JPH06228482A - Ink, method for ink jet recording using the same and recording equipment using the same ink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an ink, comprising a prescribed amount of a specific dye, glycerol, thiodiglycol, urea, isopropyl alcohol and water, having a high density of recorded images without causing the bleeding, excellent in discharge stability, reproducibility and color developing properties and suitable for ink jet recording, etc. CONSTITUTION:The ink comprises (A) a dye selected from C.I. Direct Yellow 86 and C.I. Acid Yellow 23 in an amount of 0.5-1.5wt.% (based on the total weight of the ink), (B) glycerol and thiodiglycol in an amount of preferably 1-15wt.% (based on the total weight of the ink), (C) urea in an amount of preferably 2-10wt.% (based on the total weight of the ink), (D) isopropyl alcohol in an amount of preferably 1-5wt.% (based on the total weight of the ink) and (E) water such as deionized water in an amount of 70-90wt.% (based on the total weight of the ink). Furthermore, thermal energy is preferably made to act on the ink and ink drops are then discharged to carry out the ink jet recording.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a non-coated paper which is less likely to cause ink clogging at the orifice even when the recording head is left for a long time, and which is commonly used in offices and schools. When recording on plain paper, a new ink (recording liquid) that can reproduce full-color color with high density of recorded image and printing characteristics hardly affected by paper type; inkjet recording using this The present invention relates to a method and a recording device using such an ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an ink used for writing instruments, stamps, recorders, ink jet recording, etc., for recording various recording materials such as paper, various compositions are used. A proposal is being made. They are various dyes which are coloring materials, dissolved or dispersed in water or other organic solvents. In addition, various methods have been proposed for an inkjet recording method, for example, a method of continuously generating charged droplets and using a part of the droplets for recording, or a recording head having a piezoelectric element. Give a signal,
Recording is performed by generating ink droplets in accordance with the signal, or thermal energy corresponding to the recording signal is applied to the ink inside the chamber of the recording head, and the energy is used to generate droplets for recording. There are methods, etc. Due to the peculiarities of the recording system, the inks used in the various inkjet recording systems as described above have many characteristics as compared with inks for writing instruments, stamps, recorders, etc., for example, clogging at the tip of the orifice. In addition, more strict conditions are required for ejection characteristics such as good signal responsiveness and high-speed recording, or recording characteristics such as low image bleeding and high density.

Conventionally, various studies have been made on yellow ink, magenta ink and cyan ink used for ink jet recording, and a plurality of recording elements of different colors are provided on the same carriage and printing is performed at substantially the same time. Some have been put to practical use in the field of full-color recording. In recent years, there is an increasing demand for color recording (so-called mono-color recording), if not full color, such as business document creation and printing on a postcard at home. In such mono-color recording, various colors, that is, yellow, can be obtained by simply replacing the ink cartridge.
In addition to magenta and cyan, there is a demand for full color printing with inks composed of these colors, but inks of such color tones have not yet been put to practical use.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent ink from clogging at the orifice even when the recording head is left for a long period of time, and to use the non-coated ink which is generally used in offices and schools. A new ink capable of reproducing full-color color when recorded on engineering paper, so-called plain paper, with high density of the recorded image and almost no bleeding, and the printing characteristics are not significantly affected by the type of paper. (Recording liquid), an inkjet recording method using the same, and a recording device using the ink.

[0005]

The above object can be achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention provides a yellow ink containing at least a dye, glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea, isopropyl alcohol and water, wherein the dye is C.I. I. Direct Yellow 86 and C.I. I. A yellow ink selected from Acid Yellow 23 and containing 0.5 to 1.5% of the total weight of the ink, and the dye.
C. I. Acid Red 52 and a compound represented by the following general formula (1), and based on the total weight of the ink:
The magenta ink is contained in the range of 0.5 to 2.0%, and the dye is C.I. I. Direct Blue 199 and C.I. I. The cyan ink is selected from Acid Blue 9 and is contained in the range of 0.5 to 2.0% with respect to the total weight of the ink. Furthermore, an ink set including these yellow ink, magenta ink, and cyan ink, an inkjet recording method using each of the above inks, and a recording device using such inks are provided.

[Chemical 3] (However, Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group. Incidentally, a carbon atom at the 3-position of the benzene ring B may form a benzene ring. , Acetyl group, benzoyl group, paratoluenesulfonyl group and 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-
Represents any of the 1,3,5-triazin-2-yl groups.
Further, M ¹ , M ² and M ³ are bases selected from alkali metals and ammonium, respectively. )

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments. (Ink composition) The dye contained in the inkjet ink as a coloring material should be contained in the ink as much as possible in order to prevent clogging of the orifice that occurs when the recording head is left unused for a long period of time. It is necessary to lower it. However, many dyes tend to fail to provide an image having a sufficient color tone when the concentration in the ink is lowered. On the other hand, as a result of diligent studies, a high-density recorded image was obtained despite the low concentration of the dye contained in the ink, and a dye that can be used as an ink having excellent color developability was found, The present invention has been completed.

