JP7313245B2 - Inkjet printing device and inkjet printing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an inkjet printing apparatus and an inkjet printing method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inkjet printing apparatus is known that records an image on the surface of a recording medium by ejecting ink from a plurality of heads while conveying the recording medium in a strip shape. Ink jet printers of this type may use ink that cures when irradiated with active energy rays such as ultraviolet rays and electron beams. In this case, after the ink is ejected onto the recording surface of the recording medium, the ink adhering to the recording medium is irradiated with activation energy. As a result, the ink is cured and an image is printed on the recording medium. It is known that when the ink is cured by irradiation with active energy rays, the curing of the ink is inhibited by the influence of oxygen in the vicinity of the ink. In order to efficiently cure the ink, it is desirable to reduce the oxygen concentration near the ink by replacing the air layer on the surface of the recording medium with an inert gas or the like.

A technique for reducing the oxygen concentration on the surface of a recording medium is described in Patent Document 1, for example. The active energy irradiation apparatus described in the document includes a boundary layer separation unit having a gas suction port for separating a gas boundary layer near the surface of a medium to which an active energy ray-curable material has been applied, an inert gas supply unit for supplying an inert gas to the surface of the medium after the gas boundary layer has been removed, a laminar flow ensuring unit for ensuring a laminar flow of the inert gas on the surface of the medium, and an energy ray irradiation unit for irradiating the material application surface of the medium with the active energy ray through the laminar flow of the inert gas. It is described that by supplying an inert gas after peeling off the gas boundary layer on the medium, the oxygen concentration can be locally reduced on the medium, and the active energy ray-curable material can be cured efficiently.

JP 2012-166539 A

However, in the case of the conventional technology, there is a possibility that the inert gas supplied for curing the ink moves from the irradiation area where the active energy ray is irradiated to the ejection area where the ink is ejected. When the inert gas concentration in the ejection area increases, the relative decrease in oxygen concentration may change the properties of the ink (eg wettability). For example, in the case of UV-curing ink, when the oxygen concentration decreases, the viscosity increases and the wettability decreases, so the ink adhered to the recording medium becomes difficult to spread sufficiently on the recording medium, resulting in the occurrence of pinholes, and there is a risk of deterioration in print quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for reducing deterioration in print quality due to inert gas in inkjet printing.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a first aspect is an inkjet printing apparatus that ejects electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium to record an image, the apparatus comprising: a device housing; a transport mechanism inside the device housing that transports the recording medium along a predetermined transport path; an ejection head that is positioned inside the device housing and ejects ink onto the recording medium; an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves; an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;, the first outlet communicates with the outside of the device housing.

A second aspect is the inkjet printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the amount of the inert gas supplied by the inert gas supply section is smaller than the amount of the atmosphere discharged by the air discharge section.

A third aspect is the inkjet printing apparatus of the first aspect or the second aspect, further comprising an irradiation chamber located inside the processing chamber and having a second inlet and a second outlet for passing the recording medium, the irradiation unit irradiates the recording medium inside the irradiation chamber with the electromagnetic wave, and the inert gas supply unit supplies the inert gas to the inside of the irradiation chamber.

A fourth aspect is the inkjet printing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the inert gas contains a gas lighter than air, and the air discharge unit is provided at a position higher than the irradiation chamber in the processing chamber. The atmosphere is discharged from an intake port.

A fifth aspect is the inkjet printing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein the air discharge section includes an exhaust duct connected to the intake port, and the exhaust duct is detachably attached to the intake port.

A sixth aspect is the inkjet printing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising a door for opening and closing the processing chamber.

No.7The mode isAn image is recorded by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium.An inkjet printing device,an apparatus housing, a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing, an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium, a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head and having a first inlet and a first outlet for allowing the recording medium to pass through, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet, an irradiation unit for irradiating the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves, and the inside of the processing chamber. and an air discharge unit for discharging the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the device housing, wherein the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the device housing,A part of the partition member surrounding the processing chamber is made of rubber and has a rubber wall portion forming an opening communicating with the outside of the processing chamber, the rubber wall portion is in contact with the outer surface of a contained object located inside the processing chamber, and at least a part of the contained object is located outside the processing chamber through the opening.

No.8The mode isAn image is recorded by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium.An inkjet printing device,an apparatus housing, a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing, an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium, a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head and having a first inlet and a first outlet for allowing the recording medium to pass through, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet, an irradiation unit for irradiating the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves, and the inside of the processing chamber. an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the apparatus; an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and the apparatus housing;a chill roller positioned inside the processing chamber for supporting and cooling the recording medium on its outer peripheral surface;andpicture, the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing, and the irradiation unit is disposed inside the processing chamber and irradiates the portion of the recording medium supported by the chill roller with the electromagnetic wave..

A ninth aspect is the inkjet printing device according to any one of the first aspect to the eighth aspect, wherein the air discharge section discharges from a lower portion of the device housing to the outside of the device housing.

An image is recorded by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium.An inkjet printing device,an apparatus housing, a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing, an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium, a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head and having a first inlet and a first outlet for allowing the recording medium to pass through, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet, an irradiation unit for irradiating the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves, and the inside of the processing chamber. and an air discharge unit for discharging the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the device housing, wherein the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the device housing,The conveying mechanism has a conveying roller extending in the width direction of the recording medium, and the edge of the first inlet extends parallel to the conveying roller while facing the conveying roller.

