EP4186705A1 - Luftzirkulationssystem für einen kontinuierlich arbeitenden tintenstrahldrucker - Google Patents

Luftzirkulationssystem für einen kontinuierlich arbeitenden tintenstrahldrucker Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4186705A1
EP4186705A1 EP21306659.0A EP21306659A EP4186705A1 EP 4186705 A1 EP4186705 A1 EP 4186705A1 EP 21306659 A EP21306659 A EP 21306659A EP 4186705 A1 EP4186705 A1 EP 4186705A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
air
cabinet
air flow
heat generating
flow path
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.)
Pending
Application number
EP21306659.0A
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Vincent AUDOUARD
Michael BLACHERE
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.)
Dover Europe SARL
Original Assignee
Dover Europe SARL
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Dover Europe SARL filed Critical Dover Europe SARL
Priority to EP21306659.0A priority Critical patent/EP4186705A1/de
Priority to EP21844796.9A priority patent/EP4271569A1/de
Priority to US18/270,620 priority patent/US20240227410A1/en
Priority to CN202180094668.5A priority patent/CN117120268A/zh
Priority to PCT/EP2021/087878 priority patent/WO2022144430A1/en
Publication of EP4186705A1 publication Critical patent/EP4186705A1/de
Pending 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
    • B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J29/377—Cooling or ventilating arrangements
    • 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
    • B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
    • B41J29/12—Guards, shields or dust excluders
    • B41J29/13—Cases or covers

