JP2012187825A - Mat agent applying device and inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mat agent applying device that repeats pressing and releasing of a cloth material impregnated with a mat liquid for every predetermined time period so as to consume the mat liquid that impregnates the cloth material little by little, and thereby efficiently applies the mat liquid on an applying roller, and to provide an inkjet recorder.SOLUTION: A projected portion 86 of a first rod 84A presses a pressing portion 82A of a web 82, and a mat liquid 200L to be impregnated is consumed and applied to a pressing roller 188. Since the first rod 84A is rotated, a recessed portion 87 is brought into contact with the pressing portion 82A. The recessed portion 87 is not brought into contact with the web 82, so that the pressing portion 82A which is once compressed is released from a pressure. Since the web 82 at a portion adjacent to the pressing portion 82A is impregnated with a sufficient amount of the mat liquid 200L, the mat liquid 200L is supplied to the pressing portion 82A from both of adjacent portions in a conveyance direction as shown by arrow 82B. Therefore, even when the mat liquid 200L temporarily becomes insufficient at the pressing portion 82A, the amount of the mat liquid 200L at the pressing portion 82A is restored.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mat agent coating apparatus and an ink jet recording apparatus.

  Conventionally, in an inkjet printing apparatus, due to insufficient drying of the image area and insufficient fixation of the printed matter, the printed matter that has been accumulated is damaged (stacker blocking), which causes damage to the finished printed matter. There was a problem. In particular, in a high-productivity ink jet printer, drying and fixing times tend to be short, so that insufficient drying and insufficient fixing are likely to occur, and blocking tends to occur when printing is performed on thick paper.

  The blocking described above may occur not only in the ink jet printing apparatus but also in, for example, an offset printing apparatus. In the offset printing apparatus, blocking is prevented by spraying powder for preventing adhesion between sheets on the sheet surface.

  However, in the powder spray method, there is a problem in that the inside of the printing machine is contaminated due to the diffusion of the excess powder and the powder supplied to the printed material at the time of double-sided printing being detached at the time of backside printing. In particular, in an ink jet printer that prints by applying a pretreatment liquid on paper, powder may be mixed in the pretreatment liquid application section, or powder may adhere to the ink jet head and cause a discharge failure. Can be a problem.

  Therefore, an image recording apparatus is disclosed in which an air curtain is provided in the printing machine to prevent the powder from diffusing inside the printing machine and outside the machine, and to reduce the number of cleanings and to prevent troubles due to wear of machine parts caused by the powder. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  Alternatively, the matting agent can be adhered to the paper at a predetermined interval with a sticking roller having a concave portion on the surface, the matting agent can be prevented from diffusing into the printing machine, and the matting agent can be dispersed in an adhesive solvent to disperse the matting agent. By a method for preventing detachment of the agent (for example, see Patent Document 2), or by a method in which the mat agent is dispersed in a non-adhesive solvent, and the solvent is evaporated by heating after application to a printed matter to melt and fix the mat agent. A method for preventing the matting agent from being detached is disclosed.

Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2002-500974 JP-A-8-224978

  However, the configuration described in Patent Document 1 discloses a measure for preventing the diffusion of surplus powder by the air curtain, but there is a problem that it is not possible to solve the contamination of the printing press due to the powder detached from the printed matter.

  Further, in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, when the dispersion liquid in which the matting agent is dispersed is applied to an ink jet printing machine in which insufficient drying and insufficient fixing are likely to occur, blocking is more likely to occur, and the matting agent is dispersed. The use of the dispersed liquid in the apparatus has problems such as scattering during replenishment of the liquid and problems in handling.

  In addition, a method for preventing the matting agent from detaching by dispersing the matting agent in a water-soluble solvent having an adhesive function has been proposed. However, although the contamination of the apparatus is improved, ink is gradually added to the concave portion of the coating roller. And it is difficult to maintain good coatability (transferability of a required amount of matting agent). In addition, the spraying of powder particles has a problem that the consumption of the particles itself increases.

  Therefore, the fabric material impregnated with the matting agent particle dispersion is brought into surface contact with the matting agent applying roller to apply the matting agent particles to the surface of the applying roller, and the matting agent is pressed and applied to the printed matter by the applying roller. It becomes possible to cope with this problem.

  However, even in this case, when a large amount of oil is impregnated into the cloth material in order to supply a large amount of matting agent, problems such as oil dripping from the cloth material occur. For this reason, it is necessary to transfer the matting agent efficiently by reducing the amount of the dispersion impregnated in the cloth material.

  That is, even if the fabric material is periodically refreshed by a method such as gradually unwinding the fabric material wound on a roll, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, the dispersion liquid is consumed in 1 JOB, and the coating amount decreases. There is a problem such as.

  In consideration of the above facts, the present invention repeatedly presses and releases the cloth material impregnated with the mat liquid at regular intervals, thereby consuming the mat liquid impregnated in the cloth material little by little and efficiently using the mat liquid. It is an object of the present invention to provide a matting agent applying device and an ink jet recording device applied to an applying roller.

  The matting agent applying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an applying strip impregnated with a dispersion in which matting agent particles are dispersed, and the dispersion is supplied to the surface in contact with the applying strip, and a printing surface of a recording medium An application roller that presses and applies the matting agent particles in the dispersion liquid, and a transfer path in which the application band material wound around the supply roller is taken up by the take-up roller. A first rod that presses against the surface and supplies the dispersion to the surface of the application roller, and the outer peripheral surface of the first rod is spaced at a constant distance from the application band toward the surface of the application roller. It is characterized by repeating pressing and releasing.

  According to the invention described above, the outer peripheral surface of the first rod is impregnated with a dispersion liquid in which a matting agent for improving the stacker blocking performance is impregnated into a belt material (for example, a cloth material (web)) and transferred to a roller. However, the dispersion liquid can be efficiently applied to the application roller by repeatedly pressing and releasing the application band material toward the surface of the application roller at regular intervals.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the matting agent application device according to the first aspect, wherein the application band member is the first rod disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction and the first rod disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction. It is wound around two rods and contacts with a length in the circumferential direction of the application roller.

  According to the above invention, the surface of the application band material along the circumferential direction of the application roller makes it easy to scrape the matting agent particles from the application band material, thereby improving the transfer performance of the matting agent particles to the surface of the application roller. In addition, the surface of the application belt can be cleaned with the surface of the application band material that has consumed the particles, and the transfer performance can be maintained.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the matting agent applicator according to the first or second aspect, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the first rod has a spline shape.

  According to the above invention, when the first rod presses the web (cloth material) with the spline-shaped convex portion and the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, both sides of the pressed portion in the transport direction are Since the mat liquid remains without being pressed because it hits the spline-shaped recess, and this mat liquid oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, the impregnated mat liquid can be efficiently applied to the applying roller little by little.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the matting agent applicator according to the first or second aspect, wherein the first rod has protrusions arranged on the outer peripheral surface in the circumferential direction and the axial direction. .

  According to the above invention, when the first rod presses the web (cloth material) with the protrusion (convex portion) and the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, the conveyance direction of the pressed portion and Since both sides in the width direction are valleys, the mat liquid remains without being pressed, and the mat liquid oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, so that the impregnated mat liquid can be efficiently applied to the application roller little by little. .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the matting agent applying apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the first rod is provided with an outer peripheral surface alternately with hard portions and soft portions in the circumferential direction. Features.

  According to the above invention, when the first rod presses the web (cloth material) at the hard portion and the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, the conveyance direction and the width direction both sides of the pressed portion are Since the mat liquid remains without being pressed because it hits the soft portion and this mat liquid oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, the impregnated mat liquid can be efficiently applied to the applying roller little by little.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the matting agent applying apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the first rod has holes arranged in an outer circumferential surface in a circumferential direction and an axial direction.

  According to the above invention, when the first rod presses the web (cloth material) on the outer peripheral surface, and the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, both the conveyance direction and the width direction adjacent to the pressed portion are Since the mat liquid remains without being pressed because it hits the hole, and this mat liquid oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, the impregnated mat liquid can be efficiently applied to the applying roller little by little.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the matting agent applicator according to the first or second aspect, wherein the first rod is eccentric.

  According to the above invention, when the first rod presses the web (cloth material) on the outer peripheral surface and the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, the first rod is pressed because it is eccentric. Since the mat liquid remains without being pressed on both sides of the transported portion in the conveying direction and the mat liquid oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, the impregnated mat liquid can be efficiently applied to the application roller little by little. .

  The matting agent applying device according to claim 8 is the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first rod is moved in the contact / separation direction with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the applying roller. It is characterized by being supported as possible.

  According to the above invention, the web (cloth material) is pressed in a state where the first rod is biased by the application roller, the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, and the first rod is separated from the application roller. Then, since the mat solution remains because both sides of the pressed portion in the conveying direction are not pressed, and this mat solution oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, the impregnated mat solution is efficiently applied little by little. Can be applied to the roller.

  The matting agent application device according to claim 9 is provided with an application strip impregnated with a dispersion in which matting agent particles are dispersed, and the dispersion is supplied to the surface in contact with the application strip, and the printing surface of the recording medium An application roller that presses and applies the matting agent particles in the dispersion liquid, and a transfer path in which the application band material wound around the supply roller is taken up by the take-up roller. A first rod that urges the surface to supply the dispersion to the surface of the application roller, and an outer peripheral surface of the first rod has a spiral shape that is symmetrical about the axial direction with the axial center as a center. It is characterized by being.

  According to the above invention, when the first rod presses the web (cloth material) with the spiral convex portion and the impregnated mat liquid is transferred to the application roller, both sides in the width direction of the pressed portion are Since the mat liquid remains without being pressed because it hits the spiral recess, and this mat liquid oozes out to the pressed portion of the web, the impregnated mat liquid can be efficiently applied to the application roller little by little. At this time, since the first rod has a symmetrical spiral shape with the center as the center, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of crease (wrinkle) at the center of the web or in the width direction.

  An ink jet recording apparatus according to a tenth aspect includes the matting agent applying apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects.

