JP2022086606A - Flying object generation device, image formation device, solid molding manufacturing apparatus, flying object generation method, and substrate for light absorption material flying - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a flying object generation device that allows a light absorption material to fly and adhere to a target body with suppressed scattering.SOLUTION: A flying object generation device is assembled with a substrate having a light absorption material arranged on at least a part of its surface; and light absorption material flying means for applying a laser beam to the substrate from a surface side opposed to the surface where the light absorption material is arranged, thereby making the light absorption material fly in the irradiation direction of the laser beam, wherein the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorption material arranged on the surface of the substrate is lower than or equal to 0.3 μm.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

The present invention relates to a flying object generator, an image forming apparatus, a three-dimensional model manufacturing apparatus, a flying object generating method, and a base material for flying a light absorber.

Image forming equipment using an inkjet method or the like can fly ink droplets to a desired position. Therefore, in recent years, the field of 3D printers for three-dimensional modeling and the field of printed electronics for forming electronic parts by printing technology. Applications are also being considered.

In these fields, for example, not only low-viscosity inks used in conventional image forming apparatus but also high-viscosity materials such as inks having a high pigment concentration and conductive pastes containing a conductor are desired. It is necessary to fly to the exact position of. Therefore, various techniques for flying high-viscosity materials have been proposed.
As such a technique, a technique of flying ink using a laser beam has been studied. For example, a laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) method using an optical vortex laser beam has been proposed. (See, for example, Patent Document 1). In the LIFT method, for example, a film (layer) of the transfer target material arranged on the substrate is formed, the film of the transfer target material is irradiated with a laser beam to fly the transfer target material, and the film of the transfer target material is formed. This is a method of arranging the transfer target material at a desired position of the substrates arranged facing each other.
Further, in the LIFT method, for example, a resin component, particles, and a solvent having a boiling point higher than 130 ° C. (reactive diluent) are contained in a predetermined ratio, and the storage elastic modulus and the loss elastic modulus have predetermined conditions. A technique for performing rapid and reproducible transfer by using a filling ink has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

An object of the present invention is to provide a flying object generator capable of suppressing scattering of a flying light absorber and adhering it to an object.

The projectile generator of the present invention as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems faces a base material having a light-absorbing material arranged on at least a part of the surface and the surface of the base material on which the light-absorbing material is arranged. It has a light absorber flying means for flying a light absorber in the irradiation direction of the laser beam by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side, and arithmetic of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material. The average roughness Ra is 0.3 μm or less.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a flying object generator capable of suppressing scattering of a flying light absorber and adhering it to an object.

FIG. 1A is a photograph showing an example of droplets when the light absorber adheres to the adherend. FIG. 1B is a photograph showing another example of the droplet when the light absorber adheres to the adherend. FIG. 1C is a photograph showing another example of the droplet when the light absorber adheres to the adherend. FIG. 1D is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the droplet diameter and the average thickness of the light absorber. FIG. 2A is a schematic view showing an example of a wavefront (equal phase plane) in an optical vortex laser beam. FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an example of the light intensity distribution in the optical vortex laser beam. FIG. 2C is a diagram showing an example of the phase distribution in the optical vortex laser beam. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the result of interference measurement in the optical vortex laser beam. FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of the result of interference measurement in a laser beam having a point of light intensity 0 in the center. FIG. 4A is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of a flying object generation method. FIG. 4B is a conceptual diagram for explaining another example of the projectile generation method. FIG. 4C is a conceptual diagram for explaining another example of the projectile generation method. FIG. 4D is a conceptual diagram for explaining another example of the projectile generation method. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where an axicon lens is used as the annular laser beam conversion means. FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram showing an example of the case where the second axicon lens and the condenser lens in FIG. 5A are used as the annular laser beam conversion means. FIG. 5C is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the axicon lens in FIG. 5B is changed to a diffractive optical element (DOE) as a ring laser beam conversion means. FIG. 5D is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a case where a single laser beam is applied to the DOE in FIG. 5C. FIG. 5E is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a case where a plurality of laser beams are irradiated to one DOE in FIG. 5D. FIG. 5F is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where the DOE is changed to a liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM) in FIG. 5C. FIG. 5G is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where a reflective liquid crystal phase conversion element and a prism mirror are combined as a liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM). FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram showing an example of the laser beam intensity distribution. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of the measurement result of the in-plane laser beam intensity distribution in the direction orthogonal to the laser irradiation direction in FIG. 6A. FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram showing another example of the laser beam intensity distribution in the present invention. FIG. 6D is a diagram showing an example of the measurement result of the in-plane laser beam intensity distribution in the direction orthogonal to the laser beam irradiation direction in FIG. 6C. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of the exposure intensity distribution when the index L of the Laguerre Gaussian beam and the height index H of the conical wavefront are superimposed. FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the inner diameter of the laser beam and the size (droplet diameter) of the projectile. FIG. 7C is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the irradiation energy and the size (droplet diameter) of the projectile. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing an example of a laser beam scaling means. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing another example of the laser beam scaling means. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the phase distribution conversion means. FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a flying object generator. FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram showing another example of the projectile generator. FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing an example of a three-dimensional model manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 13A is a photograph showing an example of the adhered state of the adherend to which the flying ink adhered in Example 9. FIG. 13B is a photograph showing an example of the adhered state of the adherend to which the flying ink adhered in Example 4. FIG. 13C is a photograph showing an example of the adhered state of the adherend to which the flying ink is adhered in Comparative Example 1.

(Flying object generator and flying object generating method)
In the projectile generator of the present invention, a laser beam is emitted from a base material having a light absorber arranged on at least a part of the surface and a surface side of the base material facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged. It has a light absorber flying means for flying the light absorber in the irradiation direction of the laser beam by irradiating, and the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.3 μm or less. , And if necessary, have other means.
The flying object generation method of the present invention is performed by irradiating a base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged in a base material having a light absorber arranged on at least a part of the surface. The arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.3 μm or less, including the light absorber flying step of flying the light absorber in the irradiation direction of the laser beam, and further, if necessary. , Including other steps.

The flying object generation method of the present invention can be suitably performed by using, for example, the flying object generator of the present invention, and the light absorber flying step can be suitably performed by the light absorber flying means. Other steps can be suitably performed by the above-mentioned other means. Therefore, in the following, the method for generating a flying object of the present invention will also be clarified through the description of the flying object generator of the present invention.

The projectile generator of the present invention is based on the knowledge of the present inventors that, in the prior art, a large amount of scattered light absorbers may be generated.

In an image forming apparatus using a conventional inkjet method or the like, when printing is performed using highly viscous ink, the ink is clogged in the nozzle that ejects the ink, and the ink is ejected stably. There was a problem that it was difficult. Further, in the conventional inkjet type image forming apparatus, in order to suppress the clogging of the ink, for example, the diameter of the nozzle for ejecting the ink (nozzle diameter) is increased according to the magnitude of the viscosity of the ink. Although it is necessary, if the nozzle diameter is increased, the diameter of the ejected ink droplets becomes relatively large, so that there is a problem that the resolution may be lowered.
For this reason, in the conventional inkjet type image forming apparatus, using ink having a high viscosity has a problem that the ink may not be ejected stably or the resolution may be lowered. , It was difficult to put it to practical use.

In the case of flying ink capable of absorbing light by the above-mentioned Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) method, unlike the case of using the inkjet method, it is not necessary to eject the ink from the nozzle. Even if the ink has a high viscosity, the ink can be flown.
However, when printing or the like is performed by flying ink by the LIFT method (LIFT method), when the ink is scattered when the ink is blown or when the ink adheres to the object to be printed (object). There is a problem that the ink may be scattered and it may be difficult to control the adhesion position of the ink.

Further, when printing or the like is performed using the conventional LIFT method, in order to suppress deterioration of the quality of printing or the like, generally, a donor base material (base material) on which ink is arranged and a receiver base material to which ink adheres are generally used. It is necessary to keep the gap (gap) with (the substrate) at about several tens of micrometers (μm). When flying ink using the conventional LIFT method, for example, when the gap between the donor base material (base) and the receiver base material (board) is 100 μm or more, satellites (small droplets separated from the ejected ink droplets). And sprays (drops of ejected ink are scattered and adhered in the form of a spray) have been reported (for example, "L. Rapp, J. Ailuno, A. P. Alloncle and P. Delaporte," Pulsed-laser printing of sylver nanoparticles ink: control of morphological technologies, "Opt. Express 19 (2011) 21563-74").

Here, when the printing method using the LIFT method is used for industrial applications, the gap between the donor base material (board) and the receiver base material (board) should be lengthened in order to increase the throughput (production efficiency). For example, from the viewpoint of throughput, it is preferable that the gap is 500 μm or more. Further, in the case of manufacturing a printed matter having irregularities or curved surfaces by flying ink using the LIFT method, or in the case of manufacturing a three-dimensional model, a donor base material (board) and a receiver base material (board) are used. It is preferable to further lengthen the gap with, for example, 1,000 μm or more.
However, as described above, in the prior art, when the gap between the donor base material (board) and the receiver base material (board) when flying ink by the LIFT method is long (that is, when the ink flying distance is long). In some cases, ink was scattered and printing defects such as satellites and sprays occurred.

Further, in the prior art, when a light absorber having a high viscosity and poor leveling is arranged on the surface of the base material, the surface of the light absorber may be uneven. In this case, when the surface of the base material on the side opposite to the side where the light absorber is arranged is irradiated with the laser beam, the stress on the light absorber by the laser beam varies, and the behavior of the flying object when flying occurs. There were problems that the flying object was disturbed, the flying object was scattered, and the transfer position was scattered.

Therefore, the present inventors have made extensive studies on a flying object generator or the like capable of suppressing the scattering of the flying light absorber (for example, ink capable of absorbing light) and adhering it to the target. I got the knowledge of.
That is, the present inventors irradiate the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged in the base material in which the light absorber is arranged on at least a part of the surface, and the laser beam is emitted. In the method of flying the light-absorbing material in the irradiation direction of the above, the scattering of the flying light-absorbing material is suppressed by setting the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light-absorbing material arranged on the surface of the base material to 0.3 μm or less. It was found that it can be attached to the subject.

The flying object generator of the present invention causes a light-absorbing material capable of absorbing light to fly by a light-absorbing material flying means. The details of the light-absorbing material flying means will be described later, but as the light-absorbing material flying means, for example, the laser beam irradiation means used in the above-mentioned LIFT method (LIFT method) can be used. As a type of laser beam irradiated by the laser beam irradiating means, for example, a Gaussian laser beam, an optical vortex laser beam, an annular laser beam, or the like is also used. Further, the profile is not limited to this, and an appropriate profile can be appropriately selected as needed.

Further, in the projectile generator of the present invention, as described above, the light absorber can be stably and accurately flown in the shape of droplets (shape close to a sphere). Therefore, for example, the light absorber can be used. Even when the gap between the base material (donor substrate) arranged on the surface and the object to which the light absorber adheres (for example, the receiver substrate) is long, the scattering of the flying light absorber is suppressed. Can be attached to the target. In other words, in the projectile generator of the present invention, even if the flight distance of the light absorber is a long distance such as 500 μm or more, the droplet shape (shape close to a sphere) is stable and accurate. ) Can cause the light absorber to fly, so that the scattered light absorber can be suppressed and adhered to the target, and the accuracy of the ink adhesion position can be improved. Therefore, the projectile generator of the present invention can improve the throughput (production efficiency) when used for industrial purposes, for example, and is also used for manufacturing printed matter having irregularities and curved surfaces and manufacturing of three-dimensional shaped objects. , Can be suitably applied.

Hereinafter, the details of the light-absorbing material flying means, the flying object generation process, and the light-absorbing material in the flying object generator and the flying object generating method of the present invention will be described.

<Light absorber flying means and light absorber flying process>
The light-absorbing material flying means is a laser beam by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light-absorbing material is arranged in the base material in which the light-absorbing material is arranged on at least a part of the surface. It is a means for flying the light absorber in the irradiation direction of the beam.
The light-absorbing material flying step is performed by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light-absorbing material is arranged in the base material in which the light-absorbing material is arranged on at least a part of the surface. This is a process of flying the light absorber in the irradiation direction of the beam.

