JP3098644B2 - Ink jet printing method and ink jet printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method for performing recording by discharging ink onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a typical method of recording on a cloth or wallpaper, there is a screen printing method of directly printing on a cloth or the like using a silk screen plate. In this method, first, a silk-screen plate is created for the original image to be printed for each color used in the original image, and the silk-screen plate is attached to a screen printing apparatus, and the ink is passed through a mesh of the silk-screen plate to be printed. Is directly transferred onto a cloth or the like to perform recording.

[0003]

In the screen printing method described above, it takes a lot of man-hours and days to prepare a silk-screen printing plate in advance, as well as the preparation of ink of each color and the alignment of the silk-screen printing plate for each color. There is also a problem that such operations are required. Further, there is a problem that the device is large and large in size in proportion to the number of colors to be used, requiring an installation space, and also requires a storage space for a silk-screen version.

An object of the present invention is to provide a recording method which does not require the preparation of a screen plate or the preparation of ink for each color, and which can reduce the size of the apparatus.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The ink jet printing method of the present invention which solves the above-mentioned problems, comprises a fabric and a recording head.
Ink of the recording head while relatively scanning the
Said main scanning direction from the discharge port by applying a i ink to the fabric
Forming an image on the fabric and moving the fabric relative to the sub-scanning direction.
An ink-jet printing method for forming an image on a fabric while repeating the process of transporting the image,
Wherein the recording head by applying ink onto the cloth Hazuki
An image forming step of forming an image , and a drying step of drying ink applied on the cloth ,
The image forming operation needs to be temporarily stopped during
Without stopping image formation in the main scanning direction halfway.
Main scanning is performed until image formation is completed.
Without the image forming operation,
In order to keep the ink from evaporating in
Cover with a cap to temporarily suspend the image forming operation.
When the need to print is removed, the ink
After performing the operation of discharging the recording head,
Main scanning from the standby position to stop the image forming operation.
Based on the image data following the image data
Characterized by resuming the image forming operation. The present invention
Ink-jet printing equipment of
While the main scan is performed
From the main scanning direction by applying ink to the cloth.
Forming and transporting the fabric relatively in the sub-scanning direction
To form an image on the fabric while repeating the steps of
A jet printing apparatus, wherein the image printing apparatus
An ink is applied from the recording head onto the cloth to form an image.
Image forming means and ink applied on the cloth
Drying means for drying the image during the image formation.
When it is necessary to temporarily stop the image forming operation,
Image formation in the main scanning direction without stopping in the middle
Main scanning until the printing is completed, and thereafter, the recording head
In order to prevent the ink from evaporating at the standby position,
Cover the ink discharge port with a cap, and
When it is no longer necessary to pause,
Discharging ink from the ink discharge port according to a signal
After performing the operation, the recording head is moved from the standby position.
The main scanning is performed, and the image when the image forming operation is stopped is performed.
The image forming operation is performed based on the image data following the image data.
It is characterized by restarting.

[0006] In the present specification, the term "recording" includes the meaning of "textile printing", and means that an image is widely applied to a recording medium such as cloth or paper.

[0007]

Since the image is formed directly on the fabric using the ink jet recording, the screen plate required for the conventional screen printing is not required, and the process and the number of days until printing on the fabric can be greatly reduced. In addition, the size of the device can be reduced. As a matter of course, image information for printing can also be stored on a medium such as a tape, a flexible disk, or an optical disk, and therefore, the storability and storability of the image information are excellent. Further, processing such as color change, layout change, enlargement / reduction, and the like for the original image can be easily performed.

The ink jet recording method of the present invention further increases its effectiveness by using a recording device configured as a system. For example, an image reading device that reads an original image and converts it into an image signal is recorded. It is possible to connect to the device. Further, in the present invention, the recording apparatus can record various images on the cloth by exchanging image data by communicating with an external computer. The recording apparatus used in the ink jet recording method of the present invention can be provided with a transport unit that transports the recording medium to a position facing the recording head. In this case, in order to facilitate maintenance and the like, it is preferable that the recording head is provided so as to face the transport unit and to be separated from the transport unit. Furthermore, in order to cope with out-of-ink or interconnection of recording media,
It is preferable to further provide control means for temporarily stopping the image recording and restarting the image recording from the image data following the image data immediately before the temporary stop when the pause is released.

The recording head used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as recording is performed by flying fine ink. In particular, a thermal head for generating thermal energy for discharging ink is used. An excellent effect can be obtained by using the one provided with the energy converter. In this case, an electrothermal converter is used as the thermal energy converter, and the ink is directed toward the recording medium from the discharge port using the film boiling generated in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal converter. It is good to make it cause.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus used for carrying out the ink jet recording method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an image recording section 303 particularly preferable for the present invention. This ink jet recording apparatus is configured as a system, and is roughly divided into an image reading device 301 that reads an original image created by a designer or the like and converts the original image into original image data represented by an electric signal, and original image data from the image reading device 301. And an image recording unit 303 for recording on a recording medium such as a cloth based on the image data created by the image processing unit 302. In the image reading device 301, an original image is read by a CCD image sensor. In the image processing unit 302, based on the input original image data, the following four of magenta (abbreviation M), cyan (abbreviation C), yellow (abbreviation Y), and black (abbreviation Bk) are described.
Data is created to drive the ink jet recording unit A-2 (FIG. 2) that discharges the color ink. When creating the data, image processing for reproducing the original image with ink dots, color arrangement for determining the color tone, processing of the size of the pattern such as layout change, enlargement and reduction, and selection are performed. In the image recording unit 3, recording is performed by the inkjet recording unit A-2. The ink jet recording unit A-2 performs recording by causing minute ink droplets to fly toward a recording medium and attaching the ink droplets to the recording medium.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the printing unit 1 of the ink jet recording apparatus used in the present invention.

The ink jet printing section 1 is roughly divided into a frame 6, a pair of guide rails 7 and 8, an ink jet head 9 and its moving carriage 10, an ink supply device 11 and its moving carriage 12, and a head recovery device 13. And an electrical system 5. The ink-jet head 9 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a head) includes a plurality of nozzle arrays and a conversion device for converting an electric signal into ink ejection energy, and a nozzle according to an image signal sent from the image processing unit 302. A mechanism is provided for selectively discharging ink from the rows.

The head 9 is a recording head for discharging ink using thermal energy, and includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. Causing a state change in the ink from the applied heat energy,
A head that discharges ink from a discharge port based on the state change is preferably used.

