JPH0825618A - Recording device and printing system using the device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To facilitate production planning in a system or recording device that prints continuously for a long time. [Structure] By calculating a recording speed and a time required for recording from setting of recording conditions such as a recovery process, a print image, and a recording mode, it is possible to easily carry out a production plan and properly manage the apparatus.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an inkjet printing recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a typical method for recording on a cloth or wallpaper, there is a screen printing method in which a cloth or the like is directly printed using a silk screen plate. In this method, first, a silk screen plate is created for each original image to be printed for each color used in the original image, this silk screen plate is mounted on a screen printing device, and ink is passed through the mesh of the silk screen plate. Recording is performed by directly transferring the image onto a cloth or the like.

However, in this screen printing method, in addition to requiring a great number of steps and days to prepare a silk screen plate in advance, it is necessary to prepare ink of each color and to align the silk screen plate for each color. There is a point. In addition, the device is large and requires a large installation space in proportion to the number of colors to be used, and also requires a storage space for the silk screen plate.

Therefore, instead of the conventional screen printing method, a recording method applied to a printer used as an output device of a computer or the like is used to directly record an image on a recording medium such as cloth or wallpaper. Is proposed. Among various recording methods, the inkjet recording method is a method in which a minute ink is ejected from a discharge port provided in an inkjet recording unit onto a recording medium such as cloth to record an image on the recording medium. According to the method, there is an advantage that the screen plate, which was necessary in the conventional screen printing, is not required, and the process and the number of days until the image is formed on the fabric can be significantly shortened and the apparatus can be downsized. To be Also, image information for printing can be stored in a medium such as a tape, a flexible disk, or an optical disk. Therefore, the image information can be stored and stored easily. Furthermore, the color arrangement of the original image can be changed, the layout can be changed, the image can be enlarged or reduced. There is also an advantage that processing such as can be easily performed.

Further, both the method of scanning the recording head of a predetermined width of the ink jet recording method by the serial method according to the width of the recording medium and the method of using the full line head according to the width of the recording medium are described above. It can be applied to a printing method.

[0006]

However, in the conventional example described above, in the case of constructing a full-scale production apparatus, in order to cover all cloth widths, a wide scan of 1.2 m to 1.6 m is required. is necessary. Further, it is expected that continuous recording will be frequently performed on a long fabric of up to several hundreds of meters.

In such a case, the recording time is so long that it cannot be compared with the printer used as a normal office machine. The time required for the continuous recording can be several days. Then, at that time, even a slight variation and difference in the recording speed greatly affects the entire required recording time. For example, the standard recording speed is 1
If the recording speed varies by 10%, the recording time will vary by only 6 minutes, but if the standard recording speed requires 10 days, the recording speed will increase by 10%. If there is a change in, the recording time will change for a full day.

Such a long recording time variation has great significance for the user of the apparatus. For example, in the management of the working hours of the worker, the calculation of the personnel cost of the worker, the calculation of costs such as utility costs, and the management of the delivery date, there will be great fluctuations. Further, if the recording end time is not known in advance, it may be considered that the worker does not properly respond at the end time.

On the other hand, the recording speed changes depending on the image quality and recording (ejection) stability. For example, by appropriately selecting the n-degree hitting mode for improving the image density, the recording speed changes greatly. In addition, the applicant of the present invention filed Japanese Patent Application No. 5-22591.
When the method of controlling the number of wiping operations by the polymer absorber and each recovery operation according to the print image data as proposed in No. 7 and changing the number of times and timing is applied, the recording speed changes. To do.

Therefore, in the conventional ink-jet textile printing apparatus, it is difficult to grasp the above-mentioned control items and make a production plan due to variations in the recording speed and other processing time required for recording depending on the image.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from a recording head to deposit the ink on a recording medium to form an image with a large number of dots, before the image formation. By providing a means for calculating the time required to finish recording (processing speed), it becomes possible to comprehend each of the above-mentioned control items and facilitate the production planning.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an ink jet printing apparatus as a liquid ejection apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

In the figure, a carriage 1 is equipped with color print heads 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d corresponding to four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, and a guide shaft 3 allows the carriage 1 to move. Supports guidance. Reference numerals 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d denote ejection surfaces of the print heads.

