JPH08218279A - Fabric for ink jet printing and method for printing the same and printed product - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a fabric with no color blur, and causing no decoloration even after washed, by imparting a fabric with an ionic polymeric substance with its ionicity opposite to that of an ionic dye to be used in ink, a nonionic surfactant and a stiffening agent with the ioniclty opposite to that of the above dye. CONSTITUTION: This fabric 10-400 in Clark stiffness, to be subjected to ink jet printing with ink containing an ionic dye (pref. anionic dye), is obtained by imparting the surface of a fabric with 0.05-20g/m<2> of a mixture of a nonionic surfactant consisting of ethylene oxide-added nonylphenol 100-1000 in molecular weight and 7-15 in HLB number and a cationic polymer 2000-200000 in molecular weight such as polyallylamine opposite in ionicity to the dye for ink at the weight ratio of (1:10) to (∥10:1) followed by imparting the other surface with a stiffening agent consisting of nonionic paste or impregnating the resultant fabric with a mixture of both the above surfactant and the ionic polymer and the stiffening agent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing cloth suitable for an inkjet printing method, a printing method using the printing cloth, and a printed matter obtained by the printing cloth. In particular, it can be easily printed using a general-purpose inkjet printer. Printing cloth, its printing method, and
Printed materials used for bookmarks, patchwork, small items, etc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, industrial printing apparatuses using ink jet technology have been put into practical use, and high-definition print cloth has been produced in a simple process.
In the printing process, a large amount of dye is still washed off in the post-treatment, and both remain in the industrial printing device. Therefore, it is practically difficult for the user to easily perform high-definition printing as desired.

In the industrial printing method, after printing the fabric, the fabric is exposed to a high temperature steam called steaming so that the dye molecules and the constituent molecules of the fibers in the fabric are exposed to each other. The binding is further promoted, and then unreacted dye molecules are washed away by washing with water to obtain a printed matter. This last wash off dye typically ranges from 20% to 50% of the dye used during printing. Therefore, in order to maintain a sufficient color density as a printed matter, a large amount of this dye to be washed off must be prepared in advance at the time of printing, and an industrial printing method usually requires a large amount of dye. To do.

[0004]

Recently, a small-sized and low-priced color ink jet printer has come into wide use, and it is desired to easily produce a printed matter by using this printer.

In a general-purpose ink jet printer, the dye contained in the ink is about several% in order to prevent the ejection efficiency from the fine nozzles of the print head and the ejection failure mainly due to the ink drying at the nozzle tip. It is generally suppressed to.

When such an ink jet printer is used for simple printing, it is very difficult to attach a large amount of dye to the cloth at the time of printing. Therefore,
When printing with a general-purpose inkjet printer, it is necessary that the dye attached during printing hardly flows out during subsequent washing with water. And, that is an important point to be overcome from the viewpoint of running cost increase due to consumption of a large amount of undyed dye at the time of printing and polluted waste water in general households.

Further, since it is almost impossible to realize the steaming process in the above-mentioned industrial printing method in a general household, it is a big problem to eliminate the steaming process.

In order to solve the above problems, a method of printing an anionic dye-containing ink on a cation-treated cloth or a dye fixing agent having an ionicity different from that of the dye in the ink is previously contained in the cloth. There have been proposed methods such as a method in which the attached dye is aggregated and fixed on the cloth. However, these methods are not practically sufficient, and the following problems remain.

Generally, a polymer substance is used as the above-mentioned dye fixing agent, which promotes the fixation of the dye by associating and aggregating the polymer substance and the dye. Therefore, the larger the size of the aggregate is, the more effective it is from the viewpoint of dye fixation. For that purpose, the larger the molecular weight of the polymer substance is, the more effective it is. However, when the molecular weight of the polymer substance as the dye fixing agent is too large, when it is applied to the fabric by itself, the permeability to the fabric is poor,
The conventional impregnation method tends to stay on the surface of the fabric. When printing on such a fabric, the dye tends to agglomerate significantly on the surface of the fabric. Therefore, when printing a pattern with a large amount of ink or printing under high humidity, image quality and water fastness, that is, water resistance. May be adversely affected. That is, in a portion where the amount of ink is large, there arises inconveniences such as a) the colorability is deteriorated, b) the penetration of the ink in the depth direction of the cloth is impeded, and the bleeding on the cloth surface is deteriorated. Further, c) the ink is apt to be non-uniformly permeated into the cloth, the uniformity of the solid portion is poor, and d) the permeation is insufficient, so that the dyeing is not sufficiently carried out and the water resistance is low. Since such a symptom may occur, there is a restriction on the kinds of polymer substances that can be used, so that the application range of the cloth becomes very narrow.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a printing technique applicable not only in the industrial field but also in the non-industrial field such as personal use, which gives a clear image and A fabric for inkjet printing, which has a great effect of stopping the coloration without wasting the attached dye, and a printing method using the fabric to obtain a simple and clear image, and a fading even after washing. To provide robust prints.

Another object of the present invention is to extend the highly vivid color expression by the ink jet printing method applying the ink jet technology to not only the industrial use but also a wide range of general households in the hobby field. Another object of the present invention is to provide a fabric for inkjet printing, which enables a printed matter to be produced with the same feeling as when recording.