First, the liquid medium components used in the ink of the present invention will be described. As a solvent generally used as a liquid medium component of ink, there are high boiling point solvents such as polyhydric alcohols for the purpose of preventing clogging, but since these have low surface tension, droplets are irregular on plain paper. There is a problem that blurring is likely to occur and the image quality is degraded.
That is, when such a solvent is used, it is difficult to achieve both prevention of orifice clogging and high-quality images. In that respect, glycerin and thiodiglycol have high surface tension even though they are high boiling solvents, so that a high-quality image can be obtained.
On the other hand, since it has high hygroscopicity, the effect of preventing clogging of the orifice can be obtained with a small amount. The content of these solvents is 1 to 20% by weight, preferably 1 to 15% by weight based on the total weight of the ink. Further, in the present invention, it is preferable to use glycerin and thiodiglycol together as a solvent. In particular, thiodiglycol is preferable because it can improve (promote) the coloring density of the dye and is excellent in re-ejection property after the recording is stopped.

Further, although the ink of the present invention uses glycerin and thiodiglycol together as a solvent, it is preferable to use urea together with these solvents in order to further improve the clogging prevention effect. . That is, when urea is added to the ink, the water content in the ink is completely evaporated by the combined use with glycerin, and even when only glycerin, a dye and urea are obtained, the viscosity of these solvents does not increase. , Has the property of maintaining fluidity. Therefore,
Since the amount of the polyhydric alcohol added can be smaller than the amount of the dye, the printing quality and the fixability are further improved. The amount of urea used as described above is in the range of 0.5 to 15% by weight, more preferably 2 to 10% by weight, based on the total weight of the ink.

The above combination, that is, an ink composed of a system of dye, glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea and water is still insufficient to solve the problem of fixability (image drying property), and this problem In order to solve the problem, isopropyl alcohol is used together in the present invention. In the past, the use of a penetrant such as a surfactant has been proposed, but in this case, although the fixing property is improved, irregular or irregular bleeding occurs on plain paper, resulting in poor image quality. There was a problem of doing. On the other hand, when isopropyl alcohol is used, the bleeding is uniform, and it has the effect of promoting the ability of droplets to penetrate and evaporate on paper, so that the fixing property can be accelerated without lowering the image quality. The isopropyl alcohol content is 0.1 based on the total weight of the ink.
It is set to 10 to 10% by weight, preferably 1 to 5% by weight. Further, it is preferable to use deionized water as the water, but the content thereof is
The amount is 60 to 90% by weight, more preferably 70 to 90% by weight, based on the total weight of the ink.

Next, the dye which is a coloring material contained in each color ink of the present invention together with the liquid medium components as described above will be explained. The dye preferably used in the yellow ink of the present invention is C.I. I. Direct yellow 86
And C.I. I. It is selected from Acid Yellow 23 and has a content of 0.5 to 1.
It is 5%, more preferably 0.7 to 1.2%.

The dyes preferably used in the magenta ink of the present invention are C.I. I. It is selected from Acid Red 52 and the following general formula (1), and is 0.5 to 2.0%, more preferably 1.5 to 2.0% with respect to the total weight of the ink.
It is contained in the range of 2.0%.

[0012]

[Chemical 4] (However, Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group. Incidentally, a carbon atom at the 3-position of the benzene ring B may form a benzene ring. , Acetyl group, benzoyl group, paratoluenesulfonyl group and 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-
Represents any of the 1,3,5-triazin-2-yl groups.
Further, M ¹ , M ² and M ³ are bases selected from alkali metals and ammonium, respectively. )

Specific examples of the compound represented by the above general formula (1) have already been disclosed in JP-A-59-78273, but those particularly preferably used in the ink of the present invention are shown below. To do.

[0014]

[Chemical 5]

The dyes preferably used in the cyan ink of the present invention are C.I. I. Direct Blue 199 and C.I. I.
It is selected from Acid Blue 9, and the content thereof with respect to the total weight of the ink is 0.5 to 2.0%, more preferably 1.5 to 2.0%.

Even when these dyes used in the present invention are used as a coloring material for an ink jet ink of a type in which thermal energy is applied to ink to eject ink droplets from an orifice, the dye itself or the dye on the heater surface is used. Is preferable because it is less likely to cause precipitation of a decomposition product of the dye and so-called kogation can be suppressed. Further, since these dyes used in the present invention are liquid medium systems composed of glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea and isopropyl alcohol and show particularly good long-term storage stability, they are particularly suitable for inkjet. It is possible to maintain desired properties and quality required for ink for a long period of time.

