JP2746623B2 - Ink fixing method for inkjet recording - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink fixing method for ink jet recording, and more particularly, to an ink jet method provided with a fixing unit for drying and fixing a recording liquid on a recording material after recording. The present invention relates to a recording ink fixing method.

[Conventional technology]

Among recording apparatuses that output recording information processed by a computer onto a recording material, an ink jet recording apparatus is an excellent recording apparatus that operates quietly, has a low running cost, and can perform high-speed recording. . In such an ink jet recording apparatus, recording is performed by ejecting ink, which is a recording liquid, from a recording head onto a sheet, which is a recording material, but ink droplets landed on the sheet are promptly discharged before the sheet is discharged. It is necessary to fix by drying, and therefore, a fixing means is provided.

Such a fixing means is of a type in which a recording sheet held at a recording position is heated from the back side to evaporate ink, or a sheet of paper is wound around a discharge roller provided at a discharge part of the recording sheet. As a result, there is a type that absorbs unevaporated ink.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the former method of heating and evaporating from the back side of the sheet, the heating at the time of fixing occurs between a recorded portion on the sheet where ink is attached and an unrecorded portion where ink is not attached. There is a problem that the sheet is uneven due to rapid expansion and contraction, and the recording quality is impaired.In addition to this, since the recording section is heated by a high temperature, the function of the recording head becomes heat. There was also a problem that it decreased due to the influence of.

On the other hand, in the case where the blotting paper is wound around the discharge roller (hereinafter referred to as a blotter roller), in the case of an ink image having many recording portions, the blotting effect cannot be obtained satisfactorily. There is a disadvantage that the ink is sucked and re-transferred onto the sheet to stain the sheet surface.

An object of the present invention is to focus on each of the problems as described above, and to achieve the solution, to perform the fixing by the blotter roller more effectively while utilizing the functional goodness of the conventional fixing means. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink fixing method for inkjet recording that can perform perfect fixing without deteriorating the quality.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides an ink fixing method for ink jet recording in which ink is ejected from an ink jet recording head onto a recording material arranged at a recording position, and recording is performed. The blotting material provided on the peripheral surface of the blotter roller that sandwiches the recording material absorbs undried ink discharged to the recording surface of the recording material discharged from the recording position, and is absorbed by the blotting material. The undried ink is dried by heat of a heating element, and the recording material is heated by the heat.

[Operation] According to the ink fixing method for inkjet recording of the present invention, the undried ink discharged on the recording surface of the recording material is sucked by the blotting material provided on the peripheral surface of the blotter roller, and The dried undried ink is dried by the heat of the heating element, so that the undried ink discharged onto the recording surface of the recording material is absorbed into the absorbent material without suddenly applying excessive heating at the recording position. Since the undried ink sucked by the blotting material is dried and the recording material is heated by the heat, the transfer of the blotted undried ink to the recording material is prevented while preventing the blotting roller from transferring the undried ink. The ability to absorb dry ink can be maintained.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus for carrying out the ink fixing method for ink jet recording of the present invention. Here, a recording sheet 1 is fed by a feeding roller (not shown), is sandwiched between a pair of sheet feeding rollers 2 and is guided to a printing position, and 3 and 4 form a pair, and a completed recording sheet 1 is formed. Is a discharge roller for nipping and feeding in the direction of arrow A. As shown in FIG. 2, the discharge roller 4 of the discharge rollers 3 and 4 is configured as a blotter roller having a surface on which a blotter 5 is wound.

That is, in FIG. 2, the blotter roller 4 has a hollow shaft 4A, has a space 4B at the center thereof, and a blotter 5 capable of adsorbing ink is wound around the hollow shaft 4A. Is provided with a heater 6 in the space 4B. Thus, by energizing the heater 6 via the lead wire 6A, the hollow shaft 4A is heated, the ink absorbed from the blotting paper 5 wound around the hollow shaft 4A is evaporated, and It is also possible to heat the recording sheet 1 discharged in contact with it to promote the evaporation of the ink. In other words, the unrecorded ink is adsorbed from the surface of the recorded recording sheet 1 by the blotter roller 4, and drying is promoted by being heated by the heat of the heater 6.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, in the case of the present example, a second heater 7 is also provided on the back side of the recording sheet 1 at the recording position, and the recording sheet 1 being recorded is heated by the second heater 7 so that the ink is heated. Can evaporate more vigorously. 8
Is a recording head mounted on a carriage 9 for discharging ink supplied from an ink supply unit (not shown) in accordance with a recording signal to perform recording on the recording sheet 1;
, A guide shaft for moving the carriage 9 in parallel along the surface of the recording sheet 1, a drive belt 11 for the carriage 9, a drive motor 12 for the carriage 9, and a carriage 13 for the home position (H ·
P) is a recovery device that performs a recovery operation by approaching or covering the recording head 8 when guided to the recording head 8. The recovery device uses an ink ejection port generated by adhesion of thickened ink or mixing of bubbles. Clogging can be prevented.

