JP2007105978A - Ink feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink feeding apparatus capable of holding the back pressure of an ink to an ink delivering head constant and extremely decreasing the remaining amount of the ink in an ink container while complication of the constitution and increase in the manufacturing cost are suppressed. <P>SOLUTION: The ink feeding apparatus for feeding the ink to the ink delivering head has an ink container mounting part, a chamber room 6 for keeping the liquid level of the ink at a specified position, and a communicating means 10 for communicating the inside of the ink container 7 mounted in the ink container mounting part with the inside of the chamber room 6. The communicating means has a liquid flow path 12 through which the ink in the ink container passes, and a gas flow path 11 through which the gas in the chamber room passes. An opening part 15 of the liquid flow path in the chamber room is arranged at a lower position in the vertical direction than an opening part 16 of the gas flow path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink supply device, and more particularly to an ink supply device that supplies ink to an ink discharge head of an inkjet printer.

Currently, ink jet printers that perform printing by attaching ink in dots on paper, cloth, and various materials have been put into practical use.
In order for an ink jet printer to operate stably, it is necessary to constantly supply ink at a predetermined pressure to an ink ejection head that ejects ink. However, in the ink container that supplies the ink, the liquid level decreases as the ink is consumed, causing the back pressure of the ink applied to the ink ejection head to change. When the back pressure is high, dripping occurs, and when the back pressure is low, dripping occurs and print quality is greatly reduced.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of the ink cartridge. The ink 103 is accommodated in the aluminum pack 102, and the aluminum pack 102 is further accommodated in the case 100.
A supply port 101 is disposed in the aluminum pack, and the ink 103 is led out of the cartridge from the supply port 101.

  FIG. 10 shows a state in which the ink cartridge shown in FIG. 9 is connected to the ink discharge head 110. An ink supply pipe 111 is connected to the ink discharge head 110, and the other end of the pipe is connected to the joint 112. By joining the supply port 101 of the ink cartridge to the joint 112, the ink 103 in the cartridge can be supplied to the ink discharge head. Note that the left side of the dashed line in FIG. 9 is the ink jet printer main body, and the right side is an ink cartridge mounted on the printer main body.

  However, when ink is consumed, the liquid level of the ink 103 gradually decreases, and the back pressure of the ink applied to the ink ejection head also changes. For this reason, as mentioned above, it becomes a cause of occurrence of dripping or dripping. Further, in the cartridge as shown in FIG. 9, since it is difficult to discharge all the ink in the aluminum pack, the remaining amount of ink is large (10 to 20% of the total ink amount remains), and waste occurs.

On the other hand, as a method of adjusting the ink back pressure, as shown in Patent Document 1, a method of detecting a liquid level of a sub tank and controlling a pump and a valve for supplying ink to the sub tank, or Patent Documents 2 to 4 are disclosed. As shown in FIG. 4, a method of moving the tank itself up and down according to a change in the liquid level in the tank, a method of overflowing the liquid level communicating with the ink ejection head as shown in Patent Document 5 or 6, etc. Has been.
JP 2002-120374 A JP-A-10-109425 JP 2001-18411 A JP 2003-334967 A JP-A-11-91130 JP 2002-67350 A