In the ink of the present invention, in addition to the components described above, if necessary, a viscosity adjusting agent, a surface tension adjusting agent, p
It is also possible to appropriately add additives such as an H modifier, an antifungal agent and an antirust agent. The pH of the ink of the present invention is selected in an appropriate range in consideration of the influence on the member in contact with the ink, the storage stability of the ink, the solubility of the dye, and the like. In particular, in an inkjet recording method in which thermal energy is applied to ink in the recording head to generate droplets for recording, there is a close relationship between the dissolution stability of the dye and the continuous ejection stability of the head. The pH of the ink must be selected so that it will dissolve most stably. In the ink of the present invention,
A pH range of 7.5 to 11 is suitable, and a pH range of 8.5 to 1
The range of 0.5 is most suitable.

When ink jet recording is carried out on various types of plain paper using the ink of the present invention as described above, the image quality is deteriorated or the image quality is deteriorated depending on the kind of paper as in the case of using the conventional ink. Good recording is always possible without causing problems such as a decrease in density or a deterioration in fixing property. The ink of the present invention is particularly suitable for use in an inkjet recording method in which droplets are ejected by the action of thermal energy described later for recording.
It can also be used for other methods of inkjet recording and for general writing instruments.

[0019]

EXAMPLES The ink of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples. Hereinafter, “part” means part by weight. Example 1 After sufficiently stirring the compositions shown in Table 1, the pore size was 0.22 μm.
m under pressure filtration with a Fluoropore filter (trademark, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.) to obtain the ink of the present invention.

[0020]

[Table 1]

Example 1 of the present invention obtained as described above
2 is filled in an ink absorber (a polyurethane is used in this embodiment) of a recording unit for ink jet recording which applies thermal energy shown in FIG. Was attached to the inkjet recording apparatus shown in FIG. still,
1 and 2 will be described in detail later. Using such an apparatus, printing was performed on plain paper 4024DP (manufactured by Xerox) and NP dry SK paper (manufactured by Canon). As a result, a clear color image with high density and almost no bleeding was obtained. Further, the ink fixability was good, and so-called kogation did not occur. Next, after leaving the ink-filled recording unit shown in FIG. 2 for one month, printing was started again, but no clogging of the orifice was observed. Furthermore, these inks were also excellent in matching with polyurethane, which is a material of the ink absorber.

Examples 2 to 5 Using the compositions shown in Table 2 below, inks of Examples 2 to 5 of the present invention were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1.

[0023]

[Table 1] Experimental example 2

[0024]

[Table 2] Experimental Example 3

[0025]

[Table 3] Experimental Example 4

[0026]

[Table 3] Experimental Example 5 Using the inks of Examples 2 to 5 obtained as described above, the printing performance and the ejection property were evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. As a result, it was good as in Example 1.

As described above, by using the ink of the present invention for ink jet recording, (1) the orifice is less likely to be clogged even after leaving the recording head.
(2) High-density images can be obtained despite low dye concentration, (3) Full-color images with good reproducibility can be obtained without being affected by the type of plain paper, (4) Printing on plain paper However, there is an advantage that an image with almost no bleeding can be obtained. Further, it is particularly suitable as an ink for inkjet recording of a system in which thermal energy is applied to eject an ink droplet from an orifice for recording.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the ink jet recording apparatus and the like of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an inkjet unit (IJU), an inkjet head (IJH), an ink tank (IT) that is an ink container, and an inkjet cartridge (IJC) that is a recording unit to which the ink of the present invention is preferably applied. And ink jet recording apparatus main body (IJ
It is an explanatory view for explaining RA) and a relation between each of them. The configuration of each part will be described below with reference to these drawings.

(Schematic Description of Apparatus Main Body) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus (IJRA) as an example of the present invention. In the figure, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown). , And is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An inkjet cartridge (IJC) is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate that presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the carriage movement direction. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 is a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head. Reference numeral 5015 is a suction unit that suctions the inside of the cap to perform suction recovery of the recording head through the in-cap opening 5023. 5017 is a cleaning blade, 50
Reference numeral 19 denotes a member that allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these members are supported by the main body support plate 5018.
Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form.

The ink jet cartridge of this example (IJ
In C), as shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 2, the ink storage ratio is large, and the tip of the ink jet unit (IJU) is slightly larger than the entire surface of the ink tank (IT). It has a protruding shape. This inkjet cartridge (IJC) is fixedly supported by a carriage (HC) (FIG. 1) mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus main body (IJRA), which will be described later, and electrical contacts, and the carriage (H).
It is a type that can be attached to and detached from C).

