JPH05301340A - Ink jet recording apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable sharp printing generating no blur and almost having no irregularity or stripes by providing a drying part between first and second ink jet recording parts and performing recording in the first ink jet recording part to dry a recorded region and further applying recording to the recorded region using the second ink jet recording part. CONSTITUTION:A drying part 45 consisting of a heating plate 34 heating cloth from the rear of a belt 37 and a hot air duct 35 drying the cloth from the surface of the belt 37 is provided on the downstream side of a first printing part 31 and a second printing part 31' is provided on the downstream side of the drying part. Serial recording is performed in 1/4 density in the first printing part 31 and the cloth is subsequently fed over a distance 1/4 recording width and, further, serial recording is performed in 1/4 density. This operation is repeated and recording is performed in 1/2 density in the first printing part. Next, the cloth is passed through the drying part 45 and the same lap-recording is performed in the second printing part 31'. Predetermined recording density is obtained by recordings of 1/4X4 times in all. Since the drying part 45 is provided, recording density becomes almost twice that of a conventional recording.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvements in ink jet recording apparatus and ink jet recording method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Inkjet recording has a much higher definition than conventional screen printing and can print a high-quality design with gradation. In addition, it has a feature that it is possible to have a reasonable productivity by using a multi-nozzle head having hundreds to thousands of nozzles.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

1) However, due to the nature of recording with ink ejected from a thin inkjet nozzle, it is unavoidable to use ink with low viscosity (= thin). Therefore, dark patterns cannot be recorded. If a large amount of ink is sprayed, it can be darkened, but it cannot be made into a beautiful pattern by bleeding on the fabric.

2) Since a large number of nozzles are used in parallel, unevenness, depending on the characteristics peculiar to the nozzles,
It is difficult to form a defect-free image in which streaks and white streaks due to whimsical non-ejection are recorded. This is a major problem for industrial machines that continuously produce tens of meters and hundreds of meters in continuous operation.

3) A light color is expressed by sparsely attaching ink droplets, but the image becomes rough. In particular, when the nozzle diameter is made large and therefore the ink droplets are made large in order to avoid the disadvantage of 2), this means that the resolution is lowered and the roughness becomes remarkable.

4) Depending on the treating agent, it is unstable with respect to the cloth, and therefore, there are some agents which are markedly effective when applied immediately before recording, but such agents cannot be used in the conventional process.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, 1) a cloth which has been once recorded is subjected to a drying step, and further recording is repeated, thereby making it possible to perform dark recording without bleeding (approximately double density), 2) When serial scanning is performed, several lines of overlapped recording are divided and line feed is performed to eliminate the connecting line.

3) When forming one row of pixels or one pixel, the head is relatively shifted and the recording is performed by overlapping recording using different nozzles, thereby eliminating unevenness, distortion, and white streaks. 4) Since the light color is recorded by being overlapped with the transparent ink for thinning so as to have a predetermined density (lightness) on the cloth, the roughness is eliminated. Even if a large amount of transparent ink is recorded, a high-definition image can be realized without bleeding since the subsequent recording process is performed after the subsequent drying process.

5) Immediately before recording, the pretreatment agent was recorded at the head of the pretreatment station or the recording section, and the posttreatment agent was recorded at the tail of the final recording section or at the posttreatment station to enhance the treatment effect.

In this specification, "recording" includes the meaning of "printing", and broadly means applying an image to a recording medium such as cloth or paper.

[0011]

According to the present invention, it is possible to perform print recording without changing the characteristics of printing by ink jet recording, that is, high definition and high gradation, and dark brilliant non-bleeding, almost no unevenness, streaks, connecting lines and roughness.

[0012]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic arrangement of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. This inkjet recording device is configured as a system and is roughly classified into
An image reading device 1 that reads an original image created by a designer or the like and converts the original image into original image data represented by an electric signal, and an image processing unit that takes in the original image data from the image reading device 1, processes it, and outputs it as image data 2. An image recording section 3 for recording on a recording medium such as cloth based on the image data created by the image processing section 2. In the image reading device 1, the original image is read by the CCD image sensor. The image processing unit 2 ejects four color inks, which will be described later, of magenta (abbreviation M), cyan (abbreviation C), yellow (abbreviation Y), and black (abbreviation Bk) from the input original image data. -2 (FIG. 2) to generate data. When creating data, image processing to reproduce the original image with ink dots, color arrangement to determine color tone, layout change, enlargement, reduction, etc.
A choice is made. In the image recording unit 3, recording is performed by the inkjet recording unit A-2. The inkjet recording unit A-2 is for recording by ejecting minute ink droplets toward a recording medium and attaching the ink droplets to the recording medium.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a printing section of the ink jet recording apparatus used in the present invention.

