JP3359091B2 - Ink jet printing apparatus, ink jet printing method, and printed matter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for adhering ink to a fabric.
Printer and ink for printing
Related to the jet printing method. The present invention also relates to a fabric
Printer with ink dots formed by applying ink to
Products and processed products obtained by processing this printed material.
Related.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a typical example of a conventional printing apparatus,
There is a silk-screen printing method in which printing is directly performed on a cloth or the like using a silk-screen printing plate. In the silk screen printing method, a screen plate is prepared for an original image to be printed for each color used in the original image, and the ink is directly transferred to a fabric through a silk screen to perform dyeing.

[0003] In the silk screen printing method as described above, a large number of man-hours and days are required for producing a screen plate, and operations such as preparation of inks of respective colors required for printing and alignment of the screen plate are also required. However, there is a problem that printing takes time.

In addition, the size of the apparatus is increased in proportion to the number of colors used, and a space for storing the screen plate is also required.

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, there has been proposed an apparatus for directly printing on a fabric using an ink jet printing system.

An ink jet head applied to an ink jet printing apparatus generally includes a liquid path for supplying a liquid to a discharge port for printing droplets and an external discharge port, and an energy action section provided in a part of the liquid path. And an energy generating means for generating energy for forming droplets to act on the liquid in the action section.

As the energy generating means, one using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element, irradiating an electromagnetic wave such as a laser and absorbing the liquid there to generate heat,
A device that discharges and flies droplets by the action of the heat, or a heating element such as an electrothermal converter is known.

In particular, an ink jet head having an electrothermal converter as an energy generating means and discharging droplets by thermal energy is an electrothermal converter formed on a substrate through a semiconductor manufacturing process such as etching, vapor deposition, or sputtering. By forming the body, electrodes, liquid furnace wall, top plate, and the like, it is possible to easily manufacture a high-density ink discharge port, and thus the following advantages are provided.

A) It is possible to easily arrange a discharge port for forming a flying droplet by discharging a printing droplet, and easily adopt a structure suitable for performing printing with high resolution. It is.

B) The structure can be easily made compact.

[0011] c) By the work made in improving the advancement and reliability of the technologies in the recent semiconductor field can be more than enough leverage the advantages of significant IC technology and micro-processing technology, to utilize these techniques, long It is easier to make it longer and more planar (two-dimensional), to have multiple outlets, and to make it denser, and it is more efficient in mass production and the production cost is lower.

[0012] In an ink jet head having multiple discharge ports manufactured through a semiconductor manufacturing process using an electrothermal converter as an energy generating means, a liquid path corresponding to each discharge port is provided. There is known an electrothermal converter provided with an electrothermal converter and having a structure in which liquid is supplied to each liquid path from a common liquid chamber communicating with each liquid path.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing the configuration of a conventional example of the above-described ink jet print head.

The head is subjected to a semiconductor manufacturing process such as etching, vapor deposition, sputtering, etc.
Electrothermal transducer 1803 and electrode 180 formed on film 02
4, liquid path wall 1805, and top plate 1806.

A printing liquid 1812 is supplied from a liquid storage chamber (not shown) through a liquid supply pipe 1807 into a common liquid chamber 1808 of the print head 1801. In the figure, reference numeral 1809 denotes a liquid supply pipe connector.

The printing liquid 1812 supplied into the common liquid chamber 1808 is supplied into the liquid passage 1810 by capillary action, and is stably held by forming a meniscus at the discharge port surface 1811 at the leading end of the liquid passage.

Here, when electricity is supplied to the electrothermal converter 1803, the liquid on the surface of the electrothermal converter 1803 is heated, and a bubbling phenomenon occurs, and droplets are discharged from the discharge port surface 1811 by the energy of the bubbling. .

With the above configuration, the liquid path density 16
With a high-density liquid path arrangement such as liquid paths / mm, it is possible to manufacture a multi-liquid path ink jet printhead of 128 liquid paths or 256 liquid paths.

In a serial type ink jet printing apparatus in which a print head scans in a direction intersecting a conveying direction of a print medium, a carriage that moves along the print medium based on an image signal after setting the print medium at a predetermined position. An image is printed by the print head mounted above, and after printing for one scan, that is, the print width of the print head is completed, the print medium is conveyed by the print width, and then the image of the next line is printed. The operation is repeated to print the image on the entire print medium. Further, in order to prevent ejection failure during printing, a recovery operation is appropriately performed on the print head before starting printing or the like.

