JP2007031888A - Method for printing clothing using ink-jet printer and clothing printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a T-shirt printing system with which a pattern, etc., are beautifully printed on a T-shirt by using an ink-jet printer. <P>SOLUTION: The clothing printing method comprises, in a T-shirt printing system 1, inserting a T-shirt elongation tool 4 in a closed state into a T-shirt 5 of a printing target, opening the T-shirt elongation tool 4, pushing and extending the body part 51 of the T-shirt 5 right and left so as to draw out the front part 51a and the back part 51b of the body part into a plane state (clothing drawing out process), then placing the T-shirt 5 in a state in which the T-shirt is pushed and extended right and left by the T-shirt elongation tool 4 on a medium placing base 22 of an ink-jet printer 2 so as to lay the front part 51a upward (clothing setting process), driving the ink-jet printer 2 and printing a printing image on a set position in the front part 51a of the body part 51 of the T-shirt. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothing printing method and a clothing printing system capable of printing on clothing such as a T-shirt using an inkjet printer.

  Screen printing is generally employed when printing a pattern or the like on a T-shirt. In screen printing, it is necessary to produce a plate corresponding to the pattern, and in the case of multicolor printing, the printing process increases. For this reason, as a method for producing a T-shirt in which various different patterns are printed on the entire surface, a method of sewing a cloth dyed in advance is used. However, this method has a problem in that it is expensive and takes a long time. In addition, when a pattern is printed on the entire surface of clothing or the like, it is impossible for a product after sewing.

  Here, if an inkjet printer is used, an arbitrary picture can be easily printed on the surface of the T-shirt. However, since the ink jet printer is premised on printing on a flat surface such as paper, it is difficult to cleanly print on the surface of the T-shirt which is wrinkled and has an uneven state.

  In view of these points, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing method capable of printing an arbitrary pattern on a cloth product, in particular, a garment having a body shape such as a T-shirt using an inkjet printer. And to propose a printing system.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention relates to a method for printing a fabric product that performs printing on the surface of a fabric product such as clothing using an inkjet printer.
A stretching process for attaching a stretchable tool that can be stretched to the left and right to a print target site in a fabric product, extending the stretch tool to the left and right, and pushing the print target site to the left and right, thereby bringing the print target site into a planar state; ,
A cloth product setting step of placing the print target portion, which is pushed left and right by the extension tool, on a medium placement table of an inkjet printer;
And a printing step of printing on the print target portion of the fabric product by the inkjet printer.

  Here, there are no restrictions on the fabric products, such as bags, belts, coats, polo shirts, trousers, pet clothing, jumper jackets, Japanese clothes, and hats.

Next, the present invention relates to a garment printing method in which an inkjet printer is used to print on the surface of a garment having a trunk.
Put a clothing stretcher that can be stretched to the left and right into the body of the garment, extend the clothing stretcher to the left and right, and push the garment body to the left and right. A garment stretching process that stretches the print target part to a flat state;
A clothing setting step of placing the clothing, which is spread left and right by the clothing stretching tool, on the medium mounting table of the inkjet printer;
And a printing step of printing on the print target portion of the clothing by the inkjet printer.

  In the present invention, the cloth of the front part or the back part of the trunk part can be held in a flat state by pushing the clothes trunk part left and right using a clothes stretcher. Therefore, print data such as an arbitrary pattern can be printed neatly on the fabric held in a flat state by using an ink jet printer.

Here, in the method of the present invention, in the garment stretching step, using the garment stretching tool provided with a sleeve insertion plate that can be flattened by inserting the sleeve portion into a flat state when inserted into the sleeve portion of the garment. The front part of the body and sleeve of the garment, or the back part of the body and sleeve of the garment,
In the printing step, printing is performed on a front surface portion of the body and the sleeve portion of the garment or a back surface portion of the body and the sleeve portion in a flat state.

  If the clothes extending | stretching tool provided with the sleeve insertion board is used, it can print on the whole surface of the trunk | drum of clothing, and the front part of a sleeve part.

  In addition, the method of the present invention includes a print position setting step of photographing the clothing placed on the medium mounting table and setting a print position based on the photographed image prior to the printing step. It is a feature. Print data can be printed on the target site of clothing. Of course, it is also possible to perform printing at a random position, for example, a state that protrudes from clothing without specifying the printing position without taking a picture.