First, the ink jet printing section is roughly classified into a frame frame 6, two guide rails 7 and 8, an ink jet head 9 and a carriage 10 for moving the same, an ink supply device 11 and a carriage 12 for moving the same, and a head recovery device 13. And a transmission system 5. The inkjet head 9 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a head) includes a plurality of nozzle rows and a conversion device for converting an electric signal into ink ejection energy, and the nozzles are responsive to the image signal sent from the image processing unit 2. It has a mechanism to selectively eject ink from a row.

The head is a recording head for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy, and is provided with a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink, which is applied by the thermal energy converter. A head that causes a state change in the ink by the generated thermal energy and ejects the ink from the ejection port based on the state change is preferably used.

The ink supply device 11 stores ink,
It is for supplying a required amount of ink to the head, and has an ink tank, an ink pump, and the like, which are not shown. The main body and the head 9 are connected by an ink supply tube 15, and normally the head 9 is automatically supplied by the amount of ink ejected from the head by a capillary action. In addition, in a head recovery operation as described below, ink is forcibly supplied to the head 9 using an ink pump.

The head 9 and the ink supply device 11 are mounted on a carriage 10 and a carriage 12, respectively, and are configured to reciprocate along guide rails 7 and 8 by a driving device (not shown).

The head recovery device 13 is provided at a position that can face the head 9 at the home position (standby position) of the head 9 in order to maintain the ink ejection stability of the head, and can move forward and backward in the direction of arrow A. Specifically, the following operation is performed.

First, the head 9 is capped at the home position to prevent evaporation of ink from the nozzles of the head 9 during non-operation (capping operation).
Alternatively, an operation of pressurizing the ink flow path in the head by using an ink pump to forcibly eject ink from the nozzle to eject air bubbles, dust, etc. in the nozzle before starting image recording (pressure recovery operation) Alternatively, it performs a function of collecting the ejected ink when performing the operation of forcibly sucking and ejecting the ink from the nozzle (suction recovery operation).

The power transmission system 5 includes a power supply unit and a control unit for performing sequence control of the entire ink jet recording unit.
Each time the head 9 moves along the guide rails in the main scanning direction to perform recording for a predetermined length, the cloth 36 is conveyed by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction (direction of arrow B) by a conveying device (not shown) to form an image. It will be done. In the figure, the shaded area 17 indicates the portion where the recording is completed.

As the recording head 9, a plurality of recording heads for recording with a single color ink jet recording head, recording with different color inks for color recording, or a plurality of recording heads with dark and light inks of the same color but different densities. A recording head or the like can be used.

Further, the structure of the recording means and the ink tank, such as a cartridge type in which the recording head and the ink tank are integrated, or a structure in which the recording head and the ink tank are separated and connected by an ink supply tube, It can be applied regardless.

Furthermore, by carrying out the present invention in a recording apparatus of the following aspect, it is possible to obtain a high quality image even on a recording medium having extremely low water absorption.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an outline of an image recording section particularly preferable for the present invention. This recording apparatus is roughly divided into a cloth feeding section B that sends a recording medium such as a roll-shaped cloth that has been subjected to a pretreatment for printing, and a cloth that has been sent precisely by an inkjet head. It is composed of a main body portion A for printing and a winding portion C for drying and winding the printed cloth. The main body portion A further includes a precision feeding portion A-1 for the cloth including the platen and the ink jet recording portion A.
-2 and.

The operation of this apparatus will be described below by taking as an example the case where printing is carried out using a pretreated fabric as a recording medium.

The pre-processed roll-shaped cloth 36 is sent out from the benefit section B and sent to the main body section. A thin endless belt 37 that is precisely step-driven is wound around a drive roller 47 and a winding roller 49 in the main body. The drive roller 47 is a high resolution stepping motor (not shown).
Is step driven directly to step feed the belt by that step amount. The sent cloth 36 is pressed by the pressing roller 40 and attached to the surface of the belt 37 backed up by the winding roller 49.

