JP2013040427A - Inkjet printing method and ink jet printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an occurrence of a deterioration of an appearance caused by appearing a color of a fabric with respect to a fabric such as a tape fabric having stretchability even when the fabric is elongated, and to prevent shortening of a fabric lifetime (lifetime as clothing) due to a failure of an appearance caused by elongation of the fabric.SOLUTION: The method comprises: keeping a fabric T having a stretchability in a state where it is elongated within an allowable range of stretching; performing an inkjet printing on the fabric T which is kept elongated based on an image data that is deformed according to an elongation direction and an elongation amount of the fabric T or an image data that is not deformed; and, after the ink attached to the fabric is dried, releasing the elongation of the fabric T to make it in a state where it is not elongated.

Description

  The present invention relates to an inkjet printing method and an inkjet printing apparatus.

  As a printing method for attaching a pattern or partial pattern to a fabric, an inkjet printing method in which image data created on a computer is directly sent to a printer head and ink is sprayed onto the fabric is known (for example, Patent Documents). 1 and 2 etc.). Since this inkjet printing method does not require a printing mold, it has been attracting attention because it can reduce costs, has a high degree of freedom in design, and can be easily changed.

  By the way, there are cases where a fabric part (hereinafter referred to as “tape fabric”), which is elongated in a tape shape, is attached to a cuff, a collar, a waist, or the like of clothing as a border material. In addition, this type of tape fabric is made of woven fabric that exhibits strong tightening properties (stretching resistance against expansion) as well as stretchability (stretchability) along the longitudinal direction of the tape (so-called “woven rubber”) May be used).

JP 2004-291430 A JP-A-6-220781

  When a patterned or partial pattern is applied to a tape fabric with elasticity such as woven rubber by various printing methods, the penetration of the dye into the fabric is shallow (fibers appearing on the fabric surface). Only dyed). For this reason, when the tape fabric is stretched when wearing or taking off clothes, the fabric color that does not penetrate the dye appears on the fabric surface, and the fabric surface becomes patchy or dilute. There has been a problem that the appearance has deteriorated. This problem was not solved at all even when printing was performed by the ink jet printing method as described above.

  By the way, in clothing and the like, the fabric is stretched as the usage period becomes longer. When the fabric is stretched, even if the stretch is mild enough for actual use (wearing clothes), it will occur in the same way for patterned and partial patterns (especially letters and designs). The elongation may cause poor appearance. Such an appearance defect always occurs not only when wearing / removing clothes, but there is a case where it is necessary to give up use as clothes due to this defect. That is, there has been a problem of shortening the life as clothing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a deterioration in appearance due to the appearance of a fabric color when the fabric is stretched against a fabric such as a tape fabric having elasticity. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printing method and an ink jet printing apparatus capable of preventing the life of a fabric from being shortened due to poor appearance due to fabric elongation or the like.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has taken the following measures.
That is, the ink-jet printing method according to the present invention holds a stretchable fabric in a stretched state within an allowable range of stretch, and is deformed according to the stretch direction and stretch amount of the fabric or is not deformed. Ink-jet printing is performed on the stretched and held fabric based on image data, and after the ink attached to the fabric is dried, the stretch of the fabric is released and returned to a non-stretched state.

The fabric is a tape fabric and is stretchable in the direction along the longitudinal direction of the tape. When the fabric is stretched, the fabric is taped while being transported along the longitudinal direction of the tape. It is good to extend along the longitudinal direction.
A woven fabric may be used for the fabric.
On the other hand, an inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a cloth conveying apparatus that conveys a tape cloth along the longitudinal direction of the tape, a printing apparatus provided in the middle of the conveying path of the cloth conveying apparatus, and a secondary side of the printing apparatus. The dough conveying device includes a drying device provided in a tape longitudinal direction on the tape dough being conveyed between a primary side position relative to the printing device and a secondary side position relative to the drying device. A tension applying device for applying an extending force along the line is provided.

