JPH07256873A - INKJET RECORDING METHOD AND DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A transfer type inkjet recording method for forming an ink image on a transfer medium by an inkjet recording method and then transferring the ink image from the transfer medium onto the recording medium. And a method capable of efficiently performing image transfer from a transfer medium to a recording medium. [Structure] 0.001-0.1 mg / cm of surfactant
The method comprises forming an ink image on a transfer medium applied in an amount of ² and having a diameter of 50 μm or less, and transferring the ink image on the transfer medium onto a recording medium.
Method.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer type ink jet recording method and an apparatus for carrying out the method,
More specifically, the present invention relates to an inkjet recording method for forming an ink image on a transfer medium and then transferring the ink image to the recording medium to obtain the ink image on the recording medium, and an apparatus for carrying out the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The ink jet recording system is excellent in that the mechanism is simple and noise is not generated. However, in addition to the problem that the printing state changes due to the difference in the recording medium, for example, the difference in the quality of the recording paper, there is the problem that the image of the undried portion of the ink image is disturbed when the recording medium is discharged.

As a recording apparatus that has attempted to solve such a problem, a method called a transfer method in which an ink image is once formed on a transfer medium by an ink jet recording method and then the ink image is transferred from the transfer medium to the recording medium. Have been proposed (US Pat. No. 4,538,156, US Pat. No. 5,099,256). As shown in FIG. 12, according to this method, the recording head 101 is used as a recording medium for recording paper 10.
It can be placed apart from 2. As a result, the recording head 10 is caused by contact caused by the recording head 101 being arranged in proximity to the recording paper 102 and adhesion of paper dust generated from the recording paper.
It has a feature that clogging of 1 can be prevented.

In such an apparatus, both the formation of a desired ink image accurately on the transfer medium and the efficient transfer of the ink image from the transfer medium to the recording medium at low pressure are satisfied. There must be.

In the former case, if the ink droplets ejected on the transfer medium unduly spread or flow on the transfer medium and the position or shape of the ink droplets changes significantly, the formed print is disturbed. Will end up. In the present specification, such a phenomenon may be referred to as “repellency” of ink. "Hajiki"
When the phenomenon occurs, good printing cannot be obtained on the recording medium. Regarding the latter, when the ink image formed on the transfer medium is transferred to the recording medium, the ink image remains on the transfer medium and sticks, and a large pressure is required for the transfer. It will not be possible to print with good quality.

For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1-146750 discloses a method of forming a thin film of glycerin on a transfer medium and forming an ink image with oil-based ink on the thin film. According to this method, accurate ink image formation and efficient transfer of the ink image to the recording medium at a relatively low pressure can be performed.

However, the present inventors have confirmed that when this method is carried out using an aqueous ink composition containing water as a main solvent, efficient transfer may not be carried out, unlike the case of oil-based ink. is doing.

Further, in the conventional recording method, it seems that a line load of about 2.5 Kg / cm is required to transfer the ink image onto the recording medium, and it is possible to transfer at a lower pressure. In that case, it is considered that there is no restriction on the material constituting the device, and a lighter and smaller device can be realized.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer type ink jet recording method capable of obtaining efficient printing when an aqueous ink composition is used.

[0010]

According to the ink jet recording method of the present invention, an applying step of applying a surfactant onto a transfer medium to carry the surfactant on the surface of the transfer medium, and selectively ejecting ink droplets. An ink image writing step of forming an ink image on the transfer medium by scanning the transfer medium with a recording head having a plurality of controllable nozzles, and bringing the ink image on the transfer medium into contact with the recording medium to apply pressure. And a transfer step of transferring the ink image to a recording medium, wherein the applying step forms the surfactant in a droplet shape on the transfer medium.

In the coating step, the coating amount of the surfactant is 0.001 to 0.1 mg / cm ² , and the surfactant is in the form of liquid droplets having a diameter of 50 μm or less on the transfer medium. It is characterized by

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the coating means comprises an elastic body impregnated with a surfactant and a contact control device for contacting the elastic body with a transfer medium. The initial impregnation amount of surfactant is 0.2
It is characterized in that it is 0.8 g / cm ³ .

Further, the coating means comprises an elastic body impregnated with a surfactant, a coating amount regulating blade, and a contact control device for contacting the elastic body and the coating amount regulating blade with the transfer medium. The transfer medium has a speed of 10 to 700 mm / sec.

Further, it is characterized in that the coating means comprises a recording head having a plurality of nozzles capable of selectively controlling the discharge of the surfactant.