  Furthermore, the method of the present invention is characterized by having a heating or drying step for fixing the ink discharged to the clothing after the printing step. For example, it can be dried by pressing with an iron.

  Here, the method of the present invention is particularly suitable for printing T-shirts.

Next, the present invention is a clothing printing system for printing on clothing by the above method,
The clothing stretcher;
The inkjet printer,
The ink jet printer includes an ink jet head, a medium placing table for placing clothing printed by the ink jet head, and the ink jet head for printing predetermined print data on the clothes placed on the medium placing table. And a control means for controlling the driving of the motor.

  Here, it has an imaging unit for imaging clothing placed on the medium mounting table, and the control unit of the ink jet printer determines a printing position of print data based on a captured image acquired by the imaging unit. desirable. Of course, a template including a print image such as a large number of images may be displayed on the display to select the print image.

  Moreover, it is desirable to have a heating or drying means for drying the printing surface of the clothes placed on the medium mounting table.

  Further, as the ink jet printer, a printer having a transport unit that transports the medium mounting table sequentially through the printing position of the ink jet head and the heating or drying position by the heating or drying unit can be used.

Next, the clothes stretcher used in the present invention is:
A rectangular plate base;
A pair of slide plates slidable left and right along the surface of the plate-like base;
It is characterized by having a slide mechanism for sliding these slide plates toward and away from each other.

  Further, in order to be able to perform printing on the sleeve portion of the clothing, a sleeve insertion plate for inserting into the sleeve portion of the clothing is integrally formed on each of the slide plates as the clothing extension tool. Or what was attached may be used.

  Here, the slide mechanism includes an operation lever that is operated in a direction orthogonal to the slide direction of the slide plates to slide the slide plates, and a restraining unit that restrains the operation levers at the operation positions. It is desirable to have it. When a clothes stretcher is inserted into the body of the garment, a state where the tip of the operation lever protrudes from the hem of the garment can be formed. Further, when the operation lever is released in a state where it is expanded, the state is maintained by the restraining means. Therefore, if the operation lever is operated by a predetermined amount, a state where the clothing is pushed right and left can be easily formed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the front portion or the back portion of the trunk can be held in a flat state by spreading the garment left and right using the garment stretcher. In this state, since the gap between the ink jet head of the ink jet printer and the printing surface portion of the clothes can be kept constant, the clothes can be printed neatly.

  Embodiments of a T-shirt printing system to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(overall structure)
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a T-shirt printing system. The T-shirt printing system 1 includes an inkjet printer 2, a printer control device 3, and a T-shirt extender 4.

  The ink jet printer 2 includes a rectangular device base 21, a vertically long rectangular medium mounting base 22 that is horizontally supported by the device base 21 so as to be reciprocally movable in the longitudinal direction of the printer (Y direction), and the medium mounting. A transport mechanism 23 that transports the mounting table 22 in the front-rear direction, an inkjet head 24 for printing on the T-shirt 5 set on the medium mounting table 22, and a drive control unit 26 are included.

  The inkjet head 24 is mounted on the carriage 27 so that the ink nozzle surface 24a faces downward. The carriage 27 can reciprocate in the X direction along a guide shaft 28 spanned in the printer width direction (X direction). A carriage motor (not shown) is set on the top plate portion 29a of the support frame 29 supporting the carriage 27, and the carriage 27 and the inkjet head 24 mounted thereon are mounted by the carriage motor. Reciprocates in the X direction. The top plate portion 29a of the support frame 29 is attached to the left and right end plate portions 29b and 29c so as to be movable up and down. The distance between the ink nozzle surface 24 a of the inkjet head 24 mounted on the carriage 27 and the mounting surface 22 a of the medium mounting table 22 can be adjusted by moving the top plate portion 29 a up and down.

  On the medium mounting table 22, the T-shirt 5 in a state of being expanded to the left and right by the T-shirt extender 4 is placed. In this state, it is possible to print on the T-shirt 5 while moving the medium mounting table 22 in the Y direction and moving the inkjet head 24 back and forth in the X direction by the carriage 27.

  A plurality of CCD cameras 7 are installed on the apparatus base 21, and these CCD cameras 7 photograph the T-shirt 5 mounted on the mounting surface 22 a of the medium mounting table 22 at the initial position. Is for. A drying unit 8 having an infrared lamp or the like is provided at a position behind the inkjet head 24 in the apparatus base 2. The drying unit 8 dries the printed surface of the T-shirt 5 after printing and fixes the ink.

