JP2008126132A - Droplet jetting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a droplet jetting device capable of preventing a jetted droplet from adhering to a nozzle by wind. <P>SOLUTION: This droplet jetting device comprises the nozzle 28, a jetting head 10 for jetting the droplet from the nozzle 28, and a windshield member 14 including the opening part 14a which encloses the surroundings of the nozzle 28 and passes the droplet therethrough. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a droplet discharge device, and more particularly to a droplet discharge device that discharges a droplet containing a pheromone substance.

  An inkjet discharge head used in a printing apparatus such as a printer can perform highly accurate discharge control. In recent years, attention has been paid to this point, and attempts have been made to apply the ink jet discharge head to other fields that require highly accurate discharge control.

As a part thereof, for example, a method of spraying a communication disruptor using a pheromone for controlling pests using an ink jet type discharge head is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-247814 A

  However, since the inkjet discharge head is installed outdoors, its discharge state is often influenced by the environment. In particular, if the discharged droplet is pushed back by the wind and adheres to the nozzle surface and covers the nozzle, there is a possibility that the ejection is stopped.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a droplet discharge device capable of preventing discharged droplets from adhering to a nozzle by wind.

  The droplet discharge device according to the present invention is provided with a nozzle, and includes a droplet discharge unit that discharges a droplet from the nozzle, and a windbreak member that surrounds the nozzle and includes an opening that allows the droplet to pass therethrough. And having.

  In the droplet discharge device according to the present invention, the droplet discharged from the nozzle of the droplet discharge means is hardly affected by the wind inside the windbreak member, so that the droplet is prevented from being bent or decelerated. Then, it reaches the opening of the windbreak member. The liquid droplets flow after receiving the wind after exiting the windbreak member, but can be prevented from returning to the inside of the windbreak member and adhering to the nozzle.

  The droplet discharge means is provided with a plurality of nozzles, and the windbreak member surrounds the group with the plurality of nozzles as one group. Thereby, the structure of a windbreak member can be simplified, suppressing the influence by a wind.

  The edge of the opening extends outward from the position corresponding to the nozzle by not less than 0.1d and not more than 0.5d, where d is the distance between the opening surface and the nozzle. Thereby, it can suppress that a droplet receives the influence of a wind inside a windbreak member, while a droplet passes through an opening part.

  The droplet discharge means discharges the droplet in a vertically downward direction. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the liquid droplets once ejected from adhering to the nozzles again. Alternatively, the droplet discharge means may discharge droplets in a direction that intersects the vertical direction.

  A shaft portion that rotatably supports the droplet discharge means; and a wind direction indicator plate that rotates the droplet discharge means so that the droplet discharge means comes downwind with respect to the shaft portion. As a result, even when the liquid droplets discharged from the nozzle of the liquid droplet discharging means are received by the wind, the liquid droplets can be prevented from adhering to the nozzles and other parts of the liquid droplet discharging device. While preventing a stable discharge operation, it is possible to reduce waste of liquid to be discharged.

  The droplet discharge means discharges a droplet containing pheromone as the droplet. Thereby, the pheromone can be stably discharged without being affected by the wind, and the pest can be controlled.

(First embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a droplet discharge device according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the droplet discharge device includes a device main body 1, a shaft portion 2 that rotatably supports the device main body 1, and a wind direction indicator plate 3.

  The apparatus main body 1 is provided with an ejection head (droplet ejection means) on the lower surface, and ejects droplets vertically downward. For example, one end of the shaft portion 2 is installed on the ground, and the apparatus main body portion 1 is attached to a position of an appropriate height of the shaft portion 2. Note that a plurality of apparatus main body portions 1 may be attached to one shaft portion 2.

  The wind direction indicating plate 3 is provided to rotate the apparatus main body 1 so that the apparatus main body 1 comes leeward with respect to the shaft 2 serving as the rotation axis of the main body. For example, the wind direction indicating plate 3 is composed of a plate-like member disposed from the shaft portion 2 toward the outside thereof. Although the wind direction indicating plate 3 is shown as being attached to the apparatus main body 1, it may be attached to the shaft 2.

