JP2019038264A - Production method of structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To form a structure in which an intrinsic tone of color to be formed may be reproduced with high quality even when a general-purpose ink-jet type or laser type printer that can perform high quality printing while shortening a time necessary to form a structure by performing an off-set type printing, or is designed with assumption to print on a printing medium having a flat surface is used.SOLUTION: Before expanding an expansion layer 102 on a medium M11 containing the expansion layer 102 that expands by heating, a photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed by printing, then, on the photothermal conversion material layer 104, before expanding the expansion layer 102, at least one of a white material layer 105 and a colored material layer 106 is formed by printing, furthermore, the expansion layer 102 of the medium M11 is expanded by heating.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure forming method, a system, a program, and a structure forming processing medium.

  Conventionally, a gradation image is formed in a desired area of the medium on the surface opposite to the side where the expansion layer of the medium having an expansion layer that expands by heating is provided, and the medium on which the gradation image is formed is heated. By doing so, there is known a foam molding method in which a portion where a grayscale image is formed in an expanded layer of a medium is expanded and swelled (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, a visible planar image such as a color image is formed on the surface on which the medium expansion layer is provided before the medium expansion layer is raised, but the medium expansion layer is raised. Later, there is no disclosure of a method for forming a foamed molded article that forms an image on the surface of the raised expanded layer.

JP 2001-150812 A

  By the way, when printing on the medium after raising the surface of the medium, since the surface of the medium is raised, the printing speed is relatively faster than the ink jet method such as the offset method. Cannot print using the printing method. In addition, for example, a general-purpose inkjet printer that is widely used in general households is designed on the assumption that the surface of the print medium is flat. Because it is difficult to perform high-quality printing, it is not a general-purpose printer, but a dedicated printer for high-quality printing when printing on a printing medium with a non-flat surface using the inkjet method. Was needed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure forming method, a system, a program, and a structure forming processing medium capable of forming a structure in which a color is reproduced with high quality.

  The structure forming method according to the present invention is a structure forming method executed by a system for forming a three-dimensional structure, and includes a step of forming a photothermal conversion material by printing on a medium including an expanded layer that expands by heating. And forming at least one of a white material and a coloring material on the light-to-heat conversion material by printing, and expanding the expansion layer corresponding to the light-to-heat conversion material, the light-to-heat conversion material, the white material, and the Irradiating the medium on which at least one of the coloring materials is formed, and at least one of the white material and the coloring material includes a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed, and a boundary of the region It is formed so that it may cover.

  The system which concerns on this invention is a system which forms a three-dimensional structure, Comprising: The 1st formation part which forms a photothermal conversion material by printing on the medium containing the expansion layer expanded by heating, The said 1st formation part A second forming portion for forming at least one of a white material and a coloring material on the light-to-heat conversion material formed by printing, the light-to-heat conversion material to expand the expansion layer corresponding to the light-to-heat conversion material, and A light emitting unit that irradiates the medium on which at least one of the white material and the chromatic material is formed, and the second forming unit converts at least one of the white material and the chromatic material to the photothermal conversion. A region where the material is formed and a boundary between the regions are formed.

The program according to the present invention includes a computer for controlling a system for forming a three-dimensional structure, a function for forming a photothermal conversion material on a medium including an expansion layer that expands by heating, and a white color on the photothermal conversion material. The function of forming at least one of a material and a color material by printing, and the photothermal conversion material, at least one of the white material and the color material formed to expand the expansion layer corresponding to the photothermal conversion material A program for realizing a function of irradiating light to a medium, wherein at least one of the white material and the coloring material is formed so as to cover a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed and a boundary of the region Is a program.

  The processing medium for structure formation according to the present invention includes a medium that includes an expansion layer that expands by heating and that expands the expansion layer, and the surface of the expansion layer is flat and is formed on the medium. A region in which the light-to-heat conversion material is formed in at least one of the white material and the coloration material, and at least one of a white material and a coloration material formed on the light-to-heat conversion material. And the boundary of the region is formed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form a structure whose color is reproduced with high quality.

(A) is sectional drawing which shows the processing medium for structure formation concerning embodiment of this invention, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the processing medium for structure formation after expansion which concerns on embodiment of this invention. . It is a flowchart for demonstrating the structure formation method which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a graph showing the relationship of the heat conductivity from the photothermal conversion material layer and coloring material layer in embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the structure formation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a control block diagram of the structure formation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the offset printing part in embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the inkjet printer part in embodiment of this invention. (A) is a perspective view which shows the structure of a heating part, (b) is a side view which shows the structure of a heating part. (A) is sectional drawing which shows the processing medium for structure formation which concerns on the modification of this invention, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the processing medium for structure formation after the expansion which concerns on the modification of this invention. .

  FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a structure forming processing medium M14 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a structure according to an embodiment of the present invention (an expanded structure). FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a forming processing medium) M15, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a structure forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The structure forming processing medium M14 and the structure forming method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Processing medium for structure formation]
A structure-forming processing medium (hereinafter simply referred to as “processing medium”) M14 shown in FIG. 1A is processed from a medium M11 in which a base material 101, a thermal expansion layer 102, and an ink receiving layer 103 are sequentially laminated. This is a state before the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded by heating. The medium M11 has a flat surface before the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded by heating, and even when the layer is formed on the surface by printing, the flatness of the surface is not increased unless the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded by heating. Maintained. In this specification, that the surface of the medium is flat means that a general-purpose inkjet method or laser method designed to perform printing on an offset method or on a print medium with a flat surface. This means that the surface of the medium is smooth or the unevenness on the surface of the medium is small or small enough to reproduce the original color of the printed matter to be created by printing using the printer.

