JP7456961B2 - Inkjet printing method using ultraviolet curable metallic ink, and sporting goods with patterns formed by such printing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing method of printing with an inkjet printer using ultraviolet curable metallic ink, and various sporting goods (for example, various fishing equipment, golf clubs, rackets) on which patterns are formed by such printing method. etc.).

In recent years, letters, figures, designs, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as patterns) have been formed on the surfaces of various sporting goods by inkjet printing. As is well known, inkjet printing is a process in which each droplet of color ink (three primary colors, black, and white) ejected from the nozzle of an inkjet printing machine is applied to a printing target (material surface) that moves relative to the nozzle. A color pattern is formed by adhering and fixing at different densities.

Incidentally, recently, patterns have been formed on sporting goods using shiny metallic inks such as gold and silver, and such metallic inks include thermosetting, Ultraviolet curing type is known.
Thermosetting metallic inks are unstable unless they are cured by heat, making it difficult to repeatedly coat them. That is, when trying to overcoat with thermosetting metallic ink, it is difficult to overcoat in the same position because after printing the pattern, it must be removed from the inkjet printer and cured in a drying oven or the like. Therefore, it is difficult to give a pattern formed by thermosetting metallic ink a certain degree of thickness, and there is a problem in that it lacks three-dimensional effect. On the other hand, ultraviolet-curing metallic ink (hereinafter also referred to as UV metallic ink) has the property of curing immediately when exposed to light, so it is possible to create a three-dimensional effect by applying multiple layers in succession. It has the advantage of not only being able to produce a high gloss, but also having excellent luster (even more luster can be produced by leveling) and good stability.

However, UV metallic ink is characterized by a large change in viscosity due to temperature changes, low viscosity, and good transferability. For this reason, when printing with an inkjet printer, there is a time when droplets of UV metallic ink land on the printing object and spread out over a surface, so there is a problem that sagging easily occurs at the edge portions. In this case, if UV metallic ink is hardened (irradiated with light) immediately after landing, dots in the landed state will remain, deteriorating the appearance of the pattern, and causing diffused reflection due to the unevenness of the surface, resulting in poor gloss. There is a problem that the amount decreases. That is, when it is desired to develop gloss with UV metallic ink, it is necessary to prevent the UV metallic ink from curing for a certain period of time after landing, which causes the problem of sagging. In particular, when printing with UV metallic ink on the surface of a substrate with a curved surface, such as a tubular body, there is a problem that sagging is more likely to occur and the edges are not sharp (the outline of the decoration to be formed becomes blurred). ). Furthermore, when printing on the surface of a substrate that has been subjected to polishing treatment, there is a problem that bleeding occurs along the polished lines, and on curved surfaces, bleeding occurs along with the above-mentioned sagging.

As a method for suppressing sagging and bleeding when printing using an inkjet printer, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a method of first printing ink for forming an ink-receiving layer on the outer frame of the printed image (outer frame printing; first (printing), and then printing ink for image formation (inner printing; second printing) on the inner area surrounded by the outer frame and on the outer frame to reduce the occurrence of bleeding. A printing method that increases image density is disclosed.

JP 2016-16533 Publication

Although the above inkjet printing method is expected to reduce bleeding at edges, it does not take UV metallic ink into consideration. Even if UV metallic ink is used with this inkjet printing method, the second print is overlaid on the outer frame, so the UV metallic ink spills out (bleeds out) outside the frame, and the edges of the pattern will not be sharp. In particular, when such printing is performed on a curved surface such as a tubular body, the UV metallic ink is likely to drip outside the frame, and the appearance will also be deteriorated. In addition, because the second print is overlaid on the outer frame, the thickness of the overlapping part becomes convex, and the weight of the printed object increases due to the increase in paint in the overlapping part.

The present invention has been made with a focus on the above-mentioned problems, and provides good gloss and sharp outlines of patterns when printing UV-curable metallic ink on the surface of materials using an inkjet printer. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a printing method that can be finished and does not increase weight, and various sporting goods having patterns formed by such a printing method.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing method in which a pattern is printed on the surface of a material using an inkjet printing machine using an ultraviolet curable metallic ink, in which an outer frame of the pattern is formed on the material using the metallic ink. A first printing step of printing the metallic ink inside the outer frame with a gap of 0.01 mm to 1.0 mm between the outer frame and the inside of the outer frame after the outer frame is cured. In the second printing step, the metallic ink to be printed is dammed up by the outer frame and leveled so that it is below the height of the outer frame.

