EP0568419A1 - Optimierungsverfahren für die Wirkungsweise eines Tintenstrahldruckers und Anwendung des Verfahrens für einen Drucker - Google Patents

Optimierungsverfahren für die Wirkungsweise eines Tintenstrahldruckers und Anwendung des Verfahrens für einen Drucker Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0568419A1
EP0568419A1 EP93401049A EP93401049A EP0568419A1 EP 0568419 A1 EP0568419 A1 EP 0568419A1 EP 93401049 A EP93401049 A EP 93401049A EP 93401049 A EP93401049 A EP 93401049A EP 0568419 A1 EP0568419 A1 EP 0568419A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
ink
pressure
suction
time
duration
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP93401049A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0568419B1 (de
Inventor
Alain Cabinet Ballot-Schmit Pagnon
Pierre Cabinet Ballot-Schmit Rieuvernet
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
I M A J E SA
Markem Imaje SAS
Original Assignee
I M A J E SA
Imaje SA
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Publication of EP0568419A1 publication Critical patent/EP0568419A1/de
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Publication of EP0568419B1 publication Critical patent/EP0568419B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/18—Ink recirculation systems

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method for optimizing the operation of an inkjet printer, as well as to a printer using such a method.
  • the technique consists in carrying out a continuous jet of calibrated drops of ink projected by a print head, these drops then being electrostatically charged so that some are deflected by an electric field.
  • the printing device and the support to be printed on being in relative displacement, it is thus possible to obtain a matrix of dots printed on the support.
  • the unused ink drops are collected in a gutter and then recycled in the ink supply circuit of the printer.
  • An accumulation of ink in the immediate vicinity of the gutter allows the ink to be recovered in the liquid phase, independently of the air which tends to enter the gutter between two drops collected or by even entrainment of said drops.
  • the intermediate ink deposit in the vicinity of the gutter can be done by gravity, but a problem arises when the print head operates in all directions of space.
  • Another disadvantage of this solution lies in the risk of overflow of the gutter, filled with ink, at the slightest error in the operation of the printer.
  • a second technique consists in drawing in the ink accumulated in the gutter by the Venturi effect, following a restriction of the pipe immediately downstream of the opening of the gutter.
  • a drive fluid is injected into the gutter like a hydro-ejector, but the operating point of such a system is closely linked to the ambient operating conditions of the printer, that is to say the ink temperature and pressure.
  • the ink recovered in the gutter is sucked by means of a pump which discharges this ink into a recovery tank.
  • a depression is created in the gutter, slightly greater than that necessary for entraining the ink.
  • a drawback stems from the increase in the quantity of air sucked in relation to the quantity of ink sucked into the two-phase liquid-gas mixture present in the gutter, causing an oversizing of the recovery circuit.
  • the optimal operating point of this system is often unknown and variable depending on the temperature and pressure conditions.
  • the two-phase flow of an incompressible fluid causes discontinuous and random pressure losses along the recovery pipe: local accumulations of liquid, expansion gas ... This does not make it possible to predict, thanks to a model, the behavior of the ink and therefore the pressure losses to compensate between the entry of the recovery line at the exit of the gutter and the reservoir of recovery proper.
  • the present invention aims to solve the drawbacks mentioned in connection with the previous solutions, by proposing a method of extracting a two-phase mixture at the lowest possible suction level, compatible with full recovery of the liquid phase.
  • the object of the invention is a method of optimizing the operation of an inkjet printer, comprising an ink supply circuit of at least one printhead and a recovery circuit ink not used for printing comprising a gutter connected to a sealed reservoir by a pipe and air suction means located above the ink in the reservoir, to ensure a vacuum therein, characterized in that it performs on the one hand the control of the ink recovery rate by measuring the pressure P in the reservoir, by means of a sensor, by the detection of any reduction in the pressure P in the reservoir, reflecting an anomaly in the ink recovery rate, and on the other hand the control of the operation of the suction means either at their minimum suction rate compatible with the nominal ink recovery rate, or at their maximum suction rate during anomaly detections of said ink recovery flow.
  • the invention also relates to an inkjet printer using such a method.
  • One of the advantages of the invention comes from the fact that the as the amount of gas carried in the recovery circuit and the energy consumed by the drive members are minimal, the life of the printer is extended. This is due to the permanent adaptation of the air intake level to the pressure drops observed in real time, in the recovery line.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a circuit for supplying and recovering ink from a deviated continuous jet printer, according to a nonlimiting exemplary embodiment, described in French patent 2,545,042, filed by the Applicant.
  • the continuous jet printer intended to project a jet 21 of ink drops from a print head 2 onto a scrolling support below, comprises a circuit A, which is used for supply of the print head 2 connecting a sealed ink tank 17 to the head 2.
  • the circuit R for recirculating unused ink drops connects a recovery gutter 22 to the ink tank 17. Any device for addition of fresh ink or solvent known in the art can be easily inserted into the printer.
  • the print head 2 is supplied with ink by circuit A, which comprises a pump 1, actuated by a motor not shown and connected to the reservoir 17 by a pipe 31.
  • This pump is intended to pressurize the ink leaving the reservoir, which is then directed through a line 10 to an accumulator 18, maintaining the ink at a constant pressure during printing by the head 2.
  • This ink can be filtered, by a filter 6 for example placed on the line 11 connecting the accumulator 18 to the head 2, before arriving directly at the head 2.
  • the said print head 2 projects an ink jet 21 which, by appropriate stimulation, breaks up into drops of ink which are then charged electrostatically to be deflected to the medium to be printed.
  • the drops not used for printing and which are therefore not deflected are recovered in the gutter 22 placed under the ink jet.
  • the ink thus recovered must be conveyed to reservoir 17, via circuit R.
