, isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, ethylene / Examples include propylene / butadiene copolymer and nitrile butadiene rubber. In particular, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, phenyl silicone rubber, fluorine rubber, and chloroprene rubber are preferable.

  When the surface layer of the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b according to the present embodiment is a material different from the above material, the surface layer may be covered with the above material.

  The heating pressure application rollers 17a and 17b can be controlled to release pressure by a pressing control device (not shown). Further, the heating pressure applying rollers 17 a and 17 b are configured to press the heating pressure applying rollers 17 a and 17 b through the laminate sheet 1 with a linear load of 1.0 kg / cm.

  The heating pressure application rollers 17a and 17b made of the above materials are configured to rotate in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 by a heating pressure application roller motor (not shown in FIG. 2). Inside the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b, a heater for ensuring temperature stability of the rollers is incorporated. As the heating means of the heater, normally used means such as a halogen lamp can be appropriately used. The set temperature is preferably 40 to 180 ° C., more preferably 50 to 120 ° C., based on the surface temperature of the laminate sheet 1.

  Hereinafter, a series of operations of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  When the power of the ink jet recording apparatus is turned on, the heaters and fans of the aggregated ink image drying unit 16 and the heating heaters of the heating pressure applying unit rollers 17a and 17b are turned on to raise the temperature to the set temperature in each unit.

  The half-moon shaped paper feeding roller 18 separates the laminated sheets 1 stacked on the paper feeding cassette 13 one by one and conveys them to the conveying path in accordance with a recording signal from the control unit. In the conveyance path, conveyance rollers 19a and 19b are provided, and the conveyance rollers 19a and 19b rotate the conveyance roller motor (not shown) to the position where the laminate sheet 1 is opposed to the recording head 6 on the conveyance guide 20. Transport. At this time, a sensor (not shown) senses the leading end of the laminate sheet 1 to accurately match the predetermined recording start position on the laminate sheet 1 with the ejection positions of the reaction liquid and ink from the recording heads 6 and 7. be able to.

  Next, the reaction liquid is applied from the recording head 6 to the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 according to the ejection data of the reaction liquid, and ink is applied by the recording head 7 according to the image data to form an image. At that time, the applied ink reacts with the reaction liquid applied on the adhesive layer 1c, whereby an aggregated ink image is formed on the adhesive layer 1c. Of course, this aggregated ink image is a mirror inverted image of the image finally formed on the recording medium. Further, the conveyance of the laminate sheet 1 during application of the reaction liquid and ink by the recording heads 6 and 7 is performed by the conveyance rollers 19 a and 19 b, and the region where the aggregated ink image is formed is agglomerated on the conveyance guide 20. Passing through the position facing the ink image drying unit 16, the aggregated ink image is dried by warm air from the aggregated ink image drying unit 16 and further increases the viscosity. Next, the laminate sheet 1 is conveyed to the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b.

  The heating pressure application rollers 17a and 17b rotate in the direction A by driving a heating pressure application roller motor (not shown), and heat and apply pressure to the laminate sheet 1 conveyed between the rollers 17a and 17b, thereby aggregating ink images. Is fixed to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet 1. When the heat pressure is applied, the laminate sheet 1 is discharged onto the discharge tray 22 by the transport rollers 21a and 21b.

  The laminate sheet 1 held on the sheet discharge tray 22 is conveyed to a laminate sheet attaching portion that is configured to include a hot-pressure roller and the like, not shown in FIG. The laminate sheet 1 is attached to the recording medium by the laminate sheet attaching section. Before the laminate sheet 1 is attached to the recording medium, the laminate sheet 1 is cut into a predetermined size by a cutting means such as a cutter (not shown) if necessary. That is, the laminate sheet 1 held by the paper discharge tray 22 is attached to the recording medium by the steps c) to e) described later. Such a process of attaching the laminate sheet 1 to the recording medium can be performed by a conventional method.

  When recording is not continued, the heater and fan of the aggregated ink image drying unit 16 and the heaters of the heating pressure applying unit rollers 17a and 17b are turned off by turning off the power, and the apparatus is stopped.

  In this embodiment, a sheet-like sheet prepared in a predetermined size is used as the laminate sheet, but a film-like sheet wound around a roll or the like may be used. In the case of using a film-like laminate sheet, a roll-out reel of the roll on which the film-like laminate sheet is wound is provided on the upstream side of the recording head 6, and the take-up reel is downstream of the means for attaching the film to the recording medium. What is necessary is just to provide in the side.

  Further, in this embodiment, the sheet discharge tray 22 is not provided, a conveyance path is provided on the downstream side of the conveyance rollers 21a and 21b, and the laminated sheet on which the image is formed is directly attached without temporarily holding the laminate sheet. You may make it convey to an attaching part.

  The ink jet recording apparatus described above includes a step of forming an image on a laminate sheet (also referred to as a step (a)), a step of applying heating and pressure to the laminate sheet formed of an image (also referred to as a step (b)), an image A step of attaching the formed laminate sheet to a recording medium (also referred to as step (c)), a step of applying heating and pressure to the laminate sheet attached to the recording medium (also referred to as step (d)), a laminate It includes means for carrying out the step of peeling the film substrate from the sheet (also referred to as step (e)). Hereinafter, these steps (a) to (e) to the implementation means will be described in detail.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the image forming method according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, the peeling layer 1d which makes easy peeling of these two layers is provided between the film base material 1a and the glossy layer forming material layer 1b. Reference numeral 10 denotes a recording medium to which the image-formed laminate sheet 1 is attached.

