JPH1143873A - Ink jet printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet printing method intended for low-density fabrics, affording printed fabrics of highly deep color with no print through, and causing no printing unevennesses with uniform ink-holding agent layer thickness. SOLUTION: This ink jet printing method comprises the following three consecutive processes: (1) press contacting process, wherein a fabric B is subjected to press contact against an ink-acceptor A prepared by laminarly forming an ink-holding agent A2 on a substrate to make the ink-holding agent A2 adhere to the surface of the fabric B, (2) substrate removing process, wherein the substrate A1 is removed from the ink acceptor A to form a layer of the ink-holding agent A2 so as to adhere to the surface of the fabric B, and (3) ink jet printing process, wherein the resultant fabric B is subjected to ink Jet printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet printing method for printing an image on a cloth.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, ink-jet printing methods for fabrics have begun to be evaluated. This is because, unlike ordinary printing, a delicate fine pattern can be imparted, and dyeing can be performed while taking advantage of the surface condition of the fabric. Since the fabric is formed by a knitting structure or a weaving structure, it has a unique surface structure having relatively large gaps and surface roughness as compared with papers. Therefore, there are many technical problems in ink-jet printing different from ink-jet for papers.

One of the main problems is a problem relating to bleeding. This is a phenomenon in which a pattern (image) applied to a cloth surface after ink-jet printing bleeds and lacks sharpness. In order to solve such a problem, a technique for obtaining a clear and clear image by devising the ink itself, using a transfer printing method, or pretreating a cloth has been developed. I have.

In the first improvement of ink, there is a serious problem of nozzle clogging, and the following transfer printing method (Japanese Patent Publication No.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 42317/1990), an inversion step is required, and minute distortion during inversion is inevitable. For this reason, the method of performing pretreatment on the last fabric has become the mainstream as ink jet printing.

[0005] As a technique relating to this pretreatment, for example,
A processing method for providing an ink receiving layer on a fabric as disclosed in JP-B-63-31594 has been developed. In this method, an ink holding layer made of a non-staining material selected from water-soluble polymers, water-soluble salts, and water-insoluble inorganic fine particles is formed on a fabric, and the ink holding agent layer absorbs the discharged ink. This is a method for preventing ink bleeding by temporarily holding the ink.

[0006]

However, in this pretreatment method, specifically, a liquid ink holding agent is applied by a pad method,
This method employs a method in which a layer of an ink holding agent is formed by directly applying the ink onto a cloth by using a spray method, a coating method, an immersion method, an inkjet method, or the like. for that reason,
In the ink-jet printing process, the work could not be performed until the arrival of the pretreated fabric in this way. Furthermore, in the drying step after such a pretreatment which is usually performed,
In addition to requiring a large drying device, when water evaporates,
An ink retaining agent such as a water-soluble polymer compound having a binding force with water tends to be attracted to uneven fiber surfaces and distributed unevenly.

[0007] In particular, a low-density cloth having a low weaving density or knitting density, for example, a cloth having a single yarn fineness of 100 d or less, a warp density of 1
Non-uniformity appears strongly on a fabric of 20 yarns / inch or less or a weft density of 150 yarns / inch or less. For this reason, even if the ink jet printing is performed optimally thereafter, the degree of penetration of the ink is different, and the ink does not rise.

[0008] Further, when the low-density fabric is subjected to pretreatment,
Since the pretreatment agent in the fluid state is not filled in the voids between the fibers and has a hole, the ink strikes through when printed, and a high-density color pattern cannot be obtained. In addition, there is a problem that the surface of the support member of the fabric, for example, the drum is contaminated. The present invention has been made based on such a conventional technical background. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet printing method for low-density fabrics, in which an object to be printed is obtained with no strike-through and a high concentration, and the layer thickness of the ink retainer is uniform and there is no printing unevenness. An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet printing method.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

That is, the present invention provides (1) a pressure-bonding step of pressing a cloth against an ink receptor formed by forming an ink-retaining agent in a layer on a substrate and attaching the ink-retaining agent to the surface of the cloth; A substrate removal step of removing the substrate from the ink receiver and forming a layer with an ink retaining agent on the surface of the fabric; and
And an ink jet printing method for performing ink jet printing.

