Ink-jet printing cloth, ink-jet printing process and print

Disclosed herein is an ink-jet printing cloth comprising a thickening surfactant in an amount of from 0.1 to 30% by weight and an aqueous auxiliary for thickening the thickening surfactant in an amount of from 0.1 to 30% by weight, based on the weight of the cloth, respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing cloth, an ink-jet 
printing process and a print obtained by the ink-jet printing process. 
2. Related Background Art 
Besides screen printing and roller printing, ink-jet printing has 
heretofore been known as a process of printing on cloth. Since the ink-jet 
printing is a system of which any plate such as a screen or a design 
roller is not required, it is fit for the multi-kind small-quantity 
production. The techniques required of the ink-jet printing are greatly 
different from those of the screen and roller printing. This is caused by 
such differences in system that the optimum value of viscosity among 
properties of inks used in the ink-jet printing is greatly different from 
that of textile printing inks used in screen printing or the like and is 
considerably low, that the ink-jet printing requires to take steps as to 
reliability such as clogging of a head, so-called additive color process, 
in which a few inks of different colors are shot on the same position so 
as to overlap each other, is conducted, and that dots of inks are very 
small. 
Various investigations have thus been attempted as to methods of such 
ink-jet printing, in particular, improvement in coloring, prevention of 
bleeding and the like. For example, with respect to cloth used in such a 
printing process, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-59282 
discloses an ink-jet printing cloth formed of a hydrophilic fiber material 
and containing 0.1 to 3% by weight of a surfactant. According to the cloth 
subjected to such a treatment, inks are absorbed in the interior of fiber 
by diffusion, and so the migration length of the inks becomes 
comparatively short, and great bleeding is prevented to some extent. 
However, such a cloth is (unfavorable to improvement in coloring ability 
because dyes penetrate into the interior of the fiber. Even when a shot-in 
ink quality is increased to raise the color depth of the resulting print, 
the color depth on the surface thereof cannot be enhanced because the inks 
are absorbed in the interior of the cloth. 
Even when no surfactant is used, inks are absorbed in the interior of such 
a cloth like the above unless a substance for decelerating time of water 
absorption is applied to the cloth, so that the color depth on the surface 
of the resulting print cannot be enhanced. 
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-31593 discloses a 
textile printing method in which inks each having a viscosity of 200 cP or 
lower and a surface tension of 30 to 70 dyn/cm, and a cloth having a water 
repellency of 50 marks or more as measured in accordance with JIS L 1079 
are used. Since this printing method is based on thinking that the 
penetration of inks into the interior of fiber is prevented to prevent the 
diffusion of dyes, thereby improving coloring, the improvement in a 
coloring ability is recognized to some extent. However, the method 
involves problems such as (1) it takes a long time to dry the inks, and 
(2) an area factor (a proportion of dots per unit area) becomes small 
because the inks do not spread, and so the coloring ability is limited. 
As described above, the prior art techniques have been able to satisfy 
individual performance characteristics required of the ink-jet printing 
process for obtaining excellent prints to some extent, but have been 
unable to satisfy the various performance characteristics at the same 
time. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an ink-jet 
printing cloth and an ink-jet printing process, which can provide bright 
prints excellent in drying property, free of bleeding and high in color 
depth, image quality and grade, and an ink-jet print excellent in 
properties. 
The above object can be achieved by the present invention described below. 
According to the present invention, there is thus provided an ink-jet 
printing cloth comprising a thickening surfactant in an amount of from 0.1 
to 30% by weight and an aqueous auxiliary for thickening the thickening 
surfactant in an amount of from 0.1 to 30% by weight, based on the weight 
of the cloth, respectively. 
According to the present invention, there is also provided an ink-jet 
printing process comprising ejecting inks from an ink-jet printing 
apparatus to print a cloth, wherein the cloth described above is used as 
said cloth. 
According to the present invention, there is further provided a print 
produced in accordance with the ink-jet printing process described above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
No particular limitation is imposed on a fiber material for the ink-jet 
printing cloth according to the present invention. Examples thereof 
include various fiber materials such as cotton, silk, wool, nylon, 
polyester, rayon and acrylic fibers. The cloth used may be a blended 
fabric or union cloth thereof. 
The thickening surfactant and aqueous auxiliary used in the present 
invention exhibit a thickening effect by using them in combination, while 
they scarcely have the thickening effect when they are used singly. 
As the aqueous auxiliary used in the present invention, hydrophilic 
surfactants among surfactants such as anionic, nonionic and amphoteric 
surfactants, and hydrophilic high-boiling organic solvents are preferred. 
Examples of the anionic surfactants include anionic surfactant of the 
sulfonic acid, carboxylic acid, sulfuric ester and phosphoric ester types. 