A part of the belt 4, which is an endless belt, is connected to the carriage 1.
Is a drive motor 5 which is a pulse motor driven by a motor driver 23, and moves the guide shaft 3 on the guide shaft 3 through a belt 4 along a print surface of paper, OHP film, cloth or other print medium (hereinafter referred to as print paper) 6. Driven to move. Further, it is provided with a conveyance roller 7 that conveys the print sheet 6, guide rollers 8A and 8B that guide the print sheet 6, and a print sheet conveyance motor 9.

Further, each print head 2a, 2b, 2
A liquid path 10 for ejecting ink droplets toward the print paper 6 is provided in each of c and 2d, and each of the print heads 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d is provided to the liquid path 10.
Corresponding to the ink tanks 11a, 11b, 11c, 11
Ink is supplied from d through the supply tubes 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d. For the means (not shown) provided in each liquid path 10 for generating energy used for ejecting ink, each head driver 24a,
Flexible cable 13 from 24b, 24c and 24d
Ink ejection signals are selectively supplied via a, 13b, 13c, and 13d.

Further, each print head 2a, 2b, 2
The head heaters 14a, 14b, and
14c, 14d (14b, 14c, 14d are not shown in FIG. 1) and temperature detecting means 15a, 15b, 15
c, 15d (15b, 15c, 15d are not shown in FIG. 1) are provided, and the temperature detecting means 15a, 1
The detection signals from 5b, 15c, and 15d are input to the control circuit 16 having a CPU, and the control circuit 16 sends the head heaters 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d through the driver 17 and the power supply 18 based on this signal. Control heating in.

The capping means 20 is abutted against the ejection opening surface of each print head 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d during non-printing, and the capping means 20 caps the print heads 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d during non-printing. Means 20
Move to the position opposite. At this time, the capping means 20 is driven forward by the cap driver 25 to press the elastic member 44 against the ejection port surface to perform capping.

When the print head is left in the air for a long time, the ink in the nozzle evaporates and the viscosity increases, and the ejection becomes unstable. In order to prevent this, during non-printing, the nozzle part is shut off from the outside air and sealed (capping). Inside the cap portion, there is a liquid absorbing material that is kept wet with ink, and the inside of the cap portion is kept at high humidity to minimize the increase in viscosity of the ink.

Further, when left in the capping state for a long period of time, recovery is performed by pressurizing the ink. That is, when left for a long time, the ink inside the ejection port evaporates and thickens even though capping is performed, although it is slow. In addition, air bubbles may remain inside the discharge port to prevent stable discharge. Therefore, at the start of printing, a pump provided in the ink tank is driven to pressurize the ink, and the thickened ink inside the discharge port and residual bubbles are discharged to the outside of the discharge port. This has an effect of keeping dust and fluff attached to the discharge surface, and even if dust or the like has invaded inside the discharge port, by flushing them to maintain stable discharge.

The clogging prevention means 31 receives the ejected ink when the print heads 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d perform the idle ejection (preliminary ejection) operation. The clogging prevention means 31 is provided for the print heads 2a, 2b, 2c, 2
The capping means 2 is provided with a liquid receiving member 32 as a liquid receiving portion that faces the d and absorbs the ink that has been ejected by the idle.
It is arranged between 0 and the print start position. In addition,
As a material for the liquid receiving member 32 and the liquid holding member 45, a sponge-like porous member, a plastic sintered body, or the like is effective.