[0015]

EXAMPLES The ink jet recording method and apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to examples.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof. An inkjet recording head 2, a pressure roller 3, and a surfactant application device 4 that is an application unit are arranged around a transfer drum 1 that is a transfer medium. A heater lamp 5 as a heating means is provided inside the transfer drum 1.
Are arranged. The heater lamp 5 is controlled by a heating control means including an output signal processing circuit (not shown) and a heating drive circuit for lighting the heater lamp 5.

The directions of rotation and movement of the transfer drum 1, recording head 2, pressure roller 3, and surfactant coating device 4 are indicated by arrows A, B, C and D, respectively.

The transfer drum 1 is formed by laminating a silicone rubber as a surface layer 12 around a base tube 11 made of aluminum which is a good conductor of heat. The surface layer 12 preferably has a property of easily peeling off the ink image, and the silicone rubber has a property of low surface energy and high peelability. Other examples of the surface layer 12 include fluorosilicone rubber, phenyl silicone rubber, fluororubber, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber,
Examples include natural rubber, styrene rubber, isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, ethylene / propylene / butadiene polymer, nitrile butadiene rubber, and the like. In particular, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, phenyl silicone rubber, fluororubber and chloroprene rubber are preferable.
The transfer drum 1 is configured to rotate in the direction of arrow A (main scanning direction) by the drum driving device 19.

The recording head 2 is an ink jet recording head of the type using a piezoelectric element, and receives ink supply from the ink container 21 to eject ink droplets. The plurality of nozzles are provided at regular intervals in the axial direction of the transfer drum 1. The recording head 2 is configured to move in the direction of arrow B (axial direction of the transfer drum 1) by the head moving device 29.

The pressure roller 3 is a metal roller made of aluminum and can control the release of the pressure on the transfer drum 1 by a pressure control device (not shown). In the pressed state, the pressure roller 3 is driven and rotated by the transfer drum 1. Pressure roller 3 during transfer
Presses the transfer drum 1 with a linear load of 0.5 kg / cm via the recording paper 6 which is a recording medium. In FIG. 2, the pressure roller in the pressed state is indicated by 3, and the pressure roller 3 ′ in the released state is indicated.

In the surfactant coating device 4, an elastic body 42 impregnated with a surfactant (not shown) can be controlled to be released from contact with the transfer drum 1 by the contact control device 43. There is. Elastic body 42 during application of the surfactant
Is brought into contact with the transfer drum 1. In FIG. 2, the elastic body in the contact state is shown by 42, and the elastic body in the released state is shown by 42 '. Elastic body 4
For 2, a pad made of heat-resistant aramid fiber was used. As the surfactant, a silicone-based surfactant L-7602 manufactured by Nippon Unicar Co., Ltd. was used.
The surfactant used in the present invention is not limited to this, and in addition, fluorine-based surfactants, cationic surfactants, anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants. Agents, preferably HLB (hydrophilic-li
A surfactant having a pophilic balance) value of 2 to 15 can be used. For specific examples of the surfactant, refer to Japanese Patent Application No. 5-200855.

The ink used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a so-called water-based ink and used in the ink jet recording method. Specifically, it is an ink containing a colorant, water as a main solvent, a water-soluble organic solvent, and other additives. More specifically,
Reference is made to Japanese Patent Application No. 5-200855 similarly to the above-mentioned surfactant. In this example, 2% by weight of carbon black as a pigment, 15% by weight of styrene-acrylic copolymer emulsion as an emulsion, 3% by weight of glycerin as a moisturizing agent, 5% by weight of polyvinyl alcohol as a water-soluble resin, 1% by weight of a surfactant, and a preservative were added. An ink prepared by appropriately adding a few wt% of the above was used.

Next, the operation will be described. The recording step is a coating step of coating a surfactant on the transfer drum 1,
It comprises three steps: an ink image writing step of forming an ink image on the transfer drum 1, and a transfer step of transferring the ink image to the recording paper 6.

The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.
FIG. 3 shows an operation sequence of each member during operation. When the power is turned on, the heater lamp 5 inside the transfer drum 1 is turned on to control the surface of the transfer drum 1 to a predetermined temperature.
When the temperature of the transfer drum 1 is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, the heater lamp 5 is turned on, and when the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature, the heater lamp 5 is turned off to control the transfer drum 1 so as to maintain the predetermined temperature.
In this embodiment, the heating means including the heater lamp 5 is used to accelerate the drying time of the ink image.
It may not be properly selected and used according to the convenience of the device. While the apparatus is on standby, the pressure roller 3 and the elastic body 42, which is the surfactant coating apparatus 4, are controlled to a release state (indicated by 3'and 42 'in FIG. 2) that does not contact the surface of the transfer drum 1.

