JPH09254366A - Printing apparatus and production of printed product - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the optimum printing even if a printing medium is different by controlling at least an ink coating condition or an ink drying condition corresponding to the conditions of the printing medium. SOLUTION: As conditions of a printing medium, that is, cloth C, there are a wt. per a unit area, thickness, material quality, surface gloss, the kind of pretreatment, an ink penetration speed, ink absorbing quantity and a weaving structure. As ink coating conditions, there are the ink coating quantity per a unit area of the cloth C, the kind of cloth and physical properties of ink such as a color of ink or the like. Herein, the ink coating quantity is controlled by altering one of the resolving power and wt. of ink droplets. The kind of ink is determined from the material quality of the cloth C and the color of ink is selected in a data forming and editing part in consideration of color data of the original picture to be inputted as image data. The physical properties of ink, that is, the color, compsn., density or viscosity thereof are controlled corresponding to the cloth C. As ink drying conditions, there are a drying time, drying temp., a drying method or the temp. of the cloth C.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing a print medium and a method for manufacturing a printed product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for drawing pictures, characters, and the like on a sheet-like print medium, it is possible to shorten the time from pattern determination to completion, instead of conventional screen printing. An ink jet system has been adopted, which has many advantages such as easy change of pattern and furthermore, high-mix low-volume production.

However, in the printing method using the ink jet method, there is a large difference in the printing result due to the difference in the print medium, and it is not always possible to obtain a printed product of constant quality. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable printing device and a method for manufacturing a printed product, which are capable of performing optimal printing even if print media are different. To do.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a printing apparatus of the present invention, a conveyor belt for conveying a print medium, a plurality of conveyor belts arranged to face the print medium, and having a plurality of colors corresponding to the number of colors by an inkjet method. According to the conditions of the line head of the row and the print medium, at least the drying condition control means for controlling the ink application condition or the drying condition is provided.

On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, according to the method for producing a print product of the present invention, the print medium is printed by ejecting ink droplets of different colors from the full width direction intersecting the transport direction of the print medium. A method of manufacturing a printed product, wherein at least an ink application condition or a drying condition is controlled according to a condition of a print medium.

Preferably, in the present invention, an ink absorber is provided between the print medium and the transport belt, and ink droplets are ejected while absorbing ink from the back side of ink application of the print medium. Further preferably, in the present invention, the ink absorber is a cloth or an adhesive having ink absorbability, and the ink is absorbed by these.

More preferably, in the present invention, an absorption condition control means for controlling the ink absorption condition of the ink absorber is provided, and ink droplets are ejected while controlling the ink absorption condition. Preferably, in the present invention, the condition of the print medium is at least one of weight per unit area, thickness, material, surface gloss, type of pretreatment, ink permeation rate, ink absorption amount, and woven structure. The ink application conditions or drying conditions are controlled based on at least one of these.

Further preferably, in the present invention, the ink application conditions are at least one of the ink application amount per unit area of the print medium, the type of ink, and the physical properties of the ink, and at least one of these is used. Based on the above, the ink application conditions are determined. More preferably, in the present invention, the drying conditions for the ink are:
At least one of the drying temperature, the drying method, and the temperature of the print medium is set, and the drying condition of the ink is determined based on at least one of these.

Preferably, in the present invention, the ink application amount is controlled by changing at least one of the resolution and the weight of the ink droplet. Also preferably,
In the present invention, the type of the ink is determined from the material of the print medium. More preferably, in the present invention, plural kinds of inks are applied to one print medium.

Preferably, in the present invention, the control means further selects the ink color in consideration of the color information of the original image. Further preferably, in the present invention, the drying time of the ink is controlled by changing the printing speed of the print medium. In the printing apparatus and the method for manufacturing a printed product according to the present invention, the print medium can be applied to a sheet-shaped medium such as paper, cloth, plastic, glass, and ceramic.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus to which a method for manufacturing a printed product according to the present invention is applied. The printing apparatus 1 includes an introduction unit 2, a transport unit 3, a printing unit 4, a preliminary drying unit 5, and a drying unit 6.
In addition to the swing-out unit 7, a data creation / editing unit, a color adjustment unit, an image data storage unit, and a fixing unit (not shown) are provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the introducing unit 2 positions a sheet-shaped print medium, for example, a roll or a cloth C accommodated in a box 2a, at least in the wrinkle-stretching and centering direction by a plurality of rolls 2b. It is a portion to be introduced into a predetermined position of the transporting section 3 while performing centering, correction of the texture and correction of curl at both ends (both ears of the cloth). The cloth C is preliminarily subjected to chemical bleeding prevention processing or the like in order to maintain the quality in the drawing processing of a picture or a character.