The cloth 36, which has been step-fed by the belt, is positioned by the platen 32 on the back surface of the belt in the first printing section 31 and printed by the ink jet head 9 from the front side. Each time one line of printing is completed, a predetermined amount of step feed is performed, then heating from the back surface of the belt by the heating plate 34 and warm air duct 35
It is dried by the hot air from the surface supplied / exhausted by. Then, in the second printing unit 31 ', the overprinting is performed in the same manner as the first printing unit.

The printed fabric is peeled off, dried again in the post-drying section 46 similar to the above-mentioned heating plate and warm air duct, and guided to the guide roll 41 to the take-up roll 4.
It is rolled up to 8. Then, the wound cloth is removed from the apparatus, and the product is subjected to post-treatment steps such as color development, washing, and drying in batch processing.

Next, details of the vicinity of the ink jet recording section A-2 will be described with reference to FIG.

In a preferred embodiment, the head of the first printing unit thins out the number of dots to record information, and after the drying process, the head of the second printing unit thins out the information in the first printing unit. The ink droplets are ejected so as to complement the information.

In FIG. 4, a fabric 36 which is a recording medium.
Is attached to a belt and is step-fed upward in the figure. In the first printing section 31 in the lower part of the drawing, in addition to Y, M, C, and Bk, there is a first carriage 44 carrying eight inkjet heads for the special colors S1 to S4. The ink jet head (recording head) in this example uses an ink jet head (recording head) having an element that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling of the ink, as the energy used for ejecting the ink.
An array of 128 ejection ports with a density of dpi (dots / inch) is used.

On the downstream side of the first printing section, there is provided a drying section 45 including a heating plate 34 for heating from the back side of the belt and a warm air duct 35 for drying from the front side. The heat transfer surface of the heating plate 34 is pressed against the strongly tensioned endless belt 37, and the high temperature and high pressure steam passing through the hollow inside strongly heats the conveyor belt 37 from the back surface. Conveyor belt 37
Heats the attached fabric 36 directly and effectively by heat conduction. The inside of the heating plate surface is provided with fins 34 'for collecting heat so that the heat can be efficiently concentrated on the back surface of the belt. The side not in contact with the belt is covered with a heat insulating material 43 to prevent loss due to heat dissipation.

On the front side, by blowing dry hot air from the supply duct 30 on the downstream side, air having lower humidity is applied to the cloth which is being dried to enhance the effect. The air flowing in the direction opposite to the cloth conveying direction and containing a sufficient amount of water is sucked from the suction duct 33 on the upstream side by a much larger amount than the blowing amount, so that the evaporated water leaks and the surrounding air is leaked. Avoid condensation on mechanical devices. The warm air supply source is on the back side in FIG. 4, and suction is performed from the front side, so that the pressure difference between the blowing port 38 and the suction port 39 facing the cloth is uniform over the entire longitudinal direction. It is designed to be. The air blower / sucker is offset downstream with respect to the center of the back heating plate so that the air hits the fully heated location. By these, the first printing unit 31 strongly dries a large amount of water in the ink including the thinning liquid received by the cloth.

The second printing unit 3 is provided downstream (upper) thereof.
1 ', and a second carriage 44' having the same structure as the first carriage forms a second print portion.

Next, a specific example of ink jet printing recording will be described. As described above, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment suitable for textile printing. As shown in FIG. 2, after the inkjet printing process, it is dried (including natural drying). Then, a step of diffusing the dye on the fabric fiber and reactively fixing the dye on the fiber is performed. By this step, it is possible to obtain sufficient color developability and fastness due to fixation of the dye.

The diffusion and reaction fixing steps may be conventionally known methods, for example, the steaming method. In addition,
In this case, the cloth may be subjected to an alkali treatment in advance before the printing step.

Then, in the post-treatment step, the unreacted dye and the substance used for the pre-treatment are removed. Finally, the recording is completed through a finishing process such as defect correction and ironing.

As the recording medium, cloth, wallpaper, paper, OH
Examples thereof include films for P. The present invention is particularly suitable for recording media having low water absorption such as cloth and wallpaper.

In the present invention, a cloth is a material,
Includes all woven, non-woven and other fabrics, whether woven or knitted.

In the present invention, the wallpaper includes a wall patch made of a synthetic resin sheet such as paper, cloth and polyvinyl chloride.