This is achieved by, for example, discharging the printing ink using the ink jet print head shown in FIG.
As the printing operation is continued by flying, the ink droplets ejected from the liquid passages 1810 of the print head 1801 innumerably generate satellite-like minute ink mist (fog-like ink) on the ejection surface of the print head 1801. If it adheres and accumulates on the nozzle 1811 and the amount of the ink adheres, the ink ejection port is blocked, and the ejection of the ink droplet is obstructed. Also, dust adheres to the head surface, dust adheres to the nozzle, This is because a problem such as non-ejection occurs due to a cause such as the flow of ink bubbles.

In response to such a problem, for example, a recovery operation is performed in which the ink is forcibly circulated to remove those causing the non-ejection.

In the serial type printing method as described above, the print head can be mounted on a small printing apparatus that is advantageous for carrying and installing, and the scanning distance can be increased, so that the print head can be reduced in size in the scanning direction of the print head. It is also mounted on large machines that can print on large, large-sized print media, and uses a common printhead to realize printing devices for various applications.

The ink jet printing apparatus configured as described above can print a high-definition image at a high speed, is non-impact, has low noise, and can easily print a color image using multi-color ink. Therefore, it is widely used as a printing means in a printing apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile used together with a computer, a word processor or the like, or used alone.

On the other hand, in recent years, as a material of the print medium, in addition to paper or resin thin plate which is a normal print medium, for example, OHP paper, thin paper or processed paper, for example, paper with punched holes for filing or perforated paper It has been required to use paper, paper of arbitrary shape, or woven fabric. Regarding the size of the print medium, large-sized woven fabrics used for paper and clothing for publicity have been required.

Recently, there has been proposed an ink jet printing apparatus for directly printing on a fabric. In this case, unlike the case of printing characters, the end of the print medium is also the print area, so when starting printing from the end of the print medium, the state of the print head is already in the optimum state for ink ejection. The recovery operation and the preliminary ejection operation described above need to be completed in advance in order to perform good printing.

In the apparatus using the ink jet printing system configured as described above, since a screen plate used for screen printing is not required, the number of steps and the number of days required for directly printing on a fabric can be greatly reduced. In addition, the size of the device can be reduced. As a matter of course, since image information for printing can be stored on a recording medium such as a tape, a floppy disk, or an optical disk, the storage property and the storage property are excellent. Further, processing such as color change, layout change, enlargement / reduction, and the like for the original image can be easily performed.

[0027]

When printing on a fabric or the like, when a longitudinal direction of a fiber and a dot arrangement (scanning direction of a print head) coincide with each other, a specific nozzle unique to an ink jet printing apparatus is generated. An image defect (white streak) occurs due to the non-ejection of ink that has occurred or the ink is misaligned (the ink adheres to a position different from the target due to a conveyance failure of a printed material, etc.), and the yarn to which the ink does not adhere at all as shown in FIG. (Or a yarn in which the area to which the ink adheres is limited in the longitudinal direction of the fiber) may occur. Such yarns are visually very noticeable in their presence,
There is a problem that the print quality looks worse than it actually is. In the case where the most protruding portion of the fiber and the white streak overlap with each other, there is a particular problem since a portion where the white streak is noticeable periodically occurs.

The same applies to the case where the ink attached to the cloth spreads in the longitudinal direction of the fibers forming the cloth as shown in FIG.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is intended that white streaks become conspicuous even when a discharge failure occurs in a specific nozzle or even when a discharge occurs. It is an object of the present invention to realize an ink jet printing apparatus capable of continuously printing good images without any problem.

[0030]

Ink-jet printing apparatus of the present invention According to an aspect of the printhead to deposit ink is scanned with respect to the fabric against comprised textile fiber
The ink dots arranged in the scanning direction are
The printing is performed by forming the image on the substrate. And this a
The ink jet printing device is designed to control the length of the fibers
Hand direction, performs printing by determining the relative position of the fabric and print head so arranged direction <br/> of ink dots formed on the fabric is mutually different directions.

In this case, the print head is a print head that discharges ink using thermal energy, and is an ink jet print head that includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. Is also good.

The ink jet printing method of the present invention comprises:
An ink jet printing method for performing printing using a print head that applies ink to a print medium, wherein, when the print medium is a fabric, the directions of fibers constituting the fabric and the print head are used. The printing is performed such that the arrangement direction of the ink dots formed on the print medium is different.

A printed matter according to the present invention is a printed matter in which an image is formed on a woven fabric by ink dots,
It is characterized in that the direction of the fibers constituting the woven fabric is different from the arrangement direction of the ink dots formed on the woven fabric.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printing method in which ink is ejected from the print head and recording is performed on the print medium while moving a print medium and a print head which ejects ink at a position facing each other. An ink-jet printing method, wherein, when the print medium is a fabric, printing is performed such that the direction of the fibers constituting the fabric is different from the moving direction.

In this case, a step of ejecting ink onto the print medium to form a print portion, and then fixing the ink of the print portion to the print medium may be added.

