JP5963464B2 - Inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that forms an image by attaching an ultraviolet curable ink that is cured by ultraviolet irradiation to a recording medium.

  Ultraviolet curable ink is cured by irradiating with ultraviolet rays, so that the ink ejected from the ink jet recording head and adhered to the surface of the recording medium is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to penetrate into the recording medium or on the recording medium. It is possible to cure the ink promptly before bleeding occurs. Therefore, high quality not only on ink-absorbing recording media such as paper, fabric, and wood, but also on non-ink-absorbing recording media such as leather, glass, metal, ceramics, and films without forming an ink receiving layer. Images can be formed.

  When the ink ejected from the ink jet recording head is cured by ultraviolet irradiation, it is necessary to uniformly cure the entire surface by uniformly irradiating the ink adhering to the recording medium with sufficient ultraviolet irradiation. For this reason, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes that an ultraviolet irradiation lamp is mounted on a serial head that performs a recording operation by moving in the width direction of a recording medium, and performs ultraviolet irradiation while performing the recording operation. Further, in Patent Document 2, the recording medium is transported in the sub-scanning direction while moving in the main scanning direction by the recording head and recorded on the recording medium, and the ultraviolet light source is moved to the recorded recording medium while moving the ultraviolet light source in the main scanning direction. The point to irradiate is described.

  By the way, when the recording medium is a long object such as paper, film, fabric, or synthetic leather, an adhesive tape or the like is used on the conveyor belt for the purpose of temporarily fixing the recording medium as in Patent Document 3. However, in this case, the adhesive part of the part irradiated with ultraviolet rays is dried, and the adhesive force may be reduced.

JP-A-60-132767 JP 2004-167793 A JP 2011-031418 A

  Therefore, the present invention provides an ink jet recording apparatus capable of stably transporting a recording medium without reducing the adhesive force of the adhesive portion provided on the transport belt even when the ultraviolet rays are repeatedly irradiated. Objective.

One aspect of the present invention made in view of the above-described conventional problems is an inkjet recording head that discharges ultraviolet curable ink toward a recording medium, and an ultraviolet lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays to the ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording medium. The recording head and the ultraviolet lamp are mounted, respectively, and a carriage movable in the main scanning direction and an adhesive portion for adhering the recording medium are provided on an installation surface on which the recording medium is installed, and the recording in an adhesive state In an inkjet recording apparatus including an endless belt that conveys a medium in the sub-scanning direction, a light-shielding unit is provided between the adhesive unit and the ultraviolet lamp, and the length of the light-shielding unit in the sub-scanning direction is The length of the ultraviolet lamp in the sub-scanning direction is longer, and the end of the light-shielding portion in the main scanning direction is 1 to 10 mm over the both ends of the recording medium. They arranged to have an ink jet recording apparatus to Rappu.

  According to the present invention, even when ultraviolet rays are repeatedly irradiated, the adhesive force of the adhesive portion provided on the conveyor belt does not decrease, and the recording medium can be stably conveyed.

It is a schematic perspective view regarding embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing regarding embodiment which concerns on this invention.

  Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the configurations described below, and various configurations can be employed in the same technical idea. For example, some of the configurations shown below may be omitted or replaced with other configurations. Moreover, you may make it include another structure.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention. The recording medium 1 is supported by an endless belt 2, and the endless belt 2 is rotationally driven by a pair of conveying rolls 3. As the transport roll 3 rotates, the recording medium 1 is transported in the sub-scanning direction Yf or its reverse direction Yb. On the recording medium 1 supported by the endless belt 2, a head portion 4 having a plurality of inkjet recording heads is arranged supported by a carriage 5, and ultraviolet curable inks of different colors from the inkjet recording heads. Are selectively discharged. The carriage 5 is movably attached to four guide rails 6 arranged in parallel, and is set to be movable in the main scanning direction Xf or Xb. A timing belt 7 is fixed to the carriage 5, and the timing belt 7 is stretched between a driving pulley and a driven pulley 9 of the carriage motor 8. When the carriage motor 8 is driven to rotate, the carriage 5 can move in a range wider than the width of the recording medium 1 in the main scanning direction. Ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b are fixed to the carriage 5 as ultraviolet irradiation means, and the ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b are arranged so as to sandwich the head portion 4 from the main scanning direction. In the head unit 4, four inkjet recording heads 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K are sequentially arranged in the sub-scanning direction Yf. The recording heads 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K are configured to eject different colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively. A flat cable (not shown) is connected to each ink jet recording head, and when a drive signal is input via the flat cable, ink is selectively ejected. Ultraviolet lamps 10 a and 10 b are disposed on both sides of the head unit 4 in the main scanning direction, and the length of the ultraviolet lamps 10 a and 10 b in the sub-scanning direction Yf is set to be longer than the length of the head unit 4. Has been. Note that the inkjet recording heads may be arranged in the sub-scanning direction. For example, the inkjet recording heads may be arranged in a staircase pattern shifted in the sub-scanning direction.