The blank discharge is for discharging ink not for the purpose of printing. In order to guarantee the temperature of a region where the temperature is lowered by the liquid discharge flow and the gas discharge flow, and to eliminate unnecessary substances in the discharge port. To do. In addition to this, a predetermined drive pulse is applied before the start of printing, and ink is ejected from all ejection ports toward the cap portion and the like (aging operation). In addition, capping may be performed to enhance the wet state of the atmosphere around the discharge port.

An electromagnetic valve 51 for cleaning and a suction pump driver 52 are connected to the cleaning means 50, and the control circuit 16 respectively.
The cleaning liquid is ejected from the wiping cleaning means 53, and the cleaning liquid is sucked from the cleaning means 50 under the control of.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of the liquid ejection head. Two
Is an ejection head, and 22 is its ejection surface. Reference numeral 101B denotes a nozzle portion in which a plurality of liquid flow paths are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, and a discharge energy generating element such as an electrothermal converter is provided. Reference numeral 101C is an ink chamber that supplies ink to each liquid flow path in common, and is connected to an ink tank 110 via supply pipes 103 and 104. A gear pump 105 is provided on one of the supply pipes 104, and the print head 2 is supplied to the supply path and the ejection recovery process such as a process of removing air bubbles and dust mixed in the nozzle portion 101B and the like, a process of removing thickened ink, and the like. Of supplying ink to the other ink supply system by pressure and discharging the ink from the discharge port, or the ink supply pipe 1
A process of circulating ink in the ink chambers 03 and 104 or the ink chamber 101C to refresh the ink (hereinafter, referred to as a pressure circulation process) is performed.

Since the recovery process can be performed while suppressing the consumption of ink in the pressure circulation process, it is an effective process that can suppress the running cost and perform the recovery process.

3 and 4 show an example of the structure of the cleaning means 50. 3 is an explanatory view of the cleaning means 50 when viewed from the main scanning direction of the head 2, and FIG. 4 is a cleaning member 70.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram when the head 2 and the head 2 are viewed from above. The cleaning member 70, which is a wiping unit in this example, is made of a flexible porous body. As the material of the cleaning member, a polymer porous body can be used, and when the polymer porous body is used, the volume change due to absorption of ink mist is not remarkable like a polymer foam, and It is preferable to use a type in which the volume does not change even when absorbing the, for example, a foamed formal resin type is preferable.

Further, as the ink absorber used here, a heat-sintering type polymer porous body can also be used. For example, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, high molecular weight polyethylene, composite polyethylene, polypropylene, Examples thereof include heat-sintered products such as polymethylmethacrylate, polystyrene, acrylonitrile-based copolymers, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, fluororesins, and phenolic resins. It is preferable to use density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, high molecular weight polyethylene, or polypropylene.

Reference numeral 71 is a holder, and the cleaning member 70 is fixed to the fixing plate 7.
Hold it between the two and fix it. 73 is a mounting screw.
The holder 71 is provided with an opening 71B on a surface 71A that abuts the cleaning member 71, and is connected to a suction tube 74 via a conduction path 71C, so that a cleaning liquid or ink impregnated in the cleaning member 70 is sucked by a pump 82. Is configured to be discharged in the direction of arrow A. The suction means 82 may be a discharging means that connects a porous member or a fibrous member to the cleaning member 70 to form a drainage path and discharges the cleaning liquid from the cleaning member.

After the cleaning liquid is sucked by the cleaning liquid, the amount of the cleaning liquid remaining on the cleaning member 70 is appropriately reduced to recover the absorption capacity of ink and foreign matters, and the ejection surface 22 of the head 2 is recovered.
It has become possible to enhance the cleaning effect of. Further, the front end portion 70A of the cleaning member 70 and the ejection surface 22 of the ejection head 2 are L
Since it overlaps for the length shown by, head 2
At the time of scanning, the ejection surface 22 of the head 2 is wiped by this overlap.