In any of the above methods, a step of washing the print medium after the fixing step may be added.

The present invention includes prints and processed products obtained by the above methods, and each of the above methods may be used for printing.

In the present specification, "print" includes "printing" and "recording", and means that the purpose of printing is not limited and that an image is widely applied to a print medium. .

As print media, cloth, wallpaper, paper,
OHP films and the like. Here, the fabric is
Includes all fabrics, nonwovens and other fabrics, regardless of material, weave or knit. In addition, paper,
Includes a wall sticking member made of a cloth or a synthetic resin sheet such as polyvinyl chloride.

[0040]

In the ink jet printing method of the present invention, when the print medium is a fabric, the fabric is attached to the carrier so that the direction of the fibers constituting the fabric is different from the main scanning direction. Even when non-ejection occurs in the nozzles or when a white line is generated due to a warp, a thread to which no ink is attached does not occur, and the white line becomes inconspicuous.

The warp and the weft constituting the woven fabric are woven so as to be substantially orthogonal to each other. Therefore, if the warp yarn or the weft yarn has a different fiber direction from the main scanning direction, the above-described operation is effected.

[0042]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a basic configuration of an embodiment of an ink jet printing apparatus for printing on a fabric.

This ink jet printing apparatus is configured as a system, and as shown roughly in FIG. 1, an image reading apparatus that reads an original image created by a designer or the like and converts the original image into original image data represented by electric signals. 101, an image processing unit 102 that captures and processes original image data from the image reading device 101 and outputs the processed image data, and an image to be printed on a print medium such as a cloth based on the image data created by the image processing unit 102. It comprises a print unit 103.

In the image reading device 101, an original image is read by a CCD image sensor.

In the image processing unit 102, based on the input original image data, four colors of magenta (abbreviation M), cyan (abbreviation C), yellow (abbreviation Y), and black (abbreviation Bk) are described.
Ink-jet printing unit A-2 for discharging color ink
Create data to drive (see FIG. 2). When creating the data, image processing for reproducing the original image with ink dots, color arrangement for determining the color tone, processing of the size of the pattern such as layout change, enlargement and reduction, and selection are performed.

In the image printing section 103, printing is performed by the ink jet printing section A-2. The ink jet printing section A-2 performs printing by causing minute ink droplets to fly toward a print medium and attaching the ink droplets to the print medium.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a printing section of an ink jet printing apparatus used in the present invention.

First, the ink jet printing section is roughly divided into a frame 206, two guide rails 207 and 208, an ink jet head 209 and its moving carriage 210, an ink supply device 211 and its moving carriage 212, and a head recovery device 213. And electrical system 205
And is provided. Inkjet head 209
(Hereinafter, simply referred to as a head) includes a plurality of nozzle arrays and a conversion device for converting an electric signal into ink ejection energy, and selects from the nozzle arrays according to the image signal sent from the image processing unit 102. It has a mechanism for ejecting ink.

The head is a print head that discharges ink by using thermal energy, and includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink, and is applied by the thermal energy converter. A head that causes a state change in the ink by heat energy and discharges the ink from the discharge port based on the state change is preferably used.

The ink supply device 211 stores ink and supplies a required amount of ink to the head, and has an ink tank, an ink pump, and the like (not shown).
The main body and the head 209 are connected by an ink supply tube 215, and are usually automatically supplied to the head 209 by an amount discharged from the head by capillary action. In addition, at the time of a head recovery operation described later, ink is forcibly supplied to the head 209 using an ink pump.

The head 209 and the ink supply device 21
1 are mounted on a carriage 210 and a carriage 212, respectively, and are driven by a driving device (not shown) to guide rails 207 and 207.
It is configured to reciprocate along 208.

A head recovery device (not shown) is provided at a home position (standby position) of the head 209 so as to be able to face the head 209 in order to maintain the ink ejection stability of the head. It is possible to move forward and backward, and specifically performs the operation described below.

First, capping of the head 209 is performed at the home position in order to prevent evaporation of ink from the nozzles of the head 209 during non-operation (capping operation). Alternatively, an operation of pressurizing the ink flow path in the head using an ink pump to forcibly discharge ink from the nozzles by using an ink pump to discharge bubbles, dust, and the like in the nozzles before starting image printing (pressure recovery operation). Or operation to forcibly suck and discharge ink from nozzles (suction recovery operation)
And performs functions such as collecting the ink discharged when performing the operation.

The electrical system 205 includes a power supply unit and a control unit for performing sequence control of the entire inkjet printing unit. Each time the head 209 moves in the main scanning direction along the guide rail to perform printing of a predetermined length, the print medium 236 is transported by a transport device (not shown) by a predetermined amount in the sub-scanning direction (the direction of arrow B) to form an image. Is going on.
In the figure, a hatched portion 217 indicates a portion where printing is completed.