The light absorber flying means is not particularly limited as long as the light absorber can be flown in the irradiation direction of the laser beam, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. That is, as a means for flying the light absorber, for example, by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged, a flying object of the light absorber is generated and flies. Means can be used.
The “flying object” means, for example, a flying object generated by irradiating a light absorber with a laser beam. Further, "flying" means that, for example, the light absorber leaves the base material and flies toward an object (for example, a receiver base material to which the light absorber adheres, a transfer medium). ..
The shape of the projectile is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, and varies depending on, for example, the material of the light absorber. For example, when the light absorber is a liquid, the flying object is preferably substantially spherical, and when the light absorbing material is a solid, the flying object is preferably an arbitrary shape such as a flat shape or a particle shape. .. The term "liquid or solid" means the state of the light absorber in the environment (temperature, pressure, etc.) at which the flying object is generated.

<Base material>
The base material has a light absorber arranged on at least a part of the surface. The light-absorbing material flying means irradiates the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light-absorbing material is arranged in the base material in which the light-absorbing material is arranged on at least a part of the surface.
The shape of the base material is particularly high as long as it has facing surfaces, supports a light absorber on the surface, and can irradiate the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged. There are no restrictions, and it can be appropriately selected according to the purpose.
The shape of the base material is, for example, a tubular shape such as a flat plate, a perfect circle or an ellipse, a surface obtained by cutting out a part of the tubular shape, an endless belt shape, or a roll-shaped film, which is wound on the other roller. The so-called roll-to-roll shape to be taken can be mentioned. Among these, it is preferable that the base material has a cylindrical shape. When the base material has a tubular shape, it becomes easy to provide a light absorber supply means for supplying the light absorber to the surface of the base material that rotates in the circumferential direction. When the light absorber is supported on the surface of the tubular base material, it can be supplied regardless of the size of the adherend in the outer peripheral direction. Further, in this case, a light absorber flying means is arranged inside the cylinder so that the laser beam can be irradiated from the inside toward the outer circumference, and the base material can be continuously irradiated by rotating in the circumferential direction. can.
Further, examples of the flat plate-shaped base material include slide glass and the like.

The structure of the base material is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose.

The size of the base material is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the purpose, but the size may be set according to the width of the object to be adhered (for example, the object to which the light absorber is attached). preferable.

The material of the base material is not particularly limited as long as it transmits light, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Among those that transmit light, inorganic materials such as various glasses containing silicon oxide as a main component, transparent heat-resistant plastics, and organic materials such as elastomers are preferable in terms of transmittance and heat resistance. The base material may be referred to as a transparent body.

The surface roughness Ra of the base material is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but the surface is not reduced in energy applied to the light absorber by suppressing refraction scattering of the laser beam. It is preferable that both the back surface and the back surface are 1 μm or less. Further, when the surface roughness Ra is within a preferable range, the variation in the average thickness of the light-absorbing material adhering to the adherend can be suppressed, and a desired amount of the light-absorbing material can be adhered. It is advantageous.
The surface roughness Ra can be measured according to JIS B0601, for example, using a cofocal laser microscope (manufactured by KEYENCE Co., Ltd.) or a stylus type surface shape measuring device (Dektake 150, manufactured by Bruker AXS Co., Ltd.). Can be measured.

<Light absorber>
As the light absorbing material, for example, a material containing a light absorbing substance and, if necessary, another substance can be used. The light absorbing substance is not particularly limited as long as it absorbs light having a predetermined wavelength, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Details of the light absorbing substance (coloring material, etc.) will be described later.

The form, size, material and the like of the light absorber are not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose.
Examples of the form of the light absorber include liquid, solid, and powder. In particular, in the present invention, it is possible to fly a highly viscous liquid light absorber or the like in which a solid or powder is dispersed at a high concentration, which is an advantage that cannot be achieved by a conventional inkjet recording method. It has become.
When a solid or powder light absorber is used, it is preferable that the light absorber is in a viscous state when the laser beam is irradiated by the light absorber flying means. Specifically, when it is desired to fly a solid or powder, for example, it is preferable to heat the light absorber into a molten state before irradiating it with a laser beam to form a viscous form.
As the light absorber, for example, toner or ink may be used when forming an image, or a three-dimensional modeling agent described later may be used when producing a three-dimensional model.

The liquid light absorber is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include an ink containing a coloring material and a solvent, a conductor and a conductive paste containing a solvent. When the ink containing the pigment and the solvent is irradiated with the laser beam, if the solvent does not absorb the light, for example, the energy of the laser beam is applied to the inclusions other than the solvent that absorb the light, and the inclusions are concerned. At the same time, the solvent flies.

As the ink, for example, a water-based ink in which a coloring material such as a dye, a pigment, colored particles, or a colored oil droplet is dispersed in water as a solvent can be used. Further, not limited to the water-based ink, as the solvent, for example, an ink using a hydrocarbon-based organic solvent, alcohol, a resin or the like as a solvent can also be used.
Further, in the present invention, the ink used as the light absorber is preferably, for example, one that does not contain a large amount of volatile solvent and has a solid content of 50% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less.

Further, as the ink (ink), for example, commercially available inks such as offset ink, screen ink, flexographic ink, and gravure ink can be used. That is, as the ink (ink), various commercially available inks such as water-based ink, oil-based ink, UV (Ultra Violet; ultraviolet curable) ink, and EB (Electron Beam; electron beam curable) ink can be used. UV ink and EB ink are preferable from the viewpoint of low volatile components and stability of viscosity and film thickness. Further, various materials may be appropriately added to these inks as needed.

Further, in the image forming apparatus using the flying object generator of the present invention, for example, a process ink for offset printing using a plate, a JAPAN COLOR compatible ink, a special color ink, etc. can also be used for image forming, so that the image forming apparatus is used for offset printing. Digital images that match the colors can be easily reproduced without printing.
Further, in the image forming apparatus using the flying object generator of the present invention, for example, since image forming is possible even with UV curable ink, the overlapping recording media are attached by irradiating the ink with ultraviolet rays and curing the ink. It is possible to prevent blocking and simplify the drying process.

The conductive paste is not particularly limited as long as it is in the form of a paste containing a conductor, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, a conductive paste known or commonly used in a method for manufacturing a circuit board may be used. Can be mentioned.
The conductor is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, conductive inorganic particles such as silver, gold, copper, nickel, ITO, carbon and carbon nanotubes; polyaniline and polythiophene (polyaniline, polythiophene). For example, particles made of a conductive organic polymer such as poly (ethylenedioxythiophene), polyacetylene, polypyrrole and the like can be mentioned. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
The volume resistivity of the conductive paste is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably ¹⁰³ Ω · cm or less from the viewpoint that it can be used for ordinary electrode applications.

Examples of the light absorber of the powder include toner containing a pigment and a binder resin, metal fine particles such as solder balls, and the like.
In this case, when the laser beam is irradiated, for example, the energy of the laser beam is applied to the pigment, and the binder resin flies together with the pigment as toner. The powder light absorber may be only a pigment.

Examples of the solid light absorber include a metal thin film formed by sputtering or vapor deposition, a material obtained by compacting powder such as a dispersion, and the like.

The metal thin film is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples of the metal include general metals such as silver, gold, aluminum, platinum, and copper that can be vapor-deposited or sputtered. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
As a method of forming an image pattern by flying a metal thin film, for example, a metal thin film is prepared in advance on a substrate such as glass or a film, and the metal thin film is irradiated with a laser beam to fly to form an image pattern. There is a way to make it. Further, as another method, a method of forming an image pattern by flying a non-image portion and the like can be mentioned.

The compacted powder is preferably in the form of a film (layer) having a predetermined average thickness, and a film (layer) -like solid may be supported on the surface of the base material. ..

-Arithmetic Mean Roughness Ra-
The arithmetic mean roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.3 μm or less, preferably 0.2 μm or less.
In the present invention, the "arithmetic mean roughness" means the average value at the reference length when the roughness curve on the exposed surface of the light absorber is used as the contour curve.
Pigments, dyes, resin particles, additives and the like can be mixed and dispersed in the light absorber. Therefore, the dispersibility of the solid content in the light absorber is not sufficient, and the particle size distribution of the solid content in the light absorber becomes broad and there are cases where the particle size is large, or the compatibility of the resin is poor. May be included. In this case, the surface of the film of the light-absorbing material formed when the average thickness of the light-absorbing material when placed on the base material is thinned may become rough and not smooth. In particular, the average thickness (thickness) of the film of the light absorber is proportional to the amount of droplets to be transferred. Therefore, when finer dot formation is required, the film thickness is preferably as thin as possible, but the film thickness is thin. At that time, the surface property of the coating film may be deteriorated due to the influence of the filler such as the pigment contained in the film. Further, in a liquid having high viscosity and poor leveling, streaky irregularities due to the coater may occur when the coating film is formed. When unevenness due to particles or fine unevenness due to a coater is generated in this way, when the base material is irradiated with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged, the acting force of the light absorber on the film is exerted. It was found that the liquid behavior was disturbed due to the variation and the liquid behavior when flying, which caused the droplets to be scattered and the transfer position to be scattered.
The present inventors, when the arithmetic average roughness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.3 μm or less, causes the stress on the light absorber by the laser beam regardless of the average thickness of the light absorber. It has been found that it is possible to suppress the occurrence of variation, disturb the behavior of the flying object when flying, prevent the flying object from scattering, and prevent the transfer position from being scattered.
From this point of view, the volume average particle size of the solid content contained in the light absorber is preferably 1 μm or less, more preferably 0.01 μm or more and 0.5 μm or less.

The method for controlling the arithmetic surface roughness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material to 0.3 μm or less is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose, and a general coating method is applied. For example, a wire bar coater, a blade coater, a screen coater, a gravure coater, a die coater, a spray coater, or the like can be appropriately selected depending on the liquid property and the set film thickness.

The arithmetic mean roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is measured as follows based on JIS B 0601: 1994.
First, the light-absorbing material is applied to the surface of the base material by an arbitrary coating method, and the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light-absorbing material when placed on the base material is measured at 10 different points by non-contact measurement, and the average thereof is measured. Obtained by calculating the value.
Examples of the non-contact measurement include measurement using a laser microscope. Examples of the laser microscope include OPTELICS HYBRID (manufactured by Lasertec Co., Ltd.), VK-X3000 (manufactured by KEYENCE Co., Ltd.), LEXT OLS4000 (manufactured by Olympus Corporation), and the like.

Here, the average thickness (thickness) of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 1 μm or more and 100 μm or less, and 5 μm or more and 50 μm. The following is more preferable, and 1 μm or more and 10 μm or less is further preferable. Since the average thickness of the light absorber is proportional to the amount of droplets transferred, it is preferable that the film thickness is as thin as possible when finer dot formation is required. By setting the average thickness of the light absorber to the above-mentioned preferable range, it is possible to further suppress the scattering of the light absorber when the laser beam is irradiated.
The method for measuring the average thickness (film thickness) of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include non-contact measurement. Examples of the non-contact type measurement include measurement using a laser displacement meter, a method of calculating a coating amount from infrared transmittance or weight measurement, and calculating an average thickness (thickness) from the coating amount.

Further, in the present invention, for example, by controlling the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material, the volume and size of the generated projectile can be controlled by using the drawings. Will be explained further. 1A to 1D are diagrams showing the results of examining the diameter (droplet diameter) of the projectile generated by using the projectile generator shown in FIG. 10A, which will be described later, and the average thickness of the light absorber on the surface of the base material. be.
A nanosecond laser beam having a wavelength of 532 nm and a condenser lens having a focal length of 100 mm were used to generate the projectile. Further, the scanning optical system uses a galvano scanner, and one-shot exposure is performed at a scanning speed of 100 mm / s and intervals of 200 μm.

A projectile is generated under the same conditions except that the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 20 μm, 10 μm, and 6 μm, and the size of the projectile and the projectile are targeted (attached matter). ), And the size of the droplets obtained was measured. The beam profile used had an inner diameter in the range of 20 μm to 90 μm and had optimum conditions.
1A to 1C show photographs of the light absorber attached to the adherend with a gap of 500 μm (flying distance of the flying object). As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, droplets having a shape close to a perfect circle were observed.

More specifically, in FIG. 1A, the light absorbers arranged on the surface of the base material have an average thickness of 20 μm, and the light absorbers flying by irradiating with a 32 μJ annular laser beam are adhered. The photograph which took the droplet when it adhered to is shown. The droplet shown in FIG. 1A had a diameter of 124 μm and a droplet volume of 30 pL, and the average (sphere) diameter in the projectile was 39 μm.
In FIG. 1B, the liquid when the light absorber adheres to the adherend, which is flown by irradiating an annular laser beam of 18 μJ with the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the substrate being 10 μm. The photograph which took the drop is shown. The droplet shown in FIG. 1B had a diameter of 81 μm and a droplet volume of 8 pL, and the average (sphere) diameter in the projectile was 25 μm.
In FIG. 1C, the liquid when the light absorber adheres to the adherend, which is flown by irradiating a ring laser beam of 12 μJ with the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material being 6 μm. The photograph which took the drop is shown. The droplet shown in FIG. 1C had a diameter of 68 μm and a droplet volume of 5 pL, and the average (sphere) diameter in the projectile was 21 μm.

