JP2008221651A - Recorder and liquid jet apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent polymerization hindrance due to oxygen in the atmospheric air in an ink jet recorder 100 which uses an ultraviolet curable ink. <P>SOLUTION: The recorder is equipped with a supporting drum 140 which rotates supporting a recording paper 150, a recording part carriage 170 which moves back and forth along a supporting surface 144, a recording head 180 which ejects the ultraviolet curable ink towards the recording paper 150, an ultraviolet irradiation part 162 which irradiates the ultraviolet curable ink with ultraviolet rays, a gas supply port 167 which supplies an inert gas, and an upstream gas guide part 168 which is arranged upstream from the ultraviolet irradiation part 162 along a rotation direction of the supporting drum 140 and guides the inert gas supplied from the gas supply port 167 along a surface of the recording paper 150 supported by the supporting drum 140. The inert gas is interposed between the atmospheric air and a surface of the ultraviolet curable ink adhered to the recording paper 150 and not cured yet after ejected from the recording head 180. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a liquid ejecting apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a liquid ejecting apparatus that use ultraviolet curable ink.

  There is a recording apparatus or a liquid ejecting apparatus that forms an image or a pattern on a recording medium using ultraviolet curable ink. The ultraviolet curable ink has a preferable characteristic as a printing ink, in which the curing is very slow until it is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and it is rapidly cured when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. In addition, since the solvent is not volatilized during curing, there is also an advantage that the environmental load is small.

  Furthermore, the UV curable ink exhibits high adhesion to various recording media depending on the composition of the vehicle, and is chemically stable after curing, such as adhesion, chemical resistance, weather resistance, and friction resistance. It has excellent characteristics such as high resistance to outdoor environments. Therefore, an image can be formed not only on a thin sheet-like recording medium such as paper, a resin film, or a metal foil, but also on an optical recording medium having a three-dimensional surface shape such as a label surface or a textile product. .

  As a method of attaching the ultraviolet curable ink to the recording medium, there may be coating, printing, and the like, but use of an ink jet recording apparatus that can form an arbitrary image or pattern with high accuracy without a printing plate is also expected. In addition, a structure that combines main scanning for moving the recording head for ejecting ink and sub-scanning for moving the recording medium in a direction crossing the main scanning direction enables the use of a nozzle with a limited size and a long length. An image can be recorded in an arbitrary area even on a recording medium having a large scale or area.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes that in an ink jet recording apparatus, an ink contains an ultraviolet curing agent and the recording surface immediately after recording is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to improve the quick drying property of the recording surface. More specifically, in an inkjet printer, an ultraviolet curable ink is used as the ink, and the ink attached to the recording medium is immediately cured by ultraviolet lamps installed at both ends of the recording head in the main scanning direction. Fixing is described.

  Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 each include a recording head that discharges ink that is cured by ultraviolet irradiation, and an ultraviolet irradiation unit that is connected to the recording head, and includes an image support, a recording head, and ultraviolet irradiation. There is a description relating to an image forming apparatus in which the section relatively moves. In the image forming apparatus described here, a structure is described in which an input digital image is formed on an image support by scanning with a plurality of recording heads, and ink is individually cured by ultraviolet irradiation for each scan.

  By the way, the ultraviolet curable ink is cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays, by starting a polymerization reaction suppressed by the inhibitor. However, it has been found that if oxygen is contained in the atmosphere at the stage where radicals are generated at the initial stage of the polymerization reaction, the radicals are combined with oxygen, so that curing may be inhibited. When such polymerization inhibition occurs, curing of a part of the ink is remarkably slowed. On the other hand, Patent Document 4 described below describes an ink jet printer that includes a chamber-structure housing and cures an ultraviolet curable ink in an inert gas atmosphere. Also, Patent Document 5 below describes that the curing atmosphere after ink landing is replaced with an inert gas.

JP 2004-1555046 A JP 2005-125513 A JP 2005-324443 A JP 2003-285426 A JP 2005-279992 A

  However, the ink jet printer described in Patent Document 4 has a structure in which the entire interior of the housing is filled with an inert gas. For this reason, the housing and the paper supply / discharge path must be remodeled in an airtight manner, and the amount of inert gas supplied at the time of operation becomes large, which is not practically usable. Patent document 5 does not mention a specific supply structure of nitrogen gas as an inert gas. Thus, in a recording apparatus using ultraviolet curable ink, it has been found that it is preferable to isolate uncured ultraviolet curable ink from the atmosphere with an inert gas, but the recording can be carried out practically or industrially. The structure of the device has not yet been provided.