However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires a mechanism for detecting the position of the liquid level, a pump and a valve, and a control device for controlling the operation thereof, which complicates the structure and increases the cost of the device. There is a problem of becoming.
Also in Patent Documents 2 to 4, a mechanism for detecting the position of the liquid level, a mechanism for moving the tank up and down, and a control device for controlling these operations are required, and the structure is similarly complicated. In addition, there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus increases.
In the method shown in Patent Document 5 or 6, the overflowing configuration itself is simple, but a pump for returning the overflowed ink to the tank again is necessary, and there is a problem that the cost of the apparatus increases.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to keep the back pressure of ink to the ink ejection head constant while suppressing the complexity of the configuration and the increase in manufacturing cost. Is to provide a simple ink supply device. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink supply device capable of extremely reducing the ink remaining amount in the ink container.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device that supplies ink to the ink discharge head, the ink container mounting portion, the chamber chamber for maintaining the ink liquid level at a predetermined position, and the ink container mounting portion are mounted. Communication means for communicating between the ink container and the chamber chamber, the communication means having a liquid flow path through which the ink in the ink container passes and a gas flow path through which the gas in the chamber chamber passes. In addition, the opening of the liquid channel in the chamber is arranged at a lower position in the vertical direction than the opening of the gas channel.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the first aspect, the communication means is arranged such that the gas flow path is concentrically arranged around the liquid flow path, and the communication means is arranged on the ink container side. The tip is formed in a needle shape.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to the first or second aspect, the opening on the ink container side of the gas flow path has an opening area through which only gas can pass without passing ink. Features.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to any one of the first to third aspects, at least a portion including the chamber chamber is set to be vertically adjustable.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the ink supply device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a temporary storage container is provided between the chamber chamber and the ink discharge head, and an ink liquid is provided in the temporary storage container. Floating means that moves up and down by a change in the surface and opening / closing means that opens and closes an inlet for ink supplied from the chamber chamber when the float means moves up and down are provided.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the ink container mounted on the ink container mounting portion is an ink container having a rubber-like cap. And

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device that supplies ink to the ink discharge head, a temporary storage container is provided between the ink container and the ink discharge head, and the temporary storage container has a change in the ink level. Floating means that moves up and down, and opening / closing means that opens and closes an inlet for ink supplied from the chamber chamber when the floating means moves up and down are provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device that supplies ink to the ink ejection head, the ink container mounting portion, the chamber chamber for maintaining the ink liquid surface at a predetermined position, and the ink container mounting portion are mounted. Communication means for communicating between the ink container and the chamber chamber, the communication means having a liquid flow path through which the ink in the ink container passes and a gas flow path through which the gas in the chamber chamber passes. At the same time, the opening of the liquid channel in the chamber is disposed at a lower position in the vertical direction than the opening of the gas channel, so that the liquid in the chamber does not have any mechanical operation part. The surface can be held constant. As a result, the positional relationship between the liquid level in the chamber and the ink ejection head can be kept constant at all times, and the back pressure of the ink applied to the ink ejection head can be kept constant.
Further, since only the communication means is arranged in the ink container, the ink in the ink container can be discharged almost completely up to the liquid level where the liquid flow path of the communication means is located.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the communication means has the gas flow path concentrically arranged around the liquid flow path, and the tip of the communication means on the ink container side is formed in a needle shape. It can be easily inserted into the ink container. In addition, the liquid channel and the gas channel can be easily arranged in the ink container simply by inserting the communication means into the ink container.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the opening on the ink container side of the gas flow path has an opening area that allows only gas to pass without passing ink, so that a complicated configuration such as a one-way valve or an electromagnetic valve is used. And a gas flow path can be secured.

  According to the invention of claim 4, since at least the portion including the chamber chamber is set so as to be movable up and down, the position of the chamber chamber depends on the position of the ink discharge head and the location where the ink supply device is disposed. Can be easily adjusted, and an ink supply device that does not depend on the type of ink jet printer or the location of the ink supply device can be provided.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a temporary storage container is provided between the chamber chamber and the ink ejection head, a float means that moves up and down by a change in the ink liquid level in the temporary storage container, and a vertical movement of the float means. Since the opening / closing means for opening and closing the inlet for the ink supplied from the chamber chamber is provided, the liquid level of the ink can be maintained at a predetermined position even in the temporary storage container. In combination with this mechanism, it is possible to provide a more stable ink back pressure.