The ink supply device 11 stores ink,
This is for supplying a required amount of ink to the head, and includes an ink tank and an ink pump (not shown). The main body and the head 9 are connected by a tube 4 for supplying ink, and normally the head 9 is automatically supplied to the head 9 by an amount discharged from the head by capillary action. In addition, at the time of a head recovery operation described later, ink is forcibly supplied to the head 9 using an ink pump.

The head 9 and the ink supply device 11 are mounted on a carriage 10 and a carriage 12, respectively, and are configured to reciprocate along guide rails 7 and 8 by a driving device (not shown).

The head recovery device 13 is provided at a position where the head 9 can be opposed to the head 9 at the home position (standby position) of the head 9 in order to maintain the ink ejection stability of the head. Specifically, the following operation is performed.

First, capping of the head 9 is performed at the home position in order to prevent evaporation of ink from the nozzles of the head 9 during non-operation (capping operation).
Alternatively, an operation of pressurizing an ink flow path in a head using an ink pump to forcibly discharge ink from a nozzle to discharge bubbles, dust, and the like in the nozzle before starting image recording (a pressure recovery operation) ) Or recovering the ink discharged when performing an operation of forcibly sucking and discharging the ink from the nozzles (a suction recovery operation).

The electrical system 5 includes a power supply unit and a control unit for performing sequence control of the entire ink jet recording unit.
Each time the head 9 moves in the main scanning direction along the guide rail and a predetermined length of recording is performed, the cloth 36 is conveyed by a conveying device (not shown) in the sub-scanning direction (the direction of arrow B) by a predetermined amount.
Image formation is performed. In the figure, a hatched portion 36 'indicates a portion where recording has been completed (recorded portion).

The configuration of the ink jet printing unit 1 has been described above.
As shown in FIG. 4, a frame 91 of the main body portion A, which will be described later,
92 are supported on rails (not shown),
By releasing the fixing means (not shown), the belt 3
7 can be moved in a direction away from it. For this reason, a work space is secured between the belt 37 of the main body A and the inkjet printing section 1, and the handling of the fabric 36 on the belt 37 can be easily performed when an abnormality occurs.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the cap position of the ink jet head 9 is located outside the frame 91, so that the operator can easily perform maintenance of the ink jet head 9 and replenish ink.

The ink jet head 9 includes:
It is possible to use an ink jet recording head for monochromatic recording, a plurality of recording heads for recording with inks of different colors for color recording, or a plurality of recording heads for recording with dark and light inks having the same color but different densities.

The recording means and the ink tank may be constituted by a cartridge type in which a recording head and an ink tank are integrated, or a recording head and an ink tank which are separated and connected by an ink supply tube. It can be applied regardless.

Further, by implementing the present invention in the recording apparatus of the following embodiment, a high quality image can be obtained even on a recording medium having extremely low water absorption.

Next, the image recording unit 303 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The image recording unit 303, that is, the recording device, is roughly divided into a feeding unit B that feeds a recording medium such as a roll-shaped cloth that has been subjected to a pretreatment for printing, and a line feeding unit that precisely feeds the sent cloth. And a winding unit C for drying and winding the printed fabric. And the main body A
Further comprises a precision feeding section A-1 for fabric containing a platen and an ink jet recording section A-2.

The operation of this apparatus will be described below by taking as an example a case where printing is performed using a pretreated fabric as a recording medium.

The pretreated roll-shaped cloth 36 is sent out from the feeding section B and sent to the main body section A. A thin endless belt 37, which is precisely step-driven, is wound around a driving roller 47 and a winding roller 49 in the main body portion A. The drive roller 47 is directly step-driven by a high-resolution stepping motor (not shown), and steps the belt 37 by the step amount. The sent fabric 36 is pressed by the pressing roller 40 against the surface of the belt 37 backed up by the winding roller 49,
Be stuck.

The fabric 36 that has been step-fed by the belt 37 is localized by the platen 32 on the back of the belt in the first printing section 31 and printed by the ink jet head 9 from the front side. Each time one row of printing is completed, the printing paper is stepped by a predetermined amount and then dried by heating from the back of the belt by the heating plate 34 and hot air from the surface supplied / discharged by the hot air duct 35. Subsequently, in the second printing section 31 ', the overprinting is performed in the same manner as in the first printing section 31.

The printed fabric 36 is peeled off, and the post-drying unit 46 similar to the above-described heating plate and hot air duct is used.
, And is guided again by the guide roll 41 and taken up by the take-up roll 48. Then, the wound fabric is removed from the present apparatus, and is subjected to a post-treatment process such as color development, washing, and drying in a batch process to become a product.

Next, details of the vicinity of the ink jet recording section A-2 will be described with reference to FIG.

In a preferred embodiment, the information is recorded by thinning out the number of dots by the head of the first printing section, and after the drying step, the information is thinned out by the head of the second printing section in the first printing section. Ink droplets are ejected to supplement information.

In FIG. 5, a cloth 36 as a recording medium is shown.
Is affixed to a belt so that it is stepped upward in the figure. The first print section 31 at the bottom of the figure has a first carriage 44 on which eight inkjet heads for spot colors S1 to S4 are mounted in addition to Y, M, C, and Bk. The ink jet head (recording head) in this example uses an element having an element for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling of the ink as energy used for discharging the ink.
An array of 128 ejection ports at a density of 0 dpi (dot / inch) is used.

Downstream of the first printing section 31, a drying section 45 comprising a heating plate 34 for heating from the back of the belt and a hot air duct 35 for drying from the front side is provided. The heat transfer surface of the heating plate 34 is pressed against a strongly-tensioned belt 37, and the belt 37 is strongly heated from the back by high-temperature and high-pressure steam passing through the hollow inside. The belt 37 directly and effectively heats the attached fabric 36 by heat conduction. Fins 34 'for collecting heat are provided on the inner side of the heating plate surface so that heat can be efficiently concentrated on the back surface of the belt. The side not in contact with the belt is covered with a heat insulating material 43 to prevent loss due to heat radiation.

On the front side, by blowing dry warm air from the supply duct 30 on the downstream side, air having a lower humidity is applied to the fabric 36 being dried to enhance the effect. The air that flows in the opposite direction to the transport direction of the fabric 36 and contains a sufficient amount of moisture is sucked from the suction duct 33 on the upstream side by a much larger amount than the amount of spraying, so that the evaporated moisture leaks and To prevent condensation on the mechanical equipment. The source of hot air is at the back of FIG.
The suction is performed from the near side, and the pressure difference between the outlet 38 and the suction port 39 facing the fabric 36 is made uniform over the entire area in the longitudinal direction. The air blast / suction unit is offset downstream with respect to the center of the backside heating plate so that the air hits the well heated area. As a result, the first printing unit 31 strongly dries a large amount of water in the ink including the thinning liquid received by the cloth 36.