  Therefore, for the purpose of solving the above problems, as a first embodiment of the present invention, an ultraviolet curable ink is attached to the surface of a recording medium to form an image, and the ultraviolet curable ink is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. A recording apparatus for fixing an image on a surface of a recording medium, the supporting drum rotating while supporting the recording medium on a supporting surface, and a direction away from the supporting surface by a predetermined distance and orthogonal to the rotation direction of the supporting drum A guide shaft extending in parallel with the guide shaft, a carriage guided by the guide shaft and reciprocating along the support surface, and an ultraviolet curable ink mounted on the carriage and supported by the support surface on the recording medium The recording head to be ejected and the ultraviolet curable ink disposed on the downstream side of the recording head along the rotation direction of the support drum and facing the support surface and irradiating the ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording medium with ultraviolet rays A gas supply unit for supplying an inert gas toward the surface of the recording medium supported by the external line irradiation unit and the support drum, and a gas supply unit arranged upstream of the ultraviolet irradiation unit along the rotation direction of the support drum. And an upstream gas guide unit that guides the inert gas supplied from the recording unit along the surface of the recording medium supported by the support drum, and is uncured ultraviolet light that is discharged from the recording head and adheres to the recording medium There is provided a recording apparatus in which an inert gas is interposed between the surface of a curable ink and the atmosphere. As a result, radicals generated in the ultraviolet curable ink adhering to the medium surface may combine with oxygen in the atmosphere to inhibit polymerization without providing a large structure such as an airtight structure for the entire recording apparatus. Is prevented.

  In the recording apparatus, the gas supply unit has the same speed as the surface of the recording medium on which the inert gas supplied from the gas guide unit to the surface of the recording medium supported on the support surface moves by the rotation of the support drum. An inert gas flowing in the gas may be supplied. Thereby, the effective density of the inert gas on the surface of the recording medium can be improved, and the concealability of the uncured ink with respect to oxygen in the atmosphere can be improved.

  In the recording apparatus, a downstream gas guide unit that guides an inert gas that forms a laminar flow on the surface of the recording medium supported by the support surface in a direction in which the inert gas is peeled off from the surface of the recording medium; and a downstream gas You may further provide the recirculation | reflux part which returns the inert gas stripped off by the guide part to an upstream gas guide part. Thereby, the utilization efficiency of the inert gas once supplied to the surface of the recording medium can be improved, and the consumption can be suppressed.

  Further, in the recording apparatus, the upstream gas guide unit may supply an inert gas to the surface of the recording medium between the recording head and the ultraviolet irradiation unit along the rotation direction of the support drum. Thereby, the ultraviolet curable ink in the period in which radicals combined with oxygen in the atmosphere are generated can be blocked from the oxygen in the atmosphere, thereby effectively preventing polymerization inhibition or lowering of the ultraviolet curable ink.

  Furthermore, in the recording apparatus, a direction in which the laminar flow of the atmosphere generated on the surface of the recording medium is separated from the surface of the recording medium between the recording head and the upstream gas guide portion along the rotation direction of the support drum. You may further provide the mist trap which guides to. As a result, ink mist discharged from the recording nozzles and floating without adhering to the recording medium is collected and prevented from adhering to the ultraviolet light source. Therefore, the performance of the ultraviolet irradiation part can be maintained over a long period of time.

  Furthermore, the recording apparatus may further include a mist trap gas guide for guiding an inert gas to the surface of the recording medium on the upstream side of the recording head along the rotation direction of the support drum. Thus, immediately after being ejected from the recording head, the uncured ultraviolet curable ink can be shielded from oxygen in the atmosphere, and polymerization inhibition or polymerization degradation due to oxygen can be further prevented.