(Description of Inkjet Unit (IJU) Structure) The inkjet unit (IJU) performs recording by using an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy for causing film boiling to the ink in response to an electric signal. It is a system unit. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 is a heater in which electrothermal converters (discharge heaters) arranged in a plurality of rows on a Si substrate and electric wiring such as Al for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converters are formed by a film forming technique. It is a board. Two
Reference numeral 00 denotes a wiring board for the heater board 100, and a pad corresponding to the wiring of the heater board 100 (for example, connected by wire bonding) and a pad located at an end of this wiring and receiving an electric signal from the main body device. And 201.

Reference numeral 1300 denotes a grooved top plate provided with a partition wall and a common liquid chamber for partitioning a plurality of ink flow paths into each other, and an ink receiving port 1500 for receiving the ink supplied from the ink tank and introducing it into the common liquid chamber. And an orifice plate 400 having a plurality of discharge ports are integrally molded. Polysulfone is preferable as the integrally molded material, but other molded resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a support body made of, for example, a metal, which supports the back surface of the wiring board 200 on a plane and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a holding spring, which is M-shaped and presses the common liquid chamber at the center of the M-shape and presses a part of the liquid passage with linear pressure by the front salient 501. The foot of the pressing spring engages the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 with the back surface side of the support body 300 through the hole 3121 of the support body 300, so that they are engaged with each other in a narrowed state. As a result, the pressing spring 500 and the front slant portion 50
By the urging force of 1, the heater board 100 and the top plate 130
0 and crimp.

In addition, the support 300 is an ink tank (I
T) having two positioning protrusions 1012 and positioning holes 312, 1900 and 2000 for engaging with the positioning and heat-sealing holding protrusions 1800 and 1801, as well as to the carriage (HC) of the apparatus main body (IJRA). Positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600 are provided on the back surface side. In addition, the support 300 also has a hole 320 that allows an ink supply pipe 2200 (described later) that allows the ink supply from the ink tank to pass therethrough. The wiring board 200 is attached to the support 300 by adhering it with an adhesive or the like. The recesses 2400 and 2400 of the support 300
Are provided in the vicinity of the positioning projections 2500 and 2600, respectively, and in the assembled ink jet cartridge (IJC) (FIG. 2), the head tip formed by a plurality of parallel grooves 3000 and 3001 on the three sides of the periphery. It is located at the extension point of the area so that unnecessary substances such as dust and ink do not reach the protrusions 2500 and 2600.

The lid member 800 in which the parallel groove 3000 is formed forms the outer wall of the ink jet cartridge (IJC) and also the ink jet unit (IJC).
U) forms a space portion for accommodating U). The ink supply member 600 in which the parallel groove 3001 is formed is the ink conduit 16 that is continuous with the ink supply pipe 2200 described above.
00 is formed as a fixed cantilever on the side of the supply pipe 2200, and a sealing pin 602 for securing a capillary phenomenon between the fixed side of the ink conduit and the ink supply pipe 2200 is inserted. 601 is an ink tank (IT) and a supply pipe 220.
A packing for connecting and sealing with 0, and 700 is a filter provided at the end of the supply pipe on the tank side.

Since the ink supply member 600 is molded, it is inexpensive and has high positional accuracy. Therefore, not only is the accuracy of formation and production reduced, but also the cantilevered conduit 1600 is used for mass production. Also conduit 16
It is possible to stabilize the pressure contact state of 00 with the above-described ink receiving port 1500. In this example, a complete communication state can be reliably obtained by pouring the sealing adhesive from the ink supply member side under this pressure contact state. Note that the ink supply member 600 is fixed to the support 300 by protruding a back surface side pin (not shown) of the ink supply member 600 into the holes 1901 and 1902 of the support 300 through the holes 1901 and 1902 of the support 300. This is easily done by heat-sealing the portion of the support 300 that protrudes to the back surface side. The slightly projected area of the heat-sealed back surface is accommodated in the recess (not shown) on the side wall of the ink jet unit (IJU) mounting surface of the ink tank (IT), so that the unit (IJU) is positioned. The surface is obtained accurately.

(Explanation of Ink Tank (IT) Structure) The ink tank includes a cartridge body 1000, an ink absorber 900, and an ink absorber 900.
000 of the above-mentioned unit (IJU) is attached from a side surface opposite to the mounting surface, and a lid member 1100 for sealing this is formed. Reference numeral 900 denotes an absorber for containing ink, which is arranged in the cartridge body 1000.
Further, reference numeral 1200 is a supply port for supplying ink to a unit (IJU) composed of the above-mentioned respective parts 100 to 600, and the unit is connected to the cartridge main body 1000.
Of the supply port 1200 in the step before being placed in the portion 1010 of
It is also an injection port for impregnating the absorber 900 with ink by injecting the ink from.