  According to the invention described above, when the dispersion material in which the matting agent for improving the stacker blocking performance is dispersed is impregnated in the application band material and transferred to the application roller, the outer peripheral surface of the first rod provides the application band material. The dispersion liquid can be efficiently applied to the application roller by repeating pressing and releasing at regular intervals toward the surface of the material.

  Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the mat liquid impregnated into the cloth material is consumed little by little by repeating pressing and releasing at regular intervals on the cloth material impregnated with the mat liquid, and the mat liquid is efficiently consumed. A matting agent applying device and an ink jet recording device applied to the applying roller can be provided.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a main part of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an expansion conceptual diagram which shows the mat agent supply part of the image recording apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an expansion conceptual diagram which shows the mat agent supply part of the image recording apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an expansion conceptual diagram which shows the mat agent supply part of the image recording apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an expansion conceptual diagram which shows the mat agent supply part of the image recording apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged view which shows the shape of the rod of the mat agent supply part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged view which shows the shape of the rod of the mat | matte agent supply part which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and the contact location of a web. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the movable mechanism of the mat agent supply part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the movable mechanism of the fixing | fixed part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the mat agent application amount change for every conventional processing number of sheets.

  Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the inkjet recording apparatus 100, a plurality of colors of thermoplastic resins and coloring materials are applied from the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y to the recording surface of the recording medium P held on the impression cylinder (drawing drum 170) of the drawing unit 116. It is an impression cylinder direct drawing type ink jet recording apparatus that forms a desired color image by ejecting the water-based ink contained therein, and the treatment liquid (components in the ink composition are aggregated on the recording medium P before ink ejection. An on-demand type image forming apparatus to which a two-liquid reaction (aggregation) method in which an image is formed on a recording medium P by reacting a treatment liquid and an ink liquid is applied.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet recording apparatus 100 mainly includes a paper feeding unit 112, a treatment liquid application unit 114, a drawing unit 116, a drying unit 118, a fixing unit 120, and a paper discharge unit 122. ing.

  The paper feeding unit 112 is a mechanism that supplies the recording medium P to the processing liquid application unit 114, and the recording media P that are sheets are stacked on the paper feeding unit 112. The paper feed unit 112 is provided with a paper feed tray 150, and the recording medium P is fed from the paper feed tray 150 to the processing liquid application unit 114 one by one. In order to prevent the recording medium P from being lifted, the paper feed tray 150 may be provided with a suction hole on the outer surface and connected to a suction unit that performs suction from the suction hole.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, a plurality of types of recording media P having different paper types and sizes (paper sizes) can be used as the recording medium P. A mode is also possible in which a plurality of paper trays (not shown) are provided in the paper feed unit 112 to distinguish and collect various recording media and the paper to be fed to the paper feed tray 150 is automatically switched from among the plurality of paper trays. In addition, a mode is also possible in which the operator selects or replaces the paper tray as necessary. In this example, a sheet (cut paper) is used as the recording medium P. However, a configuration in which a continuous paper (roll paper) is cut to a required size and fed is also possible.

  The processing liquid application unit 114 is a mechanism that applies the processing liquid to the recording surface of the recording medium P. The treatment liquid includes an aggregating agent that agglomerates the components in the ink composition applied by the drawing unit 116, and causes an aggregation reaction with the ink when the treatment liquid comes into contact with the ink. Separation is promoted, and it is possible to form a high-quality image without causing blurring after ink landing, landing interference (unification), or color mixing. In addition, as a process liquid, it can also comprise using another component other than a coagulant | flocculant as needed. By using the treatment liquid together with the ink composition, it is possible to increase the speed of ink jet recording, and an image with excellent density and resolution can be obtained even with high speed recording (for example, reproducibility of fine lines and fine portions).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the treatment liquid application unit 114 includes a paper feed drum 152, a treatment liquid drum 154, and a treatment liquid application device 156. The treatment liquid drum 154 is a drum that holds the recording medium P and rotates and conveys it. The processing liquid drum 154 includes a claw-shaped holding means (gripper) 155 on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and the recording medium P is sandwiched between the claw of the holding means 155 and the peripheral surface of the processing liquid drum 154. The tip can be held. The treatment liquid drum 154 may be provided with a suction hole on the outer peripheral surface thereof and connected to a suction unit that performs suction from the suction hole. As a result, the recording medium P can be held in close contact with the peripheral surface of the treatment liquid drum 154.

  A processing liquid coating device 156 is provided outside the processing liquid drum 154 so as to face the peripheral surface thereof. In the recording medium P, the processing liquid is applied to the recording surface by the processing liquid application device 156.

  The recording medium P to which the processing liquid is applied by the processing liquid application unit 114 is transferred from the processing liquid drum 154 to the drawing drum 170 of the drawing unit 116 via the intermediate conveyance unit 126 (first transfer cylinder conveyance unit).

  The drawing unit 116 includes a drawing drum 170 and inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a sheet pressing roller for removing the wrinkles of the recording medium P is disposed on the front side of the ink jet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y with respect to the drawing drum 170. Also good.

  Similar to the treatment liquid drum 154, the drawing drum 170 includes a claw-shaped holding means (gripper) 171 on its outer peripheral surface, and holds and fixes the leading end of the recording medium. The drawing drum 170 has a plurality of suction holes on the outer peripheral surface, and the recording medium P is attracted to the outer peripheral surface of the drawing drum 170 by negative pressure. As a result, contact with the head due to paper floating is avoided, and paper jam is prevented. In addition, image unevenness due to fluctuations in the clearance with the head is prevented.

  The recording medium P fixed to the drawing drum 170 in this manner is conveyed with the recording surface facing outward, and the recording surface includes thermoplastic resin and color material from the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, 172Y. Water-based ink is ejected.

  The inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y are full-line inkjet recording heads (inkjet heads) each having a length corresponding to the maximum width of the image forming area on the recording medium P. Is formed with a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles for ink ejection are arranged over the entire width of the image forming area. Each inkjet head 172M, 172K, 172C, 172Y is installed so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium P (the rotation direction of the drawing drum 170).

  The droplets of the corresponding color ink are ejected from the respective ink jet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, 172Y toward the recording surface of the recording medium P held tightly on the drawing drum 170, whereby the processing liquid application unit 114 The ink comes into contact with the treatment liquid previously applied to the recording surface, and the color material (pigment) dispersed in the ink is aggregated to form a color material aggregate. As a result, the color material flow on the recording medium P is prevented, and an image is formed on the recording surface of the recording medium P.

  In this example, the configuration of CMYK standard colors (four colors) is illustrated, but the combination of ink colors and the number of colors is not limited to this embodiment, and light ink, dark ink, and special ink are used as necessary. Color ink may be added. For example, it is possible to add an ink jet head that discharges light ink such as light cyan and light magenta, and the arrangement order of the color heads is not particularly limited.

  The drawing unit 116 configured as described above can perform drawing on the recording medium P in a single pass. Thereby, high-speed recording and high-speed output are possible, and productivity can be improved.

  The recording medium P on which an image is formed by the drawing unit 116 is transferred from the drawing drum 170 to the drying drum 176 of the drying unit 118 via the intermediate conveyance unit 128 (second transfer cylinder conveyance unit).

  The drying unit 118 is a mechanism that dries moisture contained in the solvent separated by the color material aggregating action, and includes a drying drum 176 and a solvent drying device 178 as shown in FIG. Similar to the treatment liquid drum 154, the drying drum 176 includes a claw-shaped holding unit (gripper) 177 on the outer peripheral surface thereof, holds the tip of the recording medium P by the holding unit 177, and suction holes on the outer peripheral surface of the drum. (Not shown), and the recording medium P can be adsorbed to the drying drum 176 by negative pressure. Further, an air blowing means 180 (adsorption assisting means) and a solvent drying device 178 are provided so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176.

  The blowing unit 180 is for assisting the adsorption of the recording medium P to the drying drum 176, and blows air obliquely toward the end of the recording medium P in the width direction, and the front end thereof is held by the holding unit 177. The recording medium P holding the toner is surely adsorbed without generating wrinkles from the front end side toward the rear end side.

  The solvent drying device 178 is arranged at a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176, and includes hot air drying means 182 in which a plurality of combinations of IR heaters and fans are arranged. Various drying conditions can be realized by appropriately adjusting the temperature and air volume of the hot air blown toward the recording medium P from each hot air jet nozzle of the hot air drying means 182. The recording medium P is conveyed while being attracted and restrained to the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 so that the recording surface faces outward, and the recording surface is dried by the IR heater and the hot air jet nozzle.

  Further, the drying drum 176 has suction holes on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and has suction means for performing suction from the suction holes. As a result, the recording medium P can be held in close contact with the peripheral surface of the drying drum 176. Moreover, since the recording medium P can be restrained by the drying drum 176 by performing negative pressure suction, the recording medium P can be prevented from being clogged.

  The recording medium P that has been dried by the drying unit 118 is transferred from the drying drum 176 to the fixing drum 184 of the fixing unit 120 via the intermediate conveyance unit 130 (third transfer cylinder conveyance unit).

  The fixing unit 120 includes a fixing drum 184 and a pressing roller 188 (smoothing means). Like the processing liquid drum 154, the fixing drum 184 includes a claw-shaped holding unit (gripper) 185 on the outer peripheral surface, and the leading end of the recording medium P can be held by the holding unit 185.

  By the rotation of the fixing drum 184, the recording medium P is conveyed with the recording surface facing outward, and smoothing processing and fixing by the pressing roller 188 are performed on the recording surface.

  The pressure roller 188 smoothes the recording medium P and fixes the ink by pressing the recording medium P on which the ink has been dried.

  An in-line sensor that inspects an image formed on the recording medium P may be provided so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the fixing drum 184. The in-line sensor is a measuring unit for measuring a check pattern, a moisture content, a surface temperature, a glossiness, and the like for an image fixed on the recording medium P. For example, a CCD line sensor can be suitably used.