  In the droplet discharge device having the above configuration, when the wind blows in a state where the droplet discharge device is installed outdoors, the wind direction indicator plate 3 receives the wind, so that the main surface of the wind direction indicator plate 3 is in the wind direction. The shaft portion 2 rotates so as to be parallel to the shaft portion, and the apparatus main body portion 1 is always arranged leeward with respect to the shaft portion 2. Accordingly, the droplets discharged from the apparatus main body 1 are discharged to the surroundings without hitting the shaft 2.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an appearance of the apparatus main body 1, and FIG. 2B is a diagram for explaining the internal structure of the apparatus main body 1.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the apparatus main body 1 includes a lid 4 that can be opened and closed on the front surface, and an operation panel 5. The operator can set a droplet discharge period, a discharge amount per unit time, and the like through the operation panel 5. The discharge amount can be set finely according to the date, time, and temperature.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, inside the apparatus, there are a battery mounting portion 7 for mounting a battery 6 serving as a power source, a tank 9 containing a discharge liquid 8, and a discharge liquid supplied from the tank 9. A discharge head (droplet discharge means) 10 for discharging eight droplets to the outside, a tank mounting portion 12 for mounting the tank 9, and a drive circuit 13 are provided.

  The battery 6 is a portable power source, for example, a dry battery, and supplies power necessary to drive the apparatus main body 1. Note that the battery 6 does not necessarily need to be driven. For example, the battery 6 may be driven using a household power source that receives power supply by a power feeding unit.

  The battery 6 and the tank 9 can be exchanged by removing the lid 4 attached to the front surface of the apparatus main body 1. In this embodiment, an example in which the tank 9 and the discharge head 10 are integrally configured as a cartridge 11 is shown. It may be configured to be detachably attached to the.

  As the ejection liquid 8, a pheromone substance (sex pheromone) is preferably used. Further, the discharge liquid 8 may be 100% sex pheromone, or may be diluted with an appropriate solvent (eg, alcohol).

  In recent years, in the field of agriculture, pesticide reduction has been demanded, and as a part of this, a method for controlling pests using sex pheromones has attracted attention. This extermination method uses the sex pheromone produced by insects to disrupt the pest mating, thereby reducing the number of next-generation pests without killing the pests, thereby reducing the damage caused by the pests It is. The droplet discharge device of the present embodiment can be suitably used particularly for a pest control method using such a sex pheromone spray.

  Examples of sex pheromones include aliphatic acetates, aliphatic aldehydes, and aliphatic alcohols. Among these, the present invention is particularly suitable for aliphatic acetates, aliphatic aldehydes or aliphatic alcohols having 6 or more carbon atoms, preferably 10 or more carbon atoms.

  More specific examples of the sex pheromone include, for example, lauryl acetate, (Z) -11-hexadecenal, (Z) -11-hexadecenyl acetate, (Z) -8-dodecenyl acetate, and (Z) -9-dodecenyl. = Acetate, (Z) -11-tetradecenyl = acetate, 11-dodecenyl = acetate, (Z) -9-tetradecenyl = acetate, 10-methyl-dodecyl = acetate, (Z) -11-hexadecenyl = acetate, (Z) Aliphatic acetates such as -11-tetradecenyl acetate, (Z) -9-tetradecenyl acetate, 10-methyl-dodecyl acetate, (Z) -9-dodecenyl acetate, 11-dodecenyl acetate; (Z)- 11-tetradecene-1-ol, (Z) -11-hexade Aliphatic alcohols such as sen-1-ol; aliphatic aldehydes such as (Z) -9-hexadecenal and (Z) -11-hexadecenal; Among these, those containing lauryl acetate, (Z) -11-hexadecenal, and (Z) -11-hexadecenyl = acetate are particularly preferably used. In addition, such a substance may be used individually by 1 type, or may be used in combination of 2 or more type. As what contains 2 or more types, the konagakon containing (Z) -11-hexadecenal and (Z) -11-hexadecenyl = acetate is mentioned, for example.

  The drive circuit 13 performs control when the ejection liquid 8 is ejected as droplets from the ejection head 10, and includes a control panel (not shown in FIG. 2B). The drive circuit 13 controls, for example, the time period during which droplets are ejected, the amount of ejected droplets at a predetermined time (eg, what month to what month), and the like. The control conditions for performing this control may be preset in the drive circuit 13 with a ROM or the like in advance. For example, the control conditions can be appropriately changed by transmitting the control conditions to the drive circuit 13 by wireless communication. Also good. It is also possible to set and change control conditions using the operation panel 5.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tank 9 and the ejection head 10 used in the apparatus main body 1. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 indicates a part of the tank mounting portion.
As shown in FIG. 3, in this example, the discharge head 10 and the tank 9 are integrated to form a cartridge 11. The tank 9 of the cartridge 11 is attached to the tank attachment portion 12. A discharge liquid 8 (not shown in FIG. 3) is accommodated in the tank 9. The tank 9 is made of, for example, a flexible rubber material that is resistant to the discharging liquid 8 to be stored.

