JP2009190297A - Masking method and masking device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a masking method, with which the outline of masking can be classified without becoming dim and the flattening of the surface of an image is strived even when the solid image is formed. <P>SOLUTION: Marking is executed in the following order (1)-(5). (1) A hydrophilic treatment is applied to a recording medium at the step S1. (2) A desired outline pattern is formed by discharging hydrophilic ultraviolet-curable type ink onto the recording medium applied with the hydrophilic treatment at the steps S2 and S3. (3) The outline pattern is cured by an ultraviolet beam at the step S4. (4) The ink droplets are impacted within the cured outline pattern in order to mark therewithin at the steps S5 and S6. (5) The marking within the outline pattern is cured by ultraviolet beam at the step S7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a marking method and a marking device.

Conventionally, as a marking method using ink, an image recording method described in Patent Document 1 (hereinafter, a conventional method) is known.
In the conventional method, an image is recorded by repeating a recording process of discharging ink toward a recording medium and irradiating the ink droplet landed on the recording medium with an active energy ray to cure the ink droplet a plurality of times. It is a method to do. In the first recording step, ink is ejected so that ink droplets that do not form the same pixel do not contact the recording medium after landing. In the second and subsequent recording steps, ink is ejected so as to fill in the space between the ink droplets cured on the recording medium.

According to such a conventional method, when an image close to a solid image is recorded, glossy image recording can be performed without the ink droplets that have landed on the recording medium moving.
However, the conventional method has the following problems.
(1) The conventional method includes the above-described steps, and the ink is ejected so as to fill the space between the ink droplets cured on the recording medium. Therefore, the marking (printing) outline is not clear and is blurred.
(2) When a solid image is formed, the surface of the image is difficult to be flattened (uniformized).
JP 2007-152671 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a marking method and a marking device that can clarify the contour of a marking without blurring and can flatten the surface of the image even when a solid image is formed.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object of the present invention, each invention has the following configuration.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a hydrophilic treatment is performed on a recording medium, a desired contour pattern is formed with hydrophilic ink on the recording medium on which the hydrophilic treatment has been performed, and the formed contour pattern is formed with a predetermined light beam. The hydrophilic ink is marked on the recording medium in the contour pattern after the curing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the recording medium is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, a desired contour pattern is formed with hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink on the recording medium subjected to the hydrophilic treatment, and the formed contour pattern is formed. The hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink is marked on the recording medium in the contour pattern after the curing with ultraviolet rays.
According to a third aspect, in the second aspect, after the marking is completed, the pattern according to the marking is further cured with ultraviolet rays.

In a fourth aspect based on the first to third aspects, the contour pattern is a linear pattern in which a single ink droplet spreads on the recording medium for the hydrophilic treatment and has a series of connections. A fifth invention is an ink jet recording apparatus including a recording head for discharging a droplet of ultraviolet curable ink to mark a recording medium with a desired pattern, the recording head having a desired contour on the recording medium. A first recording head for forming a pattern; and a second recording head for marking the inside of the contour pattern formed on the recording medium, wherein the first recording head and the second recording head are selectively used. To do.

In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, the recording medium is preliminarily subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, and the ultraviolet curable ink is a hydrophilic ink.
According to a seventh invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, the contour pattern formed by the first recording head is irradiated with ultraviolet light, or the marking pattern formed by the second recording head is irradiated with ultraviolet light. An ultraviolet light source for irradiation is further provided.
According to the present invention having such a configuration, the contour of the marking can be clarified without blurring. For example, the surface of the image can be flattened even when a solid image is formed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment of marking method)
In the embodiment according to the marking method of the present invention, a desired image pattern is formed using ink on a recording medium.
The recording medium applied to this embodiment is made of various papers such as plain paper and glossy paper, materials such as resin, metal and glass. In particular, it is suitable for those that do not have an ink receiving layer such as metal and resin.