Downstream (upper) of the second printing unit 3
1 ', and a second print section is formed by a second carriage 44' having the same configuration as that of the first carriage.

Next, the image reading device 301 will be described. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of the image reading device 301. The image reading device 301 is a kind of what is called an image scanner,
The original image is converted into an electric signal (original image data) by the D unit 18.
Is converted to

The CCD unit 18 includes a CCD 16, a CC
It is a unit composed of the lens 15 and the like that forms an image on the D16, and can freely move on the main direction rail 54. Pulley 5 is attached to one end of main direction rail 54.
1 and a main scanning motor 50 connected to the pulley 51 are attached. Another one at the other end of the main direction rail 54
A pulley 52 is provided, and is connected to the CCD unit 18 via the two pulleys 51 and 52.
3 are provided. The main scanning motor 50, the pulleys 51 and 52, and the wire 53 constitute a driving system in the main scanning direction. By driving the CCD unit 18 with the driving system, the CCD unit 18 is moved to an arbitrary position on the main direction rail 54. You can move to.

The two ends of the main direction rail 54 are provided at right angles to the main direction rail 54.
5, 69 are slidably attached. The two sub-direction rails 65, 69 are mutually parallel and the same length,
The area sandwiched between the sub-direction rails 65 and 69 becomes the reading area 77. Pulleys 76, 68 are provided at one end of each sub-direction rail 65, 69, and pulleys 67, 71 are provided at the other end of each sub-direction rail 65, 69, respectively. Then, for each sub-direction rail 65, 69,
Wires 66 and 70 are provided respectively to suspend pulleys 76, 67, 68 and 71 at both ends, and the wires 66 and 70 are connected to both ends of the main direction rail 54, respectively. The pulleys 76, 68 at one end of each of the sub-direction rails 65, 69 are both fixed to one shaft 72, and the pulleys 67, 7 at the other end.
1 are both fixed to the other shaft 73. These two
The shafts 72, 73 are mutually parallel and parallel to the main direction rail 54, and are each rotatable. A sub-scanning motor 60 is attached to one end of one shaft 72. The shafts 72 and 73, the sub-direction rails 65 and 67, the pulleys 76, 67, 68, and 71, and the sub-scanning motor 60 constitute a driving system in the sub-scanning direction. The rail 54 is a sub-direction rail 65, 69
Can be moved in the direction in which it extends.

An original table glass 17 is provided on almost the entire surface of the reading area 77.
It faces the CD unit 18. The end of the reading area 77 is a correction area 78.

With this configuration, the image reading apparatus 301 drives the main scanning motor 50 and the sub-scanning motor 60 to read the read area 7.
7, the CCD unit 18 can be moved to any position. In this case, the home position of the reading area 77 (the position to be the origin of the coordinates at the time of reading)
The home position sensors 56 and 58 are provided at the other end of the main direction rail 54 and at the other end of one sub-direction rail 65, respectively, in order to detect that the CCD unit has come. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the home position is provided corresponding to the correction area 78.

Next, an image reading operation of the image reading apparatus 301 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the original reading operation, first, the CCD unit 18 is moved to the home position HP in the correction area 78, and the reading operation of the entire original placed on the original table glass 17 is started from here.

Prior to scanning the original, the correction area 78
Data settings necessary for processing such as shading correction, black level correction, and color correction are performed. Thereafter, the main scanning motor 50 starts scanning in the main scanning direction (horizontal direction in the figure) of the CCD unit 18 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. When the reading operation of the first area shown in the drawing is completed, the main scanning motor 50 is rotated in the reverse direction, the sub-scanning motor 60 is driven, and the correction area 78 in the drawing area adjacent to the drawing area is moved in the sub-scanning direction. Make a move. continue,
As in the case of the area (2), processing such as shading correction, black level correction, and color correction is performed as necessary, and the original is read while the CCD unit 18 is moved in the main scanning direction.

By repeating the above scanning, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the reading operation of the entire area of the empty area is performed, and after the reading operation of the last area is completed, the CCD unit 18 is again operated. Return to home position HP. General manuscript size and CCD
In the present embodiment, in practice, a larger number of scans must be performed in view of the relationship with the width at which the unit 18 can be read at one time. However, in this description, the operation is simplified for easy understanding.

Assuming that the above-described reading operation is an equal-magnification reading operation, the area which can be read by the CCD unit 18 in one reading operation is actually larger than the area actually read as shown in FIG. Area. This is because the image reading device 301 has a built-in magnification / reduction scaling function. For example, assuming that the area that can be recorded by the inkjet head 9 is 256 dots at a time, when performing a 50% reduction operation, image information of an area of 512 dots, which is at least twice 256 dots, is required. Because. Therefore, the image reading device 301 has a function of reading and outputting image information of an arbitrary image area by one reading in the main scanning direction.

Next, the configuration of the image processing unit 302 will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Since the image processing unit 302 operates integrally with the respective control systems of the image reading device 301 and the image recording unit 303, the control system of the image reading device 301 and the image recording unit 303 will also be described here.

The image processing section 302 is provided with a control section 111 which is a control circuit for transmitting and receiving data to and from a host machine (not shown) such as a computer. And
The image reading device 301 and the image recording unit 303 also have control units 102 and 12 which are control circuits for performing respective controls.
1 is provided. These control units 102, 111, 1
Reference numeral 21 includes a microprocessor, a program ROM, a data memory, a communication circuit, and the like. Between the control unit 102 and the control unit 111, between the control unit 111 and the control unit 1
21 is connected by a communication line, and each of the control units 102 and 121 of the image reading device 301 and the image recording unit 303 operates in accordance with an instruction of the control unit 111 of the image processing unit 302. The slave control mode is adopted.

The image processing unit 301 includes an IEEE488 interface, so-called GPIB, in addition to the control unit 111.
An I / F control unit 112 which is a control circuit of a general-purpose parallel interface such as an interface; a multi-value synthesizing unit 106 which performs various kinds of processing relating to an image; an image processing unit 107 which will be described later; a head correcting unit 12 which performs density unevenness correction
3. Binarization processing unit 10 for performing binarization processing of image data
8. A buffer memory 110 for storing image data is provided, and an operation unit 20 is connected. This control unit 111
Operate according to instructions from the operation unit 20 and a computer (not shown). The operation unit 20 gives selection instructions such as designation of color and editing when reading a document, designation of operation, and the like. Also, an instruction for density unevenness correction at the time of image formation described later is performed. The control unit 111 includes an I / F control unit 112
The I / O function controls input / output of image data with external computers and remote control by external devices.
This can be performed via an interface connected to the / F control unit 112. Further, the control unit 111 includes a multi-value synthesizing unit 106, an image processing unit 107,
The head correction unit 123, the binarization processing unit 108, and the buffer memory 110 are controlled.