(2) The ink jet printing method according to the above (1), further comprising a heating and drying step of heating and drying the ink holding agent and the fabric integrated between the pressure bonding step and the substrate removing step. .

Further, (3) the ink jet printing method according to the above (1), wherein water or a low concentration paste is applied to the fabric before the pressure bonding step.

(4) The fabric has a single yarn fineness of 1
The present invention resides in the ink jet printing method according to the above (1), which is a cloth of 00d or less.

(5) The fabric has a warp density of 1
The present invention resides in the inkjet printing method according to the above (1), wherein the fabric has a yarn density of 20 yarns / inch or less or a weft density of 150 yarns / inch.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment according to the ink jet printing method of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of main steps in the ink jet printing method. FIG. 2
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process in an ink-jet printing method. The ink receiver used here is obtained by adhering an ink retaining agent in a layer on the surface of a substrate.

As the substrate, a film-shaped long body is used. Examples thereof include paper such as art paper, coated paper, print base paper, tissue paper, synthetic paper, and the like, as well as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and cellophane. Resin film such as aluminum foil, metal foil film such as silver foil and the like are appropriately employed. Particularly, from the viewpoint of surface denseness, for example, a polyester film or the like is preferably used.
Since the base material does not have large voids (gap) and unevenness like cloth, the ink retaining agent described below can be formed in a very uniform layer without any gap. On the other hand, the following are used as the ink holding agent attached to the base material.

That is, a non-staining high molecular compound and a solvent for dissolving it are used. Here, as the non-staining polymer compound, water-soluble synthetic polymer polyvinyl acetate, polymethacrylate, polyacrylamide, polyvinyl alcohol, carboxymethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl starch, natural gum arabic gum, guar gum,
Locust bean gum, other starch, modified starch, sodium alginate, montmorillonite clay material, etc.
The most suitable one is selected depending on the cloth used or the dye used, and two or more kinds may be mixed and used.

As a solvent, water is mainly used, and in a special case, an organic solvent is used. An anti-reducing agent, a fixing auxiliary agent, a fixing reactant, a fixing accelerator, a microporous forming agent, and the like described below are appropriately added to the ink holding agent as needed. As the anti-reducing agent, for example, sodium metanitrobenzenesulfonate is used. Neutral salts and the like such as sodium sulfate, salt and calcium chloride are used as the fixing aid. As the fixing reagent, an acidic substance such as acetic acid or ammonium sulfate, or an alkaline substance such as sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide is used.

Examples of the adhesion promoter include hydrotropic agents such as urea, thiourea and polyethylene glycol, and carrier agents such as chlorobenzene and benzoic acid. Examples of the microporous forming agent include hydrocarbon-based toluene,
Xylene, other industrial gasoline Nos. 4 and 5, halogenated hydrocarbons such as perchlorethylene, monochlorobenzene, dichloropentane, etc., esters such as butyl acetate, and other acrylic acid ester compounds such as butyl acrylate. Used.

Incidentally, the ink receiver of the present invention is preferably obtained by performing a usual release treatment on the above-mentioned base material and then applying the above-mentioned ink holding agent. For this application, a knife coater is preferably used, and the layer thickness of the ink retaining agent on the substrate is adjusted by the pressing pressure of the knife coater.

The substrate coated with the ink retainer, that is, the ink receiver, is dried by hot air (about 70 to 90 degrees). As a result, the thickness of the ink retaining agent layer formed on the base material becomes uniform, about 5 to 30 μm. The resulting long ink receiver is wound around a winding roller and prepared for the next pressure bonding step.

[Crimping Step] The cloth is overlaid on the ink receiver described above and both are pressed. Here, the ink receiver and the cloth are pressed against each other by a pressing device, for example, between a pair of pressure rolls (for example, ^{2 to} 8 kgf / cm ² ).
Are performed continuously by passing both of them. By this pressure bonding step, the ink retaining agent is transferred (transferred) from the ink receiver to the surface of the fabric, and is adhered and formed in a layer.