A cleaning liquid supply nozzle 75 is supplied with cleaning liquid 81 in the direction of arrow B from a tank 80, which is a cleaning liquid supply means, through a cleaning liquid supply tube 76 by opening and closing an electromagnetic valve 79, and is directed downward from a discharge portion 75A of the nozzle. And is supplied to the cleaning member 70 for cleaning.

Reference numeral 77 is a tray which is arranged below the cleaning member 70. When the cleaning liquid is supplied from the supply nozzle 75, the cleaning liquid that has not been absorbed by the cleaning member 70 and the ink or foreign matter that has adhered to the cleaning member 70 drops together with the cleaning water. . Reference numeral 78 is a discharge tube for discharging the cleaning liquid received in the receiving tray 77 to a discharge portion (not shown) in the direction of arrow C.

Next, the operation of the ink jet printing apparatus will be described below. In FIG. 5, the print start detection sensor 34 and the capping means detection sensor 3
6 is each print head 2a, 2b, 2c, 2
It is detected that d is at a predetermined capping position. The blank discharge position detection sensor 35 is provided in the print heads 2a, 2
The reference position of the idle discharge operation performed while b, 2c, and 2d move in the scanning direction is detected.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation sequence of the technique on which the present invention is based on using the above-mentioned configuration. First, during standby, the print heads 2a, 2b,
2c, 2d ejection surfaces 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d
Are capped by the capping means 20. When a print signal is input to the control circuit 16, ink pressure circulation is started (step S1). Next, the head cap is opened (step S2).

At the same time as the recovery by the ink pressure circulation, the cleaning member 70 is washed (step S3). By this cleaning, thickening ink, foreign matter, etc. adhering to the cleaning member 70 are washed away together with the cleaning liquid.

Next, in step S4, the amount of the cleaning liquid remaining on the cleaning member 70 is appropriately reduced by sucking the cleaning liquid, so that the ability to collect ink, foreign matter, etc. is improved, and the cleaning effect of the manufacturing member 70 is improved. Can be increased. Further, by sucking the cleaning liquid, a negative pressure due to a capillary phenomenon is generated inside the porous member that is the cleaning member 70. By making this negative pressure larger than the negative pressure applied to the nozzles of the liquid ejection head, ink is drawn out from the nozzles during cleaning, so that the cleaning liquid is prevented from entering the liquid chamber. Further, since the ink absorbing ability inside the nozzle is also generated, it is possible to obtain the effect that the thickened ink inside the nozzle is removed at the same time.

Next, a drive signal is issued from the motor driver 23, the drive of the drive motor 5 is transmitted to the carriage 1 via the belt 4, the carriage 1 is driven, and the head reciprocates. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, when the carriage 1 passes the cleaning means 50, the cleaning member 70 sequentially wipes the ejection surface 22 to perform cleaning (step S5). In the present embodiment, wiping means wiping and cleaning the cleaning liquid, ink, foreign matter, etc. on the ejection surface.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the cleaning member 70 wipes the discharge port surface, since the cleaning member 70 has flexibility, the cleaning member 70 tilts in the same direction as the moving direction D of the carriage 1 and has a weak repulsive force. 70B wipes the ejection surface 22, and cleaning is performed. Therefore, even if there is a step between the holder surface 102 and the ejection surface 22, it does not affect the cleaning effect.

Particularly, since the edge portion 70D of the cleaning member 70 enters into the concave portion of the holder portion, the holder surface 102 and the discharge surface 22 are
It is possible to clean up to the step between and.

From the print start detection position P ₀ detected by the print start detection sensor 34, ink droplets are ejected while traveling in the direction of arrow D, and an image is printed on the print width portion P of the print paper 6 (( Step S
6).

At the same time, the cleaning member is washed (step S7), and then the cleaning liquid is sucked (step S).
8) The cleaning ability of the cleaning member is restored. afterwards,
The carriage 1 is reversed and driven in the direction of arrow E to perform the preliminary ejection operation while passing through the preliminary ejection position (step S
9). Here, the preliminary discharge is performed on the liquid receiving member 32. Then, the print sheet 6 is conveyed in the direction of arrow F by the width of the print width member P.