FIG. 1D shows a graph plot of the size of the droplets obtained by adhering a flying object to an object (attached object) for the average thickness of each of the above-mentioned light absorbers. The beam profile used had an inner diameter in the range of 20 μm to 90 μm and had optimum conditions.
As shown in FIG. 1D, a proportional relationship is established between the droplet diameter (dot diameter) when the light absorber is flown so as to suppress scattering and the average thickness (film thickness) of the light absorber. You can see that. In FIG. 1D, the vertical axis is the diameter of the droplet obtained by adhering the flying object to the target (attached object), and the horizontal axis is the average thickness of the light absorber when placed on the substrate. Is.
Therefore, in order to make small-diameter dots, for example, the average thickness of the light absorber when placed on the substrate may be reduced, and the irradiation energy of the laser beam may be reduced according to the average thickness of the light absorber. I understood. As described above, it was found that an image having a desired resolution can be formed by controlling the average thickness of the light absorber.

Further, as described above, when the average thickness of the light absorber is within a preferable range, when the light absorber is supplied in the form of a film (layer), the film (layer) is formed even when the light absorber is continuously flown. ) Can be ensured, which is advantageous in that stable supply is possible. Further, since it is easy to control the energy of the laser beam more appropriately, it is advantageous in that deterioration and decomposition are unlikely to occur, especially when the light absorber is an organic substance. Depending on the coating method, it can be supplied as a film (layer) holding a certain pattern.

Further, for example, when coated paper or a smooth film used in general offset printing is used as a recording medium (target to which a light absorber is attached), the average thickness of the light absorber is 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm. The following is preferable. When the average thickness is within a preferable range, it becomes difficult for the human eye to discriminate the color difference due to a slight difference in the average thickness of the recording medium, so that even coated paper tends to produce a highly saturated image and the dot gain of halftone dots. It is advantageous in that it is easy to express a sharp image without becoming noticeable.

Furthermore, when a recording medium (target to which the light absorber is attached) having a surface roughness larger than that of coated paper or film, such as high-quality paper used in offices, is used, light absorption arranged on the surface of the base material is used. The average thickness of the material is preferably 3 μm or more and 10 μm or less. When the average thickness arranged on the surface of the base material is within a preferable range, it is easy to obtain good image quality without being affected by the surface roughness of the recording medium, and especially when expressing a full-color image with a process color colorant. Even if multiple colorant films (layers) are layered on top of each other, the feeling of step is less likely to be noticeable.

In addition, for example, when it is used for printing to dye cloth, fiber, etc., when the light absorber is attached to cotton, silk, chemical fiber, etc., which is a recording medium (target to which the light absorber is attached), light absorption is performed. The average thickness of the material is preferably 5 μm or more. This is because the thickness of the fiber is larger than that of paper, so it is preferable to attach a large amount of light absorber.

The method for measuring the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, any plurality of points may be selected for the light absorber. However, there is a method of obtaining by calculating the average of the thicknesses of a plurality of points. As an average, the average of the thicknesses at 5 points is preferable, the average of the thicknesses at 10 points is more preferable, and the average of the thicknesses at 20 points is particularly preferable.
The measuring device for measuring the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a non-contact measuring device such as a laser displacement meter, a micro Examples include contact-type measuring devices such as meters. Among these, the measurement of the average thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is, for example, when the light absorber is a liquid, it is measured in a wet state, so that it is not a laser displacement meter or the like. It is preferable to use a contact type measuring device.
Further, the average thickness of the light-absorbing material arranged on the surface of the base material can be changed by controlling the amount of the light-absorbing material applied to the base material, for example, by measuring the ultraviolet transmittance and the weight of the light-absorbing material. can do.

Here, when a liquid light absorber that permeates the recording medium (the object to which the light absorber is attached) is used, high-viscosity light that can be handled by an image forming apparatus using the projectile generator of the present invention. By using an absorbent material, it is possible to dry faster with respect to the penetration speed into the recording medium, so the reduction of bleeding in particular improves the color development and sharpens the edges, resulting in high-quality images. Can be formed. Further, even in the case of performing gradation expression by overstrike in which colorants are layered and adhered, bleeding due to an increase in the amount of the colorant can be reduced.
Further, since the liquid light absorber can be flown and adhered, for example, as compared with the so-called thermal transfer method in which a film-like carrier is melt-transferred by heat, even if the recording medium has minute irregularities, it is good. Can be recorded in.

--Light absorber ---
The light-absorbing substance that can be contained in the light-absorbing material is not particularly limited as long as it absorbs light of a predetermined wavelength, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Can be mentioned.

－－－ Color material －－－
As with the light absorber, the color material is not particularly limited in shape, material and the like, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. Examples of the coloring material include pigments and dyes. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Examples of the coloring material include organic pigments, inorganic pigments, dyes and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Examples of organic pigments include dioxadin violet, quinacridone violet, copper phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, sap green, monoazo yellow, disazo yellow, polyazo yellow, benzimidazolone yellow, isoindolinone yellow, first yellow, and chromophutalu yellow. , Nickel azo yellow, azomethin yellow, benzimidazolone orange, alizarin red, quinacridone red, naphthol red, monoazo red, polyazo red, perylene red, anthracinoyl red, diketopyrrolopyrrole red, diketopyrrolopirol orange, benzimidazolone Brown, sepia, aniline black, etc. are mentioned, and among the organic pigments, metal lake pigments include, for example, Rhodamine lake, quinoline yellow lake, brilliant blue lake, and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Examples of inorganic pigments include cobalt blue, cerulean blue, cobalt violet, cobalt green, zinc white, titanium white, titanium yellow, chrome titanium yellow, light red, chrome oxide green, mars black, billijan, yellow ocher, and alumina. White, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Vermilion, Litopon, Ultra Marine, Tarku, White Carbon, Clay, Mineral Violet, Rose Cobalt Violet, Silver White, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Carbonate, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfide, Strontium Sulfide, Aluminic Acid Strontium, brass, gold powder, bronze powder, aluminum powder, brass pigment, ivory black, peach black, lamp black, carbon black, pull shan blue, aureolin, mica titanium, yellow oaker, tail belt, low senna, low umber, Cassel earth, Examples include white, gypsum, burnt shena, burnt umber, lapis lazuli, azurite, malakite, opiment, titanium sand, coral powder, husk, red iron oxide, ultramarine, dark blue, fish phosphorus foil, and iron oxide-treated pearl. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Among these, carbon black is preferable as the black pigment (black pigment) from the viewpoint of hue and image preservation.
The cyan pigment (cyan pigment) is C.I. I. Pigment Blue 15: 3 is preferred.
The magenta pigment (magenta pigment) is quinacridone red, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122, Naphthol Red, C.I. I. Pigment Red 269 and Rhodamine Lake C.I. I. Pigment Red 81: 4 is preferable, and these may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among these, from the viewpoint of hue and image preservation, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122 and C.I. I. A mixture of Pigment Red 269 is more preferred. In addition, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122 (PR122) and C.I. I. Pigment Red 269 (P.R. 269) as a mixture of P.R. R. 122: P.I. R. A mixture in which 269 is 5:95 or more and 80:20 or less is particularly preferable. P. R. 122: P.I. R. When 269 is in a particularly preferable range, the hue does not deviate as a magenta color.

The yellow pigment (yellow pigment) is monoazo yellow, which is C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 74, Disazo Yellow, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 155, Benz Imidazolon Yellow, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 180, Isoindoline Yellow C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 185 is preferred. Among these, from the viewpoint of hue and image preservation, C.I. I. Pigment Yellow 185 is more preferred. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

When the light absorber is used as a process color ink as a colorant, it is preferably used as, for example, a four-color ink set.

The volume average particle size of the pigment is preferably 1 μm or less, more preferably 0.01 μm or more and 0.5 μm or less.

Examples of the dye include monoazo dye, polyazo dye, metal complex salt azo dye, pyrazolone azo dye, stilben azo dye, thiazole azo dye, anthraquinone derivative, anthron derivative, indigo derivative, thioindigo derivative, phthalocyanine dye, diphenylmethane dye, and triphenylmethane. Examples thereof include dyes, xanthene dyes, acridin dyes, azine dyes, oxazine dyes, thiazine dyes, polymethine dyes, azomethine dyes, quinoline dyes, nitro dyes, nitroso dyes, benzoquinone dyes, naphthoquinone dyes, naphthalimide dyes and perinone dyes. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

－－Other substances －－
The other substances that can be contained in the light absorber are not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include the above-mentioned solvents and additives.
The solvent is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include water, hydrocarbon-based organic solvents, alcohols and resins. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
The additive is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include a viscosity adjusting agent and a surface tension adjusting agent. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

When the light absorber is a liquid, it is preferable to contain a surface tension adjusting agent.
It has been found that a projectile having a desired size can be formed by setting the surface tension of the light absorber in a preferable range. When the projectile generator of the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus and a three-dimensional object manufacturing apparatus, a desired amount of droplets (light absorber) can be attached to an object to be adhered (object).
Further, by adding a surface tension adjusting agent (leveling agent), the surface tension of the light absorbing material is lowered, the wettability of the coating film of the light absorbing material arranged on the substrate is improved, and the arithmetic average coarseness of the coating film is coarsened. Can be reduced.

The static surface tension of the light absorber is preferably 15 mN / m or more and 73 mN / m or less, and more preferably 20 mN / m or more and 40 mN / m or less.

The surface tension adjusting agent is not particularly limited as long as it reduces the surface tension of the light absorber, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose.
As the surface tension adjusting agent, for example, a commercially available surfactant can be applied. Examples of the surfactant include an ionic surfactant, a nonionic surfactant, a silicone-based surface tension adjusting agent, a fluorine-based surface tension adjusting agent, an acrylic-based surface tension adjusting agent, and the like. These can be appropriately selected depending on the properties of the light absorber to be applied (water-based, oil-based, UV curable, etc.).
Specific examples of the surface tension adjusting agent include acrylic siloxane-based BYK-UV3500 and BYK-UV3530, polyethersiloxane-based BYK-UV3510, and polyether-based BYK-UV3535 as commercially available products of BYK. Examples of commercially available products manufactured by Kusunoki Kasei Co., Ltd. include acrylic UVX-35 and UVX-36, and acrylic siloxane UVX-272. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
The content of the surface tension adjusting agent is preferably 0.1% by mass or more and 5% by mass or less, and more preferably 0.5% by mass or more and 2% by mass or less with respect to the total amount of the light absorber.
As a method for measuring the static surface tension, for example, a method of measuring by contacting a platinum plate with a platinum plate by the Wilhelmj method can be used. As a standard measuring machine for static surface tension, for example, an automatic surface tension meter DY-300 manufactured by Kyowa Interface Science Co., Ltd. can be mentioned.

The normal viscosity (static viscosity) of the liquid light absorber is, for example, preferably 0.1 Pa · s or more and 1,000 Pa · s or less, more preferably 0.1 Pa · s or more and 50 Pa · s or less, and 0. More preferably, it is 5 Pa · s or more and 10 Pa · s or less.
The viscosity is appropriately adjusted to a desired viscosity depending on the compounding conditions such as the dispersibility of the pigment, the resin type, the solvent type, and the solid content. The viscosity is generally measured by a B-type or E-type rotational viscometer or a rheometer (HAAKE RheoStress 600 (manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific Co., Ltd.)).
As described above, since the light absorber contains light-absorbing pigments and dyes, the liquid in which they are dispersed often becomes a non-Newtonian fluid, and the behavior cannot be accurately expressed only by viscoelasticity. It is important to use the characteristic value of the viscoelasticity measurement according to the above, and it is preferable to use the complex viscosity value (η *) calculated thereby.

