JP5257724B2 - Recorder lyophilic treatment device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a printer. More specifically, the recording surface of the recording medium is made lyophilic before image formation, and then residual liquid is removed. The present invention relates to a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus.

  The recording material used in the present invention is a recording material described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-178478 (recording method), and is used in an image forming apparatus to capture an image by utilizing a change in wettability. To form. As a recording method suitable when this recording medium is used as a printing plate, the entire surface of the recording body is brought into contact with a liquid in a heated state in advance, and the liquid is removed after cooling to make the entire surface of the recording body lyophilic. When recording an image, a recording method in which a non-image portion is changed to liquid repellency by heating in accordance with image data in the atmosphere, and a portion where liquid ink adheres to a recording surface and a portion to be repelled are formed. The applicant has proposed. In this recording method, it is important how efficiently the lyophilic process is performed on the entire surface of the recording body in order to make the recording body writeable. Therefore, the present applicant has proposed a lyophilic processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-276663 as an invention relating to the lyophilic processing apparatus for the recording material.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-276663, a lyophilic method according to the characteristics of a recording medium is described in detail, but a method for removing a liquid used during lyophilic processing is not described in detail. Since the entire surface of the recording medium is in a lyophilic state after the lyophilic treatment, the residual liquid such as the lyophilic processing liquid used for the lyophilic processing or the cleaning liquid that has washed the recording medium after the lyophilic treatment is recorded on the recording surface Adhering to For example, when this recording medium is used as a printing plate, the recording body needs to be wound into a roll after the lyophilic treatment. As a result, the residual liquid comes into contact with the recording medium, and the performance of the recording surface may be deteriorated. For this reason, it is necessary to remove the residual liquid before winding the recording body into a roll after the lyophilic treatment. However, the prior art does not provide a detailed solution to this problem.

Problems to be solved by the invention

[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the lyophilic treatment of the recording material as described above, the surface of the recording material in a water-repellent state (initial state) is continuously and surely made lyophilic, and then applied to the recording surface of the recording material . It has been made for the purpose of providing the adhered liquid to that Symbol Rokutai lyophilic processing device removed.

Means for solving the problem

[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a process for reducing a receding contact angle with respect to a liquid on a recording body in which a resin mixed layer containing 50% of a fluorinated acrylate copolymer is formed as a recording layer. In the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus, a new liquid processing means for bringing the recording body into contact with the polyethylene glycol of the lyophilic processing liquid heated to 90 ° C., and a recording body provided with the polyethylene glycol on the surface thereof are placed at 20 ° C. Cleaning means for cleaning with water, and after the cleaning, a chemically inert nitrogen gas is sprayed onto the recording surface of the recording body in a non-contact state to remove the polyethylene glycol and the water. It is characterized by having . Therefore, power consumption can be reduced and drying can be performed in a short time, production cost can be reduced, and productivity can be improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the examples of FIGS.

Figure 1 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention. The recording body 10 has a roll shape, is supplied from the recording body supply roll 11, and passes through a path as indicated by an arrow, that is, a heated lyophilic treatment liquid in the thermostat 20, a cleaning liquid in the cleaning water tank 30. Then, the sheet is wound around the recording body winding roll 12 through a removing blade 1 which is a recording surface residual liquid removing means. The constant temperature bath 20 shown in FIG. 1 is filled with a lyophilic treatment liquid heated to a lyophilic heating critical temperature or higher by a heating device (not shown), and the recording medium 10 passes through the lyophilic treatment liquid. Lyophilic treatment. At this time, the lyophilic liquid in the thermostat 20 may be any liquid as long as it does not boil at the lyophilic heating critical temperature and does not destroy or alter the surface of the recording medium 10. Examples of the liquid include water, glycerin, polyethylene glycol, and the like. As the nonpolar liquid, an n-alkane having 8 or more carbon atoms is suitable.