  The pressure roller 188 is provided with a mat liquid application unit 80 as described later, and supplies the mat liquid 200L to the outer peripheral surface of the pressure roller 188. The mat liquid application unit 80 wraps the web 82 soaked with the mat liquid 200L made of a liquid (silicon oil or the like) in which the matting agent particles 200P are dispersed at a predetermined concentration around the first rod 84A and the second rod 84B, and press roller The mat liquid 200L is temporarily transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 188, and the matting agent particles 200P adhering to the roller surface are transferred again to the surface of the recording medium P.

  As a result, the recording medium P with the matting agent particles 200 </ b> P applied to the surface is conveyed to the paper discharge unit 122, and blocking (adherence) is prevented when a large number of sheets are stacked in the paper discharge unit 192. .

  Further, a paper discharge unit 122 is provided following these. A paper discharge unit 192 is installed in the paper discharge unit 122. A transfer drum 194 and a transport chain 196 are provided between the fixing drum 184 and the paper discharge unit 192 of the fixing unit 120. The conveyance chain 196 is wound around the tension roller 198. The recording medium P that has passed through the fixing drum 184 is sent to the transport chain 196 via the transfer drum 194 and is transferred from the transport chain 196 to the paper discharge unit 192.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet recording apparatus 100 of the present example has an ink storage / loading unit that supplies ink to each of the ink jet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y, and a treatment liquid application, in addition to the above configuration. A head maintenance unit for supplying a processing liquid to the unit 114 and cleaning the ink jet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, 172Y (wiping, purging, nozzle suction, etc. of the nozzle surface) A position detection sensor for detecting the position of the recording medium P, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of each part of the apparatus, and the like are provided.

<Details of each part>

  FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the treatment liquid application unit 114, the drawing unit 116, the drying unit 118, and the fixing unit 120, which are the main parts of the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. explain.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the treatment liquid drum 154, the intermediate transport unit 126 (first transfer drum transport unit), the drawing drum 170, the intermediate transport unit 128 (second transfer drum transport unit), the drying drum 176, and the intermediate transport unit 130. (Third transfer cylinder conveying means) and the fixing drum 184 are arranged side by side, and the recording medium P is conveyed by the respective drums, so that treatment liquid application, drawing, drying, and fixing are sequentially performed while being conveyed. It has become.

  Each intermediate conveyance section (the first transfer drum transfer means 126, the second transfer drum transfer means 128, and the third transfer drum transfer means 130) includes guide members 127, 129, and 131 with ribs, respectively, and sandwiches the rotation shaft. A holding claw (not shown) at the tip of the arm extending in a direction facing 180 degrees grips the tip of the recording medium P and rotates around the rotation axis, and the rear end of the recording medium P is in a free state. The recording medium P is conveyed along the guide members (127, 129, 131) so that the back side of the recording surface is convex.

  The intermediate transport units 126, 128, and 130 may be configured to use a chain gripper to grip the recording medium P and transport it with the back side convex.

  The ink jet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment records an image on a recording surface of a recording medium P. The recording medium P is not particularly limited, but is so-called high-quality paper used for general offset printing or the like. Ordinary printing paper mainly composed of cellulose, such as coated paper or art paper, can be used. General printing paper mainly composed of cellulose is relatively slow in ink absorption and drying in image recording by a general ink jet method using water-based ink, and color material movement is likely to occur after droplet ejection, and image quality is likely to deteriorate. However, in the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, it is possible to perform high-quality image recording with excellent color density and hue by suppressing the movement of the coloring material by aggregation.

  Of the recording media, so-called coated paper used for general offset printing is preferred. The coated paper is obtained by applying a coating material to the surface of high-quality paper, neutral paper, or the like that is mainly surface-treated with cellulose as a main component and is not surface-treated. The coated paper is liable to cause quality problems such as glossiness and scratch resistance of the image in normal aqueous inkjet image formation. However, in the inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, gloss unevenness is suppressed and glossiness is reduced. An image having good abrasion resistance can be obtained. In particular, a coated paper having a base paper and a coat layer containing an inorganic pigment is preferably used, and a coated paper having a base paper and a coat layer containing kaolin and / or calcium bicarbonate is more preferably used. Specifically, art paper, coated paper, lightweight coated paper, or finely coated paper is more preferable.

  As described above, the processing liquid application unit 114 applies the processing liquid to the recording surface of the recording medium P.

  The film thickness of the processing liquid applied to the recording surface by the processing liquid coating apparatus 156 is sufficiently smaller than the droplet diameter of the ink ejected from the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, 172Y of the drawing unit 116. Is desirable. For example, when the ink droplet ejection amount is 2 pl (picoliter), the average diameter of the droplets is 15.6 μm. At this time, when the film thickness of the processing liquid is large, the ink dots float in the processing liquid without contacting the surface of the recording medium P. Therefore, in order to obtain a landing dot diameter of 30 μm or more when the ink droplet ejection amount is 2 pl, it is desirable that the film thickness of the treatment liquid is 3 μm or less.

The processing liquid coating device 156 is mainly configured by a processing liquid container, a metering roller, and a coating roller (not shown). A processing liquid is stored in the processing liquid container, and a part of the measuring roller is immersed in the processing liquid. As the metering roller, a metal roller and an anilox roller in which a large number of cells are regularly formed with a certain number of lines on a roller peripheral surface having a ceramic coating on the surface of the metal roller are preferably used. As the material of the metal roller, iron, SUS, or the like is used. When iron is used as the material, the surface may be plated with chromium or the like in order to improve surface hydrophilicity, wear resistance, and rust resistance. As the cell structure of the anilox roller, for example, those having 150 to 400 lines, a cell depth of 20 to 75 μm, and a cell capacity of 30 to 3 cm ² / m ² can be suitably used. The diameter of the measuring roller is, for example, 20 mm or more and 100 mm or less.

  The metering roller is rotatably supported and connected to a motor (not shown), and is driven to rotate at a constant speed. Therefore, the processing liquid in the processing liquid container can be attached to the surface of the measuring roller, and this processing liquid can be transferred to the surface of the coating roller. The rotation direction of the metering roller may be the same as that of the application roller, and the peripheral speed of the outer periphery of the roller may be the same as that of the application roller, or a speed difference may be provided. When providing a speed difference, the peripheral speed of the metering roller is preferably 80% or more and 140% or less with respect to the peripheral speed of the application roller. By adjusting the peripheral speed between the application roller and the metering roller, the transfer rate from the metering roller to the application roller can be adjusted, and the coating film thickness on the recording medium P can be adjusted.

  A metering doctor blade is provided on the surface of the metering roller so as to come into contact therewith. The doctor blade is arranged on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the measuring roller with respect to the contact position between the measuring roller and the applying roller, and can measure the application liquid by scraping off the application liquid on the surface of the measuring roller. Thereby, the coating liquid measured by the doctor blade can be supplied to the coating roller.

  As the coating roller, a rubber roller having a rubber layer such as EPDM or silicon on the surface is preferably used. The application roller is rotatably supported and connected to a motor (not shown) and is driven to rotate at a constant speed. The rotation direction of the application roller is the same as that of the processing liquid drum 154, and the peripheral speed of the roller outer periphery is also rotated at the same speed as that of the processing liquid drum 154. As a result, the processing liquid transferred from the metering roller to the application roller is applied to the recording medium P held on the processing liquid drum 154.

  As described above, since the processing liquid application device 156 applies the processing liquid with the roller, it is possible to apply the processing liquid to the recording medium P uniformly and with a small application amount. Further, the processing liquid coating apparatus 156 contacts and separates the rollers of the processing liquid coating unit for each recording medium so as not to contaminate the processing liquid coating conveyance cylinder (processing liquid drum 154). It is preferable. The treatment liquid drum 154 conveys the recording medium P with a holding claw that holds the tip of the recording medium P. As a result, the recording medium P can be conveyed at high speed, and the occurrence of paper conveyance jams can be reduced.

  Note that the processing liquid applied to the recording medium P may be dried by providing an IR heater and a hot air jet nozzle on the outer periphery of the processing liquid drum 154 so as to face the peripheral surface. When an IR heater or a warm air ejection nozzle is provided, the IR heater is controlled to a high temperature (for example, 180 ° C.), and the warm air ejection nozzle uses a high temperature (for example, 70 ° C.) for a constant amount of air (for example, 9 m 3). / Min.) To the recording medium P. By the heating by the IR heater and the hot air jet nozzle, moisture in the solvent of the processing liquid is evaporated, and a thin film layer of the processing liquid is formed on the recording surface of the recording medium P. By thinning the treatment liquid in this way, the ink dots ejected by the drawing unit 116 come into contact with the recording surface of the recording medium P, and the necessary dot diameter can be obtained, and the thinned treatment liquid component Reacts with the colorant to cause aggregation of the coloring material, and an effect of fixing to the recording surface of the recording medium P is easily obtained. The processing liquid drum 154 may be controlled to a predetermined temperature (for example, 50 ° C.).

  Further, the treatment liquid contains an aggregating agent that aggregates the components in the ink composition applied by the drawing unit 116. The aggregating agent may be a compound capable of changing the pH of the ink composition, a polyvalent metal salt, or polyallylamines. In the present embodiment, from the viewpoint of the cohesiveness of the ink composition, a compound that can change the pH of the ink composition is preferable, and a compound that can lower the pH of the ink composition is more preferable. Preferred examples of the compound capable of lowering the pH of the ink composition include highly water-soluble acidic substances (phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, malonic acid, citric acid, derivatives of these compounds, and salts thereof).

  As described above, as the flocculant, an acidic substance having high water solubility is preferable, and an organic acid is preferable and an organic acid having a valence of 2 or more is more preferable in terms of improving the aggregation property and fixing the whole ink. Furthermore, an acidic substance having a valence of 2 to 3 is particularly preferable. As the divalent or higher organic acid, an organic acid having a first pKa of 3.5 or less is preferable, and an organic acid of 3.0 or less is more preferable. Specifically, phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, malonic acid, Preferred examples include citric acid.