Definitions

  • CIJ printers can have to operate in an environment where the temperature can reach 40°C or more, even 45°C or 50°C.
  • air first flows through an electronic compartment, then through an ink circuit compartment, where it flows over a pressure pump and possibly above one or more component(s), and is then finally evacuated out of the printer.
  • This means that the air is first heated in the electronic compartment before flowing over the ink circuit.
  • the situation is even worse for the components downstream of the ink pump.
  • the capacity of the air to evacuate the heat out of the printer is thus limited.
  • the invention first concerns a continuous inkjet (CIJ) printer, comprising:
  • each air flow path can comprise at least an inlet, a heat generating component, air circulation device and an outlet.
  • the air circulation device is preferably located downstream of the heat generating component of said flow path. This contributes to an efficient evacuation of heat out of the printer or its cabinet but does not affect the air circulation inside said printer or cabinet.
  • the cabinet can be split in three compartments, each accommodating one of the heat generating components and being separated from each of the other two compartments by a wall comprising an opening.
  • the air circulation system of a CIJ printer according to the invention can have at least one filter receiving portion to receive at least one filter between the air inlet and an inlet of at least the first and/or second flow paths, and/or at least one filter between the air circulation device and the air outlet.
  • the air inlet can be formed by a non-sealed space between a door and at least one wall of the cabinet.
  • ambient air can be introduced from outside of the cabinet, for example via a filter and into a compartment where one or more heat generating component(s), for example one or more electrical heat generating device(s), is located.
  • the door when open, gives for example access to at least part of the ink circuit, for example the solvent and ink cartridges receiving portions, and possibly one or more components such as one or more filter(s).
  • air can enter the cabinet through a non-sealed space comprising a slot located at a horizontal bottom of said door; preferably this non-sealed space is the one having the largest cross section for incoming air.
  • said first, said second and possibly said third flow path can comprise at least one of:
  • the invention also concerns a method for circulating air in a continuous inkjet (CIJ) printer, said printer comprising a cabinet and at least a first heat generating component and a second heat generating component located within said cabinet, said method comprising:
  • the air flow can be separated in three distinct air flows, wherein the first air flow accommodates said first heat generating component, for example an ink pump, the second air flow path accommodates said second heat generating component, for example a power supply, and the third air flow path accommodates a third heat generating component, for example a condenser.
  • the first air flow accommodates said first heat generating component, for example an ink pump
  • the second air flow path accommodates said second heat generating component, for example a power supply
  • the third air flow path accommodates a third heat generating component, for example a condenser.
  • the third air flow can be fed by air from said first air flow, upstream from the first heat generating component and/or from said second air flow, upstream from the second heat generating component.
  • air can be introduced into the cabinet through a non-sealed space between a door and at least one wall of the cabinet.
  • ambient air is introduced from outside of the cabinet, for example via a filter, into the cabinet, for example into a compartment where one or more heat generating component(s), for example one or more electrical heat generating device(s), is located.
  • FIG. 1A An internal structure of a printer cabinet 100 (also called, here and in the rest of this description, console or printer body) according to the invention is illustrated on figure 1A .
  • the first heat generating component 10 can be located in a lower part 104 of the cabinet, which can comprise an ink circuit making it possible, on the one hand, to supply ink to a print head (not illustrated on this figure) at a stable pressure and of a suitable quality and, on the other hand, to take charge of ink of jets not used for printing and being pumped from the print head and returned to the ink circuit; a front door 6 can allow access to the ink circuit of the lower part 104 of the cabinet;
  • the second heat generating component 34 can be located in an upper part 105, which can also comprise a controller of the printer, capable of managing the sequencing of actions and carrying out treatments enabling the activation of the different functions of the ink circuit and the print head.
  • An air circulation system generates an air flow within the cabinet to cool the heat generating components.
  • the air enters the cabinet through an air inlet 2 and is evacuated outside of the cabinet through an outlet 20. It circulates through said cabinet under the action of an air circulation device 12.
  • the air flow path thus created is separated in at least two distinct flow paths:
  • FIG. 1B Other internal structures of a printer cabinet 100', 100" according to the invention are illustrated on figures 1B and 1C ; they have the same features as explained above in connection with figure 1A , with the following differences:
  • an air circulation system generates two or three air flows within the cabinet to cool the heat generating components, the air entering the cabinet through an air inlet 2, and two or three air flows circulating through said cabinet under the action of an air circulation device 12 and being evacuated outside of the cabinet through outlet 20.
  • the air circulation device 12 comprises for example a fan or an air pump.
  • FIG. 1C A first detailed example of a printer cabinet 100 (also called console or printer body) according to the invention is illustrated on figure 2 . It has the general internal structure of figure 1C and comprises:
  • the air circulation device 12 is located downstream from said power supply 34 and preferably close to the outlet 20.
  • said second air flow path comprises also comprises one or more electronic circuit(s), for example a circuit of the controller 33, over or along which the air also flows.
  • Air can be evacuated from said upper compartment through one or more duct(s) or pipe(s) 36 connecting an area close to the power supply 34 to an area close to the air circulation device 12.
  • an inlet 36i of at least one of said duct(s) or pipe(s) is located close to the upper wall 21 of the cabinet, so that it is able to evacuate the hottest air from said upper part 105.
  • the power supply 34 in the upper part 105 is located less than 10 cm or less than 5 cm from said upper wall 21; this applies regardless of the position of the power supply 34 in the upper part 105: in another embodiment (not illustrated), the power supply is located on the wall 32 but the inlet 36i remains preferably close to the upper wall 21 in order to evacuate the hottest air from this upper compartment.
  • the example of figure 2 comprises a third flow path 7 which is formed for example by air flowing from the first and/or the second flow path.