As the print head 209, an ink jet print head for monochromatic printing, a plurality of print heads for printing with different color inks for color printing, or a plurality of print heads for printing with the same color but different density inks are used. A print head or the like can be used.

Further, the construction of the printing means and the ink tank, such as a cartridge type in which the print head and the ink tank are integrated, or a construction in which the print head and the ink tank are separated and connected by an ink supply tube, etc. It can be applied regardless.

Further, by implementing the present invention in the printing apparatus of the following embodiment, a high quality image can be obtained even on a print medium having extremely low water absorption.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an image printing section particularly preferable for the present invention. This printing device
It can be roughly divided into a feeding section B for feeding a print medium such as a roll-shaped cloth which has been subjected to a pre-treatment for printing, and a main body for feeding the print medium precisely and feeding it with an inkjet head. And a winding section C for drying and winding the printed print medium. The main body section A further includes a precision feeding section A-1 for a print medium including a platen and an ink jet printing section A-2.

The operation of this apparatus will be described below by taking as an example the case where printing is performed using a pre-processed print medium as a print medium.

Pre-processed roll-shaped print medium 23
6 is sent out from the payment section B and sent to the main body. The body is a thin endless belt 23 that is precisely step driven.
7 is wound around a driving roller 247 and a winding roller 249. The driving roller 247 is directly step-driven by a high-resolution stepping motor (not shown), and steps the belt by the step amount. The sent cloth 236 is pressed against the surface of the belt 237 backed up by the winding roller 249 by the pressing roller 240 and is attached.

The print medium 236 fed stepwise by the belt is localized in the first print unit 231 by the platen 232 on the back surface of the belt, and is printed by the inkjet head 209 from the front side. Each time one line of printing is completed, the printing paper is stepped by a predetermined amount and then heated by the heating plate 234 from the back of the belt and supplied / discharged by the hot air duct 235.
It is dried by warm air from the surface. Subsequently, in the second printing section 231 ', the overprinting is performed in the same manner as in the first printing section.

The print medium 236 after printing is peeled off, and the above-described heating plate 234 and the hot air duct 23
5, is dried again in the post-drying section 246, guided to the guide roll 241 and wound up by the take-up roll 248. Then, the wound print medium 236 is removed from the present apparatus, and is subjected to a post-processing step such as color development, washing, and drying in a batch process to become a product.

Next, details of the vicinity of the ink jet printing unit A-2 will be described with reference to FIG.

In a preferred embodiment, information is printed by thinning out the number of dots by the head of the first printing unit, and after the drying step, the information is printed by the head of the second printing unit.
Ink droplets are ejected so as to complement the information thinned out in the first printing section.

In FIG. 4, a print medium 236 is attached to a belt 237 and is fed stepwise in the upward direction in the figure. The first print unit 231 in the lower part of the figure includes Y, M, C, and Bk, and special colors S1 to S4.
There is a first carriage 244 on which eight inkjet heads are mounted. The ink jet head (print head) in this example uses an element having an element that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling of the ink as energy used for discharging the ink.

Downstream of the first printing section, a drying section 245 comprising a heating plate 234 for heating from the back side of the belt and a hot air duct 235 for drying from the front side is provided. The heat transfer surface of the heating plate 234 is pressed against a strongly tensioned endless belt 237, and the belt 237 is strongly heated from the back surface by the high-temperature and high-pressure steam passing through the hollow inside. The belt 237 directly and effectively heats the attached print medium 236 by heat conduction. Fins 234 'for heat collection are provided inside the heating plate surface so that heat can be efficiently concentrated on the back surface of the belt. The side not in contact with the belt is covered with a heat insulating material 243 to prevent loss due to heat radiation.

On the front side, by blowing dry hot air from the downstream supply duct 230, air having a lower humidity is applied to the print medium 236 that is being dried to enhance the effect. Then, the air flowing in the opposite direction to the transport direction of the print medium 236 and sufficiently containing water is sucked from the suction duct 233 on the upstream side by a much larger amount than the amount of the sprayed air. Prevents condensation on surrounding machinery. The hot air supply source is located at the back side in FIG. 4 and suction is performed from the near side, and the pressure difference between the outlet 238 facing the print medium 236 and the suction port 239 extends over the entire area in the longitudinal direction. It is made uniform. Blowing air /
The suction section is offset downstream with respect to the center of the heating plate 234 on the rear surface so that air can hit a sufficiently heated place. Thus, the first print unit 231 strongly dries a large amount of water in the ink including the thinning liquid received by the print medium 236.

Downstream (upper) of the second printing unit 2
31 ', a second carriage 244' having the same configuration as that of the first carriage forms a second print portion.