In the ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above, recording is performed by the main scanning of the recording head 8 on the recording sheet 1 sent to the recording position, and the sheet feeding roller 2 and the discharge roller 3 cooperating therewith are provided. The sheet is fed in the direction A by the blotter roller 4, and the ink droplets landed on the recording sheet 1
Evaporation is promoted by the heat from

Then, after being guided to the discharge roller 3 and the blotter roller 4,
Unevaporated ink is adsorbed by the heater 6 and the heater 6
Since the evaporation from the second heater 7 is further promoted by the heat from
There is no occurrence of irregularities on the recording sheet 1.

Further, since the blotter roller 4 itself has the built-in heater 6, the blotting paper 5 is always kept in a dry state, becomes saturated by absorbing a large amount of ink, and the stain is retransferred to the recording sheet. This is no longer the case, and the life of the blotter replacement time can be extended.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus for carrying out the ink fixing method for ink jet recording of the present invention. In this embodiment, a heater 16 is provided in the vicinity of the discharge roller 3 instead of providing a heater on the blotter roller 14, and the other configuration is the same as the example of FIG. Reference numeral 15 denotes a sheet feeding roller. By providing the heater 16 in the vicinity of the discharge roller 3, preferably upstream of the discharge roller 3, the recording roller can be preheated and the recording sheet can be heated before being sandwiched between the discharge roller 3 and the blotter roller 14, Similarly, the evaporation can be promoted.

In the above embodiment, the second heater 7 is provided on the back side of the recording sheet 1 near the recording position. However, the disposing position is not limited to this, and the second heater 7 is moved to the recording position as long as the installation space permits. May be provided on the upstream side or the downstream side.
Further, the second heater is not necessarily provided, but even in the case where the second heater is provided, as described above, the amount of heat can be made low and the influence of the recording head can be suppressed as much as possible.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the ink fixing method for ink jet recording of the present invention, the undried ink discharged on the recording surface of the recording material is absorbed by the blotting material provided on the peripheral surface of the blotter roller, The undried ink that has been sucked off is dried by the heat of the heating element, so that the undried ink ejected onto the recording surface of the recording material is absorbed by the absorbing material without suddenly applying excessive heating at the recording position. The blotter roller dries the undried ink sucked by the blotting material and heats the recording material by the heat, so that the blotter roller is prevented from re-transferring the sucked undried ink to the recording material. Can maintain the ability to absorb undried ink.

Further, sudden expansion and contraction occurring between a recording portion on the recording material where ink is adhered and an unrecorded portion where ink is not adhered causes irregularities on the recording material, thereby deteriorating recording quality. Also, the function of the recording head does not decrease due to the influence of heat due to heating at a high temperature in the recording section.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus for carrying out the ink fixing method for ink jet recording of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a blotter roller according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... recording sheet, 2 ... sheet feed roller, 3 ... discharge roller, 4,14 ... blotter roller (discharge roller), 4A ... hollow shaft, 4B ... space, 5 ... blotting paper, 6 ... heater, 7 ... second heater, 8 ... recording head, 9 ... carriage, 12 ... drive motor.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An ink fixing method for ink jet recording in which ink is ejected from an ink jet recording head to a recording material disposed at a recording position to perform recording, wherein the recording material is sandwiched between a discharge roller and a recording medium. The blotting material provided on the peripheral surface of the blotter roller absorbs the undried ink discharged to the recording surface of the recording material discharged from the recording position, and the undried ink absorbed by the blotting material. A method of fixing ink for ink-jet recording, comprising drying the recording material with the heat of a heating element and heating the recording material with the heat. 2. The ink fixing method for ink-jet recording according to claim 1, wherein said heating element is provided inside said blotter roller to dry undried ink sucked by said absorbing material.