  According to the invention of claim 6, since the ink container mounted on the ink container mounting portion is an ink container having a rubber-like cap, the communication means can be easily passed through the cap, It is also possible to prevent ink leakage and the like by closely contacting the gap with the cap.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in the ink supply device for supplying ink to the ink discharge head, a temporary storage container is provided between the ink container and the ink discharge head, and the temporary storage container has a change in the ink liquid level. Since the float means that moves up and down and the opening and closing means that opens and closes the inlet of the ink supplied from the chamber chamber by the vertical movement of the float means, a stable ink back pressure can be applied to the ink discharge head even with only a temporary storage container. It becomes possible to provide. In addition, as the ink container, any shape can be used as long as ink can be constantly supplied to the temporary storage container, and a wide variety of ink containers can be used.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using preferred examples.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which an ink supply apparatus according to the present invention is connected to an ink jet printer. Reference numeral 1 denotes an ink discharge head, 2 an ink supply pipe for supplying ink to the ink discharge head, and 3 a joint provided at the other end of the supply pipe. The joint 3 is connected to a joint 3 ′ attached to the tip of a tube 4 extending from the ink supply device, and keeps the tube 4 and the supply pipe 2 in communication.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a cartridge that holds the tip portion of the tube 4 and the joint portion 3 ′. By inserting and fixing the cartridge 5 in a predetermined position of the ink jet printer main body, the joint portion 3 ′ disposed at the tip end of the tube 4 is It can be brought into contact with the joint 3 on the main body side. Therefore, the cartridge 5 can be omitted, and the joint 3 ′ at the tip of the tube 4 can be directly engaged with the joint 3.

The ink supply device has a chamber chamber 6 from which a tube 4 extends. Ink supply to the chamber chamber is performed via the communication means 10 by attaching a replaceable ink container 7 containing the ink 9 to the ink supply device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the feature of the present invention is that the distance h between the position of the ink ejection head (dashed line AA ′) and the position of the liquid surface of the ink 8 in the chamber chamber (dashed line B) in the vertical direction. Is always kept in a fixed positional relationship.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the ink container 8 and the chamber chamber 6 in more detail.
The communication means 10 for connecting the inside of the ink container 8 and the inside of the chamber chamber 6 has the shape shown in FIG. It has a structure in which two pipes, an inner pipe having a needle-like tip and an outer pipe surrounding it, are arranged concentrically, and the inside of the inner pipe constitutes a liquid flow path 12, and the outer pipe and the inner pipe Constitutes a gas flow path 11. An opening 13 into which ink flows is formed in the upper part of the inner pipe, and the ink that flows in from the opening 13 is discharged from the lower opening 15. Further, the gas flows in from the opening 16 between the outer pipe and the inner pipe formed on the lower side of the communication means 10 and is discharged from the opening 14 formed on the upper side.

The shape of the opening 14 of the gas flow path 11 is wide enough to discharge the gas, and has an opening area that is narrow to the extent that ink does not flow from the opening 14 due to the surface tension of the ink itself.
Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the two flow paths are arranged concentrically, and the tip of the pipe constituting the flow path is formed in a needle shape so that the cap of the ink container (particularly the rubber cap) can be easily penetrated. Therefore, the ink container can be easily attached to the ink supply device.

Note that the communication means 10 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 3, and the liquid flow path and the gas flow path may be configured by separate pipes and arranged in parallel.
In addition, when the ink container cap is provided with the upper half of the communication means, the lower half of the communication means is provided on the chamber chamber side of the ink supply device, and the ink container is attached to the ink supply device, the communication is divided into two parts. It is also possible to configure the means so that they can be connected to each other.

Next, the operation of the chamber chamber 6 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the amount of ink 8 in the chamber 6 is small, as shown in FIG. 2A, the ink stored in the ink container 7 enters the liquid flow path 12 from the opening 13 and the chamber from the lower opening 15. Installed indoors (see solid arrows). On the other hand, the air in the chamber enters the gas flow path 11 through the opening 16 and is discharged into the ink container 7 through the opening 14 (see the dotted arrow).

  When a predetermined amount of ink 8 is accumulated in the chamber 6, as shown in FIG. 2B, the liquid surface of the ink 8 blocks the opening 16 of the gas flow path 11, and the gas in the chamber 6 is It cannot be discharged. For this reason, when the ink further flows into the chamber, the pressure of the gas in the chamber increases and the inflow of the ink is prevented. As a result, the liquid level of the ink 8 is always kept constant in the chamber chamber 6.