Next, a specific example of ink-jet textile printing will be described. As described above, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an inkjet printing apparatus suitable for printing. Using an inkjet printing apparatus as shown in FIG. 2,
After the inkjet printing process, the print medium is dried (including natural drying). Subsequently, a step of diffusing the dye on the print medium fiber and reacting and fixing the dye on the fiber is performed. By this step, it is possible to obtain sufficient color-forming properties and fastness due to fixation of the dye.

The diffusion and reaction fixing step may be performed by a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method. In addition,
In this case, the printing medium may be subjected to an alkali treatment before the printing step.

Thereafter, in a post-treatment step, unreacted dyes are removed and substances used in the pre-treatment are removed. Finally, the print is completed through an orderly finishing process such as defect correction and ironing.

[0073] Examples of the cloth as a print medium include silk, cotton, hemp, rayon, nylon and the like.

In particular, as a fabric for ink-jet printing, (1) the ink can be colored to a sufficient concentration;
(2) high ink dyeing rate; (3) quick drying of the ink on the fabric; (4) less occurrence of irregular ink bleeding on the fabric; And high performance such as excellent transportability. In order to satisfy these required performances, the cloth can be pre-treated beforehand as necessary. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-53492 discloses fabrics having an ink receiving layer, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-46589 proposes a fabric containing a reduction inhibitor or an alkali substance. . As an example of such a pretreatment, there can be mentioned a treatment in which a cloth contains a substance selected from an alkaline substance, a water-soluble polymer, a synthetic polymer, a water-soluble metal salt, urea and thiourea.

Examples of the alkaline substance include alkali metal hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide;
Examples thereof include amines such as mono, di, and triethanolamine, and alkali metal salts of carbonic acid or bicarbonate such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, and sodium bicarbonate. Further, there are organic acid metal salts such as calcium acetate and barium acetate, ammonia and ammonia compounds. Further, sodium trichloroacetate which becomes an alkaline substance under steaming and dry heat may be used. Particularly preferred alkaline substances include sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate used for dyeing reactive dyes.

Examples of the water-soluble polymer include starch substances such as corn and wheat; cellulosic substances such as carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose and hydroxyethylcellulose; sodium alginate;
Locust bean gum, tragacanth gum, guar gum,
Examples include polysaccharides such as tamarind seeds, protein substances such as gelatin and casein, and natural water-soluble polymers such as tannin substances and lignin substances.

Examples of the synthetic polymer include a polyvinyl alcohol-based compound, a polyethylene oxide-based compound, an acrylic acid-based water-soluble polymer, and a maleic anhydride-based water-soluble polymer. Among them, polysaccharide polymers and cellulose polymers are preferable.

Examples of the water-soluble metal salt include compounds which form typical ionic crystals and have a pH of 4 to 10, such as halides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals. Representative examples of such compounds include, for example, NaCl, Na ₂ S
O ₄ , KCl and CH ₃ COONa;
Examples of the alkaline earth metal include CaCl ₂ and MgCl ₂ . Among them, salts of Na, K and Ca are preferred.

The method for incorporating the above substances and the like into the fabric in the pretreatment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a commonly used dipping method, pad method, coating method, spray method and the like.

Further, since the printing ink applied to the fabric for ink-jet printing simply adheres to the fabric when applied to the fabric, a process for fixing and fixing the dye to the fiber (dyeing process) is performed continuously. Is preferred. Such a reaction fixing step may be carried out by a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method, an HT steaming method, a thermofix method, or an alkaline pad steam method or an alkaline blotch steam method when a cloth which has been previously alkali-treated is not used. ,
Examples include an alkali shock method and an alkali cold fix method.

Further, the removal of unreacted dye and the substance used in the pretreatment can be carried out after the above-mentioned reaction fixing step by washing according to a conventionally known method. In addition, it is preferable to use a conventionally known fixing process in combination with the washing.

The printed material which has been subjected to the post-processing step described above is thereafter cut into a desired size, and the cut pieces are subjected to a process for obtaining a final processed product such as sewing, bonding, welding, or the like. , Dress, dress, tie, swimsuit, apron, scarf, duvet cover, sofa cover,
Handkerchiefs, curtains, book covers, room shoes,
Tapestry, table cloth, etc. are obtained. Many methods for processing cloth by sewing or the like to produce clothing and other daily necessities are described in a number of well-known books, such as “Latest Knit Sewing Manual”: Published by Seny Journal, and monthly magazine “Soen”: Published by Bunka Publishing Bureau. Have been.

In this embodiment, printing is performed using a bubble jet type print head having 200 dpi (dots / inch), 256 nozzles and a nozzle diameter of 22 × 33 μm, with an average drop diameter of 60 μm and an average ejection amount of 180 pl / dot. Was.