In the control system of the image reading device 301, in addition to the control unit 102, a mechanical driving unit 105 for controlling the driving of the mechanical part of the image reading device 301, and controlling the exposure of a lamp (not shown) when reading the original. Exposure control unit 10
3, an analog signal processing unit 100 connected to the CCD 16 for performing various processes relating to an image, and an input image processing unit 101 for processing an input image are provided.
The control unit 102 controls the mechanical drive unit 105, the exposure control units 103 and 104, the analog signal processing unit 100, and the input image processing unit 101.

The control system of the image recording unit 303 includes a control unit 1
21, a mechanical driving unit 122 that controls driving of a mechanical part of the image recording unit 303, and a recording head 11 for each color.
A head driver 116 for driving the recording heads 117 to 120, and a synchronous delay memory 115 for absorbing a time variation of the operation of the mechanical part of the image recording unit 303 and correcting a delay by a mechanical arrangement of the recording heads 117 to 120 are provided. . The synchronous delay memory 115 also includes a circuit for generating timing required for driving the recording heads 117 to 120. The control unit 121 controls the synchronization delay memory 115 and the mechanical drive unit 122.

Next, the flow of image processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the image reading device 301, a CCD
The image formed on the CCD 16 of the unit 18 (FIG. 6) is converted by the CCD 16 into an analog electric signal.
The converted analog electric signal (image information) is R (red)
The data is serially processed, such as → G (green) → B (blue), and input to the analog signal processing unit 100. The analog signal processing unit 100 performs processing such as sample and hold, dark level correction, and dynamic range control for each of R, G, and B colors, and then performs analog / digital conversion (A
/ D conversion), converts the digital image signal into a serial multivalued digital image signal (8 bits long for each color in this embodiment), and outputs the digital image signal to the input image processing unit 101. Input image processing unit 101
Then, a necessary correction process in a reading system such as CCD correction and γ correction is performed as a serial multi-valued digital image signal, and the result is output to the image processing unit 302 as original image data.

In the image processing unit 302, the multi-value synthesizing unit 106
, Selection between a serial multivalued digital image signal (original image data) sent from the image reading device 301 and a digital image signal sent from an external computer (not shown) via a parallel I / F, and A combining process is performed. The selected and synthesized image data is sent to the image processing means 107 as a serial multi-valued digital image signal. The image processing unit 107 includes a smoothing process,
This circuit performs edge processing, black extraction, masking processing for color correction of recording ink used in the recording heads 117 to 120, and the like. The serial multi-valued digital image signal is subjected to the above-described processing in the image processing unit 107. The output of the image processing unit 107 is input to the head correction unit 123 and the buffer memory 110, respectively. Although the head correction unit 123 will be described later, the output of the head correction unit 123 is input to the binarization processing unit 108.

The binarization processing unit 108 is a circuit for binarizing a serial multi-valued digital image signal, and can select a simple binary processing at a fixed slice level or a pseudo halftone processing by a dither method or the like. it can. The serial multi-valued digital image signal is converted into a four-color binary parallel image signal here and output to the image recording unit 303 as image data.

In the image recording unit 303, the image processing unit 302
Is input to the synchronous delay memory 115, and based on this signal, the head driver 116 drives each of the recording heads 117 to 120, and from each of the recording heads 117 to 120, Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks are ejected, and an image is printed on the fabric.

Next, an interface (I / F) with an external computer or the like will be described.

The multi-valued image data of the document read by the image reading device 301 is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 110. This image data is transmitted to the I / F control unit 11
2, the data is transferred to a computer (not shown) via a parallel interface such as GPIB while maintaining synchronization. The image data transferred to the computer is CR
Processing such as editing and color conversion is added using a T display or the like, and the image is stored as an image file on a flexible disk, fixed disk, optical disk, or the like. Of course, it goes without saying that only the storage may be performed without performing any special processing. The image reading device 3
Images such as computer graphics (CG) directly produced on a computer without using 01 can be handled in the same manner as images read by the image reading device 301.

The image data in the image file created and stored in this way is stored in the buffer memory 11 via a parallel interface such as GPIB in the same manner as described above.
0, and then from the buffer memory 110 to the image multi-level synthesizing unit 106, the image processing unit 107, and the head correcting unit 1.
23, sent to the head driver 116 through the binarization processing unit 108 and the synchronization delay memory 115, and as a result, the print heads 117 to 120 print the image data.

Next, details of the above-described head correction unit 123 will be described with reference to FIG.

The nozzles of the recording heads 117 to 120 provided in the image recording unit 303 are formed to be uniform. However, the nozzles may be slightly different from each other or may be affected by ink or the like attached near the nozzles. In some cases, the ink ejection direction of each nozzle may be shifted or the ejection amount may be slightly different. For this reason, even when image data of a fixed density is printed, streak-like unevenness may occur in the main scanning direction. In order to correct this and obtain printing at a certain density, the density of the image data corresponding to the nozzle part with low (or high) density is increased (decreased) according to the printing density, resulting in printing. Correction to make the density uniform is performed. The head correction unit 123 is a unit that performs such correction. Here, it is assumed that each of the recording heads 117 to 120 is provided with 256 nozzles.

In the head correction section 123, the selection RAM 26
0, characteristic information of density unevenness of 256 nozzles of each of the recording heads 117 to 120 corresponding to C, M, Y, and Bk (a plurality of correction data written in a correction RAM 262 described later). The CPU 258 writes the selection information for selecting which one of the corrections is to be performed. The selection RAM 260 has 10 corresponding to the number of nozzles.
Characteristic information for 24 (= 256 × 4) nozzles is written. The image input data VDin is serial multi-valued digital image data from the image processing unit 107. In this embodiment, the image input data VDin has an 8-bit width, and the color component image data (8 bits) for each pixel is Y, M , C, B
.., k, Y, M, C, Bk,... are sequentially input in the order of pixel points. Data is taken out from the selection RAM 260 by sequentially incrementing the address one by one in accordance with the order of the input image data. Also, the selection data is selected by the RAM 260
And a selector 259 for selecting either the lower 10 bits of the address of the 16-bit address bus output from the CPU 258 or the 10-bit output of the counter 250 is provided. ing. The counter 250 receives the hold signal HS and the clock CLK from the outside, counts the clock CLK, and outputs the data as 10-bit data. This 10-bit data, that is, the selection RAM
The data to be input as the address 260 is the above 10
It is used to specify a specific nozzle among the 24 nozzles. As described above, in the image input data VDin, since the color component image data for each pixel is input in the order of the pixel, the clock of the image input data VDin and the clock input to the counter 250 must be synchronized. Thus, the 10-bit width output of the counter 250 indicates which pixel the current image input data VDin corresponds to. When writing data to the selection RAM 260, the selector 259
8 is selected, and when reading data from the selection RAM 260, the output of the counter 250 is selected. In addition,
On the output side of the selection RAM 260, a flip-flop 252 for latching data is provided.