An eleventh aspect is the inkjet printing apparatus according to any one of the first aspect to the tenth aspect, further comprising a temporary curing unit that irradiates the recording medium with an electromagnetic wave that temporarily cures the ink ejected from the ejection head.
A twelfth aspect is an inkjet printing apparatus that ejects electromagnetic wave curable ink onto a recording medium to record an image, and includes an apparatus housing, a transport mechanism inside the apparatus housing that transports the recording medium along a predetermined transport path, an ejection head that is positioned inside the apparatus housing and ejects ink onto the recording medium, and a processing chamber that is located downstream of the ejection head and has a first inlet and a first outlet through which the recording medium passes, and communicates with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet. an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with an electromagnetic wave; an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber; an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the device housing; less than the internal pressure of

No.13An embodiment is an inkjet printing method for ejecting electromagnetic wave curable ink onto a recording medium to record an image, comprising: (a) a transport step of transporting a recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside an apparatus housing; (b) an ink ejection step of ejecting ink onto the recording medium from an ejection head located inside the apparatus housing; (d) an irradiation step of irradiating the recording medium with an electromagnetic wave inside the processing chamber; (e) an inert gas supply step of supplying an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber; and an air discharge step of discharging air to the outside of the device housing and to the outside of the device housing, wherein the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the device housing., the first outlet communicates with the outside of the device housing.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the first aspect, the atmosphere inside the processing chamber is discharged to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the device housing, and the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the device housing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the atmosphere containing the inert gas from moving to the periphery of the ejection head, thereby suppressing deterioration in print quality.
Moreover, according to the inkjet printing apparatus, it is possible to reduce the movement of the inert gas leaking from the first outlet to the inside of the apparatus housing. As a result, deterioration in print quality can be suppressed.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the second aspect, it is possible to suppress the movement of the atmosphere containing the inert gas in the processing chamber from the processing chamber to the inside of the apparatus housing.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the third aspect, the inert gas concentration inside the irradiation chamber can be easily increased by supplying the inert gas to the inside of the irradiation chamber which is narrower than the processing chamber.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the inert gas is lighter than air, the inert gas leaking from the irradiation chamber to the processing chamber 40 moves above the irradiation chamber. For this reason, the inert gas can be efficiently discharged from the processing chamber by discharging the atmosphere inside the processing chamber from the intake port located higher than the irradiation chamber.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the fifth aspect, the inside of the processing chamber can be maintained through the intake port by removing the exhaust duct.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the sixth aspect, the inside of the processing chamber can be opened by opening and closing the door.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the seventh aspect, the opening formed by the rubber wall can be deformed in accordance with the outer shape of the content by bringing the rubber wall into contact with the outer surface of the content. As a result, the gap between the opening and the contained object can be reduced, so that the sealing performance of the processing chamber can be improved.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the eighth aspect, since the chill roller is positioned inside the processing chamber, the recording medium can be cooled in the processing chamber.

According to the ink jet printing apparatus of the eighth aspect, electromagnetic waves can be applied to the portion of the recording medium cooled by the chill roller.

According to the inkjet printing device of the ninth aspect, the atmosphere inside the processing chamber can be discharged from the bottom of the device housing to the outside of the device housing.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the tenth aspect, the recording medium is supported by the transport roller, thereby suppressing fluttering of the recording medium. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the recording medium from coming into contact with the first outlet even when the distance between the first inlet and the conveying roller is narrowed.

According to the inkjet printing apparatus of the eleventh embodiment, even if the viscosity of the ink on the recording medium increases due to the electromagnetic waves from the temporary curing unit, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the print quality due to the deterioration of the wettability of the ink.

According to the inkjet printing method of the thirteenth aspect, the atmosphere in the processing chamber is discharged to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the device housing, and the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the device housing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the atmosphere containing the inert gas from moving to the vicinity of the ejection head, thereby suppressing deterioration in print quality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a top view which shows typically the structure of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a side view which shows typically the structure of the inkjet printing apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ejection head 21 and a support base 31; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing part of the processing chamber 40. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing the vicinity of an irradiation unit 70 in the inkjet printing apparatus 1; FIG. 4 is a view showing the periphery of an opening 111 in the partition wall 103. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an opening 111 with a partition member 113 attached; 8 is a cross-sectional view along line AA shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along line AA shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing electrical connections of a control unit 80 in the inkjet printer 1. FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ejection head 21 and a support base 31 according to a modified example; FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the constituent elements described in this embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them. In the drawings, for ease of understanding, the dimensions and numbers of each part may be exaggerated or simplified as necessary.

In the drawings, in order to facilitate understanding of the positional relationship of each element, arrows may be attached to indicate mutually orthogonal X, Y and Z directions. In the following description, the X direction and the Y direction are horizontal directions parallel to the horizontal plane, and the Z direction is parallel to the vertical direction. The direction in which the tip of each arrow points is the + (plus) direction, and the opposite direction is the - (minus) direction. In the following description, the +Z side is the upper side and the -Z side is the lower side.

<1. First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of an inkjet printer 1 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of the inkjet printer 1 according to the embodiment. The inkjet printing apparatus 1 is a device that records an image on the recording surface of the recording medium 9 by ejecting ink droplets from a plurality of ejection heads 21 while conveying a long belt-shaped recording medium 9 (for example, printing paper) along a predetermined transportation path TR1. The ink used in the inkjet printing apparatus 1 may be ultraviolet curable ink that is cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays, which are electromagnetic waves. The ink may contain, as a component, a curing initiator or the like for accelerating curing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 1 has an image recording area A1 and an electrical equipment area A2. The electrical equipment area A2 is an area in which electrical devices, pipes, and the like are arranged. The electrical equipment area A2 is surrounded by a rectangular electrical equipment housing 100 when viewed from above. The electrical equipment housing 100 has a partition 101 partitioning the +Y side, a partition 102 partitioning the -Y side, a partition 103 partitioning the +X side, and a partition 104 partitioning the -X side. In addition, the electrical equipment housing 100 has a bottom plate portion 105 that partitions the lower side and a top plate portion (not shown) that partitions the upper side.

The image recording area A1 is an area where processing for recording an image on the recording medium 9 is executed. The image recording area A1 is surrounded by a rectangular apparatus housing 90 in plan view. The apparatus housing 90 includes a partition wall portion 91 that partitions the +Y side, a partition wall portion 92 that partitions the -Y side, and a door portion 93 that partitions the +X side. Further, the device housing 90 includes a bottom plate portion 94 that partitions the lower side and a top plate portion 95 (see FIG. 2) that partitions the upper side. The −X side ends of the partitions 91 and 92 are connected to the partition 103 . The −X side of the device housing 90 is partitioned by a partition wall portion 103 .