1. Step (a)
As shown in FIG. 4A, in this step, the reaction liquid is applied by the recording head 6 and the ink is applied by the recording head 7 to the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 fed from the paper feeding cassette 13. This is a process for forming an image.

  Specifically, the recording head 6 applies the reaction liquid to the adhesive layer 1c according to the discharge data of the reaction liquid. The region to which the reaction liquid is applied on the adhesive layer 1c is transported to a position facing the recording head 7 by the rotation of the transport rollers 19a and 19b. The recording head 7 applies ink according to the image data to the region to which the reaction liquid formed on the adhesive layer 1 c of the conveyed laminate sheet 1 is applied. In this way, by applying a reaction liquid on the non-ink-absorbing adhesive layer 1c and applying ink to the region to which the reaction liquid is applied, the reaction liquid and the ink rapidly aggregate and react, The fluidity of ink landed on the adhesive layer 1c is lowered. As a result, an aggregated ink image with reduced occurrence of bleeding and beading can be formed on the adhesive layer 1c. Therefore, a high-quality image can be formed on the laminate sheet without providing an ink absorbing layer on the laminate sheet.

  When a plurality of recording heads corresponding to Y, M, C, and K are used as the recording head 7, that is, when color image formation is performed, the recording head 6 converts the image data of each color into logical OR data. The reaction liquid is applied to the adhesive layer 1c based on the discharge data of the reaction liquid created by performing the thinning process.

2. Step (b)
As shown in FIG. 4- (b), this step is a step of fixing the image on the adhesive layer 1c by the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b after the laminated sheet 1 formed with an image is sufficiently dried. Specifically, this is a step performed to fix the aggregated ink image formed on the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 to the adhesive layer 1c.

  This step is a step that is not particularly necessary when an image having a low printing density and a relatively low ink is formed on the laminate sheet 1. When this step is not performed, the pressing of the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b is released, and the step (c) may be performed after the step (a).

  However, when the printing density of the image formed on the laminate sheet 1 is increased, for example, in a solid image, a solid aggregated ink image is deposited on the adhesive layer 1c, so that the surface area of the exposed adhesive layer 1c is increased. Will decrease. As a result, the adhesive force of the adhesive layer 1c is reduced. Further, in the case of a high-density image that is not a full-color image, there is a difference in adhesive strength between a portion where the image is not formed (non-image portion) and a portion where the image is formed (image portion) on the adhesive layer 1c. As a result, the image portion of the laminate sheet may be easily peeled off. Furthermore, since the amount of ink increases at secondary colors or higher, the thickness of the ink color material of the aggregated ink image also increases. Due to this thickness, there is a region where the adhesive layer 1 c and the recording medium are not partially in contact with each other, and a partial adhesion failure may occur between the laminate sheet 1 and the recording medium 10. Due to such poor adhesion, air bubbles may be mixed between the adhesive layer 1c and the recording medium 10 of the recording medium 10 to which the laminate sheet 1 is attached.

  This step is effective in solving such a problem. Before the laminate sheet 1 is attached to the recording medium 10, a heating and / or pressure step is performed once, and an image of the aggregated ink image on the surface of the laminate sheet 1 is obtained. This reduces the difference in adhesive strength between the image portion and the image-receiving portion. This principle is considered to be due to the difference in the adhesive force between the image area and the non-image area being reduced due to the component of the adhesive layer 1c oozing out from the gap of the aggregated ink image.

  Therefore, by performing this step, there is an advantage that peeling or air bubbles due to poor adhesion of the laminate sheet 1 to the recording medium 10 can be further prevented.

3. Step (c)
As shown in FIG. 4- (c), this step is a step of adhering the image-formed laminate sheet 1 created in steps (a) to (b) to the target recording medium 10. .

  In this step, the laminate sheet 1 is attached to the recording medium so that the image-formed adhesive layer 1c is aligned with the recording medium, that is, the aggregated ink image is sandwiched between the adhesive layer 1c and the recording medium. As described above, the image-formed laminate sheet 1 is affixed to a recording medium. Therefore, if the laminate sheet can be affixed, a recording medium with low or no ink absorbability, a plastic, a recording medium with a rough surface, etc. Needless to say, an image can be output to a three-dimensional shape or the like that cannot be formed with an ordinary ink jet recording apparatus.

  If necessary, the image-formed laminate sheet 1 may be cut into a predetermined size with a cutter before performing this step.

4). Step (d)
As shown in FIG. 4D, this step is a step of applying heat and pressure in order to fix the laminated sheet 1 attached to the recording medium 10.

  In FIG. 4- (d), reference numerals 41a and 41b denote hot pressure rollers, which have built-in heaters similarly to the heating pressure application rollers 17a and 17b. In the step (c), the heat-pressing rollers 41a and 41b apply heat to the laminated sheet 1 and the recording medium 10 that are pasted, so that the fixing of the laminated sheet 1 to the recording medium 10 is good. Become. When the step (b) is performed, in this step, heating and pressure can be performed for a short time or at a low pressure.

  In addition, when the target object to which the laminate sheet 1 is attached is a three-dimensional object or a special shape, this step may be performed by means of applying heat or pressure, such as an iron or a dryer.

