JP4947201B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus for irradiating ultraviolet rays to an ultraviolet curable ink attached on a recording medium, and more particularly, to an ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording medium without causing thermal damage to the recording medium. The present invention relates to an improvement for realizing a rapid curing process.

In recent years, ultraviolet curable inks have attracted attention as inks used in inkjet printers and the like.
UV curable ink differs from normal water-based ink or oil-based ink in that it adheres to a recording medium (for example, printing paper) and then quickly cures when irradiated with an appropriate amount of ultraviolet light to record ink permeability. A stable print quality can be maintained regardless of the physical properties of the medium.
In an ink jet printer using such an ultraviolet curable ink, ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the ink deposited on the recording medium around the recording head which ejects the ultraviolet curable ink as fine droplets of ink and adheres to the recording medium. It is necessary to equip with an ultraviolet irradiation device.

  Various conventional ultraviolet irradiation devices that employ ultraviolet lamps such as mercury lamps and metal halide lamps as light sources that emit ultraviolet rays have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, the light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp has a continuous spectrum over a wide wavelength range, and includes visible light and infrared light in addition to a plurality of ultraviolet lights with different wavelength ranges. There was a problem of causing heat damage to the recording medium.
If a band-pass filter is provided for removing harmful infrared light, there is a problem that the device configuration becomes complicated and the cost is increased.
Furthermore, the ultraviolet lamp has a problem that power consumption is large and it is difficult to save energy of the ultraviolet irradiation device.
Further, since the ultraviolet lamp itself is large, there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the size and weight of the device.

  Therefore, recently, with the development of semiconductor light emitting devices such as ultraviolet light emitting diodes (ultraviolet LEDs) that can emit only ultraviolet light in a specific wavelength range without including infrared light, and that consume less power. By adopting these semiconductor light-emitting elements as light sources, while eliminating thermal damage to the recording medium due to the inclusion of infrared light, research has been conducted on ultraviolet irradiation devices designed to save energy and reduce size and weight. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

JP 2004-1326 A JP 2003-326691 A

  However, the semiconductor light emitting element has a lower irradiation intensity of the emitted ultraviolet light than the ultraviolet lamp conventionally used as a light source, and therefore the ultraviolet curable ink deposited on the recording medium is completely cured. Up to now, it has been necessary to irradiate for a long time, and for example, there has been a problem that the improvement of the printing processing speed in an inkjet printer is hindered.

Further, the colored color ultraviolet curable ink contains color materials (pigments or dyes) of the respective colors. For example, white ultraviolet curable ink contains titanium dioxide as a white material. This titanium dioxide has a physical property of absorbing ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 to 375 nm.
Therefore, if the wavelength range of the ultraviolet light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element overlaps the absorption wavelength range of the color material such as titanium dioxide contained in the ink, the ultraviolet light irradiated by the semiconductor light emitting element is the color material such as titanium dioxide. Is consumed by absorption by the ink, and the effect on curing of the ink is halved. Further, irradiation for a long time is required.
Therefore, it is desirable to use a semiconductor light emitting device having a wavelength range different from the absorption wavelength of an ultraviolet absorbing material such as a colorant such as titanium dioxide as the light source, but in the case of a semiconductor light emitting device, the irradiable wavelength band is narrow. Since it is limited to the range, it has been difficult to secure sufficient ultraviolet irradiation intensity in a wavelength range that avoids the absorption wavelength of various ultraviolet absorbing materials.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and is an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus using a semiconductor light emitting element that does not cause thermal damage to a recording medium as a light source that emits ultraviolet light. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultraviolet irradiation device capable of quickly curing an ultraviolet curable ink adhered to a recording medium regardless of the ultraviolet absorbing action of an ultraviolet absorbing substance in the ink.

The above object is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) An ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating ultraviolet curable ink deposited on a recording medium with ultraviolet rays,
A plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements that emit ultraviolet light, and an element support means for supporting these semiconductor light emitting elements,
The element support means includes a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements arranged at positions where the optical axes of the respective elements are inclined with respect to each other so that the irradiation areas on the recording medium of ultraviolet rays emitted from the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements overlap. An ultraviolet irradiation device characterized by supporting the relationship.