When the recording signal is input, the coating process is first performed. The elastic body 42 is brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 by the contact control device 43, and the transfer drum 1 is rotated to apply the surfactant onto the transfer drum 1. The elastic body 42 is released from the transfer drum 1 after the transfer drum 1 makes one rotation and the surfactant is applied to the entire recording area of the transfer drum 1.

Next, ink droplets are ejected from the recording head 2 and an ink image writing process is performed. The transfer drum 1 is controlled in advance to a temperature at which the water in the ink image is evaporated to some extent and can be brought to an appropriate dry state, and the ink image formed on the transfer drum 1 is dried to a transferable state. In this embodiment, the heater lamp 5 controls the surface of the transfer drum 1 to 80 ° C. At this temperature, moisture, which is the main component of the ink solvent, evaporates from the ink image on the transfer drum 1 to some extent, and an appropriately dried ink image is obtained on the transfer drum 1.

When the ink image writing process is completed, the recording paper 6 which is a recording medium is conveyed onto the transfer drum 1. The pressure roller 3 presses the transfer drum 1 with a linear load of 0.5 kg / cm via the recording paper 6 by the pressing control device. In this state, the transfer process is completed by rotating the transfer drum 1 once, and the recording paper 6 is ejected. After the recording paper 6 is ejected, the pressure roller 3 is released from the transfer drum 1 to be in a standby state.

Here, the step of applying the surfactant will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. The elastic body 42 is brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 by the contact control device 43, and the transfer drum 1 is rotated, whereby the surfactant 41 is applied onto the transfer drum 1. In the apparatus of this embodiment, since the transfer drum 1 uses the silicone rubber for the surface layer 12, the surfactant 41 applied onto the transfer drum 1 becomes droplets as shown in FIG. When coating is performed by bringing the elastic body 42 impregnated with the surfactant 41 into contact with the transfer drum 1 as in the present embodiment, the coating state is the surfactant 41 in the elastic body 42.
It is almost determined by the amount of impregnation. Elastic body 42 in the present invention
FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the impregnated amount and the applied amount of the surfactant 41 and the size of the droplets of the surfactant 41. The maximum size of the droplet of the surfactant 41 is shown.

FIG. 5 shows the case where the surfactant 41 is 0.63 g / c.
The elastic body 42 impregnated with m ^{3 is} brought into contact with the transfer drum 1,
After the application is performed by rotating the transfer drum 1 at a speed of 200 mm / sec, an ink droplet 46 is ejected by the recording head 2 onto the transfer drum 1 in the applied state to form an ink image 45. is there. In this coating state, the coating amount of the surfactant 41 is about 0.03 mg /
cm ² , the applied droplets of the surfactant 41 are 0.1 to 3
0 μm (10 μm on average), and in this case, good ink image formation without the “repelling” phenomenon is performed. Further, this ink image 45 is subjected to a linear load of 0.5 k by the pressure roller 3.
When transferred to the recording paper 6 at g / cm, good transfer characteristics without transfer residue were obtained.

As Comparative Example 1, the surfactant 41 was added to 0.0
The elastic body 42 impregnated with 1 g / cm ^{3 is} brought into contact with the transfer drum 1, and coating is performed by rotating the transfer drum 1 at a speed of 200 mm / sec. The case where the image 45 is formed is shown in FIG. In this coating state, the surfactant 4
The coating amount of 1 is about 0.0002 mg / cm ² , and the applied droplets of the surfactant 41 are 0.1 to 1 μm (average 0.7 μm).
m). As described above, when the applied amount of the surfactant 41 is too small, or when the applied liquid droplets of the surfactant 41 are too small, the "repelling" phenomenon occurs and the ink image 45 spreads unduly or flows. However, a desired ink image cannot be formed. Further, this ink image 45 was transferred onto the recording paper 6 by the pressure roller 3 with a linear load of 0.5 kg / cm, but a partial transfer residue occurred, and all the ink images 45 on the transfer drum 1 were transferred onto the recording paper 6. Could not be transferred to.

This is a surfactant 41 on the transfer drum 1.
The surface-active agent 41 does not work sufficiently as a release agent because of the small amount of application, and it is difficult to transfer the ink image 45 onto the recording paper 6 at a low pressure of a linear load of 0.5 kg / cm.

