JPH0226751A - Ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To promote the absorption and drying of ink during recording, and to prevent paper rubbing, creases and bleeding due to paper floating by incorporating a recording drum, a recording receiver, etc., and air-conditioning the inside of a box body capable of interrupting the outside air by an air conditioner. CONSTITUTION:An ink-jet unit 4 conducts drawing by movement from end to end of a recording drum 1. The whole of the ink-jet unit 4 is interrupted from the outside air by a box body 11 and a cover 12. One part of mist ink rebounding from the surface of recording paper 2 during drawing adheres on the opposed surface of the recording paper 2 of the ink-jet unit 4, and the other is sucked by a mist suction unit 5 mounted onto the ink-jet unit 4. Air containing moisture is cooled and dehumidified by an air conditioner 7 with a refrigerator and a heater through a mist suction hose 6, and dehumidified air heated up to a proper temperature through the heater is sprayed against the surface of the recording paper 2 from a dehumidified-air blowoff port 9 formed onto the mist suction unit 5 through a dehumidified-air supply hose 8, thus promoting the drying of the recording paper 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer that dries recording paper by inkjet recording.

One of the problems with conventional ink jet recording is the elongation of the recording paper due to ink adhesion and absorption of moisture in the air.

In particular, in color inkjet printers, which have become popular in recent years, there is a tendency to put a large amount of ink on recording paper in order to increase the recording density and obtain good-looking prints. In this way, high-density color recording is easily affected by the moisture content in the recording paper, and in environments with humidity of 80% RH or higher, such as during the rainy season, the moisture content in the recording paper is The recording paper elongates as a result of the increased weight and ink adhesion, while the increased weight causes the mounted recording paper to rise above the drum surface due to the action of centrifugal force in the case of a rotating drum type. For this reason, the distance from the recording paper surface to 1 to 2 m++
+ In the case of an on-demand type head that is not far from L, problems may occur such as contact with the hennod and staining the recording paper, shock to the head and suction of air, etc. Also, the concentration may be partially In the case of a pattern that is significantly different from that of the original, wrinkles may occur in some areas, degrading the quality of the recorded material.

Therefore, a vacuum adsorption method is used as a method to prevent paper floating due to centrifugal force, but this method is mainly used for the purpose of fixing the recording paper to the drum.

In this case, depending on the nature and size of the recording paper, there is a drawback that when the recording paper stretches due to ink adhesion, wrinkles are more likely to occur because there is no place for the stretched recording paper to escape.

Several proposals have been made to improve these problems. The conventional configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a large number of pores 22 are formed in the recording paper mounting surface 21 of the recording drum 1 to provide ventilation, and slits 100 for sucking air into the inside of the recording drum 1 are provided in the recording drum 1. Installed over the entire length or slit 101
The air is sucked by the vacuum pump 30, and the recording paper 2 is
This prevents the ink from floating and at the same time accelerates the drying of the ink sucked onto the recording paper.

Furthermore, a hot air blowing slit 32 equipped with a heater 33 is provided on the opposite side of the intake slit 4, and the inside of the recording drum 1 is heated with hot air through the hot air blowing slit using the exhaust air of the vacuum pump 30, so that the recording paper 2 is placed on the back side. It is designed to accelerate the drying of the ink by warming it up.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, as described above, creating pores large enough to be effective by suction on the recording paper mounting surface of the recording drum is extremely costly and also significantly reduces the mechanical strength of the drum. , the deformation of the drum caused by this cannot be ignored, so it is not suitable for large drums.

Additionally, some recording papers for color printing are often treated to prevent ink from bleed through in order to increase color and density, but such recording papers also have poor breathability, and the drying effect of air intake from the back side is extremely low. It is low, and when air is sucked in, the area is dented, causing unevenness on the recording paper and deteriorating the quality of prints. Furthermore, incorporating such an intake and exhaust mechanism within the recording drum itself has the problem of complicating the device and increasing costs.

