JP2013072145A - Inkjet textile printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

It is possible to perform flushing without providing a fixed flushing position, and to perform flushing with little risk of deterioration in printing quality.
An ink discharge section having a plurality of nozzles for discharging a plurality of colors of ink, a set tray having a set surface on which a printing material is set and moving relative to the ink discharge section, and the ink discharge A control unit that controls the ink ejection operation and the flushing operation of the printing unit, and the control unit sets a portion on the printing material set on the set tray and outside the range covered by the image data as a flushing region, The flushing area is flushed with a similar color relationship between the color of the material to be printed in the flushing area and the color of the ink ejected and landed as flushing.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an ink jet textile printing apparatus including an ink discharge unit including a plurality of nozzles that discharge a plurality of colors of ink, and a control unit that controls an ink discharge operation and a flushing operation of the ink discharge unit.

As an ink jet textile printing apparatus, there is known an ink jet printer that performs recording by discharging ink from nozzles of an ink discharge head onto various recording materials such as paper, film, and cloth. Ink jet printers perform flushing for ejecting ink regardless of the recording execution image in order to prevent thickening of the ink in the nozzle opening portion that ejects ink.

In many cases, flushing is performed by moving the ink ejection head to a flushing position provided outside the recording material in the width direction. However, Patent Document 1 discloses an image on the recording material instead of the flushing position. In the vicinity of, it is described that ink is discretely ejected with a dot size hardly felt by human eyes.

Further, in Patent Document 2, in an ink jet textile printing apparatus capable of forming a plurality of types of dots having different sizes with ink ejected from a nozzle, a small dot is placed close to a large dot formed in an image. The flushing that forms is described.

Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a printing apparatus including a plurality of nozzles that eject ink for printing an image and a background on a transparent medium, and flushing the printed background. Have been described.
Patent Document 4 describes flushing that discharges color ink onto a transparent medium and then discharges white ink onto the medium to make it inconspicuous.

JP-A-55-139269 JP 2008-179011 A JP 2010-208218 A JP 2010-240962 A

However, since the flushing described in Patent Document 1 is performed at a position different from the image area on the recording material, there is a problem that the overall quality is deteriorated even if the dot size is small.
The problem becomes more pronounced as the frequency of flushing increases.
In the flushing described in Patent Document 2, even if the flushing dot is a small dot size, there is a dot that is not necessary for image formation in the image. For example, the flushing dot is conspicuous in relation to the density of the image. There is a problem of reducing the quality of the image.
The flushing described in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 is a flushing limited to an inkjet textile printing apparatus having a structure in which an image and a background are printed on a transparent medium, and has a problem that the applicable range is narrow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus that can perform flushing without providing a fixed flushing position and can perform flushing with little risk of deterioration in printing quality.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of an ink jet textile printing apparatus according to the present invention has an ink ejection section having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting a plurality of colors of ink, and a set surface on which a material to be printed is set. A set tray that moves relative to the ink discharge unit; and a control unit that controls an ink discharge operation and a flushing operation of the ink discharge unit, and the control unit is arranged on a printing material set on the set tray. The area outside the range covered by the image data is the flushing area, and the color of the printing material in the flushing area and the color of the ink ejected and landed as the flushing have a similar color relationship. It is configured to perform flushing.

Here, “relative movement” means to include a structure in which the set tray moves with respect to the ink discharge unit, a structure in which the ink discharge unit moves with respect to the set tray, and a structure in which both move.
The “flushing operation” means an ink ejection operation performed to prevent the ink from being thickened at the nozzle opening, separately from the printing based on the image data. Also, "Ink ejection operation"
Means an ink ejection operation performed separately from the flushing operation.

In addition, “similar color relationship” means both the same color and the same color tendency as the ink color such as blue (cyan), red (magenta), yellow (yellow), and black and white of the color ink. Used to include.
For example, when the material to be printed is blue, or when it can be said that the color is based on blue such as dark blue, dark blue, purple, or light blue, the material to be printed can be used as a flushing region for blue (cyan) ink. When the material to be printed is red or when it can be said that the color is based on red, such as dark red, purple, pink, or orange, the material to be printed can be used as a flushing region for red (magenta) ink.
Here, a strict reference is not required as to whether the color is based on blue or red.
It is only necessary to determine whether or not the human vision is a concern as a result of executing the flushing.