As another comparative example 2, the surfactant 4
The elastic body 42 impregnated with 0.85 g / cm ^{3 of} 1 was brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 to move the transfer drum 1 to 200 mm / sec.
FIG. 7 shows a case in which the ink is applied by rotating at a speed of 5 and the ink image 45 is formed by the recording head 2 in the applied state. In this applied state, the applied amount of the surfactant 41 is about 0.2 mg / cm ² , and the applied droplets of the surfactant 41 are 0.1 to 80 μm (average 70 μm). As described above, even when the amount of the surface-active agent 41 applied is too large, or when the applied surface-active agent 41 droplets are too large, the "repelling" phenomenon similar to the above occurs and the ink image 45 is formed.
Undesirably spreads or flows and the desired ink image 45
Cannot be formed.

FIG. 8 shows how ink images are formed on the transfer drum 1 under various coating conditions of the surfactant 41.
When the formation of the ink image 45 is good, it is indicated by ◯, when it is better, it is indicated by ⊚, and when it is defective, by x. In the figure, the range of the applied state in which the good ink image 45 can be formed in this embodiment is indicated by the hatched line G. As shown in this figure, the transfer drum 1
When the surface-active agent 41 is applied on top to form the ink image 45, the applied state is important, and the desired ink image 4
Accurate formation of 5 on the transfer drum 1 and efficient transfer of the ink image 45 from the transfer drum 1 to the recording paper 6 at a low pressure are greatly affected by the coating state. The present invention regulates the coating state by the coating amount and the size of the droplets to be coated. That 0.001~0.1mg / cm ² the coating amount of the surfactant 41, preferably controlled to 0.005-0.05 / cm ^2, and a surfactant 41 to be applied on the transfer drum 1 50 μm diameter
Hereafter, it is controlled to a droplet size of preferably 30 μm or less.

In the present invention, the appropriate amount of the surface-active agent 41 applied is 0.001 to 0.1 mg / cm ² , and the size of the surface-active agent 41 droplets is 50 mm on the transfer drum 1.
Since μm or less, it is possible to the initial impregnation amount of the surfactant 41 into the elastic member 42 and 0.2 to 0.8 g / cm ^3, an initial impregnation amount 0.8 g / cm ³ By doing so, it is possible to apply the surfactant 41 for printing about 5000 sheets of A4 size recording paper without replacing the elastic body 42.

In the present invention, a good ink image having no "repelling" phenomenon is formed on the transfer medium, and the line load is 0.5.
The ink image on the transfer medium can be transferred onto the recording medium with a pressure of about kg / cm. In the conventional method as described above, it is difficult to transfer the ink image at such a low pressure without leaving the ink image on the transfer medium. In the apparatus according to the present invention, since the transfer process can be performed with such a low pressure, the strength required for each member is not so large, and it is advantageous in that the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced, for example.

<Second Embodiment> In this embodiment, the coating method is different from that of the first embodiment, and the other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment. The operation of the coating process will be described with reference to FIG. In the surfactant coating device 4 used in this embodiment, an elastic body 42 impregnated with a surfactant (not shown) and a coating amount regulating blade 44 are brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 by the contact control device 43. It is configured to control the release. The elastic body 42 and the coating amount regulation blade 44 are brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 during the application of the surfactant. Elastic body 42
Is a heat-resistant nylon felt, and the coating amount regulating blade 44 is a silicone rubber blade, and is integrally configured by the contact control device 43. As the surfactant, a silicone-based surfactant L-2164 manufactured by Nippon Unicar Co., Ltd. was used.