  The printer control device 3 is configured around a personal computer, and includes a control unit 31 that accommodates a processor, an input device 32 such as a keyboard, and a display device 33. The display device 33 can display an image of the T-shirt 5 taken by the CCD camera 7. In the printer control device 3, the photographed image of the T-shirt 5 is displayed on the front screen of the display device 33 in a state where it is superimposed on the print image. The operator can determine the print position of the print image by adjusting the position of the print image with respect to the T-shirt image via the input device 32. The controller 31 controls the transport mechanism 23 and the inkjet head 24 to perform a printing operation so that a print image is printed at the determined printing position.

  Various print images are stored in the image memory of the control unit 31, and the operator can print the image on the T-shirt 5 by selecting one of these print images. Of course, it is also possible to read an arbitrary image by an image reading means such as a scanner and print it. It is also possible to capture print data from the outside via a communication line and print it on a T-shirt.

  Next, FIGS. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing the T-shirt stretcher 4, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views showing the usage state. The T-shirt extender 4 is inserted into the body 51 of the T-shirt 5 from the hem side and extended left and right to expand the T-shirt 5 to the left and right, so that the front part 51a or the back part 51b of the body 51 is expanded. It is for holding in a flat state.

  The T-shirt extender 4 of this example includes a vertically long rectangular base plate 41 made of stainless steel, resin slide plates 42 and 43 that can be opened and closed along the surface of the base plate 41, and a slide plate 42. , 43 is provided with an opening / closing mechanism 44 for opening and closing the door 43 in the width direction. The slide plates 42 and 43 have a pair of guide holes 42a and 43a that are long in the lateral direction. Four guide pins 49 attached to the base plate 41 are inserted into the guide holes 42a and 43a in a slidable state.

  The opening / closing mechanism 44 includes an operation lever 45 extending in the vertical direction and two pairs of links 46a, 46b, 47a, 47b. The operation lever 45 is attached so as to be slidable in the vertical direction along the surface of the base plate 41. Further, a plurality of notches 45a and 45b having a plurality of waveforms for restricting the operation position are formed on the left and right edges of the operation lever 45. On the side of the base plate 41, a pair of engaging claws 48a and 48b, which are respectively fitted to one of the left and right notches 45a by a spring force, are attached. Therefore, the operation lever 45 is held so as not to move to a predetermined operation position in the vertical direction by the restraining means constituted by the notches and the engaging claws.

  The pair of links 46a and 46b are spanned in parallel between the operation lever 45 and one slide plate 42, thereby forming a four-bar linkage mechanism. Similarly, the other pair of links 47a and 47b are spanned in parallel between the operation lever 45 and the other slide plate 43, and similarly, a four-bar linkage mechanism is configured. When the operation lever 45 is operated in the vertical direction, the left and right slide plates 42 and 43 slide in the opposite direction, and these open and close.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the T-shirt elongating tool 4 having this configuration is inserted from below into the body 51 of the T-shirt 5 to be printed with the left and right slide plates 42 and 43 closed. Next, the left and right slide plates 42 and 43 are opened by pushing the operation lever 45 upward. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the front portion of the T-shirt body 51 that is stretched between the left and right slide plates 42 and 43 by the body 51 of the T-shirt 5 being pushed and expanded left and right. The portion 51a and the back portion 51b are stretched and held in a flat state.

  The base plate 41, the slide plates 42 and 43 and the links 46a, 46b, 47a and 47b of the T-shirt extension tool 4 may be rounded or tapered at the corners so as not to damage the T-shirt 5. desirable.

  Here, when printing is performed also on the left and right sleeve portions 52 and 53 of the T-shirt 5, it is necessary to use a T-shirt stretcher that can maintain the sleeve portions 52 and 53 in a flat state. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a T-shirt extension tool for this purpose.

  Since the basic configuration of the T-shirt extender 4A shown in this figure is the same as that of the T-shirt extender 4, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Sleeve insertion plates 401 and 402 that can be inserted into the sleeve portions 52 and 53 are integrally formed on the left and right slide plates 42A and 43A in the T-shirt extension tool 4A. When these sleeve insertion plates 401 and 402 are inserted into the sleeve portions 52 and 53 of the T-shirt 5, the sleeve portions 52 and 53 are spread out in a flat state and are held flat.