5). Step (e)
As shown in FIG. 4- (e), this step is a step of peeling the film substrate 1a from the laminate sheet 1 attached and fixed to the recording medium 10.

  As described above, when the film substrate 1a is peeled off from the laminated sheet 1 that has been stuck, the laminated sheet becomes thin, and in the surface layer of the recording medium, the part where the laminated sheet is stuck and the part that is not stuck And the step becomes smaller. For this reason, the uncomfortable feeling at the boundary between the portion where the laminate sheet 1 is attached and the portion where the laminate sheet 1 is not attached on the recording medium 10 is reduced, and a good image can be output on the recording medium 10. it can.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, not only can an image be formed efficiently on the laminate sheet 1 as described above, but also a color image can be formed by applying inks having different densities or a plurality of color inks. Even in this case, an aggregated ink image in which occurrence of phenomena such as beading and bleeding is suppressed can be formed on the laminate sheet 1. In addition, an unprecedented effect that a high-quality color image can be formed on the recording medium even after the laminate sheet on which the aggregated ink image is formed is pasted on the recording medium can be obtained. it can.

  Hereinafter, although this embodiment is described in detail based on an example, this embodiment is not limited to the following example, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present embodiment. .

Example 1
In this example, the adjusted reaction liquid R1 and the pigment ink K1 were used. In the present specification, “part” and “%” are based on mass unless otherwise specified. In addition, the ink and reaction liquid used were both adjusted with water to a total amount of 100 parts.

[Preparation of pigment ink]
First, as described below, black pigment inks each containing a pigment and an anionic compound were prepared.

(Preparation of pigment ink K1)
<Preparation of pigment dispersion>
Styrene-acrylic acid-ethyl acrylate copolymer (acid value 240, weight average molecular weight = 5,000)
1.5 parts monoethanolamine 1.0 part diethylene glycol 5.0 parts ion-exchanged water balance The above ingredients are mixed and heated to 70 ° C in a water bath to completely dissolve the resin component. To this solution, 10 parts of newly produced carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) and 1 part of isopropyl alcohol were added, premixed for 30 minutes, and then dispersed under the following conditions.
・ Disperser: Sand grinder (Igarashi Machine)
・ Crushing media: Zirconium beads, 1 mm diameter ・ Filling rate of grinding media: 50% (volume ratio)
・ Crushing time: 3 hours
Further, centrifugal treatment (12,000 rpm, 20 minutes) was performed to remove coarse particles, thereby obtaining a black pigment dispersion.

<Preparation of ink>
Using the above dispersion, components having the following composition ratios were mixed to prepare an ink containing a pigment, which was designated as black pigment ink K1. The surface tension of this ink was 34 mN / m.
-30.0 parts of the above pigment dispersion-10.0 parts of glycerin-5.0 parts of ethylene glycol-5.0 parts of N-methylpyrrolidone-Acetylenol EH (manufactured by Kawaken Fine Chemicals)
1.0 part, remaining ion-exchanged water

[Preparation of reaction solution]
Next, as described below, reaction solutions containing a polyvalent metal salt and a surfactant were prepared.
(Preparation of reaction solution R1)
The components having the following composition were mixed and dissolved, and further filtered under pressure with a membrane filter (trade name: Fluoropor filter, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric) having a pore size of 0.22 μm to obtain a reaction solution R1.
・ Diethylene glycol 10.0 parts ・ Methyl alcohol 5.0 parts ・ Calcium chloride dihydrate 10.0 parts ・ Acetylenol EH (manufactured by Kawaken Fine Chemicals)
1.0 part and the balance of ion-exchanged water An image was formed on the laminate sheet 1 using the pigment ink K1 and the reaction liquid R1 prepared as described above, and the laminate sheet 1 was attached to the recording medium 10.

  First, the prepared reaction liquid R1 was applied (drawn) to the laminate sheet 1 with the recording head 6 and the pigment ink K1 with the recording head 7 to obtain an aggregated ink image on the laminate sheet 1.

  At this time, the pigment ink on the laminate sheet 1 was agglomerated by reacting with the reaction liquid R1, and the image formed on the laminate sheet 1 was a good image with reduced beading.

  Next, heat from the heater of the aggregated ink image drying unit 16 in the next step was blown to the aggregated ink image on the laminate sheet 1, and the solvent content of the aggregated ink image was evaporated. Thereafter, the aggregated ink image of the laminate sheet 1 was fixed to the adhesive layer 1c by the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b, and an image was formed on the laminate sheet 1. After this image-formed laminate sheet 1 is cut to a desired size, the laminate sheet 1 is attached to a printing Npi-coated paper (manufactured by Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.), and then laminated by hot pressure rollers 41a and 41b. 1 was attached to the recording medium 10 satisfactorily (fixed). At this time, the surface temperature of the hot pressure rollers 41a and 41b was 150 ° C., and the speed thereof was 20 mm / sec. The finally obtained image was a high-quality image and an excellent image having surface protection and fastness.

  The recording heads 6 and 7 used above had a recording density of 1,200 dpi, and the driving condition was a driving frequency of 10 kHz. Further, a 4 pl head was used for the ejection volume per dot.