[0012]

The present invention provides a non-ionic surfactant and an ionic property opposite to that of a dye used in an ink jet printing cloth used for ink jet printing with an ink containing an ionic dye. A cloth for ink jet printing characterized by being provided with a polymer substance, printing on the cloth by an ink jet method using an ink containing an ionic dye, and then washing the cloth. Provided is a characteristic inkjet printing method, and a printed matter obtained by drying a printed fabric obtained by the method.

[0013]

As described above, in the printing method of the present invention, when printing is performed using the ink containing the ionic dye, a nonionic surfactant and a polymer substance having an ionic property opposite to that of the dye are used. Is used. From this, it becomes possible to sufficiently permeate the ink and fix the dye and form a clear image on the cloth.

As a result of repeated studies by the present inventors, it has been found that using a cloth provided with a nonionic surfactant at the same time as a polymeric substance exhibits a very good effect. This nonionic surfactant exhibits very good properties as a penetrant. Therefore, the presence of the nonionic surfactant first of all allows the polymeric substance to penetrate sufficiently into the interior of the fiber and to be evenly distributed in the fabric. Secondly, when the ink droplets reach the cloth, the nonionic surfactant in the cloth acts to further promote the ink penetration, and the ink is absorbed even inside the fiber.

As a result, when the ink drops reach the fabric,
First, the ink penetrates deep into the fiber due to the action of the nonionic surfactant, and the dye contained in the ink aggregates due to the polymer substance contained in the cloth. The agglomerates formed in this way are highly viscous and difficult to move with the ink solvent, so that even if adjacent dots are formed with different color inks as in full-color printing images, they will mix with each other. Without, unnecessary bleeding can be suppressed, and since the dye becomes insoluble in water due to aggregation,
It will not flow out by repeating washing with water after printing. Therefore, at the same time, the water resistance is improved, and at the same time, the penetration of the ink is sufficient and uniform, and the remarkable aggregation of the dye on the surface of the cloth is eliminated, so that an image having a bright color and good uniformity of the solid portion can be obtained.

The present invention will be described in more detail below.

In the present invention, an ionic dye, that is, an anionic or cationic dye is used as the dye. Specifically, anionic dyes include acid dyes, direct dyes, reactive dyes, and the like, and cationic dyes include basic dyes, and anionic dyes are particularly preferably used as inkjet coloring materials. Therefore, the case where an anionic dye is used will be described here.

The polymer used in the present invention has an ionic property opposite to that of the dye in order to associate with the dye to form an aggregate and to prevent the dye from seeping out and flowing out during washing with water. There is a need. That is, if the dye is an anionic dye, a cationic polymer substance is used.

Specific examples of the cationic polymer substance include:
Water-soluble cationic polymers such as polyallylamine salt, dimethyldiallylammonium chloride, polyvinylamine salt, and chitoacetate can be used, but are not limited thereto. Further, even if it is usually nonionic, it is possible to use a substance obtained by adding a cationic group to a part of the substance. As a specific example, a copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and a quaternary salt of aminoalkyl alkylate,
A copolymer of acrylamide and a quaternary salt of aminomethyl acrylamide can be used, but is not limited to these substances.

Further, these substances are satisfactory if they are water-soluble, but they may be dispersions such as latex and emulsion. Further, even if it is a solvent other than water-soluble, it is not limited to these as long as it is a solvent that does not damage the cloth. The molecular weight of these cationic polymeric substances is 20
If it is 00 or more, the effect is sufficient when the present invention is carried out, but a suitable molecular weight is 2000 or more and 200,000 or less. If this range is exceeded, the penetration of the cationic polymeric substance itself into the fabric will not proceed even if a nonionic surfactant is used,
Problems such as bleeding of the printed image are likely to occur.

The nonionic surfactant has a function of enhancing the permeability of the cationic polymer substance and the ink. A surfactant usually has a penetrating effect regardless of ionicity, but a nonionic surfactant is most suitable as a penetrating agent used in the present invention.

First, when an anionic surfactant is used,
It cannot be used because it is highly likely to be ionically aggregated when applied to a fabric together with a cationic polymer substance. Therefore, cationic or nonionic surfactants have to be used, but on the other side, cationic surfactants have been found in some materials to reduce the lightfastness of prints. Although the mechanism of this phenomenon is not clear, it is presumed that the amine compound, which is often used as a cationic surfactant, acts on the fading of the dye. For the above reasons, in the present invention, the use of the nonionic surfactant has made it possible to exhibit an effective penetrating action that does not adversely affect the image quality of the printed image.

Specific examples of nonionic surfactants include higher alcohol ethylene oxide adducts, alkylphenol ethylene oxide adducts, fatty acid ethylene oxide adducts, polyhydric alcohol fatty acid ester ethylene oxide adducts, fats and oils ethylene oxide adducts,
Polypropylene glycol ethylene oxide adduct,
The fatty acid ester of glycerol, the fatty acid ester of pentaerythritol, the fatty acid ester of sorbitol and sorbitan, the fatty acid ester of sucrose, the alkyl ether of a polyhydric alcohol, etc. are mentioned, but not limited to those exemplified here. These nonionic surfactants preferably have a molecular weight of 100 or more and 1000 or less. L. B. Is 7 or more 1
If it is 5 or less, the permeability is high, which is particularly preferable.