  When recording is performed on the recording medium 1 by ejecting ink from the head unit 4 while moving the head unit 4 in the main scanning direction Xf or Xb, the ultraviolet lamps 10 a and 10 b move together with the head unit 4. The ink recorded on the recording medium 1 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b, and the recorded ink is quickly cured. Even when the head unit 4 reciprocates in the main scanning direction, since the ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b are provided on both sides of the head unit 4, the recorded ink is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in both the forward path and the backward path. become.

  In the recording operation, recording is performed in response to the drive signal along the scanning line while the head unit 4 moves in the main scanning direction, and when the recording of the scanning line is completed, the transport roll 3 is rotated and the recording medium 1 is moved to the subsidiary. A predetermined scanning line is conveyed in the scanning direction Yf, and recording is performed in the main scanning direction by the head unit 4. By repeating the above operation, an image is recorded on the recording medium 1.

  On the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt 2, an adhesive portion 11 that adheres the recording medium 1 installed on the installation surface is provided, and the recording medium 1 is fixed to the endless belt 2 via the adhesive portion 11. The adhesion part 11 is formed with the adhesive tape affixed on the installation surface. For example, a tape having an adhesive force (adhesive strength) of about 0.5 to 2.0 N / cm is used for the adhesive tape that forms the adhesive portion 11.

  Thin plate-shaped light shielding portions 12 are provided at both ends of the endless belt 2 in a region where the head portion 4 moves in the main scanning direction Xf or Xb. The length of the light shielding portion 12 in the sub-scanning direction Yf is set to be longer than the length of the ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b in the sub-scanning direction Yf. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view simulating the positional relationship among the recording medium 1, the endless belt 2, the adhesive portion 11, and the light shielding portion 12, but according to this, the portion of the adhesive portion 11 where the recording medium 1 is not adhered Is hidden (protected) by the light-shielding portion 12 so that the ultraviolet rays irradiated from the ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b are not irradiated. Further, the ends of the left and right light shielding portions 12 and the both ends of the recording medium 1 are arranged to substantially coincide or overlap, so that the ultraviolet rays irradiated from the ultraviolet lamps 10a and 10b are applied to the recording medium 1. It has become. When the running position of the endless belt 2 and the fixed position of the recording medium 1 are sequentially changed during printing, the light-shielding part is arranged so that the end of the light-shielding part 12 and the both ends of the recording medium 1 can overlap by about 1 to 10 mm. A structure movable in the main scanning direction may be used. Further, when printing on the recording medium 1 having a different thickness, the light shielding unit 12 may be configured to be movable up and down in accordance with the thickness of the recording medium 1.

  The light-shielding part 12 is preferably a thin plate, and is particularly thin and rigid, and also has good heat resistance, so that a metal such as aluminum or stainless steel having a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm is preferable. About the installation place of the light-shielding part 12, you may attach to the conveyance frame (not shown) installed along the endless belt 2, or the separate which supports the light-shielding part 12 separately from an inkjet recording device It may be attached to the frame and is not particularly limited as long as it can be fixed. Further, although depending on the printing conditions and the ultraviolet irradiation conditions, when used under conditions where the temperature of the light shielding portion 12 is significantly increased, a play may be provided at the fixed portion so that the thermal expansion of the light shielding member 12 can be absorbed or released. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording medium 2 Endless belt 4 Head part 10a, 10b Ultraviolet lamp 11 Adhesive part 12 Light-shielding part

Claims (1)

An ink jet recording head for discharging ultraviolet curable ink toward the recording medium;
An ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the ultraviolet curable ink attached to the recording medium;
A carriage mounted with the recording head and the ultraviolet lamp, respectively, and movable in the main scanning direction;
In an inkjet recording apparatus provided with an adhesive portion that adheres the recording medium on an installation surface on which the recording medium is installed, and an endless belt that conveys the adhered recording medium in a sub-scanning direction.
A light-shielding part is provided between the adhesive part and the ultraviolet lamp ;
The length of the light-shielding portion in the sub-scanning direction is longer than the length of the ultraviolet lamp in the sub-scanning direction, and the end portion of the light-shielding portion in the main scanning direction is 1 to 10 mm over both ends of the recording medium. An ink jet recording apparatus arranged so as to wrap .

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