The base material 101 is made of a cloth such as paper or canvas, a panel material such as plastic, and the material is not particularly limited.
In the thermal expansion layer 102, a thermal foaming agent (thermal expansion microcapsule) is dispersedly arranged in a binder which is a thermoplastic resin provided on the substrate 101. Thereby, the thermal expansion layer 102 expand | swells according to the absorbed calorie | heat amount (thermal energy).
The ink receiving layer 103 is formed to a thickness of, for example, 10 μm so as to cover the entire top surface of the thermal expansion layer 102. The ink receiving layer 103 receives printing ink used in an ink jet printer, printing toner used in a laser printer, ballpoint pen, fountain pen ink, pencil graphite, and the like, and fixes it at least on the surface thereof. Therefore, it is possible to use a general-purpose ink receiving layer made of a suitable material and used for inkjet paper or the like. The surface of the thermal expansion layer may be subjected to an appropriate processing (such as an application process for the ink receiving layer) so that the ink can be received, and this may be used as the thermal expansion layer 102. In this case, the ink receiving layer 103 may not be provided. Further, the binder material of the thermal expansion layer 102 may be made of a material that can receive ink. At least a part of the surface of the ink receiving layer 103 is exposed without being covered by the photothermal conversion material layer 104, the white material layer 105, and the coloring material layer 106 described later. Accordingly, it is possible to easily add a message, a chart, a picture, or the like to the exposed portion of the surface of the ink receiving layer 103 by using printing ink, toner, or other writing instrument ink.

  When the ink receiving layer 103, the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104, the white material layer 105, and the coloring material layer 106 have elasticity, these layers are deformed following the expansion of the thermal expansion layer 102. By doing so, gaps are less likely to occur between the ink receiving layer 103 and the photothermal conversion material layer 104, between the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the white material layer 105, and between the white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106. If such a gap occurs, the amount of heat conduction from the photothermal conversion material layer 104, which will be described later, to the thermal expansion layer 102 may be suppressed. Therefore, the ink receiving layer 103, the photothermal conversion material layer 104, the white material layer 105, Further, it is desirable that the coloring material layer 106 has a relatively high stretchability.

[Structure formation method]
The structure forming method according to the embodiment will be described below. First, the above-mentioned medium M11 is prepared (step S11: medium preparation process). Next, on the ink receiving layer 103 of the medium M11, as a photothermal conversion material having photothermal conversion characteristics based on image data for photothermal conversion material formation prepared in advance in an area corresponding to a portion where the thermal expansion layer 102 is to be expanded. The black ink (black material) containing carbon black is printed by the offset method using the offset printing unit 200 shown in FIG. 5 to form the photothermal conversion material layer 104 (step S12: photothermal conversion material forming step). ). The light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is formed of a material that easily converts light energy into heat energy than the materials of the base material 101, the thermal expansion layer 102, and the ink receiving layer 103 included in the medium M11. The photothermal conversion material forming image data is data in which the formation density of black ink is set in correspondence with each coordinate in the plane constituting the image data. Further, the photothermal conversion material forming image data may be generated by any known method based on the colored two-dimensional image data that is the original. The offset printing unit 200 reads the formation density set in the photothermal conversion material formation image data, and prints black ink based on the formation density while controlling the formation density based on, for example, area gradation. The medium M11 on which the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed is referred to as a processing medium M12.

  Here, since the medium M11 is before the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded, a printing method such as an offset method capable of performing printing at a higher speed than the ink jet method can be selected. Thereby, compared with the case where it prints with an inkjet system or a laser system, printing time can be shortened and by extension, high-quality printing can be performed, reducing the time concerning structure formation. In the case of performing a large amount of printing, the effect of shortening the time is particularly great. Not only the offset method, but any method that can perform printing at a higher speed than the ink jet method, for example, a gravure method or a silk screen method may be used.

  If necessary, printing may be performed by an ink jet method or a laser method. In this case, since the medium M11 is before the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded, even if a general-purpose inkjet or laser printer designed on the premise of printing on a printing medium having a flat surface is used. Thus, it is possible to form a structure in which the original color to be created is reproduced with high quality. Such general-purpose printers include, for example, home inkjet printers and office laser printers. In addition, when the printing surface of the medium M11 is not flat, when such a general-purpose ink jet type or laser type printer is used, printing is not possible or printing is performed on a medium with a flat surface. As a result, the print quality deteriorates, that is, the original color tone to be created cannot be reproduced with high quality.

  The above-described image data for forming a photothermal conversion material may be generated by any known method based on original image data, for example, colored two-dimensional image data. The original image may be, for example, an image captured by a digital camera or a computer graphic image generated by an arbitrary method. Based on such original image data, photothermal conversion material formation image data, brightness enhancement material formation image data, and coloring material formation image data are generated.

  When forming a structure based on the original image, the photothermal conversion material formation image data is used to form a photothermal conversion material that is necessary to increase the desired area of the original image to a desired height. It includes density and data of formation density corresponding to each coordinate in the plane constituting the image data. The image data for forming the brightness enhancement material is the formation density of the brightness enhancement material (white ink) necessary for improving the visual brightness of the portion of the processing medium M12 where the photothermal conversion material is formed to a desired degree. Thus, data on the formation density corresponding to each coordinate in the plane constituting the image data is included. The coloring material forming image data is the formation density of one or more coloring materials (color inks) necessary for coloring the structure formed based on the original image as desired. It includes formation density data corresponding to each coordinate in the plane constituting the image data.