  • This recovery circuit R comprises a line 220, connecting the outlet of the gutter 22, which is at atmospheric pressure, to the reservoir 17, which is at a lower pressure, the ink in the line 220 being put under vacuum by means suction 23 of the air pocket prevailing in the reservoir 17 above the liquid ink.
  • These means can be constituted by a pump, actuated by a motor not shown and connected to the air pocket of the tank 17 by a pipe 230, sucking the air and directing it through a pipe 303 to the outside of the tank.
  • the outside of the tank 17 being at atmospheric pressure, the means 23 thus create a vacuum in the tank, which has a sealed cover 170.
  • the fluid conveyed in line 220 is a two-phase mixture composed of ink recovered in the gutter 22 and of air entrained by the suction of the ink in this same gutter. So that the pressure drops in the recovery line 220 result from the pressure drop which is a function of the liquid flow and the pressure drop which is a function of the gas flow. These pressure losses result in the difference between the atmospheric pressure prevailing at the level of the gutter 22, upstream of the pipe 220, and the pressure P prevailing in the tank 17, downstream of said pipe 220.
  • This vacuum in the reservoir 17 being provided by the pump 23, which removes a certain amount of air from the volume of the bag placed above the level of ink in the reservoir 17, can be controlled by acting on the pump.
  • the invention proposes a method for optimizing the operation of the printer, consisting in measuring the pressure P prevailing in the ink tank 17 by means of a pressure sensor 5, and in detecting any increase in pressure drops occurring resulting in an increase in the pressure P in the reservoir 17, that is to say in a decrease in the vacuum in the line 220.
  • the invention uses a volumetric pump, which imposes a constant volumetric flow rate for extracting air from the reservoir 17 but the pressure of which varies.
  • a volumetric pump which imposes a constant volumetric flow rate for extracting air from the reservoir 17 but the pressure of which varies.
  • Several methods can be used to vary the volumetric flow rate of a pump. You can vary its displacement, or vary the speed of rotation of its drive motor. In the case of a DC motor, the armature supply voltage is varied. However, a variation of the excitation voltage is not suitable because the pump must rotate at its maximum speed of rotation while it provides maximum vacuum. In the case of a stepping motor, the supply frequency of the motor is varied, but correspondingly the current is increased at the same time as the frequency because the torque demanded is an increasing function of the speed.
  • the motor is stopped at each revolution.
  • the pump or the suction means 23 in general operate periodically, each period being able to decompose into a time T1, during which the means 23 do not cause any suction of air into the reservoir 17, and a time T2 of rotation at constant speed, during which the means cause an aspiration.
  • FIG. 2 shows the angle of rotation M of the motor, on the ordinate, as a function of time, on the abscissa.
  • the electronic motor control circuit varies the durations T1 and T2 of the motor cycle and it controls the various parameters of the printer - pressure P read by the sensor 5, temperature T of the ink measured by a sensor 26 - and control other actuators - solenoid valves 19 and 28 for example - during certain non-suction times T1 of duration compatible with the measurements.
  • the circuit uses the time T1 of no suction to determine the duration before restarting the engine.
  • a decrease in the average flow rate of the pump should be interpreted subsequently as a decrease in the average speed of the motor. or an increase in stopping time at constant speed, respectively an increase in the average speed of the motor or a reduction in stopping time.
  • the printer will automatically set itself to its optimal operating mode for recovering the ink, considered as a two-phase mixture, according to the method described below.
  • the means 23 When the printer starts or in a reinitialization phase, according to a first phase, the means 23 operate at their maximum suction flow rate, thus ensuring a fluid flow rate for recovering the unused drops and recovered in the gutter 22.
  • the sensor 5 reads the pressure P in the reservoir 17 which is stored in memory as representative of the correct functioning of the recovery circuit R.
  • the suction flow of the means 23 is gradually decreased on a ramp, increasing the duration of the time T1 of non-aspiration with respect to the time T2, while the decreasing pressure P is measured, memorized and compared with a sliding average of the last three previously measured pressure values.
  • This step is carried out by the control circuit of the pump drive motor and continues until that the vacuum in the tank 17 becomes incompatible with the last sliding average measured.
  • the values of the ink temperature and of the pressure in the accumulator 18 are memorized because they are representative of the viscosity of the ink to be recovered.
  • the flow the means 23 is stored in the form of an image, which can be, in the case of a pump, the average speed of rotation of its drive motor, or the duration of time T1, acquired at the last reading cycle of the pressure P in the reservoir 17, by the sensor 5.
  • This image is stored as being representative of the minimum suction flow rate of the pump compatible with good recovery of the ink in the gutter 22.
  • a third step the suction flow of the means 23 immediately returns to its maximum value, reducing the duration of time T1 to a minimum.
  • This step can be performed by the engine control device in the case of a positive displacement pump.
  • the duration of time T1 is reduced to the minimum to increase the suction flow rate of the means 23, as long as the pressure P measured in the reservoir 17, has not yet reached the value memorized at start-up.
  • the pressure P will increase to approach the atmospheric pressure.
  • a second pressure interval is then defined, separate from the first, representative of a fluid flow in the line 220, capable of no longer ensuring correct recovery of the ink, without overflow of the gutter 22.
  • the duration of the non-aspiration time T1 goes up to its last stored value causing a pressure P in the reservoir 17 still included in the first interval, with a margin of about 6% above this value.
  • the duration of time T1 results from the value previously memorized by the printer in its start-up phase and from the evolution of the temperature and viscosity conditions of the ink during printing.
  • the duration of the time T1 is reduced to its minimum value until the pressure P n 'has not adopted its last memorized value ensuring correct recovery.
  • the method according to the invention correlates the suction flow rate of the pump 23 to the temperature, to the pressure setpoint of the accumulator 18 and to the image of this flow rate described above. Predicting the behavior of the printer thus performed allows avoid rising to the maximum speed of the pump due to drift in conditions outside the recovery circuit R.