The light transmittance in the coating film formed of the light absorbing material that absorbs light is preferably 0% or more and 50% or less with respect to the wavelength of the irradiated light (laser beam). More specifically, 50% or less is preferable, 10% or less is more preferable, 1% or less is further preferable, 0.1% or less is particularly preferable, and 0.01% or less is particularly preferable.
The absorbance of light in the coating film formed of the light absorbing material that absorbs light is preferably 1 or more, more preferably 2 or more, still more preferably 3 or more, with respect to the wavelength of the irradiated light (laser beam). 4 or more is particularly preferable.
When the transmittance or the absorbance is within a preferable range, the energy of the laser beam absorbed by the substrate is not easily converted into heat, which is advantageous in that the light absorber is less likely to undergo changes such as drying and melting. .. Further, when the transmittance or the absorbance is within a preferable range, the energy given to the light absorber is less likely to decrease, which is advantageous in that the adhesion position is less likely to vary.
The transmittance and the absorbance can be measured using, for example, a spectrophotometer (manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation, UV3600) or the like.

<< Preparation method of light absorber >>
In the present invention, the method for adjusting the light absorber is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose.

Further, in the present invention, as described above, a mixture of commercially available inks and additives can be used as the light absorber. Therefore, for example, the viscosity of a commercially available ink having a high viscosity in which the pigment is finely and densely dispersed in the resin can be easily adjusted by adding an additive such as a viscosity adjusting agent suitable for the ink. Further, if necessary, a rheology control agent, a leveling agent, other pigments, polymers and the like may be blended as additives.
As the additive to be added to the ink, for example, an additive containing silica particles can also be used. By using such an additive, the density of the ink can be adjusted while maintaining the viscosity of the ink in a static state.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the method for preparing the light absorber will be described in more detail.
In the present invention, for example, since a UV curable polymer can be preferably used because it does not contain a volatile component, a case where a UV curable polymer is used will be described, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
As described above, when preparing the light-absorbing material, for example, an appropriate amount of the light-absorbing pigment is finely dispersed in a solution-like UV-curable polymer. The liquid property of the light absorber is controlled by the combination of the polymer and the pigment, the molecular weight of the polymer, the particle size and the content of the pigment. The dispersed particle size in the solution of the light absorber of the present invention is preferably submicron, preferably 10 nm or more and 100 nm or less, and the content is preferably 5% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less. By controlling the combination of materials, the particle size, and the amount of addition at this time, the light absorber can be controlled to have the desired liquid property. Further, at this time, it is also possible to add a low molecular weight UV curable monomer for adjusting the viscosity to adjust the viscosity.
Further, it is possible to select an additive for intentionally controlling the viscosity due to stress. Examples of this additive include silica, clay-like substances such as bennite and montmorillonite, fibrous substances such as carbon nanofibers and cellulose nanofibers, metal soaps, waxes, and surfactants. They form a weak network structure in the solution system and are statically solidified (increasing the viscosity), but the structure easily collapses due to high stress and the viscosity decreases. In the present invention, for example, by appropriately selecting the type and amount of this additive, it can be intentionally made liquid by stress. Among these, silica is preferable because it has a fine particle size of 1 nm or more and 10 nm or less and has an affinity with a UV curable polymer.
In the present invention, the desired liquid property of the light absorber can be obtained by appropriately adjusting the addition amount.

As the light absorber flying means, for example, one having a laser light source can be used. Further, the light absorber flying means preferably has a laser beam conversion means and a laser beam shaping means, and if necessary, has other means.

-Laser light source-
The laser light source is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include solid-state lasers, gas lasers, semiconductor lasers and the like that generate a laser beam, and those capable of pulse oscillation are preferable.
Examples of the solid-state laser include a YAG laser and a titanium sapphire laser.
Examples of the gas laser include an argon laser, a helium neon laser, a carbon dioxide gas laser, and the like.

－－Laser beam －－
The type of laser beam irradiated by the light absorber flying means (for example, irradiated by the laser light source) is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. As described above, the Gaussian laser beam and light. Examples include an vortex laser beam and an annular laser beam. Among these, it is preferable to use an annulus laser beam and an optical vortex laser beam. In other words, in the present invention, it is preferable that the light absorber flying means irradiates the surface of the base material on the side opposite to the side on which the light absorber is arranged with a ring laser beam or an optical vortex laser beam.
The light-absorbing material flying means irradiates the annular laser beam to fly the light-absorbing material, so that the light-absorbing material can fly even at a long distance such as when the flying distance is 500 μm or more. It is possible to further suppress the scattering of the light absorber and attach it to the target, and it is possible to further improve the accuracy of the adhesion position of the ink. The details of the annular laser beam will be described later.

The wavelength of the laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 300 nm or more and 11 μm or less, and more preferably 350 nm or more and 1100 nm or less.
The beam diameter of the laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 10 μm or more and 10 mm or less, and more preferably 10 μm or more and 1 mm or less.
The pulse width of the laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 2 nanoseconds or more and 100 nanoseconds or less, and more preferably 2 nanoseconds or more and 10 nanoseconds or less.
The pulse frequency of the laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 10 Hz or more and 1 MHz or less, and more preferably 20 Hz or more and 50 kHz or less.
More specifically, examples of the laser light source include an Nd: YAG laser light source having a wavelength of 1064 nm.

Here, the laser beam conversion means for converting the laser beam is not particularly limited as long as the laser beam can be converted into a predetermined type, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, optical vortex laser beam conversion. Means, ring laser beam conversion means and the like can be mentioned.

－－－ Optical vortex laser beam －－－
The optical vortex laser beam conversion means for converting the laser beam into an optical vortex laser beam is not particularly limited as long as the laser beam can be converted into an optical vortex laser beam, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a diffractive optical element. , Multimode fiber, liquid crystal phase modulator and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
Examples of the diffractive optical element include a spiral phase plate and a hologram element. Among these, a spiral phase plate is preferable.
The method of generating the optical vortex laser beam is not limited to the method of using the optical vortex laser beam conversion means, but the method of oscillating the optical vortex from the laser resonator as the intrinsic mode, the method of inserting the hologram element into the resonator, and the method of inserting the hologram element into the resonator. Examples thereof include a method using excitation light converted into a donut beam, a method using a resonator mirror having a dark point, and a method of oscillating in optical vortex mode using a thermal lens effect generated by a side-excited solid-state laser as a spatial filter.
Further, in order to stabilize the output of the light vortex laser beam, a 1/4 wave plate is placed in the optical path on the downstream side of the light vortex laser beam conversion means, and the frequency is 1/4 of that of the linearly polarized light vortex laser beam. It is preferable to install the optical axis of the plate at an angle of + 45 ° to convert it to circular polarization.
As for the device or the like that irradiates the optical vortex laser beam, for example, the device or the like disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above can be appropriately modified and used.

Here, as the optical vortex laser beam, for example, one having a spiral equiphase plane can be used, as shown in FIG. 2A. For example, since the direction of the pointing vector of the optical vortex laser beam is orthogonal to the spiral equiphase plane, when the optical vortex laser beam is applied to the light absorber, a force acts in the orthogonal direction. .. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, the light intensity distribution becomes a concave donut-shaped distribution in which the center of the beam becomes zero, and the light absorber irradiated with the optical vortex laser beam uses the donut-shaped energy as the radiation pressure. When applied, it flies along the irradiation direction of the optical vortex laser beam and adheres to the adhered object (object) in a state where it is difficult to scatter. Further, when the phase distribution is observed, it is confirmed that the phase difference is generated as shown in FIG. 2C.
The method for determining whether or not the beam is an optical vortex laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include the above-mentioned phase distribution observation and interference measurement, which are more suitable for interference measurement. Can be determined.

In the interference measurement, observation can be performed using a laser beam profiler (laser beam profiler manufactured by Spiricon, laser beam profiler manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics, etc.). An example of the result of interference measurement of the optical vortex laser beam is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the result of interference measurement in an optical vortex laser beam, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of the result of interference measurement in a laser beam having a point of light intensity 0 in the center.
When the optical vortex laser beam is interfered with and measured, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, it can be confirmed that the laser beam has a donut-shaped energy distribution and a point with a light intensity of 0 in the center.
On the other hand, when a general laser beam having a point of light intensity 0 in the center is subjected to interference measurement, as shown in FIG. 3B, it is similar to the interference measurement of the optical vortex laser beam shown in FIG. 3A, but the donut-shaped portion. Since the energy distribution of the light vortex is not uniform, the difference from the optical vortex laser beam can be confirmed.

－－－ Annulus laser beam －－－
Hereinafter, an annular laser beam, which is one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, will be described.

As one aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the light-absorbing material flying means generates a vaporization region on the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam at the interface between the base material and the light-absorbing material. In other words, in the present invention, it is preferable to generate a vaporization region above the outside air pressure (in an annular shape) so as to surround the optical axis of the laser beam to be irradiated at the interface between the base material and the light absorber.
In the present invention, the "outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam" means a region not including the center in the region irradiated with the laser beam.
Further, in the present invention, the "optical axis" means the laser beam axis to be irradiated. More specifically, in the present invention, the "optical axis" may be the center of the inscribed circle of the figure obtained in the cross section in the direction orthogonal to the irradiation direction of the laser beam to be irradiated.
By "surrounding the optical axis" is meant to be present in the surrounding area surrounding the optical axis, not on the "optical axis". Here, the peripheral region surrounding the optical axis means a region not including the center in the region irradiated with the laser beam.

Next, the "vaporization region above the outside air pressure" will be described.
For example, when the rising temperature at which the light absorber begins to vaporize from a room temperature environment is Tb (K), light (laser beam) is directed to the light absorber so as to surround the optical axis and satisfy the following formula (1). ), It is possible to generate a region where the light absorber becomes vaporized above the outside air pressure, that is, a vaporized region above the outside air pressure. Here, in the case of an open system, "outside pressure" means atmospheric pressure.
Q ≧ Tb (v ・ c ・ ρ) ・ ・ ・ Equation (1)
Here, v is the volume (kg), c is the specific heat (J / (kg · K)), and ρ is the density (kg / m ³ ).
At this time, Q (J) is the amount of heat input (not the amount of light irradiation energy). By considering the absorption rate or the absorption coefficient of the light energy of the light absorber, the amount of light irradiation energy (energy density) required to generate the vaporization region above the outside pressure can be obtained.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4D, more details are given on "at the interface between the base material and the light absorber, a vaporization region above the outside air pressure is generated in the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam". Explain to.
In FIGS. 4A to 4D, as a laser beam irradiating the base material from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged in the base material in which the light absorber is arranged on at least a part of the surface, the above formula ( An example is shown in the case of irradiating a circular laser beam with an amount of energy (energy density) that satisfies 1).
As shown in FIG. 4A, first, with respect to the donor base material (substrate) in which the light absorber 102 is arranged on the surface of the base material 101, the base material 101 on the side opposite to the side on which the light absorber 102 is arranged is located. The surface is irradiated with the laser beam 103. At this time, the light absorber 102 irradiated with the laser beam 103 produces a region 102B having a low viscosity. Further, at the interface between the base material 101 and the light absorber 102, a vaporization region 102A in which the light absorber 102 is vaporized is generated so as to surround the optical axis. The generated vaporization region 102A expands as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C.

As the generated vaporization region 102A expands in this way, pressure is generated toward the optical axis as shown by the arrows in FIGS. 4A to 4C. By this inward pressure (pressure toward the optical axis), the light absorber 102C surrounded by the region 102B of the light absorber having a low viscosity is pushed out in the irradiation direction of the laser beam 103, and finally shown in FIG. 4D. As described above, the droplet 102D of the light absorber flies in the irradiation direction of the laser beam.
In this way, by irradiating the light absorber with the laser beam so as to "generate a vaporization region above the outside pressure at the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam at the interface between the base material and the light absorber". Since the light absorber near the optical axis receives a pressure that surrounds the light absorber on the optical axis, it is possible to generate a flying object without scattering.
In the following description, at the interface between the base material and the light absorber, the vaporized region above the outside air pressure of the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam may be referred to as "Bubble Ring", and may be referred to as "Bubble Ring". A method of giving flyable energy to a light absorber by "Ring" may be referred to as a "Bubble Ring method (BR method)". Further, the LIFT method using the BR method may be referred to as BR-LIFT.

The light source used in BR-LIFT preferably has a high quality beam profile and high power output. More specifically, for example, a nanosecond pulse fiber laser based on a main oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser system is preferably used as a laser light source unit with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The laser emitted from the laser light source unit passes through a nonlinear optical crystal to generate second harmonic generation (SHG). SHG acts, for example, to convert a 1064 nm wavelength to a 532 nm wavelength.