  • different zones or compartments inside the cabinet for example a front zone or compartment (which comprises cartridge receiving portions and can host cartridges (a cartridge 7c is visible on figure 2 ) and possibly one or more filter(s) and/or an ink recovery module) and a back zone or compartment (which can host for example a main reservoir, and possibly some ducts and solenoid valves), can be delimited by said internal wall(s) 30, 32 which are fixed to one or more lateral wall(s) or side(s) 11, 13, 17, of the cabinet.
  • Air can flow through said wall(s) for example through one or more opening(s) or hole(s) or slot(s) 30a, 32a and/or along the lines where said internal wall(s) 30, 32 join said lateral wall(s) or side(s) 11, 13, 17.
  • Such an air flow can be sufficient to evacuate some heat from at least one further, or third, heat generating component 42, for example a condenser which condenses solvent from air.
  • Said third air flow path thus comprises said third component 42 and said air circulation device 12.
  • the air flows into said third air flow path from said first and/or second air flow paths, then over the third component 42, which is located upstream from the air circulation device 12, and then through said outlet 20. More precisely, air can be evacuated from said component 42 through one or more ducts 37; in a particular embodiment, the printer has no third heat generating component 42, but the third air flow path is used to evacuate hot air from inside said back zone or area of the cabinet.
  • air flows 2, 4, 62, 64 can flow through the slits 2 1 ( figure 3B ), 4 1 ( figure 2 ), 62 1 ( figure 3B ) between the door and the 4 sides of the cabinet (a 4 th slit for the air flow 64 on the lateral side of the cabinet opposed to lateral side 13 is not visible on figure 3B ) and then along the seal 61 ( figure 3C ) towards the filter(s) 40. Downstream from the filter outlet the filtered air separates into two flows, one circulating in the upper part 105 of the cabinet, without circulating in the lower part, the other one in the lower part 104.
  • Bottom slit 4 is preferably the one offering the largest section for the air flow and is located horizontally so that water flows used to clean the front side of the cabinet cannot penetrate into the cabinet.
  • the lower air flow 4 which enters the cabinet along the lower side of the door can be guided by one or more front foot/feet 43 of the cabinet, so that the hot air flowing out of the cabinet through the air outlet(s) 20 cannot mix with the air in front of the cabinet and flows towards the back side as illustrated on figure 1 by the double arrows between the lower floor 19 of the cabinet and the ground floor 57.
  • Figures 3C and 4 show how air filtered by the filter(s) 40 can be separated into two flows.
  • the filtered air exits the filter(s) and flows into the upper part of the cabinet though an inlet 9, a grid in the illustrated example.
  • part of the air (which has not yet extracted heat from the components located in said upper part) flows towards the air inlet 8 (which can be an opening in a wall between the upper compartment and the front compartment) of the first flow path, into the front compartment (where the ink pump 10 is located); the rest of the filtered air flows in the upper part 105, along the voltage supply 34 and possibly along one or more electronic component(s) or part(s) forming for example the controller 33.
  • the cabinet can include means, for example one or more walls 81 ( figure 3C ), for separating the air in said first flow path and said second air flow path.
  • the inlet of the first air flow is made by a duct inlet which is located against the outlet side of the filter 40.
  • the air filter(s) 40 can be located behind a front wall 60 which extends above the closed door 6 (see figure 3B ).
  • a slit 63 gives access to a filter compartment 41 (see figure 3C ), where the filter(s) 40 can be fixed (for example it can be clamped) and from where it can be removed.
  • the wall 60 protects the filter(s) from water jets which can be used to wash the front door.
  • the at least one air circulation device(s) 12 is preferably located close to the outlet(s) 20 from the cabinet. As illustrated on figures 1A-1C and 2 , all air flows can converge on the device 12 so that a unique outlet flow flows through the outlet 20, thereby evacuating part of the heat generated by the different heat generating devices of the cabinet.
  • the different air flows can be combined in an exhaust chamber or box 46 which guides the air from the air circulation device towards the filter 44 or the air outlet 20.
  • a variant of the exhaust system is illustrated on figure 5 , the exhaust chamber 46 being downstream from a chamber (having for example the shape of an inlet channel) 47 in which the different evacuated air streams are collected though connections 461, 462. The air is then evacuated from said chamber 47 through the air circulation device 12 and possibly the exhaust chamber 46.
  • the lower air flow 4 which enters the cabinet can be guided by one or more front foot/feet 43, so that the hot air flowing out of the cabinet from the air outlet(s) 20 cannot penetrate again into the air circulation system.
  • a vertical part 43a (see figure 2 ) of the foot/feet prevents the air coming from under the cabinet, and in particular the air flowing out of the cabinet through the hole(s) 20, to be recirculated into the air circulation system.
  • the cabinet 100 of a CIJ printer according to the invention is illustrated on figure 6 in combination with a print head 101 and a flexible umbilical cord 103 containing the hydraulic and electrical connections required for operation of the head, giving it a flexibility which facilitates inclusion of the head on a production line.
  • Reference 105 is a printing support on which a message is printed.
  • Such a printer can be integrated into a packaging machine.
  • the lower part of the cabinet can comprise an ink cartridge receiving portion 82a and a solvent cartridge receiving portion 84a (on figure 6 A, both cartridges are unplugged); it also comprises at least part of the ink circuit, including for example a pump module 110 (containing pump 10 already mentioned above), and possibly a filter module 130 and/or a recovery module 150 which recovers ink not used for printing from the print head.
  • References 112c and 114c are means of fluidic connections, to which cartridges are connected when they are inserted into the cartridge receiving portions.
  • a cartridge 7c is illustrated on figure 2 .
  • the modules 110, 130, 150 are accessible from the front side of the printer, so that they can be easily disassembled from the circuit by an operator, independently of each other.
  • FIG. 7B A rear view of the cabinet is illustrated on figure 7B , showing the main reservoir 80 and a portion of exhaust chamber 46.
  • the ducts, valves and the other pumps of the circuit are not shown on figures 7A-B , but are also included in the hydraulic circuit.
  • the cabinet 100 is hydraulically and electrically connected to a print head 101 by an umbilical 103.
  • An example of a print circuit is for example disclosed in EP3098075 .
  • the temperature differences are thus much higher for a CIJ printer cabinet having a single air flow path than for CIJ printer cabinet having an air circulation system according to the invention.