It is preferable that water or a low-concentration glue is applied to the cloth before pressing the ink receiver and the cloth. The glue is applied to the cloth by a water / glue applying device, for example, a spraying method, a padding method (dip nip method), a gravure method, or the like. With a constant pressure (for example, about several kgf / cm ² ).

As the paste (usually, the concentration is preferably about 0.1 to 5%), sodium alginate, carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose and the like are used. By the way, as a material to be printed, that is, a cloth, which is a target of the present invention, one having any fabric structure regardless of woven fabric, knitted fabric, or nonwoven fabric is used.

Examples of the fabric material include natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, silk and wool, recycled fibers such as rayon, acetate, and the like.
Semi-synthetic fibers such as triacetate, synthetic fibers such as polyester, polyamide and polyacryl, and those alone or in combination of one or more are employed. The lower the density of the fabric, that is, the lower the denier or the lower the density (warp or weft), the greater the effect in ink jet dyeing can be seen as compared with the conventional method.

Regarding the fineness of single yarn, the effect is significantly remarkable in the case of a cloth of 100 d or less as compared with the conventional one. But,
For clothing, usually 30 to 100d is used because single yarn fineness of 30d or less is not practical. Further, with respect to the density, the effect of the fabric having a warp of 120 yarns / inch or less is remarkably large as compared with the conventional one. However, for clothing, 30 to 120 warp / inch or less is usually employed because it is not practical. Furthermore, the effect of the fabric having a weft of 150 yarns / inch or less is remarkably greater than the conventional one. However, for clothing, usually 50 or less wefts / inch is not practical because less than 50 wefts / inch is not practical.

[Drying Step] After the cloth has been pressed against the ink receiver, both are dried together. Specifically, the drying in this case is performed by heating and drying using a small drier such as a cylinder drier to remove water from the ink holding agent. Although it depends on the type of the ink holding agent, for example, drying at a temperature of 80 to 160 ° C. is preferable.

[Substrate Removal Step] In the fabric dried in the drying step and integrated with the ink receiver, unnecessary substrates are removed in the subsequent ink-jet printing. Therefore, only the base material is removed from the ink receiver pressed on the cloth. Specifically, only the base material is separated from the integrated ink receiver and the cloth that are continuously transferred, by a peeling device, for example, a peeling device. It is peeled and wound by a winding roller or the like. At this point, a state is formed in which the layered ink holding agent is attached to the surface of the fabric. The thickness of the resulting ink-holding agent layer (ink-holding agent layer) is determined by the type of ink-holding agent and pigment used, but is preferably, for example, about 5 to 30 μm. Note that the wound substrate can be reused again. Here, since the ink holding agent layer adhered and formed on the fabric surface transfers the ink holding agent layer uniformly formed and held on the ink receiver to the fabric as it is, the ink holding agent layer is formed without holes or the like on the fabric surface. Very uniformly deposited.

[Inkjet Printing] Next, the fabric on which the ink retaining agent is applied in a layered manner is printed on the surface thereof using an inkjet printing apparatus. Here, the fabric to be subjected to ink-jet printing is different from a conventional fabric in which the ink retaining agent is directly applied to the fabric surface, and is different from the ink receiving device in which the ink retaining agent is formed in a uniform layer on the base material. Since the ink retaining agent is transferred from the body to the fabric surface as it is, the transferred ink retaining agent forms a uniform layer in the same manner, and the result of the subsequent ink jet printing becomes extremely good. . Ink jet printing here is usually performed by ink jet printing used on a fabric surface.

That is, ink containing a dye or the like is ejected from a nozzle onto a cloth surface based on information stored in advance using an ink-jet printing apparatus, and printing is performed. Incidentally, as typical methods, there are printing methods such as (1) pressure pulse type, (2) pressurized vibration type, and (3) electrostatic acceleration type, and any of these methods can be adopted. At the time of printing, the dyes used as inks are roughly classified into direct dyes, acid dyes, basic dyes, disperse dyes, reactive dyes, fluorescent dyes, and the like, but are appropriately selected depending on the material of the cloth to be printed. There is a need to.