In the present example, the portion to which ink can be supplied is the atmosphere communication port and this supply port 1200, but the main body 10 for favorably supplying the ink from the ink absorber.
00 inner rib 2300 and partial rib 25 of the lid member 1100
00 and 2400, the in-tank air existing region is formed continuously from the atmosphere communication port 1401 side and is formed over the farthest corner region from the ink supply port 1200. It is important that good and uniform ink supply to the absorber is performed from the supply port 1200 side. This method is extremely effective in practice.

The rib 1000 has four ribs parallel to the carriage movement direction in the rear direction of the ink tank main body 1000 to prevent the absorber from adhering to the rear surface. Also, the partial ribs 2400 and 2500 are
Similarly, although it is provided on the inner surface of the lid member 1100 which is on a corresponding extension with respect to the rib 1000, unlike the rib 1000, it is in a divided state and the air existence space is increased more than the former. . The partial ribs 2500 and 2400 are dispersed on the surface of half or less of the total area of the lid member 1000. By these ribs, the ink in the corner area farthest from the tank supply port 1200 of the ink absorber is made more stable, but surely.
It was possible to guide to the 00 side by capillary force.

Reference numeral 1401 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. 1400
Is a liquid repellent material disposed inside the atmosphere communication port 1401, and thus ink leakage from the atmosphere communication port 1401 is prevented. Since the ink storage space of the ink tank (IT) described above has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has long sides on the side surfaces, the rib arrangement configuration described above is particularly effective, but the long sides are formed in the carriage movement direction. In the case of holding it or in the case of a cube, it is possible to stabilize the ink supply from the ink absorber 900 by providing ribs on the entire lid member 1100.

The construction of the mounting surface of the unit (IJU) of the ink tank (IT) is shown in FIG. Let L1 be a straight line that passes through substantially the center of the projecting opening of the orifice plate 400 and is parallel to the mounting reference plane of the bottom surface of the tank (IT) or the carriage surface.
The two positioning ridges 1012 that engage the 0 holes 312 are on this straight line L1. The height of the protrusion 1012 is slightly lower than the thickness of the support 300, and the support 300 is positioned. In this drawing, a claw 2100 with which the 90 ° angle engaging surface 4002 of the carriage positioning hook 4001 is engaged is located on the extension of the straight line L1, and the positioning action force with respect to the carriage is the straight line L1. It is configured to operate in a plane region parallel to the reference plane including the above.

As will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, these relationships are effective because the positioning accuracy of only the ink tank (IT) is equivalent to the positioning accuracy of the ejection port of the head. Further, the protrusions 1800 and 1801 of the ink tank corresponding to the fixing holes 1900 and 2000 on the side face of the ink tank of the support 300 are longer than the protrusion 1012 described above, and the portions protruding through the support 300 are This is for fixing the support 300 to the side surface by heat fusion. When a straight line which is perpendicular to the above line L1 and passes through the protrusion 1800 is L3 and a straight line which passes through the protrusion 1801 is L2, the center of the supply port 1200 is located on the straight line L3. This is a preferable configuration because it acts to stabilize the combined state of the port 1200 and the supply pipe 2200, and the load on these combined states can be reduced even when dropped or impacted.

The straight lines L2 and L3 do not match,
Since the protrusions 1800 and 1801 are present around the protrusion 1012 on the ejection port side of the head (IJH), a reinforcing effect of positioning the head (IJH) with respect to the tank is further produced. Incidentally, the curve indicated by L4 is the ink supply member 6
This is the position of the outer wall when 00 is attached. Protrusions 1800 and 18
01 is along the curve L4, the head (IJ
Sufficient strength and positional accuracy are given to the weight of the configuration on the tip side of H). 2700 is an ink tank (IT)
It is provided in case of an abnormal change such that the displacement of the ink tank is extremely deteriorated by being inserted into the hole of the front plate 4000 of the carriage with the tip brim. 2101 is a carriage (H
It is an engaging part with a further positioning part with C).

The ink tank (IT) is a unit (IJ
After the U) is mounted, by covering with the lid 800, the unit (IJU) is enclosed except for the lower opening. However, as the ink jet cartridge (IJC),
Since the lower opening for mounting on the carriage (HC) approaches the carriage (HC), a substantial four-way surrounding space is formed. Therefore, the head (I
The heat generated from (JH) is effective as a heat-retaining space in this space, but the temperature rises slightly for long-term continuous use. Therefore, in this example, a slit 1700 having a width smaller than this space is provided above the cartridge (IJC) in order to help the support body to radiate heat naturally to prevent the temperature from rising while the entire unit (IJU) is prevented. We were able to make the temperature distribution uniform regardless of the environment.

