Image forming apparatus and image forming method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12076979-B2
Application number	US-202217703237-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 24, 2022
Priority date	Sep 30, 2019
Publication date	Sep 3, 2024
Grant date	Sep 3, 2024

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a supplier and an inkjet head. The supplier supplies, to a medium to be printed, a dye-transfer suppression agent that suppresses a dye or a pigment dyeing chemical fibers constituting the medium to be printed from transferring to a print surface formed on the medium to be printed. At least one of a platen on which the medium to be printed is placed or the supplier is moved to supply the dye-transfer suppression agent to the medium to be printed. The inkjet head ejects ink for forming the print surface to an area to which the dye-transfer suppression agent is supplied.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a supplier configured to supply, to a medium to be printed, a dye-transfer suppression agent that suppresses a dye or a pigment dyeing chemical fibers constituting the medium to be printed from transferring to a print surface formed on the medium to be printed, wherein at least one of a platen on which the medium to be printed is placed or the supplier is moved to supply the dye-transfer suppression agent to the medium to be printed;
an inkjet head configured to eject ink for forming the print surface to an area to which the dye-transfer suppression agent is supplied; and
a controller configured to change an amount of the dye-transfer suppression agent supplied from the supplier, based on a material of the medium to be printed or based on a position on the print surface of the medium to be printed.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the supplier is configured to supply the dye-transfer suppression agent including a resin component or having a color to an area to which the inkjet head ejects the ink.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the inkjet head comprises:
a white head configured to eject white ink; and
a color head configured to eject color ink, and

the image forming apparatus comprises a pretreatment agent supplier configured to supply a pretreatment agent to at least an area to which the white ink is ejected from the white head, before, after or at a same time the supplier supplies the dye-transfer suppression agent.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a heater configured to perform a heat treatment for the medium to be printed; and
a controller configured to perform:
a preheating treatment, by the heater, for the medium to be printed before ejecting the white ink from the white head to the medium to be printed; and
to eject the color ink from the inkjet head to the medium to be printed after the preheating treatment, and thereafter to perform a main heating treatment that takes longer than the preheating treatment.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a heater configured to perform a heat treatment for the medium to be printed,
wherein the heater is configured not to perform the heat treatment after a supply of the pretreatment agent but to perform the heat treatment after the supply of the dye-transfer suppression agent.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the supplier includes a dye-transfer suppression agent head configured to eject the dye-transfer suppression agent, and
the image forming apparatus comprises a carriage on which the dye-transfer suppression agent head and the inkjet head are mounted.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the dye-transfer suppression agent includes fine particles having an adsorption property.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the dye-transfer suppression agent includes activated carbon.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to reduce an amount of the dye-transfer suppression agent, which is supplied from the supplier to the medium to be printed, to a predetermined amount or smaller at a position where a color of an image formed by the ink ejected from the inkjet head has a density value larger than a predetermined density or a brightness value smaller than a predetermined brightness.

10. An image forming method performed by an image forming apparatus comprising:
A supplier configured to supply, to a medium to be printed, a dye-transfer suppression agent that suppresses a dye or a pigment dyeing chemical fibers constituting the medium to be printed from transferring to a print surface formed on the medium to be printed, wherein at least one of a platen on which the medium to be printed is placed or the supplier is moved to supply the dye-transfer suppression agent to the medium to be printed
an inkjet head configured to eject ink for forming the print surface; and
a controller,
wherein the image forming method comprises steps of:
causing the dye-transfer suppression agent to be supplied from the supplier to the medium to be printed; and
causing ink for forming the print surface to be ejected to an area to which the dye-transfer suppression agent is supplied, and

in the step of causing the dye-transfer suppression agent to be supplied, an amount of the dye-transfer suppression agent supplied from the supplier is changed, based on a material of the medium to be printed or based on a position on the print surface of the medium to be printed.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Okada Goro

Classifications

• B41J2/2114

  Ejecting specialized liquids, e.g. transparent or processing liquids (B41J2/211 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B41J2/2117

  Ejecting white liquids · CPC title

• D06P5/30

  Ink jet printing · CPC title

• C09D11/328

  characterised by dyes · CPC title

• B41J3/4078

  Printing on textile · CPC title