JP7279930B2 - inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer for single-pass printing of inkjet inks onto a web-like printing substrate.

There are two methods for printing while continuously conveying the printing substrate: the scanning method and the single-pass method. The pass method is more suitable for high-speed printing. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-100003 discloses an inkjet printer for single-pass image formation using water-based ink. 2. Description of the Related Art In a single-pass inkjet printer, ink is ejected from an inkjet head having a plurality of inkjet nozzles arranged in a line.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200002 proposes an inkjet printing apparatus in which a print medium unwinding section and a print medium winding section are arranged on the same side with respect to a conveying section in which printing is performed using an inkjet head.

However, as shown in Patent Document 2, when the unwinding section and the winding section are installed on the same side, the space is saved and maintainability is improved. In order to replace the printing substrate with a new one, it is necessary to insert and remove the web-shaped printing substrate from the side of the machine. It takes Such a web-like printing substrate change operation requires approximately the same time as it takes to print a roll of web-like printing substrate.

However, on the other hand, in recent years, so-called small-lot, high-mix orders, such as orders for slightly different types of printing, have been increasing. In order to respond to such small-lot, high-mix orders, the frequency of web-shaped printing substrate replacement work has increased, and the web-shaped printing substrate replacement work has become an increasing burden.

In addition, there are many cases where the installation space of the inkjet printer is limited, and there is also a need to make the installation space as small as possible.

WO2017/110441 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-108530

The present invention reduces the burden on the operator who replaces the web-shaped printing substrate at the unwinding portion of the web-shaped printing substrate when printing with inkjet ink on the web-shaped printing substrate, and shortens the replacement work time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet printer capable of achieving a high level of efficiency.

In order to solve the above problems, the inkjet printer of the present invention is an inkjet printer that performs printing by ejecting inkjet ink in a single pass method onto a web-like printing substrate that is continuously conveyed, wherein the web a single-pass inkjet head unit that ejects inkjet ink in a single-pass manner onto the surface of the web-shaped printing substrate that is unwound and conveyed by the unwinding unit; a winding unit arranged on the same side as the unwinding unit with respect to the inkjet head unit and arranged between the unwinding unit and the winding unit; and a workspace for a person to enter.

It is preferable that the working space is provided with a stepping stool for the worker to stand on.

It is preferable that the positions of the unwinding section, the working space and the winding section are arranged on the upstream side of the inkjet head section.

Printing by an inkjet printer is sometimes called image formation because a digital image is created by dot groups of ejected ink droplets.

According to the present invention, in printing with inkjet ink on a web-shaped printing substrate, the burden on the operator for replacing the web-shaped printing substrate at the unwinding portion of the web-shaped printing substrate is reduced, and the replacement work time is reduced. It has a remarkable effect that it is possible to provide an ink jet printer capable of shortening the time required.

1 is a schematic side view showing one embodiment of an inkjet printer of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a partially omitted perspective view showing an embodiment of an inkjet printer of the present invention; FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but these embodiments are shown by way of example, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the same member is represented by the same code|symbol.

1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes an ink jet printer of the present invention. The inkjet printer 10 is an inkjet printer that performs printing by ejecting inkjet ink in a single pass onto a web-shaped printing substrate 12 that is continuously conveyed. unit 14, a single-pass inkjet head unit 18 that ejects inkjet ink in a single-pass method onto the surface 16 of the web-like printing substrate 12 that is unwound and conveyed by the unwinding unit 14; A winding section 20 for winding the web-like printing substrate 12 arranged on the same side as the unwinding section 14 with respect to the head section 18, and between the unwinding section 14 and the winding section 20. and a working space 62 for the worker to enter.

As the inkjet ink, water-based ink or UV (ultraviolet) curable ink is preferable, and water-based ink is particularly preferably used.

The configuration of the unwinding unit 14 itself is a known configuration in which an unwinding roll as described in Patent Document 1 is rotated by a drive belt. Further, the structure of the winding unit 20 itself is a known structure in which a winding roll as described in Patent Document 1 is rotated by a drive belt.

The web-like printing substrate 12 may be any web-like printing substrate, but is preferably a transparent, opaque, or colored film, for example. In addition, although the material of the film is not particularly limited, for example, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), PS (polystyrene) can be used as a web-like printing substrate for the film. , NY (nylon) and other synthetic resin films can be suitably used. Alternatively, a metal film in which a metal such as aluminum is formed into a film can also be suitably used.

The inkjet head unit 18 is an inkjet head having respective ink storage tanks (not shown) for C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), B (black), and W (white). Each ink jet head 18a to 18e is configured to eject water-based ink of each color. As the inkjet heads 18a to 18e, various known single-pass inkjet ejection devices can be applied. For example, the inkjet head described in Patent Document 1 can be used as each inkjet head.