In particular, as a fabric for ink-jet printing, (1) the ink can be developed to a sufficient density,
(2) Ink dyeing rate is high, (3) Ink dries quickly on the cloth, (4) Irregular ink bleeding on the cloth is small, (5) In-apparatus It is required to have excellent performance such as excellent transportability. In order to satisfy these required performances, the fabric can be pre-treated in advance if necessary. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-53492 discloses fabrics having an ink receiving layer, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-46589 proposes a fabric containing a reduction inhibitor or an alkaline substance. .. Examples of such pretreatment include a treatment in which the cloth is made to contain a substance selected from an alkaline substance, a water-soluble polymer, a synthetic polymer, a water-soluble metal salt, urea and thiourea.

Examples of the alkaline substance include alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide,
Examples thereof include amines such as mono-, di- and triethanolamine, and carbonic acid or alkali metal bicarbonates such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Furthermore, there are organic acid metal salts such as calcium acetate and barium acetate, and ammonia and ammonia compounds. Also, sodium trichloroacetate, which becomes an alkaline substance under steaming and dry heat, can be used. Particularly preferred alkaline substances are sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate used for dyeing reactive dyes.

As the water-soluble polymer, starch substances such as corn and wheat, cellulosic substances such as carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, gum arabic,
Locust bean gum, tragacanth gum, guar gum,
Examples thereof include polysaccharides such as tamarind seeds, protein substances such as gelatin and casein, tannin-based substances, and natural water-soluble polymers such as lignin-based substances.

Examples of synthetic polymers include polyvinyl alcohol compounds, polyethylene oxide compounds, acrylic acid water-soluble polymers, maleic anhydride water-soluble polymers, and the like. Among these, polysaccharide polymers and cellulose polymers are preferable.

Examples of the water-soluble metal salt include compounds such as halides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals, which produce typical ionic crystals and have a pH of 4 to 10. As a typical example of such a compound, for example, in the case of an alkali metal, NaCl, Na ₂ S
O ₄ , KCl, CH ₃ COONa and the like can be mentioned, and as the alkaline earth metal, CaCl ₂ and MgC.
1 _{2 and the} like. Of these, salts of Na, K and Ca are preferable.

The method of incorporating the above substances and the like into the cloth in the pretreatment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a dipping method, a pad method, a coating method and a spraying method which are usually carried out.

Further, the printing ink applied to the ink-jet printing cloth merely adheres to the cloth when it is applied to the cloth. Therefore, the reaction fixing step (dyeing step) of the dye to the fiber is subsequently performed. Is preferred. Such a reaction fixing step may be a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method, an HT steaming method, a thermofix method, or an alkali pad steam method or an alkali blotch steam method when a cloth that has been previously alkali-treated is not used. ,
Examples thereof include alkali shock method and alkali cold fix method.

Further, the unreacted dye and the substance used for the pretreatment can be removed by washing after the above reaction fixing step according to a conventionally known method. In addition, it is preferable to use a conventional fixing treatment together with this washing.

The overlap recording method will be described with reference to FIG.

As described above, eight heads are integrated in each print section, but in this figure, the head row of the print section is represented by only one head for simplification.

In this embodiment, the first printing unit 31 located on the upstream side first performs serial recording at a density of ¼ of the predetermined final recording density (ejection amount per unit area), and then the recording width w is 1 Cloth feed in the direction of ↑ only / 2, and then 1
Serial recording is performed at a density of / 4. The overlapped portions are recorded at a density half the final recording density. This is repeated, and the pattern is printed at the density of 1/2 of the final recording density in the first print portion. Then, while sequentially passing through the drying section 45, it is dried as described above.
Next, the second printing unit 31 'downstream thereof performs the same overprinting as the first printing unit. At the same time, the recording is performed at a density of ¼ × 4 repeated hits = 1, that is, at a predetermined recording density.

It should be noted here that the "predetermined recording density" is almost twice as large as that of the conventional one (when the thin ink is used in combination, because the drying section 45 is provided between the first and second printing sections. However, it is possible to record with sufficient density.

The relational position between the connecting position between the scans of the first printing unit 31 and that of the second printing unit 31 'is as follows. In the first / second printing section, the connection can be made at a pitch of ½ of the recording heads respectively, but in the present embodiment, the mutual connection is prevented from overlapping.
Just in the middle of the joint and the joint of the first record, the second
The joint of the print part of is located. {The relationship between the distance d between the first print portion and the second print portion and the head width w is d = (n + 1/4) w n: a natural number} Here, it should be noted that there is a problem of splice lines between scans. is there.