The cloth used in the present invention is not limited to a special one, and cloths used in various daily applications can be used. Furthermore, it is also preferable to use a cloth which has been cationized by a conventional method. Preferred examples of cloth that can be used include natural fibers such as cotton, wool and silk, or synthetic fibers such as nylon and rayon.

Further, the application of the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance described above to the cloth may be carried out by preparing a treatment liquid containing other additives, if necessary, and using the treatment liquid by a known method. , For example, mangle, roll coater,
A blade coater, an air knife coater, a gate roll coater, a bar coater, a spray coater, a slit coater, a gravure coater, a curtain coater or the like may be used for impregnation or coating. Then, it is dried using a hot air drying oven, a heating drum, etc. to obtain a treated cloth. After this drying, it is also effective to flatten and finish the cloth with a hot press or the like if necessary.

The amount of the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance applied to the cloth is such that the total amount thereof is
No 0.05 g / m ² to fabric well be 20 g / m ^2, more preferably to not 1g / m ² 10g / m ²
Is. If it is less than 0.05 g / m ² , the effects of both components as described above cannot be sufficiently obtained. On the other hand, 20 g / m
^When it exceeds ² , the treatment liquid becomes highly viscous, and these components do not sufficiently penetrate into the fabric, and accordingly, the components to be imparted are densely gathered near the fabric surface after drying, so that a so-called film-forming effect is formed. For this reason, the absorbability of the ink to the fibers constituting the cloth is deteriorated, and thus the color after printing is deteriorated, and the ink is largely left on the surface of the cloth to cause remarkable bleeding. It may worsen the dyeing property of.

The weight ratio of the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance is in the range of 1:10 to 10: 1, and more preferably in the range of 1:10 to 1: 1. is there. If the ratio of the nonionic surfactant is smaller than 1:10, the action of promoting penetration of the polymer into the fabric becomes insufficient, and image deterioration due to bleeding or dullness of color may occur. If the ratio of the cationic polymer substance is smaller than 1:10, the dye-fixing effect is insufficient.

In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the fabric is provided with a stiffening agent having an ionicity different from that of the above dye, in addition to the above-mentioned nonionic surfactant and cationic polymer substance. The Clark stiffness of the cloth is 10 or more and 400 or less.

The purpose of stiffening the cloth, that is, imparting "stiffness" to the cloth, is to facilitate the mounting of the cloth on the conveying means in a general-purpose ink jet printer and also to enable automatic feeding. By adding this treatment to the above-mentioned cloth to which the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance have been added, the cloth becomes easy to handle, and printing in a general household becomes easier. . In addition, when operating in a general household, the surrounding environment of the printing device is more diverse than that of industrial printing. Therefore, the treatment with the stiffening agent imparts "stiffness" to the fabric itself for handling. It will be effective to facilitate.

As the stiffening agent, a polymer compound generally used as a sizing agent can be applied. Examples of materials that can be used as the sizing agent include carboxymethyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid ester, acrylamide, starch, dextrin, guar gum, british rubber, tragacanth rubber, locust bean rubber and the like.

Among these, those having an ionicity different from that of the dye used, or those prepared by adjusting a specific group in the molecule so as to be so selected are used. For example, if the dye has an anionic group, a stiffening agent having a cationic or nonionic property can be used,
Among these, nonionic ones are preferable because they do not interact with the dye during printing. Further, two or more kinds of materials may be mixed and used as long as they satisfy the ionicity.

These stiffening agents are applied in the form of a solution to the cloth by a conventionally known coating method, for example, a bar coater, a roll coater, an applicator, or a method such as screen printing, and then dried. Alternatively, the whole cloth is dipped in the solution and then squeezed with a mangle to give it to the cloth. It is also possible to use a method of laminating films formed of a sizing agent by adhesion or pressure bonding.

Since the sizing agent has a high hygroscopic property, the ink easily penetrates even when the sizing agent is present on the recording surface, and the sizing agent can sufficiently penetrate into the cloth itself. Therefore, the sizing agent may be applied to the cloth in any form of lamination or impregnation. In addition to these sizing agents, oils, waxes, high molecular compounds and inorganic compounds are added to the above-mentioned stiffening treatment solution in order to adjust the type and degree of stiffening of the fabric, the surface condition of the fabric, etc. The salts, fillers, preservatives, etc. may be appropriately mixed depending on the type of cloth used or the type of printing liquid.

Further, by defining the ionicity of the stiffening agent as described above, the cloth is washed after printing, and even when the stiffening agent is washed away, there is no bond between the dye and the stiffening agent. , The printed image does not fade. ′ The order of applying the stiffening agent, the above-mentioned nonionic surfactant, and the cationic polymer substance to the cloth may be basically any order as long as the above ionic characteristics are satisfied. Various types of application are possible.

That is, 1) a non-ionic surfactant and a cationic polymer substance, and a stiffening agent impregnated in a mixed state, 2) a non-ionic surfactant and a cationic polymer substance And then the stiffening agent are applied in this order, or 3) the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance, and the stiffening agent are applied from different sides. It is a thing.