Landscapes

  • Ink Jet (AREA)
EP93401049A 1992-04-30 1993-04-22 Optimierungsverfahren für die Wirkungsweise eines Tintenstrahldruckers und Anwendung des Verfahrens für einen Drucker Expired - Lifetime EP0568419B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR9205424A FR2690648B1 (fr) 1992-04-30 1992-04-30 Methode d'optimisation du fonctionnement d'une imprimante a jet d'encre et imprimante utilisant une telle methode.
FR9205424 1992-04-30

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0568419A1 true EP0568419A1 (de) 1993-11-03
EP0568419B1 EP0568419B1 (de) 1997-01-22

Family

ID=9429470

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93401049A Expired - Lifetime EP0568419B1 (de) 1992-04-30 1993-04-22 Optimierungsverfahren für die Wirkungsweise eines Tintenstrahldruckers und Anwendung des Verfahrens für einen Drucker

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US5701149A (de)
EP (1) EP0568419B1 (de)
CA (1) CA2095094A1 (de)
DE (1) DE69307586T2 (de)
ES (1) ES2099392T3 (de)
FR (1) FR2690648B1 (de)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0805040A2 (de) * 1996-04-30 1997-11-05 SCITEX DIGITAL PRINTING, Inc. Erfassung des Tröpfchendurchflusses
WO1999062717A1 (en) * 1998-05-29 1999-12-09 Willett International Limited Ink jet printer and method of operation
ES2307428A1 (es) * 2007-05-09 2008-11-16 Jseus Francisco Barberan Latorre Sistema de alimentacion de tinta para impresoras.
ES2399478A1 (es) * 2010-02-05 2013-04-01 Kerajet S.A. Método y dispositivo de siministro de fluidos.