  Further, since the final remaining amount of ink in the ink container 7 is determined by the position of the opening 13 of the communication means 10, the opening 13 is brought as close as possible to the opening of the ink container 7 or the diameter near the opening of the ink container is set. The remaining amount of ink can be reduced as much as possible by a device such as narrowing.

  Furthermore, the ink in the chamber 6 is introduced into the tube 4 through the discharge port 17. The discharge port 17 can be provided with a plug that can be opened and closed as necessary. A plurality of discharge ports 17 may be provided according to the number of ink discharge heads that use the same ink.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ink container, which includes a container body 20 and a cap 21. The container body 20 is preferably formed of a transparent or translucent material so that the remaining amount of ink can be easily confirmed. Further, the cap 21 can be easily penetrated by the communication means 10 as shown in FIG. 3 and is made of an elastic material that adheres to the periphery of the communication means 10 and prevents liquid leakage when penetrating. It is preferable that a rubber-like material such as silicon rubber is more preferable.

  When the ink container of FIG. 4 is attached to the ink supply apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5, the container cap 21 is faced down and inserted into the container holding section 30 which is an ink container mounting section provided in the ink supply apparatus. Fix it. The communication means 10 is fixed to the inner bottom surface of the container holding part 30, and a part of the communication means 10 protrudes. Therefore, by strongly pushing the ink container 20, the communication means 10 penetrates through the cap 21 and enters the inside of the container, thereby realizing a communication state as shown in FIG.

  A container 31 constituting a chamber chamber is attached to the lower part of the container holding unit 30. The container 31 is preferably made of a transparent material so that the remaining amount of ink in the container can be easily confirmed. A discharge port 17 for discharging ink is provided at the bottom of the container 31.

A plurality of container holders 30 and chamber chamber containers 31 as shown in FIG. 5 can be arranged. For example, they can be fixedly arranged in parallel with a rack 43 as shown in FIG.
The rack 43 is erected on the leg portion 40 via the support columns 41 and 42. The support columns 41 and 42 can slide with respect to each other and move up and down as indicated by an arrow C to change the vertical position of the rack 43. With this configuration, the relationship between the liquid level position of the chamber chamber and the position of the ink discharge head can be adjusted.

The leg portion 40 may be provided with a caster or the like in order to facilitate the movement of the ink supply device.
Further, a level can be arranged on the rack 43 or the support column 41 to hold the array of chamber chamber containers 31 horizontally.

  A plurality of ink containers 20 are set in each container holding unit 30 arranged in the rack 43 of FIG. The ink in the ink container moves to the chamber chamber container 31 as shown in FIG. 2 or 5 and is supplied through the tube 4 in the direction of arrow D where the ink jet printer is arranged.

Next, a case where a liquid level adjustment mechanism is further provided in the cartridge 5 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the liquid level adjustment mechanism is provided in the cartridge 50 which is a temporary storage container. For example, the float 51 is configured to be rotatable around the rotation shaft 52 (see arrows). Further, the ink supplied by the tube 4 is introduced into the cartridge 50 through the introduction port 54. A stopper 53 serving as an opening / closing means is disposed on a part of the float, and the stopper 53 abuts or separates from the introduction port 54 corresponding to the movement of the float, and maintains the introduction port 54 in a closed state or an open state.
For example, the position of the stopper 53 can be moved and adjusted relative to the float 51 in the vertical direction using bolts, nuts, etc., so that the liquid level position of the ink in the container of the cartridge 51 can be varied up and down. It is also possible to adjust.