When assembled as an ink jet cartridge (IJC), the ink is
A supply port 1200, a hole 320 provided in the support 300,
And is supplied into the supply tank 600 through an inlet provided on the back side of the supply tank 600, and after passing through the inside, an appropriate supply pipe from the outlet and an ink inlet 1500 of the top plate 400. , Into the common liquid chamber. A packing made of, for example, silicone rubber or butyl rubber is provided in the connection portion for ink communication described above, and sealing is performed by this to secure an ink supply path.

In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is
Using resin such as polysulfone, polyether sulfone, polyphenylene oxide and polypropylene, which has excellent ink resistance, together with the orifice plate 400,
Simultaneously molded together in the mold. As described above, since the integrally molded parts are the ink supply member 600, the top plate / orifice plate integrated, and the ink tank body 1000, not only the assembly accuracy becomes high, but also the mass production quality is extremely effective. is there. Moreover, since the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional one, excellent desired characteristics can be surely exhibited. Further, in this example, polyurethane is used as the material of the ink absorber.

(Explanation of Attaching Inkjet Cartridge (IJC) to Carriage (HC)) In FIG. 5, reference numeral 5000 denotes a platen roller, which guides the recording medium P from the lower side to the upper side of the drawing. Carriage (HC)
Which moves along this platen roller 3000,
On the front platen side of the carriage, a front plate 4000 (thickness 2 mm) located on the front side of the inkjet cartridge (IJC) and the wiring board 20 of the cartridge (IJC).
No. 0 pad 2011 corresponding to a flexible sheet 4005, and a support plate 4 for an electrical connection portion holding a rubber pad 4006 for generating an elastic force that presses the flexible sheet 4005 against the square pad 2011 from the back side.
003 and a positioning hook 4001 for fixing the inkjet cartridge (IJC) to the recording position.

The front plate 4000 has a positioning protruding surface 410.
2 corresponding to the above-mentioned positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600 of the support 300 of the cartridge, respectively, and receive a vertical force toward the protruding surface 4010 after the mounting of the cartridge. For this reason, a rib for reinforcement is provided on the platen roller side of the front plate in the direction of the vertical force (not shown).
Have multiple. This rib is a cartridge (IJ
C) Slightly (about 0.1 m
A head protecting protrusion protruding toward the platen roller is also formed. Support plate for electric connection part 4003
Has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 4004 in the vertical direction, not in the direction of the ribs, and the ratio of lateral protrusion from the platen side toward the hook 4001 side is reduced. This also serves to incline the position when the cartridge is installed as shown in the figure.

Further, the support plate 4003 has a positioning surface 4008 on the platen side and a positioning surface 4007 on the hook side in order to stabilize the electrical contact state, and forms a bad contact area between them, and also a pad. The deformation amount of the rubber sheet 4006 with a botch corresponding to 2011 is uniquely defined. These positioning surfaces are cartridge (IJC)
Is fixed to a recordable position, it comes into contact with the surface of the wiring board 300. In this example, the wiring board 30
Since the pads 201 of 0 are distributed symmetrically with respect to the line L1 described above, the deformation amounts of the respective bottches of the rubber sheet 4006 are made uniform to further stabilize the contact pressure of the pads 2011 and 201. The distribution of the pads 201 in this example is two rows above and two rows below.

The hook 4001 has an elongated hole that engages with the fixed shaft 4009, and the platen roller 500 is rotated after rotating counterclockwise from the position shown in the figure using the moving space of the elongated hole.
By moving to the left along 0, the carriage (H
The inkjet cartridge (IJC) is positioned with respect to C). The hook 4001 may be moved by any means, but it is preferable that the hook 4001 can be moved by a lever or the like. In any case, when the hook 4001 rotates, the cartridge (IJC) moves to the platen roller side, and the positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600 move the positioning surface 401 of the front plate.
When the hook 4001 moves to the position where the hook 4001 can move to the left side, the hook surface 4002 of 90 ° is in close contact with the 90 ° surface of the claw 2100 of the cartridge (IJC), and the cartridge (IJC) is positioned on the positioning surface 2500. And 4010
The pads 201 and 2011 finally start contact with each other by turning in a horizontal plane around the contact area between them. And
When the hook 4001 is held at a predetermined position, that is, a fixed position, the pads 201 and 2011 are completely in contact with each other, the positioning surfaces 2500 and 4010 are completely in contact with each other, and the 90 ° C. surface 4002 and the 90 ° C. surface of the claw are in contact with each other. The two-side contact and the surface contact between the wiring board 300 and the positioning surfaces 4007 and 4008 are simultaneously formed, and the holding of the ink cartridge (IJC) with respect to the carriage is completed.