The transport unit 3 is disposed adjacent to the introduction unit 2 and includes a transport belt 3b laid between the rolls 3a, 3a, a plurality of adhesive application rolls 3c, and a plurality of brush rolls (belt surface cleaning) 3d. This is a part that has the cloth C introduced from the introduction section 2 to the printing section 4 side by the conveyance belt 3b. The transport unit 3 applies the adhesive to the transport belt 3b with a plurality of stages of coating rolls 3c, presses the cloth C introduced from the introducing unit 2 onto the transport belt 3b with the pressing roll 3e, and adheres the fabric C in this state. . An aqueous or oily adhesive is used. Multiple brush rolls 3d
Is used to remove dirt on the conveyor belt 3b. In the conveying section 3, the cloth C is attached to the conveying belt 3b so that the cloth C is in a steady state.
Tension adjustment, meandering adjustment and texture adjustment.

Here, in the case where the cloth C is a highly stretchable cloth, if the cloth C is attached to the conveyor belt 3b in a state where the tension is uneven, the cloth C is peeled from the conveyor belt 3b or the drawn cloth C is conveyed. When removed from the belt 3b, distortion occurs in drawing, such as a circular pattern becoming an ellipse.
In an extreme case, the cloth C is transported by the transport belt 3b in an extreme case.
Or the pattern of the cloth C and the pattern of the cloth C are not aligned,
It must be avoided because it will hinder the cutting and sewing process. Further, in the printing apparatus 1 of the present invention, the fabric C is not in contact with other members except the transport belt 3b in the printing process, as compared with the conventional screen printing apparatus.
For this reason, when the adhesive is transferred, the cloth C is transferred by the transfer belt 3b.
It is sufficient to have an adhesive force enough to maintain a relative position that does not move, and an adhesive force is not so necessary.

On the other hand, when the cloth CIK is arranged as an ink absorber between the cloth C and the conveyor belt 3b, the cloth CIK is pulled out from the storage box 8a and conveyed so as to be superposed on the cloth C, and after being printed, is collected in the collection box 8b. to recover. Print section 4
Is a portion where a pattern, a character, or the like is drawn on the cloth C by the continuous discharge charge control type inkjet method, and is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the cloth C and is opposed to the entire width of the conveyor belt 3b. 8 line heads 40 corresponding to. Here, the line head 40 is
This will be described later in detail. Further, although the line head 40 has eight rows in this embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to use a larger number of line heads in order to improve color reproducibility. Usually, for example, a line head for four colors of cyan (C), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and black (K), or a line head for a total of eight colors including the shades of these CYMKs, It is possible to devise in operation, such as preparing two line heads for replacing ink depending on the design.

The predrying section 5 is a section for drying at least 20% or more of the evaporation component in the ink from the printed cloth C by a heater or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the fabric C printed by the printing unit 4
Is peeled off from the transport belt 3b by the tension applied from the tension roll 5a downstream of the printing unit 4.
At this time, the printed fabric C may lose its ink if it touches a surrounding member, for example, the tension roll 5a, before the evaporation component in the ink droplet is dried by a predetermined amount.
Drying treatment is performed for the purpose of preventing such fainting, because the color mixing is not preferable.

The drying section 6 is a section for further drying the evaporation component in the ink from the cloth C dried in the preliminary drying section 5 by 85% or more. On the other hand, the data creation and editing department
This is a so-called CAD that includes input means for inputting a picture or character to be drawn on a print medium (fabric C) and editing means for editing image data relating to the input picture or character. If the print medium is decided at this point,
It also has a function as an input unit of control data regarding at least ink application conditions or drying conditions and / or ink absorber conditions according to the conditions of the print medium.