(2) The ultraviolet irradiation apparatus according to (1), wherein a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements having overlapping irradiation regions on the recording medium have the same wavelength band of emitted ultraviolet rays.
(3) The ultraviolet irradiation apparatus according to (1), wherein the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements having overlapping irradiation areas on the recording medium are different in wavelength band of emitted ultraviolet light.
(4) In the element support means, the mounting surface of the plurality of semiconductor light-emitting elements that overlap the irradiation areas on the recording medium has a center of curvature near the irradiation area on the recording medium, and the transport direction of the recording medium The ultraviolet irradiation device according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the ultraviolet irradiation device is formed on a circular arc surface curved along the line.

(5) The ultraviolet rays according to (1) to (4) above, wherein the element supporting means for supporting the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements is provided in the vicinity of a recording head of an ink jet printer using ultraviolet curable ink. Irradiation device.
(6) The ultraviolet irradiation device according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the semiconductor light emitting element is an ultraviolet light emitting diode.
(7) The ultraviolet irradiation device according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the semiconductor light emitting element is a semiconductor laser.

In the ultraviolet irradiation device described in the above (1), since the wavelength range of the emitted light is narrow and a semiconductor light emitting element that does not contain infrared light in the emitted light is used as the light source that emits ultraviolet rays, It is not necessary to heat damage the recording medium during the irradiation.
In addition, a semiconductor light emitting element as a light source consumes less power and is smaller and lighter than a conventional ultraviolet lamp, so that energy saving can be achieved and the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight.

  Then, since the irradiation areas of the ultraviolet rays emitted from the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements overlap on the recording medium, the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements having the overlapping irradiation areas are emitted from each other as described in (2) above, for example. If the wavelength range of the ultraviolet rays to be used is the same, the amount of ultraviolet irradiation light (irradiation intensity) per unit area will be several times that of a single semiconductor light emitting device, and semiconductor light emission Even if the UV energy per element is small, strong UV energy can be applied to the surface of the UV curable ink adhering to the recording medium, and the UV curable ink adhering to the recording medium can be quickly removed. It can be cured.

  In addition, if a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements with overlapping irradiation areas are made different from each other in the wavelength range of the emitted ultraviolet light as described in (3) above, the single semiconductor light emitting element is irradiated with ultraviolet light. Compared with the case of performing UV irradiation, it is possible to irradiate ultraviolet rays in a wide wavelength region having a plurality of emission peaks. Therefore, even if ultraviolet rays in some wavelength regions are absorbed by the ultraviolet absorbing material in the ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording medium, ultraviolet rays in other wavelength regions are absorbed by the ultraviolet absorbing material. In this case, it is possible to contribute to the curing of the ink, and the ink adhered to the recording medium can be cured quickly regardless of the ultraviolet absorbing action of the ultraviolet absorbing substance in the ink.

  In the ultraviolet irradiation device described in (4) above, since the mounting surface of the element supporting means for mounting the semiconductor light emitting element is an arc surface, the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements are perpendicular to the mounting surface on the same circumference. If attached, the optical axis of these semiconductor light emitting elements faces the center of curvature of the circular arc surface, and a state where the irradiation areas overlap can be easily obtained.