  The left and right sleeve insertion plates 401 and 402 can be attached to the slide plates 42A and 43A so as to be foldable or slidable into a protruding state and a retracted state, instead of being integrally formed with the slide plates 42A and 43A.

  Further, as a mechanism for opening and closing the left and right slide plates 42 and 43 or 42A and 43A, a mechanism other than the four-bar linkage mechanism described above can be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, inclined surfaces 411 and 412 are formed at the inner ends of the pair of slide plates 42 </ b> B and 43 </ b> B, and the operation lever 45 </ b> B has an inclination that can slide along these inclined surfaces 411 and 412. A configuration in which the surfaces 413 and 414 are formed can be employed. Also in this case, when the operation lever 45B is pulled, the left and right slide plates 42B and 43B can be opened to the left and right, and when the operation lever 45B is pushed up, the left and right slide plates 42B and 43B can be closed.

  When the T-shirt is expanded using the T-shirt extension tool shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the medium mounting table 22 having a mounting surface with a weak adhesive force formed on the mounting surface 22a is prepared. If the T-shirt 5 is affixed to the mounting surface 22a in an unfolded state, then a T-shirt stretcher is attached and the T-shirt 5 is pushed out to a state free from wrinkles, it is easy and reliable. In addition, it is possible to make the portion to be printed flat.

  Further, in this case, as shown in FIG. 6, two symmetrical left and right extension plates 61 and 62 having a shape corresponding to the sleeve and a substantially rectangular extension plate 63 disposed therebetween are used. The T-shirt 5 can also be expanded. In this case, the T-shirt 5 is spread and pasted on the adhesive placement surface 22a with the print target portion of the T-shirt 5 facing upward. Next, the left and right extension plates 61 and 62 are inserted. Finally, the extension plate 63 is pushed in between them, the left and right extension plates 61 and 62 are pushed out to both sides, and the T-shirt 5 is spread left and right to be flat.

(Print operation)
The printing operation of the T-shirt 5 using the T-shirt printing system 1 of this example will be described. First, the T-shirt stretcher 4 in a closed state is inserted into the T-shirt 5 to be printed, the T-shirt stretcher 4 is opened, and the body 51 of the T-shirt 5 is pushed to the left and right to expand the front of the body. The portion 51a and the back portion 51b are stretched to be in a flat state (clothing stretching step). If the T-shirt elongating tool 4A is used, both sleeve portions 52 and 53 are also stretched in a flat state, and it is possible to print well on the front surface portion or the back surface portion.

  Next, the T-shirt 5 that has been pushed right and left by the T-shirt extender 4 is placed on the placement surface 22a of the medium placement table 22 of the inkjet printer 2 (clothing setting step). For example, when printing is performed on the front surface portion 51a of the body portion 51 of the T-shirt 5, the front surface portion 51a is set to face upward.

  Before and after such a setting process, the operator selects a print image in the printer control device 3.

  Next, the T-shirt 5 placed on the medium placing table 22 is photographed by the CCD camera 7 and displayed on the screen of the display device 33 of the printer control device 3 in a state of being superimposed on the selected print image. The operator adjusts the position of the print image via the input device 32 and sets the print position of the print image (print position setting step). Further, the size of the print image may be enlarged or reduced according to the size of the T-shirt. Furthermore, the color of the print image can be changed on the screen.

  Thereafter, the inkjet printer 2 is driven to perform printing. That is, the transport mechanism 23 is driven to transport the medium mounting table 22 toward the printing position of the ink jet head, and the ink jet head 24 is driven in synchronization with this transport to print the print image on the front portion of the T-shirt body 51. Printing is performed at the set position in 51a.

  The T-shirt 5 after printing passes through the drying unit 8 and is conveyed. While passing through the drying unit 8, the printing surface of the T-shirt 5 is dried and the ink is fixed (drying process).