The door portion 93 includes two plate-like members. One of the two plate-shaped members of the door portion 93 is connected to the +X side end portion of the partition portion 91 and the other is connected to the +X side end portion of the partition portion 92 via hinges (not shown). As indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1, the door portion 93 is opened and closed by rotating each plate member of the door portion 93 around the hinge.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet printer 1 includes a transport mechanism 10, an image recording section 20, a support unit 30, a processing chamber 40, an inert gas supply section 50, an air discharge section 60, an irradiation unit 70, and a control section 80. The image recording unit 20, the support unit 30, the processing chamber 40, the inert gas supply unit 50, the air discharge unit 60, and the irradiation unit 70 are arranged inside the device housing 90 in the image recording area A1, and the control unit 80 is arranged inside the electrical housing 100 in the electrical equipment area A2. A part of the transport mechanism 10 (for example, the delivery roller 11 and the take-up roller 14 ) is arranged outside the apparatus housing 90 .

The transport mechanism 10 is a mechanism for transporting the recording medium 9 in a moving direction along the longitudinal direction of the recording medium 9 . The conveying mechanism 10 has a feed roller 11 , a plurality of conveying rollers 12 , a chill roller 13 , a take-up roller 14 and a rotation drive section 16 . The multiple transport rollers 12 include transport rollers 121 and 122 and a nip roller 123, which will be described later. A recording medium 9 is delivered from a delivery roller 11 and transported along a transport route TR1 composed of a plurality of transport rollers 12 . Each conveying roller 12 guides the recording medium 9 downstream in the moving direction by rotating about the horizontal axis. Further, the recording medium 9 after being conveyed is collected by the take-up roller 14 . In this way, the recording medium 9 is transported along the predetermined transport route TR1 by being supported by the transport rollers 12, the chill rollers 13, etc., which are arranged at predetermined positions. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotation drive unit 16 rotates the delivery roller 11, the take-up roller 14 and the chill roller 13 synchronously. The rotation drive unit 16 is provided inside the electrical equipment housing 100 in the electrical equipment area A2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the nip roller 123 actively rotates at a constant speed while contacting the recording surface 9a and the back surface 9b of the recording medium 9 and gripping the recording medium 9. As shown in FIG. The conveying mechanism 10 adjusts the rotation speed of the delivery roller 11 with respect to the rotation speed of the nip roller 123 . Thereby, tension is applied to the recording medium 9 . As a result, slackness and wrinkles of the recording medium 9 during transportation are suppressed.

In the following description, the moving direction of the recording medium 9 along the transport path TR1 may be simply referred to as "moving direction". The X direction is orthogonal to the movement direction and coincides with the width direction parallel to the surface of the recording medium 9 . Further, hereinafter, the downstream side in the movement direction may be simply referred to as the "downstream side", and the upstream side in the movement direction may simply be referred to as the "upstream side".

As shown in FIG. 2, when the recording medium 9 is delivered from the delivery roller 11, it first passes through the cleaner 15. As shown in FIG. The cleaner 15 includes a plurality of suction rolls 151 that are arranged close to each other vertically. The plurality of suction rolls 151 rotate while contacting the recording surface 9 a and the back surface 9 b of the recording medium 9 . Foreign matter adhering to the recording surface 9a and the back surface 9b of the recording medium 9 is sucked by the suction roll 151 and removed. As a result, the number of foreign substances adhering to the recording medium 9 before printing can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce printing defects such as ink being repelled or seeped by foreign matter. Note that the cleaner 15 may use a system other than the suction roll 151, such as a suction mechanism.

After passing through the cleaner 15 , the recording medium 9 moves into the device housing 90 through the entrance 90 A provided in the partition wall 92 of the device housing 90 . Further, the recording medium 9 moves substantially horizontally below the image recording section 20 along the arrangement direction of the plurality of ejection heads 21 . The recording surface 9a of the recording medium 9 when passing below the image recording section 20 faces upward (toward the ejection head 21).

The image recording unit 20 is a mechanism that ejects ultraviolet curing ink onto the recording medium 9 conveyed by the conveying mechanism 10 . The image recording section 20 of this embodiment has four ejection heads 21 . The four ejection heads 21 are arranged along the moving direction of the recording medium 9 . During printing, ink droplets of C (Cyan), M (Magenta), Y (Yellow), and K (Black), which are color components of a color image, are ejected from the four ejection heads 21 toward the recording surface 9a of the recording medium 9. Thereby, a color image is formed on the recording surface 9 a of the recording medium 9 . The step of ejecting ink from the ejection head 21 onto the recording medium 9 is an example of the ink ejection step.

The support unit 30 has a plurality of support bases 31 arranged along the moving direction of the recording medium 9 . Each of the four ejection heads 21 is attached to one of the multiple supports 31 . As a result, the four ejection heads 21 are supported, and the mutual positional relationship of these parts is fixed. Each support base 31 has a through hole 311 in the center thereof into which the lower end of the ejection head 21 is fitted. Therefore, the lower surface of the ejection head 21 attached to the support base 31 faces the recording surface 9 a of the recording medium 9 without being blocked by the support base 31 .

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ejection head 21 and the support base 31. As shown in FIG. A plurality of nozzles 211 for ejecting ink droplets are provided on the lower surface of each ejection head 21 . The plurality of nozzles 211 are regularly arranged over substantially the entire width of the recording medium 9 in the width direction of the recording medium 9 perpendicular to the moving direction of the recording medium 9 . The ejection head 21 is fixed to the support base 31 with its lower end fitted in the through hole 311 of the support base 31 . A lower surface of the ejection head 21 is a nozzle surface 212 on which a plurality of nozzles 211 are formed.

As shown in FIG. 2, a conveying roller 121 as a switching unit is arranged downstream from the image recording unit 20 . The conveying roller 121 rotates around a horizontal axis extending in the X direction while contacting the back surface 9b of the recording medium 9 . Thereby, the recording medium 9 is bent in the direction opposite to the recording surface 9a. As a result, the moving direction of the recording medium 9 is switched from the first direction (substantially horizontal direction) to the second direction (vertically downward).