Next, when the image printing continues (when a negative determination is made in step S10) and the printing for n lines has not been completed (when a negative determination is made in step S11), step S5. Return to Carriage 1
Reciprocates, and cleaning in reciprocation is performed as shown in FIG. 7 (step S5). At this time, since the wiping surface 70B of the cleaning member is wiped in the forward movement, the once-dirty wiping surface 70C does not wipe the ejection surface 22, so that the cleaning effect is not adversely affected and the cleaning effect is doubled. Has the effect of being enhanced.

On the other hand, when the image printing is completed (when a negative determination is made in step S10) or when the printing for n lines is completed (a positive determination is made in step S11), the ejection surface 22 of the head 2 is discharged. Is capped by the capping means 20 and sealed (steps S12 and S13).

In such a recording apparatus, each printing operation is
By appropriately selecting according to the print quality, the physical properties of the ink used, the print duty, etc., excellent print quality and stable recording can be performed. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

In such an operation, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the recording condition is set from the input / display unit 100 of the recording apparatus (101 in FIG. 7). Various calculations are performed by the control circuit 16 shown in FIG. 1 according to the set value (FIG. 7-102).

The calculation result is sent to the input / display unit 100 and displayed (FIG. 7-103).

Among these, various calculations may be calculated as follows, for example. The following required times required for each operation are stored in advance in the control circuit 16,

[0047]

[Outside 1] The required recording time T is calculated.

Using the reference numeral 101 in FIG. 7, T = t ₁ × L / a + t ₂ × L / b + t ₃ × L / c + t ₄ × L
It is calculated by xn.

At this time, the recording speed V is V = M / T; here, M = h × L h: the recording length per line may be set.

As described above, the required time until the end of recording can be calculated by obtaining the required recording time, the recording speed, etc. by various calculations, the production plan can be easily drafted, and the conventional problems can be solved. it can.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention is not limited to the first embodiment and is shown in FIG.
The recording speed may be calculated according to the image data sent from the image transfer means 00. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is advisable to automatically set the recording condition according to the maximum print duty of the recorded image data and calculate based on the set value.

By calculating the time until the recording is completed as described above, the time when the recording device is occupied for printing can be known and the production plan can be easily drafted.
It is possible to plan the time for maintenance and calculate costs such as utility costs, and reliably manage the device.

The object of the present invention is not limited to the maximum print duty, but in the configuration in which the recording conditions are appropriately changed for each predetermined area of the image data, the recording speed and the required recording time are calculated according to the set recording conditions. Is achieved.

Further, in the first and second embodiments, the apparatus having the configuration for calculating the time required for recording has been described, but in the present situation, the recording apparatus and the control of the apparatus,
It is often operated as a print system including a host that transfers data. The present invention is also applied to such a printing system, and the above-mentioned characteristic configuration of the present invention and the setting of recording conditions may be performed in any system such as a recording device and a host.

The output of the calculation result may be performed on either the recording device side or the host system side.

(Others) In the present invention, when the ink jet printing method is adopted, among them, a means for generating heat energy as energy used for ejecting ink is provided, and by the heat energy, An excellent effect is brought about by using a system that causes a change in ink state, that is, a bubble jet system print head and a printing device proposed by Canon Inc. According to this method, the density of the print is increased,
This is because high definition can be achieved.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the print information and causing a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling occurs on the heat acting surface of the print head. This is effective because bubbles can be generated in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal one-to-one as a result. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection opening by the growth and contraction of the bubble to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. 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 US Pat. No. 4,313,124, which is an invention relating to the temperature rise rate of the heat acting surface, are adopted, more excellent printing can be performed.