Examples of the anionic surfactants of the sulfonic acid type include 
sulfonate type anionic surfactants of the alkyl sulfonate and alkyl allyl 
sulfonate types. Examples of the anionic surfactants of the carboxylic 
acid type include soaps and fat-protein condensates. Examples of the 
anionic surfactants of the sulfuric ester type include sulfuric esters of 
higher alcohols, sulfuric esters of ethylene oxide adducts of higher 
alcohols, esters of sulfoolefins and esters of sulfofatty acids. Examples 
of the anionic surfactants of the phosphoric ester type include phosphoric 
esters of higher alcohols and phosphoric esters of ethylene oxide adducts 
of higher alcohols. 
As the nonionic surfactants, there may be used nonionic surfactants of the 
ether type, such as polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers, polyoxyethylene alkyl 
allyl ethers, polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene ethers and acetylene 
glycol, nonionic surfactants of the ester type, such as polyoxyethylene 
alkyl esters and sorbitan fatty acid esters, nonionic surfactants of the 
aminoether type, such as polyoxyethylene alkylamine, nonionic surfactants 
of the ether ester type, such as polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid 
esters, and the like. 
As the amphoteric surfactants, there may be used betaine type amphoteric 
surfactants and the like. 
Among these above, it is particularly preferable to use a nonionic 
surfactant having an HLB of not less than 12.5, preferably not less than 
14. 
As the hydrophilic high-boiling organic solvents, there may be used 
glycerol, polyethylene glycol and the like. 
The amount of the aqueous auxiliary to be applied to the cloth is 
preferably from 0.1 to 30% by weight, more preferably from 0.1 to 10% by 
weight based on the cloth. Even if the amount to be applied exceeds 30% by 
weight, no change is recognized in the thickening ability thereof. It is 
hence not preferable from the viewpoint of economy to use the aqueous 
auxiliary in any amount more than 30% by weight. If the amount is less 
than 0.1% by weight, its effect is somewhat lowered. 
As the thickening surfactant used in combination with the aqueous 
auxiliary, strongly lipophilic surfactants among anionic and nonionic 
surfactants may be used. With respect to the intensity of the 
lipophilicity, those having an HLB of 12 or lower are preferred for the 
nonionic surfactants. In particular, those of the polyoxyethylene alkyl 
ether type having an HLB of 12 or lower exhibit a high thickening effect. 
The reason why the specific combination of the aqueous auxiliary with the 
thickening surfactant causes the thickening effect is not clearly known. 
It is however considered that the structure and size of micelle are 
changed by the surfactant, thereby changing the binding power between 
colloidal particles, and so the viscosity is changed. 
The thickening surfactant is preferably contained in a proportion of from 
0.1 to 30% by weight, more preferably from 0.1 to 10% by weight based on 
the cloth. 
A weight ratio of the aqueous auxiliary to the thickening surfactant to be 
used in combination is within a range of from 1:5 to 5:1,preferably from 
1:3 to 3:1. The thickening effectively occurs so far as the weight ratio 
falls within this range. 
The thickening effect may be explained as follows. Namely, when, for 
example, a combination of an aqueous auxiliary with a thickening 
surfactant in which, when an aqueous solution of the aqueous auxiliary 
having a certain viscosity X.sub.cP dissolves the thickening surfactant 
having a viscosity lower than the viscosity X.sub.cP, the viscosity of the 
mixture becomes clearly higher than the viscosity X.sub.cP, this 
surfactant is said to have a thickening effect. 
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a water repellent is 
further applied to the cloth to adjust the water repellency of the cloth 
within a predetermined range. No particular limitation is imposed on the 
water repellent useful in the practice of the present invention so far as 
it has the ability to repel water which is a main component of inks. 
Examples of the water repellent include paraffins, fluorine-containing 
compounds, pyridinium salts, N-methylolalkylamides, alkylethyleneureas, 
oxazoline derivatives, silicone compounds, triazine compounds, zirconium 
compounds and mixtures thereof. Of these, paraffinic and 
fluorine-containing type water repellents are particularly preferred from 
the viewpoints of easy adjustment of water repellency of the cloth, 
prevention of bleeding and concentration. 
In the present invention, the water repellency of the cloth is measured in 
accordance with the water repellency test (spray method) prescribed in JIS 
L 1092. 
The amount of the water repellent to be applied is preferably within a 
range of from 0.05 to 40% by weight, more preferably from 0.5 to 10% by 
weight based on the cloth. The reason is that if the amount is less than 
0.05% by weight, the effect of preventing excessive penetration of ink 
becomes insufficient, and that if the water repellent is contained in an 
amount exceeding 40% by weight, a great change in performance can no 
longer be brought about. 
Although such a substance as described above is contained in the cloth 
according to the present invention for the purpose of adjusting the water 
repellency of the cloth, the cloth may preferably contain compounds other 
than this. For example, water-soluble salts, urea, catalysts, alkalis, 
acids, antireductants, antioxidants, level dyeing agents, deep dyeing 
agents, carriers, reducing agents, oxidizing agents and metal ions may be 
used. 