<Processing chamber 40>
The processing chamber 40 is provided inside the apparatus housing 90 . As shown in FIG. 1, the processing chamber 40 includes a partition wall portion 41 that partitions the -Y side and a door portion 43 that partitions the +X side. The +Y side of the processing chamber 40 is partitioned by the partition wall 91 , and the −X side of the processing chamber 40 is partitioned by the partition wall 103 . The −X side end of the partition 41 is connected to the partition 103, and the +Y side end of the door 43 is connected to the partition 91 via a hinge (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the processing chamber 40 includes a plate-shaped top plate portion 45 that partitions the upper side. The inside of the device housing 90 is partitioned into a processing chamber 40 and a printing chamber 97 by a partition wall portion 41 , a door portion 43 and a top plate portion 45 . The image recording section 20 described above is located inside the printing chamber 97 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the processing chamber 40 has an inlet 40A (first inlet) and an outlet 40B (first outlet). The carry-in port 40A and the carry-out port 40B are rectangular openings. The transport mechanism 10 loads the recording medium 9 into the processing chamber 40 through the loading port 40A. The transport mechanism 10 carries out the recording medium 9 from the inside of the processing chamber 40 to the outside of the processing chamber 40 through the outlet 40B. The carry-in port 40A is provided in the top plate portion 45, and the carry-out port 40B is provided in the partition wall portion 91. As shown in FIG. The carry-in port 40A is arranged downstream of the image recording section 20 . The internal space R1 of the processing chamber 40 communicates with the internal space R2 of the apparatus housing 90 (printing chamber 97) through the inlet 40A. In addition, "communication" means a state of being connected so that fluid can flow.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing part of the processing chamber 40. As shown in FIG. The top plate portion 45 has a first plate portion 46 positioned on the +Y side and a second plate portion 47 positioned on the -Y side. The +Y side end portion of the first plate portion 46 is connected to the −Y side surface of the partition wall portion 91 . The first plate portion 46 has a horizontal portion 461 extending from the partition wall portion 91 in the −Y direction, a vertical portion 463 extending downward from the tip of the horizontal portion 461, and an inclined portion 465 extending downward from the tip of the vertical portion 463 in the −Y direction. A tip portion 466 of the inclined portion 465 faces the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller 121 . The tip portion 466 extends in the X direction (width direction) parallel to the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 121 and forms a certain gap with the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 121 .

The −Y side end of the second plate portion 47 is connected to the upper end of the partition wall portion 41 . The second plate portion 47 extends in the +Y direction from the upper end portion of the partition wall portion 41 to below the conveying roller 121 . The +Y side end portion of the second plate portion 47 faces the rear surface 9 b of the recording medium 9 that is arranged from the conveying roller 121 toward the chill roller 13 .

The carry-in port 40A includes a tip portion 466 of the inclined portion 465, a tip portion 471 of the second plate portion 47, a connecting portion 48 that connects the −X side ends of the tip portions 466 and 471, and a connecting portion (not shown) that connects the +X side ends of the tip portions 466 and 471. In this example, part of the transport roller 121 is located inside the carry-in port 40A.

The portion of the recording medium 9 supported by the conveying roller 121 is restrained from fluttering by applying tension. Therefore, even if the leading end of the inclined portion 465 forming the inlet 40A is brought closer to the transport roller 121, the recording medium 9 can be prevented from contacting the leading end of the inclined portion 465. FIG. As a result, the gap between the leading end portion 466 of the carry-in port 40A and the conveying roller 121 can be narrowed.

FIG. 5 is a side view schematically showing the vicinity of the irradiation unit 70 in the inkjet printer 1. As shown in FIG. The chill roller 13 rotates about a horizontal shaft 131 extending in the X direction while contacting the back surface 9b of the recording medium 9. As shown in FIG. The horizontal shaft 131 is rotatably supported by side walls 133 arranged on the +X side and the -X side of the chill roller 13, respectively. The rotating shaft of the transport roller 122 may also be supported by the side wall 133 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , the horizontal shaft 131 is connected to the rotary drive section 16 through the opening 111 of the partition wall section 103 . The outer diameter of the chill roller 13 is larger than the outer diameters of the transport rollers 121 and 122 . The chill roller 13 is arranged substantially vertically above the irradiation chamber 400 and the irradiation unit 70 . The diameter of the outer peripheral surface 13S of the chill roller 13 is larger than the diameters of the outer peripheral surfaces of the transport rollers 12 on the front and rear sides.

Cooling water 130 is stored inside the chill roller 13 . Cooling water 130 is appropriately circulated by a circulator (not shown). The circulator may be provided inside part of the electrical housing 100, for example. The cooling water 130 cools the surface of the chill roller 13 and maintains the temperature. The structure for storing the cooling water 130 and the mechanism for circulating the cooling water 130 are examples of the cooling mechanism.

An irradiation chamber 400 is arranged inside the processing chamber 40 . The irradiation chamber 400 is arranged downstream of the position where the ink from the ejection head 21 adheres to the recording medium 9 . The irradiation chamber 400 is partitioned by the chill roller 13 on the upper side, by the housing 73 of the irradiation unit 70 on the lower side, by the block 401 on the +Y side, and by the block 403 on the -Y side. In addition, the +X side and the -X side of the irradiation chamber 400 are separated by side walls 133, respectively. Thereby, the irradiation chamber 400 forms a substantially closed irradiation space 40R.

The upper surfaces of the blocks 401 and 403 are arc-shaped curved surfaces corresponding to the outer peripheral surface 13S of the chill roller 13, and form a certain gap with the outer peripheral surface 13S. An upstream end portion of the block 401 constitutes a carry-in port 411 (second carry-in port) together with the outer peripheral surface 13S. A downstream end of the block 403 constitutes an outlet 413 (second outlet) together with the outer peripheral surface 13S. The outer peripheral surface 13</b>S and the upper surface of the block 401 constitute a first flow path 421 . The outer peripheral surface 13</b>S and the upper surface of the block 403 constitute a second flow path 423 . The recording medium 9 supported by the chill roller 13 sequentially moves through the inlet 411, the first flow path 421, and the irradiation space 40R. Also, the recording medium 9 moves to the outside of the irradiation chamber 400 by sequentially moving through the irradiation space 40R, the second flow path 423, and the outlet 413. FIG.

An oxygen concentration meter 431 is provided in the irradiation chamber 400 . The oxygen concentration meter 431 measures the oxygen concentration inside the irradiation space 40R and outputs a signal indicating the measurement result to the control unit 80 .