The ink used in this embodiment is a hydrophilic ink, specifically, a hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink. In addition to black, various colors (white, clear, YMCK, etc.) are used as the color of the ultraviolet curable ink.
The marking method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the marking method. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the state of ink on the recording medium corresponding to the flowchart.

In this marking method, the recording medium is first subjected to a hydrophilic treatment (step S1). This hydrophilic treatment is performed, for example, by irradiating the recording medium with ultraviolet light using an excimer lamp.
The hydrophilic treatment is applied to the entire surface of the recording medium or a portion of the surface of the recording medium that requires marking. In the case where the hydrophilic treatment is performed on the portion that needs to be marked, the area of the portion subjected to the hydrophilic treatment is made larger than the area of the portion to be marked. In addition to excimer lamps, means for performing hydrophilic treatment include ultraviolet irradiation treatment using a low-pressure mercury lamp, plasma treatment, corona treatment, and the like.

Next, hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink droplets are ejected and landed on the hydrophilic recording medium (step S2). Thus, an example immediately after the ink droplets have landed on the recording medium is as shown in FIG.
The dot-shaped ink droplets that have landed on the recording medium wet and spread on the recording medium because the recording medium has been subjected to hydrophilic treatment, and a smooth linear contour pattern is formed (step S3). FIG. 2B shows a state in which a contour pattern is formed from the state of FIG.

Here, FIGS. 3A and 3B are enlarged when the state where the ink droplets land on the recording medium and the state where the linear outline pattern is formed by the wet spreading of the landed ink are respectively enlarged. .
As shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the contour pattern has one dot of ink droplet as a minimum unit, and these are connected in series by spreading and the thin lines are closed (FIG. 2B). reference).

Next, the contour pattern on the recording medium formed as described above is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cure the contour pattern (step S4). Thereby, the contour pattern has water repellency, but the recording medium in the contour pattern remains hydrophilic.
Thereafter, a plurality of ink droplets are landed on the recording medium in the contour pattern according to the size of the contour pattern (step S5). As described above, FIG. 2C shows an example immediately after the landing of a plurality of (many) ink droplets on the recording medium in the contour pattern.

  At this time, the inside of the contour pattern on the recording medium on which a plurality of ink droplets land has hydrophilicity. For this reason, the plurality of landed ink droplets wet and spread on the recording medium in the contour pattern, and the ink does not spread outside the contour pattern, and the inside of the contour pattern on the recording medium is marked (step S6). . An example of the marking (marking pattern) thus obtained is as shown in FIG.

Next, the marking obtained as described above is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cure the marking (step S7). As a result, the surface of the cured marking is flattened as shown in FIG.
In the above example, the contour pattern is rectangular, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described shape, and any pattern may be used as long as it shows contours of various images and characters.

As the ultraviolet light source, an ultraviolet lamp or an ultraviolet light emitting diode is used.
Furthermore, an ink jet, a dispenser, etc. are used as an ink droplet discharge means for discharging an ultraviolet curable ink droplet.
As described above, according to the embodiment of the marking method, the following effects can be realized.

(1) Since the contour pattern is formed, the contour can be clearly marked and the visibility is improved.
(2) Since the recording medium is subjected to hydrophilic treatment, wetting of the ink dots forming the contour pattern spreads, and a smooth and clear linear contour pattern can be formed.
(3) Since the recording medium is subjected to hydrophilic treatment, the marking surface can be flattened.
(4) Since the recording medium is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, even ink having poor hydrophilicity is effective.
(5) Since the recording medium is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment, the amount of ink used can be reduced because even a small amount of ink spreads wet.
(6) Since the contour pattern has water repellency due to UV curing of the contour pattern, the ink in the contour pattern does not spread more than necessary.
(7) Since ultraviolet curable ink is used, marking can be performed even on a recording medium having no ink receiving layer such as metal or plastic.

(Embodiment of marking device)
Next, the configuration of the embodiment of the marking device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
A marking apparatus according to this embodiment is an apparatus to which the above-described marking method is applied, and FIG. 5 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a main part of the marking apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 5, the marking device includes a carriage 4 on which a first recording head 1, a second recording head 2, and an ultraviolet light source 3 are mounted. The carriage 4 is guided by a guide member 5 in the main scanning direction. It can be reciprocated.