An example in which recording is performed using the above-described ink of the present invention using each of the above devices will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the entire system using the present invention.
As a constitution, it is composed of a recording means, and preferably, a type discriminating means and an exchange detecting means attached to it (IJ
In order to maintain a stable recording state from the C) unit, a blade for performing head maintenance and the like on the (IJC) unit at the home position, a blade cleaner (first cleaner) for cleaning the blade, and a recording unit. A recording unit configured to include an ink receiving member (second cleaner) that receives ejected ink, an ink forced ejecting unit that forcibly ejects ink from the nozzle of the recording unit, and a recording signal that gives a recording signal to the recording unit. A control unit having a means driving element and a memory means such as a line buffer memory for giving a printing pattern to the recording element driving means, and a printer driver for correcting the printing pattern from the host to the control unit into a form suitable for the control unit. Host Uni consisting of It is composed of a door.

Further, it has a recording medium conveying means for recording an image on the recording medium by the recording means, and preferably, a resist adjusting means for aligning the recording medium at that time. Thereby, even if the same recording medium is conveyed a plurality of times by the recording medium conveying means to perform print recording, the position of each recording time is not displaced. Further, it has a paper discharge means for discharging the recording medium after recording.
At that time, although some methods have already been shown as the paper discharging means, in many cases, the paper discharging spur is generally used while the printing surface of the recording medium after printing is pressed by the spur. .

FIG. 7 shows an example sequence when the system of the present invention is implemented. The procedure when the same recording medium is used to perform print recording a plurality of times is shown. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the first print recording is about to be performed. 6005 is an auto sheet feeder, and 6001 is a pickup roller. 6
Reference numeral 002 denotes a needle roller, which is installed in pressure contact with the platen roller 5000 in parallel and generates a conveying force for conveying the recording medium in the conveying direction. 6003
Is a delivery spur, and between the delivery roller 6004,
After all, it is for generating a conveying force for discharging the paper.
In FIG. 7B, a state in which the recording medium after the printing is once completed and the sheet is discharged is reset in the auto sheet feeder 6005, and the ink cartridge (IJC) is replaced with another type is shown. Shows. Therefore, a state is shown in which the ink (A) printed by the first print recording is attached on the recording medium. FIG. 7 (C)
Shows a state in which the recording medium is set in order to replace the ink cartridge (IJC) again and print and record.

Usually, in such mono-color printing, printing is performed in a single color, and therefore, as compared with a normal one having a plurality of recording elements of different colors on the same carriage, printing is performed at substantially the same time. Image defects such as bleeding and boundary bleeding are very unlikely to occur. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing with extremely high image quality on plain paper without using special paper such as coated paper. Further, even if the same recording medium is reprinted after the printing of at least the first time is completed, at least several tens of seconds are required for the head exchange and data exchange. Re-transferring is difficult to occur. In some cases, it is preferable to change the order of printing depending on the color type, print pattern, and recording medium type. For example, when there is a background color when printing, and patterns such as characters are placed on it. That is, when there is a print area surrounded by the background color, it is better to print the portion surrounded by the background color such as characters and lines last.

This may be extracted by software such as a printer driver, and the optimum printing order may be designated. In addition, a method that eliminates image defects due to uneven ejection amount of nozzles and twisting by performing multiple prints using different nozzles called fine mode, which are commonly used for color printing and zigzag and reverse zigzag overlay printing. May be used. At this time, as a method, the first printing may be performed with the thinned pattern, and the thinned pattern may be printed again by the same head or different heads after the paper is discharged. Further, the paper may be fed so that at least one nozzle is displaced from the number of used nozzles, and scanning may be performed a plurality of times to complete the image. Further, an image improving method may be added in which the number of nozzles used is changed or the registration position of the joint between lines is changed for each color. In the case of mono color,
Normally, printing is performed by overlapping each single color, so unlike a normal color inkjet that has multiple recording heads arranged side-by-side, even when performing bidirectional printing, the order in which colors are printed differs on the forward and return paths. Since it can not be done, even if bidirectional color printing is performed, there is no difference in color tone due to the difference in the order of driving in the forward pass and the return pass, so bidirectional printing is possible without special color tone control, so there is no blur. Moreover, since the color tone is stable, it is possible to obtain a color printed matter with a considerably high image quality.