  In the inkjet printing method and inkjet printing apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent deterioration in appearance due to the appearance of the fabric color when the fabric is stretched with respect to the fabric such as tape fabric having elasticity. Moreover, it is possible to prevent the life of the fabric from being shortened due to the appearance failure caused by the elongation of the fabric.

It is the perspective view which showed the inkjet textile printing method which concerns on this invention. It is the perspective view which showed the inkjet textile printing apparatus which can be used conveniently when implementing the inkjet textile printing method which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic diagram which demonstrated easily the fabric printed with the inkjet textile printing method which concerns on this invention. It is the front view which showed an example of the clothing manufactured using the fabric printed by the inkjet textile printing method which concerns on this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the ink jet printing method according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a stretchable fabric (for example, a tape fabric T such as a woven rubber) is stretched and ink jet printing is performed by the printing device 3. It is what you want to do.
In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the fabric to be subjected to the textile printing process is applied to the tape fabric T. The tape fabric T is made of a woven fabric (woven rubber) that develops a strong tightening property (an effect of restoring with a contracting force against elongation) as well as stretchability (stretchability) in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the tape. . The tape fabric T is woven using elastic yarn as a yarn (one of warp or weft forming a woven fabric) used along the longitudinal direction of the tape. However, as will be described later, in the inkjet printing method according to the present invention, the fabric subjected to the printing process is not limited to a woven fabric, and may be a knitted fabric.

The elastic yarn may be a bare yarn made of natural rubber or the like, but considering the dyeability of the ink, it is preferable to use a covering yarn (SCY or DCY) in which the bare yarn is wound with a polyester yarn or the like. is there. In the case of the covering yarn, it is also possible to use a yarn whose core is a bare yarn.
1 and 2 show an example of an ink jet textile printing apparatus 1 that can be suitably used when carrying out the ink jet textile printing method according to the present invention. The ink jet printing apparatus 1 includes a cloth conveying apparatus 2 that conveys the tape cloth T, a printing apparatus 3 provided in the middle of the conveying path of the cloth conveying apparatus 2, and a secondary side (downstream side) of the printing apparatus 3. And a drying device 4 provided.

  The dough conveying apparatus 2 is provided with an unwinding device 6 for unwinding the tape dough T from the bobbin 5 around which the unprocessed tape dough is wound at the conveyance start end (left side in FIG. 2). On the right side), a winding device 8 for winding the tape dough T around the empty bobbin 7 is provided. The dough conveying device 2 is provided with a tension applying device 10 for applying an extension force to the tape dough T being conveyed and extending the tape dough T between the unwinding device 6 and the winding device 8. It has been.

The tension applying device 10 includes, for example, a primary side pinch roll device 11 and a secondary side pinch roll device 12 that pinch and feed the tape dough T. The secondary side pinch roll device 12 is controlled so that the feeding speed applied to the tape fabric T is slightly higher than that of the primary side pinch roll device 11. Thus, a speed difference is generated between the two pinch roll devices 11 and 12, and this speed difference causes the tape dough T to stretch along the longitudinal direction of the tape (the same in the transport direction). It is.

  Since the primary side pinch roll device 11 needs to sandwich the tape fabric T before the ink is attached to the tape fabric T by the textile printing device 3, the primary side pinch roll device 11 has a primary side (unwinding device 6 and Between the printing apparatus 3). On the other hand, since the secondary side pinch roll device 12 preferably holds the tape fabric T after the ink attached to the tape fabric T has dried, the secondary side (drying device) of the drying device 4 4 and the winding device 8).

Since the stretching force by the tension applying device 10 does not reach the tape fabric T that has passed through the secondary side pinch roll device 12, the stretching that has occurred in the tape fabric T is also released. Therefore, the speed at which the unwinding device 6 unwinds the tape dough T in the dough conveying apparatus 2 and the speed at which the winding device 8 winds the tape dough T are the same speed.
Here, making the unwinding speed of the unwinding device 6 and the unwinding speed of the winding device 8 the same speed does not mean that the rotational speed of the bobbin 5 and the rotational speed of the bobbin 7 are the same. This means that the conveying speed of T is the same. That is, the larger the winding diameter in the bobbin 7 of the winding device 8, the slower the rotation speed of the bobbin 7. In this case, the use of a torque motor as the driving means of the winding device 8 is preferable because the torque increases as the rotational speed of the bobbin 7 is decreased.