Here, the method for generating the annulus laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. As a method for generating an annular laser beam, for example, a method for converting a Gaussian beam (Gaussian laser beam) into a specific laser beam, a method by a geometrical optics method using a lens, or a method by a wavelength optical method using a diffractive element. And so on. Further, as a method for converting a Gaussian beam into a specific laser beam, for example, a method using a spatial light modulator such as an axicon lens, a diffractive optical element, or a liquid crystal can be mentioned.
For example, when the ring laser beam is generated by using the axicon lens, the ring radius R0 of the ring laser beam is expressed as follows in the case of the apex angle α of the axicon lens.

n is the refractive index and F is the focal length. The apex angle α and the focal length F can be changed to determine R0. R0 can also be determined by changing the distance between the axicon lens and the condenser lens. It is also possible to use a method of generating a wavefront converted into a circular laser beam by using a liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM). It is also possible to generate a Laguerre Gaussian beam (optical vortex laser beam) using a phase plate or a cylindrical lens.

Here, as the annular laser beam, for example, a laser beam whose laser beam intensity in the optical axis of the laser beam is smaller than the laser beam intensity in the outer peripheral portion can be used. In other words, as an annular laser beam, a laser beam intensity distribution in which the laser beam intensity of the laser beam in the region surrounding the optical axis is larger than the laser beam intensity of the laser beam in the optical axis (annular intensity distribution surrounding the optical axis). ) Can be used.

The annular laser beam conversion means for converting the Gaussian laser beam into the annular laser beam is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include the annular laser beam conversion means.
Examples of the annular laser beam conversion means include an axicon lens, a Voltex element, a diffractive optical element (DOE), a spatial light modulation element, a liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM), and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where an axicon lens is used as the annular laser beam conversion means. The example shown in FIG. 5A is an example in which two axicon lenses 201A and 201B are used as the annular laser beam conversion means. In this example, the first axicon lens separates the laser beam and the second axicon lens creates the desired annular beam. By adjusting the distance between the two axicon lenses 201A and 201B and adjusting the combined focal length, the diameter (inner diameter) of the beam can be changed as appropriate.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram showing an example in which the second axicon lens 201B and the condenser lens 202 in FIG. 5A are used as the annular laser beam conversion means. In this example, the diameter (inner diameter) of the laser beam 103 can be appropriately changed by adjusting the distance between the axicon lens 201B and the condenser lens 202.
FIG. 5C is a schematic diagram showing an example in which the axicon lens in FIG. 5B is changed to a diffractive optical element (DOE) 201C as a ring laser beam conversion means. By using DOE201C, a predetermined wavefront can be created.
FIG. 5D is a schematic perspective view showing an example in the case of single laser beam 103 irradiation using DOE201C in FIG. 5C. FIG. 5E is a schematic perspective view showing an example in the case where a plurality of laser beams 103 are irradiated to one DOE201C in FIG. 5D.
As shown in FIGS. 5D and 5E, by using DOE, one laser beam can be irradiated to one DOE to obtain one annular laser beam, and one DOE can be obtained. It is also possible to irradiate a plurality of laser beams to obtain a plurality of annular laser beams.
In addition, by preparing multiple Axicon lenses with different apex angles and DOEs with different phase patterns and changing them according to the light absorber, a laser beam with the optimum laser beam intensity according to the light absorber can be prepared. Can be irradiated.

FIG. 5F is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where DOE201C is changed to a liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM) 201D in FIG. 5C. Since time modulation is possible by using the liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM) 201D, it is possible to generate a conical wavefront, a Voltex wavefront, or a wavefront in which a composite wavefront thereof is superimposed. Note that FIG. 5G is a schematic diagram showing an example of a case where a reflective liquid crystal phase conversion element 201D and a prism mirror 201D'are combined as a liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM).

As for the laser beam intensity of the annular laser beam, it is more preferable that the vaporization region does not exist in the center of the optical axis and the center of the optical axis is irradiated with an energy smaller than the energy density that causes vaporization. That is, as for the intensity distribution of the laser beam to be irradiated, it is preferable that the maximum intensity of the laser beam is located away from the optical axis.
Further, the laser beam intensity of the optical axis is smaller than the laser beam intensity of the vaporization region, but it is preferable that the laser beam intensity is such that the temperature of the light absorber is raised. By doing so, the energy for separating the light absorber from the interface of the light absorber itself and flying it can be given to the light absorber, which is preferable because it facilitates the flight of the light absorber.

Here, a preferable form of the laser beam intensity of the laser beam irradiated by the light absorber flying means will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
6A and 6C are schematic views showing an example of a laser beam intensity distribution. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of the measurement result of the in-plane laser beam intensity distribution in the direction orthogonal to the laser irradiation direction in the laser of the laser beam intensity distribution shown in FIG. 6A. FIG. 6D is a diagram showing an example of the measurement result of the in-plane laser beam intensity distribution in the direction orthogonal to the laser beam irradiation direction in the laser beam of the laser beam intensity distribution shown in FIG. 6C.
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the laser beam intensity of the irradiated laser beam is such that the intensity is high in the outer peripheral portion of the irradiated laser beam and the intensity gradually decreases from the outer peripheral portion toward the optical axis (center). It is preferable to take a uniform distribution.
Further, in FIGS. 6C and 6D, as in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the intensity distribution in which the laser beam intensity is high in the outer peripheral portion is higher than the laser beam intensity in the vicinity of the optical axis in the optical axis (center). Show the case. By using a laser beam (annular laser beam) having a laser beam intensity distribution as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, the light absorber irradiated with the laser beam on the optical axis (center) has a low viscosity and absorbs light. This is preferable because the movement of pushing out the material is improved. As described above, in the present invention, the laser beam intensity has a high intensity distribution in the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam, and the laser beam intensity in the optical axis (center) is higher than the laser beam intensity in the vicinity of the optical axis. A laser beam having an intensity distribution (for example, a laser beam having a laser beam intensity distribution as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D) can be used as a ring laser beam.

In order to create the laser beam intensity distribution (annular laser beam) as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D, for example, the laser beam conversion means shown in FIGS. 5A to 5G described above can be used.
The liquid crystal phase conversion element (SLM) usually uses only the primary light and does not use the 0th-order light. However, by effectively using the 0th-order light, when the Lager Gaussian beam is used, Light intensity can also be given to the center of the optical axis, which is a singular point. In the present invention, these may be made into a database that can be changed in a matrix, and the optimum one may be selected.
The laser beam intensity distribution of the annulus laser beam is preferably axisymmetric. The unevenness of the laser beam intensity distribution is preferably ± 20%.

Further, the fluence (J / cm ² ) of the laser beam on the exposed surface of the light absorber on the side opposite to the surface in contact with the substrate is obtained by irradiating the laser beam with an energy density smaller than the energy density that generates the vaporization region. It is preferable to be By doing so, the viscosity of the back surface side (the exposed surface side of the light absorber on the side opposite to the surface in contact with the base material) can be reduced, so that the scattering of the flying object can be suppressed and the adhesion position accuracy can be improved. can.
The fluence usually means the fluence (front side fluence) on the side where the laser beam is incident. Fluence is usually controlled by the absorption coefficient of the material. However, according to the study by the present inventors, it is important for the flight quality to control the fluence of the film surface on the opposite side of the light irradiation of the light absorber film (hereinafter, may be referred to as backside fluence). all right.

Here, the backside fluence will be described in detail.
First, when the laser beam intensity before being incident on the light absorber is set to I ₀ , the light intensity I after the incident is expressed by the following equation (3) using the absorption coefficient α from Lambert-Beer's law. ..
I = I ₀ exp (-αt) ... Equation (3)
In the above equation (3), α means the absorption coefficient, t means the film thickness, and I / I ₀ means the absorption rate at the film thickness t.
As can be seen from the above equation (3), it means that the heat input amount Q is different in the depth direction and the rising temperature is different. As a result, if the absorption coefficient and the film thickness are known, the fluence on the back side (backside fluence) can be obtained.

The cross-sectional shape and size (inner diameter, outer diameter) of the laser beam are not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose.
Examples of the cross-sectional shape of the laser beam include an annular shape, a polygonal annular shape, and an amorphous annular shape.

The inner diameter of the laser beam (the inner diameter of the beam profile surrounding the optical axis on the wavefront of the light beam) is preferably 20 μm or more and 90 μm or less, and more preferably 30 μm or more and 70 μm or less.

Here, a method of adjusting the size of the laser beam will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of the exposure intensity distribution when the index L of the Laguerre Gaussian beam and the height index H of the conical wavefront are superimposed.
Since the exponent of the Laguerre Gaussian beam is an integer, the size of the annular laser beam becomes discrete and it may be difficult to adjust the size simply by changing the exponent of the Laguerre Gaussian beam. For example, the measured value at the Laguerre Gaussian beam L = 1 was an inner diameter of 20 μm / an outer diameter of 70 μm. The measured value at L = 2 was an inner diameter of 30 μm / an outer diameter of 80 μm. Therefore, it may be difficult to produce a laser beam having a laser beam size of this intermediate value (inner diameter 20 μm / outer diameter 70 μm to inner diameter 30 μm / outer diameter 80 μm) only by changing the index of the Laguerre Gaussian beam.

On the other hand, since the height index H of the conical wavefront is in the range of real numbers, the values can be arbitrarily selected, so that the inner diameter and the outer diameter can be freely selected.
For example, in FIG. 7A, the height index H of the conical wavefront is changed to 0, a, b, c (where a, b, c are real numbers and satisfy a <b <c) in the Laguerre Gaussian beam. The contour diagram of the intensity distribution at the time is shown. As shown in FIG. 7A, it can be seen that the inner diameter and the outer diameter gradually increase as the height index H of the conical wavefront increases.
For example, when H = c and L = 1, the inner diameter was 90 μm / outer diameter 160 μm, and when H = c and L = 2, the inner diameter was 100 μm / outer diameter 170 μm.
By superimposing the height index H of the conical wavefront on the laser beam to be irradiated in this way, the size of the laser beam can be prepared and arbitrarily adjusted. Further, the ratio of the inner diameter / outer diameter can be changed by changing L = 1 and 2. These make it possible to select the optimum profile for the light absorber.
As a means for superimposing the height index H of the conical wavefront, for example, a liquid crystal display phase conversion element (SLM) or the like can be mentioned.

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the inner diameter of the laser beam and the size (droplet diameter) of the projectile. It can be seen that the size (droplet diameter) of the projectile increases as the inner diameter of the laser beam increases. That is, the size of the flying object can be controlled by the inner diameter of the laser beam to be irradiated.
Furthermore, in other words, it can be seen that the droplet diameter increases linearly as the inner diameter (ring diameter) of the laser beam increases. When the ring diameter is determined, the droplet diameter is uniquely determined by the conditions of the same donor (conditions of the substrate (substrate) on which the light absorber is arranged). In other words, this means that the droplet diameter can be controlled by varying the ring diameter.
Here, the droplet size (droplet diameter) is an important parameter related to print quality. In the BR-LIFT method, the droplet diameter can be controlled by changing the ring diameter, so high-definition printing can be performed with a small diameter ring, and high-speed printing can be performed with a large diameter ring, which improves system controllability. Can be improved.

Further, FIG. 7C shows the relationship between the irradiation (pulse) energy and the size (droplet diameter) of the projectile.
FIG. 7C shows the results when magenta ink having a viscosity of 4 Pa · s and a film thickness of 20 μm was flown with a gap of 500 μm. The horizontal axis is the irradiation energy, and the vertical axis is the droplet diameter. As a result, it was found that the droplet diameter was constant regardless of the irradiation energy.
As shown in FIG. 7C, the pulse energy increased by 32% from 34.6 μJ to 45.8 μJ, while the droplet diameter increased by only 3.4%. These results mean that the droplet diameter is constant regardless of the irradiation energy. In the case of the LIFT method, the droplet size generally increases as the irradiation energy increases, but in the BR-LIFT method, the droplet diameter does not depend on the irradiation energy, so that it is more stable. It was found that it has the characteristic of being able to print.

-Laser beam shaping means-
Examples of the laser beam shaping means include a laser beam scaling means and a phase distribution conversion means.
The laser beam shaping means is arranged, for example, on the light source side of the condenser lens, and the incident beam can form a desired cross-sectional shape and transmitted wavefront on the front surface of the condenser lens.