Each of these has the following features.

First, the method of mixing the respective solutions of the nonionic surfactant, the cationic polymer substance and the stiffening agent and carrying out the treatment at the same time is the most general and simple point. Is effective in. In addition, if the ionicity is controlled as described above, aggregation of the solutions and deterioration of the characteristics of the materials in the solutions do not occur when the solutions are mixed. In particular, it is more effective if the stiffening agent is nonionic.

Next, the case where the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance are applied and then the stiffening agent is applied in this order is effective when the thickness of the cloth to be treated is small. In the case of thin cloth, it is difficult to obtain sufficient rigidity without using a large amount of stiffening agent, but such a large amount of stiffening agent inside the cloth may impair the penetration of ink into the print medium. The sex comes out. In order to avoid this, the present inventors have found that it is effective to carry out a treatment with a nonionic surfactant and a cationic polymer substance, and then a treatment in which a stiffening agent is applied in a relatively small amount. . That is, in this form, the stiffening agent is likely to become dense near the surface of the fabric, the apparent rigidity of the fabric is easily increased, and sufficient rigidity can be obtained with a relatively small amount of stiffening agent. As a result, even if the ink is jetted onto the print medium by inkjet printing, the ink can sufficiently penetrate into the print medium, and the contact between the dye and the nonionic surfactant or the cationic polymer substance is stiffened. The drug does not interfere.

The method in which the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance are applied and the stiffening agent is applied from different sides, the functions of the nonionic surfactant and the stiffening agent are more efficiently expressed. In order to increase the existence probability of the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance on the surface on which the inkjet printing is performed, the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance are added from the printing surface side. The applying process is performed, and the stiffening agent is applied from the surface opposite to the printing surface. In that case, which surface is to be treated first is not particularly limited, but in order to enhance the effect of the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance, the nonionic surfactant for the printed surface is It is preferable that the treatment for applying the cationic polymer substance is performed first.

In any of these treatment methods, the nonionic surfactant, the cationic polymer substance and the stiffening agent are treated as a solution to treat the fabric.
A drying step is required after the application of the solution, and the number of steps varies depending on each of the above-mentioned treatment methods. Therefore, the type of cloth to be used or the type of nonionic surfactant and cationic polymer substance and the type of stiffening agent or An appropriate form is selected according to the type of solvent that dissolves these substances. Needless to say, it is necessary to treat the cloth itself with the drying process so that the cloth itself can be conveyed by a general-purpose inkjet printer.

As another aspect of the present invention, an ink jet printing method of printing the above-mentioned ink jet printing cloth of the present invention with an ink containing an ionic dye by an ink jet method and then washing the cloth, There is a printed matter produced by the printing method.

After recording on the above-mentioned cloth for ink-jet printing with an ink-jet printer and naturally drying, the dye is completely fixed and dyed on the cloth by the effect of the cationic polymer substance. By doing so, the unreacted nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance can be washed away. When a stiffening agent is added, the stiffening agent can be washed off at the same time. As a result, the cloth returns to its original texture, and a printed cloth with clear printing is completed. Further, in this state, since the surplus nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance are removed, another dye does not adhere after this.

After printing with an ink jet printer, in order to further accelerate the fixing of the ink to the cloth, hot air is blown to the cloth immediately after recording, it is passed over a heat fixing device, or it is heated with a household iron or the like. It is also effective to perform processing. In addition, when washing, the washing method is not particularly limited, either a household washing machine, or hand-washing may be used, and the water temperature at that time is not limited, The higher the water temperature, the more preferable in terms of improving dyeing.

Subsequently, one of the inkjet printing apparatuses using the above-described inkjet printing cloth is used.
I will explain an example.

FIG. 1 shows a main part of a constitutional example of an ink jet printing apparatus related to a method for printing on a cloth by using a general-purpose printer according to the present invention.

In this figure, the carriage 706 includes:
Four ink tanks 701 filled with inks of four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, respectively,
Four recording heads 174 for ejecting four color inks
An integrated recording head cartridge 702 is integrated.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the cut sheet-shaped ink jet printing cloth according to the present invention is automatically attached to the conveying roller pair. The device with this automatic mounting is
There is no need to manually adjust the print medium to the platen,
This is preferable for printing in general households because the print medium can be easily aligned during printing.

Further, in FIG. 1, an inclined feeding tray 705 is provided for stable automatic mounting, and a stiffened cut sheet-shaped ink jet printing cloth 707 is inserted along the feeding tray. Only by this, the tip end portion is properly abutted on the transport drive roller 703. By rotationally driving the transport driving roller 703 in this state, the leading end of the stiffened cut sheet-shaped cloth for ink jet printing 707 is correctly guided to the pressure contact portion of the transport roller pair without causing skew or wrinkle. It is automatically attached to a pair of conveying rollers that are conveying means.

Preferably, as described above, a cut sheet-like cloth for ink jet printing is cut according to the texture, whereby a stable image can be printed in the direction of the predetermined texture, and the print cloth is cut out and used for patchwork or the like. When used, the pattern and texture of the print can be made uniform, so high-quality creation without distortion can be performed. When there is no feeding tray, the leading end of the cut sheet-shaped fabric medium may be aligned with the pressure contact portion of the transport driving roller and the transport driven roller, and the transport driving roller may be driven to rotate.

