JPS5859850A - Feeding device of ink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it easy to replace an ink storage container and positively open or close an ink feed system by such an arrangement wherein elastic seal members, each provided with an internal cut, are provided at all joints between the main body of the device and an ink storage container respectively. CONSTITUTION:Seal members 21, 32, 33 made of cylindrical elastic material are configurated so that the thickness of member at the central part is thinner than that of the circumferential part 22, and each member is provided with a cut 23 at its central part. An ink storage container 29 is pressed into a container receptacle 30 and it is fixed at its flange 41 is caused to couple with the upper end 42 of a supporting member 40. At this time, a slide base 38 is moved downward and by this the seal member 33 for reception and the seal member 32 for the container are deformed by a protruding means 34 and due to this a gap is generated in the cut part. Consequently, ink in the ink storage container 29 is supplied to an ink outlet 39, passing through the gap between both seal members and a filter 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that causes ink to be ejected from the troughs of pressure chambers provided in a print head via nozzles provided in a print head. Specifically, in order to draw out recording ink from an ink supply source provided at a separate position with respect to the main body of the apparatus, and to lead the drawn out ink to an ink supply system whose one end communicates with the print head. The present invention relates to an ink delivery device.

Inkjet recording apparatuses have become popular in recent years because they produce less noise and record on recorded objects without impact. This inkjet recording device has an electric field of 1ff11111.
41 method (Japanese Patent Publication No. 36-13768), charge control method (Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-4381), and pressure impulse method (Japanese Patent Publication No. 12138-1981), but inkjet recording devices of all these methods are available. is print ＼
Works best when there is no air or gas in the rad. In the above-mentioned method, if air bubbles are present in the pressure chamber circle, kinetic energy is absorbed by the air bubbles because the air bubbles are more compressible than ink, thus interfering with proper functioning of the device. Further, since the nozzles of the device have minute holes, if particles are present in the ink, the nozzles will become clogged and the print head will stop functioning. Therefore, the inkjet recording apparatus of the type described above must satisfy the strict condition that there are no ink dust or fine particles in the print/rad and ink supply systems. When this device is actually used, air tends to get mixed into the ink supply system when the ink supply system is refilled with ink. FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram of an ink delivery device manufactured by Jubei (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 150636/1983). In the same figure,
An ink storage container (hereinafter referred to as container) 8 and a container receiver are shown 11. The main component of this device is the container receiver 10. The purpose of this container receiver 10 is to prevent the ink 9 from dripping and the ingress of air bubbles, and to filter the ink when replacing the container 11, which is a disposable item. The pin in FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the state in which the container 11 is mounted 7f in the container receiver 10. 60 is attached to the container 11, the needle 14 is penetrated, and the ink of 11 yen in each container is hollow. Needle 1
4, and is filtered through a filter 18 installed in a cylindrical stopper 17 to prevent particles and air bubbles from passing through, and an ink supply pipe 19 to an inkjet print head (not shown). supplied to 1 is a sectional view showing a state in which the container 11 is removed from the container receiver 10. When the needle 11 is removed, the slidable stopper 15 is raised by the spring 16, and the upper end ζ of the hollow needle 14 is moved upwardly by the seal 13 fixed to the stopper 15. An ink supply pipe 19 that covers an inlet 20 and is thereby connected to the print/rad! ! to prevent air from entering the pipe.

However, in the above method, the hollow needle 1 is attached to the flexible septum 12.
4, when installing the container 11, it is necessary to push the hollow needle 14 into the partition wall 12 over a long distance while applying force, and when removing the container 11, the hollow needle 14 and There is a possibility that the seal 13 may not be able to immediately close the injection port 20 at the end of the hollow needle 14 due to the friction between the seal 13 and the wall surface. In particular, Lf + empty needle 1
This is noticeable when the walls of the seals 4 and 13 are dirty. Furthermore, since there is a sharp part at the tip of the hollow needle 14,
When replacing or installing the container 11, the partition wall 12 is scraped by the sharp part, producing fine pieces (chips), which mix with the ink and cause the hollow needle 14, ink supply tube, print/rad. The drawback is that there is a risk of clogging or clogging of the nozzles, which may impede their function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a conventional ink delivery device that can solve these drawbacks. Namely, it requires less effort when replacing an ink storage container, and uses a hollow needle. The problem of the above problem is solved by adopting a mechanism that can effectively open and close the ink supply system without destroying the seal by utilizing the elasticity of the seal.

According to the present invention, the elastic seal member is provided with a notch in the mouth portion, and is engaged with the ink storage IIL container which is normally kept in a closed state, and the recording ink contained in the container is led out to the outside. At the time of attachment, the sealing member of the container and the same type of sealing member as the sealing member of the container are opened and closed so that the discharged ink can be guided to the ink supply system communicating with the inkjet recording device. An ink delivery device is obtained, which is characterized in that it is provided with a filter means for preventing air bubbles and fine particles mixed in the recording ink from passing through the ink supply path.

↓ Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2K) and 2(0) are perspective views showing the operating principle of the sealing member used in the apparatus of the present invention. The sealing member 21 made of a cylindrical elastic material has a center portion thinner than an outer peripheral portion 22 .