  The clothing printing method and the clothing printing system according to the present invention can also be applied to printing of clothing other than T-shirts. For example, printing can also be performed on the front surface portion or the back surface portion of a garment having a body portion such as a sweater.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to printing of fabric products other than clothing. For example, it can be applied to printing of various fabric products such as hats, gloves, socks, belts, and pet clothing.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a T-shirt printing system to which the present invention is applied. (a) And (b) is the top view and sectional drawing which show the T-shirt extending | stretching tool of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition of the T-shirt extending | stretching tool of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of a T-shirt extending | stretching tool. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of a T-shirt extending | stretching tool. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of a T-shirt extending | stretching tool.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 T-shirt printing system 2 Inkjet printer 3 Printer control apparatus 4, 4A, 4B T-shirt extending | stretching tool 5 T-shirt 7 CCD camera 8 Drying unit 21 Apparatus mount 22 Medium mounting base 22a Mounting surface 23 Conveying mechanism 24 Inkjet heads 26 and 31 Control unit 32 Input device 33 Display device 41 Base plate 42, 42A, 42B, 43, 43A, 43B Slide plate 44 Opening / closing mechanism 45 Operation lever 51 Trunk portion 51a Front portion 51b Back portion 52, 53 Sleeve portion 401, 402 Sleeve insertion plate

Claims (13)

In a printing method of a cloth product that prints on the surface of a cloth product such as clothing using an inkjet printer,
A stretching process for attaching a stretchable tool that can be stretched to the left and right to a print target site in a fabric product, extending the stretch tool to the left and right, and pushing the print target site to the left and right, thereby bringing the print target site into a planar state; ,
A cloth product setting step of placing the print target portion, which is pushed left and right by the extension tool, on a medium placement table of an inkjet printer;
And a printing step of printing on the print target portion of the fabric product by the ink jet printer. In a clothing printing method for printing on clothing with a trunk using an inkjet printer,
Put a clothing stretcher that can be stretched to the left and right into the body of the garment, extend the clothing stretcher to the left and right, and push the garment body to the left and right, so that the front or back part of the clothing body Clothing stretching process to stretch and flatten,
A clothing setting step of placing the clothing, which is spread left and right by the clothing stretching tool, on the medium mounting table of the inkjet printer;
And a printing step of printing on a front surface portion or a back surface portion of the body portion of the clothing by the inkjet printer. In claim 2,
In the garment stretching step, when the garment stretcher is provided with a sleeve insertion plate that can be spread and flattened when the sleeve is inserted into the sleeve of the garment, The printing target part in the front part, or the printing target part in the back part of the body part and the sleeve part of the clothing is in a flat state,
In the printing step, the clothing printing method is characterized in that printing is performed on the print target portions of the body and sleeve portions of the clothing in a flat state. In claim 2,
Prior to the printing step, the garment printing method includes a printing position setting step of photographing the clothing placed on the medium mounting table and setting a printing position based on the photographed image. In claim 2,
A garment printing method comprising a heating or drying step for fixing the ink discharged to the garment after the printing step. In any one of claims 2 to 5,
A clothing printing method, wherein the clothing to be printed is a T-shirt. A clothing printing system for printing on clothing according to the method of claim 2,
The clothing stretcher;
The inkjet printer,
The ink jet printer includes an ink jet head, a medium placing table for placing clothing printed by the ink jet head, and the ink jet head for printing predetermined print data on the clothes placed on the medium placing table. A garment printing system comprising: control means for controlling the driving of the garment. In claim 7,
Having photographing means for photographing clothing placed on the medium mounting table;
The clothing printing system, wherein the control unit of the inkjet printer determines a printing position of print data based on a photographed image acquired by the photographing unit. In claim 8,
A garment printing system comprising a heating or drying means for heating or drying a printing surface of the garment on which the medium mounting table is placed. In claim 9,
The ink-jet printer has transport means for transporting the medium mounting table sequentially through a print position of the ink-jet head and a heating or drying position by the heating or drying means. system. In any one of claims 7 to 10,
The clothing stretcher is
A rectangular plate base;
A pair of slide plates slidable left and right along the surface of the plate-like base;
A garment printing system comprising a slide mechanism for sliding these slide plates in directions toward and away from each other. In claim 11,
A sleeve printing plate for inserting into a sleeve portion of clothing is integrally formed with or attached to each of the slide plates. In claim 11 or 12,
The slide mechanism includes an operation lever that is operated in a direction perpendicular to the slide direction of the slide plates to slide the slide plates, and a restraining unit that restrains the operation levers at the operation positions. A clothing printing system characterized by that.

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