The cut sheet-shaped cloth medium according to the present invention has the same conveyance characteristics as plain paper as described above, and other known paper feed resist adjusting mechanism or the like can be applied.

Numeral 703 denotes a conveyance driving roller which rotates in the direction of arrow C in the figure while pressing the cut sheet-shaped cloth medium 707 automatically attached together with the conveyance driven roller 704 and sends the cut sheet-shaped cloth medium 707 at any time. . The carriage 706 stands by at a home position (not shown) when not printing or when performing multihead recovery work.

Before the start of printing, the carriage 706 at the position shown in the figure (home position) moves along the carriage guide shaft 708 when a print start command arrives, and at a timing based on the read signal of the linear encoder. By ejecting four color inks from the multi-nozzles on the print head 174 in accordance with the print signal, printing of the print width d is performed on the print surface of the medium. By this print scanning, the respective inks of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow land in this order on the print surface of the medium to form dots. When the printing of the data is completed up to the end of the print surface of the medium, the carriage returns to the original home position, and the next line is printed again. From the end of this first print to the start of the second print, the transport drive roller 7
By rotating 03, the medium of the print width d is fed.

In this way, by repeating the printing of the print width d of the print head and the feeding of the medium for each scanning of the carriage, the printing of the data on the printing surface of one medium is completed. When the printing is completed, the sheet is ejected by the conveying means, and at the same time, the platen 709 that formed a flat print surface at the time of printing is inclined in the ejection direction to assist the ejection of the rear end portion. A means such as a spur roller may be provided on the downstream side of the print unit in order to assist the discharge and to stably hold the cut sheet fabric medium in the print unit.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the print head 174 for ejecting ink used in the apparatus according to the present invention.

One end of the wiring board 80 is connected to the heater board 8
A plurality of pads corresponding to the respective electric / thermal energy converters for receiving electric signals from the main body device are provided at the other end of the wiring board 80, which are mutually connected to one wiring portion. . As a result, the electric signal from the main body device is supplied to each electric / thermal energy converter.

The metal support 82 for supporting the back surface of the wiring board 80 on a plane serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. The pressing spring 83 is formed by bending a region near the ink ejection port of the grooved top plate 84 provided with a groove forming the inner wall of the nozzle into a substantially U-shape in order to elastically press the line. This portion, a claw that is hooked by using an escape hole provided in the metal support, and a pair of rear legs that receives the force acting on the spring with the metal support. Due to this spring force, the wiring board 80 can be attached by the grooved top plate 8
4 and 4 are pressed together.

The wiring board 80 is attached to the support by sticking with an adhesive or the like. A filter 86 is provided at the end of the ink supply pipe 85. The ink supply member 87 is formed by molding, and the grooved top plate 84 is also integrally formed with the orifice plate portion 880 and a flow path leading to each ink supply port. The ink supply member 87 is fixed to the support 82 by fixing the ink supply member 87.
This is simply performed by causing two pins (not shown) on the back surface side of (1) to project through the two holes 88 and 89 of the support member 82 and heat-bonding them. At this time, the gap between the orifice plate portion 880 and the ink supply member 87 is sealed, and further, the gap between the orifice plate portion and the front end portion of the support substrate 82 is completely sealed by passing through the groove 90 provided in the support substrate 82. To do.

In FIG. 3, the four heads 174 capable of ejecting inks of four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow respectively are integrally assembled with the frame 170.
The structure of a head-integrated inkjet cartridge 702 is shown. The four recording heads are mounted in the frame 170 at predetermined intervals, and the resists in the nozzle row direction are fixed in an adjusted state. In this case, the mechanical reference surface of the head is used to improve the mutual landing position accuracy between colors, but the recording head is temporarily fixed to the frame and then actually ejected to measure the landing position. The mutual landing positions between the colors may be directly adjusted based on the obtained data to further improve the accuracy.

Reference numeral 171 denotes a frame cover, and 173
Is a connector for connecting the pads provided on the wiring board 80 of the four recording heads and the electric signals from the recording apparatus main body. Assembling the four heads integrally is effective in improving the mutual landing position accuracy between the heads as described above, in addition to the handling advantage, but can reduce the number of signal line connections with the main body of the recording apparatus. It has a great effect in terms. For example, the signal line common to the four heads such as the GND line can be shared on the connector substrate 172 to reduce the number of lines as it is. Further, if an integrated circuit substrate is provided and time-division driving is performed for each head. It is also possible to share the recording signal line. Such a reduction in the number of electrical connections is effective in a device having a large number of signal lines such as a color machine and a multi-nozzle high speed machine. With such a configuration, an image printing operation is started in accordance with an image signal sent from a personal computer or the like (not shown) connected to the inkjet printing apparatus in FIG. 1, and inkjet printing is performed.