Since the adjustment of the ink used for ink-jet printing greatly affects the quality of the printed image, the optimal adjustment of the selection of the dye, particle size, viscosity, surface tension, pH, etc. is performed. A dispersant, an antifoaming agent and the like are appropriately added depending on the conditions. After the ink jet printing, if necessary, a process of coloring and fixing the dye by dry heat or wet heat treatment is performed. This is what is usually done when dyeing. Further, in order to obtain higher quality, if necessary, after the dye is fixed to the fabric, a so-called washing treatment for completely washing off the unfixed dye, chemicals, auxiliaries, paste and the like is performed.
This is also usually performed for dyeing. Through the washing process, the hue, sharpness, fastness, texture of the fabric, and the like can be made more complete.

As described above, in the present invention,
An ink receiver formed by forming an ink holding agent in a layer on a base material is separately prepared, and the ink holding agent is transferred from the ink receiver to the fabric in a layer shape. By simply pressing the cloth and the ink receptor, a layer of the ink retaining agent can be easily formed on the cloth surface. As a result, even if the fabric on which the ink retaining agent has been pre-processed is not prepared, if there is a directly unprocessed fabric, inkjet printing can be performed immediately and easily. Moreover, the ink retaining agent layer formed extremely uniformly on the base material,
As it moves to the fabric surface as it is, a uniform ink holding agent layer is naturally formed on the fabric surface.

In addition, since a method of directly transferring a layer of the ink retaining agent to the fabric surface is employed instead of directly applying the liquid ink retaining agent to the fabric surface, the fabric surface is surely transferred to the fabric surface. So that there is no so-called breakthrough defect. Although the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as long as the object is met. Next, the results of actual inkjet printing will be described below.

[0034]

【Example】

Example 1 A treatment liquid having the following composition was applied to one surface of a substrate made of a polyester film having a thickness of 80 μm using a knife coater.

Next, it was dried with hot air at 80 ° C. to obtain a roll-up ink receiver. The thickness of the ink was 20 μm. A 50d polyester spun yarn is used for the warp and the weft, with a warp density of 85 yarns / inch and a weft density of 102 yarns /
A georgette cloth of inch is immersed in water, squeezed with a pressure roll at a pressure of 4 kgf / cm ² , passed through the roll together with the above-mentioned ink receiver, and then 3 kgf / c.
After pressure bonding with m ² , drying was performed using a cylinder dryer having a surface temperature of 105 ° C. Next, after the substrate was peeled off, a pattern was printed using the following ink formulation and ink jet printing method.

[Ink formulation] CI Disperse Red 127 5 parts Lignin sulfonate (anionic surfactant) 4 parts Surfynol 104E (antifoaming agent) [Nissin Chemical Co., Ltd.] 0.05 parts Ethylene glycol 10 Part Silicic acid 0.1 part Ion-exchanged water balance 100 parts

[Inkjet printing system] For printing, an on-demand serial scanning printing system was used. (The printing conditions were a nozzle diameter of 100 μm, a driving voltage of 107 V, a frequency of 10 kHz, a resolution of 360 dpi, and a 4 × 4 matrix.) The design was (a) 50 × 50 mm, (b) width 0.5 mm,
Two cross-shaped patterns were formed by fine lines in the weft direction with a length of 50 mm. Thereafter, the printing cloth was subjected to a wet heat treatment at 108 ° C. for 10 minutes, and then passed through a usual washing step and drying step. As a result, as shown in Table 1, on the polyester georgette cloth, a high-definition, vivid pattern of sufficient density without any strikethrough or spots was printed. Further, the support drum of the printing apparatus used is clean and does not have any ink that has slipped through.