As compounds particularly effective in prevention of bleeding and 
improvement of coloring ability, may be mentioned the water-soluble salts. 
Examples of the water-soluble salts preferably used include alkali metal 
salts such as NaCl, Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4, KCl and CH.sub.3 COONa, alkaline 
earth metal salts such as CaCl.sub.2 and MgCl.sub.2, NH.sub.4 Cl, and 
(NH.sub.4).sub.2 SO.sub.4. 
The amount of the water-soluble salt to be applied is preferably within a 
range of from 0.1 to 30% by weight, more preferably from 1 to 10% by 
weight based on the cloth. 
As the alkalis, those having a weak alkalinity are relatively preferred. As 
examples thereof, may be mentioned NaHCO.sub.3, Na.sub.2 CO.sub.3, KOH, 
NaOH, K.sub.2 CO.sub.3 and KHCO.sub.3. The application of the alkali is 
particularly preferred from the viewpoint of the acceleration of reaction 
when inks containing a reactive dye are used in textile printing. 
The amount of the alkali to be applied is preferably within a range of from 
0.1 to 10% by weight, more preferably from 0.5 to 5% by weight based on 
the cloth. 
The cloth according to the present invention preferably contains a 
water-soluble polymer in addition to the components described above. 
Preferable examples of the water-soluble polymer include polyalkylene 
oxides such as polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide, various kinds 
of starch, cellulosic substances such as carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl 
cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, gum arabic, guar 
gum, gelatin, tannin and derivatives thereof, polyvinyl alcohol and 
derivatives thereof, water-soluble acrylic polymers, and water-soluble 
maleic anhydride polymers. These water-soluble polymers preferably have a 
molecular weight of from 100,000 to 4,000,000, more preferably from 
500,000 to 2,500,000. 
Of these water-soluble polymers, polyethylene oxide is particularly 
preferred from the view point that bleed can be effectively prevented. 
The amount of the water-soluble polymer to be applied is preferably within 
a range of from 0.1 to 30% by weight based on the cloth. 
In the present invention, besides the above components, a hydrophilic agent 
and a variety of other additives may be applied to the cloth. 
The hydrophilic agent is a substance capable of improving the ink-absorbing 
ability of a cloth when added in a predetermined amount or more to the 
cloth as compared with the cloth before its addition. Increase in the 
absorbing ability can be confirmed by whether the water repellency is 
reduced, or not, and the degree of the reduction. 
As specific examples of a method of applying the hydrophilic agent, there 
are considered various methods such as a method of containing a surfactant 
and a method of containing a water-soluble substance having a hydrophilic 
group. Any of these methods may be used. 
As the water-soluble substance having a hydrophilic group used for 
improving the absorbing ability, those like water-soluble solvents 
generally incorporated into ink-jet inks are preferred. Examples of usable 
solvents include lower alkylene glycols such as ethylene glycol, 
diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol and propylene glycol; lower alkyl 
ethers of alkylene glycols, such as ethylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl 
or butyl) ether, diethylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, 
triethylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, propylene glycol 
methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, dipropylene glycol methyl (ethyl, 
propyl or butyl) ether and tripropylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or 
butyl) ether; glycerol; and thiodiethyleneglycol. Most of them are liquid, 
but even when those having a high molecular weight may be solid, their 
effect is not different from that of the liquid. 
The water-soluble substance having a hydrophilic group is preferably 
applied in an amount of 0.1 to 50% by weight, more preferably 1 to 10% by 
weight based on the cloth. If the amount exceeds 50% by weight, a change 
in easiness of wetting can no longer be brought about, and such a great 
amount is hence not preferred from the viewpoint of economy. On the other 
hand, if the amount is less than 0.1% by weight, the effect of such an 
agent is not sufficiently exhibited. 
The preferable ranges of the water repellent and hydrophilic agent to be 
added to the cloth are as described above. However, a ratio between the 
amounts of these agents to be added is important if the hydrophilic agent 
is applied. With respect to this ratio, the amounts of the water repellent 
and hydrophilic agent are preferably determined in such a manner that the 
water repellency of the resulting cloth is less than 50 marks. 
Urea is also very effective in prevention of bleed and improvement of a 
coloring ability. In particular, its combined use with a water-soluble 
salt has a synergistic effect and is hence preferred. The amount of urea 
to be applied is preferably within a range of from 0.1 to 30% by weight, 
more preferably from 1 to 10% by weight based on the cloth. 
As a method for incorporating the above-described substances into the 
cloth, any method such as padding, spraying, dipping, printing or 
ink-jetting may be used. 
After conducting such treatment as described above, the thus-treated cloth 
is finally dried and optionally cut into sizes feedable in an ink-jet 
printing apparatus, thereby providing these cut pieces as ink-jet printing 
cloths. 
