Provided is an ink jet recording method including: discharging first ultraviolet curable ink of a radical polymerization reaction type which contains a radical photopolymerization initiator and a radical polymerization compound and in which transmittance at a wavelength of 395 nm is equal to or less than 1%, onto a recording medium; and curing the first ultraviolet curable ink which is landed on the recording medium by irradiating the ink with ultraviolet light, in which a light source which initially emits the ultraviolet light in the curing of the ink is an ultraviolet light emitting diode in which peak intensity of the irradiated ultraviolet light is equal to or more than 800 mW/cm.sup.2.

Systems and methods for achieving increased irradiation and/or illumination in a photo reactive system is disclosed. In one example, a photo reactive system includes a light source, a refractive cylindrical optic, and a curved reflector. By utilizing the refractive cylindrical optic, angular spread of the light source is reduced, which in turn reduces a size of the curved reflector for directing the light rays onto a work piece. Consequently, a more compact photo reactive system with higher irradiation and/or illumination capabilities can be achieved.

A method for printing and curing an image uses a printer having a curing unit including at least one controllable radiation emitting unit. The printer includes a medium support configured to, in operation, support the recording medium. The method includes applying a predetermined pattern of a radiation-curable ink composition onto a recording medium to form an image; curing the image in a curing zone, wherein in the curing zone the recording medium covers a first area of the medium support, the medium support further having a second area not covered by the recording medium; controlling the curing unit to be in a curing mode in the first area of the medium; and controlling the curing unit to be in a non-curing mode in the second area of the medium support. A printer and a software product are also disclosed.

There is provided a light irradiator including: light sources forming first and second light source rows; a heat sink; a substrate including first and second traces connected to the first and second light source rows, respectively; and a fixing part configured to fix the heat sink to the substrate. The fixing part is arranged between adjacent light sources included in the first light source row and adjacent in the first light source row; and the fixing part is not arranged between adjacent light sources included in the second light source row and adjacent in the second light source row. The first trace includes a first circumventing part configured to circumvent the fixing part; and the second trace includes a second circumventing part configured to circumvent the fixing part and having a directional component different from the first direction.

A printing apparatus includes a head which discharges liquid onto a printing medium; and a light irradiation unit which is aligned with the head in a first direction and which irradiates the liquid on the printing medium with light. The light irradiation unit has light source arrays arranged in the first direction, each of the light source arrays includes light sources aligned in a second direction, and the light source arrays include a first light source array which is disposed most closely to the head in the first direction. The light, which is radiated by each of the light sources included in the first light source array, has an intensity that is smaller than an intensity of the light which is radiated by each of the light sources included in the light source arrays different from the first light source array.

An inkjet printer including a platen that supports a recording medium; an inkjet head having a nozzle surface that ejects ink, which cures by being irradiated with light, toward the recording medium; a light irradiation device that irradiates the ink attached to the recording medium with light; and a carriage that is mounted on the inkjet head and the light irradiation device, and is scanned with respect to the platen; where an uneven portion for suppressing stray light from the light irradiation device from reaching the nozzle surface is provided in a portion closer to the nozzle surface than the light irradiation device in a scanning direction; and the uneven portion is provided at a position facing a space on a path of the stray light from the light irradiation device to the nozzle surface in a space between the portion and the platen.

An ink jet recording method includes an overcoat layer forming step of forming an overcoat layer on a color layer formed on a recording medium by using a radiation-curable white ink composition and a radiation-curable clear ink composition. The overcoat layer forming step includes an ejection step O of ejecting, from an ink jet head O, the radiation-curable white ink composition and the radiation-curable clear ink composition to be attached to the recording medium and an irradiation step O of applying radiation to the radiation-curable white ink composition and the radiation-curable clear ink composition which are attached to the recording medium to obtain the overcoat layer, and a coverage of the recording medium by the overcoat layer is less than 100%.

An ink jet recording apparatus including an ink jet head for ejecting and attaching a radiation-curable ink jet composition to a recording medium, an inert gas supply portion for supplying an inert gas to the recording medium to which the radiation-curable ink jet composition is attached, and an irradiation portion for applying radiation to the radiation-curable ink jet composition attached to the recording medium under supply of an inert gas, wherein the inert gas supply portion slantingly ejects the inert gas toward just under the irradiation portion.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes: a discharge head; an ultraviolet irradiator disposed at a position different from the discharge head in a first direction; a carriage configured to scan in the first direction; and a controller configured to: control the carriage and the discharge head to execute a first discharge process of discharging the ink on a predefined printing area of the recording medium in a first scan; after the first discharge process, control the carriage and the discharge head to execute a second discharge process of discharging the ink on the predefined printing area in a second scan; after the second discharge process, control the carriage and the ultraviolet irradiator to irradiate the ink discharged on the predefined printing area with the ultraviolet light in a third scan.

When each of can bodies 10 moves, the can body 10 is not located at a stop point 40, and ultraviolet light from a light source 13 is going to proceed toward a printing part 120 as indicated by an arrow 3A. On this occasion, a shielding part 51 becomes located at a position facing the light source 13, and thereby, the ultraviolet light is shielded to be less likely to reach the printing part 120.