The color adjusting section is a section for color-separating the image data relating to the edited picture or character into image data for each predetermined color, and for the image data such as the picture created by the data creating / editing section, It also has a function of correcting image data for each color so that a pattern or the like drawn on a print medium (cloth C) with a limited number of colors of ink reproduces the hue and texture more accurately.

Here, the data creating / editing section and the color adjusting section are collectively called a printer driver. The conditions of the print medium include weight per unit area [unit weight (g / m ² )], thickness, material, surface gloss, type of pretreatment, ink permeation rate, ink absorption amount, woven structure, and the like. On the other hand, the ink application conditions include the ink application amount (g / m ² ) per unit area of the print medium, the ink type, the ink color, and other physical properties of the ink. At this time, the amount of ink applied is controlled by changing at least one of the resolution and the weight (g / dot) of the ink droplet. The type of ink is determined by the material of the print medium. Further, the ink color is selected in the data creating / editing unit in consideration of the color information of the original image, and is input as image data. Furthermore,
The ink drying conditions include a drying time, a drying temperature, a drying method, a temperature of the print medium, and the like. The ink drying time is controlled by changing the print speed of the print medium C in the print unit 4 in the data creation / editing unit. In the data creation / editing unit, individual parameters relating to the conditions of the print medium, the ink application conditions and the ink drying conditions are appropriately selected and input on the display screen by operating the keyboard, for example. The printer driver transmits image data by optical communication with an image data storage unit, which will be described later, provided in each line head 40.

With regard to the physical properties of the ink, the color, composition, density, viscosity and the like are controlled according to the print medium. The ink absorber is
Since it is sandwiched between the conveyor belt 3b and the cloth C to absorb the ink of the cloth C, the absorption speed and the absorption amount are controlled. Similarly, also in the case of the adhesive, the absorption rate and the absorption amount are controlled by changing the thickness and type of the adhesive. As the ink absorbing adhesive, for example, an adhesive composed of a water-soluble polymer is used to absorb the evaporation component (water) in the ink.

The image data storage section is a buffer section for storing color-separated image data, and is a position where the printing apparatus can be operated in the shortest time, for example, each line head 40.
It is provided for each. Generally, image data relating to a picture or the like has a large capacity because it is an aggregate of a large number of data. The image data storage unit performs data processing at night or the like when the apparatus is not operating, and stores various processing data so that the waiting time required for processing large-capacity image data as a whole printing apparatus can be minimized. It is provided for the purpose of reducing.

The fixing portion is a portion for fixing the ink such as a picture drawn on the print medium (cloth C) by washing or the like so as to withstand washing. In the printing apparatus 1 configured as described above, the printed product is manufactured by the printing method and the printed product manufacturing method described below. First, in the introduction section 2, as shown in FIG. 1, the cloth C contained in the box 2a is rolled into a plurality of rolls 2b.
Thus, the wrinkles are introduced into a predetermined position of the conveying section 3 while at least performing wrinkle straightening, centering, tension control or texture correction.

In the conveying section 3, the cloth C introduced from the introducing section 2 is pressed against the conveying belt 3b by the pressing roll 3e and attached thereto, and is continuously conveyed to the printing section 4 side by the conveying belt 3b. At this time, the adhesive is applied to the conveyor belt 3b by a plurality of stages of application rolls 3c. Therefore, the cloth C is wrinkled and stretched, and the conveyor belt 3
Even if the cloth C is a highly stretchable cloth, it is attached to the conveyor belt 3b with a uniform tension and peeled off from the conveyor belt 3b, or the printed pattern is distorted. Does not occur.

In the printing section 4, ink droplets based on predetermined color data are applied to the continuously conveyed cloth C for each color from each line head 40 which is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the conveying direction over the entire width. Then, the edited picture, character, or the like is drawn on the cloth C. Then, the printed cloth C is peeled off from the conveyor belt 3b on the downstream side of the print unit 4 by the tension applied from the tension roll 5a, preliminarily dried in the predrying unit 5, and then the drying unit 6 and the shake-off. It is conveyed to the ink fixing section through the section 7 and becomes a printed product. Here, the position where the cloth C is peeled off from the conveyor belt 3b can be arbitrarily changed to the upstream side or the downstream side in the conveying direction in FIG. 1 by the tension applied from the tension roll 5a. Configuration of Line Head The line head 40 is based on the continuous ejection charging control type inkjet system as described above, and includes the head unit 41, the electrode unit 42, the cap unit 45, and the wipe unit 46 (FIGS. 5 and 6).
Reference).