Further, in the ultraviolet irradiation device described in (5) above, it is possible to reduce the time required for the ink to cure with respect to the ultraviolet curable ink deposited on the recording medium by the recording head of the ink jet printer, thereby performing a printing process. The speed can be improved.
In addition, as a semiconductor light emitting element in the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus as described in said (1)-(5), the ultraviolet light emitting diode shown in (6) and the semiconductor laser shown in (3) are useful.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing a main configuration of an embodiment of an inkjet printer equipped with an ultraviolet irradiation device according to the present invention. It is an expansion perspective view of the ultraviolet irradiation device shown in FIG. (A) is a side view showing the arrangement of a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements with overlapping irradiation areas in the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and (b) shows a form in the case of irradiating ultraviolet light with a single semiconductor light emitting element. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the ink jet printer illustrated in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a main configuration of an embodiment of an inkjet printer 20 equipped with an ultraviolet irradiation device according to the present invention.
The printer 20 includes a paper feed motor 30 that feeds a printing paper P as a recording medium in the sub-scanning direction SS, a platen 40, and a recording head that sprays and adheres the ultraviolet curable ink to the printing paper P with a fine particle size. As a print head 52, a carriage 50 on which the print head 52 is mounted, a carriage motor 60 for moving the carriage 50 in the main scanning direction MS, and a print paper P on which ultraviolet curable ink is adhered by the print head 52. And an ultraviolet irradiation device 90 for irradiating the ink adhering surface with ultraviolet rays.

The carriage 50 is pulled by a pulling belt 62 driven by a carriage motor 60 and moves along a guide rail 64. In addition to the print head 52, the carriage 50 has a black cartridge 54 as a black ink container that contains black ink supplied to the print head 52, and a color ink container that contains color ink supplied to the print head 52. The color ink cartridge 56 is mounted.
The ink stored in each cartridge 54, 56 is a so-called ultraviolet curable ink.

  A capping device 80 for sealing the nozzle surface of the print head 52 when stopped is provided at the home position of the carriage 50 (the position on the right side in FIG. 1). When the print job ends and the carriage 50 reaches above the capping device 80, the capping device 80 is automatically raised by a mechanism (not shown) to seal the nozzle surface of the print head 52. This capping prevents the ink in the nozzles from drying out. The positioning control of the carriage 50 is performed to accurately position the carriage 50 at the position of the capping device 80, for example.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ultraviolet irradiation device 90 includes a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 that emit ultraviolet light, and an element support means 91 that supports these semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97. And brackets 92 and 93 for fixing the element supporting means 91 to the housing of the printer 20, and an ultraviolet irradiation device driving circuit 160 (see FIG. 4) for controlling light emission and extinction of the respective semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96 and 97. ing.

The element support means 91 has a predetermined width dimension W (see FIG. 2) along the sub-scanning direction SS of the printing paper P in the printer 20, and a predetermined length dimension L (see FIG. 1) along the main scanning direction MS. A plate-like structural material having a reference). The length dimension L is set larger than the width dimension of the maximum paper handled in the printer 20.
This element support means 91 is fixed to the casing of the printer 20 by brackets 92 and 93 with the mounting surface 91a to which the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96 and 97 are attached facing the surface of the printing paper P.
In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the attachment surface 91a has a center of curvature O in the vicinity of the ultraviolet irradiation area on the printing paper P, and the conveyance direction of the printing paper P (that is, It is formed in a circular arc surface curved along the sub-scanning direction SS).
Further, the element support means 91 is installed at a position away from the print head 52 forward (sub-scanning direction SS) by a certain distance.
The brackets 92 and 93 are fixed to the housing of the printer 20 by screwing the end portions of the element support means 91 or by fitting the concave and convex portions.

In the case of the present embodiment, the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 are ultraviolet light emitting diodes having the same wavelength band of emitted ultraviolet light.
The ultraviolet light-emitting diodes used for these semiconductor light-emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 are preferably of a metal package in which a condensing lens is provided in the ultraviolet light emitting portion in order to prevent diffusion of the emitted ultraviolet light. LED such as model name: NSHU590B manufactured by AGC is suitable.
The wavelength range of the ultraviolet light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 is selected, for example, with a peak wavelength of 365 nm, 375 nm, or 400 nm in consideration of the curing characteristics of the ultraviolet curable ink. Can do. However, when selecting the semiconductor light emitting device, it is preferable to select a semiconductor light emitting device whose peak wavelength of ultraviolet light output from the semiconductor device does not coincide with the absorption wavelength of the ultraviolet absorbing material in the ultraviolet curable ink.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor light emitting elements 95 are arranged at regular intervals along the main scanning direction MS on the front side of the mounting surface 91a to form an element array. Further, the semiconductor light emitting elements 97 are arranged at regular intervals along the main scanning direction MS on the back side of the mounting surface 91a to form an element array. The semiconductor light emitting elements 96 are arranged at regular intervals along the main scanning direction MS between the element array of the semiconductor light emitting elements 95 and the element array of the semiconductor light emitting elements 97 to form an element array.

The semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 in each element row are aligned at the equipment positions along the main scanning direction MS. Accordingly, the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, the semiconductor light emitting elements 96, and the semiconductor light emitting elements 97 are arranged in a line in the sub-scanning direction SS.
As shown in FIG. 3A, each of the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 is attached to the element support means 91 so that the respective optical axes b1, b2, and b3 are orthogonal to the attachment surface 91a. It has been.
Accordingly, the three semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 arranged in the sub-scanning direction SS on the attachment surface 91a are arranged in a positional relationship in which the optical axes b1, b2, and b3 are inclined with respect to each other, and the respective optical axes b1. , B2 and b3 intersect at the center of curvature O of the attachment surface 91a, so that the irradiation areas on the printing paper P overlap each other.

The irradiation area of the three semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 arranged in the sub-scanning direction SS on the attachment surface 91a is the same size as the irradiation area of any one of the semiconductor light emitting elements. As shown in FIG.
However, since the adjacent circular irradiation areas are partially overlapped with each other in the main scanning direction MS, the irradiation area 98 is formed in a line along the main scanning direction MS as shown in FIG. Is a configuration in which irradiation areas 98a of basic irradiation intensity in which irradiation areas of semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 overlap and irradiation areas 98b of strong irradiation intensity formed by overlapping irradiation areas 98a are alternately arranged. Become.

Next, the electrical configuration of the printer 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the printer 20.
The printer 20 includes a main control circuit 102, a CPU 104, and various memories (ROM 110, RAM 112, EEPROM 114) connected to the main control circuit 102 and the CPU 104 via a bus.
The main control circuit 102 includes an interface circuit 120 that transmits and receives signals to and from an external device such as a personal computer, a paper feed motor drive circuit 130, a head drive circuit 140, a CR motor drive circuit 150, and ultraviolet irradiation. An ultraviolet irradiation device driving circuit 160 for controlling the operation of the device 90 is connected.

  The paper feed motor 30 is driven by the paper feed motor drive circuit 130 to rotate the paper feed roller 34, thereby moving the printing paper P in the sub-scanning direction. The paper feed motor 30 is provided with a rotary encoder 32, and an output signal of the rotary encoder 32 is input to the main control circuit 102.

  A print head 52 having a plurality of nozzles (not shown) is provided on the bottom surface of the carriage 50. Each nozzle is driven by a head drive circuit 140 and ejects ink droplets of ultraviolet curable ink supplied from the cartridges 54 and 56 toward a recording medium such as paper, cloth, or film.

  The carriage motor 60 is driven by a CR motor driving circuit 150. The printer 20 includes a linear encoder 70 for detecting the position and speed of the carriage 50 along the main scanning direction. The linear encoder 70 includes a linear code plate 72 provided parallel to the main scanning direction and a photo sensor 74 provided on the carriage 50. The output signal of the linear encoder 70 is input to the main control circuit 102.

The ultraviolet irradiation device drive circuit 160 controls light emission and extinction of each of the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 equipped based on a control signal sent from the main control circuit 102.
Specifically, when the printing head 52 is driven and printing is started, or when the printing operation is started, the adhesion surface of the ultraviolet curable ink on the printing paper P becomes an ultraviolet irradiation region by the ultraviolet irradiation device 90. When reaching, all the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, 97 mounted on the element supporting means 91 are made to emit light, and the adhesion surface of the ultraviolet curable ink on the printing paper P passes through the ultraviolet irradiation region by the ultraviolet irradiation device 90. The light emitting state of each semiconductor light emitting element 95, 96, 97 is maintained until the end.