The inert gas supply unit 50 supplies inert gas into the irradiation chamber 400 . As shown in FIG. 5, the inert gas supply unit 50 has a supply port 51 for supplying nitrogen gas toward the recording surface 9a of the recording medium 9. As shown in FIG. An inert gas source 54 such as a gas cylinder is connected to the supply port 51 via a pipe 52 and an on-off valve 53 . The opening and closing of the on-off valve 53 controls the supply of nitrogen gas from the inert gas source 54 to the supply port 51 . Further, the amount of nitrogen gas supplied is controlled by controlling the degree of opening of the on-off valve 53 . In addition to the on-off valve 53, a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting the pressure of the nitrogen gas supplied from the supply port 51 may be provided. In addition, a discharge mechanism such as a so-called air knife may be separately provided in the supply port 51 so as to supply nitrogen gas at a higher pressure.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the pipe 52 and the on-off valve 53 are arranged inside the electrical equipment housing 100 . Also, the inert gas source 54 is arranged outside the electrical equipment housing 100 , and the pipe 52 extends to the outside of the electrical equipment housing 100 . Note that the inert gas source 54 may be provided inside the electrical equipment housing 100 .

Since the irradiation chamber 400 is provided inside the processing chamber 40 , supplying the inert gas to the irradiation chamber 400 can be regarded as supplying the inert gas to the processing chamber 40 . The step of supplying the inert gas to the inside of the irradiation chamber 400 by the inert gas supply unit 50 is an example of the inert gas supply step.

In this example, the supply port 51 is provided on the upper surface of the block 401 facing the chill roller 13 . The nitrogen gas discharged from the supply port 51 moves downstream in the first flow path 421 together with the recording medium 9 moved by the chill roller 13 . As a result, the irradiation space 40R is filled with nitrogen gas, so that the oxygen concentration in the irradiation space 40R can be relatively reduced. Also, the supply port 51 faces the recording surface 9 a of the recording medium 9 . As a result, nitrogen gas can be blown onto the recording surface 9a, so that the atmosphere on the recording surface 9a can be efficiently replaced with nitrogen gas. Further, by supplying nitrogen gas to the irradiation chamber 400 which is narrower than the processing chamber 40 , the nitrogen concentration near the surface of the recording medium 9 can be increased more efficiently than when nitrogen gas is supplied to the processing chamber 40 .

The irradiation unit 70 is arranged downstream of the inert gas supply section 50 and substantially vertically below the chill roller 13 . Also, the irradiation unit 70 is arranged directly below the irradiation chamber 400 . The irradiation unit 70 irradiates the recording medium 9 supported by the chill roller 13 with irradiation light. The irradiation unit 70 of this embodiment has a metal halide lamp 71 , a reflector 72 and a housing 73 . The metal halide lamp 71 is a tubular light source extending in the X direction. The reflector 72 has a U shape with an open top when viewed from the +X side. A metal halide lamp 71 is positioned inside the reflector 72 . A housing 73 accommodates the metal halide lamp 71 and the reflector 72 . The housing 73 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and its upper portion is made of a material that allows transmission of ultraviolet rays.

The irradiation light emitted from the metal halide lamp 71 includes ultraviolet rays (electromagnetic waves) in a wavelength band effective for curing the ink ejected from the ejection head 21 . Also, the irradiation light emitted from the metal halide lamp 71 has a sufficient amount of light to completely cure the ink. When the ink on the recording medium 9 is irradiated, the ink is cured and fixed to the recording medium 9 . An image is thus recorded on the recording surface 9 a of the recording medium 9 . A process in which the irradiation unit 70 irradiates the recording surface 9a of the recording medium 9 with ultraviolet rays inside the irradiation chamber 400 is an example of the irradiation process. As shown in FIG. 2, the recording medium 9 that has passed through the irradiation unit 70 passes through a plurality of rollers including a chill roller 13, a conveying roller 122 and a nip roller 123, and is collected by the take-up roller .

The irradiation unit 70 irradiates the portion of the recording medium 9 supported by the chill roller 13 , that is, the portion in contact with the chill roller 13 with ultraviolet rays. In this case, the temperature rise of the recording medium 9 due to the irradiation process is suppressed. The recording medium 9 is bent in the opposite direction by the chill roller 13 to switch the traveling direction. The switching angle of the direction of travel by the chill roller 13 is preferably 180 degrees or more. In this case, the recording medium 9 is kept in contact with the chill roller 13 for a longer period of time and is sufficiently cooled. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the temperature rise of the recording medium 9 due to the irradiation process. The recording medium 9 is tensioned by being supported by the chill roller 13 . Therefore, the recording medium 9 is prevented from being slackened or wrinkled due to thermal expansion.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a rectangular opening 111 that is a through hole is provided in a portion of the partition wall 103 that faces the inside of the processing chamber 40 (a portion that faces the door 43 ). FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the periphery of the opening 111 in the partition 103. As shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows the opening 111 to which the partition member 113 is attached.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , a plate-shaped partition member 113 is provided inside the opening 111 . A rectangular opening 114 is provided in the central portion of the partition member 113 . The partition member 113 has a rubber wall portion 115 positioned on the lower side and an iron plate 119 positioned on the upper side.

A recess 116 recessed downward is provided in the center of the upper portion of the rubber wall portion 115 . In addition, a concave portion 120 that is concave upward is provided in the center of the lower portion of the iron plate 119 . The opening 114, which is a through hole, is formed by combining the recess 116 and the recess 120 in the Z direction. The inside of the processing chamber 40 communicates with the outside of the processing chamber 40 (more specifically, the inside of the electrical housing 100 ) through the opening 114 .

A plurality of cuts 117 extending toward the outer edge of the rubber wall 115 are provided at predetermined intervals in the Z direction in the inner edge of the recess 116 in the rubber wall 115 . The recess 116 is positioned at the height of the irradiation unit 70 mounted in the processing chamber 40 , and the housing 73 of the irradiation unit 70 is inserted into the recess 116 . Further, the horizontal shaft 131 of the chill roller 13 is inserted into the concave portion 120 of the iron plate 119 .