In a serial scan in which recording is performed with 100% density at a time, a 0% density is expected at a 100% density due to gaps and overlaps caused by various errors related to the cloth feed amount and ink bleeding. White stripes or dark stripes with a density of 200%, resulting in an image defect. However, according to the embodiment of the present invention, 1 is recorded once.
/ 4 = 25% record only, and on top of that, the correct density (= no joint) is covered in triplicate,
Where it should be 100%, it is faintly thin to 75% and only slightly darker to 125%. In addition, the width of this line is almost halved because the amount of error is dispersed in half. As a result of the combination of the two, the connecting line is virtually absent.

Also, whirls that occur whimsically and streaks due to non-ejection are similarly covered by other normal three-time overlapping recording.

That is, according to the present embodiment, the head of the same color passes through one pixel position four times, so that the same color can be overlapped up to 4 dots at this pixel position. Moreover, since 2 dots are piled up, it is dried and the next stacking is performed, so there is no bleeding. That is, instead of the normal binary expression of hitting / not hitting of an inkjet, a multivalued expression of five values (gradation) of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 4 can be performed. In this embodiment, there are five color heads except for black, so that one pixel has 5 gradations to the 5th power = 312.
It will be possible to express five colors. In this calculation, one pixel is supposed to hit a maximum of 4 dots × 5 colors = 20 dots. Moreover, even if there is a drying process, 10 to 16 dots can be printed without blurring to one pixel, so 3
Not as many as 125 colors. However, by superimposing the error diffusion method on this, the tone reproduction can be perfectly reproduced by the effect of the diluting solution. Second Embodiment Another printing unit / drying unit (pre-printing unit / pre-drying unit) is provided upstream of the first printing unit of the above-described embodiment. In this print section, not the ink but the pretreatment agent for dyeing the fabric is applied according to the recording pattern. In the printing section, different types of processing agents are supplied to each head so that it can be applied to various materials of cloth. After the pretreatment agent is fixed in the pre-drying section, it is recorded as in the first embodiment where it is treated with the treatment agent in the downstream first / second printing section. This prevents waste of unnecessary processing agent and reduces the amount of washing agent used in the post-treatment. (Inkjet printing itself is a dye paste = it is an ecology technology that does not require washing out and discarding most of it,
Make it even more effective. ) This pre-recorder does not need much resolution. As a resolving power that is half that of the first / second printing unit, it is possible to use a design in which there is no ejection failure and the processing agent resistance is enhanced.

Finally, another printing section (post-printing section) may be provided to make the post-processing effect more effective. Third Embodiment The recording method in the first / second printing unit is not necessarily limited to the above (overlaying / number of times connecting position, etc.). 1 recording width is divided into plural times and 1 recording width is dividedly fed, at least a drying process is included in the process, and then overlapping recording is performed.
The point of the present invention is that the connecting positions in the printed parts of the above do not match.
Variations such as a configuration having one drying section and b) a configuration having three printing sections with two overlapping / two drying sections are possible.

The method a) further reduces unevenness and streaks.
The method b) achieves higher concentrations. Fourth Embodiment FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining print data printed by sequential multi-scan.

In FIG. 6, each rectangular area surrounded by a dotted line corresponds to one dot (pixel), and the recording density is 400, for example.
In the case of dpi (dots / inch), the area of each rectangle is about (63.5 μm) ² . The part indicated by a black circle is the place where dots are printed, and the part where no black circle is present indicates the part where recording is not performed. The inkjet head moves in the arrow F direction, and ink is ejected from the ink ejection nozzles at a predetermined timing. This sequential multi-scan is performed to correct variations in the size of ink droplets ejected from each nozzle and variations in density between nozzles caused by variations in the ink ejection direction, and the same line (head movement direction) Is recorded with a plurality of nozzles. By thus forming one line with a plurality of nozzles, the randomness of the nozzle characteristics of each inkjet head is utilized to reduce the density unevenness. In other words, sequential scanning with 2 scans
In the case of multi-scan, printing is performed using the upper half of the inkjet head in the first scanning, and printing is performed using the nozzles in the lower half of the inkjet head in the second scanning.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show examples of recording by the sequential multi-scan.