  There is a possibility that the lyophilic treatment liquid used for the lyophilic treatment may remain on the surface of the recording medium 10 subjected to the lyophilic treatment in the thermostatic bath 20, and when the lyophilic treatment liquid is other than water, it is used for cleaning. In the liquid tank 30, for example, it is washed away with a liquid such as water. The cleaning liquid tank 30 is filled with a cleaning liquid having a liquid temperature equal to or lower than the liquid repellent heating critical temperature, and the recording body 10 is cooled simultaneously with the cleaning. Since the surface of the recording medium 10 taken out from the cleaning liquid tank 30 is in a lyophilic state, there is a high possibility that the cleaning liquid used for cleaning remains. When the cleaning liquid is water, it can be removed by natural drying as it is, but if the residual amount is large, the drying time becomes longer and the lyophilic processing efficiency of the entire apparatus is lowered. Therefore, by providing the recording surface residual liquid removing means, the drying time can be shortened by completely drying on the spot or by reducing the residual amount. In FIG. 1, a removal blade 1 is shown as recording surface residual liquid removal means. As a result, the cleaning liquid does not remain when the recording body is wound, and the image quality is not deteriorated due to the surface contamination of the recording body 10.

  The material of the removal blade 1 shown in FIG. 1 is not only a metal material such as aluminum or stainless steel, but also a resin material such as acrylic or Teflon (registered trademark) or the like unless the surface of the recording body 10 is altered or destroyed. Any composite material may be used.

Figure 2 is a schematic view showing principal part showing another embodiment of the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, portions the same action as in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same numbers as Figure 1 It is. In FIG. 2, the cleaning means provided in the recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is not provided. Depending on the type of lyophilic liquid (for example, water or tridecane), cleaning of the lyophilic liquid after lyophilic treatment is not always necessary. This is because any configuration that is removed by 1 is sufficient.

Figure 3 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 1, the same numbers as in FIG. 1 It is attached. In FIG. 3, an elastic porous body (foam material) 2 is provided as a recording surface residual liquid removing means. The recording surface residual liquid removing means is not limited to this, and any means may be used as long as the recording surface of the recording body does not deteriorate or break down and has a property of swelling with respect to the residual liquid. For example, a member that traps a liquid in a resin matrix, such as a member in which fibers are entangled like a nonwoven fabric, or a water-absorbing resin or an oil-absorbing resin may be used. In addition, as the elastic porous body (foam material) 2, a resin foam material, for example, a urethane foam material, a polyvinyl alcohol foam material, a melamine resin foam material, or the like is suitable. As the nonwoven fabric, a member obtained by solidifying polyester or acrylic fibers is suitable. As the water absorbent resin, a polyacrylic acid crosslinking type or a polyvinyl alcohol crosslinking type is suitable. In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the foam material 2 shown in FIG. 3 to the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  When the recording surface residual liquid removing means is made of a hard material, the recording surface of the recording body has a pencil hardness of H or less, and therefore, when the residual liquid is removed, the recording surface of the recording body is destroyed by rubbing. there is a possibility. On the other hand, a material that swells with respect to a liquid such as an elastic foam material or a nonwoven fabric shown in FIG. 3 is generally a soft material, and a nip is generated by a weak contact pressure. Can be prevented.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a main part for explaining an embodiment of the recording liquid lyophilic apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. It is attached. In FIG. 4, a foam material roller 3 is provided as recording surface residual liquid removing means. The means for removing the residual liquid is not limited to this, and any roller-like member may be used as long as the recording surface of the recording medium is not deteriorated or destroyed and has a property of swelling with respect to the residual liquid. . It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the foam material roller 3 shown in FIG. 4 is applied to a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus provided with no cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  Each of the recording surface residual liquid removing means shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is configured to slide with the recording surface of the recording body, and therefore the possibility that the recording surface of the recording body is destroyed by the influence of friction is denied. Can not. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the recording surface residual liquid removing means is a foam material (foam material roller) 3 having a property of swelling with respect to the roller-like residual liquid, thereby reducing friction with the recording surface of the recording medium. In addition, it is possible to suppress image deterioration due to destruction of the recording surface of the recording medium. In this case, it is desirable that the foam material roller 3 is rotated in the same direction as the movement of the recording body 10, and further it is desirable that there is no difference in the peripheral speed between the recording material 10 and the foam material roller 3.

