摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultraviolet ray irradiation device suitable for recording an ultraviolet curable transparent ink (clear ink).SOLUTION: The ultraviolet-light irradiation device for use in an ink jet printer for carrying out printing with ultraviolet curable ink and clear ink such as CMYK discharged from a recording head, includes an ultraviolet-light irradiation unit configured to arrange a plurality of ultraviolet light-emitting diode chips in a matrix. An array of the chips of the ultraviolet-light irradiation unit in a row direction is arranged to be opposed to an ink discharge range of the recording head, and an array of the chips in a column direction in the matrix is constituted by LED members composed of a plurality of chips. Among the LED members, those at positions corresponding to the ink discharge range are used as an ultraviolet-curable-ink irradiation unit, and those at positions corresponding to a clear-ink discharge range are used as a clear-ink irradiation unit. A controller can control light volume of the LED members of these irradiation units. During recording with the clear ink, the clear-ink irradiation unit is turned off. |