  In the flocculant, the acidic substance may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Thereby, cohesion can be improved and the whole ink can be fixed. The content of the flocculant for aggregating the ink composition in the treatment liquid is preferably 1 to 50% by mass, more preferably 3 to 45% by mass, and still more preferably 5 to 40% by mass. is there. Further, it is preferable that the pH (25 ° C.) of the ink composition is 8.0 or more and the pH (25 ° C.) of the treatment liquid is in the range of 0.5 to 4. As a result, it is possible to increase the image density, resolution, and speed of inkjet recording.

  Further, the processing liquid can contain other additives. These additives include anti-drying agents (wetting agents), anti-fading agents, emulsion stabilizers, penetration enhancers, UV absorbers, antiseptics, anti-fungal agents, pH adjusters, surface tension adjusters, antifoaming agents, Well-known additives, such as a viscosity modifier, a dispersing agent, a dispersion stabilizer, a rust preventive agent, and a chelating agent, are mentioned.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the configuration in which the application method using the roller is applied is exemplified, but the application of the treatment liquid is not limited to the application method, and is performed by applying a known method such as an inkjet method or an immersion method. be able to. The coating method can be performed by a known coating method using a bar coater, an extrusion die coater, an air doctor coater, a blade coater, a rod coater, a knife coater, a squeeze coater, a reverse roll coater, or the like.

  The treatment liquid application step may be provided either before or after the ink application step using the ink composition. In the present embodiment, an aspect in which the ink application process is provided after the treatment liquid is applied in the treatment liquid application process is preferable. Specifically, before the ink composition is applied on the recording medium P, a treatment liquid for aggregating the pigment and / or self-dispersing polymer particles in the ink composition is applied in advance. An embodiment in which an ink composition is applied so as to come into contact with the treatment liquid applied on the medium P to form an image is preferable. Thereby, inkjet recording can be speeded up, and an image with high density and resolution can be obtained even at high speed recording.

The amount of the treatment liquid applied is not particularly limited as long as the ink composition can be aggregated. However, the amount of the aggregation agent applied is preferably an amount that makes the amount of the aggregation agent 0.1 g / m ² or more. Especially, the quantity from which the provision amount of a flocculant will be 0.2-0.7 g / m < ² > is preferable. When the applied amount of the flocculant is 0.1 g / m ² or more, good high-speed flocculence can be maintained according to various usage forms of the ink composition. Further, it is preferable that the amount of the flocculant applied is 0.7 g / m ² or less because the surface properties of the applied recording medium are not adversely affected (such as a change in gloss).

  The processing liquid application unit 114 records the processing liquid while measuring the processing liquid by the processing liquid coating device 156 while holding and transporting the leading end portion of the recording medium P by the holding means 155 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the processing liquid drum 154. A treatment liquid is applied to the medium P.

  The recording medium P to which the processing liquid is applied by the processing liquid application unit 114 is conveyed to the next drawing unit 116 by the intermediate conveyance unit (first transfer cylinder conveyance unit) 126. The recording medium P is held at its leading end by a holding claw (not shown) of the first transfer drum conveying means 126, and conveyed so that the recording surface faces inward and the back surface is convex along the guide member 127. Is done.

  Further, the first transfer drum transport means 126 has hot air drying means (not shown) inside (near the rotation axis), and blows hot air on the recording surface (front surface) side of the recording medium P facing inward during transport. The treatment liquid applied to the surface is dried. Accordingly, when ink is ejected onto the recording medium P in the drawing unit 116, movement of the landing ink on the recording medium P at the time of ink adhesion is prevented.

  The drawing drum 170 of the drawing unit 116 holds the leading end portion of the recording medium P conveyed by the first transfer drum conveying unit 126 by the holding unit 171 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drawing drum 170 and the outer periphery of the drawing drum 170. The recording medium P is sucked and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the drawing drum 170 by a suction hole provided on the surface and conveyed. Then, toward the surface (recording surface) of the recording medium P fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the drawing drum 170 to which the processing liquid is applied, the thermoplastic resin and the color material are transferred from the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y. Water-based ink containing water is ejected.

<Drawing part>

  In the drawing unit 116 shown in FIG. 2, droplets of the corresponding color ink are ejected from the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y toward the recording surface of the recording medium P held in close contact with the drawing drum 170. As a result, the ink comes into contact with the treatment liquid applied to the recording surface in advance by the treatment liquid application unit 114, and the color material (pigment) dispersed in the ink is aggregated to form a color material aggregate. As a result, the color material flow on the recording medium P is prevented, and an image is formed on the recording surface of the recording medium P.

  The amount of ink droplets ejected from each of the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, and 172Y is preferably 1 to 10 pl (picoliter) and more preferably 1.5 to 6 pl from the viewpoint of obtaining a high-definition image. preferable. In addition, from the viewpoint of improving the unevenness of the image and the connection between the continuous gradations, it is also effective to discharge different droplet amounts in combination, and the present invention is suitably applied even in such a case.

  In this example, the configuration of CMYK standard colors (four colors) is illustrated, but the combination of ink colors and the number of colors is not limited to this embodiment, and light ink, dark ink, and special ink are used as necessary. Color ink may be added. For example, it is possible to add an ink jet head that discharges light ink such as light cyan and light magenta, and the arrangement order of the color heads is not particularly limited.

  The drawing unit 116 configured as described above can perform drawing on the recording medium P in a single pass.

<Dry section>

  The recording medium P on which an image is formed by the drawing unit 116 is transferred from the drawing drum 170 to the drying drum 176 of the drying unit 118 via the intermediate conveyance unit (second transfer cylinder conveyance unit) 128. The second transfer drum transport unit 128 holds the leading end of the recording medium P received from the drawing drum 170 by a holding claw (not shown), the recording surface of the recording medium P faces inward, and the back side is a guide. It is conveyed along the member 129 so as to have a convex shape.

  The second transfer drum transport means 128 has a hot air drying means (drying means) (not shown) inside, and blows hot air on the recording surface side of the recording medium P facing the inner side during transport to the surface. A configuration may be adopted in which the ejected ink is dried. As a result, since ink can be dried immediately after ink ejection, it becomes easy to reduce the clogging of the recording medium P due to ink permeation, and the occurrence of suction flaws at the time of suction restraint in the drying drum 176 in the drying unit 118 is suppressed. It becomes easy to do.

  The drying unit 118 is a mechanism for drying moisture contained in the solvent separated by the color material aggregating action, and a plurality of combinations of IR heaters and fans are provided at positions facing the drying drum 176 and the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176. The arranged hot air drying means 182 is configured.

  Further, a blowing unit 180 (adsorption assisting unit) is provided on the upstream side (in the rotation direction of the drying drum 176) of the plurality of hot air drying units 182 so as to face the outer periphery of the drying drum 176.

  Similar to the processing liquid drum 154, the drying drum 176 includes a claw-shaped holding unit (gripper) 177 on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and the holding unit 177 can hold the leading end of the recording medium P. Further, the drying drum 176 has a plurality of suction holes on its outer peripheral surface, and adsorbs the recording medium P to the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 by negative pressure, and restrains the recording medium P so as to be in close contact with it. The recording medium P is dried by applying hot air to the recording medium P constrained by the drying drum 176 from the hot air jet nozzle of the hot air drying means 182.

  This prevents the occurrence of cockle. Further, by causing the recording medium P to be in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of jam and paper burning due to the recording medium P coming into contact with the hot air drying means 182.

  The hot air blowing nozzle of the hot air drying means 182 is configured to blow the hot air controlled to a predetermined temperature toward the recording medium P with a constant air volume, and the IR heaters are controlled to a predetermined temperature, respectively. By these hot air jet nozzles and IR heaters, moisture contained in the recording surface of the recording medium P held on the drying drum 176 is evaporated and a drying process is performed. At that time, since the drying drum 176 of the drying unit 118 is structurally separated from the drawing drum 170 of the drawing unit 116, in the inkjet heads 172M, 172K, 172C, 172Y, the head meniscus portion is dried by thermal drying. Ink ejection failure can be reduced. Further, there is a degree of freedom in setting the temperature of the drying unit 118, and an optimal drying temperature can be set.

  In addition, it is preferable to discharge | evaporate the evaporated water | moisture content outside with the air by the discharge means which abbreviate | omitted illustration. Further, the collected air may be cooled by a cooler (radiator) or the like and collected as a liquid.

  Further, it is preferable that the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 is controlled to a predetermined temperature. Drying is promoted by heating from the back surface of the recording medium P, and image destruction during fixing can be prevented.

  The range of the surface temperature of the drying drum 176 is preferably 50 ° C. or higher, more preferably 60 ° C. or higher. The upper limit is not particularly limited, but is preferably 75 ° C. or lower from the viewpoint of safety of maintenance work such as cleaning ink adhering to the surface of the drying drum 176 (preventing burns due to high temperature).

  The drying drum 176 is preferably heated to a predetermined temperature before the recording medium P is conveyed. By drying the drying drum 176, drying can be promoted, so that image destruction can be prevented and cuckling can be prevented. The heating temperature is preferably in the same temperature range as the surface temperature of the drying drum 176.

  Heating is preferably performed at a predetermined temperature in the sucked state in order to prevent a temperature drop when sucked. In addition, when heating is performed without suction, it is preferable to perform heating so that the temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature in consideration of a decrease in temperature at the time of suction. Further, the recording medium P is held while the recording surface of the recording medium P faces outward (that is, in a state where the recording surface of the recording medium P is curved so as to be a convex side), and is dried while being rotated and conveyed. Generation | occurrence | production of the wrinkles and floating of P can be prevented, and the drying nonuniformity resulting from these can be prevented reliably.

  The air blowing means 180 (adsorption assisting means) provided on the upstream side of the hot air drying means 182 is for assisting the adsorption of the recording medium P to the drying drum 176. The blowing unit 180 blows in an oblique direction toward the rear end side of the recording medium P so as to be applied obliquely toward the end side in the width direction of the recording medium P, and further controls to increase the wind force at the rear end. . As a result, the sheet floating at the rear end of the recording medium P is prevented, and the recording medium P is removed so that it can be uniformly dried and uniformly adsorbed. In this way, by using the suction assisting means that is not in contact with the recording medium P, which is the air blowing means 180, when the suction assist is performed using the contact means, the ink that has not yet dried on the recording medium P is brought into contact with the recording medium P. It is possible to prevent image defects from being transferred to the image.