In the conventional printing apparatus, the print medium (cloth C) is intermittently transported in the transport direction, and the inkjet head is moved in the width direction of the print medium to draw a pattern or the like. On the other hand, the printing apparatus 1 of the present invention in which the printing unit 4 is arranged over the entire width of the cloth C,
Unlike the conventional printing apparatus, it is possible to draw a picture or the like by discharging ink droplets for each color from the line heads 40 in each row in a fixed state while continuously transporting the fabric C,
Printing time can be reduced. Further, the printing apparatus 1 of the present invention can prevent deterioration of quality such as stripes due to insufficient accuracy of the movement amount of the print medium (cloth C) at the joint of head scanning in the conventional printer that scans the head. .

The head portion 41 has an exciting means (piezoelectric vibrating element) for allocating the ink supplied from an ink supply system, which will be described later, to a plurality of ejection nozzles and breaking the ejected ink column into ink droplets. The head section 41 is, for example,
8 known nozzles having a discharge nozzle and a piezoelectric vibrating element
Each unit is assembled, and 25 of these units are arranged in a line so as to correspond to the width of the cloth C. And
In the head portion 41, a gutter (not shown) is arranged below each deflection electrode, similarly to a known inkjet head. Further, in the head portion 41, a support member 41a is movably supported by guide shafts SH, SH vertically arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt 3b (FIG. 5 (a),
(C), FIG. 6 (a), (c) reference).

In the electrode portion 42, the charging electrode is located at a position where the ink column ejected from each of the ejection nozzles is divided into ink droplets, and the ink droplet is deflected in the width direction of the cloth C downstream of the charging electrode in the ink droplet flying direction. Deflection electrodes to be arranged are respectively arranged, and each electrode is composed of eight units like the nozzle. Therefore, the deflection direction of the ink droplet is
Is substantially perpendicular to the transport direction. As will be described later, in the electrode portion 42, a support member 42a is slidably supported by guide shafts SE, SE arranged above the conveyor belt 3b along the conveyance direction of the cloth C (FIG. 5 (b)). ,
(d) and FIG. 6 (b), (d)).

The cap portion 45 has a main body 45a and a cap 45b which covers the entire lower portion of the head portion 41.
The wiper 46 has a main body 46a and a wiper 46b made of a rubber blade or the like for wiping the surface of the discharge nozzle on the lower surface of the head 41. Here, the main body 45a and the main body 46a are slidably supported by the guide shafts SC and SC and the guide shafts SW and SW arranged in parallel with the guide shafts SE and SE, respectively (FIG. 5 (b),
(D) and FIG. 6 (b) and (d)).

The line head 40, as shown in FIG.
The rails 1a, 1a provided on the printing apparatus 1 are suspended so as to be able to be pulled out in the direction shown by the arrow. Therefore,
Each of the line heads 40 can be individually pulled out or replaced with ink used for maintenance of the printing unit 4. Further, even when the transport belt 3b is replaced, the work can be performed with all the line heads 40 pulled out. At this time, the position reproducibility of the state where each line head 40 is returned to the original position is sufficiently considered.

Further, in the line head 40, since the temperature of the ink affects the stability of the drawn pattern and the like, the air whose temperature and humidity are controlled by the air conditioner installed outside is supplied from one inlet. It is configured to be discharged from the other outlet in the pull-out direction. At this time, the air sets the flow velocity of the ink droplet in the flight path to 20 cm / sec or less.

Further, the line head 40 is made of various cloth C.
Fabric C to be printed from
As shown in FIG. 3, a spacer 1c is arranged as an adjusting means between the cloth C and the adjustment base 1b on the side of the printing apparatus 1 so that the distance between the cloth C and the height of the cloth C can be adjusted. , The spacer 1c is replaced with a different thickness depending on the thickness of the cloth C. In this case, an air cylinder can be used instead of the spacer 1c. Ink supply system SIK shown in the ink supply system 4 is a supply system for supplying ink for color-coded to each line head 40, the ink tank TIK,
A portion including a gear pump PG, filters FM and FLC, a heat exchanger HEX, and the like, and a portion indicated by a dotted line in FIG.