(Second Embodiment)
In this embodiment, an application roller is used as a means for applying the reaction liquid to the laminate sheet. The apparatus configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the configuration to which the reaction solution is applied, and the description thereof is omitted. In the following description, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, the means for applying the reaction liquid to the laminate sheet 1 includes a reaction liquid container 23 and application rollers 24a, 24b and 24c, and is provided on the downstream side of the conveying rollers 19a and 19b. Yes. The reaction liquid stored in the reaction liquid container 23 is applied to the laminate sheet 1 by the rotation of the application rollers 24a, 24b and 24c. At this time, the application roller 24a can be brought into and out of contact with the adhesive layer 1c of the laminate sheet 1 or the conveyance guide 20 in accordance with an image signal sent from the control unit. The contact timing may be that the laminate sheet 1 is conveyed to a position where a desired area on the adhesive layer 1c faces the application roller 24a and then contacted with the adhesive layer 1c. You may contact | abut to the conveyance guide 20 before conveying to the position which opposes. This separation / contact control may be performed by a separation / contact control device (not shown). The surface of the application rollers 24a, 24b and 24c is preferably a material having good wettability with the reaction liquid in consideration of the application of a good reaction liquid to the laminate sheet, but a porous material or a surface uneven material such as a gravure roll Or the like can be used.

  In addition, in the application | coating operation | movement to the contact bonding layer 1 of a reaction liquid, the application rollers 24a-24c may be made to rotate each application roller independently, and may be driven by rotation of at least 1 of each application roller. Anyway.

  Recording heads 25a, 25b, 25c and 25d are provided on the downstream side of the application rollers 24a, 24b and 24c. The recording heads 25a to 25d are recording heads corresponding to K, C, M, and Y in order. The recording head according to the present embodiment can use the same recording head as that of the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, K, C, M, and Y color inks are used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and inks of other hues such as red (R) and skin color (S), and highlight cyan are used. Or highlight magenta can be used. Further, the number of color inks used is not limited to four, and can be arbitrarily selected according to the performance of the ink jet recording apparatus, such as a single color or five types.

  With respect to the series of operations of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment, portions that are the same as those in the first embodiment are omitted here, and only the portions that are characteristic of the present embodiment are described below.

  When the laminate sheet 1 is conveyed to the position where the application roller 24a on the conveyance guide 20 is opposed according to the image start instruction, the application roller 24a contacts the adhesive layer 1c, and then the application rollers 24a to 24c rotate. Thus, the reaction solution is applied to the adhesive layer 1c. Each color ink is applied to the area where the reaction liquid is applied by the recording heads 25a to 25d, and an aggregated ink image is formed on the adhesive layer 1c.

  As described above, since the image is formed on the adhesive layer 1c to which the reaction liquid is applied, the image formed on the adhesive layer 1c is suppressed from the occurrence of bleeding and beading, and the first embodiment is different from the first embodiment. Similar effects can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, although this embodiment is described in detail based on an example, this embodiment is not limited to the following example, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present embodiment. .

Example 2
[Preparation of pigment ink]
First, as described below, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow pigment inks each containing a pigment and an anionic compound were prepared.

(Preparation of pigment ink K2)
<Preparation of pigment dispersion>
Styrene-acrylic acid-ethyl acrylate copolymer (acid value 240, weight average molecular weight = 5,000)
1.5 parts monoethanolamine 1.0 part diethylene glycol 5.0 parts ion-exchanged water balance The above ingredients are mixed and heated to 70 ° C in a water bath to completely dissolve the resin component. To this solution, 10 parts of newly produced carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) and 1 part of isopropyl alcohol were added, premixed for 30 minutes, and then dispersed under the following conditions.
・ Disperser: Sand grinder (Igarashi Machine)
・ Crushing media: Zirconium beads, 1 mm diameter ・ Filling rate of grinding media: 50% (volume ratio)
・ Crushing time: 3 hours
Further, centrifugal treatment (12,000 rpm, 20 minutes) was performed to remove coarse particles, thereby obtaining a black pigment dispersion.

<Preparation of ink>
Using the above dispersion, components having the following composition ratios were mixed to prepare an ink containing a pigment, which was designated as black pigment ink K2. The surface tension of this ink was 34 mN / m.
-30.0 parts of the above pigment dispersion-10.0 parts of glycerin-5.0 parts of ethylene glycol-5.0 parts of N-methylpyrrolidone-Acetylenol EH (manufactured by Kawaken Fine Chemicals)
1.0 part, remaining ion-exchanged water

(Preparation of pigment ink C2)
A cyan pigment is prepared in the same manner as in the preparation of the pigment ink K2, except that 10 parts of carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) used in the preparation of the pigment ink K2 is replaced with pigment blue 15. Ink C2 was prepared.

(Preparation of pigment ink M2)
A magenta pigment ink was prepared in the same manner as in the preparation of the pigment ink K2, except that 10 parts of carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) used in the preparation of the pigment ink K2 was replaced with Pigment Red 7. M2 was prepared.

(Preparation of pigment ink Y2)
The yellow pigment is prepared in the same manner as in the preparation of the pigment ink K1, except that 10 parts of carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) used in the preparation of the pigment ink K2 is replaced with pigment yellow 74. Ink Y2 was prepared.

[Preparation of reaction solution]
Next, as described below, reaction solutions containing a polyvalent metal salt and a surfactant were prepared.
(Preparation of reaction solution R2)
After mixing and dissolving the components having the following composition, the mixture was further filtered under pressure with a membrane filter (trade name: Fluoropor filter, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric) having a pore size of 0.22 μm to obtain a reaction solution R2.
-Diethylene glycol 10.0 parts-Methyl alcohol 5.0 parts-Calcium chloride dihydrate 10.0 parts-Surflon S-141 (made by Seimi Chemical Co., Ltd.)
1.0 part / ion-exchanged water remaining part Using the pigment inks K2, C2, M2 and Y2 prepared as described above and the reaction liquid R2, an image is formed on the laminate sheet 1, and the laminate sheet 1 is recorded on the recording medium 10. Pasted on.