  The roller diameter is preferably determined according to the moving speed of the recording medium, but is preferably about φ50 mm to 100 mm if the speed is in the range of 0.5 m / min to 2 m / min. Further, the thickness of the member having the property of swelling with respect to the residual liquid on the roller increases the residual liquid removing ability. However, in order to incorporate the apparatus without increasing the size, the thickness is preferably about 5 mm to 30 mm. . As the material of the roller member, a polyurethane foam material, a polyvinyl alcohol foam material, a melamine resin foam material or a polyacrylic foam material is suitable. The number of rollers is not limited to one, and a plurality of rollers may be provided in the moving direction of the recording medium.

Figure 5 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 1, the same numbers as in FIG. 1 It is attached. As the residual liquid removing means, the foam material 2 shown in FIG. 3 is provided. Further, in FIG. 5, a suction pump 4 that sucks and removes the liquid accumulated in the foam material 2 is provided. In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the foam material 2 and the suction pump 4 shown in FIG. 5 to the recording material lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  The residual liquid removing means shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 has a residual liquid removing capability in the initial stage. However, as the residual liquid removal is continuously repeated, the residual liquid removing means is filled with the residual liquid and its capability is lowered. There is a fear. In that case, the residual liquid remains on the recording surface of the recording medium, causing a reduction in image quality. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, by providing means (suction pump) 4 for removing the residual liquid accumulated in the foam material 2 as the residual liquid removing means, the residual liquid removing ability can be continuously maintained. it can.

  As a means for removing the residual liquid from the residual liquid removing means, the foam material 2 may be squeezed by means such as a pressure blade in addition to removal by the suction pump 4 as shown in FIG. The removal timing may be always, or may be appropriately performed while monitoring the residual liquid content in the residual liquid removing means (for example, measuring the electric resistance value).

Figure 6 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 1, the same numbers as in FIG. 1 It is attached. In FIG. 6, a urethane roller 5 is provided as a residual liquid removing means. Urethane rubber does not swell to any of the liquids used during lyophilic treatment and cleaning. Note that the urethane roller 5 shown in FIG. 6 may be applied to a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus provided with no cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, since the roller member forming the urethane roller 5 is a soft member having a hardness of 10 ° to 30 °, the nip width can be increased with a weak contact pressure, so there is no possibility of destroying the recording surface of the recording medium. Further, the urethane roller 5 is formed of a member that does not swell, and the rotation direction of the urethane roller 5 is opposite to the moving direction of the recording body 10, thereby increasing the removal efficiency of the liquid remaining on the recording surface. be able to. In FIG. 6, since the residual liquid is removed only by the pressure between the recording medium 10 and the urethane roller 5, no means for further removing the residual liquid from the residual liquid removing means as shown in FIG. 5 is required. Therefore, the residual liquid removal performance can be maintained while the configuration is simpler.

  As the roller member, any member having rubber hardness as described above is suitable. However, when the lyophilic treatment liquid or the cleaning liquid is water, in addition to urethane, chloroprene, NBR (nitrile rubber), Natural rubber, butyl rubber, EPDM (ethylene propylene diene terpolymer) rubber, fluoro rubber, etc. are suitable. When the lyophilic treatment liquid or cleaning liquid is n-alkane, fluororubber or urethane rubber excellent in oil resistance is suitable. Also, the roller diameter is desirably determined according to the moving speed of the recording medium, as in FIG. 4, and is generally about φ50 mm to 100 mm if the speed is in the range of 0.5 m / min to 2 m / min. The thickness of the member that does not swell with respect to the liquid on the roller is not limited as long as the elasticity is in an effective range, but is preferably about 5 to 30 mm. The number of rollers is not limited to one, and a plurality of rollers may be provided in the moving direction of the recording medium.