  As a second embodiment of the present invention, an image is formed by attaching a liquid containing an ultraviolet curing component to the surface of the recording medium, and the liquid is irradiated with ultraviolet light to fix the image on the surface of the recording medium. A support drum that rotates while supporting a recording medium on a support surface, and a guide shaft that extends away from the support surface by a predetermined distance and extends parallel to a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the support drum A carriage that is guided by the guide shaft and reciprocates along the support surface, a liquid ejecting head that is mounted on the carriage and ejects liquid toward the recording medium supported by the support surface, and rotation of the support drum An ultraviolet irradiation unit disposed on the downstream side of the liquid jet head along the direction and opposed to the support surface to irradiate the ultraviolet curable liquid attached to the recording medium with ultraviolet rays and a recording drum supported by the support drum A gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas toward the surface of the medium, and an upstream side of the ultraviolet irradiation unit along the rotation direction of the support drum, and the inert gas supplied from the gas supply unit to the support drum An upstream gas guide that guides along the surface of the supported recording medium, and provides an inert gas between the uncured liquid surface ejected from the liquid ejecting head and attached to the recording medium and the atmosphere. An intervening liquid ejecting apparatus is provided. Thereby, the above-described effect can be enjoyed also in the liquid ejecting apparatus.

  It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. Further, a sub-combination of these feature groups can be an invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. In addition, not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution of the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of an ink jet recording apparatus 100 according to one embodiment. As shown in the figure, the recording unit 120 is formed between a pair of upright frames 130 facing each other, and a paper supply / discharge unit 110 including a paper supply unit 112 and a paper discharge unit 114.

  The recording unit 120 includes a support drum 140 and guide shafts 132, 134, 136, and 138 supported between a pair of parallel frames 130. The support drum 140 is supported by the horizontal rotation shaft 142 from the frame 130 and rotates in the direction of the arrow R shown in the drawing while holding the recording paper 150 on the support surface 144. Note that the members that rotate the support drum 140 are not shown.

  On the other hand, the pair of guide shafts 132, 134 of the two pairs of guide shafts 132, 134, 136, 138 that are parallel to each other pass through the recording unit carriage 170 and can be reciprocated. 170 is supported. The recording unit carriage 170 carries the recording head 180 for conveyance.

  The other pair of guide shafts 136 and 138 supports the irradiation unit carriage 160 in a state where it can also reciprocate. The irradiation unit carriage 160 carries an ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 (to be described later). Note that the illustration of the drive mechanism that moves the irradiation unit carriage 160 and the recording unit carriage 170 is omitted for the purpose of avoiding complicated drawing.

  For the recording unit 120 having the above-described structure, the sheet feeding unit 112 supplies a plurality of stored sheet-like recording sheets 150 one by one. The recording paper 150 supplied to the recording unit 120 is wound around the support surface 144 of the support drum 140 and rotates together with the support drum 140.

  The recording head 180 mounted on the recording unit carriage 170 discharges and adheres ultraviolet curable ink to the recording paper 150 that rotates while being supported by the support drum 140. Further, ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 to the ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording paper 150. In this way, the image formed with the ultraviolet curable ink is fixed on the surface of the recording paper 150.

  Further, when the support drum 140 is rotated once or more and an image is recorded on the recording paper 150 in a partial region in the longitudinal direction of the support drum 140, the recording unit carriage 170 moves along the guide shafts 132 and 134. A similar recording operation is performed on an area adjacent to the area. Thereafter, an image can be formed on the entire surface of the recording paper 150 by repeating the operation of moving the recording unit carriage 170 every time the support drum 140 makes one rotation or more while the recording head 180 performs the recording operation.

  In other words, in the ink jet recording apparatus 100, the rotation direction of the support drum 140 is the main scanning direction, and the moving direction of the recording unit carriage 170 is the sub scanning direction. This is different from many recording apparatuses in which the moving direction of the carriage is the main scanning direction and the conveyance direction of the recording paper 150 coincides with the sub-scanning direction of the carriage.

  The irradiation unit carriage 160 that conveys the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 moves in accordance with the movement of the recording unit carriage 170 and irradiates the ultraviolet curable ink immediately after being ejected from the recording head 180 onto the recording paper 150 with ultraviolet rays. To do. However, it is preferable that the load peak on the power supply unit of the ink jet recording apparatus 100 can be reduced by slightly shifting the timing of starting the movement of the irradiation unit carriage 160 and the recording unit carriage 170.

  That is, when the irradiation unit carriage 160 and the recording unit carriage 170 are integrated, the inertial mass to be accelerated when the movement of the carriage is started is significantly increased, so that the load on the drive mechanism is significantly increased. Further, in order to stably accelerate and decelerate a large mass, a frame 130 having a high strength and a large weight is required. Accordingly, the structure in which the irradiation unit carriage 160 and the recording unit carriage 170 are separated can reduce the capacity of the power supply device, thereby reducing the scale of the device, reducing the cost, and the like.