  When the light-heat conversion material layer 104 is uniformly irradiated with light energy regardless of the position of the surface, the heat generated at the portion of the surface of the light-heat conversion material layer 104 with a higher concentration of formation of the light-heat conversion material. Energy (heat amount) increases. As a result, in the portion of the thermal expansion layer 102 that overlaps the portion where the formation concentration of the light-to-heat conversion material in the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is set high, the amount of heat is larger than the portion that overlaps the portion where the formation concentration is set low. Is conducted and thus absorbs more heat. Further, the height at which a portion of the thermal expansion layer 102 expands has a positive correlation with the amount of heat absorbed by the portion. Therefore, when light energy is uniformly applied to the surface of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 regardless of the position of the surface, the portion where the formation concentration of the photothermal conversion material is set high on the surface of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 The portion where the thermal expansion layer 102 expands is higher in the portion overlapping the portion than the portion overlapping the portion where the formation concentration is set low. Further, the expansion amount of the thermal expansion layer 102 is limited, but within the range, if the formation density of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is the same, the photothermal conversion material layer 104 per unit area and unit time. The greater the amount of light energy irradiated toward, the greater the amount of expansion of the thermal expansion layer 102 in the portion irradiated with light energy. Accordingly, the formation concentration of the light-to-heat conversion material in the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 and the amount of light energy irradiated toward the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 may be appropriately changed and set in consideration of mutual influences.

  In the embodiment, at least a part of the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is in a state in which the white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 are formed on the upper surface, that is, in a state in which the upper surface is not exposed. For example, when energy including an infrared wavelength is irradiated as energy, and the white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 do not include carbon black or the like, which is a material having photothermal conversion characteristics, the light energy is The white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 transmit substantially without being absorbed. Therefore, even if the white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 are formed above the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104, the height at which the thermal expansion layer 102 expands is remarkably reduced as compared with the case where these upper layers are not formed. The effect of the upper layer is virtually negligible.

  Here, when the coloring material forming the coloring material layer 106 includes carbon black or the like, which is a material having photothermal conversion characteristics, the amount of heat photothermally converted in the coloring material layer 106 also contributes to the expansion of the thermal expansion layer 102. To do. In this case, the photothermal conversion is performed so that the total amount of heat converted and conducted in both the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the coloring material layer 106 is equal to the amount of heat required to expand the thermal expansion layer 102 to a desired height. The conversion material forming image data and the coloring material forming image data may be set in advance. That is, the concentration of the light-to-heat conversion material forming the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is set so that the heat conduction from the color material layer 106 is higher than that in the case where the color material forming the color material layer 106 does not include a material having light-heat conversion characteristics. It may be set lower by an amount corresponding to the amount. In the case where the coloring material layer 106 does not contain a photothermal conversion material such as carbon black and contains only three color inks of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C, thermal expansion due to heat absorbed by the coloring material layer 106 The contribution to the expansion of layer 102 is negligible.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the correlation of the amount of heat conduction from the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the coloring material layer 106 to the thermal expansion layer 102. As shown in FIG. 3, in a portion where the heat conduction amount from the coloring material layer 106 to the thermal expansion layer 102 is large, the photothermal conversion material of the photothermal conversion material is reduced so that the heat conduction amount from the photothermal conversion material layer 104 to the thermal expansion layer 102 is small. It is only necessary to set the formation density to a small value so that the total amount of heat conduction from the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the coloring material layer 106 to the thermal expansion layer 102 becomes a desired value. When the heat conduction from the layers other than the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 and the coloring material layer 106 contributes to the expansion of the thermal expansion layer 102, the total amount of heat conduction from all the layers contributing to the expansion of the thermal expansion layer 102 is The formation concentration of the photothermal conversion material for forming the photothermal conversion material layer 104 may be set so as to have a desired value.

  In FIG. 1A, the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed only on the surface of the base material 101, but in addition to this, the back surface of the base material 101, that is, the thermal expansion layer 102 of the base material 101. You may form in the surface on the opposite side to the side in which was formed. As a result, when the thermal expansion layer 102 cannot be expanded by a desired amount only by the amount of heat conduction from the photothermal conversion material layer 104 or the like formed on the surface of the substrate 101, the shortage of the amount of heat conduction is compensated. can do.

  Next, based on the image data for forming the brightness enhancement material prepared in advance, the white ink as the brightness enhancement material is illustrated on the processing medium M12 so as to cover at least a part of the photothermal conversion material on the processing medium M12. The brightness improving material layer 105 is formed by printing by the offset method using the offset printing unit 200 shown in FIG. 5 (Step S13: Brightness improving material forming step). The processing medium M12 on which the brightness enhancement material layer 105 is formed is referred to as a processing medium M13. In addition, since white ink is used in the lightness improving material forming step S13, through this step, the visual lightness of the portion of the medium M11 where the black ink is formed is improved. When the color ink is formed without forming the white ink on the black ink, the color of the formed color ink becomes dull and the color development is relatively poor. However, when the white ink is formed on the black ink and the color ink is further formed on the black ink, the coloring of the color ink is improved as compared with the case where the white ink is not formed. As a result, the quality of the formed structure is improved. Can be increased. Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, in the present embodiment, white ink is formed so as to cover the entire black ink formation region. Thereby, the brightness of the whole area | region in which the black ink was formed can be improved. The white ink formation region does not necessarily coincide with the black ink formation region, and may be any region that covers at least a part of the black ink formation region. Therefore, a part of the white ink may be formed in a region where the black ink is not formed.

  Since the processing medium M12 is before the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded, the lightness improving material forming step S13 performs printing at a relatively high speed such as an offset method in the same manner as the photothermal conversion material forming step S12 described above. A printing method capable of printing can be selected. In this case, it is possible to perform high-quality printing while shortening the printing time and, in turn, shortening the time required for the structure formation as compared with the case of printing by an ink jet method or a laser method. It is the same as material formation process S12. Further, if necessary, printing may be performed using only a general-purpose ink jet type or laser type printer, and in this case, the same effect as the photothermal conversion material forming step S12 can be obtained.