Families Citing this family (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3416614B2 (ja) * 2000-04-26 2003-06-16 キヤノン株式会社 インクジェット記録装置
GB2412088B (en) * 2004-03-19 2007-09-19 Zipher Ltd Liquid supply system
JP4677296B2 (ja) * 2005-06-24 2011-04-27 キヤノン株式会社 記録装置
JP4841463B2 (ja) * 2007-03-02 2011-12-21 富士フイルム株式会社 液体吐出装置および記録装置
GB2447919B (en) * 2007-03-27 2012-04-04 Linx Printing Tech Ink jet printing
GB0720131D0 (en) * 2007-10-12 2007-11-28 Videojet Technologies Inc Ink jet printing
US8308282B2 (en) * 2008-01-28 2012-11-13 Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd. Ink jet recording device
EP2822772B1 (de) 2012-03-05 2022-01-26 Fujifilm Dimatix, Inc. Rückführung von tinte
GB2550210B (en) * 2016-05-13 2019-01-23 Domino Uk Ltd Improvements in or relating to continuous inkjet printers
DE102020107586A1 (de) * 2020-03-19 2020-12-10 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft Verfahren zum Betreiben einer Vorrichtung für das zirkulierende Versorgen mehrerer Tinten-Druckköpfe einer Tinten-Druckmaschine mit flüssiger Tinte

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0076914A2 (de) * 1981-10-08 1983-04-20 International Business Machines Corporation Tintenstrahldrucker mit Tintenrückführeinrichtungen
FR2545042A1 (fr) * 1983-04-29 1984-11-02 Imaje Sa Dispositif de mise en pression d'un jet d'encre, et imprimante qui en est equipee
EP0228828A2 (de) * 1985-12-16 1987-07-15 Domino Printing Sciences Plc Druckverfahren mit einem kontinuierlichen Farbstrahl

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5714053A (en) * 1980-06-30 1982-01-25 Sharp Corp Detecting apparatus for abnormally directed jet in ink jet printer
JPS5751473A (en) * 1980-09-12 1982-03-26 Hitachi Ltd Ink jet recorder
JPS5896561A (ja) * 1981-12-05 1983-06-08 Ricoh Co Ltd インクジエツト記録装置のインク回収機構

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0076914A2 (de) * 1981-10-08 1983-04-20 International Business Machines Corporation Tintenstrahldrucker mit Tintenrückführeinrichtungen
FR2545042A1 (fr) * 1983-04-29 1984-11-02 Imaje Sa Dispositif de mise en pression d'un jet d'encre, et imprimante qui en est equipee
EP0228828A2 (de) * 1985-12-16 1987-07-15 Domino Printing Sciences Plc Druckverfahren mit einem kontinuierlichen Farbstrahl

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 6, no. 124 (M-141)(1002) 9 Juillet 1982 & JP-A-57 51 473 ( HITACHI SEISAKUSHO K.K. ) 26 Mars 1982 *
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 7, no. 197 (M-239)(1342) 27 Août 1983 & JP-A-58 96 561 ( RICOH K.K. ) 8 Juin 1983 *

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0805040A2 (de) * 1996-04-30 1997-11-05 SCITEX DIGITAL PRINTING, Inc. Erfassung des Tröpfchendurchflusses
EP0805040A3 (de) * 1996-04-30 1998-06-24 SCITEX DIGITAL PRINTING, Inc. Erfassung des Tröpfchendurchflusses
WO1999062717A1 (en) * 1998-05-29 1999-12-09 Willett International Limited Ink jet printer and method of operation
ES2307428A1 (es) * 2007-05-09 2008-11-16 Jseus Francisco Barberan Latorre Sistema de alimentacion de tinta para impresoras.
ES2399478A1 (es) * 2010-02-05 2013-04-01 Kerajet S.A. Método y dispositivo de siministro de fluidos.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0568419B1 (de) 1997-01-22
FR2690648A1 (fr) 1993-11-05
DE69307586T2 (de) 1997-08-07
FR2690648B1 (fr) 1994-07-08
ES2099392T3 (es) 1997-05-16
US5701149A (en) 1997-12-23
CA2095094A1 (fr) 1993-10-31
DE69307586D1 (de) 1997-03-06

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