  The suction force of the drying drum 176 can be expressed by (opening area) × (pressure per unit area). The suction force can be increased by increasing the area occupied by the suction holes in the recording medium suction holding region, that is, the aperture ratio.

  Further, the opening ratio of the suction holes provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 is preferably 1% or more and 75% or less with respect to the contact area between the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 and the recording medium P. This is because if the aperture ratio is less than 1%, the expansion deformation of the recording medium P due to water absorption after recording cannot be sufficiently suppressed, and the drying drum 176 itself is also warmed. Drying is also promoted by contact, but when the aperture ratio exceeds 75%, the contact area between the back surface of the recording medium P and the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 decreases, and thus the recording medium P is in a state of being held by suction. However, sufficient drying performance cannot be obtained, and there is a possibility that the cockle is also deteriorated.

  Therefore, by setting the opening ratio of the suction holes on the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 to 1% or more and 75% or less, it is possible to prevent the suppression of cockle and improve the drying performance.

  The aperture ratio is set by the diameter of the suction holes, the hole pitch, the shape and arrangement of the holes. The hole diameter is preferably designed to be not less than 0.4 mm and not more than 1.5 mm so as not to cause a dent mark (suction mark) of the recording medium P due to negative pressure suction. The hole pitch is preferably from 0.1 mm to 5 mm in order to prevent thermal deformation of the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 and to ensure rigidity. This is because if the distance between the holes is too far away, the effect of suppressing the deformation of the recording medium is insufficient and the generation of wrinkles cannot be suppressed so much. Further, the shape of the suction hole is preferably a shape with rounded corners because stress is concentrated at the corners if there are corners (acute angles).

  Further, in the rotary conveyance body, the deformation amount of the recording medium P due to the adsorption pressure is larger in the axial direction than in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the suction hole is formed in an elliptical shape or a long hole shape in which the circumferential direction is the major axis direction and the axial direction is the minor axis direction, thereby equalizing the circumferential deformation and the axial deformation of the recording medium P. You can also.

  Further, the recording medium P is held on the outer peripheral surface of the drying drum 176 so that the recording surface of the recording medium P faces outward (that is, in a state where the recording surface of the recording medium P is convex), and is rotated and conveyed. However, by drying, it is possible to prevent the recording medium P from wrinkling and floating, and it is possible to reliably prevent uneven drying due to these.

  A rectifying plate 181 is formed on the upper side of each hot air drying means 182 so as to cover them and so that the hot air blown from the hot air drying means 182 is directed again toward the drying drum 176 side. At this time, a guide plate 183 is further provided on the downstream side of each hot air drying means 182 in the rotational direction of the drying drum 176, and hot air blown from each hot air drying means 182 once hits the surface of the drying drum 176 flows, again to the drying drum 176 side. It is good to make it flow toward. By providing the current plate 181 in this way, it is possible to improve the thermal efficiency and improve the exhaust performance.

  Further, a temperature sensor (not shown) and a humidity sensor are provided in the drying unit 118, and the detected temperature and humidity are sent as data to a control unit (not shown). The hot air drying means 182 may be turned on / off or the air volume may be controlled based on the temperature and humidity information. In addition, the total amount of ink ejected on the recording medium P, that is, the ejection density, may be used for controlling the hot air drying means 182. The ejection density is the ink ejection amount per recording medium P, and can be calculated as data from the contents of recorded images and patterns.

<Fixing part>

  The recording medium P that has been dried by the drying unit 118 is transferred from the drying drum 176 to the fixing drum 184 of the fixing unit 120 via the intermediate transfer unit (third transfer cylinder transfer unit) 130.

  When the fixing drum 184 receives the recording medium P from the third transfer drum transport unit 130, the fixing drum 184 holds the leading end portion of the recording medium P by the holding unit 185 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixing drum 184, and holds the recording medium P on the outer peripheral surface. Wrap around and transport.

  The recording medium P which is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the fixing drum 184 and conveyed is pressed by a pressing roller (smoothing means) 188 disposed opposite to the fixing drum 184 and pressed against the fixing drum 184 to curl. Is corrected and wrinkles are removed.

  The pressing roller 188 is disposed so as to be in pressure contact with the fixing drum 184 and constitutes a nip roller with the fixing drum 184. As a result, the recording medium P is sandwiched between the pressing roller 188 and the fixing drum 184 and nipped at a predetermined nip pressure (for example, 0.15 MPa), and smoothing processing is performed.

  Further, the pressing roller 188 may be a heating roller. For example, the pressing roller 188 may be configured as a heating roller in which a halogen lamp is incorporated in a metal pipe such as aluminum having good thermal conductivity, and may be controlled at a predetermined temperature (for example, 60 to 80 ° C.). By heating and pressing the recording medium P with the pressure roller 188 configured as this heating roller, thermal energy equal to or higher than the Tg temperature (glass transition temperature) of the latex contained in the ink is applied, and the latex particles are melted. The unevenness of the image surface of the recording medium P is leveled, and glossiness is obtained.

<Matte liquid application part>

  FIG. 3 shows a mat liquid application unit according to this embodiment. In the mat liquid supply system of the present invention, the mat liquid application unit 80 supplies the mat liquid 200L to the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 188 as described above. The mat liquid application unit 80 wraps a web 82 such as a nonwoven fabric impregnated with a mat liquid 200L made of a liquid (silicon oil or the like) in which the matting agent particles 200P are dispersed at a predetermined concentration around the first rod 84A and the second rod 84B. The mat liquid 200L is temporarily transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 188, and the matting agent particles 200P adhering to the roller surface are transferred again to the surface of the recording medium P.

  As a result, the recording medium P with the matting agent particles 200 </ b> P applied to the surface is conveyed to the paper discharge unit 122, and blocking (adherence) is prevented when a large number of sheets are stacked in the paper discharge unit 192. .

  The web 82 (applied band material) may be a band-like material that can hold a liquid, such as cloth or nonwoven fabric, or a porous material, and the pore diameter R thereof is defined as follows. The fabric weight M, the thickness T, and the fiber radius r are specific parameters of the web 82.

R: Pore pore diameter (μm)
R = 2 × √ (S / π)
S: Air gap cross section (μm2)
S = K / N × 106
K: Porosity N: Number of fibers per 1 m2 cross section of impregnated material (lines / μm2)
M: basis weight (g / sq.m)
T: Thickness (μm)
r: Fiber radius (μm)
K = 1-M / T
N = (1-K) / (πr2 × 106)

  As the matting agent particle 200P, for example, various materials such as acrylic resin powder, starch powder, and PVA are conceivable, but a powder having an average particle size of about 5 to 50 μm is preferable, and an average particle size of about 10 to 30 μm is more preferable. A powder can be preferably used.

<Web support method>

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the web 82 is wound around the supply side metal core 83A and supplied while being wound around the winding side metal core 83B. As shown in FIG. 3, the first rod 84A and the second rod 84B are supplied. And is mounted so as to be in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 188.

  A web unit 280 including a supply side metal core 83A and a winding side metal core 83B around which the first rod 84A, the second rod 84B, and the web 82 are wound is provided at an arbitrary timing as will be described later (pressing roller 188). The abutment and separation are performed. The arbitrary contact timing may be, for example, immediately after the start of printing, and the arbitrary separation timing may be, for example, immediately after the end of printing or when printing is stopped. The contact / separation of the web unit 280 is performed by a gear or a cam (not shown), for example.

  The web 82 is wound around the pressing roller 188 in the conveyance path wound from the supply side metal core 83A to the winding side metal core 83B, and supplies the mat liquid 200L. If the same surface of the web 82 continues to contact the pressing roller 188, the impregnated mat liquid 200L is consumed and the matting agent particles 200P are not sufficiently supplied to the surface of the pressing roller 188. It is necessary to wind 82.

  One end of the supply side metal core 83A and the winding side metal core 83B is supported by a gear (not shown) so as to be rotationally driven. At least the gear that supports the winding side metal core 83B is driven by, for example, a pulse motor (not shown), and the winding side metal core 83B is wound up at a desired timing.

  As a result, the web 82, for example, interlocks the feed amount arbitrarily controlled by the number of rotation pulses of the pulse motor that drives the winding-side metal core 83B from the supply-side metal core 83A to the winding-side metal core 83B at an arbitrary timing. The mat liquid 200L can always be supplied to the pressing roller 188 by making the fresh surface (unused surface) of the web 82 abut against the pressing roller 188.

  It is desirable that the web 82 has a sufficient contact pressure against the pressing roller 188 and strengthens the tension in order to prevent the web 82 from slackening. For example, the back tension of the web 82 can be strengthened by increasing the rotational axis resistance of the supply side metal core 83A.

  If the feeding direction of the web 82 is opposite to the rotation direction of the pressing roller 188, the effect of the pressing roller 188 scraping off the matting agent particles 200P in the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 can be expected. The forward direction is not limited thereto.

  By supplying the matting agent particles 200P in the form of being dispersed in the dispersion liquid as in the present embodiment, the powder does not fly in the apparatus like powder, so that the risk of contamination in the apparatus is reduced. At this time, if a dispersion medium such as oil is excessively applied to the printing surface, uneven gloss and uneven density (due to processing agent and ink repellency) become a problem. Supply to the pressure roller 188 is possible in a concentrated state.

  Compared to other methods, that is, a matting agent supply method using a coating roller or blade, this embodiment can be expected to have a merit that the amount of the dispersion medium can be reduced. Further, in the method in which the mat liquid 200L is directly applied to the pressure roller 188, the mat liquid 200L may be repelled on the pressure roller 188 and uniform application may not be possible. Coupled with the effect of concentrating the particles 200P, a uniform matting agent can be applied.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the dispersion liquid is not applied directly to the printing surface of the recording medium P but is applied via the pressing roller 188, the dispersion medium is not excessively supplied to the printing surface. Further, since the matting agent particles 200P that have not been transferred to the pressing roller 188 are collected while remaining on the web 82, the risk of the matting agent particles 200P being scattered and contaminated inside the apparatus is reliably reduced.