In the ink supply system SIK, the ink in the ink tank TIK is supplied to the line head 40 by the gear pump PG.
Although the pressure is sent to each of the discharge nozzles, dusts and the like in the ink that cause the discharge nozzles to be clogged or the ink discharge direction to be disturbed are removed by the filters FM and FLC. Ink is supplied to the ink tank TIK from the outside. At this time, in the continuous inkjet printing apparatus, the stability of the ejection amount of the ink ejected from the ejection nozzles is most related to the stability of the entire apparatus. Therefore, in the printing apparatus 1 of the present invention, it is necessary to control so that the flow rate of the ink ejected from the ejection nozzle is kept constant.

However, in the continuous ink jet system, since the ink flow rate is small, it is difficult to measure accurately by an inexpensive means. For this reason, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the supply pressure of the ink in the ink supply system SIK is controlled by the gear pump PG, and the ink temperature, and thus the viscosity, is controlled. In addition, depending on a picture or the like to be drawn on the cloth C, it is necessary to use a fluorescent color that cannot be reproduced by so-called CYMK (cyan, yellow, magenta, black). Therefore, when the fluorescent color is used, a cleaning liquid is supplied from the outside to clean the ink supply system SIK as shown in the figure. Line Head Operation In the printing apparatus 1, each line head 4
0, the head section 41, the electrode section 42, the cap section 4
5 and the wipe part 46 are variously positioned according to the printing state as follows. Here, in the printing apparatus 1, inks of different colors are ejected from the eight line heads 40 to draw a predetermined design or the like designed in advance, but the operation in each line head 40 is the same. For simplicity, a single line head 40 will be described.

First, the printing apparatus 1 is turned on by switching on.
In the respective line heads 40, the head portion 41 moves downward in the standby position shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) until the apparatus is stabilized and the apparatus is stabilized. The cap 45b and the wiper 46b of the wipe portion 46 are provided on the guide shafts SE and S on the standby position side.
It moves to the downstream side of the head portion 41 of C and SW. At this time, in the head portion 41, ink is continuously ejected from a large number of ejection nozzles.

5 (a) and 5 (c) are front views of the line head 40 seen from the conveyance direction of the cloth C, FIG.
6B and 6D are side views of the line head 40 seen from the pull-out direction, and the same applies to FIG. Next, in the wipe position, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, after the head portion 41 moves to the wipe position along the guide shafts SH and SH, the wiper 46b of the wipe portion 46 moves to the guide shaft. By advancing along SW, SW, the ink is wiped from the surface of a large number of ejection nozzles of the head portion 41, and the deviation of the ejection direction due to the ink adhering to the surface is corrected. At this time, the electrode part 42 and the cap 45b of the cap part 45 have moved to the standby position side.

Next, at the print position,
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the wiper 46b is retracted, the head portion 41 is lowered to the standby position, and the electrode portion 42 is advanced to just below the head portion 41. Then, based on the image data stored in the image data storage unit in advance, the electrode unit 42 controls the flight direction of the ink droplets ejected from the large number of ejection nozzles of the head unit 41, and a predetermined pattern is formed on the cloth C. draw. At this time, it is needless to say that the head portion 41 and the electrode portion 42 are positioned with high precision in order to obtain a printed product of excellent quality in which the color tone and texture are reproduced more accurately.

In this way, the drawing on the cloth C is completed.
Then cut to the cap position shown in Fig. 6 (c) and (d).
Instead, the electrode part 42 retracts and the head part 41 moves upward.
By the cap 45b that has been raised and the head portion 41 has advanced
Covered. Thereby, in the head portion 41,
Printing, the biggest problem with inkjet heads
Eyes of each discharge nozzle caused by ink drying when stopped
The clogging is cleared. Stable operation of line head High-quality printing that is always stable in the printing device 1.
In order to manufacture the product, in particular, the line head 40 discharges
The ejected ink droplets have a purpose on the cloth C (print medium).
It is necessary to control it so that it adheres to the desired position.

As can be imagined from the principle, the ink jet system has the following problems. That is: 1. When the direction of ink ejection from the ejection nozzle changes, the drawing range of the ejection nozzle shifts. 2. If the ejection speed of the ink at the ejection nozzle changes, the cutting phase of the ink droplet at which the ejected ink is cut into ink droplets changes.