  The first recording head 1 forms an outline pattern of an image formed on the recording medium 6 with fine lines, ejects ink droplets toward the recording medium 6, and ejects ink droplets onto the recording medium 6. Let it land. The second recording head 2 ejects and drops a plurality of ink droplets in the contour pattern formed on the recording medium 6, and performs marking processing (printing processing) in the contour pattern by the plurality of ink droplets. Let Both the recording heads 1 and 2 are selectively used as will be described later.

  More specifically, in the first recording head 1, for example, the diameter of the ink ejection port of each nozzle is small so that each nozzle that ejects ink droplets can form a fine contour pattern. On the other hand, the second recording head 2 has, for example, the diameter of the ink discharge port of each nozzle of each of the first recording heads 1 so that each nozzle that ejects ink droplets can efficiently mark the inside of the contour pattern with ink. It is thicker than the diameter of the ink discharge port of the nozzle.

The ink used by the first recording heads 1 and 2 is a hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink. The ultraviolet light source 3 is a light source that generates ultraviolet light, and the generated ultraviolet light is irradiated toward the ink that has landed on the recording medium 6 as will be described later, whereby the ink is cured.
The recording medium 6 moves in the sub-scanning direction (direction orthogonal to the paper surface) during recording. As the recording medium 6, the same recording medium as in the embodiment of the marking method is used.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the embodiment shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, this embodiment includes a control circuit 7 that controls each unit, and a first recording head 1, a second recording head 2, an ultraviolet light source 3, and a carriage 4 are connected to the control circuit 7. Has been.
The control circuit 7 acquires pattern data sent from, for example, a host computer. Here, the pattern data is data used when the first recording heads 1 and 2 form a desired image or the like on the recording medium 6.
The control circuit 7 controls each unit based on a predetermined procedure as will be described later. That is, the control circuit 7 acquires the pattern data, and controls the first recording head 1, the second recording head 2, the ultraviolet light source 3, and the carriage 4 based on the acquired pattern data, as will be described later. .

Next, an example of the marking operation of the embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
In this example, an example in which an image pattern as shown in FIG. 2D is marked on a recording medium 6 that has been subjected to hydrophilic treatment in advance will be described.
When the control circuit 7 acquires the pattern data, based on the acquired pattern data, the contour pattern data for forming the contour pattern as shown in FIG. 2B and the contour pattern data as shown in FIG. Marking data for marking a portion surrounded by the contour pattern is extracted or divided.

Then, the control circuit 7 forms a contour pattern based on the extracted contour pattern data. The contour pattern is formed by the reciprocation of the carriage 4 as follows.
That is, in the forward movement of the carriage 4, the ultraviolet light source 3 is turned off, and the recording head 1 ejects ink droplets toward the recording medium 6 at a predetermined timing (step S11). As a result, ink droplets for forming a contour pattern land on the recording medium 6 (see FIG. 2A).

The dot-shaped ink droplets that have landed on the recording medium 6 are wet-spread on the recording medium 6 because the recording medium 6 has been subjected to hydrophilic treatment, and a smooth linear contour pattern is formed (FIG. 2B). reference). Therefore, the elapse of a predetermined period is awaited from the end of ink droplet ejection until the contour pattern is formed (step S12).
Then, when a predetermined period has elapsed in step S12, the carriage 4 starts a backward operation. In the return path operation of the carriage 4, the contour pattern (ink) on the recording medium 6 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet light source 3, and the contour pattern is cured (step S13). At this time, the contour pattern has water repellency, but the contour pattern on the recording medium 6 remains hydrophilic.