8 and 9 are cross-sectional views taken along line AA shown in FIG. When the irradiation unit 70 is installed inside the processing chamber 40, the door portion 93 of the apparatus housing 90 is opened, and the door portion 43 of the processing chamber 40 is opened (see FIG. 1). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, the irradiation unit 70 is carried inside the processing chamber 40 . Then, the housing 73 of the irradiation unit 70 is inserted into the concave portion 116 of the rubber wall portion 115 . As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the housing 73 is installed inside the processing chamber 40 with the +X side end of the housing 73 protruding into the electrical equipment area A2. When the housing 73 is placed at the position shown in FIG. 9, the connectors such as the electric wire 701 arranged in the electrical equipment area A2 are appropriately connected to the connection interface provided on the +X side end surface of the housing 73. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, the width W1 of the recess 116 in the Y direction is smaller than the width W2 of the housing 73 in the Y direction. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, when the housing 73 is inserted into the recess 116, the inner edge of the recess 116 comes into contact with the outer surface of the housing 73 and deforms so as to fall to the -X side. In addition, since a plurality of cuts 117 are provided in the inner edge of recess 116 , the inner edge of recess 116 is easily deformed according to the outer shape of housing 73 . Thereby, the gap between the opening 114 formed by the inner edge of the recess 116 and the housing 73 can be reduced. Thereby, the sealing performance of the processing chamber 40 can be improved. In particular, it is possible to suppress the movement of the atmosphere containing nitrogen gas inside the processing chamber 40 to the inside of the electrical equipment housing 100 in the electrical equipment area A2. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the movement of the atmosphere containing nitrogen gas from the electrical equipment housing 100 to the printing chamber 97 .

It should be noted that it is not essential that the housing 73 is installed so as to protrude into the electrical equipment area A<b>2 , and the housing 73 may be installed so that the entire housing 73 is accommodated inside the processing chamber 40 . In this case, in order to connect the electric wires 701 arranged in the electrical equipment area A2 to the irradiation unit 70, for example, a wire bundle in which the electric wires 701 are bundled may be inserted through the concave portion 116 of the rubber wall portion 115. FIG. In this case, the recess 116 may have a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the wire bundle. For example, by making the inner diameter of the recess 116 smaller than the outer diameter of the wire bundle, the inner edge of the recess 116 can be deformed according to the outer shape of the wire bundle. Thereby, the gap between the concave portion 116 and the wire bundle can be reduced.

<Air discharge part 60>
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 , the air discharge section 60 discharges the air inside the processing chamber 40 to the outside of the processing chamber 40 and the apparatus housing 90 . The air exhaust portion 60 has a first exhaust fan 61 , a second exhaust fan 63 , an exhaust duct 65 and a duct connection portion 67 .

The first exhaust fan 61 is provided at a position facing the inner side of the processing chamber 40 in the partition wall portion 91 . The first exhaust fan 61 is located above the carry-out port 40B. The first exhaust fan 61 is attached so as to overlap with the through hole provided in the partition wall portion 91 . The discharge side of the first exhaust fan 61 communicates with the outside of the device housing 90 . By operating the first exhaust fan 61 , the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 40 is exhausted to the outside of the processing chamber 40 and the apparatus housing 90 .

The second exhaust fan 63 is provided on a bottom plate portion 94 that is a lower portion of the device housing 90 . The second exhaust fan 63 is arranged on the −Y side of the partition wall portion 41 . One end of the exhaust duct 65 is connected to the second exhaust fan 63 . The other end of the exhaust duct 65 is connected to the duct connection portion 67 . The duct connection portion 67 is attached to an opening portion 44 that is a through hole provided in the partition portion 41 . By operating the second exhaust fan 63 , the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 40 is exhausted from the bottom of the device housing 90 to the outside of the device housing 90 through the opening 44 .

The duct connection portion 67 is detachably attached to the partition wall portion 41 . By removing the duct connection portion 67 from the partition wall portion 41 , the inside of the processing chamber 40 can be visually observed through the opening 44 , and the inside of the processing chamber 40 can be reached for work. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening 44 is positioned at the same height as the transport roller 122 in the Z direction. In the inkjet printing apparatus 1, an arrangement operation for arranging the recording medium 9 on the transport path TR1 from the delivery roller 11 to the take-up roller 14 is performed. Specifically, the user pulls out the recording medium 9 from the delivery roller 11 and puts it on each transport roller 12, the chill roller 13, or the like. When arranging the recording medium 9 in the processing chamber 40 , the user can hang the recording medium 9 on, for example, the conveying roller 122 from the outside of the processing chamber 40 through the opening 44 . Moreover, the user can perform maintenance on each element in the processing chamber 40 through the opening 44 other than the operation of arranging the recording medium 9 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the air discharge section 60 includes barometers 691 and 693 . A barometer 691 is provided inside the processing chamber 40 and measures the internal pressure of the processing chamber 40 . A barometer 693 is provided inside the printing chamber 97 to measure the air pressure in the printing chamber 97 . Barometers 691 and 693 transmit signals indicating the measured pressure values to control unit 80 .

The nitrogen gas supplied to the irradiation chamber 400 moves inside the processing chamber 40 via the inlet 411 or the outlet 413 or the like. For example, when the atmosphere containing a large amount of nitrogen gas inside the processing chamber 40 moves to the vicinity of the ejection head 21 in the printing chamber 97 through the inlet 40A, the properties (wettability, etc.) of the ink adhering to the recording medium 9 change, and print quality may deteriorate. However, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1 , the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 of the air exhaust section 60 exhaust the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 40 to the outside of the apparatus housing 90 . Therefore, it is possible to reduce the movement of the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 40 to the printing chamber 97 . Therefore, it is possible to suppress the movement of the atmosphere containing nitrogen gas to the ejection head 21, thereby suppressing deterioration in print quality.