The correction RAM 262 is for writing a correction table from the CPU 258, and is connected to the data bus of the CPU 258 via the bidirectional buffer 254. Correction table is composed of data as shown by the solid line or dotted line L ₁ ~L ₅ in FIG. 10, for example. Here, as is represented by a solid line or a dotted line L ₁ ~L ₅ 5
A correction table consisting of different data is shown,
Actually, the number of correction data included in the correction table is larger than this. For example, if the output data from the selection RAM 260 is 8 bits, 256 kinds of correction data can be prepared. The selector 216 selects either a 16-bit address from the CPU or an 8-bit output from the flip-flop 252 and the image data input VDin, that is, a total of 16 bits, and inputs the selected 16 bits to the correction RAM 262. .

The correction data represented by the solid line or the dotted lines L _{1 to} L ₅ is selected according to the address input to the correction RAM 262. That is, the selector 261
When the side is selected, the 8-bit image data input VDin and the 8-bit data output from the selection RAM 260 are input to the correction RAM 262 as the address A. In this, the output data from the 8-bit selection RAM260 are used to select one of the solid or dotted lines L ₁ ~L ₅ above. In addition, among these solid lines or dotted lines L _{1 to} L ₅ , the solid line is for the same magnification, and the dotted line is L _{1 to} L _5.
This is data for zooming, and the range of nozzles used in the recording heads 117 to 120 differs between at the same magnification and at zooming. The CPU 258 stores correction data of either the dotted line or the solid line in the correction RAM 262.
Is written to. The correction table written in the correction RAM 262 outputs the correction data ΔA corresponding to the address input A. The correction data ΔA is temporarily latched by the flip-flop 254, and the image data is input by the adder 256. It is added to the input image data VDin, and output as corrected data, that is, image output data VDout via the flip-flop 257 for data latch.

That is, the selection RAM 26 is provided for each pixel.
The correction table is designated by 0, the value of the correction data corresponding to the image input data VDin is read from the correction RAM 262, and the read correction data is added to the adder 25.
In step 6, the image data is added to the image input data VDin and output as image output data VDout. Note that a flip-flop 255 for latching the image input data VDin input to the adder 256 is provided. Although FIG. 10 shows correction data represented by a straight line, the correction data may be represented by a curve instead of a straight line.

Next, a method of generating density unevenness characteristic information to be written into the selection RAM 260 will be described.

Operation unit 20 connected to image processing unit 302
When the execution of the density unevenness correction is instructed, C, M, Y, Bk
The characteristic information is generated in this order. First, as shown in FIG. 11, three lines (one line corresponds to the ink jet head 9) of a monochromatic stripe gradation pattern of C, M, Y, and Bk having an arbitrary density by a pattern generator (not shown). At a time).
Printing is performed by the image recording unit 303. The pattern generator is included in the multi-value synthesizing unit 106 shown in FIG. 8, and generates 8-bit data of a fixed value instead of the image data from the buffer memory 110 and the input image processing unit 101. The concentration data that can be generated is, for example, 33,
You can choose between 50 and 100%, but here 50%
You are using As a matter of course, at this time, the head correction unit 123 is set so that no correction is performed.
The printout is performed with the naked characteristics of the recording heads 117 to 120 as they are.

The density unevenness correction pattern thus output is set in the image reading device 301, the image reading area 312 of the correction pattern is read, and the density unevenness amount is determined for each nozzle of the recording heads 117 to 120. Then, the characteristic information is generated. The above operation is performed for all the recording heads 117 to 120 in the order of C, M, Y, and BK, and characteristic information is generated and written to the selection RAM 260. This completes the setting of the density unevenness correction data of the head correction unit 123. At the time of actual image output thereafter, the correction data is used to constantly perform correction of density unevenness in real time, and print is executed.

Next, the cloth 36 in the image recording unit 303
Will be described with reference to FIG.

As an initial setting operation for starting recording in the dispensing section C, first, the roll-shaped cloth 36 before recording is set.
Is set rotatably. And
As shown in FIG. 2, one end of the fabric 36 is suspended on a roller 41 via a belt 37 and wound around a core 99 rotatably supported by a winding section C. Here, from the recording portion, the lead 99
Since the portion of the cloth 36 wound around is wasteful because the recording is not performed, it is preferable to integrate a dedicated cloth for guiding the cloth 36 to be recorded by sewing or the like.

Subsequently, the pressing roller 40 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the belt 37 by the signal of the cloth setting start, and the drive motor 163 (FIG. 12) and the winding motor (not shown) start rotating. The fabric 36 is attached to the belt 37 while being transported. At this time, the winding speed of the core 99 is set so as to be higher than the amount by which the conveyor belt 37 feeds the fabric 36, but a torque limiter (not shown) is provided at a drive connection between the core 99 and the winding motor. ) Is provided, and a certain torque or more is not applied to the cloth 36, so that no load is applied to the cloth 36 at the recording position, and the recording quality is not affected. A brake means (not shown) is also provided on the winding core 93 of the feeding section B, and operates as a back tension when the fabric 36 is fed by the belt 37, so that the fabric 36 does not sag without causing slack. It is configured to be adhered on the belt 37. Thus, the initial setting of the fabric 36 is completed, and the recording operation can be performed.

Next, the operation of the ink jet printing unit 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

In response to a recording start signal, the ink jet printing unit 1 starts operating. First, a pressure recovery operation is performed with the inkjet head 9 capped. Next, the capping unit of the head recovery device 13 is separated from the inkjet head 9, and the inkjet head 9 is moved from the home position to the start position. After waiting at the start position,
The ink-jet head 9 and the ink supply device 11 reciprocate along the guide rails 7 and 8 in synchronization with the operation signal and the image signal sent from the image processing unit 302 (hereinafter referred to as main scanning movement or simply main scanning). ). At this time, ink is ejected from each of the recording heads 117 to 120 in the inkjet head 9 toward the cloth 36 held on the opposite side according to the image signal, and an image is formed on the cloth 36. When the inkjet head 9 makes one reciprocation on the guide rails 7 and 8, the fabric 36 is transported by the image width (the width in the transport direction of the fabric 36 that can be recorded by the inkjet head 9 at one time), and the next main scanning movement is performed. . After the above operation is repeated and the predetermined image recording is completed,
The ink jet head 9 moves to the home position and is capped by the head recovery device 13.