  Note that the bobbin 5 of the unwinding device 6 may also be controlled so as to increase the rotation speed of the bobbin 5 as the winding diameter decreases, or when the bobbin 5 performs intermittent rotation. Control for shortening the interval or increasing the rotation amount (rotation angle) may be performed. However, the speed control between the unwinding device 6 and the winding device 8 is not limited at all, and the rotational speed of the bobbin 5 in the unwinding device 6 and the rotational speed of the bobbin 7 in the winding device 8 are not limited. May be the same speed.

  The textile printing apparatus 3 performs inkjet textile printing, and has a thermal (head heating) type or piezo element (piezoelectric element) type printer head 16, and data constituted by a computer or the like for the printer head 16. Image data (digital data) is sent from the processing unit 15. The textile printing apparatus 3 is a scanning method in which an image is completed by a plurality of movements while the printer head 16 is reciprocated in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the tape fabric T (corresponding to the sub-scanning direction in the tape width direction). Alternatively, a single-pass method may be used in which an image is completed in one pass on the tape fabric T that is conveyed while the printer head 16 is fixed.

As for the drying device 4, the inside of the drying furnace 17 that covers the middle of the path of the dough conveying apparatus 2 in a tunnel shape is heated by a hot-wire heater method, an infrared irradiation method, a hot air blowing method, or the like. The drying of the ink adhering to the ink is promoted.
In the present embodiment, the distance D between the primary side pinch roll device 11 and the secondary side pinch roll device 12 in the tension applying device 10 is set to 5 m, and the transport direction length L of the drying furnace 17 in the drying device 4 is set to 3 m. In addition, when transporting the tape dough T having a tape width of 30 mm, the transport speed by the dough transport device 2 is set to 2 to 3 m / min, and the furnace temperature of the drying furnace 17 is set to about 175 ° C. Is confirmed to be preferable.

  Note that the drying device 4 can be replaced with a device that simultaneously performs drying and color development with superheated steam (a device that performs a drying-coloring process). In this case, it is preferable that the drying temperature is about 140 ° C. and the steaming (coloring) with superheated steam is about 175 ° C. According to the present inventors, it has been confirmed that when the superheated steam is set to about 170 ° C. or higher, the drying effect is better than that by hot air.

As a specific example, a pretreatment agent is applied to the tape fabric T and ink-jet printing is performed by the printing apparatus 3, and then drying is performed in the drying apparatus 4, followed by steaming with superheated steam (color development). ), RC treatment (reduction cleaning), and drying again.
The drying device 4 performs the procedure of steaming (coloring) with superheated steam as it is (without drying) the tape fabric T which has been inkjet printed, performing RC treatment (reduction cleaning), and then drying. It may be adopted.

Next, based on the case where the above-described inkjet printing apparatus 1 is used, the inkjet printing method according to the present invention will be described.
By operating the unwinding device 6 and the winding device 8 of the dough conveying device 2 and rotating the bobbins 5 and 7, the tape dough T is conveyed between the bobbins 5 and 7 along the longitudinal direction of the tape. At the same time, in the tension applying device 10, the primary side pinch roll device 11 and the secondary side pinch roll device 12 are driven so that the feed speed of the secondary side pinch roll device 12 becomes high, and both the pinch roll devices 11 are driven. , 12 is stretched.

  The speed difference generated between the primary side pinch roll device 11 and the secondary side pinch roll device 12 is such that the elongation occurring in the tape fabric T is caused to occur within the allowable range of expansion and contraction of the tape fabric T. And That is, when the tape fabric T is released from being stretched, the tape fabric T is stretched within a range in which the tape fabric T is surely returned to the original length (a range in which permanent elongation does not occur).