As described above, the present invention has found a technical problem from a novel viewpoint, does not always cause excessive bleeding of the ink under all circumstances, and has a perfect color for the dye in the ink. It is possible to provide a fabric for inkjet printing that exhibits a stopping effect, and it is also possible to add stiffening treatment at the same time, and it is possible to realize stable conveyance of the fabric medium even when using a general-purpose printer. It is possible to provide not only an industrial printing method, an apparatus and a cloth for printing to which the inkjet technology is applied, but also a printing method, an apparatus and a cut sheet-like cloth medium used therefor which can be sufficiently used in general households,
Moreover, the image printed on the cloth does not fade even after the subsequent washing, and a clear printed matter can be provided with the minimum necessary amount of dye. This makes it possible to apply a highly vivid color expression by a printing method to which an inkjet technology is applied, to not only industrial use but also a wide range of hobby fields of general households.
Further details of the invention can be seen from the examples below.

[0061]

EXAMPLES Next, details of the present invention will be described based on examples. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the parts in the text are based on weight.

(Example 1) Composition of treatment liquid (a) -Nonylphenol ethylene oxide 10 mol adduct (nonionic surfactant HLB 13.3) 3 parts-Polyallylamine hydrochloride (cationic polymer substance molecular weight 100,000) 5 Part / water 92 parts 100% cotton made in the shape of cloth in this treatment liquid (a)
While sufficiently dipping the fabric, the fabric is impregnated with a mangle at a squeezing ratio of 60%, and then successively dried at 140 ° C. for 1 minute to obtain a cloth for inkjet printing. The total amount of the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance applied in the fabric thus obtained was 7.0 g / m ² . Here, the draw ratio is defined by the following formula when the weights of the cloth before and after the impregnation treatment are W1 and W2, respectively.

[0063]

[Equation 1] Squeezing ratio (%) = {(W2-W1) / W1} × 100 This inkjet print cloth is cut into A4 size cut sheets and attached to A4 size paper, and the inkjet print shown in FIG. It was attached to the device and printed.

Next, regarding the inks to be mounted on the ink jet printing apparatus, four color inks (corresponding to black, cyan, magenta and yellow, respectively) of inks (A) to (D) shown below are separately prepared. It was packed in an ink tank and used. Each of the inks was obtained by mixing the following components, stirring the mixture for 2 hours, and then pressure-filtering it with a Fluoropore filter FP-100 (trade name, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.).

Ink (A) composition C.I. I. Food Black 2 (dye) 3 parts-Thiodiglycol 10 parts-Ethylene oxide adduct of acetylene glycol 0.05 parts-Water 86.95 parts Ink (B) composition -C. I. Acid Blue 9 (dye) 2.5 parts-Thiodiglycol 10 parts-Ethylene oxide adduct of acetylene glycol 0.05 parts-Water 87.45 parts Ink (C) composition - C . I. Acid Red 289 (dye) 2.5 parts-Thiodiglycol 10 parts-Acetylene glycol ethylene oxide adduct 0.05 parts-Water 87.45 parts Ink (D) composition -C. I. Direct Yellow 86 (dye) 2 parts-Thiodiglycol 10 parts-Acetylene glycol ethylene oxide adduct 0.05 parts-Water 87.95 parts Ink (A) to ink (D) and the inkjet shown in FIG. Using a printing device, printing was performed on an inkjet printing cloth at a resolution of 360 dpi under normal temperature and normal humidity. The color of the printed matter obtained by this was very vivid, the penetration of the ink into the back side of the cloth was sufficient, and the uniformity of the solid portion was also good. In addition, even in a portion where different colors are adjacent to each other, there is no bleeding caused by the colors being mixed unnecessarily. In particular, a mixed color portion of R, G, B, etc., which is formed by mixing two kinds of the above-mentioned inks, that is, the ink amount Bleeding did not occur at all even in the areas where there were many marks. Further, even if the printed cloth was washed with running water, the color was not faded at all, and the effect of fixing the color was perfect.

Next, the obtained ink-jet printing cloth and the ink-jet printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 were allowed to stand in a high humidity environment (30 ° C., 80% RH) for 48 hours, and thereafter, in this environment, the same method as above. I printed it.
Also in this case, there was no problem at all with respect to image disturbance, discoloration during washing, stains on drainage, and the like.

(Example 2) After applying the treatment liquid (b) as a stiffening treatment agent shown below to the cloth for ink jet printing prepared in Example 1 by a roll coater,
The fabric is dried at 120 ° C. for 2 minutes, and then the fabric is pressed by a hot press plate whose temperature is adjusted to 100 ° C. to perform a flattening treatment, and then a slit cutter is used to match the direction of the grain of the fabric with A4 size. It was cut into a size, and was made into a stiffened cut sheet fabric for inkjet printing. The Clark stiffness of the obtained ink-jet printing cloth was 40.

Composition of Treatment Liquid (b) : Gua Gum: 3 parts; Water: 97 parts The cut sheet-like fabric for ink jet printing was mounted on the ink jet printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 for printing. Since the cloth for inkjet printing is stiffened, it can be mounted on the inkjet printing apparatus as it is. Therefore, 20 pieces of cut sheet-like cloth were stacked and mounted on the above-mentioned conveying means, and 20 sheets were continuously printed. The conveyance in the printing apparatus was good, and the printed matter could be obtained very easily with a general-purpose inkjet printing apparatus.