Figure 7 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 7 (A) is an air nozzle for injecting the pressurized gas as a residual liquid removal device FIG. 7B is a view of the recording member take-up roll unit and the air nozzle of FIG. 7A as viewed from above, and the same operation as in FIG. 1 is performed. The parts are given the same numbers as in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the air nozzles 6 are arranged at equal intervals in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the recording medium. The number of air nozzles 6 is appropriately determined according to the width of the recording medium 10 and the gas pressure. For example, when the width of the recording medium 10 is 30 cm and the pressure is 29.4 N / cm ² (3 kg / cm ² ). With the nozzle interval of 2 cm and the number of nozzles of 15, the liquid remaining on the recording surface of the recording medium can be removed.
In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the air nozzle 6 shown in FIG. 7 to the recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  1 to 6 is configured to come into contact with the recording surface of the recording body in any case, the possibility of destruction of the recording surface of the recording body due to friction is completely eliminated. It cannot be removed. On the other hand, since the residual liquid removing means in FIG. 7 is not in contact with the recording surface of the recording body, this does not cause the recording surface of the recording body to be destroyed.

  Here, the gas may be any gas that is chemically inert to the recording material, and normal air, nitrogen gas, argon gas, or the like is suitable. In addition, when using normal air | atmosphere, in order to avoid the influence on the recording body of the water | moisture content in air | atmosphere, it is desirable that it is the gas which passed the moisture removal filter. Further, the air nozzle array does not need to be one row, and a plurality of rows may be provided according to the moving speed of the recording medium.

Figure 8 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 6, the same numbers as in FIG. 6 It is attached. In FIG. 8, non-recording surface residual liquid removing means (here, the foam material 2 shown in FIG. 3) is provided not only on the recording surface of the recording medium but also on the back surface (opposite surface) with respect to the recording surface. Yes. In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the foam material 2 and the urethane roller 5 shown in FIG. 8 to the recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  Even when the residual liquid on the recording surface is completely removed, if the residual liquid remains on the back surface, the residual liquid comes into contact with the surface when the recording body is wound up, and the liquid remains on the recording surface 10. Similarly, it causes image quality degradation. In FIG. 8, the foam material 2 is provided as a residual liquid removing means on the back surface of the recording surface of the recording body 10 to solve the above problem.

Figure 9 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 8, the same numbers as in FIG. 8 It is attached. In FIG. 9, a foam material roller 3 is provided as non-recording surface residual liquid removing means. The means for removing the residual liquid is not limited to this, and any means may be used as long as it is a roller-like member that does not denature or destroy the back surface of the recording material and swells with respect to the residual liquid. As shown in FIG. 9, by forming the non-recording surface residual liquid removing means in the form of a roller, it is possible to reduce friction with the back surface of the recording body and to suppress destruction of the back surface of the recording body. In this case, it is desirable that the foam material roller 3 is rotated in the same direction as the movement of the recording material, and further it is desirable that there is no difference in the peripheral speed between the recording material 10 and the foam material roller 3. In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the foam material roller 3 and the urethane roller 5 which are shown in FIG. 9 to the recording material lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

  The roller diameter is preferably determined according to the moving speed of the recording medium, but is preferably about φ50 mm to 100 mm if the speed is in the range of 0.5 m / min to 2 m / min. Further, the thickness of the member having the property of swelling with respect to the liquid on the roller increases as the residual liquid removal capability increases. However, in order to incorporate the apparatus without increasing the size, the thickness is preferably about 5 mm to 30 mm. As the material of the roller member, a polyurethane foam material, a polyvinyl alcohol foam material, a melamine resin foam material, or a polyacrylic foam material is suitable. Further, the number of rollers is not limited to one, and a plurality of rollers may be provided in the moving direction of the recording medium.