In the printing method with the above configuration, first the outer frame of the pattern is printed on the surface of the material, and after the outer frame has hardened, a gap of 0.01 mm to 1.0 mm is left between it and the inside of the outer frame. Since the metallic ink is printed within the outer frame and leveled below the height of the outer frame, the metallic ink printed within the outer frame will not overlap the outer frame and will not bleed from the outer frame. In other words, the pattern formed with UV metallic ink can be leveled to improve its gloss, and the edges are blocked by the outer frame, giving it a sharp outline and a three-dimensional effect. become. Furthermore, since the printing is leveled to be below the height of the outer frame, the printing will not overlap on the outer frame and the weight will not increase.

In the above configuration, leveling is achieved by allowing a certain period of time without irradiating light after the metallic ink is ejected from the nozzle of the inkjet printing machine, so that the metallic ink flows to fill the gaps and the surface becomes smooth. Obtained by flattening. In this case, the time required for the outer frame to level below the height of the outer frame (the time required to irradiate the light) depends on the height of the outer frame, the viscosity of the metallic ink used, It is adjusted as appropriate depending on the amount of droplets ejected from the nozzle, the density of the dots attached to the surface of the material (ink concentration), the film thickness, etc.

Moreover, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a sporting goods in which a pattern is formed on the surface of a material using an ultraviolet curable metallic ink, wherein the pattern is formed on an outer frame formed with the metallic ink. and an in-frame pattern portion formed by damming up the metallic ink to a height below the height of the outer frame within the outer frame.

Sporting goods with such patterns use ultraviolet-curable metallic ink, so a glossy pattern can be obtained. Further, the outline portion has sharp edges due to the outer frame, giving a three-dimensional effect, and since the printing does not overlap at the edge portion, it does not become heavy.

According to the present invention, when printing an ultraviolet curable metallic ink on the surface of a material using an inkjet printing machine, it is possible to achieve good gloss, sharply finish the outline of a pattern, and avoid increasing weight. You can get a printing method that is not available. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain sporting goods in which a pattern is formed using ultraviolet curable metallic ink, which has good gloss, sharp outlines of the pattern, and does not increase weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The figure which shows the fishing rod which is an example of the sporting goods of this invention, and shows the schematic structure in which the pattern was formed in the original rod rod. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a leveling process. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the patterned portion shown in FIG. 1, and (a) to (c) are schematic diagrams sequentially illustrating the steps of forming a pattern on the surface of a material. This photo shows an example of a pattern formed on a flat surface without forming an outer frame, and shows the pattern printed after the surface has been smoothed with an undercoat. This shows an example of forming a pattern on a flat surface without forming an outer frame, and is an enlarged photograph showing the pattern printed in a state where polishing treatment was performed to produce polishing streaks on the surface. An enlarged photo showing the outer frame formed after polishing the surface of the material. 7 is an enlarged photograph showing a pattern in which UV metallic ink is printed within the outer frame without forming a gap in the outer frame shown in FIG. 6, and is also printed over the outer frame. 1 is an enlarged photograph showing a pattern based on the printing method according to the present invention, in which an outer frame is first formed, the outer frame is cured, and a pattern inside the frame is formed with a gap inside the outer frame. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams showing examples in which a clear ink is applied to a pattern portion within a frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a printing method according to the present invention and sporting goods having a pattern formed by such a printing method will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the sporting goods according to the present invention, and is a diagram showing a fishing rod in which a pattern is formed on the original rod according to the printing method of the present invention.

The fishing rod 1 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a swing-out type fishing rod, and includes a base rod 3, and a middle rod 5 and a tip rod 7 that can be retractably stored in the base rod 3. (The number of joints is arbitrary). A known reel seat 4 is disposed on the main rod 3, and the fishing line let out from the reel R attached thereto is inserted through fishing line guides 8A to 8G provided on each rod rod.

As is well known, each rod is formed by winding a fiber-reinforced resin material (FRP; prepreg sheet), and the surface (material surface) of the main rod 3 is composed of letters, figures, designs, etc. A pattern 10 is formed by printing. This pattern 10 is formed by applying UV metallic ink using an inkjet printing machine, and is shown as a parallelogram pattern in the drawing for ease of understanding. In this case, the pattern can be composed of various letters, figures, designs, or combinations of these, and by using UV metallic ink, it is possible to apply continuous layers, creating a more three-dimensional effect. It becomes possible to form a certain pattern (with thermosetting metallic ink, a thermosetting process is required after application, so continuous overcoating is not possible). Furthermore, by layering UV cured clear (including color clear) on the cured UV metallic ink, it is possible to make it more three-dimensional due to its prism effect.
In addition, when forming the above-mentioned pattern on a tubular body such as a base rod with an inkjet printing machine, chuck both ends of the tubular body and scan the head of the inkjet printing machine in the axial direction while rotating the body intermittently. Depending on the pattern shape to be formed on the surface, the amount of UV metallic ink droplets discharged from the nozzle, the discharge position, the irradiation amount of the light source for UV curing, the irradiation time, the time until irradiation, etc. are controlled. .