The printed matter obtained in this way was very vivid in color, the ink penetrated sufficiently to the back side of the cloth, and the solid part had good uniformity. Further, even in a portion where different colors are adjacent to each other, there is no bleeding caused by unnecessary mixing of the colors, and in particular, no bleeding occurs even in a mixed color portion of R, G, B, that is, a portion having a large ink amount. Thereafter, the fabric was washed with ordinary water in a household washing machine for 7 minutes, whereby the stiffening agent could be easily removed, and a printed product with a texture of 100% cotton was obtained. There was no decrease in density due to washing, no wash water stains, and no change in image density or saturation. Then, the entire surface of the cloth was sufficiently heated with a household iron to spread the wrinkles, and the desired printed matter was obtained.

Further, in the same manner as in Example 1, the ink jet printing apparatus and the obtained ink jet printing cloth were left under high humidity and printed in this environment. Also in this case, there was no problem in terms of defective conveyance, image disturbance, and discoloration during washing.

Example 3 A treatment liquid (c) having the following composition was prepared.

[0072]Composition of treatment liquid (c) ・ Lauryl alcohol ethylene oxide 5 mol adduct (nonionic surfactant HLB 10.8) 4 parts ・ Polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (cationic polymer molecular weight 100,000) 6 parts ・ Water 94 parts In this treatment liquid (c) , A silk fabric made in the shape of a cloth
While fully immersing, continue to mangle with a squeezing rate of 80%
Impregnation is performed and then dried at 90 ° C for 2 minutes.
In this way, we obtain a cloth for inkjet printing
Was. Nonionic surfactant and high cationic in fabric
The total applied amount of molecular substances is 7.0 g / m ²Met.
This inkjet print cloth is cut into A4 size sheets.
Cut it into a sheet and attach it to A4 size paper,
Mounted on a jet printing device and at room temperature as in Example 1.
Printing was performed under normal humidity and high humidity.

The printed matter thus obtained had very vivid colors when printed under any environment, the ink penetrated sufficiently to the back side of the cloth, and the uniformity of the solid portion was good. Further, even in a portion where different colors are adjacent to each other, there is no bleeding caused by the colors being mixed unnecessarily, and in particular, R, G and B produced by mixing two kinds of the aforementioned inks.
No bleeding occurred at all in the color-mixed portion such as, that is, the portion where the ink amount was large. After that, it was rubbed and washed with 5 liters of lukewarm water, but there was no decrease in density, no turbidity in water, and no change in density or saturation of the image.

Example 4 The ink jet printing cloth prepared in Example 3 was sufficiently dipped in the treatment liquid (d) as a stiffening treatment agent shown below, and then was mangled at a squeezing ratio of 60%. Impregnation treatment was performed, and the fabric was successively dried at 80 ° C. for 2 minutes to obtain a cloth for inkjet printing. At this time, the amount of the treatment agent applied to the fabric was 7.0 g / m ² . Next, this cloth was cut into a size of A4 size with a slit cutter in accordance with the direction of the cloth to obtain a stiffened cut sheet-shaped cloth for inkjet printing. The Clark stiffness of the obtained ink-jet printing cloth was 40.

Composition of Treatment Liquid (d) Polyacrylamide 6 parts Water 94 parts Since this ink jet printing cloth is stiffened, it can be mounted as it is on the ink jet printing apparatus of FIG. Therefore, in the same manner as in Example 2, 20 sheets were piled up and mounted on the conveying means, and 20 sheets were continuously printed under normal temperature and normal humidity and high humidity environment. As a result, the conveyance in the printing apparatus was good under any environment, and the printed matter could be obtained very easily with a general-purpose inkjet printing apparatus.

The color of the obtained printed matter was very vivid, the penetration of the ink into the back side of the cloth was sufficient, and the uniformity of the solid portion was also good. In addition, even in a portion where different colors are adjacent to each other, there is no bleeding caused by unnecessary mixing of the colors, and in particular, bleeding does not occur even in a mixed color portion of R, G, B, that is, a portion having a large ink amount.

After that, the stiffening agent can be easily removed by gently rubbing and washing with running water for 5 minutes.
A printed product with a texture of% was obtained. The image was not distorted or discolored due to the washing process.

Example 5 A treatment liquid (e) having the following composition was prepared, which contained a stiffening agent component in a nonionic surfactant and a cationic polymer substance.

Preparation of treatment liquid (e) : Nonylphenol ethylene oxide 10 mol adduct (nonionic surfactant HLB 13.3) 2 parts-Diallylamine-acrylamide copolymer (cationic polymer substance molecular weight 80,000) 3 parts-Gua gum (Non-ionic stiffening agent) 5 parts Water 90 parts While fully dipping the cotton fabric made in the form of a piece of fabric into this treatment liquid (e), subsequently impregnating it with a mangle at a squeezing ratio of 80%. Then, the cloth for inkjet printing was obtained in the same manner as the cloth for inkjet printing by successively drying at 140 ° C. for 1 minute. At this time, the amount of the treatment agent applied to the fabric is 9.0 g /
m ² .