  The web 82 is supported from the back by two rods, a first rod 84A and a second rod 84B provided in the vicinity of the pressure roller 188, and is brought into surface contact with the circumferential direction of the pressure roller 188 with a width, whereby the pressure roller Transfer of the matting agent particles 200P to 188 (first transfer) is performed.

  By making the web 82 in surface contact in this way, more matting agent particles 200P can be supplied to the pressing roller 188 than in the case of support (line contact) by a single rod.

  The web 82 is wound at a predetermined feed amount from the first rod 84A provided on the supply side to the second rod 84B provided on the take-up side, and a new supply surface is updated. By updating the web 82 to a new supply surface, it becomes possible to always supply a predetermined number or more of the matting agent particles 200P to the pressing roller 188.

  Further, since the web 82 is in surface contact, even the portion that has been in contact with the pressure roller 188 one or more times is again brought into contact with the pressure roller 188, and the matting agent particles 200P remaining in the web 82 are further pressed. 188.

  Further, if a release agent such as silicone oil is used as the dispersion medium impregnated in the web 82, not only the function of preventing the stacker blocking can be assisted but also the image offset to the pressing roller 188 can be prevented well. .

  Further, the portion of the web 82 from which the matting agent particles 200P are almost disappeared is the adhering ink together with the dispersion medium (oil) remaining on the surface of the roughened pressing roller 188 near the end of the contact portion with the pressing roller 188. Since the cleaning effect of wiping off dirt such as can be expected, the concave portion of the surface of the pressing roller 188 is filled with the deposit and smoothed, and the transfer performance can be prevented from being deteriorated.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a web 82 in which the first rod 84 </ b> A is in contact with the back surface and a bead (liquid reservoir) of the mat liquid 200 </ b> L is formed at the nip portion of the pressing roller 188. From the viewpoint of enabling the first transfer to the pressing roller 188 to be performed more stably, it is more preferable that the first rod 84A is in contact with the pressing roller 188 (with the web 82 interposed).

  Further, the position of the first rod 84 </ b> A varies due to the vibration of the recording medium support (fixing drum 184) (e.g., raising and lowering of the jump base portion of the pressure roller 188 by conveying the impression cylinder), and the first rod 84 </ b> A and the pressure roller 188 are moved. From the viewpoint of preventing the bead of the mat liquid 200L from becoming unstable and maintaining the stability of the first transfer performance, the contact of the first rod 84A is more preferably a pressing spring, and depending on the position of the pressing roller 188. Therefore, the variation in the position of the first rod 84A relative to the pressing roller 188 can be minimized.

  Further, the first rod 84A is prevented from coming into contact with the pressure roller 188 with excessive pressure, and the effect of reducing the wear of the roughened surface of the pressure roller 188 and prolonging the life of the pressure roller 188 is also expected. it can. At this time, the distance between the first rod 84A and the pressing roller 188 is desirably equal to or less than the thickness of the web 82 in order to provide the squeezing effect of the matting agent particles 200P from the web 82.

  Further, since the web 82 in which the second rod 84B is in contact with the back surface and the pressing roller 188 are in a separated state, the recording is performed from the second transfer portion where the matting agent particles 200P are transferred from the pressing roller 188 to the recording medium P. From the viewpoint of aiming to prevent the matting agent particles 200P not transferred to the medium P and remaining on the surface of the pressure roller 188 from being removed by the first rod 84A, to be taken into the beads of the matting liquid 200L and reused. More preferably, the second rod 84B is in a separated state from the pressing roller 188.

  However, from the viewpoint of maintaining surface contact, it is desirable to keep the distance of the second rod 84B to a minimum within the range of 1 to 2 mm. Further, the wear of the roughened pressing roller 188 can be reduced by separating the second rod 84B. However, from the viewpoint of avoiding the recovery of the matting agent particles 200 </ b> P remaining on the pressing roller 188, it is desirable that the separation amount of the second rod 84 </ b> B is wider than the thickness of the web 82.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the matting agent particles 200P supplied to the surface of the pressing roller 188 are transferred and applied to the recording medium P (printing paper) on the fixing drum 184 (second transfer). The matting agent particles 200P are transferred from the pressing roller 188 to the image portion of the recording medium P (printed material) by the adhesive force of the ink film, while the non-image portion is not transferred from the pressing roller 188 and is selected as the image portion. Is granted.

  Here, since the matting agent particles 200P applied to the image portion are pressed and applied by the pressing roller 188, the matting agent particles 200P are in close contact with the image portion and do not fall off in a subsequent process, thereby preventing contamination by the matting agent particles 200P. It becomes possible.

<Rotating rod>

  FIG. 4 shows a synchronization mechanism between the first rod 84A and the pressing roller 188. As shown in FIG. 4A, the first rod 84 </ b> A that biases the web 82 against the pressing roller 188 is driven in the direction opposite to the feeding direction of the web 82.

  Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the interlocking gear 188D provided at the axial end of the pressing roller 188 and the interlocking gear 84AD also provided in the first rod 84A are engaged with each other. In particular, the rotation of the pressing roller 188 can be transmitted and driven without providing a driving mechanism on the first rod 84A side.

  As described above, if the feeding direction of the web 82 is reversed to the rotation direction of the pressing roller 188, an effect of the pressing roller 188 scraping the matting agent particles 200P in the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 can be expected. Similarly, the same effect can be expected by rotating the first rod 84 </ b> A in the direction opposite to the feeding direction of the web 82.

<Configuration of one rod>

  FIG. 5 shows another form of the mat liquid application unit 80. As described above, the web 82 is preferably brought into surface contact with the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 188 using the first rod 84A and the second rod 84B shown in FIG. 5A, but the second rod 84 is not used. The web 82 may be urged against the pressing roller 188 with a single rod.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, the web 82 is wound around the first rod 84 </ b> C and urged against the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 188, so that the matting liquid 200 </ b> L impregnated in the web 82 is applied to the pressing roller 188. It is good also as a structure.

<Cross sectional shape of rod>

  As described above, the web 82 has a feed amount arbitrarily controlled by the number of rotation pulses of a pulse motor that drives the winding side metal core 83B, for example, from the supply side metal core 83A to the winding side metal core 83B at an arbitrary timing. The mat liquid 200L can always be supplied to the pressing roller 188 by making the fresh surface (unused surface) of the web 82 abut against the pressing roller 188.

  At this time, even if the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 is periodically refreshed by a method such as gradually feeding out the web 82 wound around the winding side metal core 83B at a predetermined timing, for example, as shown in FIG. As described above, there is a problem that the dispersion liquid is consumed in 1 JOB, and the coating amount is reduced.

  That is, at the initial stage of JOB, the web 82 is evenly impregnated with the mat liquid 200L, and the portion of the first rod 84A urged by the pressing roller 188 is also impregnated with sufficient mat liquid 200L. There is no shortage of the matte liquid 200L applied to the pressing roller 188.

  However, as the mat liquid 200L is consumed from the pressed web 82, the amount of the mat liquid 200L consumed locally increases rather than the renewal of the web 82, so that the web 82 in the portion that contacts the pressing roller 188 is increased. There is a possibility that the mat liquid 200L may be insufficient.

  For this reason, if the update speed of the web 82 is increased, the local deficiency of the mat liquid 200L can be solved, but the amount of the web 82 consumed is increased and the efficiency is not good. Further, the mat liquid 200L that is not used and remains impregnated in the web 82 also increases.

  In the present embodiment, in consideration of the above fact, the web 82 impregnated with the mat liquid 200L is repeatedly pressed and released at regular intervals, so that the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 is consumed little by little. 200 L is efficiently applied to the pressure roller 188.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the first rod 84 </ b> A has a cross-sectional shape that is not a simple cylindrical shape, but is provided with unevenness on the outer peripheral surface, thereby repeatedly pressing and releasing the web 82 at regular intervals. The matte liquid 200L impregnated in is efficiently used.

  When considering that the web 82 is wound around the first rod 84A and urged against the pressing roller 188 as shown in FIG. 6A, the outer peripheral surface of the first rod 84A may be, for example, a spline shape (gear shape). For example, as shown in FIG. 6B and FIG. 7A, the convex and concave portions urge the web 82 against the pressing roller 188.

  FIG. 6B and FIG. 7A show the shape of the first rod 84A according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 8A, the first rod 84A rotates as indicated by an arrow R. Since the cross-sectional shape of the first rod 84A is a spline shape, convex portions 86 and concave portions 87 are alternately formed on the surface.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, it is assumed that the convex portion 86 presses the pressing portion 82A of the web 82, and the mat liquid 200L to be impregnated is consumed and applied to the pressing roller 188.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, since the first rod 84A rotates as indicated by the arrow R, the concave portion 87 comes into contact with the pressed portion 82A.

  Since the concave portion 87 is a portion having a smaller diameter than the convex portion 86, the concave portion 87 does not contact the web 82, no pressure is applied to the pressing portion 82A, and the pressed pressing portion 82A is released from the pressure.

  Here, since the web 82 at a location adjacent to the pressed location 82A in the conveying direction was not compressed by the convex portion 86, a sufficient amount of the mat liquid 200L is impregnated.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8 (B), the matting liquid 200L is supplied from both sides of the conveyance direction to the pressing portion 82A, which is pressed by the convex portion 86 and consumed the matting liquid 200L, as indicated by the arrow 82B. Even if the mat liquid 200L is temporarily insufficient at 82A, the liquid amount of the mat liquid 200L at the pressed location 82A released from the pressure is recovered by the contact of the recess 87.

  Accordingly, since the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 can be used in small amounts, instead of increasing the renewal speed of the web 82, the mat liquid 200L is locally used, and the mat liquid 200L can be efficiently and efficiently repeated. Can be used.

