There is provided an image recording device which is compact, high in image recording efficiency, low in power consumption, and capable of recording a good image even on a recording medium made of a heat shrinkable material. In an image recording device 1 which records an image on a recording medium 4 by irradiating it with ultraviolet rays by an ultraviolet-ray irradiation device 20 to cure an ink, an ultraviolet light source comprises a light emitting diode which generates ultraviolet rays having an emission wavelength peak in a range between 305 and 375 nm and a maximum illuminance in a range between 40 and 1000 mW/cm.sup.2 on a surface of the recording medium.
An ink-jet recording device including: an irradiating unit that irradiates an ultraviolet ray, an ink-jet head that ejects an ink toward a recording medium, the ink capable of curing by the ultraviolet ray irradiated from the irradiating unit, a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium to a position opposed to the ink-jet head, and a filter unit including a photocatalyst activated by the ultraviolet ray.
An inkjet printer includes a plurality of recording heads for jetting inks of a plurality of kinds onto a recording medium, a light emitting device for irradiating light onto ink having reached the recording medium, a driving device for moving the plurality of recording heads and the recording medium relatively and bidirectionally, and a control device for performing control to form an image by controlling the plurality of recording heads to jet ink while moving the plurality of recording heads and the recording medium relatively in one direction and in an opposite direction, and changing ink jetting amounts to be jetted from the respective recording heads, depending on whether jetting ink while the recording heads are moving in the one direction or in the opposite direction, so that the same color is formed in the both moving directions of the recording heads.
A UV curing apparatus and method is provided for enhancing UV curing of inks, coatings and adhesives having UV photo initiators therein by subjecting the UV curable inks, coatings or adhesives to UV light at different wavelengths. Preferably, the UV LED assemblies are alternated in rows and emit light at a wavelength between 180 nm and 420 nm. A row of UV-LED assemblies which emit light in the visible spectrum can be included so a user can visually see if the apparatus is working. A cooling system can be provided for maintaining the UV-LED assemblies at a desired temperature to maintain light intensity and the UV LED assemblies are placed at a distance from the UV curable product which will provide a uniform pattern of light diverging from the UV-LED chips of at least 50% the power output of the UV-LED chips at a viewing cone angle of 2.theta..sub.1/2. Still further the apparatus can be combined with an ink, coating or adhesive having photo initiators that are activated by light at more than one wavelength.
A special method is provided for more uniformly and quickly curing products with a scratch-resistant UV curable coating or UV curable printing thereon with high intensity UV light, such as for wires, cables, tubes, tubing, hoses, pipes, CDs, DVDs, golf balls, golf tees, eye glass lenses, contact lenses, string instruments, decorative labels, peelable labels, peelable stamps, doors, countertops, etc. The method can also be operated with one or more special UV curing apparatus equipped with a controller and one or more super high power UV-LED modules.
A special method is provided for more uniformly and quickly curing products with a scratch-resistant UV curable coating or UV curable printing thereon, such as for CDs, DVDs, golf balls, golf tees, eye glass lenses, contact lenses, string instruments, decorative labels, peelable labels, peelable stamps, doors, countertops, etc. The method can also be operated with one or more special UV curing apparatus equipped with a controller, temperature sensors, and heat dissipators.