However, there is no particular limitation as to how much the tape dough T is stretched within the allowable range of expansion and contraction of the tape fabric T.
Under this situation, the printing apparatus 3 and the drying apparatus 4 are operated. In the textile printing device 3, the data processing unit 15 creates image data that is deformed or non-deformed according to the direction and amount of elongation of the tape fabric T based on the setting that the tension applying device 10 stretches the tape fabric T. The image data is sent to the printer head 16 to perform ink jet printing on the tape fabric T. The creation of image data will be described later.

The tape fabric T after passing through the textile printing device 3 (printer head 16) is fed into the drying device 4 while maintaining the stretched state.
In the drying device 4, reliable drying is performed until the ink attached to the tape fabric T by the textile printing device 3 is completely dried (until penetration or transfer to another state does not occur). The tape dough T after passing through the drying device 4 passes through the secondary pinch roll device 12 of the tension applying device 10, so that the extension is released and returns to the non-extended state. Thereafter, the tape fabric T is wound up by the bobbin 7 of the winding device 8 of the fabric conveying device 2.

  By the way, in order for the data processing unit 15 of the textile printing apparatus 3 to create image data, the usage environment of the tape fabric T is taken into consideration (when the tape fabric T is attached to clothing, it is assumed that the clothing is worn) The degree of elongation when the tape fabric T is stretched under normal use (indication of elongation based on non-stretching), and the degree of elongation at this time (hereinafter referred to as “standard elongation”). ) To create image data that can be read most clearly.

For example, suppose that the degree of elongation of the tape fabric T is expressed by a stepped number, and the non-stretched time is set to “elongation degree 0”, and the number increases as it is stretched. The stage that is the longest in the permissible range is assumed to be “extension degree 10”. The standard elongation degree of the tape fabric T is assumed to be “elongation degree 5”.
When it is assumed that the tension applying device 10 has extended the tape fabric T conveyed by the fabric conveying device 2 at the “elongation degree 5” in accordance with the standard elongation degree, the data processing unit 15 of the textile printing apparatus 3 performs the processing shown in FIG. As shown in a), the image data that can be normally read as “A” is created without modification (as non-deformation).

  Therefore, when ink-jet printing is performed on the tape fabric T under such conditions, the tape fabric T that has undergone the printing process (of course, the elongation at the time of printing is canceled) is shown in FIG. ), The image of “A” is changed to a vertical bar display by contracting in the tape longitudinal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3B). Naturally, such a vertical bar-like display cannot be read as “A”.

However, if the tape fabric T is stretched anew at its standard stretch degree of “extension degree 5”, the printed “A” image can be normally read. Naturally, if the extension of the tape fabric T is cancelled, the image “A” returns to the vertical bar-like display and becomes unreadable.
Note that even if the tape fabric T is stretched as “stretching degree 4”, “stretching degree 6”, or “stretching degree 3” or “stretching degree 7”, the image “A” can be read with some distortion. In other words, the extent (range) of decompression at which an image can be read can be said to be somewhat ambiguous, centered on “expansion degree 5”. However, when the extension is remarkably different from the reference “extension degree 5” such as “extension degree 0 to 2” or “extension degree 8 to 10”, the image “A” is read. Things can be very difficult or impossible.

  From the above, if the data processing unit 15 of the textile printing apparatus 3 rewrites the situation in which image data is created, first, the standard extension degree is set based on the usage environment of the tape fabric T, and this standard extension degree is the highest. This means creating image data that can be clearly read. In the above example, the standard expansion degree of the tape fabric T and the extension degree by the tension applying device 10 are matched, so that the data processing unit 15 creates non-deformed (non-extended) image data.

However, the elongation degree of the tape fabric T by the tension applying device 10 does not necessarily need to match the standard elongation degree of the tape fabric T. For example, even if the standard elongation degree is “elongation degree 5”, the tension applying device 10 may be set to cause the tape dough T to perform elongation such as “elongation degree 8”. In short, this means that the elongation at the time of use is different from the elongation at the time of printing.
In this way, if the degree of extension at the time of use and the degree of extension at the time of printing are made different, the image data created by the data processing unit 15 of the textile printing apparatus 3 is “extensibility 8” based on the standard extension degree. Deformation (elongation) toward In other words, “the data processing unit 15 creates image data in the same extension direction and extension amount as the tape fabric T at the time of textile printing”.

