JPH08282746A - Inkjet recording sheet container - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide an ink jet recording sheet container in which a recording sheet can be reliably fed and a high-resolution image can be reliably obtained even if the recording sheet is taken out of a storage bag and set in the apparatus as it is. [Structure] The inkjet recording sheet S having an ink receiving layer on the surface is housed in a bag 3 made of high density polyethylene.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording sheet container. In particular, the present invention relates to a container for an inkjet recording sheet (hereinafter also simply referred to as a recording sheet) having an ink receiving layer on its surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The ink jet recording method is a recording method in which ink droplets are ejected onto a recording sheet and an image (including characters) is formed by the dots to perform recording.

As a recording sheet used in such an ink jet recording system, in addition to plain paper, coated paper or the like (coated paper, OHP (overhead projector) sheet, glossy paper, glossy film, etc., the same applies hereinafter) is known. ing.

Coated paper or the like generally has a porous ink receiving layer on the surface of a sheet-shaped substrate. The ink receiving layer is composed of a pigment, a binder, and an auxiliary agent.
As the pigment, a porous material having a low refractive index is used in order to obtain high ink absorbency and high color density, and amorphous silica is most often used. As the binder, a water-soluble resin having a good film-forming property is used in order to obtain fixing strength and ink absorbability, and PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and polymer latex are often used. As the auxiliary agent, a cationic resin for improving water resistance, a light stabilizer for improving light resistance, a fluorescent whitening agent for improving whiteness, etc. are used.

According to such a coated paper or the like, it is possible to obtain a recording state having a higher color density and a clear hue, that is, a recording state having a large color reproducibility as compared with plain paper. Further, the feathering phenomenon, which causes a whisker-like bleeding along the pulp fiber, is suppressed, and the roundness of the dot is improved. Furthermore, since the dot diameter can be controlled by selecting the components in the ink receiving layer, it is possible to achieve high resolution.

Therefore, such a coated paper or the like is suitable for obtaining a high-resolution color image.

Conventionally, a plurality of such coated papers and the like have been stored in polypropylene bags for sale.

[0008]

As an ink jet recording apparatus, one shown in FIG. 4 is known.

In the figure, 11 is a paper feed tray, 12 is a feed roller, 13 is a transport roller, 14 is a pinch roller, 15 is an inkjet head, 16 is a discharge roller,
Reference numeral 17 is an ejector roller.

A plurality of recording sheets S are set in the paper feed tray 11 in a stacked state. The paper feed tray 11 presses the recording sheet S with a predetermined force F1 toward the feed roller 12 when the recording sheet is fed.

The feed roller 12 is a rubber roller (which means at least a roller having a rubber layer on its surface; the same applies hereinafter), and rotates at the time of feeding to feed the uppermost recording sheet S1.

The carrying roller 13 is a rubber roller, and the pinch roller 14 is pressed against this by a predetermined force F2.
At least the transport roller 13 is configured as a drive roller. Therefore, the fed recording sheet S is conveyed while being pinched by the conveying roller 13 and the pinch roller 14.

The ink jet head 15 discharges ink droplets on the surface of the recording sheet S to form an image.

The discharge roller 16 is a rubber roller, to which the discharge serrated roller 17 is pressed with a predetermined force F3. The discharge roller 16 is configured as a drive roller, and the normal discharge serrated roller 17 is configured as a driven roller. Therefore, the recorded recording sheet is conveyed and discharged while being pinched by the discharge roller 16 and the discharge serrated roller 17.

The peripheral speed of the discharge roller 16 is the same as that of the conveying roller 13.
The recording sheet S, which is being recorded, is conveyed in such a state that it is stretched between the conveying roller 13 and the discharge roller 16. Therefore, the conveyance force of the discharge roller 16 affects the conveyance accuracy of the recording medium during recording.

In such an apparatus, the paper feed tray 1
The recording sheet S fed from No. 1 is reversed by being wound around the conveyance roller 13 and is discharged to the paper feed tray 11 side.

Therefore, the recording sheet S is set in the paper feed tray 11 with its back surface (non-recording surface) being positioned on the upper side.

For example, when recording is performed in the above-described apparatus, the recording sheets S need to be reliably fed one by one by the feed roller 12.

However, conventionally, when a plurality of recording sheets are all taken out from the above-mentioned polypropylene bag and set in the paper feed tray 11 as they are to operate the apparatus, the recording sheet S1 at the top is fed. There was a problem that it might not be sent.

As a result of investigating the cause, the polypropylene bag contains a relatively large amount of a slip agent in order to improve its handling, and the slip agent of the recording sheet S1 at the top is the slip agent. Because it adheres to the back side,
It was found that this is because the feed roller 12 slips.

Even when the uppermost recording sheet S1 is fed, since the slip agent from the polypropylene bag is attached to the back surface of the recording sheet S1, the conveying rollers 13,
There is also a problem that the accuracy of conveyance by the discharge roller 16 is lowered, and the quality of the high resolution image to be obtained by the action of the ink receiving layer may be impaired.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and even if a recording sheet is taken out of a storage bag and set in the apparatus as it is, the recording sheet is reliably fed and a high resolution image is surely obtained. An object is to provide an ink jet recording sheet container.

[0023]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording sheet container according to claim 1 is provided with:
An ink jet recording sheet having an ink receiving layer on the surface is housed in a bag made of high density polyethylene.