Further, full-color printing was performed using the following four inks. The composition of each ink is shown below.

1. C, I, Reactive Blue 10 parts (Reactive dye) Thiodiglycol 15 parts Diethylene glycol 15 parts Water 60 parts 2. 2. C, I, Reactive Red 10 parts (Reactive dye) Thiodiglycol 15 parts Diethylene glycol 15 parts Water 60 parts 3. C, I, Reactive Yellow 10 parts (Reactive dye) Thiodiglycol 15 parts Diethylene glycol 15 parts Water 60 parts 4. C, I, Reactive Black 15 parts (Reactive dye) Thiodiglycol 15 parts Diethylene glycol 15 parts Water 55 parts In addition, the fabric is printed on a plain woven linen with an original yarn consisting of a fiber diameter of 300 μm and a weft yarn diameter of 200 μm. Was done.

This wire cloth is attached to the belt 237 such that the direction of the fiber is different from the moving direction of the head.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining print data printed by so-called sequential multi-scan.

In FIG. 5, each rectangular area surrounded by a dotted line corresponds to one dot (pixel).
In the case of 00 dpi (dot / inch), the area of each rectangle is approximately (63.5 μm) ² . The portions indicated by black circles indicate the locations where dots are formed, and the portions where no black circles exist indicate portions where printing is not performed. The ink jet head moves in the direction of arrow F, and ink is ejected from the ink ejection nozzle at a predetermined timing. This sequential multi-scan is performed in order to correct variations in the size of ink droplets ejected from each nozzle and variations in density between the nozzles caused by variations in the ink ejection direction, and the same line (head moving direction) Is printed with multiple nozzles. By forming one line with a plurality of nozzles in this manner, density unevenness is reduced by utilizing the randomness of the nozzle characteristics of each inkjet head. That is, in the case of sequential multi-scan by twice scanning, printing is performed using the upper half of the inkjet head in the first scanning,
In the second scan, printing is performed using the lower half nozzles of the inkjet head.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of printing by the sequential multi-scan.

When printing the data shown in FIG. 5, for example, first, as shown in FIG. 6, only the odd-numbered print data of the data generated in the moving direction of the ink jet head is transferred to the upper half of the ink jet head. Print with nozzles. Next, the inkjet head (carriage) is returned toward the home position, and the print medium 2 is moved.
36 is sent only half the width of the inkjet head,
As shown in FIG. 7, this time, the even-numbered dots of the inkjet head moving method are printed using the lower half nozzles of the inkjet head. In this manner, the data as shown in FIG.
Printed on top.

FIG. 8 shows an example of printing by ordinary two-time multi-scan. Areas (lower 1) 801 printed by the inkjet head of the first print unit 231 (lower 2)
802, (lower 3) 803, the second print unit 23
Areas printed by the inkjet head 1 ′ are indicated by (top 1) 804, (top 2) 805, and (top 3) 806.

The print medium feed direction is as shown by the arrow in the figure, and the amount of one step feed of the print medium 236 is as follows.
It corresponds to the print width of the inkjet head. As is clear from FIG. 8, everything in the printed area is
The upper half of the inkjet head of the second print unit 231 'and the lower half of the inkjet head of the first print unit 231 or the lower half of the inkjet head of the second print unit 231' and the inkjet of the first print unit 231 Printed using the upper half of the head.
Here, the data printed by each ink jet head is thinned out as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 described above, and as a result of being superimposed and printed by these two ink jet heads, the print density indicated by 807 is reduced. can get.

The printed matter obtained in this embodiment is:
By attaching the printed matter to the belt 237 such that the direction of the fibers is different from the moving direction of the head as described above, white stripes generated due to non-ejection of nozzles or twisting became inconspicuous.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the print result.

The print medium 236 is placed on the belt 237 so that the angle θ between the fiber direction and the head scanning direction is 10 degrees.
Is pasted on. That is, the belt 237 is attached diagonally with respect to the conveyance direction. As a result,
Even if a non-ejection portion or a distorted portion occurred on the head, there was no thread to which no ink was attached, and no very noticeable white streaks were observed, and a good printed fabric could be formed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the belt 2 is moved so that the angle θ between the fiber direction and the head scanning direction becomes 45 degrees.
When the recording was performed by attaching the tape to No. 37, the above action became stronger and a better printed fabric could be obtained. As shown in FIG. When the recording was performed by attaching the recording medium to the belt 237 so that the angle θ between the recording paper and the head scanning direction was 45 degrees, a good printed fabric could be obtained in the same manner as described above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 12, recording was performed by attaching a satin weave wire cloth to the belt 237 so that the angle θ between the fiber direction and the head scanning direction was 45 degrees.
As in the above, a good printed fabric could be obtained.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a state in which the ink adhered to the satin weave line cloth has oozed in the fiber direction.