<Rod cross section 2>

  FIG. 7B shows a first rod 84A according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the first rod 84A is symmetrical with the center in the axial direction as a center 84AC, and the convex portion 86 and the concave portion 87 form a spiral.

  Unlike the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7A, the first rod 84A has convex portions 86 and concave portions 87 arranged in the axial direction instead of the circumferential direction. By rotating the first rod 84A, the convex portion 86 and the concave portion 87 abut against the web 82 so as to move from the center 84AC to both ends in the axial direction, and are urged by the pressing roller 188.

  As a result, pressing and releasing of a predetermined portion (corresponding to the pressing portion 82A) of the web 82 are alternately repeated. Therefore, even when the mat liquid 200L is consumed as in the first embodiment, the mat liquid 200L is discharged from both sides in the width direction. Even if the matting liquid 200L is temporarily insufficient at the pressing portion 82A, the amount of the matting liquid 200L at the pressing portion 82A released from the pressure is recovered by the contact of the recess 87.

  At this time, the convex portion 86 should be configured to abut on the web 82 so as to spread from the center in the width direction toward both ends as the first rod 84A rotates. That is, in the configuration in which the convex portion 86 moves from one end in the width direction to the other end, the web 82 approaches one side in the width direction. Further, in the configuration in which the both ends in the width direction are urged to the center, the web 82 gathers in the center to be wrinkled, and there is a possibility that a problem in transportability may occur due to the overlap of the center portion.

<Other rod shapes>

  As the cross-sectional shape of the first rod 84A, in addition to the spline or spiral shape, for example, a roller having a so-called uneven surface in which large-diameter portions that protrude outward in the radial direction are arranged. That is, the same effect can be expected if the large-diameter portion presses the web 82 instead of the convex portion 86 and the web 82 is released from the press at a place other than the large-diameter portion instead of the concave portion 87. At this time, the large diameter portion does not need to be continuous in the axial direction like a spline shape, and irregularities may be arranged at random.

  Alternatively, a hard portion and a soft portion may be alternately provided on the surface of the first rod 84A, and a hard surface may be used instead of a convex portion such as a spline shape or a spiral shape, and a soft surface may be used instead of the concave portion. In other words, if a core made of a hard material such as a star-shaped cross section or a spline shape is wrapped with a soft material surface layer, the soft material has a thick part and the thin part has a hard surface. It can be set as the 1st rod 84A.

  In this case, the same effect can be expected by replacing the convex portion 86 with the hard surface pressing the web 82 and releasing the soft surface from the pressure instead of the concave portion 87 not contacting the web 82.

  Further, instead of the recess 87, a hole may be provided on the surface of the first rod 84A. That is, if the web 82 is pressed by the surface of the first rod 84A and the web 82 is released from the press at the hole instead of the recess 87, the same effect can be expected. At this time, the holes need not be equally spaced in the axial direction / width direction, and the holes may be arranged at random.

<Rod contact / separation structure>

  FIG. 9 shows a mat liquid application unit 80 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, the web unit 280 is configured to be movable toward and away from the pressing roller 188, thereby pressing the first rod 84A (web 82) against the pressing roller 188 at a predetermined interval. It can be configured to repeat the release.

  As shown in FIG. 9B, the web unit 280 is supported so as to be movable in the contact / separation direction with respect to the pressing roller 188 about the rotation shaft 280C.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9C, a cam 290 provided on the web unit 280 is driven by a motor (not shown) to swing one arm of an L-shaped bell crank 292. The other arm of the bell crank 292 supported by the shaft 292C is connected to the rod 294, and the other arm swung by the movement of the cam 290 pushes and pulls the rod 294, so that the web unit 280 is centered on the rotating shaft 280C. Is moved (vibrated) as indicated by an arrow 280D.

  At this time, if the cam 290 is continuously moved at a predetermined speed, the web unit 280 vibrates around the rotation shaft 280C. As a result, the first rod 84 </ b> A repeats contact / separation in the contact / separation direction with respect to the pressing roller 188, and continues to move / press the web 82 against the pressing roller 188.

  As a result, the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 can be consumed / recovered as follows.

  That is, it is assumed that the first rod 84A presses the web 82, and the mat liquid 200L to be impregnated is consumed and applied to the pressing roller 188. Next, the first rod 84A is separated from the pressing roller 188 by the cam 290, and the pressing portion once compressed is released from the pressure.

  Since the web 82 at a location adjacent to the pressed location in the transport direction was not compressed by the first rod 84A, a sufficient amount of matte liquid 200L was impregnated. For this reason, even if the mat liquid 200L is supplied from both sides of the conveyance direction to the pressing portion that is pressed when the first rod 84A is in contact and the mat liquid 200L is consumed, the mat liquid 200L is temporarily insufficient at the pressing portion. When the first rod 84A is separated, the liquid amount of the mat liquid 200L at the pressed position released from the pressure is recovered.

  Accordingly, since the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 can be used in small amounts, instead of increasing the renewal speed of the web 82, the mat liquid 200L is locally used, and the mat liquid 200L can be efficiently and efficiently repeated. Can be used.

  This configuration is effective even if the cross-sectional shape of the first rod 84A is a simple cylindrical shape, and may be combined with various cross-sectional shapes of the first rod 84A in addition to the first embodiment.

  Alternatively, the center of rotation of the first rod 84 may be eccentric to make an eccentric arrangement. In other words, if the surface presses the web 82 and the web 82 is released from the press at a location away from the web 82 due to eccentricity, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be expected. At this time, the rotation axis of the first rod 84A may be simply eccentric, or the inner rod or the planetary gear is used as necessary to move the web 82 in a complicated contact / separation direction. It may be said.

<Control of rod rotation and web unit vibration> (Additional points)

  As shown in FIG. 11, there is a problem that the supply amount of the matting agent particles 200P gradually decreases in 1 JOB. That is, as described above, in the initial stage of JOB, the web 82 is uniformly impregnated with the mat liquid 200L, and the portion of the first rod 84A urged by the pressing roller 188 is also impregnated with sufficient mat liquid 200L. Therefore, the mat liquid 200L applied to the pressing roller 188 is not insufficient, but as the mat liquid 200L is consumed from the web 82, the mat liquid 200L consumed locally rather than the renewal of the web 82. As a result, the mat liquid 200L may be insufficient in the web 82 where the pressure roller 188 comes into contact.

  Here, with respect to the rotation of the first rod 84A and the contact / separation (vibration) of the web unit 280 with respect to the pressing roller 188, the supply amount of the mat liquid 200L (mat agent particles 200P) is reduced, from the middle of the JOB. The operation may be started.

  In particular, when the web 82 is used for the first time and the contact surface with the pressure roller 188 is new, the rod rotation and the web unit vibration may be deactivated to reduce the supply amount of the mat liquid 200L. Further, the rotation speed of the first rod 84 </ b> A and the vibration frequency of the web unit 280 may be changed with respect to the tendency that the web 82 is close to the core and the amount of impregnation of the mat liquid 200 </ b> L into the web 82 increases.

  That is, since the amount of impregnation of the mat liquid 200L in the web 82 is large near the winding core, the number of rotations of the first rod 84A and the vibration frequency of the web unit 280 may be decreased to prevent excessive supply of the mat liquid 200L. .

<Pressure roller roughening treatment>

  In order to efficiently perform the first transfer (transfer from the web 82 to the pressure roller 188) and the second transfer (transfer from the pressure roller 188 to the recording medium P), the surface of the pressure roller 188 is roughened. It is desirable. By roughening the surface of the pressure roller 188, when the web 82 is brought into contact with the width along the circumferential direction of the roughened pressure roller 188, the component of the mat liquid 200L leached out from the web 82 is used. Since the matting agent particles 200P can be selectively scraped without the surface of the pressing roller 188 getting wet excessively, the first transfer performance from the web 82 to the pressing roller 188 can be improved.

  When the pressure roller 188 is a smooth roller, the matting agent particles 200P applied to the surface of the roller are wiped off from the surface of the printed material by the pressure roller 188 itself even if the matting agent particles 200P are once transferred to the recording medium P (printed material). There is a concern that the transfer efficiency may be lowered. By reducing the wiping ability of the pressure roller 188 itself by roughening the surface of the pressure roller 188, the matting agent particles 200P pass through the concave portions of the surface irregularities of the pressure roller 188, and suitably remain on the printed matter. The second transfer performance can be expected to be improved.

  At this time, the surface of the pressing roller 188 is preferably roughened by a roughening process so that the root mean square roughness Rq is 2 μm or more. Further, from the viewpoint of preventing image offset to the pressing roller 188, it is preferable to keep Rq to 10 μm or less. As the surface roughening treatment, sand blast treatment or sand paper treatment is preferably used.

  By sandblasting the surface of the pressing roller 188, isotropic unevenness can be formed while controlling the particle size and pressure, and the matting agent particles 200P can be uniformly applied on the recording medium P.

  Alternatively, sandpaper is used so as to form a groove along the direction of a predetermined angle α (where 0 ° ≦ α ≦ 90 °) with respect to the width direction of the pressing roller 188 (sandpaper processing). Further, an uneven pattern can be anisotropically formed on the surface of the pressure roller 188 while controlling the roughness, and the matting agent particles 200P can be uniformly applied on the recording medium P.

  The predetermined angle α is more preferably 0 ° <α <60 °. The application of particles from the web 82 to the surface of the pressure roller 188 has a maximum scraping effect at α = 0 °. On the other hand, the application of the matting agent particles 200P from the surface of the pressure roller 188 to the surface of the recording medium P has a maximum release effect at α = 90 °. The angle at which the scraping effect (= first transfer) is maximized is emphasized first, and the mold release effect (= second transfer) needs to be considered as the next point, so 0 ° <α <60 ° is most preferable. Angle range.

  When the angle is around 0 °, the releasing effect from the pressure roller 188 is reduced, but it can be sufficiently compensated by the pressure by the pressure roller 188 and the adhesive strength of the ink film in the image area. The transfer performance at ° is uniformly good. If the angle exceeds 60 °, the scraping effect is lowered, and the transfer performance is lowered.