Example 2 A treatment liquid having the following composition was applied to one surface of the same polyester film as in Example 1 using a knife coater. Maypro gum NP16 (ink retainer) 10.0% [manufactured by Sansei Co., Ltd.] Malic acid (pH adjuster) 5.0% sodium metanitrobenzenesulfonate (anti-reducing agent) 0.5% terpene emulsion (microporous formation) Agent) * 20.0% water 100% remaining

Then, the roll was dried with hot air at 80 ° C. to obtain a roll-up ink receptor. The thickness of the ink receiving layer was uniform and 30 μm. 90d nylon spun yarn is used for the warp and the weft, and the warp density is 60 yarns / inch and the weft density is 6
A nylon taffeta cloth of 0 pieces / inch is immersed in water and squeezed with a pressure roll at a pressure of 4 kgf / cm ^2.
After compression bonding at kgf / cm ² , drying was performed using a cylinder dryer having a surface temperature of 105 ° C. Next, a pattern was printed using the following ink prescription and ink jet printing method.

[Ink formulation] CI Acid Red 6 5 parts Lignin sulfonate (anionic surfactant) 4 parts Surfynol 104E (antifoaming agent) 0.05 parts [Nissin Chemical Co., Ltd.] Ethylene glycol 10 Part Silicic acid 0.1 part Ion-exchanged water balance 100 parts

[Inkjet printing method] A pattern was formed in the same manner as in Example 1. Then, the printing cloth is 108 ° C.
, And then passed through a normal washing step and drying step. As a result, as shown in Table 1, on the nylon taffeta cloth, a high-definition, vivid pattern with sufficient density was printed without any strikethrough or spots. Further, the support drum of the printing apparatus used is clean and does not have any ink that has slipped through.

Example 3 A treatment liquid having the following composition was applied to one surface of the same polyester film as in Example 1 using a knife coater. Doug Algin NSPM (ink retainer) 2.0% [Kibun Food Chemifa Co., Ltd.] Soda ash (fixation reactant) 3.5% urea (fixation accelerator) 10.0% sodium metanitrobenzenesulfonate (anti-reduction) Agent) 0.5% turpen emulsion (microporous forming agent) * 20.0% water 100% remaining

Next, it was dried with hot air at 80 ° C. to obtain a roll-up ink receiver. The thickness of the ink receiving layer is uniform and 10
μm. A 70d rayon filament yarn is used for the warp and the weft, and a georgette cloth having a warp density of 80 yarns / inch and a weft density of 90 yarns / inch is immersed in water and squeezed with a pressure roll at a pressure of 4 kgf / cm ^2. After passing through the rolls together with the ink receiver described above, 3
After compression bonding at kgf / cm ² , drying was performed using a cylinder dryer having a surface temperature of 105 ° C. Next, a pattern was printed using the following ink prescription and ink jet printing method.

[Ink formulation] CI Direct Red 3 5 parts Lignin sulfonate (anionic surfactant) 4 parts Surfynol 104E (antifoaming agent) 0.05 parts [Nissin Chemical Co., Ltd.] Ethylene glycol 10 Part Silicic acid 0.1 part Ion-exchanged water balance 100 parts

[Inkjet printing method] A pattern was formed in the same manner as in Example 1. Then, the printing cloth is 108 ° C.
And then passed through a normal washing step and drying step. As a result, as shown in Table 1, a vivid pattern with high definition and sufficient density was printed on the rayon georgette cloth without strikethrough or spots. Further, the support drum of the printing apparatus used is clean and does not have any ink that has slipped through.

Comparative Example 1 A treatment liquid having the following composition was applied to the same georgette cloth as in Example 1 by using a rotary screen printing method. Marporose ME-400G (ink retainer) 4.0% [Matsumoto Yushi Co., Ltd.] Malic acid (pH adjuster) 0.5% MS-Iiq (anti-reducing agent) 1.0% [Meisei Chemical Co., Ltd. Octyl alcohol (leveling agent) 1.0% Terpen emulsion (microporous forming agent) * 15.0% water 100% remaining

Thereafter, drying was performed at 170 ° C. for 1.5 minutes. The thickness of the ink receiving layer was 5 μm. Next, a material to be printed was obtained by the same ink formulation and ink jet printing method as in Example 1. As shown in Table 1, the georgette fabric has
A pattern with print throughs and spots with blurred spots was printed. In addition, the support drum of the printing apparatus used had stains caused by ink that had slipped through and adhered here and there.