The step of applying the surfactant will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The elastic body 42 and the coating amount regulation blade 44 are brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 by the contact control device 43, and the transfer drum 1 rotates, whereby the surfactant impregnated in the elastic body 42 is transferred to the transfer drum 1. 1 over coated. Then, by the coating amount regulating blade 44 formed on the lower side of the elastic body 42 in the rotation direction of the transfer drum 1, the coating amount of the surfactant applied excessively on the transfer drum 1 and the droplets of the applied surfactant. The size of is controlled. The excess amount of the surfactant, which is controlled by the coating amount regulating blade 44 and scraped off, is
Returned inside. In this embodiment, the elastic body 42 impregnated with a surfactant of 0.85 g / cm ³ and the coating amount regulating blade 44 are brought into contact with the transfer drum 1 to rotate the transfer drum 1 at a speed of 200 mm / sec. By doing so, coating was performed. Immediately after being applied by the elastic body 42, specifically, the elastic body 42 and the application amount regulating blade 4
The coating state between 4 and 4 is the same as the state described as the comparative example in the first example. That is, in this coating state, the coating amount of the surfactant is about 0.2 mg / cm.
^{2. The} applied droplets are 0.1-80μm (70μm on average)
m), and when an ink image is formed in this coating state, a “repelling” phenomenon occurs as in the comparative example of the first embodiment (FIG. 7), the ink image 45 spreads unreasonably,
It cannot flow to form a desired ink image. However, in this embodiment, after the surfactant is applied excessively to the proper coating amount, the coating amount regulating blade 44 is used to control the proper amount, that is, 0.001 to 0.1 mg.
/ Cm ² , preferably 0.005-0.05 mg / cm ²
The surface-active agent to be applied is controlled to be 50 μm or less, preferably 30 μm or less in diameter on the transfer drum 1. As a result, the coating amount regulation blade 4
The coating state after passing No. 4 is the same as in the first embodiment (FIG. 5), the coating amount of the surfactant is about 0.03 mg / cm ² ,
The droplets of the applied surfactant are 0.1 to 30 μm (average 10 μm).

The range of the coating state in which a good ink image can be formed in this embodiment is shown by the diagonal line G in FIG. 8 as in the first embodiment.

In the present invention, the surface-active agent is excessively coated on the transfer drum 1 by the elastic body 42 impregnated with the surface-active agent as described above, and the coating amount and the surface-active agent applied by the coating amount regulating blade 44. When controlling the size of the liquid droplets of the agent, the application state is almost determined by the relative speed of the application amount regulation blade 44 and the transfer drum 1. FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the relative speed of the transfer drum 1 and the coating amount regulating blade 44, and the coating amount and the size of the applied droplets of the surfactant in this embodiment. The suitable value of the amount of the surfactant applied in the present invention is 0.001 to 0.1 mg /
cm ² , and since the size of the applied droplets of the surfactant is 50 μm or less on the transfer medium, the moving speed of the application amount regulating blade 44 can be set to 10 to 700 mm / sec. The speed can be arbitrarily selected according to the device.

In the present invention, a good ink image having no "repelling" phenomenon is formed on the transfer medium, and the line load is 0.5.
The ink image on the transfer medium can be transferred onto the recording medium with a pressure of about kg / cm. Further, in the present invention, since the coating amount of the surfactant and the size of the applied droplets of the surfactant are controlled by the coating amount regulating blade 44, it is possible to obtain a constant coating state even in repeated printing. You can Therefore, it becomes possible to stably form a good ink image on the transfer medium and stably transfer the ink image on the transfer medium to the recording medium.

<Third Embodiment> In this embodiment, the coating method is different from that of the first embodiment, and other than that, the constitution is the same as that of the first embodiment. The operation will be described with reference to FIG. The surfactant coating device used in this embodiment is a coating head 50 having a plurality of nozzles capable of selectively controlling the discharge of the surfactant.
And a surfactant container 51, and the coating head 50
Is configured to move together with the recording head 2 in the direction of arrow B (axial direction of the transfer drum 1) by the head moving device 29. The coating head 50 is an inkjet recording head of the type that uses a piezoelectric element. Coating head 5
A plurality of nozzles of 0 are provided at regular intervals in the axial direction of the transfer drum 1, and are supplied with the surfactant from the surfactant container 51 to eject the surfactant in the form of droplets. As the surfactant, a silicone-based surfactant L-77 manufactured by Nippon Unicar Co., Ltd. was used. Since the surfactant used in this example is discharged in a droplet form by the coating head 50, when the surfactant alone has a high viscosity, it may be diluted with water to a viscosity at which discharge is possible.

In this embodiment, when the recording signal is input, the coating process is first performed. Depending on the recording signal,
At the portion where the ink image is formed on the transfer drum 1, the coating head 5
The discharge amount of the surfactant is selectively controlled by 0, the coating amount is about 0.05 mg / cm ² , and the droplet size is 30 μm.
Applied regularly. By the rotation of the transfer drum 1 and the movement of the coating head 50 in the direction of arrow B, the transfer drum 1
The surfactant is applied to all recording areas of. The amount of the surfactant applied and the size of the droplet can be arbitrarily selected by adjusting the application head 50 according to the convenience of the apparatus. In FIG. 8, the range of the coating state in which a good ink image can be formed in this embodiment is indicated by the diagonal line H. However, the size of the droplet of the surfactant is 2 in the shaded area H.
Although it is 0 to 50 μm, the minimum value of the liquid droplets is within the range confirmed in this embodiment, and there is no particular problem as long as it is 50 μm or less.

