Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-28
2004-11-23
Meler, Stephen D. (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Medium and processing means
C347S102000, C347S103000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820975
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and in more detail, to an ink jet recording apparatus by which, after an ink is jetted and recorded onto a recording medium having an ink receiving layer including thermoplastic resin particles on the surface layer, the recording medium is heated and pressurized by a heating and pressing means.
The ink jet recording to jet the minute liquid drop of the ink onto the recording surface of the recording medium and conduct the image recording, advances so that the increase of the high image quality and reduction of the apparatus cost are possible so far as almost equal to the silver halide photography by the recent technical advances, and rapidly spreads.
The ink used in such the ink jet recording is largely divided into the dye ink and the pigment ink. The dye ink is soluble in a solvent, and has high purity and shows clear coloring, and it has no grainness and because the scattered light and the reflected light are not generated, the transparentness is high and the color hue is sharp and on the one hand, when the dyestuff molecule is destroyed by the photochemical reaction, because the decrease of the number of molecules influences on the coloring density as it is, there is a problem that the light resistance is poor. In contrast to this, the pigment ink is insoluble in the solvent, and dyestuff molecules form the particles and contribute to the coloring under the condition that they are dispersed in the solvent, and even when the molecule on the surface is destroyed by the photochemical reaction, because a new dyestuff molecule layer exists in the lower portion of it, the apparent lowering of the tinting strength is small, and there is an advantage that the image conservation is excellent to the dye ink.
However, there is a problem that the pigment ink is inferior in the glossiness due to the influence of the scattered light and the reflected light due to particles. Therefore, in order to provide the glossiness onto the recording medium surface on which an image is formed by using the pigment ink including the dispersing agent, and further to prevent the bleeding due to the contact of the image with water, and to increase the friction resistance, the technology by which the image is recorded and formed by using the recording medium having the ink receiving layer including the thermoplastic resin particle on the surface layer, and the pigment ink solvent absorbing layer adjoining the inside of the ink receiving layer, and after that, by heating and pressing the recording medium, the thermoplastic resin particle in the ink receiving layer is fused and smoothed, and the ink receiving layer is made transparent, is proposed (Japanese Tokugan No. 2000-164386).
However, if the process of heating and pressing the recording medium is not conducted with a proper heating temperature, various problems may be raised. In particular, when the recording medium is a resin coated paper in which a paper substrate is coated with a resin, if the heating process is conducted with a temperature higher than the heat resistance of the resin, there is a problem that the resin coated paper may deform or may be damaged. In contrast, if the heating process is conducted with an excessively low temperature, thermoplastic resin particles are not made to be sufficiently transparent or it may take a long time to make the thermoplastic resin particles to be sufficiently transparent.
In such the technology, the recording medium on which the image is recorded and formed by the recording head, is conveyed to the heating and pressing means by the conveying means in order to make the ink receiving layer transparent, and heated and pressurized and the ink receiving layer is made transparent, however, in order to form the high quality image print, it is required that, making the ink receiving layer transparent, is adequately conducted with a proper heating temperature.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus by which, when the recording medium having the ink receiving layer including the thermoplastic resin particle on the surface layer, and the pigment ink solvent absorbing layer adjoining the inside of the ink receiving layer, is heated and pressured and its ink receiving layer is made transparent, the making transparent is adequately conducted and the high quality image print can be formed.
The above object can be attained by the following structures.
(1-1) An inkjet recording apparatus, comprises:
a recording head to conduct recording by jetting an ink onto a recording medium having an ink receiving layer containing thermoplastic resin particles on a surface thereof and a pigment ink solvent absorbing layer adjoining to an inner side of the ink receiving layer;
a heating and pressing device to heat and press the recording medium so as to make the ink receiving layer of the recording medium to be transparent;
a conveyor to convey the recording medium to the recording head and further to the heating and pressing device; and
a temperature controller to control a heating temperature by the heating and pressing device within a range of T
0
±&Dgr;T° C., where T
0
is 50 to 150° C. and &Dgr;T is not larger than 10° C.
(1-2) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), T
0
is 80 to 130° C.
(1-3) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the inkjet recording apparatus is adapted to record an image on one of plural kinds of recording medium and the heating and pressing device changes a heating and pressing time period in accordance with the kind of the recording medium.
(1-4) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the inkjet recording apparatus is adapted to record an image on one of plural kinds of recording medium and the temperature controller changes the heating temperature in accordance with the kind of the recording medium.
(1-5) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device comprises a belt member stretched around at least two rollers and a roller coming in contact with the belt member so as to form a nip section therebetween where the recording medium passes through.
(1-6) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device comprises two belt members each stretched around at least two rollers and the two belt members come in contact with each other so as to form a nip section therebetween where the recording medium passes through.
(1-7) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device presses the recording medium with a pressing force of 9.8×10
4
to 4.9×10
6
Pa.
(1-8) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device has a recording medium contacting surface to contact the recording medium and comprises a cleaning member to clean the recording medium contacting surface.
(1-9) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device has a recording medium contacting surface to contact the recording medium and comprises a transfer preventing liquid providing member to provide the recording medium contacting surface with a transfer preventing liquid to prevent a part of the recording medium or an ink from transferring to the recording medium contacting surface.
(1-10) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-9), the transfer preventing liquid contains a silicone oil.
(1-11) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device has a recording medium contacting surface to contact the recording medium and comprises a transfer preventing liquid providing member to provide the recording medium contacting surface with a transfer preventing liquid to prevent a part of the recording medium or an ink from transferring to the recording medium contacting surface before heating and pressing the recording medium after the recording head has conducted recording on the recording medium.
(1-12) In the inkjet recording apparatus of (1-1), the heating and pressing device has a recording medium co
Kaga Makoto
Kida Shuji
Miyamoto Fujio
Sugaya Toyoaki
Tsutsumi Takashi
Konica Corporation
Meler Stephen D.
Squire Sanders & Dempsey
Tran Ly T
LandOfFree
Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3282326