3. When the ejection speed of the ink in the ejection nozzle changes, the drawing width of the ejection nozzle changes. For this reason, as described above, the filters FM and FLC for removing dusts and the like in the ink that cause the ejection nozzles of the line head 40 to be clogged or the ink ejection direction to be misaligned are arranged in the ink supply system SIK. . Further, in the ink supply system SIK, as described above, the ink supply pressure is controlled by the gear pump PG so that the ink ejection speed does not change.
In addition to highly accurate control, the ink temperature and viscosity are controlled to control the ink discharge flow rate, that is, the droplet velocity of ink droplets to a constant target velocity.

However, in spite of the above-described control, in the line head 40, when the ink ejection is once stopped and the ink ejection is restarted, the ejection nozzles slightly The ink ejection direction changes. In addition, depending on the type of ink, the ejection direction generally changes little by little due to the formation of a small lump of ink near the outlet of the ejection nozzle.

For this reason, in the printing apparatus 1, the ink ejection state is observed at the start of operation and every time a certain period of time elapses, and feedback control is performed so that the ink droplets are automatically adjusted so as to adhere to appropriate positions. . In this automatic adjustment, a test pattern is drawn on the film by each line head 40, the test pattern is read by a CCD camera, image processing is performed, and the operation of each line head 40 is fed back using the image processed information as various control information. It is controlled. Flow of image data The image data relating to a picture or the like created by the data creating / editing unit is decomposed into image data of a predetermined color for each line head 40 by the color adjusting unit and divided into image data for each ejection nozzle. After that, the image data is stored in the image data storage unit provided in each discharge nozzle.

At the time of drawing on the cloth C, a pattern or the like is drawn by the ink droplets ejected from the ejection nozzles based on the image data stored in each image data storage section. At this time, if the image data stored in each image data storage unit is repeatedly used, it is possible to create the cloth C in which the same pattern is repeatedly drawn. The color matching printing apparatus 1 draws a pattern or the like on the cloth C while discharging ink for each color by eight line heads 40 arranged at a predetermined pitch, for example, a pitch of 1,000 mm. Therefore, in the printing apparatus 1, the distance between the first line head 40 and the last line head 40 is as large as 7,000 mm.
Therefore, in the printing apparatus 1, when the transport amount of the fabric C by the transport belt 3b is unstable and fluctuates, a color shift occurs in a drawn pattern or the like, and the quality as a print product is deteriorated.

As a means for preventing such color misregistration, usually, the moving amount of the conveying belt 3b, that is, the conveying amount is detected by a detecting unit such as an encoder at predetermined time intervals, and the variation amount of the conveying amount is counted. The method is general. However, the elongation of the conveyor belt 3b and the first and last line heads 40
Is too large, it is difficult to improve the accuracy of color matching using a detection means such as an encoder.

Therefore, in the printing apparatus 1, in order to perform highly accurate color matching, the line head 4 which is the most upstream in the transport direction is used.
When 0, print a predetermined mark on the cloth C at a predetermined pitch,
These marks are detected as mark signals by detecting means provided on each of the other line heads 40 arranged downstream.
The printing apparatus 1 achieves high-accuracy color matching by operating the delay circuit based on the detected mark signal and controlling the amount of the cloth C conveyed by the conveying belt 3b.

Examples 1 to 30 Natural fibers (cotton) shown in Table 1 as print media, polyester, nylon and blended spinning of polyester and cotton (P / C
4 kinds of mixed) are prepared, and the type of ink is a reactive dye for cotton, a disperse dye for polyester, an acid dye for nylon, and a disperse dye for polyester / cotton blend (P / C mixture) (Kayacelon E Nippon Kayaku). And two types of neutral fixing type reactive dye (Kayacelon React Nippon Kayaku) are used. The drying temperature of ink is 100 to 120 ° C for cotton.
110-130 ° C for polyester, 90-110 for nylon
C. and P / C mixture were set to 100 to 120.degree. C., and the dyeability was evaluated for each print medium depending on the type of ink. Each cloth is colored and soaped according to the usual method.
Processing was performed. Table 2 shows the results.