  First, the prepared reaction solution R2 was applied to the laminate sheet 1 with a thickness of 1 μm using the application rollers 24a to 24c. Next, pigment inks K2, C2, M2, and Y2 are respectively applied (drawn) to the region where the reaction liquid 2 is applied by the recording heads 25a to 25d, thereby obtaining an aggregated ink image on the laminate sheet 1. It was.

  As a result of such image formation, a high-quality aggregated ink image in which occurrence of beading and bleeding is suppressed is formed on the laminate sheet 1 in the same manner as in Example 1, and a finally obtained color image ( That is, the image after the laminate sheet is attached to the recording medium is also a high-quality image in which occurrence of phenomena such as beading and bleeding is reduced. In addition, since the resin layer was present on the image surface after being attached to the recording medium, the surface was protected and the image was excellent in image fastness such as water resistance. Further, an image having uniform gloss was formed over the front surface of the recording medium.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, an image is formed by an inkjet recording method on a laminate sheet to which a reaction liquid is applied, and when the laminate sheet is attached to a recording medium, a desired region of the laminate sheet image-formed using a thermal head Is attached to a recording medium.

  Conventionally, in any case of the laminate sheet attaching type and the laminate sheet direct printing type, the laminating process (the process of attaching the laminate sheet to the recording medium) was performed on the entire recording surface of the recording medium. The following problems may occur depending on the form of the recording medium (also referred to as a print) to which the laminate sheet is attached.

  That is, since a laminate layer is formed on the entire recording surface of a recording medium for a printed material in which an image is formed on a certain part of the recording medium, a portion other than the image area may not be used effectively. . For example, when a comment on an image is described on a printed matter, the laminate layer generally has a high water-repellent effect, and thus an oil-based writing instrument is required for describing the comment. This means that free addition and modification of comments is restricted.

  As described above, in the conventional laminating method, a laminating layer is formed on the entire recording surface of the recording medium. Therefore, depending on the form of the printed material, the laminating process is performed on an unnecessary area, that is, an area where no image is formed. Inconvenience may occur.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the laminate sheet is attached to the recording medium, the laminate sheet is not attached to an unnecessary area on the printed matter.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, the film-like thing is used among the laminate sheets 1 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the film-like laminate sheet 1 is referred to as a film 60. However, for convenience, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are attached to the film base material, the gloss layer forming material, and the adhesive layer.

  In FIG. 6, reference numeral 61 denotes an unwinding reel of a roll of the film 60 wound with the adhesive layer 1c on the outside. The unwinding reel 61 applies a back tension to the film 60. A recording head unit 62 is provided on the downstream side of the unwinding reel 61. The recording head unit 62 includes a recording head for applying a reaction liquid and a recording head for applying ink. By the recording head unit 2 having such a configuration, the reaction liquid and ink are discharged, and the reaction liquid is applied to the adhesive layer 1c prior to the ink, thereby forming an image on the surface of the adhesive layer 1c. Since the image formed in this manner is an aggregated ink image, an image with reduced phenomena such as beading and bleeding can be formed on the adhesive layer 1c even if the film 60 does not have an ink absorbing layer.

  The recording heads 6 and 7 described in the first embodiment can be used as recording heads that discharge the reaction liquid and ink according to the present embodiment.

  The means for applying the reaction liquid to the adhesive layer 1c is not limited to the recording head, and other means described in the first embodiment (for example, a roller coating machine) may be used. Further, the recording head for ejecting ink may be configured to form a single color image, or a plurality of recording heads corresponding to a plurality of colors (Y, M, C, K, etc.) and density are arranged in a row. Needless to say, the image may be formed.

  On the film base 1a side of the film 60, a marker 63 as means for clearly indicating the start position of the recording area by the ink jet recording method in order to reliably perform the cueing operation of the recording area in the pasting process as a post-process. Is provided, and marker information is given to the head of the recording area of the film substrate 1 a by the marker 63. In addition, a marker sensor 64 that reads the marker information and transmits a signal to the film transport unit is provided on the downstream side of the marker 63 in order to transport the film 60 based on the marker information. The film transport means includes film transport rollers 65, 67, and 69, and is disposed in the order of the transport rollers 65, 69, and 67 on the downstream side.

  On the downstream side of the marker sensor 64, a thermal head 66 is provided as means for applying heat and pressure to the film base 1a of the film 60. In the present embodiment, the thermal head 66 is described as a serial thermal head. The thermal head 66 is provided with a plurality of heating elements, and can selectively generate heat according to the data sent thereto. Further, the thermal head 66 is provided with a spring, and the film base 1a can be pressed by the elastic force of the spring when heat and pressure are applied. The pressing control of the thermal head 66 can be performed by a pressing control device (not shown). A platen roller 70 is provided at a position facing the thermal head 66 so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The movement of the platen roller 70 can be controlled by a platen roller control device (not shown). Reference numeral 68 denotes a take-up reel for the film substrate 1a. The take-up reel 68 applies tension to the film substrate 1a in the take-up direction.