  In the above-described image data for brightness enhancement material formation, for example, 0 is set for the coordinates of the portion of the processing medium M12 where the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is not formed, and the coordinates of the portion where the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed are set. On the other hand, a value other than 0 may be set. As a result, the lightness improving material layer 105 can be formed only on the portion of the medium M11 where the visual lightness is lowered by the formation of the photothermal conversion material, and the lightness can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to enhance the brightness improvement effect while minimizing the consumption of white ink.

  For example, the brightness enhancement material forming image data may be set to a uniform value for a portion where the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is formed. The data may be such that the formation density of is increased. As a result, the lower the visual brightness, the higher the degree of improvement of the visual brightness of the part. Therefore, the visual brightness of the processing medium M13 after the brightness-enhancing material is formed is set regardless of the part. Can be made more uniform.

  Further, the brightness enhancement material forming image data may be set to a uniform value for the entire surface of the processing medium M12. Also in this case, it is possible to improve the brightness of at least a portion of the processing medium M12 where the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed. Note that when the surface of the medium M11 is not pure white but slightly dull white, an effect of improving the brightness can be obtained even in a portion where the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is not formed.

  In the above-described lightness improving material forming step S13, the case where white ink is formed has been described as an example. However, in this lightness improving material forming step S13, the following three colors of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C are described. You may make it print the color ink of at least 1 color of ink. Also in this case, the visual brightness of the medium M11 on which the black ink is formed is improved. In this case, the color ink of at least one color functions as a lightness improving material.

  Next, based on the color material forming image data prepared in advance, three color inks of yellow Y, magenta M, and cyan C as color materials are applied on the processing medium M14 to the offset printing unit 200 shown in FIG. The coloring material layer 106 is formed by printing using the offset method (step S14: coloring material forming step). The processing medium M13 on which the coloring material layer 106 is formed is referred to as a processing medium M14. In the coloring material forming step S14, since three color inks are used, through this step, the entire surface of the processing medium M14 is visually colored to have a desired hue. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1B, in the present embodiment, a plurality of portions where the black ink of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed, and a plurality of portions where the white ink of the brightness enhancement material layer 105 is formed, 3 color inks so as to cover the entire black ink forming region and the entire white ink forming region, the entire border of the black ink forming region, and the entire border of the white ink forming region in at least one part of Of these, at least one color ink is formed. Although not shown in the drawings, the black ink forming region is formed in all of the plurality of portions of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 where the black ink is formed and in all of the plurality of portions of the lightness improving material layer 105 where the white ink is formed. Color ink of at least one color may be formed so as to cover the whole and the entire white ink forming region, the entire border of the black ink forming region, and the entire border of the white ink forming region.

  Since the processing medium M13 is before the thermal expansion layer 102 is expanded, the coloring material forming step S14 is relatively similar to the offset method or the like in the photothermal conversion material forming step S12 and the brightness enhancement material forming step S13. A printing method capable of printing at high speed can be selected. In this case, it is possible to perform high-quality printing while shortening the printing time and, in turn, shortening the time required for the structure formation as compared with the case of printing by an ink jet method or a laser method. This is the same as the material forming step S12 and the lightness improving material forming step S13. In addition, if necessary, printing may be performed using only a general-purpose inkjet or laser printer. In this case, the same effects as those of the above-described photothermal conversion material forming step S12 and lightness improving material forming step S13 may be used. Is obtained.

  In the above-described color material forming image data, for example, a value other than 0 may be set for at least one color ink on the entire surface of the processing medium M12 so that the entire surface of the processing medium M13 is colored. The value of the image data, that is, the formation density of the color ink may be set to 0 for all the colors so as not to be colored in at least a part of the surface of the processing medium M12.

  When the photothermal conversion material layer 104, the white material layer 105, and the coloring material layer 106 are formed as in the present embodiment, the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the white material layer 105 are formed in at least a part of the ink receiving layer 103. A portion where neither of the coloring material layers 106 is formed, that is, a portion where the surface of the ink receiving layer 103 is exposed may be provided. For all of the image data for photothermal conversion material formation, the image data for white material formation, and the image data for color material formation, by setting the value (formation density) to 0 in a part of the image data, ink acceptance An exposed portion of the surface of layer 103 can be provided.

  Here, in the expansion step S15 to be described later, as the thermal expansion layer 102 expands and its surface area increases, the density of the formed color material layer 106 also decreases, thereby expanding the processing medium M14. The structure M15 has a lighter visual tint than the processing medium M14 before expansion. For this reason, the value of the color material forming image data may be set so that the processing medium M14 is visually desired after being expanded. In other words, before the processing medium M14 is expanded, in the stage where at least one color ink is formed on the processing medium M14, the processing medium M14 is colored so that it is visually darker than the desired color. The value of the material forming image data may be set. Further, when one portion of the processing medium M14 and the other portion are made to have the same visual color after the processing medium M14 is expanded, the one portion is replaced with the other portion. In the case of expanding larger than the portion, the value of the color material forming image data in one portion having a larger expansion amount, that is, the color material forming density may be set larger than that in the other portions.