--Laser beam scaling means ---
The laser beam scaling means can be, for example, a means for changing the ratio of the diameter of one axis to the diameter of the other axis orthogonal to the diameter of one axis in a cross section perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident beam.
Examples of the laser beam scaling means include a prism and the like.
8A and 8B show an example of the laser beam scaling means. The laser beam scaling means shown in FIG. 8A is composed of two pairs of transparent prisms such as glass (double prism 501), and changes the direction of light by using refraction of light to change the direction of light in only one direction. Is to be scaled. The scaling here means a change in magnification such that the aspect ratio of the beam cross section is changed. In FIG. 8A, the circle on the left shows the cross-sectional shape of the incident beam. For the sake of simplicity, the incident beam is circular. Here, if the radius of the cross section in the x direction of the incident beam is Rx and the radius of the cross section in the y direction is Ry, then Rx / Ry = 1 (in FIG. 8A, the diameter of the incident beam is D _in 511 and the diameter of the emission beam is D _out 512. ).

FIG. 8A is an example in which the prism on the incident side is rotated counterclockwise and the prism on the ejection side is rotated clockwise. In this case, the emission beam in the x direction is relatively smaller than the incident beam. That is, it can be reduced and scaled to Rx / Ry <1.
Further, FIG. 8B is an example in which the prism on the incident side is rotated clockwise and the prism on the ejection side is rotated counterclockwise. In this case, the emission beam in the x direction is relatively larger than the incident beam. That is, it can be expanded and scaled to Rx / Ry> 1.
From the above, by using the laser beam scaling means, the ratio Rx / Ry of the diameter of one axis and the diameter of the other axis orthogonal to the diameter of one axis can be freely set in the cross section orthogonal to the optical axis of the incident beam. Can be changed.

－－Phase distribution (wavefront) conversion means －－
The phase distribution conversion means can be, for example, a means for converting the phase distribution of the incident beam wavefront.
Examples of the phase distribution conversion means include a convex cylinder lens and the like.
Here, FIG. 9 shows an example of the phase distribution conversion means.
The phase distribution conversion means shown in FIG. 9 is an optical system that corrects the transmitted wavefront of the laser beam 611 by using two convex cylinder lens optical systems. If two cylinder lenses (CYL1 621 and CYL2 622) are opposed to each other and arranged so that the focal positions overlap (arranged so that the distance between the cylinder lenses is L), the magnification becomes 1 and the wavefront remains flat. , The focusing position does not change in the x and y directions, but if the cylinder lenses are slightly changed (arranged so that the distance between the cylinder lenses is L + ΔL), an independent cylinder wavefront in the x direction can be created. can. By combining with the defocus effect of the condenser lens (axisymmetric) 623, it is possible to create a 0 degree astigma component of the transmitted wavefront. In the figure, 624 refers to the sample surface.

More specifically, a laser beam shaping means having the following configuration can be used.
First lens (CYL1): plano-convex cylinder lens with focal length 50 mm, glass material: synthetic quartz-Second lens (CYL2): plano-convex cylinder lens with focal length 50 mm, glass material: synthetic quartz-third lens: focal length 100 mm Condensing lens (axis target lens), glass material: Synthetic quartz The focal length S is the distance from the first surface of the condensing lens to the condensing point. When the distance L between the cylinder lenses is shortened by 100 μm, the focal position is separated by 0.5 mm. As a result, the focal position of xy can be set independently. In the above specific example, although the configuration using two convex cylinder lenses for one cylinder is shown, a lens in which an achromatic lens or the like is bonded may be used.
Further, if the shape of the lens is an aspherical shape, the aberration can be further corrected.
Other basic characteristics are the same as those of the uneven CYL optical system. Although the optical path length is longer than that of the uneven CYL optical system, a very good wavefront can be created.
By using a cylinder lens or a liquid crystal phase conversion element composed of a plurality of lenses, it is possible to convert the phase distribution of the incident beam wavefront to an ideal state.
In the case of the cylinder lens method, although there are restrictions on the conversion pattern of the phase distribution, it is possible to correct astigmatism with good quality and high quality, which cannot be solved by the alignment of optical components.
In this way, the flight accuracy of the light absorber can be further improved.

-Other means-
The other means are not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, and examples thereof include a beam wavelength changing element and an output adjusting unit.

--Beam wavelength changing element ---
The beam wavelength changing element is not particularly limited as long as the wavelength of the laser beam can be changed to a wavelength that can be absorbed by the light absorber and can transmit the substrate described later, and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose. can. Examples of the beam wavelength changing element include a KTP crystal, a BBO crystal, an LBO crystal, and a CLBO crystal.

－－Output adjustment unit －－
The output adjusting unit is not particularly limited as long as the laser beam can be adjusted to an appropriate output value, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include glass.

Next, an embodiment of the projectile generator of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram showing an example of the flying object generator of the present invention. The figure is an axisymmetric model for convenience. As shown in FIG. 10A, the projectile generator has a light source 711, a beam conversion optical system 712, a (XY) galvano scanner 713 which is a scanning optical system, and a condenser lens 714 which is a condenser optical system. A transparent body (base material) 716 having a light absorbing material 717 arranged on at least a part of the surface can be installed on the sample table 715. Further, it has a Gap (gap) holding member 719 for providing a gap between the transparent body (base material) 716 and the adherend (acceptor base material (base material)).
Further, in the example of the flying object generator shown in FIG. 10A, light is absorbed by a light absorbing material flying means having a light source 711, a beam conversion optical system 712, a galvano scanner 713 which is a scanning optical system, and a condenser lens 714. By irradiating the transparent body (base material) 716 with the annular laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the material 717 is arranged, the light absorber 717 is made to fly in the irradiation direction of the annular laser beam. Then, in the example of the flying object generator shown in FIG. 10A, the flown light absorber 717 (flying object) adheres to and adheres to the adhered object (object) 718.

FIG. 10B more concisely shows the configuration of an example of the projectile generator shown in FIG. 10A, and at the interface between the substrate and the (high viscosity) light absorber 717A, the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam. It is a figure which shows the state which generates the vaporization region 722 above the outside atmospheric pressure.
As shown in FIG. 10B, the surface side of the transparent body (base material) 716 facing the surface on which the high-viscosity light-absorbing material 717A is arranged, as opposed to the one in which the high-viscosity light-absorbing material 717A having a thickness of 731 is arranged. When the transparent body 716 is irradiated with a laser beam, the high-viscosity light absorber 717A irradiated with the laser beam produces a low-viscosity region 717B, and at the interface between the transparent body 716 and the high-viscosity light-absorbing material 717A, light is emitted. A vaporization region 722 in which the high-viscosity light absorber 717A is vaporized is generated so as to surround the shaft 711'. Then, due to the inward pressure 721 (pressure toward the optical axis) generated by the expansion of the generated vaporization region 722, the high-viscosity light absorber 717A surrounded by the low-viscosity region 717B is irradiated with the laser beam (the irradiation direction (). It is extruded in the optical axis direction) and pops out as droplets 717C in the gap 732 between the high-viscosity light absorber 717A and the adherend (target) 718. The ejected droplet 717C flies in the irradiation direction of the laser beam.

(Image forming device and image forming method)
The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the flying object generator of the present invention and the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
It has a transfer means for transferring the light absorber flew by the projectile generator to the transfer medium, and further has other means as needed.
The image forming method of the present invention includes the flying object generation method of the present invention.
It includes a transfer step of transferring the light absorber flew by the projectile generation method to the transfer medium, and further includes other steps as necessary.

The image forming method of the present invention can be suitably carried out by the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the light absorbing material flying step can be carried out by the light absorbing material flying means, and the transfer step can be carried out by the light absorbing material flying means. The transfer means can be suitably carried out, and the other steps can be preferably carried out by the other means.

In the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present invention, the same can be applied to the flying object generator and the flying object generating method of the present invention except for the transfer means and the transfer step, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

<Transfer means and transfer process>
The transfer means is a means for transferring the flown light absorber to the transfer medium.
The transfer step is a step of transferring the flown light absorber to the transfer medium.
The transfer means is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include means provided with a mechanism for bringing a flying object generated from the light absorber into contact with the transfer medium. Specifically, it is preferable that the transfer means has, for example, a mechanism for adjusting the gap between the adherend (object) and the light absorber, and a mechanism for transporting the adherend.

-Transfer medium-
The transfer medium (attached object, target to which the flying light absorber adheres) is not particularly limited as long as it can come into contact with a flying object (droplet, flying light absorber) generated from the light absorber. It can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, and examples thereof include a recording medium and an intermediate transfer belt used in an image forming apparatus.

--recoding media--
The recording medium is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include coated paper, woodfree paper, film, cloth and fibers.

The gap between the transfer medium and the light absorber is not particularly limited as long as the transfer medium and the light absorber are not brought into contact with each other, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is 0.05 mm or more. 5 mm or less is preferable, 0.10 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less is more preferable, 0.2 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less is particularly preferable, and 0.10 mm or more and 0.50 mm or less is most preferable. When the gap between the transfer medium and the light absorber is within a preferable range, the accuracy of the adhesion position of the light absorber with respect to the adhered object can be further improved. Further, by not contacting the transfer medium and the light absorber, the light absorber can be adhered to the adhered object regardless of the composition of the light absorber and the adhered matter. In the present invention, the adhesion position accuracy is particularly excellent when the object is attached to an adherend separated by at least 0.5 mm or more.
Further, it is preferable that the gap is kept constant by, for example, a position controlling means for maintaining the position of the adherend to be constant. In this case, it is preferable to arrange each part in consideration of the positional variation of the light absorber and the transfer medium and the variation in the average thickness.

The average diameter (average dot diameter) of the light absorber after transfer (adhesion) in the transfer medium (attachment) is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is 100 μm. The following is preferable in that the formed image can be further improved. In the present invention, for example, the diameter of the flying droplet can be made to fly at a diameter smaller than the diameter of the irradiated laser beam. The dot diameter formed by the relationship of is changed.
The average dot diameter is, for example, obtained by acquiring a dot image of a light absorber with a microscope or the like, detecting a dot area from image brightness information, calculating the area of each dot from the number of pixels in the detected dot area, and forming a circle. It can be obtained by using the converted diameter as the dot diameter and averaging them.

Further, the value of the variation in the diameter (dot diameter) of the light absorber after transfer (adhesion) in the transfer medium (attachment) is preferably 10% or less, and preferably 6% or less. More preferred. By setting the value of the variation in the diameter of the light absorber after transfer in the transfer medium to the above-mentioned preferable range, the accuracy in forming an image or a three-dimensional model can be further improved.
Further, the value of the variation in the diameter of the light absorbing material after transfer in the transfer medium is determined by acquiring a dot image of the light absorbing material with a microscope or the like, detecting a dot region from the image brightness information, and detecting the dots. It can be obtained by calculating the area of each dot from the number of pixels in the region, using the diameter when converted to a circle as the dot diameter, and calculating from the average particle size and standard deviation of the particle size distribution of each dot.

In addition, the value of the variation in the position (dot position) of the light absorber after transfer (adhesion) in the transfer medium (attachment) is preferably 10 μm or less, and more preferably 5 μm or less. preferable. By setting the value of the variation in the position of the light absorber after transfer in the transfer medium to the above-mentioned preferable range, the accuracy in forming an image or a three-dimensional model can be further improved. The value of the variation in the position of the light absorber after transfer in the transfer medium is, for example, when the dots of the light absorber are attached in a row, the light absorption is in the direction perpendicular to the row of the dots. It can be a value of variation in the position of the material.
For example, a dot image of a light absorber is acquired with a microscope or the like, a dot region is detected from the image luminance information, the center of gravity coordinates of each detected dot region are calculated, and the deviation of each center of gravity from the approximate straight line by the least squares method is obtained. It can be obtained by calculation.

<Other means and other processes>
Examples of other means include a light absorber supply means, a film thickness control means, a beam scanning means, an adherend transporting means, a fixing means, a control means, and the like.
Examples of other steps include a light absorber supply step, a film thickness control step, a beam scanning step, an adherend transfer step, a fixing step, a control step, and the like.
Further, the light absorber flying means, the base material, the light absorber supplying means, and the beam scanning means may be integrally treated as a light absorber flying unit.

The light absorber supplying means is not particularly limited as long as the light absorber can be supplied on the optical path of the laser beam between the light absorber flying means and the transfer medium, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. As the light absorber supply means, for example, the light absorber may be supplied via a cylindrical base material arranged on the optical path.
Specifically, when the light absorber is a liquid and the light absorber is supplied to the base material, it is possible to provide a supply roller and a regulation blade as the light absorber supply means with a simple configuration. Is preferable because it can be supplied to the surface of the base material with a constant average thickness.
In this case, the surface of the supply roller is partially immersed in a storage tank for storing the light-absorbing material, and the light-absorbing material is supplied by rotating while supporting the light-absorbing material on the surface and coming into contact with the base material. The regulating blade is arranged on the downstream side of the storage tank in the rotation direction of the supply roller to regulate the light absorber carried by the supply roller to make the average thickness uniform and stabilize the amount of the light absorber to be flown. By reducing the average thickness, the amount of light-absorbing material to be flown can be reduced, so that the light-absorbing material can be attached to the adherend as minute dots with suppressed scattering, and the dot gain with thick halftone dots is suppressed. be able to. The regulating blade may be arranged on the downstream side of the supply roller in the rotation direction of the base material.