In addition, the term “image” is used in the present specification to include not only so-called images such as landscapes and people but also symbols such as characters and other items printed with ink. The “image data” means data sent to the ink jet printing apparatus for printing the image on a material to be printed with ink.
“Printed material” means “fabric” to be printed, including natural fibers such as cotton, silk and wool, chemical fibers such as nylon, and composite fibers such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics and nonwoven fabrics. It includes both a long one wound in a roll shape and one cut into a predetermined length.
In addition to clothing such as T-shirts after sewing, handkerchiefs after sewing, scarves, towels, curtains, sheets, bedspreads, and other fabrics before and after cutting that exist as parts before sewing It is.

According to this aspect, the control unit sets the portion outside the range covered by the image data on the printing material set on the set tray as the flushing area, and discharges the printing material as the color and flushing in the flushing area. Thus, the flushing area is flushed with a similar color relationship with the ink color that appears upon landing. As a result, flushing is performed on the material to be printed on a portion different from the area where the printed image is formed, with the same color relationship as the material to be printed, so there is no need to provide a fixed flushing position. Flushing can be performed, and flushing with little risk of deterioration in printing quality can be performed.

According to a second aspect of the inkjet textile printing apparatus of the present invention, in the first aspect, the control unit causes the relationship between the similar colors by causing the plurality of colors of ink to land at the same position during flushing. It is characterized by realizing.
Here, “the same position” does not matter whether or not it has landed at the exact same position, and it only has to be the same position as long as the target color is obtained by mixing a plurality of color inks. Used in

Various colors can be developed by mixing inks of a plurality of colors (for example, blue (cyan), red (magenta), yellow (yellow), black, white)).
According to this aspect, for example, even in the case of a printing material having a color that cannot be said to be the same color as any of the colors of ink ejected from the ink ejection unit, by performing the color mixture, the color or similar to it Since the color can be developed, it is possible to perform flushing with similar colors on the printing material of various colors, and it is possible to perform flushing with less fear of deterioration in printing quality. That is, the type (color) of ink that can be flushed is not limited to a specific color.

A third aspect of the inkjet textile printing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the control unit is configured to be able to perform flushing by changing a ratio of the inks of the plurality of colors. To do.

According to this aspect, since the flushing can be executed by changing the ratio of the inks of the plurality of colors, in addition to the function and effect of the second aspect, the color of the ink discharged and colored by the flushing is changed. Although the degree of resemblance to the color of the printing material slightly changes, the amount of ink discharged can be changed for each flushing, so that it is possible to perform flushing with less unevenness for each color ink.

According to a fourth aspect of the ink jet printing apparatus of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the printing based on the image data is performed on the printing material to which the fixing liquid is attached. In this case, the control unit is configured to perform flushing on a portion outside the range to which the fixing solution is attached.
Here, the “fixing solution” means that the ink ejected onto the fixing layer formed by adhering the fixing solution is prevented from penetrating into the fibers of the printing material and further reacts with the ink. Thus, it is used for the purpose of firmly fixing the ink component to the surface of the printing material.

According to this aspect, since the flushing is performed on the portion outside the range where the fixing liquid is adhered, the ink ejected by the flushing does not receive the fixing action of the fixing liquid. Accordingly, since the ink attached to the printing material by the flushing is not firmly fixed, the printing material can be easily washed and removed after the printing. Further, the ink adhering to the material to be printed due to the flushing penetrates deeply into the gaps of the fibers of the material to be printed and becomes difficult to see, so that there is almost no problem even if the cleaning removal treatment is not performed.

1 is a block diagram of an inkjet printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows Example 1 of the control flow of the control part of an inkjet printing apparatus same as the above. The flowchart which shows Example 2 of the control flow of the control part of an inkjet textile printing apparatus same as the above. The flowchart which shows Example 3 of the control flow of the control part of an inkjet textile printing apparatus same as the above. The flowchart which shows Example 4 of the control flow of the control part of an inkjet printing apparatus same as the above.

[Example 1] (FIGS. 1 and 2)
The illustrated inkjet printing apparatus 1 is a serial inkjet printer.
The inkjet textile printing apparatus 1 has an ink ejection part 9 having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting inks of a plurality of colors, and a flat set surface 10 on which a printing material T is set, and moves relative to the ink ejection part 9. And a control unit 3 for controlling the ink discharge operation and the flushing operation of the ink discharge unit 9.