  The main control circuit 102 has a function of supplying control signals to the four drive circuits 130, 140, 150, and 160, respectively, and decodes various print commands received by the interface circuit 120 and prints It also has a function of executing control related to data adjustment, monitoring of various sensors, and the like. On the other hand, the CPU 104 has various functions for assisting the main control circuit 102, and executes control of various memories, for example.

In the ultraviolet irradiation device 90 described above, semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 that have a narrow wavelength range of emitted light and do not include infrared light in the emitted light are used as a light source that emits ultraviolet rays. Therefore, there is no need to cause thermal damage to the printing paper P that is a recording medium when irradiated with ultraviolet rays.
In addition, the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 as light sources consume less power and are smaller and lighter than conventional ultraviolet lamps, so that energy can be saved and the apparatus can be reduced in size and weight. You can also.

  The plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 arranged in a line in the sub-scanning direction SS have a common wavelength range of emitted ultraviolet rays, and the emitted ultraviolet irradiation regions overlap on the printing paper P. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the amount of ultraviolet light irradiation (irradiation intensity) per unit area is a plurality of times as compared with the case where ultraviolet irradiation is performed with only a single semiconductor light emitting element 96, and each semiconductor light emitting element 95 , 96, 97 even if the ultraviolet energy per one is small, strong ultraviolet energy can be given to the adhesion surface of the ultraviolet curable ink on the printing paper P, and the ultraviolet light adhered to the printing paper P The curable ink can be quickly cured.

  Moreover, in the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus 90 of this Embodiment, since the attachment surface 91a of the element support means 91 which attaches the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, 97 is an arc surface, a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, 97 are mutually connected. Are mounted perpendicularly to the mounting surface 91a on the same circumference along the sub-scanning direction SS, the optical axes b1, b2, b3 of the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, 97 are directed toward the center of curvature O of the arc surface, and irradiation is performed. A state where the areas overlap can be easily obtained.

  In the printer 20 equipped with the ultraviolet irradiation device 90 in the vicinity of the print head 52, the time required for the ink to cure can be shortened, and the print processing speed can be improved.

Note that the number of semiconductor light emitting elements arranged so that the irradiation areas on the printing paper P overlap is not limited to that in the above embodiment.
Depending on the emission intensity of ultraviolet rays in the ultraviolet light emitting diodes used and the characteristics of the ultraviolet curable ink, the irradiation areas of the two ultraviolet light emitting diodes arranged along the sub scanning direction SS overlap, or the sub scanning direction It is also conceivable that the irradiation areas of the four ultraviolet light emitting diodes arranged along the SS overlap.

  Further, the semiconductor light-emitting element used as a light source that emits ultraviolet light is not limited to the ultraviolet light-emitting diode shown in the above embodiment. An element that emits laser light can also be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 whose irradiation areas overlap on the printing paper P are arranged in the same wavelength band.
However, it is also conceivable that the semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 whose irradiation areas overlap on the printing paper P have different wavelength bands of emitted ultraviolet rays.
In that case, it is possible to irradiate ultraviolet rays in a wide wavelength region having a plurality of emission peaks, as compared with the case of irradiating ultraviolet rays with a single semiconductor light emitting element. Therefore, even if ultraviolet rays in some wavelength regions are absorbed by the ultraviolet absorbing material in the ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording medium, ultraviolet rays in other wavelength regions are absorbed by the ultraviolet absorbing material. In this case, it is possible to contribute to the curing of the ink, and the ink adhered to the recording medium can be cured quickly regardless of the ultraviolet absorbing action of the ultraviolet absorbing substance in the ink.

  Further, when semiconductor light emitting elements 95, 96, and 97 whose irradiation areas overlap on the printing paper P have different wavelength bands of emitted ultraviolet rays, depending on the component composition of the ultraviolet curable ink to be used, etc. By selecting a semiconductor light emitting element that emits light, useless light emission can be omitted and energy saving can be achieved.