  The recording paper 150 on which the image is recorded in this manner is peeled off from the support drum 140 and sent to the paper discharge unit 114 to be accumulated. Since the structure relating to the paper supply / discharge in the paper supply unit 112 and the paper output unit 114 and the winding / peeling around the support drum 140 is out of the gist of the invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the recording unit 120 of the ink jet recording apparatus 100 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, in the recording unit 120, the recording unit carriage 170 is supported by a pair of guide shafts 132 and 134 and includes an ink tank 174 to support the recording head 180.

  The ink tank 174 holds a predetermined amount of ink supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown) and stably supplies a certain amount of ink to the recording head 180. The recording head 180 is disposed to face the recording paper 150 held on the support surface 144 of the support drum 140 and ejects ink toward the recording paper 150.

  The ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 is supported by the irradiation unit frame 159 of the irradiation unit carriage 160 and includes a plurality of lamp units 166 aligned along the rotation direction of the support drum 140. Thus, a plurality of lamp units 166 are arranged along the rotational movement direction of the recording paper 150 that moves according to the rotation of the support drum 140. Further, a gas supply port 167 is formed in the irradiation unit frame 159 near the lower end of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162.

  In the recording unit 120 as described above, the recording paper 150 to which the ink ejected from the recording head 180 adheres rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow R in the drawing as the support drum 140 rotates. The ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 supported by the irradiation unit carriage 160 is disposed on the downstream side of the recording head 180 in the rotation direction. Accordingly, the ultraviolet curable ink discharged from the recording head 180 and attached to the recording paper 150 is immediately irradiated with ultraviolet rays and cured.

  The ultraviolet curable ink that is cured by the ultraviolet rays irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 is prepared by adding an auxiliary agent such as an antifoaming agent or a polymerization inhibitor to a mixture of a vehicle, a photopolymerization initiator, and a pigment. The The vehicle is prepared by adjusting the viscosity of an oligomer, monomer or the like having photopolymerization curability with a reactive diluent. Therefore, the solvent is not volatilized for the purpose of curing the ink.

  As the vehicle, monofunctional or polyfunctional polymerizable compounds can be used. More specifically, oligomers (prepolymers) such as polyester acrylate, epoxy acrylate, and urethane acrylate can be exemplified, and these materials can also be used as a reactive diluent for adjusting the viscosity as an ink.

  As the photopolymerization initiator, benzophenone series, benzoin series, acetophenone series, and thioxanthone series are widely used. More specifically, 4-benzoyl-N, N, N-trimethyl benzene methanenannium chloride, 2-hydroxy 3- (4-benzoyl-phenoxy) -N, N, N-trimethyl 1-propylene n, -N, N-dimethyl N- [2- (1-oxo-2-propenyloxy) ethyl] A quaternary ammonium salt type water-soluble organic substance such as benzene methanol bromide can be used. This type of photopolymerization initiator has different ultraviolet absorption characteristics, reaction initiation efficiency, yellowing, and the like depending on its composition, so that it is properly used depending on the color of the ink.

  As the polymerization inhibitor, any compound that has radical scavenging ability and inhibits radical polymerization can be used. However, in consideration of ejection suitability and the like in the ink jet recording apparatus, at least one compound selected from hydroquinones, catechols, hindered amines, phenols, phenothiazines, and condensed aromatic ring quinones is preferable.

  Examples of hydroquinones include hydroquinone, hydroquinone monomethyl ether, 1-o-2,3,5-trimethylhydroquinone, 2-tert-butylhydroquinone and the like. Examples of catechols include catechol, 4-methylcatechol, 4-tert-butylcatechol and the like. Examples of hindered amines include compounds having a tetramethylpiperidinyl group.

  Examples of phenols include phenol, butylhydroxytoluene, butylhydroxyanisole, pyrogallol, gallic acid, gallic acid alkyl ester, and the like. Examples of phenothiazines include phenothiazine. Examples of the condensed aromatic ring quinones include naphthoquinone and the like.