In the inkjet printing apparatus 1, image data and color information of the printing material are sent from the computer 2 to the control unit 3, and the CPU 4 of the control unit 3 performs predetermined processing based on the image data and the color information of the printing material. Thus, printing is performed by controlling the transport unit 7 and the head unit 8 via the control circuit 6. In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a memory.

The transport unit 7 includes the set tray 11 and moves the set tray 11 with respect to the ink discharge unit 9 by a transport unit (not shown). In the figure, reference numeral 14 denotes an image formed on the printing material T by execution of printing, and reference numeral 15 denotes a range covered by the image data.
Reference numerals 16 and 17 indicate portions on the material to be printed that are outside the range 15 covered by the image data.

The head unit 8 includes an ink discharge unit 9 including a plurality of nozzles that discharge inks of a plurality of colors (in this embodiment, blue (cyan), red (magenta), yellow (yellow), black, white)). ing. The ink ejection unit 9 is mounted on a carriage 12 and the carriage 12
Is guided by the carriage guide shaft 13 and is transported by the transport unit 7 to the ink discharge section 9.
The printing material T is moved in the width direction so as to reciprocate.

The control unit 3 controls the ink discharge operation and the flushing operation of the ink discharge unit 9,
The portions 16 and 17 on the printing material T set on the set tray 11 and outside the range 15 covered by the image data are used as the flushing region 18, and the color and flushing of the printing material T in the portion of the flushing region 18. The flushing area 18 is flushed with a similar color relationship with the color of the ink ejected and landed.
Here, “similar color relationship” means, as described above, blue (cyan), red (
Magenta), yellow (yellow), black, and white are used to mean both the same color and the same color tendency as the ink color.

Next, based on FIG. 2, the control flow of the control part 3 of the inkjet textile printing apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 1 is demonstrated.
In step S1, image data for printing is received from the computer 2. This is done by user data entry. The color information of the material to be printed T is also accepted.
This may be received from the computer 2 together with the image data, or may be a method in which the inkjet printing apparatus 1 is directly input from the user. Alternatively, a color detector such as a camera may be provided, and color information may be received as detection data of the color detector.

Next, proceeding to step S2, the range 15 covered by the image data is calculated based on the image data, and the flushing region 18 is set in the parts 16 and 17 outside the range 15. This is performed by the CPU 4.

In step S3, the color of the ink to be flushed is determined based on the image data and the color information of the printing material T. For example, when the material to be printed T is blue or when it can be said that the color is based on blue such as dark blue, dark blue, purple, or light blue, the color of the flushing ink is determined to be blue (cyan). When the material to be printed is red or when it can be said that the color is based on red, such as dark red, purple, pink, or orange, the color of the ink to be flushed is determined to be red (magenta).

Next, proceeding to step S4, the flushing area 18 is flushed with respect to the ink of the color determined at step S3. As a result, flushing can be performed for the color without providing a fixed flushing position as in the prior art, and flushing can be performed with little risk of deterioration in printing quality due to the similar colors.

[Example 2] (FIGS. 1 and 3)
Next, based on FIG. 3, the control flow of the control part 3 of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 2 is demonstrated.
Since the process of step S11 and step S12 is the same as the content of step S1 and step S2 of Example 1, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

In step S13, a combination of ink colors to be flushed is determined.
As already mentioned, multiple colors (eg blue (cyan), red (magenta), yellow (yellow))
, Black and white), it is possible to develop various colors. For example, green can be obtained by mixing blue (cyan) and yellow (yellow). Blue (Blue) can be obtained by mixing colors of cyan and red (magenta).
Red can be obtained with a mixed color of magenta) and yellow (yellow). Black can be obtained by mixing blue (cyan), red (magenta) and yellow (yellow).

In the present embodiment, for example, even when the printing material T has a color that cannot be said to be the same color as any of the colors of ink ejected from the ink ejection unit 9, by performing the color mixture, the color or the similar color is obtained. Therefore, it is possible to perform flashing with a more similar color on the printing material T of various colors, and it is possible to perform flushing with less fear of deterioration in printing quality. .