Further, when the light absorber has a high viscosity, the material of the supply roller is preferably one having at least an elastic surface in order to ensure contact with the base material. When the light absorber has a relatively low viscosity, the supply rollers include, for example, gravure rolls, microgravure rolls, forward rolls and the like as used in precision wet coating.

Further, as a light absorber supply means without a supply roller, the base material is brought into direct contact with the light absorber in the storage tank, and then the excess light absorber is scraped off with a wire bar or the like to the surface of the base material. A film (layer) of the light absorber may be formed. The storage tank may be provided separately from the light absorber supply means, and the light absorber may be supplied to the light absorber supply means by a hose or the like.
The light absorber supply step is not particularly limited as long as it is a step of supplying the light absorber on the optical path of the laser beam between the light absorber flying means and the adherend, and is appropriately selected according to the purpose. It can be preferably performed by using, for example, a light absorber supplying means.

As the film thickness control means, for example, a means for controlling the thickness of the light absorber applied to the surface of the base material can be used by providing a predetermined gap and installing the film so as to come into contact with the surface of the base material.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus including the light absorber supplying means 1100.
The light absorber supply means 1100 includes a storage tank 1111 for storing the light absorber 1101, a supply roller 1112, a regulation blade 1113, a transfer roller 1114, and a sheet recovery roller 1115.
The supply roller 1112 is arranged so as to be in contact with the transport roller 1114, and a part of the supply roller 1111 is immersed in the light absorber 1101 of the storage tank 1111. The supply roller 1112 attaches the light absorber 1101 to the peripheral surface while rotating in the arrow direction (clockwise direction) by a rotation drive unit (not shown) or in accordance with the rotation of the transfer roller 1114.
The light absorber 1101 adhering to the peripheral surface of the supply roller 1112 is made uniform in average thickness by the regulation blade 1113. After that, the light absorbing material applied to the surface of the base material passes through the film thickness control means 1116, so that the film thickness of the light absorbing material applied to the surface of the base material is the gap between the film thickness controlling means 1116 and the surface of the base material. It is scraped off so that it is equal to the distance. In this way, by controlling the gap between the film thickness control means 1116 and the surface of the base material, a light absorber having a desired film thickness can be applied to the surface of the base material.
After that, the light absorber 1101 is transferred onto the transparent sheet (base material) 1102 delivered from the transport roller 1114 to be supplied as a film (layer). The transparent sheet 1102 supports the supplied light absorber 1101 on the surface of the object to be adhered 1123 on the side facing the surface by an intramolecular force. The carrying force of the light absorber 1101 by the transparent sheet 1102 may be reinforced by air adsorption or electrostatic adsorption.
A transparent sheet 1102 is wound around the transport roller 1114 in advance, and one end of the wound transparent sheet 1102 is connected to a sheet recovery roller 1115 arranged apart from the transport roller 1114 in the + y direction.
The sheet recovery roller 1115 winds up the transparent sheet 1102 by rotation by a drive unit such as a motor, and the transparent sheet 1102 travels in the + y direction by this winding operation. The transport roller 1114 rotates in accordance with the running of the transparent sheet 1102, and at the same time, sends the wound transparent sheet 1102 toward the sheet recovery roller 1115.
The transparent sheet 1102 runs while carrying the light absorber 1101, and the laser beam 1131 is irradiated by the light irradiation unit 1122 at a position facing the light irradiation unit 1122 arranged between the transfer roller 1114 and the sheet recovery roller 1115. Will be done. Then, a process of flying the light absorber 1101 from the transparent sheet 1102 and a process of fixing it to the adhered object 1123 are performed.
The light absorber 1101 supplied to the transparent sheet 1102 is continuously supplied to the position where the laser beam 1131 is irradiated by the rotation of the transport roller 1114. After the treatment, the light absorber 1101 is recovered together with the transparent sheet 1102 by the sheet recovery roller 1115.
In this way, the film thickness of the light absorber can be controlled by the film thickness control means. As described above, in the present invention, it is possible to control the droplet diameter of the light absorber by controlling the film thickness of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material. As a result, the desired resolution can be obtained and the throughput can be controlled. The resolution can be controlled by using the film thickness control means as one of the means for supplying the light absorber.

The beam scanning means is not particularly limited as long as the laser beam can be scanned with respect to the light absorber, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, the beam scanning means includes a reflecting mirror that reflects the laser beam emitted from the light absorbing material flying means toward the light absorbing material, and a reflecting mirror that changes the angle and position of the reflecting mirror to direct the laser beam to the light absorbing material. It may have a reflector driving unit for scanning.
The beam scanning step is not particularly limited as long as it is a step of scanning the laser beam with the light absorber, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, the beam scanning step can be suitably performed by using a beam scanning means. ..

The means for transporting the adherend is not particularly limited as long as it can transport the adherend, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include a pair of transport rollers.
The process of transporting the adherend is not particularly limited as long as it is a step of transporting the adherend, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, the process of transporting the adhered material can be suitably performed. ..

The fixing means is not particularly limited as long as it can fix the light absorber attached to the adhered object, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a thermocompression bonding method using a heat-pressurizing member. Things and so on.
The heating and pressurizing member is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include a combination of a heating roller, a pressurizing roller, a heating roller and a pressurizing roller. Examples of other heating and pressurizing members include those in which a fixing belt is combined with these, and those in which the heating roller is replaced with a heating block.

As the pressurizing roller, one in which the pressurized surface moves at a constant speed with the adherend conveyed by the adhered object transporting means is preferable in that image deterioration due to rubbing is suppressed. Among these, those having an elastic layer formed in the vicinity of the surface are more preferable because they can easily contact and pressurize the adherend. Furthermore, a pressurized roller having a water-repellent surface layer formed of a low-surface energy material such as a silicone-based water-repellent material or a fluorine compound on the outermost surface suppresses image distortion due to the light absorber adhering to the surface. Especially preferable in that respect.
Examples of the water-repellent surface layer made of a silicone-based water-repellent material include a silicone-based mold release agent film, a baking film of silicone oil or various modified silicone oils, a silicone varnish film, a silicone rubber film, and silicone rubber. Examples thereof include a film made of a composite material such as metal, rubber, plastic, and ceramic.
Examples of the water-repellent surface layer made of a fluorine compound include a fluororesin film, an organic fluorine compound film, a fluorine oil baking film or an adsorption film, a fluorine rubber film, or fluorine rubber and various metals, rubbers, plastics, ceramics, etc. Examples include a film made of a composite material.

The heating temperature of the heating roller is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, but is preferably 80 ° C. or higher and 200 ° C. or lower.

The fixing belt is not particularly limited as long as it has heat resistance and high mechanical strength, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include films such as polyimide, PET, and PEN. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Further, as the fixing belt, it is preferable to use the same material as the material forming the outermost surface of the pressure roller in that the image distortion due to the adhesion of the light absorber to the surface is suppressed. Since the thickness of the fixing belt can be reduced, the energy for heating the belt itself can be reduced, so that the fixing belt can be used immediately after the power is turned on. The temperature and pressure at this time vary depending on the composition of the light absorber to be fixed, but the temperature is preferably 200 ° C. or lower from the viewpoint of energy saving, and the pressure is preferably 1 kg / cm or less from the viewpoint of the rigidity of the device.

When two or more kinds of light absorbers are used, the light absorbers of each color may be fixed each time they adhere to the adherend, and all kinds of light absorbers adhere to the adherend and are laminated. It may be fixed in a state of being fixed.
Further, when the light absorber has a very high viscosity and the drying is slow and it is difficult to improve the adhesion rate to the adherend, the adherend may be additionally heated to promote the drying.
Further, when the light-absorbing material permeates and wets the adherend slowly and is dried in a state where the adhered light-absorbing material is not sufficiently smoothed, the surface of the adhered matter to which the light-absorbing material is attached becomes rough. Therefore, the surface gloss of the adherend may not be obtained. In order to obtain the gloss of the surface of the adherend, by using a fixing means for pressurizing and fixing the adherend, the light absorber adhering to the adherend is crushed and fixed by being pushed into the adhered object. The surface roughness of the surface may be reduced.
The fixing means is required for fixing to the adhered object, particularly when a solid light absorber formed by compacting the powder is used. If necessary, a known optical fixing device may be used together with the fixing means.
The fixing step is not particularly limited as long as it is a step of fixing the light absorber attached to the adhered object to the adhered object, and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a fixing means is used. Can be preferably performed.

The control means is not particularly limited as long as the movement of each means can be controlled, and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. Examples thereof include devices such as sequencers and computers.
The control step is a step of controlling each step, and can be preferably performed by the control means.

The light absorber flying means, the light absorber supplying means, and the beam scanning means may be integrally treated as a light absorber flying unit.
For example, four light absorber flight units may be provided in the image forming apparatus to fly the colorants of the process colors yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. The number of colors of the light absorber is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, and the number of light absorber flight units may be increased or decreased as necessary. Further, a white concealing layer is provided by arranging the light absorber flying unit having a white light absorber on the upstream side of the light absorber flying unit having the light absorber of the process color in the transport direction of the recording medium. Therefore, it is possible to form an image having excellent color reproducibility on a transparent recording medium. However, especially in yellow, white, and transparent light absorbers, the laser light source is, for example, a blue laser beam, an ultraviolet laser beam, or the like so that the transmittance (absorbance) of light at the wavelength of the laser beam is appropriate. Is preferable.

Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a high-viscosity light-absorbing material can be used, so that even if light-absorbing materials of different colors are sequentially layered on a recording medium to form an image, the light-absorbing material exudes. Since it is possible to suppress the occurrence of bleeding that mixes with each other, it is possible to obtain a high-quality color image.

For the purpose of downsizing the image forming apparatus, even if only one light absorber flying unit is provided and the light absorber itself supplied to the supply roller and the colorant carrier is switched to form an image of multiple colors. good.

(Manufacturing equipment for 3D objects and manufacturing method for 3D objects)
The apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional object of the present invention includes the flying object generator of the present invention and the apparatus for producing a three-dimensional object.
A transfer means for transferring the flown light absorber to the transfer medium,
It has a curing means for curing the transferred light absorber, and has.
After the light absorber is flown onto the cured light absorber by the light absorber flying means, the uncured light absorber is repeatedly cured by the curing means to produce a three-dimensional model. Further, the apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional object of the present invention further has other means as needed.
The method for producing a three-dimensional object of the present invention is the method for generating a flying object of the present invention.
The transfer process of transferring the flown light absorber to the transfer medium,
Including a curing step of curing the transferred light absorber,
After flying the light absorber on the cured light absorber in the light absorber flying step, the uncured light absorber is repeatedly cured in the curing step to produce a three-dimensional model. In addition, the method for producing a three-dimensional model of the present invention further includes other steps as necessary.

The apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional model and the method for producing a three-dimensional model of the present invention have a curing means and a curing step in the image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present invention, and absorb light on a cured light absorbing material. The image forming apparatus and the image forming method of the present invention are used except that the light absorbing material is flown in the material flying step and then the uncured light absorbing material is repeatedly cured in the curing step to produce a three-dimensional model. Since the same can be applied, the description thereof will be omitted.

<Curing means and curing process>
The curing means is a means for curing the transferred light absorber.
The curing step is a step of curing the transferred light absorber.
The curing means is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, if the light absorber is an ultraviolet curable material, an ultraviolet irradiator or the like can be mentioned.

In the three-dimensional object manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, for example, the light absorber is flown onto the already cured light absorber by the light absorber flying means, and then uncured (still cured) by the curing means. By repeating curing the light absorber (not), a three-dimensional model can be manufactured.

<Other means and other processes>
Examples of other means include a light absorber supply means, a three-dimensional modeling head unit scanning means, a substrate position adjusting means, a control means, and the like.
Examples of other steps include a light absorber supply step, a three-dimensional modeling head unit scanning step, a substrate position adjusting step, a control step, and the like.