Up to now, it has been explained that high quality printing can be obtained. However, when printing and recording a plurality of times on the same recording medium, the problem that has been solved by single color printing may be highlighted. It is a matter of spur ejection. Although there are some practical examples of paper ejection spurs, one of the most high-performance and simplest methods is to make the peripheral surface continuously contact with the surface to be printed and rotate, and to use a fluorine compound as the material. A water-repellent material having a high water-repellent performance, which has been devised so as not to transfer the ink to its peripheral surface, has been put into practical use.
In this case, even if printing is performed once on the same recording medium, printing is performed without printing the so-called spur mark even if printing is performed multiple times without transferring the ink of the printed area to the non-printed area. It was possible to However, in the case of performing recording a plurality of times on the same recording medium by using (IJC) of a plurality of colors, when a spur passes over a print with a high print ratio of different colors, the spur is applied only on the different colors. There is a problem that traces are generated. In principle, this is because the ink droplets adhering to the side surface of the spur rather than the peripheral surface are mixed on different colors. If the colors are the same, there is no problem if the inks on the side surfaces are mixed, but there is a problem because the colors are different. In the non-printed area or the area where the printing ratio is low, the ink on the side of the spur did not cause a problem because the deformation due to the swelling of the paper is small. In order to print a plurality of different colors, it is best to replace the spur unit or the like.
Specifically, a combination of well-known means such as one with a spur cleaner and one without spur cleaner can be considered.

[0057]

As described above, the present invention has the following excellent effects. (1) It is difficult for the orifice to be clogged even after leaving the recording head. (2) A high density image can be obtained even though the dye concentration is low. (3) The reproducibility is not affected by the type of plain paper. A good full-color image can be obtained. (4) A yellow ink, a magenta ink, a cyan ink, or an ink set composed of these inks is provided, which produces an excellent image with almost no bleeding even when printed on plain paper. . Further, such an ink is particularly suitable as an inkjet recording ink of a system in which thermal energy is applied to eject an ink droplet from an orifice for recording.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an inkjet recording apparatus main body to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating details of part of an inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining attachment of an inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a system of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a usage pattern of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location C09B 62/085 C 7306-4H

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. At least C.I. I. Direct Yellow 86 and C.I. I. It contains a dye selected from Acid Yellow 23, glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea, isopropyl alcohol and water, and the dye is contained in the range of 0.5 to 1.5% based on the total weight of the ink. Yellow ink characterized in that. 2. At least C.I. I. Acid red 5
2 and a compound selected from the compounds represented by the following general formula (1), glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea, isopropyl alcohol and water, and the dye contains 0.5 to 2 with respect to the total weight of the ink. A magenta ink characterized by being contained in a range of 0.0%. [Chemical 1] (However, Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group. Incidentally, a carbon atom at the 3-position of the benzene ring B may form a benzene ring. , Acetyl group, benzoyl group, paratoluenesulfonyl group and 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-
Represents any of the 1,3,5-triazin-2-yl groups.
Further, M ¹ , M ² and M ³ are bases selected from alkali metals and ammonium, respectively. ) 3. At least C.I. I. Direct Blue 199 and C.I. I. It contains a dye selected from Acid Blue 9, glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea, isopropyl alcohol and water, and the dye is contained in the range of 0.5 to 2.0% based on the total weight of the ink. Cyan ink that is characterized. 4. An ink set of a yellow ink, a magenta ink and a cyan ink containing at least a dye, glycerin, thiodiglycol, urea, isopropyl alcohol and water, wherein the yellow ink contains:
C. I. Direct Yellow 86 and C.I. I. The magenta ink contains 0.5 to 1.5% by weight of a dye selected from Acid Yellow 23, and C.I. I. The cyan ink contains 0.5 to 2.0% by weight of a dye selected from Acid Red 52 and a compound represented by the following general formula (1). I. Direct Blue 199
And C.I. I. An ink set comprising a dye selected from Acid Blue 9 in an amount of 0.5 to 2.0% by weight. [Chemical 2] (However, Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group. Incidentally, a carbon atom at the 3-position of the benzene ring B may form a benzene ring. , Acetyl group, benzoyl group, paratoluenesulfonyl group and 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-
Represents any of the 1,3,5-triazin-2-yl groups.
Further, M ¹ , M ² and M ³ are bases selected from alkali metals and ammonium, respectively. ) 5. An ink jet recording method, wherein ink is ejected from an orifice in accordance with a symbol signal to record on a recording material, wherein the ink is the ink according to claim 1, 2 or 3, An ink jet recording method comprising the ink set according to claim 4. 6. The ink jet recording method according to claim 5, wherein thermal energy is applied to the ink to eject ink droplets. 7. A recording unit comprising an ink containing portion containing ink and a head portion for ejecting the ink as ink droplets, wherein the ink is the ink according to claim 1 or 2.
A recording unit comprising the ink according to claim 3 or the ink set according to claim 4. 8. The recording unit according to claim 7, wherein the head portion includes a head which applies thermal energy to the ink to eject ink droplets. 9. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising a recording unit having an ink containing portion containing ink and a head portion for ejecting the ink as ink droplets, wherein the ink is one of claim 1, claim 2 and claim 2. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the ink according to claim 3 or the ink set according to claim 4. 10. The head unit includes a head for causing thermal energy to act on ink to eject ink droplets.
The inkjet recording device according to item 1.