  Further, the polymerization inhibitor may be carbon black or inorganic / organic fine particles having a polymerization-inhibiting functional group introduced on the surface. Examples of the polymerization-preventing functional group include a hydroxyphenyl group, a dihydroxyphenyl group, a tetramethylpiperidinyl group, and a condensed aromatic ring.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 alone. As shown in the figure, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 is formed by integrating a plurality of lamp units 166 aligned along the rotation direction of the support drum 140 by a lamp frame 164. Therefore, even when the ultraviolet output of each lamp unit 166 is small, a sufficient amount of ultraviolet irradiation can be obtained by arranging a large number of lamp units 166. This makes it possible to use a light source that is small and has high energy efficiency, although the output is small by itself, such as an LED.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one lamp unit 166 cut out. As shown in the figure, each of the lamp units 166 has a large number of light emitting elements 161 on its lower surface. Further, inside the lamp unit 166, there is a reflux path 163 penetrating in the longitudinal direction. Further, a plurality of rectifying plates 106 are formed inside the reflux path 163. In addition, a large number of radiation fins 165 are formed on the upper surface of the lamp unit 166 exposed to the outside in the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162.

  In addition, it is preferable that the ultraviolet irradiation range by the lamp unit 166 is wider than the width | variety of the nozzle row formed in each of the nozzle plates 191-195 mentioned later. Thereby, even when the timing of movement of the irradiation unit carriage 160 and the recording unit carriage 170 is shifted, the ultraviolet curable ink droplets attached to the recording paper 150 can be reliably irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

  When the ultraviolet irradiation section 162 shown in FIG. 3 is formed using the lamp unit 166 having the above structure, the reflux paths 163 of the lamp unit 166 communicate with each other. As a result, a reflux path 163 communicating with the entire length of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 in the longitudinal direction is formed.

Referring again to FIG. 2, when the inert gas is supplied from the gas supply port 167 at the upstream side end portion of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162, as shown by arrow N ₁ in the figure, the support surface 144 of support drum 140 A laminar flow of an inert gas that moves with the recording paper 150 is formed. The laminar flow of the inert gas flows along the recording paper 150 as indicated by the arrow N ₂ , and is eventually separated from the recording paper 150 by the downstream gas guide 169 as indicated by the arrow N ₃ , and the reflux path 163. Be guided to.

Since the inert gas is sequentially supplied to the return path 163, the inert gas which is induced in the return path 163, as indicated by arrow N _4, is pushed back to the upstream side of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162. Further, the inert gas is pushed back to the upstream end as shown by the arrow N ₅ is returned again to the vicinity of the surface of the recording sheet 150 by the upstream gas guide portion 168 is formed again laminar. Since the supplied inert gas circulates in this way, the surface of the recording paper 150 is replenished by supplying a small amount of inert gas leaking from the gap between the recording paper 150 and the support drum 140 and the irradiation unit carriage 160. Can be continuously covered with an inert gas.

  Note that the amount of inert gas supplied from the gas supply port 167 is such that the laminar flow rate of the inert gas formed on the surface of the support drum 140 inside the irradiation unit carriage 160 is equal to that of the support surface 144 of the support drum 140. It is preferable to control so as to coincide with the moving speed. Thereby, turbulent flow is not generated in the inert gas in the vicinity of the support surface 144, and the effective density of the inert gas on the surface of the recording paper 150 supported by the support surface 144 is increased. Therefore, the uncured ultraviolet curable ink adhering to the recording paper 150 can be reliably shielded from the atmosphere.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view independently showing the recording unit carriage 170 on which the recording head 180 and the mist trap 210 are mounted. As shown in the drawing, the recording unit carriage 170 has a carriage body 172 having a pair of horizontal through holes 176 through which guide shafts 132 and 134 are inserted, and an ink tank 174. A recording head 180 is mounted on the upper surface of the carriage body 172, and a mist trap 210 is mounted above the recording head 180.

  FIG. 6 is a front view showing a state in which the recording head 180 is viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow F in FIG. As shown in the figure, the recording head 180 includes five nozzle plates 191 to 195. Each of the head units 191 to 195 is formed with a nozzle for discharging ultraviolet curable ink. Further, a front opening 214 of the mist trap 210 is opened immediately above the nozzle plates 191 to 195, respectively.