Next, the process proceeds to step S14, and the flushing is performed on the ink of the combination color determined in step S13 in the flushing area 18. As a result, flushing can be performed for those colors without providing a fixed flushing position as in the prior art, and flushing can be performed with little risk of deterioration in printing quality due to similar colors. .

Example 3 (FIGS. 1 and 4)
Next, based on FIG. 4, the control flow of the control part 3 of the inkjet textile printing apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 3 is demonstrated.
Since the process of step S21 and step S22 is the same as the content of step S1 and step S2 of Example 1, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

In step S23, a plurality of combinations of ink colors to be flushed are determined.
This combination is performed by changing the ratio of the mixed colors of the plurality of colors (for example, blue (cyan), red (magenta), yellow (yellow), black, white) while maintaining similar colors. . This ratio change can be performed based on the known Ostwald color system theory.

Thereby, as described above, the degree of the color of the ink that is ejected by flushing to develop a color is slightly changed, but the ejection amount of each ink changes every flushing, It is possible to perform flushing with less unevenness for each color ink.

Example 3 (FIGS. 1 and 5)
Next, based on FIG. 5, the control flow of the control part 3 of the inkjet textile printing apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 4 is demonstrated.
Since the process of step S31 is the same as that of step S1 of Example 1, the description thereof is omitted.

In step S32, it is determined based on user input information whether the fixing liquid is attached to the material to be printed T. When the ink discharge unit 9 includes a discharge unit that discharges the fixing liquid, it can be easily determined whether or not the fixing liquid is attached based on the data regarding the presence or absence of the discharge operation.
Here, as described above, the “fixing solution” suppresses permeation of the ink ejected onto the fixing layer formed by adhering the fixing solution into the fibers of the printing material T, Further, it is used for the purpose of firmly fixing the ink component on the surface of the printing material T by reacting with the ink.

If the fixer is adhered, the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, the range to which the fixing solution is attached is first determined. This range does not need to be determined strictly, and a range larger than the exact range to which the fixing solution has been applied may be determined roughly in view of safety. Then, the flushing area is set outside the range where the fixing liquid is adhered. This is performed by the CPU 4.

In step S34, the color of ink to be flushed is determined. Since the steps S34 and S35 have the same contents as the steps S3 and S4 of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted. The steps S34 and S35 may have the same contents as the steps S13 and S14 of the second embodiment, or the third embodiment.
The same contents as in step S23 and step S24 may be used.

If it is determined in step S32 that the fixing solution is not attached, the process proceeds to step S36. Steps S34 and S35 subsequent to step S36 have the same contents as the steps S2, S3, and S4 of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

[Other embodiments]
The ink jet textile printing apparatus 1 according to the present invention is basically based on the configuration as described above. However, the partial configuration may be changed or omitted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course it is possible.
For example, the present invention can be provided to a line printer.

1. Inkjet printer (inkjet printing device), 2 computer,
3 control unit, 4 CPU, 5 memory, 6 unit control circuit, 7 transport unit,
8 head units, 9 ink ejection sections, 10 set surfaces, 11 set trays,
12 carriage, 13 carriage guide shaft, 14 images,
15 Range covered by image data, 16, 17 Parts outside the range covered by image data,
18 Flushing area, T

Claims (4)

An ink ejection unit comprising a plurality of nozzles for ejecting a plurality of colors of ink;
A set tray that has a set surface on which a material to be printed is set and moves relative to the ink discharge unit;
A control unit for controlling the ink discharge operation and the flushing operation of the ink discharge unit,
The control unit defines a portion of the printing material set on the set tray outside the range covered by the image data as a flushing region, and is ejected and landed as the color and flushing of the printing material in the flushing region. An ink jet textile printing apparatus configured to perform flushing on the flushing area in a similar color relationship with the color of ink to be performed. In the inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The ink jet printing apparatus, wherein the control unit realizes the relationship of the similar colors by landing the plurality of colors of ink at the same position at the time of flushing. In the inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 2,
The inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the control unit is configured to be able to perform flushing by changing a ratio of the plurality of colors of ink. In the ink jet textile printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When performing printing based on image data on a printing material to which a fixing solution is attached, the control unit is configured to perform flushing on a portion outside the range to which the fixing solution is attached. Inkjet printing apparatus characterized by the above.

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