1. A tire surface printing method, the tire surface printing method comprising the steps of:
mounting a vulcanized tire on a rim;
inflating the tire mounted on the rim;
positioning the tire horizontally so that a rotation shaft traversing a center of the tire is perpendicular; and
performing desired multicolor printing with a selected head that is selected from any one of an inkjet printer head, an air spray head, and an airless spray head that ejects and applies coating material onto a same radial position of a sidewall of the tire as raisedrecessed characters provided on the sidewall by:
rotating the tire at a constant velocity by driving the rotation shaft with a rotation driving device so that the tire rotates along with the rotation shaft;
applying the desired multicolor printing by the selected head ejecting and applying the coating material onto the sidewall of the rotating tire;
drying and hardening the coating material ejected by the selected head with a means for drying and hardening; and
detecting, with an external sensor, a specific raisedrecessed character on the surface of the tire while the tire rotates, setting an origin of rotation of the tire, and synchronizing an operation start time of the selected head with the origin of rotation so as to maintain a constant relationship between a position of the specific raisedrecessed character and a position of application of the coating material.
2. The tire surface printing method of claim 1, wherein the desired printing includes a character.
3. The tire surface printing method of claim 1, wherein the desired printing is performed at a different position than a position of the raisedrecessed character.
4. The tire surface printing method of claim 1, further comprising:
detecting the raisedrecessed characters with an unevenness detection sensor.
5. The tire surface printing method of claim 4, wherein in the step of performing the desired printing, an origin of tire rotation is set to a position at which any of the raisedrecessed characters is detected.
6. The tire surface printing method of claim 1, wherein the tire is automatically mounted on the rim.
7. The tire surface printing method of claim 1, wherein the desired printing is performed by preparing a number of the selected heads corresponding to a number of colors for coating and performing simultaneous multicolor printing when the tire rotates.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An inkjet apparatus for double-side recording, comprising:
liquid ejection heads which are disposed on either side of a recording medium and face each other across the recording medium, the liquid ejection heads horizontally ejecting liquid onto recording surfaces of the recording medium; and
liquid recovery devices which are provided on surfaces of the liquid ejection heads facing each other, the liquid recovery device provided on the surface of one of the liquid ejection heads gathering the liquid ejected from an ejection surface of the other of the liquid ejection heads, wherein:
at least one ejection opening, which is formed in each of the ejection surfaces, is provided on an upper side of each of the ejection surfaces; and
at least one opening section for gathering the liquid in the liquid recovery devices is provided on a side lower than a position where the ejection opening is formed on each of the ejection surfaces.
2. The inkjet apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising ultraviolet light irradiation devices which are disposed on either side of the recording medium, wherein:
the liquid is an ultraviolet-curable ink; and
the ultraviolet light irradiation devices irradiate ultraviolet light onto the recording surfaces after the liquid ejection heads eject liquid onto the recording surfaces.
3. The inkjet apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of a distance between the liquid ejection heads facing each other across the recording medium, a distance between the ultraviolet light irradiation devices facing each other across the recording medium, and a distance between the conveyance devices facing each other across the recording medium is variable.
4. The inkjet apparatus as defined in claim 3, further comprising a thickness measurement device which measures thickness of the recording medium, wherein the at least one of the distance between the liquid ejection heads, the distance between the ultraviolet light irradiation devices, and the distance between the conveyance devices, is changed in accordance with the thickness of the recording medium.
5. An inkjet apparatus for double-side recording, comprising:
liquid ejection heads which are disposed on either side of a recording medium and face each other across the recording medium, the liquid ejection heads horizontally ejecting liquid onto recording surfaces of the recording medium;
liquid recovery devices which are provided on surfaces of the liquid ejection heads facing each other, the liquid recovery device provided on the surface of one of the liquid ejection heads gathering the liquid ejected from an ejection surface of the other of the liquid ejection heads; and
a movement device which moves the liquid recovery devices up and down.
6. The inkjet apparatus as defined in claim 5, further comprising ultraviolet light irradiation devices which are disposed on either side of the recording medium, wherein:
the liquid is an ultraviolet-curable ink; and
the ultraviolet light irradiation devices irradiate ultraviolet light onto the recording surfaces after the liquid ejection heads eject liquid onto the recording surfaces.
7. The inkjet apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein at least one of a distance between the liquid ejection heads facing each other across the recording medium, a distance between the ultraviolet light irradiation devices facing each other across the recording medium, and a distance between the conveyance devices facing each other across the recording medium, is variable.
8. The inkjet apparatus as defined in claim 7, further comprising a thickness measurement device which measures thickness of the recording medium, wherein the at least one of the distance between the liquid ejection heads, the distance between the ultraviolet light irradiation devices, and the distance between the conveyance devices, is changed in accordance with the thickness of the recording medium.