As shown in the drawing, the ink attached to the fibers spreads in the direction of the fibers, so that the fibers in the portion where the ink is not ejected become visually inconspicuous.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the angle between the fiber direction and the head scanning direction is set by sticking the print medium 236 diagonally to the belt 237. The unit itself is installed obliquely so as to have an angle with respect to the conveying direction of the belt 237. Another configuration is shown in FIG.
3 is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Also in this embodiment, since the relationship between the wire cloth and the scanning direction of the head is the same as in the above embodiment, a good printed fabric can be obtained in the same manner as described above.

Regarding the angle θ between the fiber direction and the head scanning direction in each of the above-described embodiments, if the angle θ is larger than 0 degree, in other words, if the angle θ is provided to some extent, it is effective. By providing an angle θ of 5 degrees or more so that the scanning direction extends over as many fibers as possible, the effect becomes remarkable. Also, an angle θ exceeding 45 degrees
When it is added, the positional relationship between the warp and the weft is reversed, but there is a weave in which either the warp or the weft appears on the surface much like the satin weave shown in FIG. Depending on the method of attachment and the way in which the head is scanned, the angle may be such that the head scanning direction spans many fibers
It is desirable to adjust θ .

In any of the above embodiments, when it is desired to obtain a pattern similar to a printed matter produced by an ink jet printing apparatus in which the fiber direction and the head scanning direction are the same, the fiber direction and the head scanning direction are used. Image processing corresponding to the angle θ is required. Image processing unit 10 shown in FIG.
No. 2 performs a process (such as exchanging a map of a built-in image memory by multiplying sin θ) on the original image data output from the image reading unit 101 according to the angle θ between the fiber direction and the head scanning direction, and exchanges them. The contents of the memory are output to the image printing unit 103 as image data.

The present invention particularly provides an excellent effect in an ink jet type print head and a printing apparatus which perform printing by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among ink jet printing (recording) methods. .

The typical configuration and principle are described in, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent No. 796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to print information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to a sheet or a liquid path in which It is effective because it generates thermal energy in the electrothermal transducer, causing film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the print head, and as a result, it is possible to form bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis. It is. By discharging the liquid (ink) through the discharge opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble, at least one droplet is formed. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of a liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,124 relating to the rate of temperature rise of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent printing can be performed.

As the configuration of the print head, in addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid path, and the electrothermal converter (linear liquid flow path or right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, The present invention also includes a configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal transducer for a plurality of electrothermal transducers, or absorbs pressure waves of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on JP-A-59-138461, which discloses a configuration in which an opening corresponds to a discharge unit.

Further, as a full line type print head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum print medium that can be printed by the printing apparatus, the length is determined by a combination of a plurality of print heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. And the one formed integrally
Any of the configurations as individual print heads may be used,
The present invention can exhibit the above-mentioned effects more effectively.

In addition, the print head is replaceable with a print head of a replaceable chip type, which can be electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus or supplied with ink from the main body of the apparatus, or is integrated with the print head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge type print head provided with an ink tank is used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the print head, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the printing apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If these are specifically mentioned, capping means for the print head,
Preliminary heating means using a cleaning means, pressurizing or suction means, an electrothermal transducer or another heating element or a combination thereof, and a preliminary ejection mode for performing ejection different from printing also perform stable printing. It is effective for.

Further, the print mode of the printing apparatus is not limited to the print mode of only the mainstream color such as black. The print head may be formed integrally or by combining a plurality of print heads. The present invention is also extremely effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full colors by color mixture.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid. However, an ink which solidifies at room temperature or lower and which softens at room temperature, or which is liquid, In general, in the ink jet method, the temperature of the ink itself is controlled within a range of 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or less to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. What is necessary is just to be liquid.

In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or solidified in a standing state for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. Either ink is used, or in any case, the ink is liquefied by application of heat energy according to the print signal, and the ink is ejected as a liquid ink, or the ink already solidifies when it reaches the print medium. The use of an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time by thermal energy is also applicable to the present invention. In such a case, the ink is disclosed in
As described in JP-A-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, a form in which the liquid sheet or the solid sheet is opposed to the electrothermal converter while being held as a liquid or solid substance in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It may be. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, the form of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to those provided integrally or separately as image output terminals of information processing equipment such as a word processor and a computer.
Further, a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function may be employed.