An inkjet printing machine that performs inkjet printing is not shown because it is well known, but it includes a head that reciprocates in the scanning direction by a carriage equipped with a UV metallic ink discharge nozzle, and a UV curing light source mounted on the carriage. . In the printing process using such an inkjet printing machine, after UV metallic ink is ejected from the ejection nozzle in the form of droplets onto the surface of the material, the adhered UV metallic ink is cured by the light source and fixed in that state. do. In the present invention, since the UV metallic ink is used in one color (for example, a silver-based bright color), the head (discharge nozzle) of the printing machine is configured to perform discharge control for one color while scanning the head. ing.

In this case, by controlling the amount of UV metallic ink ejected from the ejection nozzle, the density (ink density) of dots deposited on the surface of the material changes, and the degree of brightness changes. In other words, when the ink concentration is high, the surface tends to be flat when leveled and can exhibit glitter (glossy), whereas when the ink concentration is low, the surface becomes uneven even after leveling. Or, it does not adhere uniformly to the surface of the material, which tends to cause diffuse reflection, resulting in a decrease in glitter (gloss cannot be obtained). In fact, the concentration of the UV metallic ink is preferably 30% or more so that a certain degree of glittering properties and a three-dimensional appearance can be obtained. In fact, when we visually recognized the pattern at a density of 5% and 10%, we found that the glitter was poor even after the following leveling treatment (by increasing the density to 30% or higher, the leveling When processed, it becomes planar and gives glitter and three-dimensional effect). Furthermore, by changing the leveling treatment time (the time from when the UV metallic ink lands to when it spreads and is irradiated with light until it is cured), the glossiness of the surface of the pattern can be adjusted.

In the present invention, when forming the above-described pattern with UV metallic ink using an inkjet printer, a printing method as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is used.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the leveling process after the UV metallic ink has adhered to the material surface 3A, and FIGS. It is a sectional view and is a schematic diagram explaining the process of forming a pattern on material surface 3A in order.

When droplets 30a of UV metallic ink 30 are ejected from an ejection nozzle using an inkjet printer, they adhere to the material surface 3A, as shown in FIG. 2(a). In this case, if light is irradiated immediately after adhesion, the unevenness 31 on the surface will be cured as it is, and after curing, diffuse reflection will occur on the surface, giving it sufficient specularity (glossy appearance). It is not possible.

On the other hand, after a certain period of time has elapsed after the droplets have landed on the material surface 3A, the UV metallic ink 30 has a low viscosity and good transferability, so as shown in FIG. By irradiating light onto the flat surface 32, it is possible to exhibit glitter (gloss is obtained). That is, when it is desired to create gloss with UV metallic ink, a certain amount of time for blending (leveling time) is required after the droplets 30a land on the material surface 3A. However, when such leveling processing is performed, the three-dimensional effect tends to deteriorate because the edge portions are not sharp, and especially on curved surfaces, the edge portions may lack sharpness. Print the outer frame first.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a printing method for forming the pattern 10 as shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
First, the outer frame 10a of the pattern is printed on the material surface 3A using UV metallic ink (first printing step; see FIG. 3(a)). In this case, the material surface 3A may be made of FRP material as it is, or may be painted or otherwise made to have a smooth surface. Alternatively, polishing streaks may be formed on the surface by polishing. For example, by painting to give it a glossy black color, the color of the UV metallic ink, such as silver, can be made to stand out three-dimensionally, thereby improving the appearance. Furthermore, by polishing the surface, the anchoring effect of the printed UV metallic ink can be enhanced, the adhesion strength can be improved, and peeling can be made difficult. In particular, if the material surface 3A is a curved surface made of a tubular body as in this embodiment, by polishing the material surface 3A, impurities can be removed and the anchoring effect can be enhanced to form a stable pattern. It becomes possible to do so.

The outer frame 10a is printed under the control of an inkjet printing machine, before extracting the outline of the pattern 10 and printing the entire pattern. This outer frame 10a defines the edge of the actual pattern 10, and after the droplets are ejected, they are immediately irradiated with light and cured. The height H of this outer frame 10a gives a three-dimensional effect to the pattern 10, and if it is too low, the three-dimensional effect of the pattern 10 formed within the frame will be poor, so it is preferably set to 1 μm or more. preferable. Further, the upper limit of the height depends on the form of the pattern and the object, but if it is too high, the weight will increase, so it is preferable to set it to 10,000 μm or less. In this case, the height H of the outer frame 10a can be adjusted by changing the discharge amount and the size of the droplets, and if you want to increase the height H of the outer frame, repeat coating multiple times. Also good.