For example, when printing the data shown in FIG. 6, first, as shown in FIG. 7, only the odd-numbered print data of the data generated in the moving direction of the ink jet head is recorded in the upper half of the ink jet head. Record with the nozzle. Next, the inkjet head (carriage) is returned to the home position, the cloth 36 is fed by half the width of the inkjet head, and as shown in FIG. Recording is performed using the nozzle in the lower half of the head. In this way, the data as shown in FIG. 6 is recorded on the cloth 36 by two scans.

FIG. 9 shows an example of printing in a normal two-time multi-scan. Areas (bottom 1) 701, (bottom 2) 7 printed by the inkjet head of the first printing unit 31
02, (bottom 3) 703, the second printing unit 31 '
The area printed with the inkjet head of ((1) above)
04, (upper 2) 705, and (upper 3) 706.

The cloth feeding direction is as shown by the arrow in the figure, and the cloth 3
The single step feed amount of 6 corresponds to the recording width of the inkjet head. As is clear from FIG. 9, the entire recorded area is either the upper half of the inkjet head of the second print section 31 ′ and the lower half of the inkjet head of the first print section 31 or the second print section 31. ′
Lower half of the inkjet head and the first printing unit 3
1 and the upper half of the inkjet head. Here, the data recorded by each ink jet head is thinned out as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and as a result of overlapping recording by these two ink jet heads, the print density indicated by 707 is obtained. can get.

The recorded matter which has been subjected to the above-mentioned post-processing step is then cut into a desired size, and the cut pieces are sewn, bonded, welded, etc. to obtain a final processed product. Then, clothes such as dresses, dresses, ties, swimwear, duvet covers, sofa covers, handkerchiefs, curtains, etc. can be obtained. The method of processing cloth by sewing etc. to make clothes and other daily necessities is described in many publicly known books such as "Latest Knit Sewing Manual": Published by Senyi Journal Co., Ltd. and monthly magazine "Soen": Published by Bunka Publishing Bureau. Has been done.

Further, the drying section is not a forced air blower or the like, but a predetermined time for the ink to naturally dry for the time until the recording medium is conveyed from the first inkjet recording section to the second inkjet recording section. The space portion may be provided.

The present invention brings excellent effects particularly in an ink jet type recording head and a recording apparatus which form flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy even in the ink jet recording system.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and the continuous type, but in the case of the on-demand type in particular, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal converter, which corresponds to the recorded information and gives a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and This is effective because film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface, and as a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) in a one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because the bubble growth and contraction are immediately and appropriately performed, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. In addition,
US Patent No. 4 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface
If the conditions described in the specification of No. 313124 are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, The present invention also includes the configurations used in US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge portion.

Further, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus, by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification, The present invention can more effectively exert the above-described effects, although it may have a configuration that satisfies the length or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, by being mounted on the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided with an ink tank is used.

Further, it is preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention, because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or sucking means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection other than recording It is also effective to perform stable recording.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but even an ink that solidifies at room temperature or below, one that softens at room temperature, or one that is liquid, or In the above-mentioned inkjet method, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is within a stable ejection range. It is sufficient that the ink is liquid.

In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by being used as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or the ink is solidified in a standing state for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. In some cases, such as ink that is liquefied and ejected as liquefied ink by applying ink in accordance with a recording signal of thermal energy, or that has already started to solidify when it reaches a recording medium. In the present invention, the use of an ink having a property of being liquefied only by heat energy is also applicable. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in JP-A-54-5684.
No. 7 or JP-A No. 60-71260, such as facing the electrothermal converter while being held as a liquid or solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet. It may be in the form. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as a form of the recording apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the one provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a word processor or a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, May take the form of a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function.