  Next, the processing medium M <b> 14 is carried into the heating unit 5. The heating unit 5 includes a light source unit 54 (radiation unit) including a light source 54a such as a halogen lamp. The light source 54a is a processing medium in which light including an infrared wavelength as an example of light energy is carried into the heating unit 5. Irradiate toward M14. A part of the light irradiated to the processing medium M14 is converted into thermal energy in the photothermal conversion material layer 104, and the converted thermal energy is conducted to the thermal expansion layer 102, whereby the thermal expansion layer 102 is heated. It expands (step S15: expansion process). Through this expansion step S15, the thermal expansion layer 102 of the processing medium M14 expands, and a structure (process medium for forming a structure after expansion) M15 shown in FIG. 1B is obtained. The amount of expansion of the thermal expansion layer 102 varies depending on the formation concentration of the photothermal conversion material of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the amount of light energy irradiated thereon. In the portion of the thermal expansion layer 102 where the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is not formed, the light energy is difficult to be converted into heat energy. Therefore, in this portion, the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 does not substantially expand or other portions. The amount of expansion is so small that it can be ignored.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A, the entire black ink formation region and the entire white ink formation region, the entire border of the black ink formation region, and the entire boundary of the white ink formation region are covered. As described above, at least one color ink is formed. In the portion where the color ink is formed in this manner, as shown in FIG. 1B, after the thermal expansion layer 102 expands, the entire black ink of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the side surface, and the brightness enhancement material layer 105 The whole and side surfaces of the white ink are covered with the coloring material layer 106. As a result, the black ink and the white ink are hidden by the color ink so that they cannot be seen, so that it is possible to form the processing medium M14 that is visually close to the desired color or has the desired color.

[Structure formation device]
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the structure forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 4, the structure forming apparatus 1 includes a photothermal conversion material forming unit (first forming unit) 2 for forming a photothermal conversion material, and a lightness improving material forming unit (forming a lightness improving material). (Second forming unit) 3, a coloring material forming unit (second forming unit) 4 for forming a coloring material, a heating unit 5 having a light source for irradiating light energy toward the loaded processing medium M14, Is provided.

  FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of the structure forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 controls the printing unit 100 and the heating unit 5 including the offset printing unit 200 and / or the ink jet printing unit 300, and forms the structure in cooperation with them. It functions as the unit 401. Further, the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 acquires the print data and the print control data stored in the memory control circuit 600 by controlling the print data acquisition unit 402, and the structure based on the acquired data. It functions as a structure formation control unit 401 that controls formation.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an offset printing unit 200 used as any one of the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, the brightness enhancement material forming unit 3, and the coloring material forming unit 4 according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing. FIG. 7 is a general-purpose that is used for the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, the lightness improving material forming unit 3, and the coloring material forming unit 4 according to the embodiment of the present invention in which the offset printing unit 200 is not used. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the inkjet printer part 300 which is a printer of a simple inkjet system. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the case where the offset printing unit 200 is used as the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2 and the inkjet printer unit 300 is used as the lightness improving material forming unit 3 and the coloring material forming unit 4 will be described as an example. The offset printing unit 200 may be used as any one of the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, the brightness enhancement material forming unit 3, and the coloring material forming unit 4. For example, the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, The offset printing unit 200 may be used for all of the brightness enhancement material forming unit 3 and the coloring material forming unit 4. In this case, the structure forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment may not include the ink jet printer unit 300. Moreover, you may use the inkjet printer part 300 about all of the photothermal conversion material formation part 2, the brightness improvement material formation part 3, and the coloring material formation part 4, In this case, the structure formation apparatus 1 which concerns on this embodiment May not include the offset printing unit 200.

  A general configuration of the offset printing unit 200 will be described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment of the present invention, the offset printing unit 200 does not have a configuration unique to the present embodiment, but can use one that is generally used in the printing field. The offset printing unit 200 includes a plate cylinder 21, an ink roller 22, a water roller 23, a blanket cylinder 24, an impression cylinder 25, a paper feed roller pair 26, and a paper discharge roller pair 27. 6A to 6E respectively show the rotation directions of the plate cylinder 21, the ink roller 22, the water roller 23, the blanket cylinder 24, and the impression cylinder 25, and the white arrow f1 indicates the conveyance direction of the medium M11. The control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 includes the plate cylinder 21, the ink roller 22, the water roller 23, the blanket cylinder 24, the impression cylinder 25, the paper feed roller pair 26, and the paper discharge roller pair 27 of the offset printing unit 200. Each part is controlled and the following printing control is performed.

  The control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 controls the print data acquisition unit 402 to form an original plate in advance based on the print data and print control data acquired from the memory control circuit 600. By bringing the plate cylinder 21 around which the pre-formed original plate is wound into contact with the water roller 23, water adheres to a portion of the peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 21 corresponding to a portion where printing is not performed on the medium M11. Subsequently, the plate cylinder 21 is brought into contact with the ink roller 23, so that a portion of the peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 21 where water has not adhered, that is, a portion corresponding to a portion where printing is performed on the medium M11 is applied. Adheres. Next, the portion of the plate cylinder 21 to which the photothermal conversion material is adhered is brought into contact with the blanket cylinder 24 to transfer the photothermal conversion material adhered to the plate cylinder 21 to the blanket cylinder 24 that is an intermediate transfer body.

  On the other hand, the paper feed roller pair 26 conveys the medium M11 in the direction f1 of the white arrow in FIG. 6 while being held in contact with the front and back surfaces of the medium M11. The medium 11 is conveyed through a gap between the blanket cylinder 24 and the impression cylinder 25 by a pair of paper feed rollers 26. The paper discharge roller pair 27 further conveys in the direction f1 of the white arrow while being held in contact with the front and back surfaces of the medium M11 that has passed through the gap between the blanket cylinder 24 and the impression cylinder 25.

  As described above, the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 controls each unit of the offset printing unit 200 to transfer the medium M11 to the blanket cylinder 24 while being conveyed through the gap between the blanket cylinder 24 and the impression cylinder 25. The made photothermal conversion material is printed at an appropriate position on the medium M11.

  Next, a general configuration of the inkjet printer unit 300 will be described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment of the present invention, the inkjet printer unit 300 does not have a configuration unique to the present embodiment, and a general-purpose one can be used. The ink jet printer unit 300 includes a carriage 31 provided so as to be capable of reciprocating in a direction (main scanning direction) indicated by a double arrow a orthogonal to the paper transport direction (sub scanning direction). A cartridge 33 that contains ink and a print head 32 that performs printing on a medium using the ink in the cartridge 33 are attached to the carriage 31.