  In the present embodiment, the aggregated ink image drying unit 16 and / or the heating pressure applying rollers 17a and 17b described in the first embodiment may be provided on the downstream side of the recording head unit 2.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 7, a CPU 700 executes control processing of the operation of the recording apparatus, data processing, and the like. The ROM 701 stores programs such as those processing procedures, and the RAM 702 is used as a work area or the like for executing these processes. The ejection of the reaction liquid and ink from the recording head unit 62 is performed by the CPU 700 supplying driving data (image data) and driving control signals (heat pulse signals) of the heating elements to the head driver 705. Further, the heat generation of the heating element of the thermal head 66 is performed by the CPU 700 supplying driving data (image data) and a drive control signal (heat pulse signal) of the heating element to the head driver 706. The CPU 700 controls a conveyance roller motor 703 for film conveyance for driving the conveyance rollers 65, 67 and 69 for film conveyance via a motor driver 703A, and the conveyance roller for conveyance of the recording medium (not shown in FIG. 6). A conveyance roller motor 704 for conveying a recording medium for driving (illustrated) is controlled via a motor driver 704A. Further, the CPU 700 can perform various controls in accordance with detection signals from various sensors including the marker sensor 64.

  Further, the control unit of the recording apparatus can exchange information such as image data and commands with a host apparatus 800 such as a personal computer via an interface (not shown). Here, when performing ink jet recording according to the present invention, the control unit can perform mirror inversion processing on the image data sent from the host device 800.

The process of attaching the adhesive layer 1c to the recording medium will be described in detail below.
In the present embodiment, the adhesive layer 1c is attached to the recording medium by applying heat and pressure (applying heat pressure) by the thermal head 66. Since the thermal pressure application by the thermal head 66 is performed based on the thermal pressure application data, a laminate layer can be selectively formed in the image-formed region on the adhesive layer 1c. In the present embodiment, since a serial type thermal head is used, the application of thermal pressure by the thermal head 66 is performed by scanning the thermal head 66 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. In this scanning, when the thermal head 66 generates heat for the serial data (thermal pressure application data) sent to the thermal head 66, the thermal head 66 scans in the direction of the length of the thermal head 66 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The heating element is heated according to the following serial data. By repeating this operation, heat pressure is applied to the film substrate 1a.

  The thermal pressure application data is data for generating heat from a plurality of heating elements included in the thermal head 66 and is data based on image data sent from the host device 800. The heat pressure application data is data obtained by quantizing image data in accordance with the resolution of the thermal head 66 (the number of heating elements per unit area), and may be binary data or multi-value (index) data. It may be. This quantization is achieved by the CPU 700 operating according to a predetermined program stored in the ROM 701 and processing image data supplied on the RAM 702 functioning as a work area. When the image data is a color image, this quantization is performed based on image data obtained by logically summing image data corresponding to each color (for example, Y, M, C, K, etc.) constituting the color. Needless to say.

  Note that the heat pressure application data is quantized based on the resolution of the thermal head 66, and may be data different from the image data sent to the recording head unit 62.

  In this embodiment, a serial type thermal head is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a line type thermal head may be used.

  When applying heat pressure to the adhesive layer 1c according to such heat pressure application data, the thermal head 66 presses the adhesive layer 1c by a press control device. At this time, among the plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 66, only the necessary heating element generates heat according to the heat pressure application data, so that only the necessary part of the film 60 can be attached to the recording medium.

  In the present embodiment, the thermal pressure application by the thermal head 66 is performed according to the thermal pressure application data, but is not limited to this. For example, a region where an image is formed on the adhesive layer 1c may be determined by a sensor as a detection unit, and the thermal pressure may be applied from the thermal head 66 according to the determination result. That is, the thermal head 66 only needs to apply a heat pressure to the region where an image is formed on the film substrate 1a. “A region where an image is formed” means that a region where ink has landed includes, of course, a portion where ink has not landed.

  Hereinafter, a series of operations of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the ink jet recording apparatus according to this embodiment as viewed from above.
As shown in FIG. 8, in this embodiment, the recording head constituting the recording head unit 2 is a serial type recording head, but it goes without saying that a line type recording head may be used.

  In FIG. 8, first, the recording head unit 62 moves to a predetermined scanning start position A before ink ejection starts. At this time, mark information for indicating the scanning start position is attached to the adhesive layer 1 c by the marker 63. Next, the recording head unit 62 is scanned along the X axis, and the reaction liquid and the ink are applied to the surface of the adhesive layer 1c according to the image data. When the first scanning is completed, the film 60 is fed by the recording width of the recording head unit 62 in the Y-axis direction by the rotation of the transport rollers 65, 67, and 69. Thereafter, the recording head unit 62 again moves the adhesive layer 1c of the film 60 in the direction opposite to the first time, performs the second scan, and applies the reaction liquid and ink. By repeating the above recording operation, an image is formed on the surface of the adhesive layer 1c of the film 60. The image formed at this time is an aggregated ink image. Thus, in the present embodiment, the time required for image formation is shortened by ejecting the reaction liquid and ink during both forward scanning and backward scanning while scanning the recording head unit 62 bidirectionally. The film 60 on which an image has been formed by the above method is conveyed by the rotation of the conveyance rollers 65, 67 and 69, and the image-formed region is conveyed to the thermal head 66.