Next, after the outer frame 10a is cured, a gap G is created between the outer frame and the inside of the outer frame, and the inside of the outer frame is printed with the same UV metallic ink 30 as that of the outer frame to form a pattern inside the frame ( Second printing step; see FIG. 3(b)). As shown in FIG. 2, the gap G is formed to such an extent that, during the leveling process, the landed UV metallic ink spreads, flattens the surface, is blocked by the outer frame 10a, and does not cross over it. Regarding this gap G, the time for leveling (the time for irradiating light after landing), the viscosity of the UV metallic ink used, the film thickness H1 of the UV metallic ink during printing, and the film thickness H1' of the final pattern 10. etc., but 0.01 mm to 1.0 mm is sufficient.

Specifically, assuming that the viscosity of the UV metallic ink to be printed is 5 mPa・s to 20 mPa・s, if this is ejected as a droplet of 13 pl from the nozzle of the head, the diameter of the droplet after landing is about 60 μm. This spreads (leveling occurs) before curing. The time for leveling processing (the time from printing to irradiation with light) is set within the range of 1 s to 60 s, taking into account processing speed, etc., and the amount of the gap G is determined as follows: Printing is controlled so that the printed UV metallic ink is blocked by the outer frame 10a and does not go over it (so that H1'≦H is satisfied without overlapping the outer frame).

For example, if you are printing with a thick film using UV metallic ink with low viscosity, it is better to set the gap G larger or the outer frame 10a higher because the UV metallic ink tends to spread during the leveling process. . Alternatively, if a thin film is to be printed using UV metallic ink with high viscosity, the UV metallic ink is difficult to spread during the leveling process, so it is better to set the gap G small or set the outer frame 10a low. . In addition, the film thickness H1 of the UV metallic ink during printing spreads when the leveling process is performed, and the final film thickness H1' becomes lower than H1 (H1'<H1). What is necessary is to set the size of the gap G, the height of the outer frame 10a, and the film thickness H1.

In reality, if the viscosity of the UV metallic ink to be printed is 5 mPa・s to 20 mPa・s, it is applied with droplets of 1 to 100 pl from the nozzle of the head, and the film thickness H1 is 1 μm to 500 μm, the outer frame The height H of the pattern 10a is about 1 μm to 500 μm, the gap G is about 0.01 mm to 1 mm, and by adjusting the time until the light is irradiated, the printed pattern 10 fills the gap G. In this state, the outer frame 10a is leveled without going over (dammed up) the outer frame 10a, and it is possible to obtain a pattern with gloss and a three-dimensional effect.

According to the above-described printing method using UV metallic ink, the edges of the pattern 10 are blocked and defined by the outer frame 10a, and the printing does not overlap on the outer frame, so the weight does not increase and the outline part is Although the color is the same, it becomes sharper and a three-dimensional, glossy pattern can be easily obtained. Further, even if the surface of the material is polished, the UV metallic ink in the second printing process is blocked by the outer frame 10a, so that no bleeding occurs at the edge portions. Furthermore, even in the case of sporting goods having a curved surface such as a tubular body as in the present embodiment, the outer frame 10a prevents liquid from dripping during printing, so that the appearance of the outline portion is reduced. Nothing.

Here, the case where the above-described printing method is used and the case where a similar pattern is formed without using such a printing method will be explained with reference to the enlarged photographs (50 times enlarged) of FIGS. 4 to 8. do.

Figures 4 and 5 show examples of the above-mentioned pattern 10 formed on a flat surface without forming an outer frame. Figure 4 shows a pattern printed after the material surface was smoothed by applying a primer coat, while Figure 5 shows a pattern printed after the surface was polished to create polishing streaks.

By smoothing the surface of the material (Figure 4), the UV metallic ink will not bleed along the polishing lines on the surface, as shown in Figure 5, so bleed will not occur at the edges, but the surface will be smoother. If the surface is curved, it can be predicted that sagging will occur at the edges and the appearance of the outline will deteriorate. Furthermore, when the surface of the material is smoothed, there is a problem that the UV metallic ink has no anchoring effect, so the adhesion strength is weak and it is easy to peel off. On the other hand, when the surface is polished, an anchor effect can be obtained, but as shown in the photo in Figure 5, the UV metallic ink oozes out along the polishing lines, making the edges less sharp and the outlines looking worse. will decrease.