  In addition, it is preferable that the tension | tensile_strength which the tension | tensile_strength imparting apparatus 10 expand | extends the tape fabric T is set to be equal to or greater than the standard elongation of the tape fabric T. However, as described above, the relationship between the degree of elongation and the readability of the image has a somewhat ambiguous range, so the degree of elongation of the tape fabric T by the tension applying device 10 is not necessarily the standard of the tape fabric T. It is not limited to be equal to or greater than the degree of elongation.

As is clear from the above description, in the tape fabric T printed by the inkjet printing method according to the present invention, since the inkjet printing is performed in the stretched state, it is colored (dyed) to the deep portion of the fabric. Therefore, even when the tape fabric T is stretched, the appearance of the fabric color does not cause the surface of the fabric to become patchy or dilute, so that the appearance does not deteriorate.
In addition, even if the clothing manufactured using the tape fabric T is stretched, if it is stretchable to the extent that actual use (wearing of clothing) is possible, an appearance defect in the tape fabric T Since it does not occur (such as pattern patterns or partial patterns becoming unsightly or unreadable), it also leads to the advantage that it can continue to be used as clothing (extend the life).

In addition, the tape fabric T has an effect that the printed pattern or partial pattern can be read or cannot be read at the time of non-extension and at the time of extension (it does not mean the appearance defect due to elongation). The viewer can feel the change in facial expression.
By taking advantage of such changes in facial expressions, high value-added products can be created, such as when used as clothing (for example, pants), a linear pattern when not worn is changed to letters or patterns when worn. It becomes possible to produce.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the waist size WL is increased by subsequent wear as compared to the waist size W worn by the body shape at the time of purchase of clothing, a message for calling attention to the metabolic syndrome appears. Can be produced.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and can be changed as appropriate according to the embodiment.

For example, the tape fabric T may be attached to the waist of clothing, etc., and the tape fabric T (waist) may be stretched and ink jet printing may be performed in this stretched state.
As long as the ink-jet printing is performed while stretching the stretchable fabric in the direction in which the stretch occurs, it is not limited that the fabric is a woven fabric or a tape fabric. For example, a knitted fabric such as a Russell lace knitted by a Russell warp knitting machine can be used.

  Needless to say, when printing is performed while the fabric is being conveyed, it may be continuous conveyance or intermittent conveyance. In addition, it is not limited to transporting the fabric in the first place, and it is also possible to print a single fabric in batch mode (repeat the work of spreading or removing a single fabric on the table on which the printing is performed). It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printing apparatus 2 Material conveying apparatus 3 Printing apparatus 4 Drying apparatus 5,7 Bobbin 6 Unwinding apparatus 8 Winding apparatus 10 Tension applying apparatus 11 Primary side pinch roll apparatus 12 Secondary side pinch roll apparatus 15 Data processing part 16 Printer head 17 Drying oven T Tape fabric

Claims (4)

Hold the stretch fabric in the stretched state within the allowable range of stretch,
Performing inkjet printing on the stretched fabric based on the image data that is deformed or non-deformed according to the stretch direction and stretch amount of the fabric,
An ink-jet printing method characterized in that after the ink adhering to the cloth is dried, the cloth is released from being stretched and returned to a non-stretched state.   The fabric is a tape fabric and is stretchable in the direction along the longitudinal direction of the tape. When the fabric is stretched, the fabric is taped while being transported along the longitudinal direction of the tape. 2. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 1, wherein the ink-jet printing method is elongated along the longitudinal direction.   The inkjet textile printing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a woven fabric is used for said cloth. A dough conveying device that conveys the tape fabric along the longitudinal direction of the tape, a printing device provided in the middle of the conveying path of the dough conveying device, and a drying device provided on the secondary side of the printing device;
The dough conveying apparatus includes a tension applying device that applies an extension force along a tape longitudinal direction to the tape dough being conveyed between a primary side position with respect to the printing apparatus and a secondary side position with respect to the drying apparatus. An ink jet printing apparatus characterized by being provided.

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