[0046]

[Table 1]

[0047]

[Table 2] ^{* 7} : Reactive dye and disperse dye are used. Based on the results shown in Table 2, the basis weight shown in Table 1 is 50 to 100 g / m 2.
^{2, 100~150g} / m ^2, it relates to a polyester of 150 to 200 g / m ^2, was examined ink coating amount (g / m ²⁾ and the difference in print quality due to the presence or absence of the ink absorber. Table 3 shows the results.
And Table 4 below. As the ink, the ink using the disperse dye most suitable for the material of the cloth C is selected based on the result of Table 2, and 8
The type of ink was made to correspond to each of the four colors of the line head. As an evaluation method, printing, coloring, bleeding of drawing after soaping, blurring, color density, etc. were comprehensively evaluated, and evaluation was made in four grades of good, normal, somewhat poor and bad.

At this time, the ink application amount (g / m ² ) is controlled by changing either the ink droplet resolution (dot / mm) or the ink droplet weight (g), as shown in Tables 3 and 4. , Resolution (dot
/ mm) is the value when the ink weight of one drop is 3 × 10 ⁻⁷ (g), and the weight (g) of the ink drop is the value when the resolution is 10 dot / mm.

[0049]

[Table 3]

[0050]

[Table 4]

As is clear from the results shown in Tables 3 and 4,
Depending on the conditions of the print medium, at least the type of ink,
By controlling the ink application conditions, the presence or absence of an ink absorbing medium, and the drying conditions, it was found that optimum printing can be performed even with different print media. Example 31 Next, an example in which the ink color is selected on the CAD screen of the data creation / editing unit in consideration of the color information of the original image will be described below.

At the time of drawing on the print medium, the color tone of the same ink varies depending on the whiteness and gloss of the print medium. Therefore, in this embodiment, the ink color is determined as follows while predicting the color of each image data on the CAD screen of the data creation / editing unit. For example, the fabric C to be actually printed is made into a database of dyeing characteristics of the limited whiteness structure of the fabric C and the ink used.
In (1), the hue is determined by comparing the print medium information with the database and obtaining the ink information corresponding to the database.

[0053]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly reliable printing apparatus and a method for manufacturing a printed product, which are capable of performing optimum printing even if print media are different. Can be provided. At this time, according to the inventions of claims 2 and 14, since the ink absorber is provided between the print medium and the transport belt, the ink absorber absorbs excess ink, resulting in excellent print quality. The product can be manufactured.

According to the third and fifteenth aspects of the invention, since the ink absorber is a cloth or an adhesive having ink absorbability, it can be easily handled. Further, according to the invention of claims 4 and 16, since the ink absorbing device is provided with the absorption condition control means for controlling the ink absorption condition of the ink absorber, and the ink droplets are ejected while controlling the ink absorption condition, it is used for printing. Ink absorption can be controlled appropriately.

According to the fifth and seventeenth aspects of the present invention, the conditions of the print medium are: weight per unit area, thickness, material, temperature, surface gloss, type of pretreatment, ink permeation rate, ink absorption amount. Since at least one of the weaving structures is used, it is possible to set conditions according to the print medium, and it is possible to perform optimum control during printing even if the print medium is different.

Further, in the inventions of claims 6 and 18,
Since the ink application conditions are at least one of the ink application amount per unit area of the print medium, the type of ink, and the physical properties of the ink, the ink application conditions can be controlled according to the print medium. Further, in the invention of claims 7 and 19, the drying condition of the ink is
Since at least one of the drying time, the drying temperature, the drying method, and the temperature of the print medium is used, the ink drying conditions can be controlled according to the print medium.

According to the eighth and the twentieth aspect of the invention, since the ink application amount is controlled by changing at least one of the resolution and the weight of the ink droplet, it is easy to control the ink application amount. In addition, according to the inventions of claims 9 and 21, since the type of the ink is determined from the material of the print medium, the optimum ink can be selected according to the print medium.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 10 and 22,
Since a plurality of types of inks are applied to one print medium, it is possible to deal with color prints of complicated patterns in which the hue and texture of the original image are accurately reproduced. Claim 11,
According to the twenty-third aspect, since the control means further selects the color of the ink in consideration of the color information of the original image, it is possible to more accurately reproduce the hue and texture of the original image.