Nitrogen gas leaking from the irradiation chamber 400 to the processing chamber 40 is lighter than air, so it easily moves to the upper side of the irradiation chamber 400 . As shown in FIG. 2 or 4 , the first exhaust fan 61 is provided above the irradiation chamber 400 . An opening 44 that is an intake port of the second exhaust fan 63 is also provided above the irradiation chamber 400 . Therefore, the nitrogen gas rising from the irradiation chamber 400 can be efficiently discharged from the processing chamber 40 by the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing electrical connections of the control unit 80 in the inkjet printer 1. As shown in FIG. The control unit 80 is configured by a computer having an arithmetic processing unit 81 such as a CPU, a memory 82 such as a RAM, and an auxiliary storage unit 83 such as a hard disk. The control unit 80 is connected to the rotation driving unit 16, the four ejection heads 21, the oxygen concentration meter 431, the on-off valve 53, the first exhaust fan 61, the second exhaust fan 63, the barometers 691 and 693, the irradiation unit 70, and the nip roller 123. The control unit 80 controls the operation of each element connected to the irradiation unit 70 by causing the arithmetic processing unit 81 to execute the computer program P installed in the auxiliary storage unit 83 . Under the control of the control unit 80, the inkjet printing apparatus 1 executes printing processing.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the control unit 80 may be electrically connected to the server 2 installed outside the inkjet printer 1 . The server 2 stores, for example, image data D to be printed. During print processing, the recording medium 9 is transported by the transport mechanism 10, and the control unit 80 reads out the specified image data D from the server 2, and causes each ejection head 21 to eject ink of each color based on the image data D. As a result, an image corresponding to the image data D is recorded on the recording surface 9 a of the recording medium 9 . Note that the image data D may be provided to the control section 80 without going through the server 2 .

The controller 80 may control the on-off valve 53 according to the output from the oxygen concentration meter 431 . Specifically, when the oxygen concentration indicated by the oxygen concentration meter 431 is higher than a predetermined threshold value, the control unit 80 may increase the amount of nitrogen gas supplied from the supply port 51 by controlling the on-off valve 53 . As a result, the oxygen concentration in the irradiation chamber 400 can be lowered, so that the oxygen concentration in the irradiation chamber 400 can be maintained at a level suitable for curing the ink.

In order to suppress the movement of the atmosphere containing nitrogen gas to the printing chamber 97, the control unit 80 may control the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 according to the amount of nitrogen gas supplied from the supply port 51 per unit time (hereinafter simply referred to as "supply amount"). Specifically, the control unit 80 may control the rotation speeds of the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 so that the amount of nitrogen gas supplied by the inert gas supply unit 50 is less than the exhaust amount of the atmosphere per unit time (hereinafter simply referred to as “emission amount”) by the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63. This control can prevent the atmosphere containing a large amount of nitrogen gas from moving to the printing chamber 97 through the inlet 40A of the processing chamber 40 . Therefore, it is possible to suppress the movement of the atmosphere containing nitrogen gas to the vicinity of the ejection head 21 located on the upstream side of the processing chamber 40, thereby suppressing deterioration in print quality.

Control unit 80 may control first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 according to outputs from barometers 691 and 693 . Specifically, the control unit 80 may control the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 so that the internal pressure of the processing chamber 40 indicated by the barometer 691 is lower than the internal pressure of the printing chamber 97 indicated by the barometer 693 . This control can prevent the atmosphere containing nitrogen gas inside the processing chamber 40 from moving to the printing chamber 97 . As a result, it is possible to prevent the atmosphere containing the nitrogen gas from moving to the periphery of the ejection head 21, thereby suppressing deterioration in print quality.

Note that it is not essential for the control unit 80 to control the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 . For example, the discharge amount of the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 may be sufficiently larger than the amount of nitrogen gas supplied by the inert gas supply section 50 . Also, the internal pressure of the processing chamber 40 may be made lower than the internal pressure of the printing chamber 97 by sufficiently increasing the discharge amounts of the first and second exhaust fans 61 and 63 .

<2. Variation>
Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and various modifications are possible.

For example, in the above embodiment, the support unit 30 of the image recording section 20 has four support bases 31, and one ejection head 21 is attached to each support base 31. FIG. However, in addition to the ejection head 21 , a pre-curing unit 23 that irradiates the recording medium 9 with light may be attached to the support base 31 . FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a support unit 30 and a support base 31 according to a modification. The temporary curing unit 23 is a member that irradiates the recording medium 9 with electromagnetic waves (ultraviolet rays), and temporarily cures (pre-cures) the ink ejected onto the recording medium 9 . As shown in FIG. 11, the temporary curing unit 23 is mounted on the support base 31 so as to be located downstream of the ejection head 21 in the Y direction. By temporarily curing the ink on the recording medium 9 by the temporary curing unit 23 , the irradiation unit 70 can more efficiently fully cure the ink on the recording medium 9 .

The ink on the recording medium 9 has a slightly increased viscosity due to the light from the temporary curing unit 23 . As the viscosity of the ink increases, the wettability also decreases. If an ink with increased viscosity is exposed to a low-oxygen atmosphere, the synergistic effect of the increased viscosity and the exposure to the low-oxygen atmosphere may further reduce the wettability of the ink. On the other hand, in the inkjet printing apparatus 1, since the nitrogen gas in the internal space R1 of the processing chamber 40 is suppressed from leaking into the internal space R2 of the device housing 90, the internal space R2 is suppressed from becoming a low-oxygen atmosphere. Therefore, even if the temporary curing unit 23 is attached to the image recording section 20, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of wettability of the ink and to ensure the printing quality.

Similarly, if the inside of the device housing 90 is heated to a high temperature by a device such as a power source, the viscosity of the ink on the recording medium 9 may rise slightly. If the ink on the recording medium 9 is exposed to a low-oxygen atmosphere in a state where the viscosity of the ink has increased due to temperature rise, the viscosity of the ink may further increase and the wettability may decrease. On the other hand, according to the inkjet printing apparatus 1, the internal space R2 is suppressed from becoming a low-oxygen atmosphere, so even if the inside of the apparatus housing 90 becomes high temperature for some reason, the deterioration of the wettability of the ink can be suppressed and the printing quality can be ensured.

Further, the inkjet printing apparatus 1 described above records an image on printing paper as a recording medium. However, the inkjet printing apparatus of the present invention may record an image on a band-shaped recording medium other than general paper (for example, a resin film or the like).

In the above embodiments, inexpensive nitrogen gas was used as the inert gas supplied from the supply unit. However, the inert gas may be other gases such as helium, argon, or a mixture thereof. Further, in the above embodiment, the electromagnetic waves emitted from the irradiation unit are ultraviolet rays. However, the irradiating unit may irradiate electromagnetic waves other than ultraviolet light.