[0117]

As described above, the apparatus and the apparatus according to the present invention
According to the printing method, even when a discharge failure occurs in a specific nozzle or when a discharge occurs, a good image can be continuously printed without noticeable white stripes, and a good printed fabric is formed. There is an effect that can be. In addition, the present invention
According to such prints and processed products, white stripes are conspicuous.
A good print can be obtained without any problem.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image printing unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a printing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the vicinity of an ink jet printing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining overprinting according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining printing by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining printing by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining printing by sequential multi-scan.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a print result using the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a print result using the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a printing result using the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a printing result using the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a printing result using the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventionally used inkjet head.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a print result according to a conventional example.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a print result according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A main unit A-1 precision feeding unit A-2 inkjet printing unit B feeding unit C winding unit 101 image reading device 102 image processing unit 103 image printing unit 205 electrical system 206 frame frame 207, 208 guide rail 209 inkjet head 210 Carriage 211 Ink supply unit 212 Carriage 213 Head recovery unit 215 Tube 217 Printed part 230 Supply duct 231 First print unit 231 ′ Second print unit 233 Suction duct 234 Heating plate 235 Hot air duct 236 Print medium 237, 1002 Belt 238 Port 239 suction port 240 pressing roller 244 first carriage 244 ′ second carriage 245 drying section 246 post-drying section 247 drive roller 248 take-up roll 249 Roller

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Watanabe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-61-231279 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/01 B41J 2/51 B41M 5/00 D06P 5/00 111

Claims (21)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print head for applying ink to a fabric made of fibers is scanned on the fabric.
The ink dots arranged in the scanning direction are
An inkjet printing apparatus for performing printing by forming the a longitudinal direction of the fibers constituting the fabric, the arrangement direction of the ink dots formed on the fabric and different directions
Inkjet printing apparatus characterized by performing printing with the fabric so that determine the relative position of the print head. 2. The printhead according to claim 1, wherein the printhead is a printhead that discharges ink using thermal energy, and is an inkjet printhead that includes a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. The inkjet printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A print head for applying ink to a fabric made of fiber is scanned with respect to the fabric.
The ink dots arranged in the scanning direction are
An inkjet printing method of performing printing by forming the a longitudinal direction of the fibers constituting the fabric, the arrangement direction of the ink dots formed on the fabric and different directions
Inkjet printing method and performing printing so. 4. A printed matter <br/> Ru good image in ink dots are formed on the formed fabric with fibers, formed on said fabric with longitudinal fibers constituting the fabric ink printed matter, characterized in that the arrangement direction of dots are different from each other. 5. A jet printing method while moving the position facing the print head for ejecting formed fabric and the ink in the textile by ejecting ink from the print head performs recording on the print medium, the and the said moving direction is the longitudinal direction of the fibers constituting the fabric
An ink-jet printing method, wherein printing is performed in directions different from each other . 6. After forming the print portion ejects ink onto the fabric, the weave of the ink of the printed portion
The inkjet printing method according to claim 5, further comprising a fixing step of fixing the object . 7. The ink jet printing method according to claim 6 , further comprising a step of cleaning the woven fabric after the fixing step. 8. any one of claims 5 to 7 characterized by having a step of containing a pretreatment agent to the fabric before performing printing by ejecting ink onto the fabric 1
Item 6. The inkjet printing method according to item 1 . 9. The print head according to claim 1, wherein the print head ejects ink using thermal energy, and is an ink jet print head including a thermal energy converter for generating thermal energy to be applied to the ink. ink-jet printing method as claimed in any one of claims 5-8, characterized. 10. The method of claim 5 to printed matter obtained by carrying out the ink jet printing method according to any one of 9. 11. Further processing to obtained processed article of printed matter according to claim 10. 12. The processed product is obtained by cutting the printed product into a desired size and performing a process for obtaining a final processed product on the cut pieces. processed product according to. 13. The processed product according to claim 12 , wherein the step of obtaining the final processed product is sewing. 14. A method according to claim 14, wherein the longitudinal direction of the fiber and the ink
The longitudinal direction of the fiber and the front
Adjust the angle θ with the scanning direction of the inkjet head.
3. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein
Jet printing device . 15. Adjusting the angle θ to 5 degrees or more.
The ink jet pudding according to claim 14, wherein
Device . 16. The angle θ is adjusted according to the weave of the woven fabric.
15. The inkjet according to claim 14, wherein the ink is adjusted.
Print device . 17. Performing image processing according to the angle.
The ink jet pudding according to claim 14, wherein
Device . 18. A method according to claim 18, wherein the longitudinal direction of the fiber and the ink
The longitudinal direction of the fiber and the front
Adjust the angle θ with the scanning direction of the inkjet head.
The inkjet printer according to claim 3, wherein
Lint method . 19. Adjusting the angle θ to 5 degrees or more.
The ink-jet pudding according to claim 18, wherein
Method . 20. The angle θ is adjusted according to the weave of the woven fabric.
19. The inkjet of claim 18, wherein
Print method . 21. Performing image processing according to the angle
The ink-jet pudding according to claim 18, wherein
Method .