[0078]

According to the present invention, the high-definition and high-gradation printing characteristics of ink jet recording can be applied as they are, and the print recording can be obtained with no bleeding, dark and vivid spots, streaks, joint lines, and roughness. Play.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image recording unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a print unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the vicinity of the inkjet recording unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for overwriting of an example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining recording by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining recording by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining recording by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of recording by sequential multi-scan.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A main body section A-1 precision feeding section A-2 inkjet recording section B feeding section C winding section 1 image reading apparatus 2 image processing section 3 image recording section 9 inkjet head 10 carriage 11 ink supply apparatus 12 carriage 13 head recovery apparatus 30 Supply Duct 31 First Printing Section 31 'Second Printing Section 33 Suction Duct 34 Heating Plate 35 Hot Air Duct 36 Cloth 37 Belt 38 Outlet 39 Suction 40 Pressing Roller 44 First Carriage 44' Second Carriage 45 Drying 46 Post-drying section 47 Drive roller 49 Winding roller

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41J 29/00 B41M 5/00 A 9221-2H D06P 5/00 111 A 9160-4H 9012-2C B41J 3/04 103 B 8804-2C 29/00 G 8804-2C H (72) Inventor Tokito Ebata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masatoshi Tsuii Ota, Tokyo 3-30-2 Maruko Shimoshita, Canon Inc.

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet recording apparatus for performing recording by scanning a recording head for ejecting ink relative to a recording medium, comprising: a first inkjet recording section located upstream of recording; A second ink jet recording unit located on the downstream side, and a recording portion provided between the first ink jet recording unit and the second ink jet recording unit and recorded on the recording medium by the first ink jet recording unit. A drying section for causing the ink to dry in a recording area including: and the recording area where the drying of the ink has occurred by the drying section after recording is performed by the first inkjet recording section. An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising: a recording control unit that performs recording using a second inkjet recording unit. 2. The pretreatment means, which is provided on the upstream side of recording of the first ink jet recording section, for adhering a pretreatment agent to the recording medium, is further provided. Inkjet recording device. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control unit causes the first ink jet printing unit and the second ink jet printing unit to perform multi-valued printing in the print area. Recording device. 4. The recording head comprises a plurality of recording heads, at least one of which is a recording head which ejects ink of a lighter color than the others.
The inkjet recording device described. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drying unit includes a space portion provided between the first ink jet recording unit and the second ink jet recording unit. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drying unit includes a blowing unit provided on a recording surface side of the recording medium. 7. A drying unit is provided on the back surface side of the recording medium, for further promoting drying of ink in a recording region including a recording portion recorded on the recording medium by the first inkjet recording unit. 7. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is an inkjet recording apparatus. 8. The recording control unit causes the first ink jet recording unit to perform recording by thinning out a part of the image data to be recorded, and further to the recording area dried by the drying unit. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second ink jet recording unit is used to record the thinned image data not recorded by the first ink jet recording unit to complement the recording. An inkjet recording device according to claim 1. 9. The first ink jet recording unit and the second ink jet recording unit each include a recording head for ejecting ink, and the recording head is a recording head for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy. 9. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording head is provided with a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. 10. An ink jet recording method for recording by ejecting ink to a recording medium, wherein a recording area including a first ink jet recording portion is formed on the recording medium, and the ink in the recording area is dried. To the recording area where ink drying occurs.
An ink jet recording method comprising forming an ink jet recording portion of. 11. A part of image data to be recorded is thinned out to record the first ink jet recording portion, and the second ink is recorded based on the thinned image data not recorded at the time of forming the first ink jet recording portion. 11. The inkjet recording method according to claim 10, wherein the inkjet recording portion is recorded. 12. The ink according to claim 10, wherein the ink in the recording area is fixed to the recording medium after the second ink jet recording portion is formed.
Inkjet recording method described. 13. The ink jet recording method according to claim 12, wherein the recording medium on which recording has been performed is washed after the fixing step. 14. The ink jet recording method according to claim 10, wherein the recording medium contains a pretreatment agent before ink is discharged onto the recording medium to perform recording. .. 15. The inkjet recording method according to claim 10, wherein the recording medium is a cloth. 16. The ink jet recording method according to claim 10, wherein the recording medium is wallpaper. 17. A recorded matter obtained by carrying out the ink jet recording method according to claim 10. 18. A processed product obtained by further processing the recorded matter according to claim 17. 19. The processed product is obtained by cutting the recorded material into a desired size and subjecting the cut pieces to a step of obtaining a final processed product. The processed product described. 20. The processed product according to claim 19, wherein the step for obtaining the final processed product is sewing. 21. The processed product according to claim 18, wherein the processed product is clothing. 22. The first ink jet recording portion and the second ink jet recording portion are each recorded by a recording head which ejects ink, and the recording head,
A recording head for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy, which is an inkjet recording head provided with a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy applied to the ink. The ink jet recording method according to claim 2.