  Next, the mark information marked on the film substrate 1 a of the film 60 is detected by the marker sensor 64, and the head of the recording area of the film 20 is located at a position corresponding to the position where the thermal head 66 starts applying heat pressure. Is done. At the same time, the recording medium 71 is transported by a transport roller for transporting the recording medium and set at an appropriate position. The “appropriate position” is a predetermined position at which the image area of the recording medium 71 becomes a desired position when the film 60 is attached to the recording medium 71. It can be determined appropriately according to the data. When the recording medium 71 is set at an appropriate position, the platen roll 70 is moved to the film 60 side, and the recording medium 71 is pressed against the film 60. At this time, the thermal head 66 has not yet pressed the film substrate 1a. Next, the thermal head 66 presses the film substrate 1a, and the plurality of heating elements included in the thermal head 66 generate heat according to the heat pressure application data, and the area corresponding to the heat pressure application data, that is, a desired area. Apply hot pressure. The film 60 is attached to the recording medium 71 by reciprocating the thermal head 66 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. When one scan of the thermal head 66 is completed, the transport rollers 65, 67, and 69 are rotated so that the recording medium and the film 60 are transported by the length of the thermal head perpendicular to the scanning direction. In addition, when the take-up reel 68 winds up the film substrate 1a, the film substrate 1a is peeled off from the gloss layer forming material layer 1b. At this time, the portion of the film 60 that includes the adhesive layer 1c that is not attached to the recording medium 71 in the film 60 is also wound up.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, when an image is formed on a laminate sheet, the reaction liquid is applied prior to ink application, and thus the same effects as those of the first embodiment and the second embodiment are obtained. It is done.

  In addition, when the laminated sheet on which the aggregated ink image is formed is attached to the recording medium, the thermal pressure is applied to the film substrate by the thermal head based on the data for applying the thermal pressure, and the laminated sheet is attached to the recording medium. Therefore, a laminate layer can be formed at a desired position on the recording medium. Therefore, in the printed matter, the glossy feeling due to the laminate layer can be given to the area where the image is formed, and the glossiness due to the laminate layer is not given to the area where the image is not formed. Thus, it is possible to form a good image that leaves the texture.

  Hereinafter, although this embodiment is described in detail based on an example, this embodiment is not limited to the following example, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present embodiment. .

Example 3
[Production of laminate film]
First, a laminate film was produced as described below.
-Coating liquid 1: A polymer ultraviolet absorber PUVA30M (Tg = 90 ° C.) manufactured by Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. dissolved in toluene and adjusted to a solid content ratio of 25%.
-Coating liquid 2: Nisshin Chemical Co., Ltd. acrylic emulsion 2706 (Tg = 21 degreeC, solid content ratio 48%).
-Substrate: PET film (thickness 6 μm).
First, the coating liquid 1 is applied and dried to the above substrate by a slot die coating method so as to have a dry film thickness of 6 μm, and then the coating liquid 2 is applied and dried so as to have a dry film thickness of 5 μm. Obtained.

[Adjustment of pigment ink]
Next, as described below, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow pigment inks each containing a pigment and an anionic compound were prepared.

(Preparation of pigment ink K3)
<Preparation of pigment dispersion>
・ Styrene-acrylic acid-ethyl acrylate copolymer (acid value 240, weight average molecular weight = 5,000)
1.5 parts, monoethanolamine 1.0 part, diethylene glycol 5.0 parts, ion-exchanged water 81.5 parts The above ingredients are mixed and heated to 70 ° C in a water bath to completely dissolve the resin component. To this solution, 10 parts of newly produced carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) and 1 part of isopropyl alcohol were added, premixed for 30 minutes, and then dispersed under the following conditions.
・ Disperser: Sand grinder (Igarashi Machine)
・ Crushing media: Zirconium beads, 1 mm diameter ・ Filling rate of grinding media: 50% (volume ratio)
-Grinding time: 3 hours Further, centrifugal separation (12,000 rpm, 20 minutes) was performed to remove coarse particles to obtain a pigment dispersion.

<Ink adjustment>
Using the above dispersion liquid, components having the following composition ratios were mixed to prepare an ink containing a pigment to obtain a colored pigment ink. The surface tension at this time was 34 mN / m.
Composition ratio of the colored pigment ink K, 30.0 parts of the above pigment dispersion, 10.0 parts of glycerin, 5.0 parts of ethylene glycol, 5.0 parts of N-methylpyrrolidone, 2.0 parts of ethyl alcohol, acetylenol EH (river Manufactured by Ken Fine Chemical Co., Ltd.) 1.0 part, 47.0 parts ion-exchanged water

(Preparation of pigment ink C3)
A pigment ink C3 containing a pigment was prepared in the same manner as the pigment ink K3 except that 10 parts of carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) used in the preparation of the pigment ink K3 was replaced with pigment blue 15. did.

(Preparation of pigment ink M3)
A pigment ink M3 containing a pigment was prepared in the same manner as the pigment ink K3 except that 10 parts of carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) used in the preparation of the pigment ink K3 was replaced with pigment red 7. did.

(Preparation of pigment ink Y3)
A pigment ink Y3 containing a pigment was prepared in the same manner as the pigment ink K3 except that 10 parts of carbon black (MCF88, manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei) used in the preparation of the pigment ink K3 was replaced with pigment yellow 74. did.