Next, the control circuit 7 performs marking in the contour pattern based on the marking data extracted as described above. This marking is performed as follows by the reciprocating motion of the carriage 4.
That is, in the forward operation of the carriage 4, the ultraviolet light source 3 is turned off, and the recording head 2 ejects ink droplets toward the recording medium 6 at a predetermined timing (step S14). As a result, a plurality (large number) of ink droplets for marking land on the recording medium 6 in the contour pattern (see FIG. 2C).

At this time, the inside of the contour pattern on the recording medium 6 on which a plurality of ink droplets has landed is hydrophilic. For this reason, the plurality of landed ink droplets wet and spread on the recording medium 6 in the contour pattern, and the inside of the contour pattern is marked (see FIG. 2D). Therefore, the elapse of a predetermined period is waited until marking from the end of ejection of the ink droplet (step S15).
Then, when a predetermined period has elapsed in step S15, the carriage 4 starts a backward operation. In the returning operation of the carriage 4, the marking in the contour pattern on the recording medium 6 formed as described above is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet light source 3, and the marking is cured (step S16). As a result, the surface of the cured marking is flattened as shown in FIG.
As described above, according to the embodiment of the marking device, the same effect as that of the embodiment of the marking method can be realized.

(Modification)
In the embodiment of the marking device described above, when the control circuit 7 acquires the pattern data, the control circuit 7 extracts the contour pattern data and the marking data based on the acquired pattern data, and uses the extracted data. I tried to do it.
However, contour pattern data and marking data are prepared in advance as pattern data, and the contour pattern is formed and marked as described above using the two types of data prepared in advance. Anyway.
In the embodiment of the marking apparatus, two recording heads 1 and 2 are provided and selectively used. However, when a single recording head is used and the contour pattern is formed, the amount of ink droplets discharged per nozzle is reduced, and when marking is performed, the amount of ink droplets discharged per nozzle is larger than in the above case. You may make it do. The control of the ink discharge amount is performed by the control circuit 7.

It is a flowchart for demonstrating the procedure of embodiment of the marking method of this invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of ink on a recording medium corresponding to the flowchart. (A) is a diagram showing a state where an ink droplet has landed on a recording medium and its enlargement, and (B) is a diagram showing a state where a linear outline pattern is formed by the wet spread of the landed ink and its enlargement. It is. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the cross section of the cured marking pattern. It is a front view which shows the schematic structure of the principal part of embodiment of the marking apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the control system of embodiment of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 ... Recording head, 3 ... Ultraviolet light source, 4 ... Carriage, 5 guide member, 6 ... Recording medium, 7 ... Control circuit

Claims (7)

  A hydrophilic treatment is performed on the recording medium, a desired contour pattern is formed with a hydrophilic ink on the recording medium subjected to the hydrophilic treatment, the formed contour pattern is cured with a predetermined light beam, and the curing is performed. A marking method for marking the hydrophilic ink on the recording medium in the later contour pattern.   A hydrophilic treatment is performed on the recording medium, a desired contour pattern is formed with a hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink on the hydrophilic recording medium, the contour pattern formed is cured with ultraviolet rays, A marking method for marking the hydrophilic ultraviolet curable ink on the recording medium in the contour pattern after curing.   The marking method according to claim 2, wherein after the marking is finished, the pattern related to the marking is further cured with ultraviolet rays.   4. The outline pattern is a linear pattern in which a single ink droplet spreads on the recording medium for the hydrophilic treatment and has a series of connections. The marking method in any one. An inkjet recording apparatus including a recording head that discharges ink droplets of ultraviolet curable ink to mark a desired pattern on a recording medium,
The recording head includes a first recording head that forms a desired contour pattern on the recording medium, and a second recording head that marks the inside of the contour pattern formed on the recording medium,
A marking apparatus, wherein the first recording head and the second recording head are selectively used. The recording medium has been subjected to a hydrophilic treatment in advance,
The marking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ultraviolet curable ink is a hydrophilic ink.   An ultraviolet light source for irradiating the contour pattern formed by the first recording head with ultraviolet rays or irradiating the marking pattern formed by the second recording head with ultraviolet rays is further provided. The marking device according to claim 5 or 6.

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