  The cartridge 33 is equivalent to the visual tint of the material formed by the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, the brightness enhancement material forming unit 3, and the coloring material forming unit 4 in which the offset printing unit 200 is not used. Color ink is contained inside. In the present embodiment, since the offset printing unit 200 is used as the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, when the ink jet printer unit 300 is used as the brightness enhancement material forming unit 3, the cartridge 33 of the ink jet printer unit 300 has a white color. Of ink may be contained. When the ink jet printer unit 300 is used as the coloring material forming unit 4, cyan, magenta, and yellow color inks may be stored separately in the cartridge 33 of the ink jet printer unit 300. The ink storage portion of the cartridge 33 is connected to an individual print head 32 corresponding to each ink.

  The carriage 31 is provided with a through hole, and is slidably supported by a guide rail 34 that passes through the through hole. Further, the carriage 31 is provided with a sandwiched portion, and this sandwiched portion is sandwiched by the drive belt 35. By driving the drive belt 35, the print head 32 and the cartridge 33 are moved in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 31. Moving.

  The control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 is connected to the print head 32 via the flexible communication cable 36. The structure formation control unit 401 sends the acquired print data and print control data to the print head 32 via the flexible communication cable 36, and controls the print head 32 based on these data.

  A platen 38 is disposed below the inner frame 37 at a position facing the print head 32 so as to extend in the main scanning direction. The platen 38 constitutes a part of the sheet conveyance path. The processing medium M12 and the processing medium M13 have a lower surface in contact with the platen 38, and a sub-feed roller pair 39 (lower roller is not shown) and a discharge roller pair 41 (lower roller is not shown). It is conveyed intermittently in the scanning direction. The paper feed roller pair 39 and the paper discharge roller pair 41 are driven by the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1.

  The control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 controls the motor 42, the print head 32, the paper feed roller pair 39 and the paper discharge roller pair 41 together with the carriage 31 via the drive belt 35 connected to the motor 42. The print head 32 is transported to an appropriate position in the main scanning direction, and ink droplets are ejected toward each medium by the print head 32 during a stop period of transport of the processing medium M12 and the processing medium M13. Thereby, the brightness enhancement material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 are printed on the entire surface of the processing medium M12 and the processing medium M13, and the processing medium M12 and the processing medium M13 are processed into the processing medium M13 and the processing medium M14, respectively. .

  When the ink jet printer unit is used for both the lightness improving material forming unit 3 and the coloring material forming unit 4, the cartridge 33 contains white, cyan, magenta and yellow inks separated from each other. It may be. In this case, the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 moves the print head 32 to the first direction in the main scanning direction via the carriage 31, and uses the white ink with the print head 32 to apply to each medium. While printing is performed, while the print head 32 is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction in the main scanning direction, the print head 32 performs printing on each medium using each color ink of cyan, magenta, and yellow. You may make it perform. As a result, the ink jet printer unit 300 is used as compared with the case where printing using the cyan, magenta, and yellow inks on the entire medium is started after the printing using the white ink on the entire medium is completed. It is possible to reduce the time required for the printing process.

  In the present embodiment, among the photothermal conversion material forming unit 2, the lightness improving material forming unit 3, and the coloring material forming unit 4, printing using the inkjet printer unit 300 is performed for the offset printing unit 200. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and printing using another known printing method, for example, a laser method, may be performed for the case where the offset printing unit 200 is not used.

  FIG. 8A is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of the heating unit 5, and FIG. 8B is a side view illustrating the configuration of the heating unit 5. As shown in FIG. 8A, when the processing medium M <b> 14 is carried into the heating unit 5, the processing medium M <b> 14 is placed on a medium support frame 53 that is fixedly installed on the mounting table 50 of the heating unit 5. The heating unit 5 includes a heat source unit 51 provided so as to be movable along two opposing sides of the rectangular mounting table 50. The heat source 51 is supported on both sides by support columns 52a and 52b, and the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 moves the support columns 52a and 52b along two opposite sides of the mounting table 50 as shown in FIG. The heat source 51 is moved relative to the processing medium M14 fixedly installed on the mounting table 50 by performing control to move in the direction indicated by the white double arrow f2. While moving the heat source unit 51 relative to the processing medium M14, the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 controls the light source 54a of the light source unit 54 included in the heat source unit 51, and the light source unit 54 causes the processing medium M14 to move to the processing medium M14. Irradiate with light energy. The light source unit 54 includes a reflecting mirror 54b, and the processing medium M14 can be efficiently irradiated with the light energy emitted from the light source 54a by the reflecting mirror 54b.

  As described above, the thermal expansion layer 102 expands greatly as the amount of light energy irradiated per unit area and unit time toward the photothermal conversion material layer 104 formed on the surface thereof increases. For example, the control unit 400 of the structure forming apparatus 1 sets the support columns 52a and 52b and the light source 54a so that the relative movement speed of the heat source unit 51 with respect to the processing medium M14 is constant and the output of the light source 54a is constant. You may control. However, if the amount of light energy irradiated per unit area and unit time toward the photothermal conversion material layer 104 of the thermal expansion layer 102 is uniform over the entire processing medium M14, the structure forming apparatus 1 The method of control by the control unit 400 is not limited to this.

  As the light source 27a, for example, a 900 W halogen lamp is used, and the light source 27a is disposed about 4 cm away from the processing medium M14. The relative moving speed of the light source unit 27 with respect to the processing medium M14 is set to about 20 mm / second. Under this condition, the processing medium M14 is heated to 100 ° C. to 110 ° C., and a portion of the thermal expansion layer 102 of the processing medium M14 where the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed expands.