  The five nozzle plates 191 to 195 form color images by ejecting different colors of ink. In addition, as a structure for ejecting ink from each of the head units 181 to 185, various methods such as a method of sucking ink droplets by electrostatic force or the like, and a method of ejecting using a quartz vibrator, a piezoelectric element or the like have already been used. It is known and can be appropriately selected according to the application.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the mist trap 210 mounted on the recording unit carriage 170 together with the recording head 180. As shown in the figure, the mist trap 210 includes a front opening 214 that opens toward the support surface 144 of the support drum 140 and a front opening 214 when the recording unit carriage 170 is mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus 100. And a lower rear opening 216 that opens downward and in the opposite direction to the front opening 214, and an upper rear opening 212 that opens above the front opening 214 and in the opposite direction to the front opening 214. The front opening 214, the upper rear opening 212, and the lower rear opening 216 communicate with each other. Therefore, a communication path that turns back with the front opening 214 as a vertex is formed inside the mist trap 210.

The mist trap 210 as described above acts as follows when the ink jet recording apparatus 100 performs a recording operation. On the surface of the recording sheet 150 to rotational movement in accordance with rotation of the support drum 140, a laminar flow of air indicated by the arrow A ₀ is generated in FIG. Since this laminar flow flows in front of the front opening 214 of the mist trap 210, inside the mist trap 210, as indicated by arrows A ₁ , A ₂ and arrow A ₃ , from the lower rear opening 216 to the upper rear opening 212. Atmospheric flow toward is induced. Ink mist generated from the ultraviolet curable ink discharged from the recording head 180 is sucked by this flow, peeled off from the vicinity of the recording paper 150, and guided to the upper rear opening 212. As a result, ink mist drifting in the vicinity of the recording paper 150 is also guided to the upper rear opening 212 and removed from the vicinity of the recording paper 150.

Note that the airflow indicated by the arrows A _{1 to} A ₃ as described above is naturally induced by the support drum 140 or the recording paper 150 that rotates. However, when the flow velocity decreases due to the resistance of the flow path, the filter that collects the ink mist, etc., the structure may be such that air is forcibly fed from the lower rear opening 216 or air is actively sucked from the upper rear opening 212. Good.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the recording unit carriage 171 equipped with the upstream gas guide unit 218 corresponding to the mist trap 210. As shown in the drawing, the recording unit carriage 171 is upstream of the carriage body 172 in the rotation direction of the support drum 140, and is upstream of the mist trap 210 that closes the gap between the recording unit carriage 171 and the recording paper 150. A gas guide 218 is provided. Further, as indicated by a dotted line, a side dam 178 that closes the space between the recording unit carriage 171 and the recording sheet 150 is also provided on the side surface of the recording unit carriage 171.

In the recording unit carriage 171, an inert gas is supplied between the upstream gas guide unit 218 for the mist trap and the carriage main body 172 as indicated by an arrow N ₁₁ . Supplied inert gas is, as indicated by the arrow N _12, is induced on the surface of the recording sheet 150, as indicated by the arrow N _13, results in a laminar flow along the surface of the recording paper 150. As a result, the space between the recording head 180 and the recording paper 150 is filled with the inert gas, and the ultraviolet curable ink discharged from the recording head 180 is blocked from the atmosphere. Therefore, an atmosphere containing oxygen is mixed with uncured ultraviolet curable ink, thereby preventing polymerization from being inhibited.

The inert gas flowing between the recording head 180 and the recording paper 150 includes ink mist generated from the ultraviolet curable ink ejected from the recording head 180. When an inert gas containing ink mist flows to the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162, the ink mist may adhere to the ultraviolet irradiation unit 162 and reduce the ultraviolet irradiation amount. Therefore, the inert gas, as indicated by the arrow N ₁₄ in the drawing, the mist trap 210 disposed on the downstream side of the rotation direction a recording head 180 of the support drum 140, peeled off from the vicinity of the recording paper 150 further, it is abandoned to the outside as indicated by arrow N _15.