The movement of the float 51 is determined according to the amount of ink accumulated in the cartridge 50. When a predetermined amount of ink is accumulated, the stopper 53 closes the inlet 54, so that the ink level in the cartridge is always positioned. Will be maintained.
On the other hand, the ink in the cartridge is led out from the tube 55 and moves in the direction of the arrow F through the connecting portion 3 ′. On the arrow F side, a printer main body including an ink discharge head is disposed.
As described above, since the cartridge 5 is also provided with the liquid level adjustment mechanism, the liquid level can be more stably adjusted, and the ink back pressure of the ink discharge head can be kept constant.

Further, the cartridge 50 provided with the liquid level adjusting mechanism introduces not only ink supplied from the chamber chamber, but also introduces ink from various containers 60 containing ink through tubes 62 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to do. As the container 60, not only the tank type container shown in FIG. 4 but also various kinds of containers such as an aluminum pack container and a vinyl chloride container shown in FIG. 9 can be used.
Since the ink container 60 needs to be disposed at a position higher than the cartridge 50, it is preferable to use a holder such as a stand 61 as appropriate.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an ink supply device capable of maintaining a constant back pressure of ink to the ink ejection head while suppressing a complicated configuration and an increase in manufacturing cost. It becomes possible. Further, it is possible to provide an ink supply device capable of extremely reducing the ink remaining amount in the ink container.

It is the schematic which shows a mode that the ink supply apparatus and the ink discharge head were connected. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a chamber chamber. It is a figure which shows an example of a communication means. It is a perspective view of an ink container. It is a figure which shows a mode at the time of mounting | wearing an ink supply apparatus with an ink container. It is the schematic of the whole ink supply apparatus. It is a figure which shows the cartridge provided with the liquid level adjustment mechanism. It is a figure which shows the other usage example which concerns on the cartridge of FIG. It is a figure which shows the conventional ink cartridge. It is a figure which shows a mode that the ink cartridge of FIG. 8 was connected to the ink discharge head.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,110 Ink discharge head 2,111 Ink supply pipe 3,3 ', 112,101 Connection part 4,62 Tube 5 Cartridge 6 Chamber chamber 7,20,60 Ink container 8,9,103 Ink 10 Communication means 11 Gas flow Channel 12 Liquid channel 13, 14, 15, 16 Opening 17 Ejection port 21 Cap 30 Container holding unit 31 Chamber chamber container 40 Legs 41, 42 Column 43 Rack 50 Liquid level adjusting mechanism cartridge 51 Float 52 Rotating shaft 53 Stopper 54 Inlet port 55 Discharge tube 61 Stand 100 Aluminum packed cartridge 102 Aluminum packed container

Claims (7)

In an ink supply device for supplying ink to an ink discharge head,
An ink container mounting part;
A chamber chamber for maintaining the ink level in place;
Communication means for communicating between the inside of the ink container mounted on the ink container mounting portion and the chamber chamber;
The communication means has a liquid flow path through which ink in the ink container passes and a gas flow path through which gas in the chamber passes, and an opening of the liquid flow path in the chamber chamber An ink supply device, wherein the ink supply device is disposed at a position below the opening of the flow path in the vertical direction.   2. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein the communication means has the gas flow path concentrically arranged around the liquid flow path, and the tip of the communication means on the ink container side is formed in a needle shape. An ink supply device.   3. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein the opening on the ink container side of the gas flow path has an opening area through which only gas can pass without passing ink. 4.   The ink supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least a portion including the chamber chamber is set to be vertically adjustable.   5. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein a temporary storage container is provided between the chamber chamber and the ink discharge head, and the temporary storage container has a float that moves up and down due to a change in ink liquid level. And an ink supply means for opening and closing an inlet for the ink supplied from the chamber chamber by the vertical movement of the float means.   6. The ink supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink container mounted on the ink container mounting portion is an ink container having a rubber-like cap. In an ink supply device for supplying ink to an ink discharge head,
A temporary storage container is provided between the ink container and the ink discharge head, and a float means that moves up and down by a change in the ink liquid level in the temporary storage container, and is supplied from the chamber chamber by the vertical movement of the float means. An ink supply means comprising an opening / closing means for opening and closing an ink inlet.

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