The above operation is repeated over the set length, and recording is performed on the roll-shaped cloth 36. The length of one roll-shaped fabric 36 is finite, but when the final end of the roll-shaped fabric 36 comes off the winding core 93, the tip of the next roll-shaped fabric 36 is removed. By suturing the part, continuous recording can be performed. At this time, a chromatic color thread is used for sewing, and a density detection sensor 98 is provided upstream of the pressing roller 40. When the density detection sensor 98 detects the sewn portion, the sewn portion is ejected by the inkjet. The above-mentioned one cycle (one of the inkjet heads 9)
The recording is temporarily stopped when the recording in the main scanning direction is completed. After this, cloth 3
The cloth 6 is fed by a predetermined amount until the sewn portion reaches a position immediately after the downstream side of the ink jet head 9, so that recording is started again. In this manner, the inkjet head 9 scans and records the sewn portion where the thickness is generally increased. At this time, the sewn portion rubs against the sewn portion, causing stains on the cloth 36 or the inkjet head 9. Is prevented from being damaged.

Next, in the image recording unit 303, the cloth 36
FIG. 1 shows the operation of the control system for controlling the transfer operation of
2 will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the ink jet printing unit 1 and the fabric transport unit 3 of the image recording unit 303.

The control section 160 is a control circuit for controlling the cloth transport section 3. The control unit 160 and the control unit 121 of the inkjet printing unit 1 are connected by a communication line. The control section 160 drives the drive motor 163 via the motor driver 162, and the drive motor 163 drives the belt 37 (FIG. 2). The transport system operation unit 161 connected to the control unit 160
The cloth transport unit 3 is operated from the outside, and the initial setting for starting the recording and the transport after the end of the recording are performed by instructions from the transport system operation unit 161.

The temporary stop switch 164 connected to the transport system operation unit 161 is a switch used to temporarily suspend the printing operation. When this switch is turned on, a signal is sent from the control unit 160 to the control unit 121. Can be When the control unit 121 detects this signal, it turns this switch OFF.
The printing operation is not performed until F is reached.
This temporary stop operation is performed when a recoverable abnormality, such as detection of no ink during printing or detection of a stitched portion where fabrics are joined, is detected. If the ink returns to a normal state by replenishing the ink if there is no ink, or if there is a sewn portion, transporting the fabric until the sewn portion is located immediately below the inkjet head, a pause switch 164 is provided. By returning to OFF, the printing operation is restarted. Similarly, the transport system operation unit 16
The emergency stop switch 165 connected to 1 is a switch used when it is desired to immediately stop the printing operation. When this switch is turned on, a signal is sent from the control unit 160 to the control unit 121. Upon detecting this signal, the control unit 121
The scanning of the inkjet head 9 (FIG. 2) is immediately stopped, and the printing operation ends. Here, the pause switch 1
Instead of providing the emergency stop switch 64 and the emergency stop switch 165, an abnormality detection signal such as out of ink may be directly transmitted to the control unit 121.

The conveyance of the fabric 36 during recording is performed in accordance with a signal from the control unit 121 of the ink jet printing unit 1. FIG. 13 shows a timing chart of communication related to transport between these two control units 121 and 160. The cloth transport instruction signal is a signal sent from the control unit 121 of the inkjet printing unit 1 to the control unit 160 of the fabric transport unit 3 and is normally LOW, and becomes HIGH when printing of one line by the inkjet head 9 is completed. become. Control unit 160 of cloth transport unit 3
When the cloth transfer instruction signal becomes HIGH, the transfer motor 163
Is driven to start transporting the fabric 36. The cloth transporting signal is a signal sent from the control unit 160 of the fabric transporting unit 3 to the control unit 121 of the ink jet printing unit 1 and is normally LOW, and becomes HIGH while the fabric 36 is being transported. When the control unit 121 of the ink jet printing unit 1 detects that the cloth conveyance signal has become HIGH, it determines that the cloth conveyance instruction signal has been received and sets the cloth conveyance instruction signal to LOW.

The cloth conveying signal does not become HIGH even after the cloth conveying instruction signal is set to HIGH and a certain time has elapsed, or
Once the HIGH signal has been sent during
When it does not become LOW, the control unit 1 of the image recording unit 303
The operation unit 21 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the cloth transport unit 3, interrupts the recording operation, and connects the operation unit 2 connected to the image processing unit 302.
Display an error at 0. As described above, by exchanging the cloth conveyance instruction signal and the cloth conveyance signal, the recording and printing by the ink jet head 9 and the conveyance of the cloth 36 are alternately performed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the image signal obtained by reading the original image by the image reading device 301 is processed by the image processing unit 302, and the image recording unit 303 is processed based on the processing result of the image processing unit 302. In the above, ink jet recording is performed on the cloth 36, and printing on the cloth 36 is performed.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment,
Overprinting is performed using the first and second printing units 31, 31 '. Here, the overlap printing operation will be described in detail. FIG. 6 is a view for explaining recording data recorded by sequential multi-scan for overprinting.

In FIG. 14, each rectangular area surrounded by a dotted line corresponds to one dot (pixel).
In the case of 0 dpi (dot / inch), each rectangle is about 6
It is 3.5 μm square and its area is about 4000 μm ² . A portion indicated by a black circle is a portion where a dot is formed, and a portion where no black circle is present indicates a portion where recording is not performed. The ink jet head 9 moves in the direction of arrow F in the figure, and ink is discharged from the ink discharge nozzle 9 ′ of the ink jet head 9 at a predetermined timing.
This sequential multi-scan is performed for each nozzle 9 '
This is performed in order to correct the variation in the size of the ink droplets to be ejected and the variation in the density between the nozzles caused by the variation in the ink ejection direction, and the same line (head moving direction) is recorded by a plurality of nozzles. By forming one line with a plurality of nozzles in this manner, the randomness of the nozzle characteristics of each ink jet head 9 is utilized,
Density unevenness is reduced. That is, in the case of sequential multi-scan by two scans, printing is performed using the upper half of the inkjet head 9 in the first scan, and printing is performed using the lower half nozzles of the inkjet head 9 in the second scan. .