An ink jet recording sheet container according to a second aspect is the ink jet recording sheet container according to the first aspect, wherein the base material of the ink jet recording sheet is a transparent or white polyethylene terephthalate film. .

[0025]

[Function] The bag made of high-density polyethylene contains almost no slip agent.

According to the ink jet recording sheet container of the first aspect, since the ink jet recording sheet having the ink receiving layer on the surface is contained in the high density polyethylene bag, the slip agent is almost attached to the recording sheet. do not do.

Therefore, even if the recording sheet is taken out of the storage bag and set in the recording apparatus as it is, the recording sheet can be reliably fed.

Further, since the slip agent hardly adheres to the recording sheet, the accuracy of transportation by the transportation roller or the like does not decrease, and a high resolution image to be obtained by the action of the ink receiving layer can be surely obtained.

When the base material of the recording sheet is a polyethylene terephthalate film, if the polyethylene terephthalate film is stored in a polypropylene bag, the slip agent tends to adhere more easily.

Therefore, the present invention is particularly effective when the base material of the recording sheet is a polyethylene terephthalate film.

[0031]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording sheet container according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the ink jet recording sheet container 10 of this embodiment has a structure in which a plurality of ink jet recording sheets S are contained in a bag 3 made of high density polyethylene.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording sheet S has a porous ink receiving layer 2 on the surface of a sheet-shaped substrate 1.

The sheet-shaped substrate 1 is composed of paper, a transparent or white synthetic resin film (for example, polyethylene terephthalate film), or the like.

As the ink receiving layer 2, a known one can be used. For example, it is composed of a pigment, a binder, and an auxiliary agent, amorphous silica is used as the pigment, and water-soluble resin having good film-forming property such as PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and polymer latex is used as the binder. Further, as an auxiliary agent, a cationic resin for improving water resistance, a light stabilizer for improving light resistance, a fluorescent whitening agent for improving whiteness, and the like are used.

The ink receiving layer 2 can be formed by coating. The coating method includes blade coater, air knife coater, roll coater, kiss coater, squeeze coater, curtain coater, bar coater, gravure coater and comma coater. It can be appropriately selected and used from coating methods using known coating machines such as.

According to the ink jet recording sheet container 10 of this embodiment, since the ink jet recording sheet S having the ink receiving layer 2 on the surface is contained in the bag 3 made of high density polyethylene, the recording sheet S slips. Almost no agent adheres.

Therefore, even if the recording sheet S is taken out from the storage bag 3 and set in the recording device as it is, the recording sheet S can be reliably fed.

Further, since the slip agent hardly adheres to the recording sheet S, the accuracy of transportation by the transportation roller or the like does not decrease, and the high-resolution image to be obtained by the action of the ink receiving layer 2 can be surely obtained.

A lubricant can be applied to the back surface (that is, non-recording surface) 1a of the recording sheet S, if necessary.

Like the above-mentioned coated paper, the recording sheet S having the ink receiving layer 2 has a smoother surface than plain paper, and therefore when stacked, they are easily adhered to each other. Therefore, the recording sheet S is placed in the paper feed tray of the recording apparatus.
If the sheets are set in a stacked state, they may be fed by mutual adhesion (two or more recording media are fed together). For example, in FIG. 4, the recording sheet S1 located at the top of the paper feed tray 11 and to be fed becomes less slippery than the recording sheet S2 located below it, and the recording sheet S1
At the same time, the recording sheet S2 is also likely to be fed.

Therefore, in order to prevent such double feeding, a lubricant can be applied to the back surface 1a of the recording sheet S, if necessary.

Therefore, the lubricant in this case is formed of a material and an application amount such that the double feeding of the recording sheets S is prevented, but the recording sheet S having the lubricant applied to the back surface will be described as a prior art. If the polypropylene bag is stored in such a polypropylene bag, the slip agent of the polypropylene bag adheres to the lubricant coating layer and becomes more slippery to the rubber roller such as the feed roller.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the bag 3 made of high-density polyethylene is used, and even if a lubricant is applied to the back surface of the recording sheet, a rubber roller such as a feed roller and the recording sheet are used. A sufficient coefficient of friction with the back surface 1a is secured.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the internal structure of an example of an ink jet printer as a recording device.

This printer has a format similar to the device shown in FIG. 4, and therefore in FIG.
The parts corresponding to the parts of the device shown in FIG.

When a recording sheet S is taken out from the storage bag 3 and set on the paper feed tray 11 using the printer as described above and the image is recorded, the feeding failure (including the double feeding) does not occur. Conveyor roller 13 and discharge roller 1
The slip in 6 did not occur, and a high quality color image could be obtained.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, the number of recording sheets S stored in the bag 3 may be one instead of plural.

[0051]

According to the present invention, even if a recording sheet is taken out of a storage bag and set in the apparatus as it is, the recording sheet is reliably fed and a high resolution image is surely obtained.

[0052]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording sheet container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing an example of a recording sheet.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an internal structure of an example of an inkjet printer.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S Inkjet recording sheet 2 Ink receiving layer 3 High-density polyethylene bag 10 Inkjet recording sheet container

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording sheet container, characterized in that an ink jet recording sheet having an ink receiving layer on its surface is contained in a bag made of high density polyethylene. 2. The ink jet recording sheet container according to claim 1, wherein the base material of the ink jet recording sheet is a transparent or white polyethylene terephthalate film.