According to the twelfth and twenty-fourth aspects of the present invention, since the ink drying time is controlled by changing the printing speed of the print medium, time is wasted between each processing step in a series of printing operations. It can be omitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus to which a method for manufacturing a print medium according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a drawing mechanism of a line head of the printing apparatus of FIG.

3 is a side view showing an adjusting unit of a line head in the printing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an ink supply system in the printing apparatus of FIG.

5 is an operation diagram showing the operation of the head portion, the electrode portion, the cap portion, and the wipe portion at the standby position and the wiping position of the line head in the printing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an operation diagram showing the operation of the head portion, the electrode portion, the cap portion and the wipe portion at the print position and the cap position of the line head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printing Device 1c Spacer (Adjusting Means) 2 Introductory Section 2a Box 3 Conveying Section 3a Roll 3b Conveying Belt 3c Coating Roll 3d Brush Roll 3e Pressing Roll 4 Printing Section 5 Pre-Drying Section 5a Tension Roll 6 Drying Section 7 Shaking Off Section 40 Lines Head 41 Head part 41a Gutter 42 Electrode part 45 Cap part 45b Cap 46 Wiping part 46b Wiper C Cloth (print medium) CIK cloth (ink absorber) FM, FLC filter HEX heat exchanger PG gear pump SIK ink supply system TIK ink tank

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A transport belt for transporting a print medium, line heads of a plurality of rows arranged by the ink jet method, which face each other with respect to the print medium, and at least ink application conditions or drying depending on the conditions of the print medium. A printing apparatus comprising a drying condition control means for controlling conditions. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an ink absorber between the print medium and the transport belt. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ink absorber is a cloth or an adhesive having ink absorbability. 4. The absorption condition control means for controlling the ink absorption condition of the ink absorber is provided.
Printing equipment. 5. The condition of the print medium is at least one of weight per unit area, thickness, material, temperature, surface gloss, type of pretreatment, ink permeation rate, ink absorption amount, and woven structure. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink application condition is at least one of an ink application amount per unit area of the print medium, an ink type, and an ink physical property. 7. The drying condition of the ink is at least one of a drying time, a drying temperature, a drying method and a temperature of a print medium.
The printing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the ink application amount is controlled by changing at least one of the resolution and the weight of the ink droplet. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the type of ink is determined from the material of the print medium. 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of types of ink are applied to one print medium. 11. The ink control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means is capable of selecting an ink color in consideration of color information of an original image.
Printing equipment. 12. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the drying time of the ink is controlled by changing the print speed of the print medium. 13. A method for manufacturing a print product, comprising: printing a print medium by ejecting ink droplets of different colors from a full width direction intersecting a print medium conveyance direction.
A method for producing a printed product, characterized in that at least ink application conditions or drying conditions are controlled according to the conditions of the print medium. 14. The method for producing a printed product according to claim 13, wherein ink droplets are ejected while absorbing ink from the back surface side of the ink application of the print medium. 15. The method for producing a printed product according to claim 14, wherein the ink is absorbed by a cloth or an ink-absorbing adhesive. 16. The method for producing a printed product according to claim 14, wherein ink droplets are ejected while controlling ink absorption conditions. 17. The ink based on at least one of weight per unit area, thickness, material, temperature, surface gloss, type of pretreatment, ink permeation rate, ink absorption amount, and woven structure of the print medium. The method for producing a printed product according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the coating condition or the drying condition is controlled. 18. The ink application condition is determined based on at least one of an ink application amount per unit area of the print medium, an ink type, and an ink physical property.
A method for manufacturing a printed product according to claim 13. 19. The ink drying condition is determined based on at least one of the drying time, the drying temperature, the drying method, and the temperature of the print medium of the ink.
8. A method for manufacturing any of the printed products. 20. The method for producing a printed product according to claim 18, wherein the application amount of the ink is controlled by changing at least one of the resolution and the weight of the ink droplet. 21. The method of manufacturing a printed product according to claim 18, wherein the type of ink is determined from the material of the print medium. 22. The method for producing a printed product according to claim 21, wherein a plurality of types of ink are applied to one print medium. 23. The method of manufacturing a printed product according to claim 13, wherein the ink color is further selected in consideration of the color information of the original image. 24. The method of manufacturing a printed product according to claim 19, wherein the drying time of the ink is controlled by changing the printing speed of the printing medium.