In addition to the combination of the discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, the structure of the print head is not limited to the above. The present invention also includes a configuration using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose a configuration in which the heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region. In addition, for multiple electrothermal converters,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670, which discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as the discharge portion of the electrothermal converter, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-63, which discloses a structure in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is associated with the discharge portion. The effects of the present invention are effective even with a configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 138461. That is, according to the present invention, regardless of the form of the print head, printing can be surely performed efficiently.

In addition, it goes without saying that the print head can be constructed in accordance with the form of the printing apparatus, and in the case of a so-called line printer form, the ejection ports are arranged over a range corresponding to the width of the print medium. It should be one. Further, as the serial type print head as in the above example, the print head fixed to the apparatus main body or mounted on the apparatus main body enables electrical connection with the apparatus main body and supply of ink from the apparatus main body. The present invention is also effective when a replaceable chip type print head or a cartridge type print head in which an ink tank is integrally provided in the print head itself is used.

Further, as the constitution of the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add the ejection recovery means of the print head, the preliminary auxiliary means, etc. because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. If you list these specifically,
Capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the print head, preheating means for heating using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and printing Preliminary ejection means for performing another ejection can be mentioned.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet method, it is common to control the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change from the solid state of the ink to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the print signal,
The present invention is also applicable to the case of using an ink that has the property of being liquefied only when heat energy is applied, such as one that ejects liquid ink or one that has already started to solidify when it reaches the printing medium. . The ink in such a case is in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. Alternatively, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter. 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 present invention may be used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, or may be a copying machine in combination with a reader or the like.

Next, as the ink-jet printing cloth, (1) the ink can be colored to a sufficient density,
(2) High ink dyeing rate, (3) Ink dries quickly on the cloth, (4) Rare ink bleeding on the cloth is small, (5) In-apparatus It is required to have excellent performance such as excellent transportability. In order to satisfy these required performances, in the present invention, the fabric may be pretreated in advance, if necessary. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-53492 discloses fabrics having an ink receiving layer, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-46589 proposes fabrics containing a reduction inhibitor and an alkaline substance. There is. Examples of such pretreatment include a treatment in which the cloth is made to contain a substance selected from alkaline substances, water-soluble polymers, synthetic polymers, water-soluble metal salts, 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 carbonic acid or alkali metal bicarbonate such as sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Furthermore, there are organic acid metal salts such as calcium acetate and barium acetate, and ammonia and ammonia compounds. Also, sodium trichloroacetate, which becomes an alkaline substance under steaming and dry heat, can be used. Particularly preferred alkaline substances are sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate used for dyeing reactive dyes.

As the water-soluble polymer, starch substances such as corn and wheat, cellulosic substances such as carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, gum arabic,
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-based substances and lignin-based substances.

Examples of synthetic polymers include polyvinyl alcohol compounds, polyethylene oxide compounds, acrylic acid water-soluble polymers, maleic anhydride water-soluble polymers, and the like. Among these, polysaccharide polymers and cellulose polymers are preferable.

Examples of the water-soluble metal salt include compounds such as halides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals, which produce typical ionic crystals and have a pH of 4 to 10. As a typical example of such a compound, for example, in the case of an alkali metal, NaCl, Na ₂ S
O ₄ , KCl, CH ₃ COONa and the like can be mentioned, and as the alkaline earth metal, CaCl ₂ and Mg.
Cl _{2 and the} like can be mentioned. Of these, salts of Na, K and Ca are preferable.

The method of incorporating the above substances and the like into the cloth in the pretreatment is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a dipping method, a pad method, a coating method and a spraying method which are usually carried out.

Further, since the printing ink applied to the ink-jet printing cloth is merely attached to the cloth when it is applied to the cloth, a step of fixing the dye in the ink such as dye to the fiber is subsequently performed. Is preferred. Such a fixing step may be a conventionally known method, for example, a steaming method, an HT steaming method, a thermofix method,
When a cloth which has been previously alkali-treated is not used, the alkali pad steam method, the alkali blotch steam method, the alkali shock method, the alkali cold fix method and the like can be mentioned. Further, the fixing step may or may not include a reaction step depending on the dye, and the latter example includes one in which fibers are impregnated and are not physically separated. Any appropriate ink can be used as long as it has a required dye, and the ink is not limited to a dye and may include a pigment.