No particular limitation is imposed on inks used for the ink-jet printing 
cloths according to the present invention. However, when the cloth is 
formed of a material such as cotton or silk, inks composed of a reactive 
dye and an aqueous medium are preferably used. When the cloth is formed of 
a material such as nylon, wool, silk or rayon, inks composed of an acid or 
direct dye and an aqueous medium are preferably used. When the cloth is 
formed of a polyester material, inks composed of a disperse dye and an 
aqueous medium are preferably used. 
As specific preferable examples of these dyes, may be mentioned the 
following dyes. The reactive dyes include C.I. Reactive Yellow 2, 15, 37, 
42, 76, 95, 168 and 175; C.I. Reactive Red 21, 22, 24, 33, 45, 111, 112, 
114, 180, 218, 226, 228 and 235; C.I. Reactive Blue 15, 19, 21, 38, 49, 
72, 77, 176, 203, 220, 230 and 235; C.I. Reactive Orange 5, 12, 13, 35 and 
95; C.I. Reactive Brown 7, 11, 33, 37 and 46; C.I. Reactive Green 8 and 
19; C.I. Reactive Violet 2, 6 and 22; C.I. Reactive Black 5, 8, 31 and 39; 
and the like. 
The acid and direct dyes include C.I. Acid Yellow 1, 7, 11, 17, 23, 25, 36, 
38, 49, 72, 110 and 127; C.I. Acid Red 1, 27, 35, 37, 57, 114, 138, 254, 
257 and 274; C.I. Acid Blue 7, 9, 62, 83, 90, 112 and 185; C.I. Acid Black 
26, 107, 109 and 155; C.I. Acid Orange 56, 67 and 149; C.I. Direct Yellow 
12, 44, 50, 86, 106 and 142; C.I. Direct Red 79 and 80; C.I. Direct Blue 
86, 106, 189 and 199; C.I. Direct Black 17, 19, 22, 51, 154, 168 and 173; 
C.I. Direct Orange 26 and 39; and the like. 
The disperse dyes include C.I. Disperse Yellow 3, 5, 7, 33, 42, 60, 64, 79, 
104, 160, 163 and 237; C.I. Disperse Red 1, 60, 135, 145, 146 and 191; 
C.I. Disperse Blue 56, 60, 73, 143, 158, 198, 354, 365 and 366; C.I. 
Disperse Black 1 and 10; C.I. Disperse Orange 30 and 73; Teraprint Red 3GN 
Liquid and Teraprint Black 2R; and the like. 
The amount (in terms of solids) of these dyes to be used is preferably 
within a range of from 1 to 30% by weight, more preferably from 1 to 20% 
by weight based on the total weight of the ink. 
As the aqueous medium used together with the dyes, there may be used any 
aqueous medium generally used in inks. Preferable examples thereof include 
lower alkylene glycols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 
triethylene glycol and propylene glycol; lower alkyl ethers of alkylene 
glycols, such as ethylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, 
diethylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, triethylene 
glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, propylene glycol methyl 
(ethyl, propyl or butyl) ether, dipropylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl 
or butyl) ether and tripropylene glycol methyl (ethyl, propyl or butyl) 
ether; polyalkylene glycols such as polyethylene glycol and polypropylene 
glycol and products obtained by modifying one or two hydroxyl groups 
thereof, typified by mono- or dialkyl ethers thereof; glycerol; 
thiodiethylene glycol; sulfolane; N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone; 2-pyrrolidone; 
and 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone. The preferable content of these 
aqueous media is preferably within a range of generally from 0 to 50% by 
weight, more preferably from 0 to 30% by weight based on the total weight 
of the ink. 
In the case of a water-based ink, the content of water as a principal 
component is preferably within a range of from 30 to 95% by weight, more 
preferably from 50 to 95% by weight based on the total weight of the ink. 
Besides the above components, anti-clogging agents such as urea and 
derivatives thereof, dispersants, surfactants, viscosity modifiers such as 
polyvinyl alcohol, cellulosic compounds and sodium alginate, pH adjustors, 
optical whitening agents, mildew proofing agents, and the like may be 
added as other ingredients for inks as needed. 
As an ink-jet recording method and apparatus used, there may be used any 
method and apparatus conventionally known. Examples thereof include a 
method and an apparatus in which thermal energy corresponding to recording 
signals is applied to an ink within a recording head, and ink droplets are 
generated by this thermal energy. 
The inks applied onto the ink-jet printing cloth of the present invention 
in accordance with the process of the present invention in the 
above-described manner is only attached to the cloth in this state. 
Accordingly, it is preferable to subsequently subject the cloth to a 
process for fixing the dyes in the inks to fiber and a process for 
removing unfixed dyes. Such a fixing process may be conducted in 
accordance with any conventionally-known method. Examples thereof include 
a steaming process, an HT steaming process and a thermofix process. The 
removal of the unreacted dyes may be performed by any washing process 
conventionally known. 
After conducting the ink-jet printing and the post-treatment of the cloth 
in the above-described manner, the cloth is dried to provide a print 
according to the present invention. 