<Pressure roller surface properties>

  From the viewpoint of improving the second transfer performance, the surface of the pressure roller 188 is preferably a material having a small surface energy. A fluorine film winding roller is preferable, and for example, PFA is suitably used. During the first transfer, excessive supply of the dispersion liquid (oil) from the web 82 is prevented, and during the second transfer, the matting agent particles 200P themselves are easily transferred to the recording medium P (printed material) due to releasability. The influence of the physical properties of the pressing roller 188 on the performance is shown in a table in FIG.

  For example, the pressing roller 188 may have a structure having a rubber layer having a rubber hardness of 70 ° or less and a thickness of 1 mm or more and a surface film layer of 50 μm or more and 200 μm or less wound around the rubber layer. From the viewpoint of durability of the surface film layer against the roughening treatment, the surface film should be thicker, but if it is too thick, the stress difference due to the difference between the inner diameter and the outer diameter becomes large when winding the rubber layer, which is inappropriate. .

  In order to increase the number of transfer particles, the rubber layer should be appropriately deformed with respect to the size of the particles. The rubber hardness is preferably soft and is preferably 70 ° or less. The thickness is preferably 1 mm or more which is easily deformed.

<Pressing roller contact / separation structure>

  The pressing roller 188 is preferably spaced apart from the surface of the fixing drum 184 so that the printed material support (fixing drum 184) is not soiled by the matting agent particles 200P (and the matting liquid 200L).

  As shown in FIG. 10, the pressing roller 188 is supported so as to be movable in the contact / separation direction about the pivot 222 with respect to the fixing drum 184 and the recording medium P held on the surface thereof, and can be contacted / separated. It is structured. In this case, when the recording medium P is not gripped on the outer peripheral surface of the fixing drum 184, the pressing roller 188 is in direct contact with the surface of the fixing drum 184, so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the two are in contact with each other. This is also to prevent the occurrence of scratches and smudges.

  As a result, the pressing roller 188 having the matting agent particles 200P attached to the surface thereof does not directly contact the fixing drum 184, so that the matting agent particles 200P which are not transferred to the surface of the recording medium P and remain on the pressing roller 188 side are used. The risk of the surface becoming dirty is reduced.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, when the fixing frame 218 that is swingably supported by the main body frame 220 urges the pressing roller 188 toward the fixing drum 184 by the pressing spring 214 and the pulling spring 216, the separation cam 210 rotates at a predetermined timing, and pushes the fixing frame 218 in the direction away from the cam roller 212, that is, the direction in which the pressing roller 188 moves away from the fixing drum 184.

  The cam roller 212 is urged to the separation cam 210 by a pressing spring 214. For example, when the separation cam 210 rotates and pushes up the cam roller 212 at a position such as between the recording media P on the fixing drum 184, the pressing roller 188. Is separated from the surface of the fixing drum 184 and prevents the pressing roller 188 from contacting the fixing drum 184 at a location where the recording medium P does not exist.

  In order to prevent the matting agent particles 200P (and the matting liquid 200L) from excessively adhering to the pressing roller 188 and the printed material and becoming soiled, the matting agent particles 200P (and the matting liquid 200L) are not provided on the pressing roller 188 or the printed material support (fixing drum 184) other than the pressing roller 188 contact portion. A cleaning mechanism may be provided. For example, the cleaning is preferably performed by scraping or wiping with a blade or a wiper. Further, the matting agent particles 200P (and the matting liquid 200L) may be adhered and removed by passing the inside of the apparatus as waste paper as cleaning paper.

  The degree of adhesion of the matting agent particles 200P to the image portion of the recording medium P may be adjusted by the following means. That is, the degree of adhesion of the matting agent particles 200P to the image portion can be controlled by changing the drying state of the ink film by controlling the adhesive force of the ink film, for example, by controlling the drying conditions, and controlling the adhesive force.

  Alternatively, the fixing nip pressure is increased or a separate pressing roller 188 is provided separately from the pressing roller 188, and the matting agent particle 200P is buried twice in the ink film by pressing twice from above the matting agent particle 200P. May be strengthened.

  Since the required number of particles varies depending on the paper type or ink application amount used for the printed matter, the feed amount of the web 82 may be made variable according to the paper type and the ink amount.

  Since the recording medium P processed in the initial stage of JOB is located at the lower part of the stack of printed matter after paper discharge, stacker blocking is likely to be worsened by the weight of the upper printed matter. Therefore, the required number of matting agent particles 200P is as large as the early stage of JOB. From the viewpoint of securing a constant number of matting agent particles 200P in the job, the feed amount of the web 82 may be made variable during the job, and the feed amount may be controlled so that the feed amount is increased at the beginning and decreased at the end.

<Summary>

  As described above, in this embodiment, the web 82 impregnated with the mat liquid 200L is brought into contact with the surface of the pressing roller 188, and the web 82 impregnated with the mat liquid 200L is pressed and released from the back surface at regular intervals. Since the configuration is repeated, the following effects are obtained.

  That is, when the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the pressed web 82 is consumed, the mat liquid 200L is replenished from the web 82 in the adjacent portion that has not been pressed. As a result, the mat liquid 200L impregnated in the web 82 can be used little by little. Therefore, instead of increasing the renewal speed of the web 82, the mat liquid 200L is used locally, and the mat liquid 200L can be efficiently added by repeated replenishment. Can be used.

  Further, if a dispersion medium such as oil is excessively applied to the printing surface of the recording medium P, gloss unevenness and density unevenness (due to processing agent and ink repellency) become a problem, but a small amount of mat liquid 200L is efficiently used. By using it, it becomes possible to supply the pressure roller 188 in a particle-concentrated state, and an advantage of reducing the amount of the dispersion medium can be expected as compared with a supply method using a large amount of the mat liquid 200L.

  Alternatively, if the liquid is applied directly to the pressure roller 188, the liquid may be repelled on the roller, and uniform application may not be possible. However, the amount of dispersion medium is reduced and the particles are concentrated through the web 82, which is a cloth material. Combined with the effects, uniform coating is possible.

  Furthermore, since the dispersion liquid is not applied directly to the printing surface but applied via the pressing roller 188, the dispersion medium is not excessively supplied to the printing surface. Further, since the matting agent particles 200P that have not been transferred to the pressing roller 188 are collected while remaining on the web 82, the risk that the matting agent particles 200P contaminate the inside of the apparatus is reliably reduced.

  Further, in the present invention, since the mat liquid 200L is directly transferred to the pressing roller 188 by the web 82, the diffusion inside the apparatus is prevented as compared with the method of spraying powder or liquid, and the drying process after application, etc. Therefore, the apparatus configuration can be made simple and low cost. Similarly, even when compared with a method in which powder is sprayed onto the recording medium P, since the pressing is performed by the pressing roller 188, the diffusion of the matting agent particles 200P inside the apparatus can be prevented.

  Further, since the matting agent particles 200P applied to the image portion of the recording medium P are pressed and applied by the pressing roller 188, the matting agent particles 200P are in close contact with the image portion and are less likely to fall off in the subsequent process. It becomes possible to prevent contamination in the apparatus and other recording media P.

<Others>

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to said Example at all, and can implement in a various aspect in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus using a water-based ink containing a thermoplastic resin and a color material has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, a configuration using an ultraviolet curable ink and a plain paper. Any structure of an inkjet system that discharges normal ink may be a mechanism to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied.

80 Matt liquid application part 82 Web (applied band material)
83A Supply side metal core 83B Winding side metal core 84A First rod (first rod)
84B Second rod (second rod)
86 Convex part 87 Concave part 100 Inkjet recording device 112 Paper supply part 114 Processing liquid application part 116 Drawing part 118 Drying part 120 Fixing part 122 Paper discharge part 154 Processing liquid drum 170 Drawing drum 172 Inkjet head 180 Blowing means 182 Hot air drying means 184 Fixing Drum 188 pressure roller (applying roller)
200L mat liquid 200P mat agent particles 280 web unit

Claims (10)

An applied band material impregnated with a dispersion in which matting agent particles are dispersed;
An application roller that is in contact with the application belt and is supplied with the dispersion on the surface, and presses and applies the matting agent particles in the dispersion to the printing surface of the recording medium;
In the conveying path in which the application band wound around the supply roller is taken up by the take-up roller, the application band is pressed against the surface of the application roller, and the dispersion is supplied to the surface of the application roller. 1 rod, and
The matting agent applying device according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral surface of the first rod repeats pressing and releasing at regular intervals toward the surface of the applying roller with the applying band material.
The application band is wound around the first rod disposed on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and the second rod disposed on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, and the application band is arranged in the circumferential direction of the application roller. The matting agent application device according to claim 1, wherein the matting agent is applied in a length.
The outer peripheral surface of the said 1st rod is a spline shape, The mat agent provision apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.
The mat agent application device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first rod has protrusions arranged on an outer peripheral surface in a circumferential direction and an axial direction.
The matting agent application device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first rod has a hard portion and a soft portion alternately provided in an outer peripheral surface in a circumferential direction.
The mat agent application device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first rod has holes arranged in a circumferential direction and an axial direction on an outer peripheral surface.
The mat agent application device according to claim 1, wherein the first rod is eccentric.
The mat agent application device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first rod is supported so as to be movable in a contact / separation direction with respect to an outer peripheral surface of the application roller.
An applied band material impregnated with a dispersion in which matting agent particles are dispersed;
An application roller that is in contact with the application belt and is supplied with the dispersion on the surface, and presses and applies the matting agent particles in the dispersion to the printing surface of the recording medium;
In the conveyance path in which the application band wound around the supply roller is taken up by the take-up roller, the application band is urged to the surface of the application roller to supply the dispersion to the surface of the application roller. 1 rod, and
The outer peripheral surface of the first rod has a spiral shape symmetrical about the axial direction with the axial center as a center.
An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the matting agent applying apparatus according to claim 1.