FIGS. 15 and 16 show an example of recording by the sequential multi-scan.

When recording the data shown in FIG. 14, for example, first, as shown in FIG. 15, only the odd-numbered recording data of the data generated in the moving direction of the ink jet head 9 is Record with the upper half nozzle. Next, the ink jet head (carriage) is returned to the home position direction, and the fabric 36 is fed by half the width of the ink jet head 9, and as shown in FIG. Is recorded using the lower half nozzle of the inkjet head. Thus, the two scans shown in FIG.
Data as shown in FIG. 4 is recorded on the cloth 36.

FIG. 17 shows an example of printing by ordinary two-time multi-scan. Areas (lower 1) 701, (lower 2) printed by the inkjet head of the first print unit 31
702, (lower 3) 703, the second print unit 3
Areas printed by the inkjet head 1 ′ are indicated by (top 1) 704, (top 2) 705, and (top 3) 706.

The cloth feeding direction is as shown by the arrow in the figure, and the cloth 3
The single step feed amount of No. 6 corresponds to the recording width of the inkjet head. As is clear from FIG. 17 (a), all of the recorded areas are the upper half of the ink jet head of the second printing section 31 'and the first printing section 31.
Or the lower half of the inkjet head of the second print unit 31 ′ and the upper half of the inkjet head of the first print unit 31. Here, the data recorded by each of the ink jet heads is thinned out as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 described above, and as a result of being superimposed and recorded by these two ink jet heads, the data of FIG. The print density indicated by 707 is obtained.

Next, a specific example of ink-jet textile printing will be described. As described above, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment suitable for printing. As shown in FIG. 2, after passing through the ink-jet printing process, it is dried (including natural drying). Subsequently, a step of diffusing the dye on the fabric fiber and reacting and fixing the dye to the fiber is performed. By this step, it is possible to obtain sufficient color developability and fastness due to fixation of the dye.

This diffusion and reaction fixing step may be performed by a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method. In addition,
In this case, the fabric may be subjected to an alkali treatment before the printing step.

Thereafter, in the post-treatment step, the unreacted dye is removed and the substances used in the pre-treatment are removed. Finally, the record is completed through an orderly finishing process such as defect correction and ironing.

As recording media, cloth, wallpaper, paper, OH
P film and the like. In particular, the present invention is suitable for low-water-absorbing recording media such as cloth and wallpaper.

[0088] In the present invention, a fabric is a material,
Includes all woven, non-woven and other fabrics, regardless of weave or knit.

In the present invention, the wallpaper includes a wall sticking material made of paper, cloth, or a synthetic resin sheet such as polyvinyl chloride.

In particular, as a fabric for ink-jet printing, (1) the ink can be colored to a sufficient concentration;
(2) high ink dyeing rate; (3) quick drying of the ink on the fabric; (4) less occurrence of irregular ink bleeding on the fabric; And high performance such as excellent transportability. In order to satisfy these required performances, the cloth can be pre-treated beforehand as necessary. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-53492 discloses fabrics having an ink receiving layer, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-46589 proposes a fabric containing a reduction inhibitor or an alkali substance. . As an example of such a pretreatment, there can be mentioned a treatment in which a cloth contains a substance selected from an alkaline substance, a water-soluble polymer, a synthetic polymer, a water-soluble metal salt, urea and thiourea.

Examples of the alkaline substance include alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide;
Examples thereof include amines such as mono, di, and triethanolamine, and alkali metal salts of carbonic acid or bicarbonate such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, and sodium hydrogencarbonate. Further, there are organic acid metal salts such as calcium acetate and barium acetate, ammonia and ammonia compounds. Further, sodium trichloroacetate which becomes an alkaline substance under steaming and dry heat may be used. Particularly preferred alkaline substances include sodium carbonate and sodium hydrogen carbonate used for dyeing reactive dyes.

Examples of the water-soluble polymer include starch substances such as corn and wheat; cellulosic substances such as carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose and hydroxyethylcellulose; sodium alginate;
Locust bean gum, tragacanth gum, guar gum,
Examples include polysaccharides such as tamarind seeds, protein substances such as gelatin and casein, and natural water-soluble polymers such as tannin substances and lignin substances.

Examples of the synthetic polymer include a polyvinyl alcohol-based compound, a polyethylene oxide-based compound, an acrylic acid-based water-soluble polymer, and a maleic anhydride-based water-soluble polymer. Among them, polysaccharide polymers and cellulose polymers are preferable.

Examples of the water-soluble metal salt include compounds which form typical ionic crystals and have a pH of 4 to 10, such as alkali metal and alkaline earth metal halides. Representative examples of such compounds include, for example, NaCl, Na ₂ S
O ₄ , KCl and CH ₃ COONa;
Examples of the alkaline earth metal include CaCl ₂ and MgCl ₂ . Among them, salts of Na, K and Ca are preferred.

The method of incorporating the above substances and the like into the fabric in the pretreatment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a commonly used dipping method, pad method, coating method, spray method and the like.

Further, since the printing ink applied to the fabric for ink-jet printing simply adheres to the fabric when applied to the fabric, a process of fixing and fixing the dye to the fiber (dyeing process) is performed continuously. Is preferred. Such a reaction fixing step may be carried out by a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method, an HT steaming method, a thermofix method, or an alkaline pad steam method or an alkaline blotch steam method when a cloth which has been previously alkali-treated is not used. ,
Examples include an alkali shock method and an alkali cold fix method.

Further, the removal of unreacted dye and the substance used in the pretreatment can be carried out by washing after the above-mentioned reaction fixing step according to a conventionally known method. In addition, it is preferable to use the conventional fix treatment in combination with the washing.

The recorded material subjected to the post-processing described above is cut into a desired size, and the cut pieces are subjected to a process for obtaining a final processed product such as sewing, bonding, welding, or the like. To obtain clothes such as dresses, dresses, ties, swimwear, duvet covers, sofa covers, handkerchiefs, curtains and the like. Many methods for processing cloth by sewing or the like to produce clothing and other daily necessities are described in a number of well-known books, such as “Latest Knit Sewing Manual”: Published by Seny Journal, and monthly magazine “Soen”: Published by Bunka Publishing Bureau. Have been.

The present invention provides an excellent effect particularly in an ink jet recording head and a recording apparatus in which a flying liquid droplet is formed by utilizing thermal energy and recording is performed among the ink jet recording methods.