Figure 10 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 8, the same numbers as in FIG. 8 It is attached. 10, in addition to the non-recording surface residual liquid removing means (foam material 2) shown in FIG. 8, a means (suction pump 4 shown in FIG. 5) for removing residual liquid from the foam material 2 is provided. Yes. As the foam material 2 absorbs the residual liquid, the residual liquid removal capability decreases due to the accumulation of the residual liquid. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, by providing the foam material 2 with, for example, residual liquid removing means (suction pump) 4 by suction, the residual liquid removing capability can be continuously maintained. In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the foam material 2, the suction pump 4, and the urethane roller 5 shown in FIG. 10 to the recording material lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

Figure 11 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 8, the same numbers as in FIG. 8 It is attached. In FIG. 11, a urethane roller 5 is provided as non-recording surface residual liquid removing means. Since the urethane roller 5 does not swell with respect to the liquid used at the time of lyophilic treatment / recording member cleaning, the performance deterioration over time as occurs in the non-recording surface residual liquid removing means shown in FIG. 8 occurs. No. Therefore, since no means for removing the residual liquid from the non-recording surface residual liquid removing member as shown in FIG. 10 is required, the residual liquid removing performance can be maintained with a simpler configuration. In addition, it is good also as a structure which applied the two urethane rollers 5 shown in FIG. 11 to the recording material lyophilic processing apparatus which is not provided with the washing | cleaning means as shown in FIG.

Figure 12 is a main part schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the figure, the part that acts similar to that of FIG. 8, the same numbers as in FIG. 8 It is attached. In FIG. 12, an air nozzle 6 for injecting pressurized gas is provided as non-recording surface residual liquid removing means. The arrangement of the air nozzle 6 is the same as in FIG. In the case of the back side of the recording surface, the image quality cannot be directly reduced by the destruction of the recording material, but the image quality is reduced by the dust and dust generated by the destruction of the back surface adhering to the recording surface of the recording material. May cause. In FIG. 12, since there is no contact with the back surface of the recording surface, there is no possibility of causing such a decrease in image quality. Note that the air nozzle 6 and the urethane roller 5 shown in FIG. 12 may be applied to a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus not provided with a cleaning unit as shown in FIG.

(Example)
In the following, results of performance inspection experiments in which an image was written using each recording medium subjected to lyophilic processing by the recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus shown in FIGS.
Common experimental conditions are as follows.
Common operating conditions (1) Recording material / recording layer: resin mixed layer containing 50% of a fluorinated acrylate copolymer (containing carbon black in the layer)
-Substrate: PET film-Dimensions: width 320 mm, length 300 m (rolled up into a roll)
・ The recording layer was dried at 150 ° C. for 2 minutes at the time of coating and wound into a roll. (2) Lipophilic treatment solution and heating temperature. Polyethylene glycol # 600 (90 ° C.)

(3) Cleaning liquid / water for lyophilic treatment liquid (tap water, 20 ° C)
(4) Image writing method and semiconductor laser with an output of 50 mW (wavelength 830 nm)
-Write resolution is 1270 dpi and 2540 dpi
(5) Image recording conditions and ink: offset ink Waterless S GT black N manufactured by THE INCTEC
Printing machine: A commercially available offset printing machine was used, and a recording medium prepared by the recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 was loaded instead of a normal plate.
・ Paper: Commercial coated paper

Details of the implementation (details of the used recording medium lyophilic apparatus) are as follows. The results of each example are shown in Table 1.
Example 1
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: a configuration in which a urethane rubber blade as shown in FIG. 1 having a rubber hardness of 70 °, a thickness of 1 mm, a width of 340 mm, and a length of 20 mm is applied to the recording medium at a counter angle. did.

Example 2
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: A urethane foam material having a communication hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° and having a semi-cylindrical shape (width 340 mm, curvature radius 10 mm) as shown in FIG. 3 is used on the recording surface. The contact was made at a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ).

Example 3
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: Recording surface using a foam material roller as shown in FIG. 4 made of a urethane foam material having a communicating hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° and having a core metal diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 10 mm. And a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ), and the recording medium is rotated in the same direction at the same speed as the conveyance speed.

Example 4
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: A urethane foam material having a communication hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° and having a semi-cylindrical shape (width 340 mm, curvature radius 10 mm) as shown in FIG. 5 is used on the recording surface. The contact was made at a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ), and a commercially available vacuum cleaner was applied to the back side of the foam material so as to be sucked in time.