An exemplary construction of an ink-jet printing apparatus used in the 
present invention will hereinafter be roughly described. It goes without 
saying that the apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is 
not limited to the construction as described below. It is therefore 
possible to make any change in construction and add any structural 
element, which are easily conceived by those skilled in the art. 
FIG. 1A is a typical sectional side elevation schematically illustrating 
the construction of a printing apparatus. Reference numeral 1 designates a 
cloth as a printing medium. The cloth 1 is unwound according to the 
rotation of a rewind roller 11, fed in a substantially horizontal 
direction by a conveyance section 100, which is provided at a position 
opposite to a printer section 1000, through intermediate rollers 13 and 
15, and then wound up on a take-up roller 21 through a feed roller 17 and 
an intermediate roller 19. 
The conveyance section 100 roughly includes conveyance rollers 110 and 120 
respectively provided on the upstream and downstream sides of the printer 
section 1000 viewing from the feeding direction of the cloth 1, a conveyor 
belt 130 in the form of an endless belt, which is extended between and 
around these rollers, and a pair of platen rollers 140 provided so as to 
extend the conveyor belt 130 under an appropriate tension in a 
predetermined range to enhance its evenness, thereby evenly regulating the 
surface of the cloth 1 to be printed upon printing by the printer section 
1000. In the illustrated apparatus, the conveyor belt 130 is made of a 
metal as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-212851. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1B with partial enlargement, an adhesive layer 
(sheet) 133 is provided on its surface. The cloth 1 is adhered to the 
conveyor belt 130 through the adhesive layer 133 by an attaching roller 
150, thereby ensuring the evenness of the cloth 1 upon printing. 
To the cloth 1, fed in a state such that the evenness has been ensured as 
described above, is applied a printing agent in the region between the 
platen rollers 140 by the printer section 1000. The thus-printed cloth 1 
is separated from the conveyor belt 130, or the adhesive layer 133 at the 
position of the conveyance roller 120 and wound up on the take-up roller 
21. In the course of the winding, the cloth 1 is subjected to a drying 
treatment by a drying heater 600. In particular, this drying heater 600 is 
effective when a liquid agent is used as the printing agent. The form of 
the drying heater 600 may be suitably selected from a heater by which hot 
air is blown on the cloth 1, a heater by which infrared rays are applied 
to the cloth 1, and the like. 
FIG. 2 is a perspective view typically illustrating the printer section 
1000 and the feed system of the cloth 1. The construction of the printer 
section 1000 will be described with reference to this drawing (FIG. 2) and 
FIG. 1A. 
In FIGS. 1A and 2, the printer section 1000 includes a carriage 1010 which 
scans in a direction different from the conveying direction (a secondary 
scanning direction) f of the cloth 1, for example, the width direction S 
of the cloth 1 perpendicular to the conveying direction f. Reference 
numeral 1020 designates a support rail extending in the S direction (a 
main scanning direction) and supporting a slide rail 1022 which supports 
and guides a slider 1012 fixed to the carriage 1010. Reference numeral 
1030 indicates a motor as a drive source for conducting the main scanning 
of the carriage 1010. The driving power thereof is transmitted to the 
carriage 1010 through a belt 1032 to which the carriage 1010 has been 
fixed, or another suitable drive mechanism. 
On the carriage 1010, are mounted sets of printing heads 1100 each having 
many printing agent-applying elements arranged in a predetermined 
direction (in this case, the conveying direction f), said sets each being 
composed of a plurality of the printing heads 1100 arranged in a direction 
(in this case, the main scanning direction S) different from said 
predetermined direction. In this embodiment, two sets of the printing 
heads 1100 are held in the conveying direction. In each set, the printing 
heads 1100 are provided in a number corresponding to the number of 
printing agents of different colors, thereby permitting color printing. 
Colors of the printing agents and the number of the printing heads in each 
set may be suitably selected according to an image intended to be formed 
on the cloth 1, and the like. For example, yellow (Y), magenta (M) and 
cyan (C), or the three primary colors for printing, or black (Bk) in 
addition to these colors may make one set. Alternatively, special colors 
(metallic colors such as gold and silver, and bright red, blue, etc. ), 
which are impossible or difficult to be expressed by the three primary 
colors, may be used in place of or in addition to the above color set. 
Further, a plurality of printing agents may be used according to their 
color depth even if they have the same colors as each other. 
In this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, two sets of the printing 
heads 1100, which each are composed of plural printing heads arranged in 
the main scanning direction S, are provided one by one in the conveying 
direction f. The colors, arranging number, arranging order and the like of 
the printing agents used in the printing heads in the respective sets may 
be the same or different from each other according to the image intended 
to be printed, and the like. Further, printing may be made again by the 
printing heads of the second set on a region printed by main scanning of 
the printing heads of the first set (either complementary thinning-out 
printing or overlap printing may be conducted by the respective sets of 
the printing heads). Furthermore, a printing region may be allotted to 
each set to perform high-speed printing. Besides, the number of sets of 
the printing heads is not limited to two and may also be defined as one or 
more than two. 