In the above embodiment, the transport mechanism 10 is of the roll-to-roll system, but the transport mechanism of the present invention is not limited to this system. For example, the conveying mechanism may be a suction conveying method in which a belt is wound around a pair of rollers and a suction means is provided on the belt to attract and convey the recording medium. When the conveying mechanism is of the suction conveying method, a sheet-shaped recording medium may be used instead of the strip-shaped recording medium.

Although the present invention has been described in detail, the above description is, in all aspects, illustrative and not intended to limit the present invention. It is understood that numerous variations not illustrated can be envisioned without departing from the scope of the invention. Each configuration described in each of the above embodiments and modifications can be appropriately combined or omitted as long as they do not contradict each other.

Reference Signs List 1 inkjet printer 10 transport mechanism 121 transport roller 13 chill roller 114 opening 115 rubber wall 116 recess 20 image recording unit 21 discharge head 23 temporary curing unit 40 processing chamber 40A inlet (first inlet)
40B outlet (first outlet)
43 door portion 44 opening (air inlet)
400 irradiation chamber 411 loading port (second loading port)
413 outlet (2nd outlet)
50 inert gas supply part 60 air discharge part 61 first exhaust fan 63 second exhaust fan 65 exhaust duct 67 duct connection part 70 irradiation unit 73 housing (contents)
80 control section 9 recording medium 90 apparatus housing 94 bottom plate section TR1 transport path

Claims (13)

An inkjet printing device that records an image by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium,
a device housing;
a transport mechanism for transporting the recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing;
an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium;
a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head, having a first inlet and a first outlet through which the recording medium passes, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet;
an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves;
an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the apparatus housing;
with
The internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing,
The inkjet printing device , wherein the first outlet communicates with the outside of the device housing . The inkjet printing device of claim 1,
The inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the amount of the inert gas supplied by the inert gas supply unit is smaller than the amount of the atmosphere discharged by the air discharge unit. The inkjet printing device according to claim 1 or claim 2,
an irradiation chamber located inside the processing chamber and having a second inlet and a second outlet for passing the recording medium;
further comprising
the irradiation unit irradiates the recording medium inside the irradiation chamber with the electromagnetic wave;
The inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the inert gas supply unit supplies the inert gas to the inside of the irradiation chamber. The inkjet printing device of claim 3,
the inert gas comprises a gas lighter than air;
The inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the air discharge unit discharges the atmosphere from an intake port provided in the processing chamber at a position higher than the irradiation chamber. The inkjet printing device of claim 4,
The air discharge part is
an exhaust duct connected to the air inlet;
with
An inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the exhaust duct is removably attached to the air inlet. The inkjet printing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
a door for opening and closing the processing chamber;
An inkjet printing device, further comprising: An inkjet printing device that records an image by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium ,
a device housing;
a transport mechanism for transporting the recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing;
an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium;
a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head, having a first inlet and a first outlet through which the recording medium passes, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet;
an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves;
an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the apparatus housing;
with
The internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing,
a part of the partition member surrounding the processing chamber is made of rubber and has a rubber wall portion forming an opening communicating with the outside of the processing chamber;
The rubber wall portion is in contact with the outer surface of the container located inside the processing chamber,
An inkjet printing apparatus, wherein at least part of the contents is located outside the processing chamber through the opening. An inkjet printing device that records an image by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium ,
a device housing;
a transport mechanism for transporting the recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing;
an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium;
a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head, having a first inlet and a first outlet through which the recording medium passes, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet;
an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves;
an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the apparatus housing;
a chill roller positioned inside the processing chamber for supporting and cooling the recording medium on its outer peripheral surface;
with _
The internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing,
An inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the irradiation unit is arranged inside the processing chamber and irradiates the electromagnetic wave onto a portion of the recording medium supported by the chill roller. The inkjet printing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 ,
The inkjet printing device, wherein the air discharge section discharges air from a lower portion of the device housing to the outside of the device housing. An inkjet printing device that records an image by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium ,
a device housing;
a transport mechanism for transporting the recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing;
an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium;
a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head, having a first inlet and a first outlet through which the recording medium passes, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet;
an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves;
an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the apparatus housing;
with
The internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing,
The transport mechanism has transport rollers extending in the width direction of the recording medium,
The inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the edge portion of the first carry-in port extends parallel to the transport roller while facing the transport roller. The inkjet printing device according to any one of claims 1 to 10 ,
a temporary curing unit that irradiates the recording medium with an electromagnetic wave for temporarily curing the ink ejected from the ejection head;
An inkjet printing device, further comprising: An inkjet printing device that records an image by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium,
a device housing;
a transport mechanism for transporting the recording medium along a predetermined transport path inside the apparatus housing;
an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing for ejecting ink onto the recording medium;
a processing chamber located downstream of the ejection head, having a first inlet and a first outlet through which the recording medium passes, and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing through the first inlet;
an irradiation unit that irradiates the recording medium inside the processing chamber with electromagnetic waves;
an inert gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
an air discharge unit that discharges the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the apparatus housing;
a temporary curing unit that irradiates the recording medium with an electromagnetic wave for temporarily curing the ink ejected from the ejection head inside the apparatus housing and outside the processing chamber;
with
An inkjet printing apparatus, wherein the internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing. An inkjet printing method for recording an image by ejecting electromagnetic wave curing ink onto a recording medium,
(a) a conveying step of conveying the recording medium along a predetermined conveying path inside the apparatus housing;
(b) an ink ejection step of ejecting ink onto the recording medium from an ejection head positioned inside the apparatus housing;
(c) a loading step of loading the recording medium through the first loading port into a processing chamber having a first loading port located downstream of the ejection head and communicating with the inside of the apparatus housing, and a first loading port located downstream of the first loading port;
(d) an irradiation step of irradiating the recording medium with an electromagnetic wave inside the processing chamber;
(e) an inert gas supplying step of supplying an inert gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
(f) an unloading step of unloading the recording medium to the outside of the processing chamber through a first unloading port of the processing chamber;
(g) an air discharge step of discharging the atmosphere inside the processing chamber to the outside of the processing chamber and to the outside of the apparatus housing;
including
The internal pressure of the processing chamber is lower than the internal pressure of the apparatus housing,
The inkjet printing method , wherein the first outlet communicates with the outside of the apparatus housing .

Images