Inkjet printer, inkjet printing method, and inkjet printing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016167399-A1
Application number	US-201414901078-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 25, 2014
Priority date	Jun 26, 2013
Publication date	Jun 16, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An inkjet printer, an inkjet printing method, and an inkjet printing system are provided. An ultraviolet-absorbing light shielding plate of an inkjet printer has a position in a main scanning direction shown by an arrow that is disposed between a position of a recording head in the main scanning direction shown by the arrow and a position of a light source in the main scanning direction shown by the arrow, and the light source of the ultraviolet irradiating device is disposed on a point side with respect to a line that passes through an intersection point of a perpendicular drawn from a center point of the ultraviolet-absorbing light shielding plate in the main scanning direction shown by the arrow to a medium supporting unit, and an end point of the ultraviolet-absorbing light shielding plate on the light source side in the main scanning direction shown by the arrow.

First claim

1 . An inkjet printer, comprising:
a medium supporting unit that supports a print medium; a recording head having a nozzle face formed to face the medium supporting unit, nozzles that discharge photocuring ink toward the print medium supported on the medium supporting unit being formed on the nozzle face, the photocuring ink configured to cure by light irradiation; a light irradiating device that irradiates the photocuring ink discharged by the recording head and adhered onto the print medium with light; and a light shielding unit that shields the light radiated by the light irradiating device, wherein the light irradiating device includes a light source that radiates light, the light shielding unit has a position in an aligned direction of the recording head and the light source that is between a position of the recording head in the aligned direction and a position of the light source in the aligned direction, and the light source is disposed on a line or on a center point side with respect to the line, the line passing through an intersection point of a perpendicular drawn from a center point of the light shielding unit in the aligned direction to the medium supporting unit and an end point of the light shielding unit on a light source side in the aligned direction.

2 . The inkjet printer according to claim 1 , wherein
the aligned direction is a scanning direction of the recording head.

3 . The inkjet printer according to claim 1 , wherein
the light irradiating device includes an opposite-side reflecting unit that is disposed on an opposite side from the recording head side with respect to the light source in the aligned direction and that reflects the light radiated by the light source, and an end of the opposite-side reflecting unit on the medium supporting unit side is disposed on the line or on the center point side with respect to the line.

4 . The inkjet printer according to claim 1 , wherein
the light irradiating device includes an opposite-side reflecting unit that is disposed on an opposite side from the recording head side with respect to the light source in the aligned direction and that reflects the light radiated by the light source, and the opposite-side reflecting unit is disposed in a state of vertically intersecting the line, or in a state of being tilted in a direction by which the opposite-side reflecting unit is tilted with respect to the medium supporting unit.

5 . An inkjet printing method using an inkjet printer that includes a medium supporting unit that supports a print medium; a recording head having a nozzle face foamed to face the medium supporting unit, nozzles that discharge photocuring ink toward the print medium supported on the medium supporting unit being formed on the nozzle face, the photocuring ink configured to cure by light irradiation; and a light irradiating device that irradiates the photocuring ink discharged by the recording head and adhered onto the print medium with light, the inkjet printing method comprising:
performing discharge of the photocuring ink by the recording head onto the print medium and light irradiation by the light irradiating device onto the photocuring ink adhered to the print medium in a state where a light shielding wall that shields light is disposed to surround a periphery of the print medium supported by the medium supporting unit.

6 . An inkjet printing system, comprising:
a medium supporting unit that supports a print medium; a recording head having a nozzle face formed to face the medium supporting unit, nozzles that discharge photocuring ink toward the print medium supported on the medium supporting unit being formed on the nozzle face, the photocuring ink configured to cure by light irradiation; a light irradiating device that moves together with the recording head in a scanning direction of the recording head and irradiates the photocuring ink discharged by the recording head with light; and a moving range controlling unit that controls a moving range of the recording head in the scanning direction, wherein the moving range controlling unit decreases the moving range in accordance with an increase in a gap along the scanning direction between the recording head and the light irradiating device.

7 . An inkjet printer, comprising:
a medium supporting unit that supports a print medium; a recording head having a nozzle face formed to face the medium supporting unit, nozzles that discharge photocuring ink toward the print medium supported on the medium supporting unit being formed on the nozzle face, the photocuring ink configured to cure by light irradiation; a light irradiating device that moves together with the recording head in a scanning direction of the recording head and irradiates the photocuring ink discharged by the recording head with light; a bias supporting unit that supports the recording head and the light irradiating device while biasing in a direction along which a gap between the recording head and the light irradiating device in the scanning direction increases; and a movement restricting unit that is disposed at an end of a moving range of the light irradiating device in the scanning direction and restricts a movement of the light irradiating device in the scanning direction by making contact with the light irradiating device.

8 . The inkjet printer according to claim 7 , wherein
the light irradiating device stops the light irradiation when movement is restricted by the movement restricting unit.

Assignees

• Mimaki Eng Kk

Inventors

• Ohnishi Masaru

Classifications

• B41J11/002 Primary

  Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating · CPC title

• B41J2/01

  Ink jet · CPC title

• B41J11/00214 Primary

  using UV radiation · CPC title