In these drawings, ink-jet heads, for example, bubble jet heads proposed by 
Canon Inc., each having a heating element which generates thermal energy 
causing film boiling of ink as energy used for ejecting the ink, are used 
as the printing heads 1100. Each of the printing heads is used in a state 
that ink ejection orifices as the printing agent-applying elements have 
been disposed downward toward the cloth 1 substantially horizontally 
conveyed by the conveyance section 100, thereby ironing out the difference 
in water head between the individual ejection orifices and hence making 
ejection conditions uniform to permit both formation of good images and 
even purging operation for all the ejection orifices. 
A flexible cable 1110 is connected to each of the printing heads 1100 in 
such a manner that it follows the movement of the carriage 1010, so that 
various signals such as drive signals and state signals for the head are 
transferred between the head and control means not illustrated. Inks are 
fed from an ink-feeding system 1130, in which respective inks of different 
colors are contained, to the printing heads 1100 through flexible tubes 
1120. 
FIG. 3 is a perspective view typically illustrating the ink-feeding system 
in this embodiment. The ink-feeding system 1130 is composed of two lines. 
More specifically, in the first line, first ink-feeding tubes 1120 
respectively connected to the first set of ink-storage tanks 1131 are 
connected to a head joint 1150 through the flexible tube 1110. In the 
second line, similarly, second ink-feeding tubes 1121 respectively 
connected to the second set of ink-storage tanks 1132 are connected to the 
head joint 1150 through the flexible tube 1110. 
Each ink-feeding tube 1120 or 1121 forms a circulation path composed of an 
outward ink-feeding tube 1120a or 1121a and an inward ink-feeding tube 
1120b or 1121b. 
The ink-storage tanks 1131 and 1132 each have a pressure pump (not 
illustrated). The ink in the tank 1131 or 1132 is pressurized by this 
pressure pump so as to pass through the outward ink-feeding tube 1120a or 
1121a as illustrated in FIG. 3, circulate through the printing head 1100 
and then pass through the inward ink-feeding tube 1120b or 1121b, thereby 
returning to the ink-storage tank 1131 or 1132. 
By this pressure pump, it is possible to recharge the inks into the 
ink-feeding tubes 1120 and 1121 and also to conduct a purging operation of 
the head by circulating the ink through the head and discharging a 
fraction of this ink out of nozzles in the head. The ink-storage tanks 
1131 and 1132 may be provided respectively by a number corresponding to 
the number of the printing agents of different colors, thereby permitting 
color printing. 
The number of the ink-storage tanks in each set may be suitably selected 
according to an image intended to be formed on the cloth 1, and the like. 
For example, three tanks for yellow (Y), magenta (M) and cyan (C) colors, 
or the three primary colors for printing, or four tanks with a tank for a 
black (Bk) color added to these tanks may be provided. Alternatively, 
tanks for special colors (metallic colors such as gold and silver, and 
bright red, blue, etc.), which are impossible or difficult to be expressed 
by the three primary colors, may be used in place of or in addition to the 
above tanks. Further, a plurality of tanks may be used according to the 
color depth even if printing agents used have the same colors as each 
other. 
The head joint 1150 is composed of a head joint 1151 for the first set 
indicated by a full line, a head joint 1152 for the second set indicated 
by a broken line and a joint cover 1160 as illustrated in FIG. 3. 
The construction of the head used in the above-described apparatus will 
hereinafter be described schematically with reference to FIG. 4. 
FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view schematically illustrating the 
construction of an ink-jet head to be mounted on the ink-jet printing 
apparatus used in the present invention. 
In this drawing, the printing head is constructed by overlapping a top 
plate 71 and a base plate 72. The top plate 71 has a plurality of grooves 
73, which are to define nozzles passing an ink therethrough, a groove 74, 
which is to define a common liquid chamber communicating with these 
grooves, and a feed opening 75 for feeding the ink to the common liquid 
chamber. On the other hand, the base plate 72 includes electrothermal 
converters 76 corresponding to the individual nozzles and electrodes 77 
for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converters 76, 
respectively, said electrothermal converters 76 and electrodes 77 being 
formed integrally by a film-forming technique. Plural ejection openings 
(orifices) 78 through which the ink is ejected are defined by overlapping 
the top plate 71 and the base plate 72 as described above. 
Here, the process of forming ink droplets by the bubble jet system, which 
is carried out by the above-described printing head, will be described 
simply. 