Since the stiffening agent is applied to the cloth for inkjet printing from the initial stage, it can be mounted as it is on the conveying means of the inkjet printing apparatus shown in FIG. Therefore, as in Example 2, 20 sheets were stacked and mounted on the above-mentioned conveying means, and continuous 20 sheets were printed under normal temperature and normal humidity and high humidity environment. As a result, the conveyance in the printing apparatus was good under any environment, and the printed matter could be obtained very easily with a general-purpose inkjet printing apparatus. Further, all of them were clear images, maintained a sufficient density, and had no extra color bleeding.

Thereafter, this fabric was washed with ordinary water in a household washing machine for 7 minutes, whereby the stiffening agent could be easily removed, and a printed product with a texture of 100% cotton was obtained. . Since the stiffening agent is nonionic and does not bind to the dye in the ink, no color loss occurs even when washing is performed, and there is no change in image density or saturation. Then, the entire surface of the cloth was sufficiently heated with a household iron to unfold the wrinkles and the desired printed matter was obtained.

(Comparative Example 1) A treatment liquid (f) having the following composition was prepared.

Composition of Treatment Liquid (f) Polyallylamine (Cationic Polymer Molecular Weight 100,000) 3 parts Water 97 parts Using this treatment liquid (f), the same procedure as in Example 1 was carried out.
A 4-sheet cut sheet fabric for inkjet printing was prepared, and printing was performed under the same temperature and normal humidity and high humidity in the same manner. Among the prints obtained in this way, when printed at room temperature and normal humidity, bleeding is seen in the mixed color portion of R, G, B, that is, the portion where colors with a large amount of ink are adjacent to each other, and the color is dull. there were. When printed under high humidity, bleeding was observed even in the areas where Y, M, and C were adjacent to each other, and the uniformity of solid areas was poor. Then, it was kneaded and washed with 5 liters of lukewarm water, but the water became muddy and the density of the mixed color portion was lowered.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By printing an ink containing the nonionic surfactant and an ionic polymer substance that is the opposite of the dye having an ionic property on the cloth, under any circumstances,
There is obtained a fabric for inkjet printing, which does not always have extra color bleeding on the printed image, and which gives a printed image without discoloration even if it is washed as it is after performing inkjet printing.

Further, by adding a stiffening agent to the cloth, the rigidity of the cloth can be increased and the transportability can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to easily print with a general-purpose ink jet printer and only for industrial use. Not only that, it can be widely applied to the hobby fields of general households.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an example of an inkjet printing apparatus used in an inkjet printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the configuration of an example of an inkjet print head applicable to the inkjet printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the configuration of an example of a color inkjet print head applicable to the inkjet printing method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

701 Print liquid tank 702 4 head integrated inkjet cartridge 703 Conveyance driving roller 704 Conveyance driven roller 705 Feed tray 706 Carriage 707 Stiffened cut sheet ink jet printing cloth 708 Carriage guide shaft 709 Platen

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An inkjet printing cloth used for inkjet printing with an ink containing an ionic dye, wherein a nonionic surfactant and a polymeric substance having an ionic property opposite to that of the dye used are provided. A fabric for inkjet printing, which is characterized in that 2. The nonionic surfactant has a molecular weight of 1
The fabric for inkjet printing according to claim 1, which is 00 or more and 1000 or less. 3. The H.I. L. B.
Is 7 or more and 15 or less, The cloth for inkjet printing according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The cloth for inkjet printing according to claim 1, wherein the polymer substance has a molecular weight of 2000 or more and 200,000 or less. 5. The fabric for ink jet printing according to any one of 4 to the total applied amount claims 1 is 0.05 g / m ² or more 20 g / m ² or less with a nonionic surfactant wherein the polymeric material . 6. The ink jet printing cloth according to claim 5, wherein the weight ratio of the nonionic surfactant to the polymer substance is in the range of 1:10 to 10: 1. 7. The cloth for inkjet printing according to claim 1, wherein a stiffening agent having an ionicity different from that of the dye used is added. 8. The fabric for inkjet printing according to claim 7, wherein the stiffening agent is water-soluble and contains a non-dyeing substance as a main component. 9. The ink jet printing cloth according to claim 7, wherein the stiffening agent is a nonionic substance. 10. The fabric for inkjet printing according to claim 7, which is stiffened to have a Clark stiffness of 10 or more and 400 or less. 11. The ink jet printing cloth according to claim 7, wherein the nonionic surfactant, the cationic polymer substance and the stiffening agent are impregnated in a mixed state. 12. The ink jet printing cloth according to claim 7, wherein the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance are applied, and then the stiffening agent is applied in this order. 13. The ink jet printing cloth according to claim 7, wherein the nonionic surfactant and the cationic polymer substance are applied and the stiffening agent is applied from different sides. . 14. The inkjet printing cloth according to claim 1, wherein an ink containing an ionic dye is used to print by an inkjet method, and then the cloth is washed. Inkjet printing method. 15. The ink jet printing method according to claim 14, wherein the dye contained in the ink is anionic and the polymer substance applied to the cloth is ionic. 16. The ink-jet printing cloth according to any one of claims 1 to 13 is printed by an ink-jet method using an ink containing an ionic dye, and then the cloth is washed and then the cloth is washed. A printed product obtained by drying cloth.