For example, an ultraviolet LED having a peak wavelength of output ultraviolet light of 365 nm is used for the semiconductor light emitting element 95, an ultraviolet LED having a peak wavelength of ultraviolet light output of 375 nm is used for the semiconductor light emitting element 96, and a semiconductor light emitting element 97 is used for the semiconductor light emitting element 97. When an ultraviolet LED with an output ultraviolet peak wavelength of 400 nm is used, each semiconductor light emitting element is controlled to be turned on and off by the ultraviolet irradiation device drive circuit 160 in units of the same wavelength in accordance with the component composition of the ultraviolet curable ink. The progress of curing of the ultraviolet curable ink was confirmed.
When the ultraviolet curable ink was a transparent ink, it could be cured without problems by emitting light from the element array of the semiconductor light emitting element 95 having a peak wavelength of 365 nm.
On the other hand, when the ultraviolet curable ink is a white water-based ink, since the absorption wavelength of titanium dioxide contained in the ink is 200 to 375 nm, by emitting light from the element array of the semiconductor light emitting element 97 having a peak wavelength of 400 nm, It could be cured without problems.

In addition, the apparatus equipped with the ultraviolet irradiation device of the present invention is not limited to an ink jet printer. It can be mounted on various devices for attaching ultraviolet curable ink.
Various materials such as paper, film, cloth, and thin metal plate can be considered as the material of the recording medium irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation apparatus of the present invention.

  In addition, the ultraviolet curable ink that can be cured by the ultraviolet irradiation device of the present invention is not particularly limited. For example, JP-A-3-216379, JP-A-5-186725, JP-B-5-54667. No. 6, JP-A-6-200204, JP-A-7-224241, JP-A-8-48922, JP-A-8-218016, JP-A-10-7956, JP-A-10-250052. JP-A-10-324836, JP-A-2000-44857, JP-A-2000-119574, JP-A-2000-158793, JP-A-2000-186242, JP-A-2000-186243, JP 2000-336295, JP 2000-504778, 2001-512 No. 77, JP-A No. 2001-220526, JP-A No. 2002-80767, JP-A No. 2003-191593, JP-A No. 2003-191594, JP-A No. 2003-31476, JP-A No. 2004-27154 And publicly known ones such as US Pat. No. 5,562,001.

  20: inkjet printer, 30: paper feed motor, 32: rotary encoder, 34: paper feed roller, 40: platen, 50: carriage, 52: print head (recording head), 54: black cartridge, 56: color ink cartridge, 60: Carriage motor, 62: Traction belt, 64: Guide rail, 70: Linear encoder, 72: Code plate, 74: Photo sensor, 80: Capping device, 90: Ultraviolet irradiation device, 91: Element support means, 91a: Mounting Surface, 92: bracket, 93: bracket, 95: semiconductor light emitting element, 96: semiconductor light emitting element, 97: semiconductor light emitting element, 102: main control circuit, 104: CPU, 110: ROM, 112: RAM, 114: EEPROM, 120: Interface circuit, 130: Paper feed mode Motor drive circuit, 140: a head drive circuit, 0.99: CR motor driving circuit, 160: ultraviolet irradiation device driving circuit, P: printing paper (recording medium), SS: sub-scanning direction, MS: main scanning direction.

Claims (3)

A printing apparatus comprising ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays to ultraviolet curable ink adhered on a recording medium,
The ultraviolet irradiation means includes
A plurality of semiconductor light-emitting elements including a plurality of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes equipped with a condensing lens in the ultraviolet light emission part so that diffusion of the emitted ultraviolet light is suppressed;
Element support means for supporting the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements ;
With
The element support means satisfies both of the following conditions (1) and (2):
A printing apparatus characterized by the above.
Condition (1): Irradiation areas of ultraviolet rays emitted from the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements overlap on the recording medium.
Condition (2): A cross section of the mounting surface of the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements is formed in an arcuate curved surface having a center of curvature in the vicinity of an irradiation area on the recording medium. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, the wavelength band of ultraviolet light emitted is equal to or is identical. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, the wavelength band of ultraviolet light emitted to said and Turkey different from each other.

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