When a heating resistor (heater) reaches a predetermined temperature, such 
a filmy bubble as covers a heater surface is first formed. The internal 
pressure of this bubble is very high, and so an ink within a nozzle is 
forced out. The ink is moved toward the outside of the nozzle and the 
interior of the common liquid chamber, which is situated in an opposite 
direction to the nozzle, by inertia by this forcing out. When the movement 
of the ink is facilitated, the moving speed of the ink within the nozzle 
becomes slow because the internal of the bubble turns negative pressure, 
and flow path resistance also arises in addition. Since the ink portion 
ejected out of the ejection opening (orifice) is faster in moving speed 
than the ink within the nozzle, it is constricted by the balance among 
inertia, flow path resistance, shrinkage of the bubble and surface tension 
of the ink, whereby the ink portion is separated into a droplet. At the 
same time as the shrinkage of the bubble, the ink is fed to the nozzle 
from the common liquid chamber by capillary force to wait for the next 
pulse. 
As described above, the printing head (which hereinafter may be referred to 
as an ink-jet head), in which the electrothermal converter is used as an 
energy-generating means (which hereinafter may be referred to as an 
energy-generating element), can generate a bubble in the ink within the 
flow path in one-to-one correspondence in accordance with a driving 
electrical pulse signal and also immediately and appropriately cause the 
growth/shrinkage of the bubble, and so the ejection of ink droplets can be 
achieved with excellent responsiveness in particular. The printing head is 
advantageous in that it can also be made compact with ease, merits of IC 
techniques and macro processing techniques in the recent semiconductor 
field, which are remarkable for advances in technique and enhancement in 
reliability, can be fully applied thereto, high-density mounting can be 
achieved with ease, and production costs are also low. 
The present invention will hereinafter be described more specifically by 
the following examples and comparative examples. Incidentally, all 
designations of "part" or "parts" and "%" as will be used in the following 
examples mean part or parts by weight and% by weight unless expressly 
noted. 
EXAMPLES 1 to 10 
(A) Production of Ink-Jet Printing Cloth: 
Using 100% cotton satin (mercerized product), 100% silk crepe de Chine and 
100% polyester tropical fabric, pretreatments using their corresponding 
pretreatment agents shown in Table 1 were conducted by the padding 
process. The thus-pretreated fabrics were then squeezed to a pickup of 90% 
by a mangle and dried at a drying temperature of 120.degree. C. for 2 
minutes. 
(B) Preparation of Ink-Jet Printing Inks: 
Reactive dye inks and disperse dye inks were prepared in the following 
manner. The total amounts of the inks are all 100 parts. 
______________________________________ 
(1) Reactive dye inks 
______________________________________ 
Reactive dye 10 parts 
Thiodiglycol 40 parts 
Water 50 parts. 
______________________________________ 
Dyes used were C.I. Reactive Yellow 95, C.I. Reactive Red 226, C.I. 
Reactive Blue 15 and C.I. Reactive Black 39. 
(2) Disperse dye inks: 
______________________________________ 
Disperse dye 10 parts 
Thiodiglycol 40 parts 
Water 50 parts. 
______________________________________ 
Dyes used were C.I. Disperse Yellow 42, Teraprint Red 3GN Liquid (trade 
name, disperse dye produced by Ciba-Geigy AG) and Teraprint Black 2R 
(trade name, disperse dye produced by Ciba-Geigy AG), which contain each a 
dispersing agent for dispersing the dyes. 
(C) Ink-Jet Printing: 
Using a Bubble Jet Printer BJC-820J (trade name, manufactured by Canon 
Inc.) as an ink-jet printing apparatus, the above-prepared printing inks 
were separately charged in this printer. The fabrics were separately 
mounted on base paper webs to permit the conveying of the fabrics, thereby 
printing the fabrics. Any printing apparatus may be used without being 
limited to the above printer. 
(D) Post-Treatment: 
The printed fabrics were subjected to a steaming treatment at 100.degree. 
C. for 8 minutes for the reactive dye inks, and at 180.degree. C. for 10 
minutes for the disperse dye inks. The thus-treated cloths were washed and 
then dried. 
(E) Evaluation of Prints: 
The thus-obtained print samples and the fabrics used were evaluated in the 
following manner. The results thereof are shown collectively in Table 1. 
(1) Bleeding: 
The linearity of fine-line portions in each print sample was visually 
observed to rank resistance to bleeding in accordance with the following 
standard: 
A: Good; 
B: Somewhat poor; 
C: Poor. 
(2) Color Depth (K/S) of Print: 
A minimum spectral reflectance of a 20.times.20 mm square printed portion 
in each print sample was measured by a Minolta Spectrocolorimeter CM-2022 
(trade name). A K/S value was found from this reflectance. The color depth 
of each print sample was ranked in terms of this K/S value in accordance 
with the following standard: 
A: Greater than 13; 
B: 10 to 13; 
C: Smaller than 10. 
(3) Drying Property: 
Printing was conducted by the BJC-820J printer, and the printed area was 
rubbed with a cloth upon elapsed time of 30 seconds after the printing. 
The drying property was evaluated by whether ink smearing occurred or not 
and ranked in accordance with the following standard: 
A: No ink smearing occurred; 
C: Ink smearing occurred. 
(4) Water Repellency: 
Each fabric sample was sprayed with 250 ml of water by a Spray Tester 
(trade name, manufactured by Daiei Kagaku Seiki Seisakusho) in accordance 
with the water repellency test (spray method) prescribed in JIS L 1092. 