Example 5
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: Using a urethane roller as shown in FIG. 6 made of urethane rubber having a rubber hardness of 20 ° and having a width of 340 mm, an outer diameter of φ50 mm, and a wall thickness of 10 mm, pressure 1. It was configured to contact at 9 N / cm ² (0.2 kg / cm ² ), and rotated in the direction opposite to the recording material transport direction.

Example 6
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: An air nozzle having a nozzle diameter of 1 mm is used, and the air nozzles are arranged at equal intervals of 2 cm and 30 cm in length, and the nozzle spray angle is set on the recording surface. In contrast, the angle was 45 °. As the injection gas, nitrogen gas having a nitrogen gas cylinder regulator value of 29.4 N / cm ² (3 kg / cm ² ) was used.

Example 7
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: Recording surface using a foam material roller as shown in FIG. 8 made of a urethane foam material having a communicating hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° and having a core metal diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 10 mm. And a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ), and the recording medium is rotated in the same direction at the same speed as the conveyance speed. -Non-recording surface residual liquid removing means: Urethane foam as shown in FIG. 8 having a communicating hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° on the back surface of the recording medium and having a semi-cylindrical shape (width 340 mm, curvature radius 10 mm) A material was used to contact the back surface of the recording surface residual removing means at a pressure of 1 kg / cm ² .

Example 8
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: A urethane roller as shown in FIG. 9 made of urethane rubber having a rubber hardness of 20 ° and having a width of 340 mm, an outer diameter of φ50 mm, and a wall thickness of 10 mm is used. It was configured to contact at 9 N / cm ² (0.2 kg / cm ² ), and rotated in the direction opposite to the recording material transport direction.
Non-recording surface residual liquid removing means: Foam material as shown in FIG. 9 made of a urethane foam material having a communication hole with a sponge hardness of 15 ° on the back surface of the recording material and having a core metal diameter of 10 mm and a wall thickness of 10 mm. A roller is used to make contact with the back surface of the recording surface residual removing means at a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ) so as to rotate in the same direction at the same speed as the conveyance speed of the recording medium. did.

Example 9
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: Recording surface using a foam material roller as shown in FIG. 10 prepared using a urethane foam material having a communicating hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° and having a core metal diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 10 mm. And a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ), and the recording medium is rotated in the same direction at the same speed as the conveyance speed.
Non-recording surface residual liquid removing means: Urethane foam as shown in FIG. 10 having a communication hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° on the back surface of the recording medium and having a semi-cylindrical shape (width 340 mm, curvature radius 10 mm) A material was used to contact the back surface of the recording surface residual removing means at a pressure of 9. N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ). Furthermore, a commercially available vacuum cleaner was applied to the back side of the foam material and sucked in a timely manner.

Example 10
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: Recording surface using a foam material roller as shown in FIG. 11 made of a urethane foam material having a communicating hole with a sponge hardness of 10 ° and having a core metal diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 10 mm. And a pressure of 9.8 N / cm ² (1 kg / cm ² ), and the recording medium is rotated in the same direction at the same speed as the conveyance speed.
Non-recording surface residual liquid removing means: A urethane roller as shown in FIG. 11 made of urethane rubber having a rubber hardness of 20 ° and having a width of 340 mm, an outer diameter of 50 mm, and a thickness of 10 mm is used on the back surface of the recording medium. Thus, the back surface of the recording surface residual removing means is configured to contact at a pressure of 1.9 N / cm ² (0.2 kg / cm ² ) so as to rotate in the direction opposite to the recording material conveyance direction.

Example 11
Recording surface residual liquid removing means: Using a urethane roller as shown in FIG. 12 made of urethane rubber having a rubber hardness of 20 ° and having a width of 340 mm, an outer diameter of φ50 mm, and a thickness of 10 mm, pressure 1. It was configured to contact at 9 N / cm ² (0.2 kg / cm ² ), and rotated in the direction opposite to the recording material transport direction.
Non-recording surface residual liquid removing means: An air nozzle having a nozzle diameter of 1 mm is used on the back surface of the recording medium, and the air nozzles are arranged at equal intervals of 30 cm at intervals of 2 cm. The spray angle was set to 45 ° with respect to the back surface of the recording surface. As the injection gas, nitrogen gas having a nitrogen gas cylinder regulator value of 29.4 N / cm ² (3 kg / cm ² ) was used.