Further, the unreacted dye and the substance used for the pretreatment can be removed by washing after the above reaction fixing step according to a conventionally known method. In addition, it is preferable to use a conventional fixing treatment together with this cleaning.

The printed matter which has been subjected to the above-mentioned post-processing step is then cut into a desired size, and the cut pieces are used for obtaining a final processed product such as sewing, adhesion, and welding. After that, clothes such as dresses, dresses, ties, swimwear, duvet covers, sofa covers, handkerchiefs, curtains, etc. can be obtained. A method of processing cloth by sewing or the like to make clothes or other daily necessities is a known technique that has been conventionally performed.

The medium for printing may be cloth, wall cloth, thread used for embroidery, wallpaper, paper, OHP film, etc. The cloth may be any material, weave or knit. Includes woven, non-woven and other fabrics.

[0074]

As described above, the recovery process (large recovery, wiping, preliminary ejection, etc.), print image (print width),
By calculating the recording speed, the required recording time, etc. from the recording conditions such as the recording mode, you can manage the time to complete the recording,
Production planning can be performed easily and reliably.

The recording condition is maintained while maintaining the recording quality by automatically determining the recording condition according to the image data of the recorded image and calculating the recording speed and the required recording time according to the determined recording condition. Accurate production planning can be done easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration example of an inkjet printing apparatus as an embodiment of an apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a configuration example of a head and an ink system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a recovery unit of this example including a wiping unit and a cleaning unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a wiping means of the present example.

5 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration near the home position of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a print sequence which is a premise of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a calculation flow of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the calculation flow of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Liquid ejection head 50 Cleaning means 70 Cleaning member 70B Wiping surface 70C Wiping surface 75 Nozzle 76 Cleaning liquid supply tube 80 Tank 82 Suction means 100 Input display section 1000 Recorded image transfer means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B41J 2/185 D06P 5/00 111 A B41J 3/04 102 R

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A recording apparatus comprising a recording means for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising a calculating means for calculating a time required for recording before the image formation. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus has a recording condition setting unit that sets a recording condition, and the calculation unit performs calculation according to the recording condition. 3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording apparatus sets the recording condition according to image data to be transferred. 4. The recording device according to claim 1, wherein the recording device is an ejecting device for ejecting ink, and ejects the ink to form an image on a recording medium. Recording device. 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising a recovery unit for recovering the ejection property of the ink by the ejection unit, wherein at least one of the recording conditions is a condition for a recovery operation by the recovery unit. The recording device described. 6. The electro-thermal conversion element for generating the thermal energy for causing film boiling in the ink for ejecting the ink, as claimed in claim 4 or 5. Recording device. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising output means for outputting the calculation result by the calculation means.
The recording device according to any one of 1. 8. A print system using a recording device having a recording means for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising a calculating means for calculating a recording time before the image formation. . 9. The print system according to claim 8, wherein the print system includes a recording condition setting unit that sets a recording condition, and the calculation unit performs the calculation based on the recording condition. 10. The print system according to claim 9, wherein the print system sets the recording condition according to image data to be transferred. 11. The recording means according to claim 8, wherein the recording means is an ejection means for ejecting ink, and ejects ink to form an image on a recording medium. Printing system. 12. The recording apparatus includes recovery means for recovering the ejection property of ink by the ejection means, and at least one of the recording conditions is a condition for recovery operation by the recovery means. The printing system according to claim 11. 13. The electrothermal converter according to claim 11, wherein the ejection unit is an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink for ejecting the ink. Printing system. 14. The printing system according to claim 8, further comprising an output unit that outputs a calculation result of the calculation unit.