  In the embodiment described above, the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is formed by printing on the medium M11 including the expansion layer 102 that expands by heating before the expansion layer 102 is expanded, and then the light-to-heat conversion material layer 104 is formed. Before the expansion layer 102 is expanded, at least one of the white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 is formed by printing, and then the expansion layer 102 of the medium M11 is expanded by heating, so that the photothermal conversion material layer 104 is formed. The structure M15 formed by expanding the expansion layer 102 of the formed medium M11 by heating, and at least one of the white material layer 105 and the coloring material layer 106 is further used on the photothermal conversion material layer 104. In forming the printed structure M15, the photothermal conversion material layer 104, the white material layer 105, and the coloring material By printing at least one of the layers 106 before expanding the expansion layer 102, when printing these material layers 104, 105, and 106, offset printing can be performed. In addition, it is possible to perform high-quality printing while reducing the time required for forming the structure M15, or when printing these material layers 104, 105, and 106 on a printing medium having a flat surface. Even if a general-purpose inkjet or laser printer designed on the premise of printing is used, it is possible to form the structure M15 in which the original color to be produced is reproduced with high quality.

  Note that the structure forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uniformly distributes the entire processing medium M14 while moving the light source unit 54 relative to the processing medium 14 while keeping the processing medium M14 in one place without conveying the processing medium M14. The case of heating has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the processing medium 14 and the light source unit 54 are relatively moved by moving the light source unit 54 as necessary while moving the processing medium M14 at least. However, the whole processing medium M14 may be heated uniformly.

<Modification>
Below, the modification of this invention is demonstrated using FIG. In the description of this modification, the description common to the above embodiment will be omitted as appropriate. FIG. 9A is a sectional view showing a structure forming working medium according to a modification of the present invention, and FIG. 9B is a sectional view showing a structure forming working medium after expansion according to the modification of the present invention. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, in this modification, the entire black ink formation region and the formation of the black ink are formed in at least one of the plurality of portions of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 where the black ink is formed. White ink and color ink of at least one of the three color inks are formed so as to cover the entire boundary of the region. Although not shown in the drawing, in all of the plurality of portions of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 where the black ink is formed, white ink, so as to cover the entire black ink formation region and the entire boundary of the black ink formation region, In addition, at least one color ink may be formed.

  In this modification, as shown in FIG. 9A, white ink and at least one color ink are formed so as to cover the entire black ink formation region and the entire boundary of the black ink formation region. Has been. In the portion where the color ink is formed in this way, as shown in FIG. 9B, after the thermal expansion layer 102 expands, the entire black ink of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 and the side surface are white material layer 105 and coloring. Covered by a material layer 106. Thereby, the black ink is hidden by the white ink and the color ink and cannot be seen, so that the processing medium M14 that is visually close to the desired color or has the desired color can be formed. In this modification, the entire black ink and the side surface of the photothermal conversion material layer 104 are covered with two layers of the white ink of the white material layer 105 and the color ink of the coloring material layer 106. Compared to the above-described embodiment in which the whole and side surfaces of the black ink 104 are covered with only one layer of the color ink of the coloring material layer 106, the desired hue is visually closer or desired. The processed medium M14 can be formed.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention includes the invention described in the claim, and its equivalent range. The invention described in the scope of claims at the beginning of the filing of the present application will be appended.

[Appendix 1]
Before the expansion layer is expanded on the medium including the expansion layer that expands by heating, a photothermal conversion material is formed by printing, and then,
Before the expansion layer is expanded on the light-to-heat conversion material, at least one of a white material and a coloring material is formed by printing, and then
Expanding the expansion layer of the medium by heating;
The structure formation method characterized by the above-mentioned.
[Appendix 2]
Forming at least one of the white material and the coloring material so as to cover the entire formation region of the photothermal conversion material and the entire boundary of the formation region of the photothermal conversion material;
The structure forming method according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein:
[Appendix 3]
Forming the white material on the light-to-heat conversion material by printing;
Forming the coloring material on the white material by printing;
Expanding the expansion layer of the medium by heating;
The structure forming method according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein:
[Appendix 4]
The white material is formed so as to cover the entire formation region of the photothermal conversion material and the entire boundary of the formation region of the photothermal conversion material.
The structure forming method according to supplementary note 3, wherein the structure is formed.
[Appendix 5]
The coloring material is formed so as to cover the entire formation region of the white material and the entire boundary of the formation region of the white material.
The structure forming method according to Supplementary Note 3 or 4, wherein the structure is formed.
[Appendix 6]
The photothermal conversion material is formed by offset printing or printing using a general-purpose inkjet printer method or laser printer.
The structure forming method according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein:
[Appendix 7]
The medium is provided with an ink receiving layer on the surface thereof,
Forming the photothermal conversion material and at least one of the white material and the coloring material so as to expose the ink receiving layer;
The structure forming method according to any one of appendices 1 to 6, wherein:
[Appendix 8]
Before expanding the expansion layer on the medium including the expansion layer that expands by heating, after forming the light-to-heat conversion material by the first formation unit that forms a photothermal conversion material by printing, A second forming part that forms at least one of a white material and a coloring material by printing before expanding the expansion layer on the photothermal conversion material;
A structure forming apparatus, comprising: a heating unit that expands the expansion layer of the medium by heating after forming at least one of the white material and the coloring material by the second forming unit.
[Appendix 9]
The second forming portion forms at least one of the white material and the coloring material so as to cover the entire formation region of the photothermal conversion material and the entire boundary of the formation region of the photothermal conversion material.
The structure forming apparatus as set forth in Appendix 8, wherein
[Appendix 10]
A program executed by the control unit of the structure forming apparatus including the first forming unit, the second forming unit, the heating unit, and the control unit,
The control unit
Before the expansion layer is expanded on the medium including the expansion layer that expands by heating, the photothermal conversion material is formed by printing using the first forming unit, and then,
Before the expansion layer is expanded on the photothermal conversion material, at least one of a white material and a coloring material is formed by printing using the second forming portion, and then
Expanding the expansion layer of the medium by heating using the heating unit;
A structure forming program characterized in that it functions as follows.
[Appendix 11]
The control unit
Forming at least one of the white material and the coloring material by using the second forming portion so as to cover the entire region of the photothermal conversion material and the entire boundary of the photothermal conversion material.
The structure forming program according to appendix 10, wherein the structure forming program is made to function as described above.
[Appendix 12]
A medium including an expanded layer that expands by heating and before expanding the expanded layer, the medium having a flat surface of the expanded layer;
A photothermal conversion material formed on the medium;
A structure-forming processing medium comprising: at least one of a white material and a coloring material formed on the photothermal conversion material.
[Appendix 13]
At least one of the white material and the coloring material is formed so as to cover the entire formation region of the photothermal conversion material and the entire boundary of the formation region of the photothermal conversion material.
The processing medium for forming a structure according to appendix 12, which is characterized in that.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Three-dimensional object formation apparatus, 2 ... Photothermal conversion material formation part (1st formation part), 3 ... White material formation part (2nd formation part), 4 ... Colored material formation part (2nd formation part), 5 ... Heating Part, 100 ... printing part, 101 ... substrate, 102 ... expanded layer, 103 ... ink receiving layer, 104 ... photothermal conversion material layer, 105 ... white material layer, 106 ... coloring material layer, 200 ... offset printing part, 300 ... Inkjet printer unit, M11... Medium, M12, M13, M14... Solid object forming processing medium (processing medium)