A notch 23 is made in the center as shown in the figure.
In a normal state, the wall surfaces 24 are in close contact with each other as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when a load 27 is applied to the center of the seal member from the lower side 26η as shown in FIG. It becomes possible to communicate. Also, the upper side 25
A similar result is obtained even if a charge is added from η). This sealing member 21 should be made of a material that does not lose its elasticity even in the state shown in FIG. The material may be metal, plastic, or rubber, but it is desirable to use a material that is easily deformable, that is, has an appropriate modulus of elasticity, and is chemically resistant. Rubber materials such as urethane rubber and butyl rubber are appropriate materials that suit the conditions of stiffness, but since there is a notch 623 in the sealing member 21, stress is likely to enter the system at the base of the notch, so it is difficult to withstand it. The material for the vine should be carefully selected. In view of this, natural rubber and urethane rubber are preferable because of their excellent tear properties and other properties. Figures 3 (A) and (0) show an ink storage container and container receiver using the principle shown in Figure 2. It is a vfr box diagram which shows an Example. Figure (a) shows the state before the container is attached to the container receiver, and figure (q) shows the state where the container is attached to the container receiver.

The configurations of these devices will be explained below.

In the figure, 29 is an ink storage container, with s1!2 at the mouth.
A container sealing member 32 of the same type as the sealing member 21 shown in the figure is attached. Further, 30 is a container receiver, and a receiving seal member 33 is attached to a sliding body 38 so as to face the container seal member 32 in the receiving portion. Both seal members 32 and 33 are provided with unevenness m on their outer peripheries, respectively.
By interlocking them, it increases the water quality. 34 is a protruding means for pushing open both seal members 32 and 33. A channel for introducing ink is provided at its central axis, and a space is provided at the end thereof, in which a filter means 35 is installed. This filter means is made of sintered stainless steel so as to form a large number of pores of several microns. A sliding body 3 integrated with an ink outlet 39 for guiding foam material such as a sponge to the print/rad
This is the pedestal for the spring 37 for restoring the spring 8. The protruding means 34 and the pedestal 36 are connected to each other by a removable means such as a screw so that the builter means 35 is sandwiched therebetween. This is because the filter can be replaced when its function deteriorates due to long-term use. Reference numeral 40 denotes a cylindrical support body having means for supporting the sliding body 34 and restraining sliding T, and means for fixing the container 29. Further, in order to make the water "&1m" between the receiving seal member 33 and the protruding means 34 to the outside world a temporary one, a flange 44 including a ring 43 such as an oil seal is attached to the seal member as shown in FIG. An example of the operation of the device of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

3, the sliding body 38 is placed in the uppermost position by the spring 37, and the receiving seal member 33
Since it is not receiving the Φ force of 4f, it is in an open state as shown in FIG. Further, since the T6 container sealing member 32 in the container 29 is not subjected to any force, it is possible to prevent the ink, which is stored in the closed state at 6%, from flowing out. Next, when attaching the ink storage container 29 to the container receiver 30 in FIG.
It is inserted and fixed by. In addition to this embodiment, it may also be attached by means such as screws. Then, since the sliding table 38 is moved downward at the same time, the receiving seal member 3
3 is deformed by the protruding means 34 as shown in FIG. 2 (B), and a gap is created at the notch. Further, since the container sealing member 32 is also deformed by being in close contact with the receiving sealing member 33, a gap 43 is also generated in this cut portion. Therefore,
The ink in the ink storage container 29 is removed from both seals 32t.
It passes through the 33cv gap 43 and passes through the flow path of the protruding means 34 to reach the filter means 35. Here, the ink is
The filtered ink is filtered by a filter means 35 to prevent the passage of particulates and air bubbles that may be present therein, and the filtered ink passes through the pedestal 36 and is passed through the ink outlet 39.
The difference is Φ. Then, the ink can be supplied from the ink supply f to the external print/dot. Eventually, the ink in each container will be exhausted and the container 29 will have to be replaced. Therefore, from the container receiver 30 to the container 29
Remove.

Then, the sliding body 38 is immediately pushed back to the uppermost position by the spring 37, and the receiving seal member 33 is moved to the second position by the review.
The ink supply system returns to the closed state as shown in Figure 3), resulting in the state shown in Figure 3 (A), and neither air nor dust enters the ink supply system.

This embodiment is applicable not only to inkjet recording apparatuses but also to fylI
It is clear that the present invention has application in other devices that use ink or other fluids, such as, for example, a Venn recorder.

As explained above, the ink delivery device of the present invention has a very simple structure, so that the ink storage JtL container can be converted into just 1", and the opening and closing operation of the ink supply system is also reliable. Furthermore, since this device has a very simple configuration, it leads to miniaturization and cost reduction of the device, and it is clear that it is an extremely practical invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1) and ←) are cross-sectional views showing the actual state of a conventional ink delivery device. FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing the operating principle of the sealing member used in the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 Pino (b)) shows the ink storage M1 of the present invention. One implementation of the mouth of the container and the container receiver f! There is a #r sectional view showing 1111. Figure 4 shows another shape of the seal member 33.
It is one aspect. 21 is the seal door material, 23 is the notch, 5.29! an ink storage container, 30 a container receiver, 32 a container sealing member;
33 is a receiving seal member, 34 is a middle stage for discharging, 35 is a filter means, 36 is a pedestal, 37 is a sliding base, 39 is an ink inlet/outlet, and 43 is a link. 1st Figure 1/ (A) (Port 2 2nd Port 3 7g (A) 6 (B)

Claims (1)

[Claims] an ink storage container having a first elastic seal member having a notch in the mouth portion that is in a closed state when not engaged; and a portion that connects the storage container with the ink storage container having a structure similar to the first elastic seal member. a second elastic seal member having an ink outlet hole at a position corresponding to the notch of the elastic seal member, and opening the notches of the first and second elastic seal members when the elastic seal members are engaged to draw out the ink; An ink delivery device comprising: an opening/closing section; and a container receiving means having a filter connected to an ink outlet hole of the opening/closing section to prevent passage of air bubbles and fine particles mixed in the ink.