[Preparation of reaction solution]
Next, as described below, reaction solutions containing a polyvalent metal salt and a surfactant were prepared.
(Preparation of reaction solution R3)
Next, after mixing and dissolving the following components, pressure filtration with a membrane filter (trade name: Fluoropore filter, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric) having a pore size of 0.22 μm, and the pH is adjusted to 3.8. A liquid was obtained.
<Composition of reaction liquid R3>
-Diethylene glycol 10.0 parts-Methyl alcohol 5.0 parts-Magnesium nitrate 3.0 parts-Acetylenol EH (manufactured by Kawaken Fine Chemicals) 0.1 part-Ion-exchanged water 81.9 parts Pigment ink K3 prepared as described above C3, M3 and Y3, and reaction solution R3 were used to form an image on a laminate film, and the laminate film was attached to a recording medium. The created print is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, an area A is an area where an image is formed. When a similar printed matter is created by a conventional method, a laminate layer is also formed in a blank portion other than the image region (region B in FIG. 9). Therefore, when writing a comment or the like in the blank portion, oil-based writing Inconveniences such as having to use tools may occur. On the other hand, in the printed matter created in the present example, since a laminate film is attached only to the area A, a comment or the like is freely described in a blank area (area B in FIG. 4) other than the image forming area. can do.

Example 4
Next, an image as shown in FIG. 10 is produced by the image forming method according to the present embodiment based on the pigment ink, reaction liquid, and laminate film of each color (Y, C, M, K) produced in Example 3. Formed. A glass plate was used as the recording medium. As shown in FIG. 10, in particular, when forming an image having a non-strip shape, a laminate layer is formed in addition to the image portion in the conventional laminating method, so that the texture of the recording medium may be impaired. . However, by using this embodiment, only the image portion can be transferred to the recording medium without deteriorating the texture of the recording medium.

  In addition, on Examples 3 and 4, on the completed image, (1) 20 degree gloss measured with Nippon Denshoku Co., Ltd. gloss meter VG2000 is 45% or more, and (2) Atlas Fade Meter (Xenon Arc) ), After 100 hours of exposure, the criterion of 70% or more was achieved for all remaining ink colors.

It is sectional drawing which shows the layer structure of the laminate sheet which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of the inkjet recording device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the control part of the inkjet recording device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the image forming method which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of the inkjet recording device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of the inkjet recording device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the control part of the inkjet recording device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the top view which looked at the ink jet recording device concerning one embodiment of the present invention from the upper part. 3 is a printed matter created by an image forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a printed matter created by an image forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laminate sheet 1a Film base material 1b Glossy layer forming material layer 1c Adhesive layer 1d Release layer 6, 7, 25a, 25b, 25c, 25d Recording head 10, 71 Recording medium 13 Paper feed cassette 14 Equipment exterior 15 Recovery unit 16 Aggregation Ink image drying unit 17a, 17b Heating pressure application roller 18 Paper feed roller 19a, 19b, 21a, 21b Transport roller 20 Transport guide 22 Discharge tray 23 Reaction liquid container 24a, 24b, 24c Application roller 41a, 41b Hot pressure roller 60 Film 61 Unwinding reel 62 Recording head section 63 Marker 64 Marker sensor 65, 67, 69 Conveying roller 66 Thermal head 68 Take-up reel 70 Platen roller

Claims (10)

Preparing a laminate sheet comprising a base material and an adhesive layer having an adhesive function by heating;
A material application step of applying a material that reduces the fluidity of the ink to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet;
An image forming step of forming an ink image on the adhesive layer by applying the ink to the adhesive layer to which the material has been applied according to input image data using a first recording head;
An ink-jet recording method comprising: an attaching step of attaching an adhesive layer on which the ink image is formed to a recording medium. Preparing a laminate sheet comprising a base material and an adhesive layer having an adhesive function by heating;
A material applying step for applying a material for aggregating the ink coloring material to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet;
An image forming step of forming an ink image on the adhesive layer by applying the ink to the adhesive layer to which the material has been applied according to input image data using a first recording head;
An ink-jet recording method comprising: an attaching step of attaching an adhesive layer on which the ink image is formed to a recording medium.   3. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein in the material applying step, the material is applied to the adhesive layer by a second recording head.   The inkjet recording method according to claim 3, wherein the second recording head applies the material to the adhesive layer based on data created by thinning out the image data.   3. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein in the material applying step, the material is applied to the adhesive layer by a roller applicator.   6. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein in the attaching step, the adhesive layer is attached to the recording medium by a thermal head.   The thermal head applies the heat and pressure from the heat-resistant material based on data obtained by quantizing the image data according to the number of heating elements per unit area of the thermal head, whereby the adhesive layer is The ink jet recording method according to claim 6, wherein the ink jet recording method is attached to a recording medium.   8. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, further comprising a drying step of drying the ink image formed in the image forming step before executing the attaching step.   Before performing the attaching step, the method further comprises a heating pressure applying step for applying heat and pressure to the ink image dried in the drying step and the adhesive layer on which the ink image is formed. The inkjet recording method according to claim 8. A material applying means for applying a material that reduces the fluidity of the ink to the adhesive layer of the laminate sheet comprising a base material and an adhesive layer having an adhesive function by heating;
Image forming means for forming an ink image on the adhesive layer by applying the ink to the adhesive layer to which the material has been applied according to input image data using a first recording head;
An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: an attaching unit that attaches the adhesive layer on which the ink image is formed to a recording medium.

Images