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a structure .

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a structure capable of manufacturing a structure whose color is reproduced with high quality.

In the structure manufacturing method according to the present invention, the first plane pattern is made of a material capable of converting infrared light having a predetermined wavelength into heat so that the predetermined first plane pattern overlaps an expansion layer that expands by heating. A first step of printing and forming the photothermal conversion layer, and infrared light having the predetermined wavelength can be transmitted so that the first planar pattern is covered with a second planar pattern having a larger area than the first planar pattern. A second step of printing and forming a white layer or a color layer as the second plane pattern with a white material or a color material, and the photothermal conversion of the infrared light of the predetermined wavelength via the white layer or the color layer And a third step of expanding the expansion layer in a region where the light-to-heat conversion layer overlaps as the first plane pattern by irradiating the layer.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to manufacture the structure in which the hue | tone was reproduced with high quality.

Claims (12)

A structure forming method executed by a system for forming a three-dimensional structure,
Forming a photothermal conversion material by printing on a medium including an expanded layer that expands by heating; and
Forming at least one of a white material and a coloring material on the photothermal conversion material by printing;
Irradiating the medium on which at least one of the photothermal conversion material, the white material, and the coloring material is formed to expand the expansion layer corresponding to the photothermal conversion material;
Including
At least one of the white material and the coloring material is formed so as to cover a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed and a boundary of the region.
The structure formation method characterized by the above-mentioned. Forming the white material on the light-to-heat conversion material by printing;
Forming the coloring material on the white material by printing;
Expanding the expansion layer of the medium by heating;
The structure forming method according to claim 1, wherein: The white material is formed so as to cover a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed and a boundary of the region.
The structure forming method according to claim 2, wherein: Forming the coloring material so as to cover a region where the white material is formed and a boundary of the region;
The structure forming method according to claim 2, wherein the structure is formed. The photothermal conversion material is formed by offset printing or printing using an inkjet or laser printer.
The structure forming method according to claim 1, wherein the structure is formed. The medium is provided with an ink receiving layer on the surface thereof,
Forming the photothermal conversion material and at least one of the white material and the coloring material so as to expose the ink receiving layer;
The structure forming method according to claim 1, wherein the structure is formed.   2. The structure forming method according to claim 1, wherein the light irradiated to the medium includes light having an infrared wavelength.   The structure forming method according to claim 1, wherein a light source of light applied to the medium is a halogen lamp.   2. The structure forming method according to claim 1, wherein the expansion layer has a higher expansion height as the concentration of the photothermal conversion material formed in a corresponding region is higher. A system for forming a three-dimensional structure,
A first forming unit that forms a photothermal conversion material on a medium including an expansion layer that expands by heating; and
A second forming part that forms at least one of a white material and a coloring material by printing on the light-to-heat conversion material formed by the first forming part;
A light emitting unit that irradiates the medium on which at least one of the photothermal conversion material, the white material, and the coloring material is formed in order to expand the expansion layer corresponding to the photothermal conversion material;
With
The second forming unit forms at least one of the white material and the coloring material so as to cover a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed and a boundary of the region.
A system characterized by that. To a computer that controls a system that forms a three-dimensional structure,
A function of forming a photothermal conversion material by printing on a medium including an expanded layer that expands by heating;
A function of forming at least one of a white material and a coloring material on the photothermal conversion material by printing;
A function of irradiating the medium on which at least one of the light-to-heat conversion material, the white material, and the coloring material is formed in order to expand the expansion layer corresponding to the light-to-heat conversion material;
Is a program for realizing
At least one of the white material and the coloring material is formed so as to cover a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed and a boundary of the region.
program. A medium including an expanded layer that expands by heating and before expanding the expanded layer, the medium having a flat surface of the expanded layer;
A photothermal conversion material formed on the medium;
At least one of a white material and a coloring material formed on the photothermal conversion material;
With
At least one of the white material and the coloring material is formed so as to cover a region where the photothermal conversion material is formed and a boundary of the region.
A processing medium for forming a structure characterized by the above.