The water repellency was ranked in terms of 0 to 100 marks according to 
the wet state of the sample after the test. 
Comparative Examples 1 and 2 
Ink-jet printing and evaluation were conducted in the same manner as in 
Example 1 except that their corresponding pretreatment agents shown in 
Table 1 were used. The results thereof are shown collectively in Table 1. 
TABLE 1 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
water 
Pretreatment agent repel- Color 
Drying 
Cloth Treatment agent/Concentration of aqueous solution 
lency 
Bleeding 
depth 
property 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
Ex. 1 
Cotton 
Aqueous auxiliary 1/2, Thickening surfactant 1/0.6, 
0 A A A 
NaCl/5, NaHCO.sub.3 /3, Water repellent/3 
Ex. 2 
Cotton 
Aqueous auxiliary 1/2, Thickening surfactant 1/0.6, 
0 A A A 
NH.sub.4 Cl/4, Na.sub.2 CO.sub.3 /5, Water repellent/3 
Ex. 3 
Cotton 
Aqueous auxiliary 2/1, Thickening surfactant 1/0.5, 
0 A A A 
Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 /3, NaHCO.sub.3 /3, Water repellent/3 
Ex. 4 
Poly- 
Aqueous auxiliary 1/2, Thickening surfactant 1/0.6, 
0ater 
A A A 
ester 
repellent/3 
Ex. 5 
Poly- 
Aqueous auxiliary 2/0.3, Thickening surfactant 1/0.4, 
0 A A A 
ester 
Water repellent/3, Water-soluble polymer/1 
Ex. 6 
Silk 
Aqueous auxiliary 2/0.2, Thickening surfactant 1/0.3, 
0 A A A 
NaCl/3, NaHCO.sub.3 /3 
Ex. 7 
Cotton 
Thickening surfactant 2/2, Aqueous auxiliary 3/1, 
0 A A A 
NaHCO.sub.3 /2; Water repellent/3 
Ex. 8 
Cotton 
Thickening surfactant 2/2, Aqueous auxiliary 1/1, 
0 A A A 
Thickening surfactant 1/0.6, NaHCO.sub.3 /2, Water repellent/3 
Ex. 9 
Poly- 
Aqueous auxiliary 1/4, Thickening surfactant 2/3 
0 A A A 
ester 
Ex. 10 
Poly- 
Aqueous auxiliary 3/2, Thickening surfactant 3/1, 
0ater 
A A A 
ester 
repellent/3, Water-soluble polymer/1 
Comp. 
Cotton 
Aqueous auxiliary 1/2, NaCl/5, NaHCO.sub.3 /3, Water 
0 C B A 
Ex. 1 repellent/3 
Comp. 
Cotton 
Thickening surfactant 1/0.6, NaCl/5, NaHCO.sub.3 /3, 
0ater 
C B A 
Ex. 2 repellent/3 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
Notes for Table 1: 
Water-soluble polymer: 
Alkox E60 (trade name, polyethylene oxide produced by Meisei Chemical 
Works, Ltd.; molecular weight: 1,100,000). 
Aqueous auxiliary 1: 
Lutensol AT25 (trade name, polyoxyethylene alkyl ether produced by BASF AG; 
HLB: 16). 
Thickening surfactant 1: 
BL 4.2 (trade name, polyoxyethylene lauryl ether produced by Nikko 
Chemicals Co., Ltd.). 
Aqueous auxiliary 2: 
Acetylenol EH (trade name, polyoxyethylene acetylene glycol produced by 
Kawaken Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd.; HLB: 16). 
Thickening surfactant 2: 
AM-3130N (trade name, coconut oil fatty acid type acetic acid betaine 
produced by-Nikko Chemicals Co., Ltd.). 
Aqueous auxiliary 3: 
Migregirl NC-2 (trade name, anionic surfactant produced by Senka K. K.). 
Thickening surfactant 3: 
AM-301 (trade name, lauryldimethylaminoacetic acid betaine produced by 
Nikko Chemicals Co., Ltd.). 
Water repellent: 
Paragium SS (trade name, paraffinic softening water repellent produced by 
Ohara Paragium Chemical Co., Ltd.). 
As apparent from Table 1, all the prints according to Examples 1 to 10 were 
free of bleeding, high in color depth and also excellent in drying 
property, whereas the cloths according to Comparative Examples 1 and 2 
gave unfavorable results such as low color depth and occurrence of 
bleeding. 
As has been described above, the ink-jet printing cloths and printing 
process according to the present invention permit the provision of bright 
prints excellent in drying property, free of bleeding and high in color 
depth and image quality. 
While the present invention has been described with respect to what is 
presently considered to be the preferred embodiments, it is to be 
understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. 
To the contrary, the invention is intended to cover various modifications 
and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the 
appended claims. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the 
broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and 
equivalent structures and functions.