  Although the ink jet recording apparatus 100 has been described as an example here, the structure of the recording apparatus or the liquid ejecting apparatus as described above is a color material ejecting apparatus, an organic EL display, or an FED in the manufacture of a color filter for a liquid crystal display. The present invention can also be applied to an electrode forming apparatus in the manufacture of (surface emitting display) or the like, or a sample ejection head used for biochip manufacturing.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall structure of an ink jet recording apparatus 100 according to one embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional structure of a recording unit 120 of the ink jet recording apparatus 100. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the ultraviolet irradiation part 162 independently. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the lamp unit 166 independently. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a recording unit carriage 170 alone. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which a recording head 180 and a mist trap 210 are viewed from the front. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a mist trap 210 in a recording unit carriage 170. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a recording unit carriage 171 according to another embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Inkjet recording device, 106 Current plate, 110 Feed / discharge unit, 112 Paper feed unit, 114 Paper discharge unit, 120 Recording unit, 130 Frame, 132, 134, 136, 138 Guide shaft, 140 Support drum, 142 Rotating shaft 144 support surface, 150 recording paper, 159 irradiation unit frame, 160 irradiation unit carriage, 161 light emitting element, 162 ultraviolet irradiation unit, 163 return path, 164 lamp frame, 165 heat radiation fin, 166 lamp unit, 167 gas supply port, 168 Upstream side gas guide, 169 Downstream side gas guide, 170, 171 Recording unit carriage, 172 Carriage body, 174 Ink tank, 176 Through hole, 180 Recording head, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195 Nozzle plate, 210 Mist Wrap, 212 upper rear opening, 214 front opening, 216 lower rear opening, 218 upstream gas guide portion

Claims (7)

A recording apparatus for forming an image by attaching an ultraviolet curable ink to a surface of a recording medium, and fixing the image on the surface of the recording medium by irradiating the ultraviolet curable ink with ultraviolet rays,
A support drum that rotates while supporting a recording medium on a support surface;
A guide shaft that is separated from the support surface by a predetermined distance and extends in parallel with a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the support drum;
A carriage guided by the guide shaft and reciprocating along the support surface;
A recording head mounted on the carriage and ejecting ultraviolet curable ink toward a recording medium supported by the support surface;
An ultraviolet irradiating unit that irradiates ultraviolet curable ink that is disposed on the downstream side of the recording head and facing the support surface along the rotation direction of the support drum and that adheres to the recording medium;
A gas supply unit for supplying an inert gas toward the surface of the recording medium supported by the support drum;
The inert gas supplied from the gas supply unit is guided along the surface of the recording medium supported by the support drum, arranged upstream of the ultraviolet irradiation unit along the rotation direction of the support drum. A recording apparatus comprising an upstream gas guide, wherein an inert gas is interposed between the surface of uncured ultraviolet curable ink ejected from the recording head and attached to the recording medium, and the atmosphere.   In the gas supply unit, the inert gas supplied from the gas guide unit to the surface of the recording medium supported by the support surface flows at the same speed as the surface of the recording medium moving by the rotation of the support drum. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inert gas is supplied. A downstream gas guide for guiding an inert gas that forms a laminar flow on the surface of the recording medium supported by the support surface in a direction in which the inert gas is peeled off from the surface of the recording medium;
The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a reflux unit that returns the inert gas peeled off by the downstream gas guide unit to the upstream gas guide unit.   2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upstream gas guide section supplies an inert gas to a surface of a recording medium between the recording head and the ultraviolet irradiation section along a rotation direction of the support drum.   A mist trap that guides the laminar flow of the atmosphere generated on the surface of the recording medium between the recording head and the upstream gas guide along the rotation direction of the support drum in a direction away from the surface of the recording medium The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   6. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a gas guide for a mist trap that guides an inert gas to the surface of the recording medium on the upstream side of the recording head along the rotation direction of the support drum. A liquid ejecting apparatus that forms an image by attaching a liquid containing an ultraviolet curable component to the surface of a recording medium, and fixes the image on the surface of the recording medium by irradiating the liquid with ultraviolet light,
A support drum that rotates while supporting a recording medium on a support surface;
A guide shaft that is separated from the support surface by a predetermined distance and extends in parallel with a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the support drum;
A carriage guided by the guide shaft and reciprocating along the support surface;
A liquid ejecting head that is mounted on the carriage and ejects liquid toward a recording medium supported by the support surface;
An ultraviolet irradiating unit that radiates ultraviolet rays to an ultraviolet curable liquid disposed on the downstream side of the liquid ejecting head along the rotation direction of the support drum and facing the support surface;
A gas supply unit for supplying an inert gas toward the surface of the recording medium supported by the support drum;
The inert gas supplied from the gas supply unit is guided along the surface of the recording medium supported by the support drum, arranged upstream of the ultraviolet irradiation unit along the rotation direction of the support drum. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising an upstream gas guide, wherein an inert gas is interposed between an uncured liquid surface ejected from the liquid ejecting head and attached to a recording medium and the atmosphere.

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