Surface heating units 60a to 60e are provided next to the respective inkjet heads 18a to 18e for heating at least the surface of the web-like printing substrate 12 onto which the water-based ink has been ejected. As the surface heating units 60a to 60e, for example, the surface heating units described in Patent Document 1 can be applied, and the hot air blowing means described in Patent Document 1 can be applied as the surface heating units 60a to 60e. can. When hot air blowing means is employed as the surface heating unit, hot air of about 40° C. to 80° C., for example, 70° C. is applied to the surface of the web-shaped printing substrate 12 . The time for which the hot air is applied is about 2 to 3 seconds when the printing speed is 15 m/min, but it is appropriately changed depending on the temperature of the hot air.

Further, the web-like printing substrate 12 onto which the water-based ink has been ejected is conveyed through the drying zone 22 . A dryer can be used as the drying zone 22, and an example of a heating box 24 is shown in the illustrated example. The heating box 24 is surrounded by thermally insulated walls 26 and has an inlet 28 for the web-like printing substrate 12 and an outlet 30 for the web-like printing substrate 12 .

The heating box 24 is preheated (preheated) to 60.degree. C. to 70.degree. As a method of heating in the heating box 24, it may be heated by hot air, or by various known heaters. The illustrated example shows a configuration in which the inside of the heating box 24 is heated with warm air.

Various rollers 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 are provided for transporting the web-like printing substrate 12. The web-like printing substrate 12 is transported via these rollers and sent to the winding section 20 .

In the illustrated example, since an example of water-based ink is shown as the inkjet ink, an example in which drying devices such as the surface heating units 60a to 60e are provided as curing devices for curing the inkjet ink is shown. When using UV curable ink as the inkjet ink, an ultraviolet irradiation device may be installed instead of the drying device.

In the illustrated example, the winding section 20 is arranged on the same side as the unwinding section 14 with respect to the inkjet head section 18 . That is, there are an upstream side U and a downstream side D of the inkjet head section 18 where the web-shaped printing base material 12 is continuously conveyed. 14 and the winding part 20 are unevenly distributed.

Between the unwinding section 14 and the winding section 20, a work space 62 is provided for the operator H1 to enter. A step 64 is provided in the work space 62 . The worker H1 can replace the web-shaped printing substrate 12 in the unwinding section 14 while standing on the step 64 . Conventionally, it took a long time to replace the web-shaped printing substrate 12, but in the present invention, it is easy to replace the web-shaped printing substrate 12, so the time required for replacing the conventional web-shaped printing substrate The replacement work can be done in about half the time compared to the conventional method. In this way, it is possible to reduce the time taken to replace the web-shaped printing substrate 12 . In addition, when replacing the web-shaped printing base material 12, there is no need to reach into a narrow space or to enter the apparatus to replace it, thus improving safety. In addition, since the unwinding section 14 and the winding section 20 are arranged on the same side, it is possible to save space.

Note that reference H2 is also an operator who can stand on the step 66 and replace the web-shaped printing substrate 12 of the winding unit 20 .

In this way, both the unwinding section 14 and the winding section 20 are unevenly arranged on either the upstream side U or the downstream side D of the single-pass inkjet head section 18, and the operator H1 can Since the work space 62 for entry is provided, the worker H1 can easily replace the web-shaped printing substrate 12 in the unwinding section 14 of the web-shaped printing substrate 12. In this manner, replacement of the web-shaped printing substrate 12 of the winding unit 20 is also easy. Therefore, the ink jet printer 10 of the present invention is very convenient to use.

Therefore, the inkjet printer 10 can also handle small-lot, high-mix printing. Furthermore, the ink jet printer 10 with uneven distribution of the unwinding section and the winding section can be installed in about half the conventional installation space, so that space saving can be realized.

10: inkjet printer, 12: web-like printing substrate, 14: unwinding unit, 16: surface of web-like printing substrate, 18: single-pass inkjet head unit, 18a to 18e: each inkjet head, 20: take-up Section 22: Drying Zone 24: Heating Box 26: Heat Insulating Wall 28: Inlet 30: Outlet 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58: rollers, 60a to 60e: surface heating unit, 62: work space, 64, 66: stepping stool, D: downstream side of inkjet head unit, H1, H2: operator, U: inkjet head upstream side of the department.

Claims (3)

An inkjet printer that performs printing by ejecting inkjet ink in a single pass method onto a continuously conveyed web-like printing substrate,
an unwinding portion of the web-shaped printing substrate;
a single-pass inkjet head section that ejects inkjet ink in a single-pass manner onto the surface of the web-shaped printing substrate that is unwound and conveyed by the unwinding section;
a winding unit disposed on the same side as the unwinding unit with respect to the inkjet head unit and downstream of the unwinding unit for winding the web-shaped printing substrate;
a first work space provided between the unwinding section and the winding section for entry by an operator to change the web-like printing substrate on the unwinding section ;
a second work space downstream of the first work space for operator entry to change the web-like printing substrate on the take-up;
including inkjet printers. 2. An ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein said first work space and said second work space are provided with a stepping stool for a worker to stand on. 3. An inkjet printer according to claim 1, wherein said unwinding section, said first working space and said winding section are arranged upstream of said inkjet head section.

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