Next, ink droplets are ejected from the recording head 2 and an ink image writing process is performed.

Thereafter, the transfer process is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and an ink image can be obtained on the recording paper 6.

In the present invention, the coating amount of the surfactant is controlled to 0.001 to 0.1 mg / cm ² , and the surfactant is controlled to droplets having a diameter of 50 μm or less on the transfer medium. Therefore, it is possible to form a good ink image without the "repelling" phenomenon on the transfer medium and transfer the ink image on the transfer medium onto the recording medium with a low pressure of about 0.5 kg / cm of linear load. Becomes Further, in the present invention, since the surfactant is applied only to the portion where the ink image is formed, the amount of the surfactant used can be minimized. Further, in the present invention, since the coating of the surfactant is performed by the coating head 50, the size of the droplets of the surfactant can be made uniform, and the surfactant can be accurately coated at the designated position. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to reliably obtain a desired coating state, stably form a good ink image on the transfer medium, and stably transfer the ink image on the transfer medium to the recording medium. .

In this embodiment, the ink image writing process is performed after the applying process. However, the applying head 50 is attached to the recording head 2 on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the transfer drum 1. Therefore, for example, the coating head 5
In the case where the nozzle pitch of 0 is sufficiently narrower than the nozzle pitch of the recording head 2 or the like, by applying the surfactant and writing the ink image sequentially within the same rotation of the transfer drum 1, It is also possible to perform the coating process and the ink image writing process at the same time.

[0047]

According to the present invention, the coating amount of the surfactant is controlled to 0.001 to 0.1 mg / cm ² , and the surfactant is controlled to a droplet having a diameter of 50 μm or less on the transfer medium. Therefore, it is possible to form a good ink image without the "repelling" phenomenon on the transfer medium and transfer the ink image on the transfer medium onto the recording medium with a low pressure of about 0.5 kg / cm of linear load. It will be possible. Therefore, the present invention has an effect that a high quality recorded image can be obtained on a recording medium when the water-based ink composition is used, and further the apparatus is lightweight and miniaturized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an ink jet printer showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of a coating process in the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method of a coating process in the inkjet printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a comparative example.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a comparative example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of a coating process in the inkjet printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of a coating process in the inkjet printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an ink jet printer showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Transfer drum (transfer medium) 2: Recording head 3: Pressure roller 4: Surfactant coating device 5: Heater lamp (heating means) 6: Recording paper (recording medium) 12: Surface layer 41: Surfactant 42: Elastic body 43: Contact control device 44: Coating amount regulation blade 45: Ink image 50: Coating head 51: Surfactant container

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A coating head, comprising a step of coating a surface of a transfer medium by coating the surface of the transfer medium with the surface active agent, and a recording head having a plurality of nozzles capable of selectively controlling ejection of ink droplets. Ink image writing process of scanning the transfer medium to form an ink image on the transfer medium, and transferring the ink image onto the recording medium by bringing the ink image on the transfer medium into contact with the recording medium and applying pressure thereto. An inkjet recording method, comprising: forming a surface-active agent in a droplet form on a transfer medium in the applying step. 2. In the coating step, the coating amount of the surfactant is 0.001 to 0.1 mg / cm ² , and the surfactant is in the form of droplets having a diameter of 50 μm or less on the transfer medium. An inkjet recording method characterized by the above. 3. A coating means for coating the surface of the transfer medium with the surface-active agent in the form of droplets, and a plurality of nozzles capable of selectively controlling ejection of ink droplets. A recording head, a transfer medium that faces the recording head with a gap therebetween, and is rotatably supported, and an ink image on the transfer medium are brought into contact with the recording medium to apply pressure to record the ink image. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: a transfer unit configured to transfer to a medium, and recording a desired ink image on the recording medium. 4. The application means comprises an elastic body impregnated with a surfactant and a contact control device for contacting the elastic body with a transfer medium, and the initial impregnation amount of the surfactant in the elastic body is The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus has a weight of 0.2 to 0.8 g / cm ³ . 5. The coating means comprises an elastic body impregnated with a surfactant, a coating amount regulating blade, and a contact control device for contacting the elastic body and the coating amount regulating blade with a transfer medium. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the relative speed between the coating amount regulating blade and the transfer medium is 10 to 700 mm / sec. 6. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the coating means is a coating head capable of selectively controlling the discharge of the surfactant.