Comparative Example 2 A treatment liquid having the following composition was applied to the same taffeta cloth as in Example 2 by using a rotary screen printing method. Fine Gum HE (ink retainer) 3.0% ammonium sulfate (pH adjuster) 10.0% MS-Iiq (anti-reducing agent) 1.0% [manufactured by Meisei Chemical Co., Ltd.] Octyl alcohol (leveling agent) 0 0.5% turpen emulsion (microporous forming agent) * 20.0% water 100% remaining

Thereafter, drying was performed at 150 ° C. for 1.5 minutes. The thickness of the ink receiving layer was 5 μm. Next, a material to be printed was obtained by the same ink formulation and ink jet printing method as in Example 2. As a result, as shown in Table 1, the taffeta cloth was printed with a pattern with spots and unclear portions. In addition, the support drum of the printing apparatus used had stains caused by ink that had slipped through and adhered here and there.

Comparative Example 3 A treatment liquid having the following composition was applied to the same georgette cloth as in Example 3 by using a rotary screen printing method. Kelp algin L type (ink retainer) 1.7% [manufactured by Kaisei Chemical Co., Ltd.] Soda ash (fixation reactant) 5.0% urea (fixation accelerator) 10.0% MS-Iiq (anti-reducing agent) 1.0% [Meisei Chemical Co., Ltd.] Octyl alcohol (leveling agent) 0.5% Microporous forming agent * 20.0% Water 100% remaining

Thereafter, drying was performed at 130 ° C. for 1.5 minutes. The thickness of the ink receiving layer was 3 μm. Next, a material to be printed was obtained by the same ink formulation and ink jet printing method as in Example 3. As a result, as shown in Table 1, the georgette cloth was printed with a pattern that had spots and had unclear portions. In addition, the support drum of the printing apparatus used had stains caused by ink that had slipped through and adhered here and there.

[0053]

[Table 1]

[0054]

According to the ink jet printing method of the present invention, even if a pre-treated cloth for applying a retaining agent is not used,
Inkjet printing can be performed immediately using an untreated fabric, so that production efficiency is high. Further, the conventional method of directly applying the ink retaining agent to the fabric requires a large-scale drying device, but in the present invention, a drying device using a simple heating drum or the like is sufficient. In addition, since the thickness of the layer of the ink holding agent is uniform, while excellent leveling properties,
There is no strikethrough at the time of inkjet printing of a low-density knitted fabric. In addition, high density printing can be performed without a whitening phenomenon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of main steps in an inkjet printing method.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating steps in an ink-jet printing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink receptor supply roller 2 ... Apparatus for giving water, glue, etc. 3 ... Compression device (pressure roll) 4 ... Cylinder dryer 5 ... Peeling device (peeling winding roller) 6 ... Inkjet printing device 61 ... Drum 62 ... Nozzle head A: Ink receptor A1: Base material A2: Ink retainer B: Fabric

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Makita 1-10-1 Kiya, Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A pressure-bonding step in which a cloth is pressed against an ink receptor formed by forming an ink-retaining agent in a layer on a substrate and the ink-retaining agent is attached to the surface of the cloth; A substrate removing step of removing and attaching a layer of an ink retaining agent to the surface of the fabric; and an inkjet printing step of performing an inkjet printing on the fabric on which the ink retaining agent layer is attached and formed. Characteristic inkjet printing method. 2. The ink jet printing method according to claim 1, further comprising a heating and drying step of heating and drying the ink holding agent and the fabric integrated between the pressing step and the substrate removing step. 3. The ink jet printing method according to claim 1, wherein water or a low-concentration paste is applied to the cloth before the pressing step. 4. The ink jet printing method according to claim 1, wherein the cloth is a cloth having a single yarn fineness of 100 d or less. 5. The ink jet printing method according to claim 1, wherein the fabric is a fabric having a warp density of 120 yarns / inch or less or a weft yarn density of 150 yarns / inch.