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  • Ink Jet (AREA)
EP21306659.0A 2020-12-30 2021-11-29 Luftzirkulationssystem für einen kontinuierlich arbeitenden tintenstrahldrucker Pending EP4186705A1 (de)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP21306659.0A EP4186705A1 (de) 2021-11-29 2021-11-29 Luftzirkulationssystem für einen kontinuierlich arbeitenden tintenstrahldrucker
EP21844796.9A EP4271569A1 (de) 2020-12-30 2021-12-30 Kontinuierlicher tintenstrahldrucker
US18/270,620 US20240227410A1 (en) 2020-12-30 2021-12-30 Continuous Inkjet Printer
CN202180094668.5A CN117120268A (zh) 2020-12-30 2021-12-30 连续喷墨打印机
PCT/EP2021/087878 WO2022144430A1 (en) 2020-12-30 2021-12-30 Continuous inkjet printer

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP21306659.0A EP4186705A1 (de) 2021-11-29 2021-11-29 Luftzirkulationssystem für einen kontinuierlich arbeitenden tintenstrahldrucker

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP4186705A1 true EP4186705A1 (de) 2023-05-31

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP21306659.0A Pending EP4186705A1 (de) 2020-12-30 2021-11-29 Luftzirkulationssystem für einen kontinuierlich arbeitenden tintenstrahldrucker

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EP (1) EP4186705A1 (de)
CN (1) CN117120268A (de)

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20050157095A1 (en) * 2004-01-21 2005-07-21 Kia Silverbrook Printhead tile for use in a printing system
US20110043583A1 (en) * 2009-08-21 2011-02-24 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Continuous web printer with air platen
US20120306949A1 (en) * 2010-02-01 2012-12-06 Rolland Nicolas Device forming a continuous inkjet printer cabinet with reduced concentrations of solvent vapor inside and around the cabinet
US20130286077A1 (en) * 2010-11-19 2013-10-31 Domino Printing Sciences Plc Inkjet printers
EP3098075A1 (de) 2015-05-29 2016-11-30 Dover Europe Sàrl Verfahren und vorrichtung zur verwaltung der tintenqualität in einem tintenstrahldrucker
US10421303B2 (en) * 2015-06-15 2019-09-24 Videojet Technologies Inc. Air filter for ink jet printer
US10442204B2 (en) * 2015-12-22 2019-10-15 Dover Europe Sàrl Inkjet printer with improved solvent recovery circuit

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20050157095A1 (en) * 2004-01-21 2005-07-21 Kia Silverbrook Printhead tile for use in a printing system
US20110043583A1 (en) * 2009-08-21 2011-02-24 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Continuous web printer with air platen
US20120306949A1 (en) * 2010-02-01 2012-12-06 Rolland Nicolas Device forming a continuous inkjet printer cabinet with reduced concentrations of solvent vapor inside and around the cabinet
US20130286077A1 (en) * 2010-11-19 2013-10-31 Domino Printing Sciences Plc Inkjet printers
EP3098075A1 (de) 2015-05-29 2016-11-30 Dover Europe Sàrl Verfahren und vorrichtung zur verwaltung der tintenqualität in einem tintenstrahldrucker
US10421303B2 (en) * 2015-06-15 2019-09-24 Videojet Technologies Inc. Air filter for ink jet printer
US10442204B2 (en) * 2015-12-22 2019-10-15 Dover Europe Sàrl Inkjet printer with improved solvent recovery circuit

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