The typical configuration and principle are described, for example, in US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which This is effective because heat energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, and as a result, air bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding one-to-one to this drive signal can be formed. It is. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. Further, if the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, The present invention also includes a configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, or absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge unit.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. The present invention can exhibit the above-mentioned effects more effectively, though it may be either a configuration that satisfies the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head that is formed integrally.

In addition, the print head is replaceable with a print head of a replaceable chip type, which can be electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus or supplied with ink from the main body of the apparatus, or is integrated with the print head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the recording apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means for the printhead, preheating means using an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection other than recording Is also effective for performing stable recording.

Further, the printing mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to the printing mode of only the mainstream color such as black, and the printing head may be formed integrally or by combining a plurality of printing heads. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or below and which softens at room temperature, or which is liquid, In general, in the ink jet method, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. What is necessary is just to be liquid.

In addition, the temperature rise due to the heat energy is positively prevented by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in a standing state for the purpose of preventing the evaporation of the ink. Either ink may be used, or in any case, the ink may be liquefied by application of heat energy according to the recording signal and ejected as a liquid ink, or may already start to solidify when reaching the recording medium. The use of an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time by thermal energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5684.
No. 7 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-71260, in which the porous sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter while being held in a liquid or solid state in the concave portions or through holes of the porous sheet. It may be. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition to the above, the recording apparatus according to the present invention may be provided as a single or separate image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a word processor or a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader, etc. May take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0111]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects by directly forming an image on a recording medium using ink jet recording.

(1) Since a printing plate such as a silk screen printing plate is not required, the process from the original image to the recording
Man-hours can be greatly reduced, and it is possible to cope with small-lot production without the need to mix many colors of ink corresponding to images.
Storage of recorded information is easy, the device is small and the installation space is small, and processing such as layout change, color change, enlargement, and reduction of the original image is easy.

(2) Since the ink jet recording is used, the expressiveness of the image is increased, the definition is high, and the color reproducibility is excellent.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image recording unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating details of a configuration of an inkjet printing unit.

FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating a positional relationship between an inkjet printing unit and a main unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration near an inkjet recording unit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of an image reading device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an image reading operation in the image reading device.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a head correction unit.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a correction table used for head correction.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of correcting density unevenness.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an ink jet recording unit and a fabric transport unit.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing a mutual relationship between signals in a control unit.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating recording by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating recording by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating recording by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a recording example by sequential multi-scan.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink-jet printing part 3 Fabric conveyance part 4 Tube 5 Electrical system 9 Ink-jet head 11 Ink supply device 13 Head recovery device 15 Lens 16 CCD 17 Platen glass 18 CCD unit 20 Operation part 30 Supply duct 31 First printing part 31 'Second Printing unit 33 Suction duct 34 Heating plate 35 Hot air duct 36 Fabric 37 Belt 38 Blow-out port 39 Suction port 40 Press roller 44 First carriage 44 'Second carriage 45 Drying unit 47 Driving roller 49 Winding roller 50 Main scanning motor 54 Main Direction rail 60 Sub-scanning motor 65,69 Sub-direction rail 98 Density detection sensor 100 Analog signal processing unit 101 Input image processing unit 102,111,121 Control unit 103,104 Exposure control unit 105,122 Mechanical drive unit 106 Multi-value Component 107 Image processing means 108 Binarization processing unit 110 Buffer memory 112 I / F control unit 115 Synchronous delay memory 116 Head drivers 117 to 120 Recording head 123 Head correction unit 160 Control unit 161 Transport operation unit 162 Motor driver 163 Drive Motor 164 Pause switch 165 Emergency stop switch 258 CPU 259 Selector 260 Selection RAM 262 Correction RAM 263 Bidirectional buffer 301 Image reading device 302 Image processing unit 303 Image recording unit 312 Image reading area A Main unit A-1 Precision feed unit A -2 Inkjet recording unit B Dispensing unit C Winding unit

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Takanaka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yutaka Udagawa 3-30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Eiichi Takagi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hideyuki Tanaami 3-30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshio Komaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masahiro Nishio 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Kubo Inventor Yoshiki Ki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Akio Suzuki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yasushi Yasushi Tokyo 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Takada Yoshihiro 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Nobuhiko Ogata 3-30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-2-2 220883 (JP, A) Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-57750 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/01 D06P 5/00 111

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A main scanning means for relatively scanning a cloth and a recording head;
Step of forming an image in the main scanning direction while the ink discharge ports of the recording head by applying the Lee <br/> ink to the fabric
And the step of relatively transporting the fabric in the sub-scanning direction.
Repeat with an inkjet printing method for forming an image on the cloth, an image forming step of forming an image by applying ink onto the cloth from said recording head based on the image data, the ink applied onto the cloth And a drying step of drying , wherein the image forming operation needs to be temporarily stopped during the image forming.
Stops, the image formation in the main scanning direction is stopped halfway
The main scanning is performed until the image formation is completed without performing
Thereafter, without performing the subsequent image forming operation,
To prevent the ink from evaporating at the standby position,
The need to temporarily cover the image forming operation by covering the discharge port with a cap has been lifted.
The ink discharging operation from the ink discharge port.
After that, the print head is moved from the standby position to the main scan.
Image data when the image forming operation is stopped.
An ink-jet printing method, wherein an image forming operation is restarted based on image data following the data . Wherein said recording head, ink-jet printing process according to claim 1 Symbol mounting, characterized in that by utilizing the thermal energy which is Louis inkjet head for discharging ink from ink discharge ports. 3. The main scanning relative to the cloth and the recording head is performed.
While the ink is ejected from the ink ejection port of the recording head to the cloth.
Forming an image in the main scanning direction by applying ink
And the step of relatively transporting the fabric in the sub-scanning direction.
Ink-jet printing that forms an image on the fabric while repeating
A dyeing device, wherein the recording head prints the image on the cloth based on the image data.
Image forming means for applying an ink to form an image, and drying means for drying the ink applied on the cloth
When, having a need to temporarily stop the image forming operation in the image forming
Stops, the image formation in the main scanning direction is stopped halfway
The main scanning is performed until the image formation is completed without performing
After that, the ink is evaporated at the standby position of the recording head.
The need to temporarily stop the image forming operation by covering the ink ejection port with a cap in order to prevent the
When the ink is discharged from the ink ejection port in accordance with the image formation start signal.
After performing an operation of discharging ink, the recording head
From the standby position to stop the image forming operation.
Based on the image data following the image data
Characterized in that the image forming operation is resumed.
Jet printing equipment. 4. The recording head utilizes heat energy.
Inkjet that ejects ink from the ink ejection port
4. The ink jet printer according to claim 3, wherein the ink jet head is a head.
Printing method.