Results of the evaluation Evaluation of the lyophilic treatment was performed according to the following three items.
Judgment 1: Time to dry the liquid remaining on the recording surface after lyophilic treatment The drying time required until the recording medium is taken out from the lyophilic treatment apparatus and taken up is measured.
Judgment 2: Degree of damage to recording surface by means for removing cleaning liquid of treatment liquid After recording liquid subjected to lyophilic treatment with an electric furnace (150 ° C.-2 min.) And water-repellent treatment, (5 The image density at that time is evaluated by comparing it with the image density of the recording material in the initial state (before lyophilic treatment). The image density was obtained from the average value of histograms in a fixed area after the inked recording material was directly digitized with a scanner (256 gray scales). Therefore, the larger the numerical value, the smaller the background stain, and the smaller the value, the greater the background stain.

Judgment 3: Image quality in actual image writing After writing and recording by laser, image quality is evaluated by visual sensory evaluation.
The implementation results of the present invention determined for the above three items are shown in Table 1 below.

  As shown in Table 1, in all of Examples 1 to 11, the removal of the residual liquid after the lyophilic treatment is performed very quickly compared to the prior art, and the lyophilic treatment speed can be dramatically increased. I found out. In Examples 1, 2, and 6, a slight destruction of the recording film was observed, but a good image was obtained without any problem on the image.

Effect of the invention

【Effect of the invention】
As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the recording medium provided with polyethylene glycol of the lyophilic treatment liquid heated to 90 ° C. is washed with water at 20 ° C. Inert nitrogen gas is jetted onto the recording surface of the recording body in a non-contact state to remove polyethylene glycol and water. Therefore, power consumption can be reduced and drying can be performed in a short time, production cost can be reduced, and productivity can be improved.

  It is a principal part schematic diagram for demonstrating one Example of the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus by Claim 1 of this invention.   FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the essential portions for explaining another embodiment of the recording liquid lyophilic processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention.   It is a principal part schematic diagram for demonstrating one Example of the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus by Claim 2 of this invention.   FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a main part for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention.   FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a main part for explaining an embodiment of a recording liquid lyophilic apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention.   FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the essential portions for explaining an embodiment of a recording liquid lyophilic processing apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention.   FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the essential portions for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to claim 6 of the present invention.   FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the essential portions for explaining an embodiment of a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus according to claim 7 of the present invention.   It is a principal part schematic diagram for demonstrating one Example of the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus by Claim 8 of this invention.   It is a principal part schematic diagram for demonstrating one Example of the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus by Claim 9 of this invention.   It is a principal part schematic diagram for demonstrating one Example of the recording body lyophilic processing apparatus by Claim 10 of this invention.   It is a principal part schematic diagram for demonstrating one Example of the recording-body lyophilic processing apparatus by Claim 11 of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Removal blade, 2 ... Foam material, 3 ... Foam material roller, 4 ... Suction pump, 5 ... Urethane roller, 6 ... Air nozzle, 10 ... Recording body, 11 ... Recording body supply roll, 12 ... Recording body winding roll, 20 ... constant temperature bath, 30 ... water tank for washing.

Claims (1)

In a recording medium lyophilic processing apparatus for performing a process of reducing a receding contact angle with respect to a liquid on a recording medium formed with a resin mixed layer containing 50% of a fluorinated acrylate copolymer as a recording layer ,
A new liquid processing means for bringing the recording medium into contact with the polyethylene glycol of the lyophilic processing liquid heated to 90 ° C .;
Cleaning means for cleaning the recording medium provided with the polyethylene glycol on the surface with water at 20 ° C .;
A recording medium parent comprising: removal means for removing the polyethylene glycol and the water by spraying chemically inert nitrogen gas onto the recording surface of the recording body in a non-contact state after the cleaning. Liquid processing equipment .

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