Figure 6 shows a state in which an outer frame has been formed after polishing the surface of the material, and Figure 7 shows a state in which UV metallic ink is applied inside the outer frame without forming the gap G as described above. It shows the pattern formed by printing. If you print without gaps on the outer frame in this way, during the leveling process, the UV metallic ink will overlap the outer frame and increase its weight, and the edges will go over the outer frame, causing it to drip to the outside of the outer frame. It may bleed. That is, if printing is not controlled so as to have the gap G, the weight of the pattern will increase, the edge portions will not be sharp, and the appearance of the outline portions may deteriorate.

FIG. 8 shows a pattern formed by the printing method according to the present invention, in which the surface of the material is polished, an outer frame is printed, the outer frame is hardened, and a gap is created inside the frame. A patterned portion is formed. The UV metallic ink to be ejected has a viscosity of 6.5 mPa・s, and is applied with droplets of 13 pl from the nozzle of the head.The height of the outer frame initially formed is 20 μm, and the gap is 0.1 mm. After setting and printing the pattern inside the frame with a film thickness of 20 μm and an ink concentration of 30%, the leveling time is set to 20 seconds. When printed in this state, the height of the pattern inside the frame is less than the height of the outer frame (20 μm), preventing it from protruding or bleeding from the outer frame, and making it possible to finish the edge portion sharply.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be practiced in various modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, the pattern portion within the frame may be thickened by applying UV metallic ink over it using an inkjet printer. In this case, the ink applied over it may be, for example, a UV-curable clear ink (which may be color clear), which can enhance the three-dimensional effect by the prism effect. Alternatively, UV metallic ink or UV ink may be applied over it.

As mentioned above, when overcoating the pattern inside the frame with the clear ink 40, it is preferable to print so as not to protrude from the outer frame 10a, as shown in FIG. 9(a). (You may also print it so that it is higher than the Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9(b), it may be printed so as to be placed on the outer frame 10a, thereby making it possible to obtain a pattern with a more three-dimensional effect due to the prism effect.

For example, the surface of the material (base layer) may be composed of the material itself, or the surface of the material may be patterned in various colors (including multiple colors and transparent) by surface treatment such as printing, painting, or plating. It is also possible to form a structure such as Also, regarding surface polishing, polishing streaks may be formed with directionality, or polishing streaks may be formed with random irregularities.

In addition, as for the material, in addition to the fiber-reinforced resin material (composite material) in which various fiber materials are mixed into synthetic resin as a reinforcing material as in this embodiment, for example, PP (polypropylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), etc. , PC (polycarbonate), synthetic resins such as acrylic resins, metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and brass, and inorganic materials such as ceramics, pottery, and glass can also be used. Furthermore, the pattern is not limited in its form as long as it can be printed inside the outer frame. Furthermore, the pattern may be formed using an ultraviolet curable ink other than UV metallic by the printing method described above. In this case, the height H of the outer frame 10a may be set high. Furthermore, the sporting goods according to the present invention can be applied to various fishing equipment (fishing rods, reels, tackle, accessories, etc.), golf clubs, tennis rackets, and the like.

1 Fishing rod (sports equipment)
3A Material surface 10 Pattern 10a Outer frame 30 UV metallic ink 30a Droplet

Claims (4)

In a printing method in which a pattern is printed on the surface of a material using an inkjet printer using ultraviolet curable metallic ink,
The surface of the material is a curved surface,
a first printing step of printing an outer frame of a pattern with the metallic ink on the material;
After the outer frame is cured, a second printing step of printing the metallic ink inside the outer frame with a gap of 0.01 mm to 1.0 mm between it and the inside of the outer frame,
In the second printing step, the printing method is characterized in that the metallic ink to be printed is dammed up by the outer frame and leveled so that it is below the height of the outer frame. In a printing method in which a pattern is printed on the surface of a material using an inkjet printer using ultraviolet curable metallic ink,
The surface of the material is polished,
a first printing step of printing an outer frame of a pattern with the metallic ink on the material;
After the outer frame is cured, a second printing step of printing the metallic ink inside the outer frame with a gap of 0.01 mm to 1.0 mm between it and the inside of the outer frame,
In the second printing step, the printing method is characterized in that the metallic ink to be printed is dammed up by the outer frame and leveled so that it is below the height of the outer frame. 3. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the height of the outer frame is 1 μm to 10,000 μm. 4. In the second printing step, the metallic ink ejected by an inkjet printer is controlled to have a density of 30% or more, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. printing method.

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