Patent ID: 8888270
Filing Date: 2014-11-18
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: an image forming device including a nozzle row having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink onto a recording medium, the ink being curable by irradiation of an active light beam, the nozzle row being divided into a plurality of nozzle groups; a scanning device which causes the image forming device to move in a scanning direction perpendicular to a nozzle arrangement direction in which the plurality of nozzles of the nozzle row are arranged; a relative movement device which causes relative movement between the recording medium and the image forming device in the nozzle arrangement direction; a first active light beam irradiation device which is provided to one side or both sides of the image forming device in terms of the scanning direction, is divided into a plurality of irradiation units corresponding to the plurality of nozzle groups, and radiates an active light beam onto the ink on the recording medium so as to provisionally cure the ink while moving in the scanning direction together with the image forming device; a second active light beam irradiation device which is provided to a downstream side of the image forming device in terms of a direction of the relative movement, and radiates an active light beam having an irradiation light quantity for fully curing the ink deposited on the recording medium in such a manner that the ink on the recording medium is fully cured; an ejection control device which controls ink ejection from the nozzle row, for each of the plurality of nozzle groups; and an irradiation control device which controls irradiation of the active light beam of the first active light beam irradiation device, with respect to each of the plurality of irradiation units, according to an irradiation light quantity of the active light beam of the first active light beam irradiation device which is set with respect to each of the plurality of irradiation units, wherein: the image forming device includes a color ink nozzle row which ejects color ink and a clear ink nozzle row which ejects clear ink, and the color ink nozzle row and the clear ink nozzle row are arranged in the scanning direction and are divided in terms of the direction of the relative movement to include a first nozzle group on a furthest upstream side in the direction of the relative movement, a second nozzle group to a downstream side of the first nozzle group in the direction of the relative movement, and a third nozzle group to a downstream side of the second nozzle group in the direction of the relative movement; the first active light beam irradiation device is divided in terms of the direction of the relative movement to include a first irradiation unit, a second irradiation unit and a third irradiation unit corresponding to the first nozzle group, the second nozzle group and the third nozzle group of the color ink nozzle row and the clear ink nozzle row; the ejection control device controls the ink ejection so as to eject the color ink from the first nozzle group of the color ink nozzle row and so as to eject the clear ink from the second nozzle group and the third nozzle group of the clear ink nozzle row; and the irradiation control device controls the irradiation light quantity of the second irradiation unit so as to provisionally cure the clear ink ejected from the second nozzle group of the clear ink nozzle row to a state in which landing interference of the clear ink is prevented and the clear ink does not spread to a prescribed size in such a manner that the clear ink ejected from the second nozzle group forms a matt texture, and controls the irradiation light quantity of the third irradiation unit so as to provisionally cure the clear ink ejected from the third nozzle group of the clear ink nozzle row to a state in which landing interference of the clear ink is prevented and the clear ink spreads to a prescribed size in such a manner that the clear ink ejected from the third nozzle group forms a gloss texture, wherein: the irradiation light quantity of the second irradiation unit is greater than the irradiation light quantity of the third irradiation unit, the second nozzle group and the third nozzle group in the same nozzle row eject ink of the same type.