Printing apparatus and printing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10696059-B2
Application number	US-201815954607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 17, 2018
Priority date	Apr 27, 2017
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

A printing apparatus is provided that prints a print target on a medium made of chemical fiber fabric. The printing apparatus includes inkjet heads which are chromatic color heads that eject inks having chromatic colors, and an inkjet head which is a black color head that ejects ink having black color. The inks ejected from these inkjet heads are allowed to dry by evaporation and each contain a solvent and a coloring material for expressing the ink color. The inks are dried by evaporating the solvents in the inks to be fixed to the medium. The chromatic color heads include at least six or more inkjet heads that respectively eject the inks having chromatic colors distinct from each other.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A printing apparatus for printing a print target on a medium including chemical fiber fabric, the printing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of chromatic color heads which are inkjet heads that eject inks having chromatic colors; and
a black color head which is an inkjet head that ejects ink having black color,
wherein the inks ejected from the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head being allowed to dry by evaporation and each ink comprising a solvent and a coloring material for expressing a color of the ink, and the inks being dried by evaporating the solvents in the inks to be fixed to the medium,
the plurality of chromatic color heads comprising at least six or more inkjet heads that respectively eject the inks having chromatic colors distinct from each other,
the plurality of chromatic color heads comprise, at least:
inkjet heads for first-order colors which are basic colors that theoretically allow full colors to be expressed by color mixing;
inkjet heads for second-order colors which are colors obtained by mixing two colors selected from the first-order colors,

the inkjet heads for first-order colors comprise, at least:
an inkjet head that ejects ink having yellow color;
an inkjet head that ejects ink having magenta color; and
an inkjet head that ejects ink having cyan color,

the inkjet heads for second-order colors comprise, at least:
an inkjet head that ejects ink having red color;
an inkjet head that ejects ink having green color; and
an inkjet head that ejects ink having blue color,

a color obtained by mixing the inks having two colors selected from the first-order colors in equal amount is theoretically equal to and replaceable with the color of any one of the inks having the second-order colors in an amount equivalent to the equal amount, and
when the ink having the black color ejected from the black color head is assumed to be ink having a third-order color, a color obtained by mixing all of the inks having the first-order colors in equal amount is theoretically equal to and replaceable with the color of the ink having the third-order color in an amount equivalent to the equal amount,
the medium including the chemical fiber fabric, as compared to a medium including a natural fiber fabric, has a smaller absorbability with respect to the inks having chromatic colors and the inks having black color, and the inks having chromatic colors and the inks having black color landed on the medium are easier to spread, and
a maximum amount of inks to express the second-order color or the third-order color is equal to an amount of inks to express the first-order color.

2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a main scan driver that causes the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head to perform main scans in which the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head eject the inks to the medium while moving in a main scanning direction previously set; and
a sub scan driver that causes the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head to perform sub scans in which the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head move relative to the medium in a sub scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.

3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a main scan driver that causes the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head to perform main scans in which the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head eject the inks to the medium while moving in a main scanning direction previously set; and
a sub scan driver that causes the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head to perform sub scans in which the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head move relative to the medium in a sub scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.

4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the medium including fabric is a medium including polyester fiber fabric.

5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the medium including fabric is a medium including taffeta.

6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the medium including fabric is a medium including tropical fabric.

7. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the inks are latex inks.

8. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a heater that heats the medium, wherein
the heater heats the medium at temperatures lower than or equal to 50° C.

9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the print target is printed on the medium without the use of a heater that heats the medium.

10. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the inks each include a pigment as the coloring material.

11. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the print target is printed on the medium to produce a printed matter installable outdoors.

12. The printing apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein
the printed matter installable outdoors is a banner.

13. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the inks having chromatic colors and the inks having black color are inks containing an energy absorbent that absorbs an energy line to generate heat, and the printing apparatus further comprises an energy line irradiating device which irradiates the energy line.

14. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the chromatic color heads are arranged in different arrays per color group in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.

15. A printing method for printing a print target on a medium including chemical fiber fabric, the printing method comprising the use of:
a plurality of chromatic color heads which are inkjet heads that eject inks having chromatic colors; and
a black color head which is an inkjet head that ejects ink having black color,
wherein the inks ejected from the plurality of chromatic color heads and the black color head being inks allowed to dry by evaporation and each ink comprising a solvent and a coloring material for expressing a color of the ink, and the inks being dried by evaporating the solvents in the inks to be fixed to the medium,
the plurality of chromatic color heads comprising at least six or more inkjet heads that respectively eject the inks having chromatic colors distinct from each other,
the plurality of chromatic color heads comprise, at least:
inkjet heads for first-order colors which are basic colors that theoretically allow full colors to be expressed by color mixing;
inkjet heads for second-order colors which are colors obtained by mixing two colors selected from the first-order colors,

the inkjet heads for first-order colors comprise, at least:
an inkjet head that ejects ink having yellow color;
an inkjet head that ejects ink having magenta color; and
an inkjet head that ejects ink having cyan color,

the inkjet heads for second-order colors comprise, at least:
an inkjet head that ejects ink having red color;
an inkjet head that ejects ink having green color; and
an inkjet head that ejects ink having blue color,

a color obtained by mixing the inks having two colors selected from the first-order colors in equal amount is theoretically equal to and replaceable with the color of any one of the inks having the second-order colors in an amount equivalent to the equal amount, and
when the ink having the black color ejected from the black color head is assumed to be ink having a third-order color, a color obta

Assignees

• Mimaki Eng Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ohnishi Masaru

Classifications

• B41J2/21 Primary

  for multi-colour printing · CPC title

• D06P5/30

  Ink jet printing · CPC title

• B41J3/4078

  Printing on textile · CPC title

• B41J2/2132

  Print quality control characterised by dot disposition, e.g. for reducing white stripes or banding (methods for local corrections by dot omission, image edge enhancement, or multi-pass mask selection G06K15/102; colour conversion H04N1/40) · CPC title

• B41J2/2103 Primary

  Features not dealing with the colouring process per se, e.g. construction of printers or heads, driving circuit adaptations · CPC title