<< Light Absorbent Supply Means >>
The light-absorbing material supply means in the three-dimensional object manufacturing apparatus is the one in which the light-absorbing material can be cured by the curing means (three-dimensional modeling agent), and the above-mentioned image except that the adhered object is a modeled object support substrate. Since it is the same as the light absorber supply means in the forming means, the description thereof will be omitted.

-Three-dimensional modeling agent-
The three-dimensional modeling agent is not particularly limited as long as it is a light-absorbing material that can be cured by a curing means, and preferably contains a curable material, and further contains other components as necessary.

－－Curable material －－
The curable material is not particularly limited as long as it is a compound that cures by causing a polymerization reaction by irradiation with active energy rays (ultraviolet rays, electron beams, etc.), heating, etc., and can be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose, for example. , Active energy ray-curable compound, thermosetting compound and the like. Among these, a material that is liquid at room temperature is preferable.
As the active energy ray-curable compound, for example, a monomer having an unsaturated double bond capable of radical polymerization in the molecular structure can be used. Examples of such a monomer include a monofunctional monomer and a polyfunctional monomer. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

<< Other ingredients >>
The other components are not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, water, an organic solvent, a photopolymerization initiator, a surfactant, a colorant, a stabilizer, a water-soluble resin, and a low amount. Examples thereof include boiling alcohol, surface treatment agents, viscosity modifiers, adhesive-imparting agents, antioxidants, antioxidants, cross-linking accelerators, ultraviolet absorbers, plasticizers, preservatives, dispersants and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

<< Three-dimensional modeling head unit scanning means >>
The three-dimensional modeling head unit scanning means is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, a three-dimensional modeling head unit in which a light absorber flying unit and a curing means are integrated is mounted on a modeled object support substrate. May be scanned in the width direction (X-axis) of the device. In the three-dimensional modeling head unit, for example, the ultraviolet curable light absorber provided by the light absorber flying unit can be cured by a curing means. Further, a plurality of three-dimensional modeling head units may be provided.

<< Board position adjusting means >>
The substrate position adjusting means is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected according to the purpose. For example, the position of the modeled object support substrate is adjusted in the depth direction (Y axis) and the height direction (Z axis) of the device. It may be a possible substrate (stage).

<< Control means >>
Since the control means is the same as the control means of the image forming apparatus described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

-Modeled object support board-
The modeled object support substrate is not particularly limited and may be appropriately selected depending on the intended purpose. For example, the positions of the Y-axis and the Z-axis may be adjusted by the substrate position adjusting means.

Since the gap between the modeled object support substrate and the base material is the same as the gap between the adherend and the base material, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, an example of a three-dimensional model manufacturing apparatus in the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The three-dimensional object manufacturing apparatus 1200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the three-dimensional model manufacturing apparatus 1200. Further, the description of the means and the like that can be the same as the image forming apparatus including the light absorber supply means 1100 shown in FIG. 11 in the three-dimensional model manufacturing apparatus 1200 will be omitted.
As described above, in the image forming apparatus including the light absorber supplying means 1100 shown in FIG. 11, the adherend 1123 moves in the + y direction to form an image. On the other hand, in the three-dimensional object manufacturing apparatus 1200 shown in FIG. 12, the adhered object 1123 is controlled to be movable in the ± x and ± y directions to form a two-dimensional drawing (two-dimensional modeling layer). Further, by controlling the adhered object 1123 to be movable in the z direction, the three-dimensional model 1201 is formed by laminating the light absorbing material on the light absorbing material already adhering to the adhered object 1123. To manufacture.
At this time, each time the two-dimensional modeling layer is formed in the x-direction and the y-direction, the light-absorbing material is cured by heat-curing or photo-curing the light-absorbing material adhering to the adherend 1123. It is preferable to laminate the next two-dimensional modeling layer after (immobilization). It is possible to continuously laminate without curing, but if it is cured, the modeled object will not be disturbed during lamination, and a highly accurate modeled object can be formed.

(Light absorber flying base material)
In the light absorbing material flying substrate of the present invention, the light absorbing material is arranged on at least a part of the surface, and the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorbing material arranged on the surface is 0.3 μm or less, and further, if necessary. And other members.
Since the base material for flying a light absorber of the present invention is the same as the "base material in which the light absorber is arranged on at least a part of the surface" described in the flying object generator and the flying object generating method of the present invention, the description thereof will be described. Is omitted.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

<Preparation of light absorber>
The following inks and additives were used as the material of the light absorber.
・ Ink OF: Best Cure UV CORE TYPE-A Beni (manufactured by T & K TOKA Co., Ltd.)
・ Ink FL: Best Cure UV Flexo 500 Beni (manufactured by T & K TOKA Co., Ltd.)
・ Additive RE: Best Cure UV DG Regiuser (manufactured by T & K TOKA Co., Ltd.) UV curable monomer additive ・ Additive TE: Tesslac 2310 (manufactured by Hitachi Kasei Co., Ltd.) UV curable resin

The above inks and additives were mixed at the mixing ratio shown in Table 1 below to prepare four types of light absorbers, Ink A to Ink D. The ink and the additive were mixed by stirring the mixture of various materials at 1,400 rpm for 2 minutes using a centrifugal stirring defoaming device (Awatori Rentaro ARV930TWIN; manufactured by Shinky Co., Ltd.). The numerical values in Table 1 represent parts by mass.

The stress dependence of the dynamic viscoelasticity of the prepared inks A to D was measured by a rheometer. More specifically, at 1 Pa, the stress dependence of the dynamic viscoelasticity of the ink in the state when it is placed on the substrate (the stress generated by applying periodic deformation (strain) to the ink). Phase difference) was measured. The details and measurement conditions of the rheometer used to measure the dynamic viscoelasticity are shown below.
<Rheometer>
-Main body: HAAKE RheoStress600 (manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific Co., Ltd.)
・ Sensor: Φ35mm / 1 ° -Ti cone sensor <Measurement conditions>
-Frequency when applying periodic deformation (distortion) to ink: 1Hz
・ Range of stress conditions: 1Pa
・ Measurement temperature: 25 ° C

Then, for inks A to D, the complex viscosity value (η ^* ) of each ink under the stress condition of 1 Pa was obtained from the result of the measurement of the stress dependence of the dynamic viscoelasticity by the rheometer. The results are shown in Table 1.

Then, using inks A to D as light absorbers, dot images were formed by the devices shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. In the following, the formation of the dot image will be described in detail.

Using a wire bar coater on a slide glass as a base material (microslide glass S7213 manufactured by Matsunami Glass Ind. Co., Ltd .; the transmittance of 532 nm wavelength light is 99%), the ink having the average thickness shown in Table 2 below was used. A film was formed. The average thickness placed on the surface of the base material was calculated using the weight, area, and density (1,100 kg / m ³ ) of the applied ink.
Further, the arithmetic mean roughness Ra of the ink film arranged on the surface of the base material was set to a magnification of 50 times and a measurement length of 4 mm by using LEXT OLS4000 (three-dimensional measurement laser microscope, manufactured by Olympus Co., Ltd.). Arbitrary different 5 points of the ink film were measured, and the average value was calculated.

Next, the surface of the base material coated with the ink was made to face the adherend (transfer medium, target), and the base material was installed so that the annular laser beam could be vertically irradiated from the back surface of the light absorber.
As the adherend (transferred medium), glossy inkjet paper was used, and the gap between the adhered matter (transferred medium) and the light absorber was set to 1.0 mm.

As the laser beam, a nanosecond laser light source with a wavelength of 532 nm (a laser light source with a pulse time width on the order of nanoseconds) and a condenser lens with a focal length of 100 mm are used to irradiate a circular laser beam with an outer diameter of Φ70 μm and an inner diameter of Φ50 μm. did. Then, at a scanning speed of 100 mm / s of the galvano scanner, one-shot exposure (to generate one projectile by irradiating one laser beam) is performed so that the distance between the scattered inks is 200 μm, and the dots are exposed. An image (transfer image of dots) was formed.

The above dot images were formed for each of inks A to D.
As for the irradiation energy of the laser beam, the optimum irradiation energy for each ink was examined, and each ink was flown by the optimum irradiation energy to form a dot image.

<Evaluation of dot image quality>
13A (Example 9), FIG. 13B (Example 4), and FIG. It is shown in 13C (Comparative Example 1).

The adhered state (dot image) of the adherend to which the flying ink was attached was visually evaluated for each of the inks A to D based on the following evaluation criteria.
[Evaluation criteria]
◯: Good adhesion position accuracy with almost no ink scattering Δ: Sufficient adhesion position accuracy although there is some ink scattering ×: Insufficient adhesion position accuracy due to very large amount of ink scattering Is

From the results of Table 2 and FIGS. 13A to 13C, it was found that a good dot image can be formed when the arithmetic mean roughness Ra of the ink film as a light absorber is 0.3 or less.

Examples of aspects of the present invention are as follows.
<1> A base material in which a light absorber is arranged on at least a part of the surface, and
A light absorber that causes the light absorber to fly in the irradiation direction of the laser beam by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side of the base material facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged. Has a means of flight,
It is a flying object generator characterized in that the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.3 μm or less.
<2> The flight according to <1>, wherein the light absorber flying means generates a vaporized region on the outer peripheral portion of the region irradiated with the laser beam at the interface between the base material and the light absorber. It is a body generator.
<3> The projectile generator according to any one of <1> to <2>, wherein the laser beam is an annular laser beam having an annular intensity distribution surrounding the optical axis.
<4> The flying object generator according to <1>, wherein the laser beam is an optical vortex laser beam.
<5> The flying object generator according to any one of <1> to <4>, wherein the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.2 μm or less.
<6> The projectile generator according to any one of <1> to <5>,
The image forming apparatus is characterized by having a transfer means for transferring the light absorbing material, which has been flown by the flying object generator, to a transfer medium.
<7> The projectile generator according to any one of <1> to <5>, and the
A transfer means for transferring the flown light-absorbing material to a transfer medium,
It has a curing means for curing the transferred light absorber, and has.
The light-absorbing material is flown onto the cured light-absorbing material by the flying object generator, and then the uncured light-absorbing material is repeatedly cured by the curing means to produce a three-dimensional model. It is a manufacturing device for a three-dimensional object, which is characterized by the fact that it does.
<8> The laser beam is obtained by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged in a base material in which the light absorber is arranged on at least a part of the surface. Including the light absorber flying step of flying the light absorber in the irradiation direction of
It is a flying object generation method characterized in that the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the base material is 0.3 μm or less.
<9> Place the light absorber on at least a part of the surface and place it.
It is a base material for flying a light absorber, characterized in that the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface is 0.3 μm or less.

For example, the flying object generator according to any one of <1> to <5>, the image forming apparatus according to <6>, the three-dimensional object manufacturing apparatus according to <7>, and the above <8>. The method for generating a flying object and the base material for flying a light absorbing material according to <9> can solve various conventional problems and achieve the object of the present invention.

101, 716, 1102 Base material 102, 717, 1101 Light absorber 103, 1131 Laser beam

International Publication No. 2016/136722 U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0301006

Claims (9)

A base material with a light absorber on at least a part of the surface,
A light absorber that causes the light absorber to fly in the irradiation direction of the laser beam by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side of the base material facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged. Has a means of flight,
A flying object generator characterized in that the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the substrate is 0.3 μm or less. The flying object generator according to claim 1, wherein the light absorbing material flying means generates a vaporized region in an outer peripheral portion of a region irradiated with the laser beam at an interface between the base material and the light absorbing material. The projectile generator according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the laser beam is an annular laser beam having an annular intensity distribution surrounding the optical axis. The flying object generator according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam is an optical vortex laser beam. The projectile generator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the substrate is 0.2 μm or less. The projectile generator according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer means for transferring the light absorber flew by the flying object generator to a transfer medium. The projectile generator according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A transfer means for transferring the flown light-absorbing material to a transfer medium,
It has a curing means for curing the transferred light absorber, and has.
The light-absorbing material is flown onto the cured light-absorbing material by the flying object generator, and then the uncured light-absorbing material is repeatedly cured by the curing means to produce a three-dimensional model. A device for manufacturing three-dimensional objects, which is characterized by the fact that it is used. The irradiation direction of the laser beam by irradiating the base material with a laser beam from the surface side facing the surface on which the light absorber is arranged in the base material having the light absorber arranged on at least a part of the surface. Includes a light absorber flying step of flying the light absorber.
A method for generating a flying object, characterized in that the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface of the substrate is 0.3 μm or less. Place the light absorber on at least a part of the surface and
A base material for flying a light absorber, characterized in that the arithmetic average roughness Ra of the light absorber arranged on the surface is 0.3 μm or less.

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