Therefore, the present invention promotes the drying of the ink on the recording paper and improves the quality of printing without applying any special processing to the drum.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides an inkjet provided inside the housing that moves in the longitudinal direction of a rotating drum and draws on a recording paper wound around the rotating drum using an inkjet head mounted thereon. a unit, an ink mist suction means provided inside the housing that sucks ink mist generated by drawing with the inkjet head, and after the ink mist is suctioned by the ink mist suction means, the suction air is and air conditioning means provided inside the casing for dehumidifying and heating the air with a heater and spraying the dehumidified and heated air onto the drawing area of the recording paper.

According to the above-described structure, when the printer is powered on, the ink mist suction unit and the air conditioning means are activated, and the air inside the housing that stores the recording paper, such as the recording paper tray and the recording drum, is dehumidified. . When the recording paper pulled out from the recording paper tray is mounted on the recording drum and recording is started, countless minute ink mist generated during drawing is sucked through the suction port of the ink mist suction unit. At the same time, the air sucked in from the ink mist suction port is guided to a near conditioner where it is cooled and dehumidified, further heated to an appropriate temperature by a heater, and then blown onto the surface of the recording paper from the blowout port. This promotes ink absorption and drying, eliminates problems such as paper floating and wrinkles that occur during recording, and provides high-quality recorded matter, and also has the effect of reducing ink mist generation.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet printer equipped with a dehumidifying section according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The explanation will be given below according to FIG.

An inkjet unit 4 mounted on a feeding mechanism 3 that moves parallel to the rotation axis of a recording drum 1 on which recording paper 2 is wound performs drawing by moving from one end of the recording drum 1 to the other. In addition, a housing 11 and a cover 12 are provided throughout.
is isolated from the outside air. A part of the mist ink that bounced off the surface of the recording paper 1 during drawing is attached to the opposite surface of the recording paper 1 of the inkjet unit 4, and the other part is attached to a near conditioner (air conditioning means) 7 provided on the inkjet unit 4. The mist is sucked by the mist suction bow unit 5 connected to the. The suctioned mist ink is captured by a mist collection filter (not shown) provided in the mist suction unit 5, and the humid air is passed through the mist suction hose 6 to a near conditioner equipped with a refrigerator and a heater. Sent to 7. The air sucked from the mist suction unit 5 is cooled and dehumidified by the near conditioner 7, and then heated to an appropriate temperature via a heater. The dehumidified air is blown onto one side of the recording paper from the dehumidified air outlet 9 provided above. Thereby, drying of the recording paper 1 can be accelerated. Further, since the near conditioner 7 can be kept in operation at all times even when no drawing is being performed, the inside of the three bodies 11, which is isolated from the outside air, can be kept at an appropriate temperature and humidity.

Therefore, by preventing the recording paper in the recording paper storage 10 from absorbing water and controlling the viscosity of the ink, high-quality prints can be obtained under any environment.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention maintains a stable water absorption rate of the recording paper before recording by using a near conditioner to air condition the inside of the housing that houses the recording drum, recording paper storage, etc. and can shut off outside air. By accelerating the drying of the ink during recording, it has great effects, such as preventing paper rubbing, wrinkles, and smearing due to paper floating.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inkjet printer equipped with a drying section according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are cross-sectional diagrams of a conventional inkjet printer. 1. Recording drum, 2. Recording paper, 3. Feeding mechanism.
4 Inkjet unit, 5... Mist suction unit, 7... Near conditioner 10... Recording paper storage, 11 - Housing, 12... Ka, bar. Atsushi l Name of agent Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and 1 other person\7
Air 3,29A7 Figure 5l-CD Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] A recording paper storage means provided inside a casing that is isolated from outside air, a recording paper mounting means for pulling out a recording paper from the recording paper storage means and winding the recording paper around a rotating drum, and a length of the rotating drum. an inkjet unit installed inside the housing that moves in a direction and draws on a recording paper wound around its rotating drum using an inkjet head mounted thereon; and an ink mist generated by drawing with the inkjet head. After the ink mist is sucked by the ink mist suction means provided inside the housing and the ink mist suction means, the sucked air is dehumidified and heated by a heater, and the ink mist is applied to the drawing area of the recording paper. An inkjet printer comprising an air conditioning means provided inside the casing for blowing dehumidified and heated air.