  In the apparatus main body 1, when the ejection head 10 is driven and droplets are ejected to the outside, the ejection head 10 is newly filled with the ejection liquid 8 accommodated in the tank 9. At this time, if the tank 9 is made of a rubber material having flexibility, the tank 9 is subjected to a restoring force that once deforms and then returns to its original state. By using the restoring force of the tank 9 to apply a constant negative pressure to the discharge head 10, liquid leakage from the discharge head 10 can be prevented. For example, fluoro rubber is preferably used as the flexible rubber material constituting the tank 9.

  As the ejection head 10, a so-called ink jet type is used, and the driving method is not particularly limited, and electrostatic driving, piezoelectric driving, and bubble jet (registered trademark) (thermal method) may be used. However, it is preferable to use the electrostatic drive method or the piezoelectric drive method from the viewpoint that the sex pheromone is not affected by heat and the power consumption is low.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the ejection head 10.
As shown in FIG. 4, the ejection head 10 includes a pressurizing chamber substrate 21, an electrode substrate 22, and a cover glass 23.

  The pressurizing chamber substrate 21 is made of, for example, single crystal silicon, and is formed with recesses to be the liquid supply port 25, the orifice 26, the pressurizing chamber 27, and the nozzle 28 by etching or the like. The bottom surface of the pressurizing chamber 27 is a diaphragm 29, and a common electrode 30 for applying a voltage is formed on the pressurizing chamber substrate 21.

The electrode substrate 22 is made of, for example, borosilicate glass, and a recess formed by etching or the like is formed in the IT substrate.
Individual electrodes 31 and wirings 32 made of O or the like are provided.
The cover glass 23 is made of borosilicate glass, single crystal silicon, or the like.

  In the ejection head 10 shown in FIG. 4, the above-described ejection liquid 8 is supplied from the tank 9 to the pressurizing chamber 27 through the liquid supply port 25 and the orifice 26. When a voltage is applied to the common electrode 30 and the individual electrode 31 from an external power source (not shown), the diaphragm 29 is attracted to the individual electrode 31 side by the electrostatic force generated thereby, and when the voltage is turned off, the electrostatic force is released and the original position is released. Trying to return. At this time, a minute droplet of about several picoliters (for example, about 100 pl) is ejected from the nozzle hole 28 by the pressure applied to the pressurizing chamber 27.

  FIG. 5A is a plan view of the nozzle surface (lower surface) of the apparatus main body 1 from which the discharge head 10 is exposed, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the discharge head 10.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the windshield member 14 surrounding the periphery of the ejection head 10 is fixed to the apparatus main body 1. The windbreak member 14 is provided with an opening 14 a for allowing liquid droplets ejected from the ejection head 10 to pass therethrough. The size of the opening 14a is designed so that a droplet can pass through. An opening 14 a is provided in a region facing the nozzle surface of the ejection head 10. Although it is preferable that the liquid droplets are ejected vertically downward from each nozzle of the ejection head 10, a desired angle may be given.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, one opening 14a is provided for the ejection head 10 including a plurality of nozzles (not shown). Although it is possible to provide a windbreak member for each nozzle 28 of the discharge head 10, the structure of the windbreak member 14 is simplified by providing a windshield member 14 that surrounds the group with a plurality of nozzles as one group. can do.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view for explaining the structure of the windbreak member 14.
As shown in FIG. 6, the windbreak member 14 is intended to eliminate the movement of air in the vicinity of the nozzles of the ejection head 10, and therefore it is desirable that the area of the opening 14 a through which the liquid droplets pass is as small as possible.

  The distance d from the nozzle 28 to the surface of the opening 14a of the windbreak member 14 is desirably 1 mm or more in order to avoid the droplets colliding with the inside of the windbreak member 14 being scattered and adhering to the nozzle 28. . Further, it is desirable that the distance d is 10 mm or less because it is necessary to maintain a sufficient speed when the droplet exits from the opening 14a.

  It is preferable that the edge part of the opening part 14a has spread outside the position corresponding to the outermost nozzle 28 in the opening part surface by a. Since there is a possibility that the discharge direction of the droplet is inclined by about 5 degrees (θ), it is preferable that a is d × tan θ≈0.1 d or more. In addition, if the opening 14a is too wide, airflow is likely to enter, so it is desirable that a be 1.0 d or less.

  FIG. 7A is a view for explaining the action of the windbreak member in the droplet discharge device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a view for explaining the state of droplet discharge when there is no windbreak member. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, when the windbreak member 14 is not provided, the discharged droplet 8a may be pushed back by the wind 40, and a part thereof may adhere to the nozzle surface of the discharge head 10. If the droplet 8a adheres to the nozzle surface, there is a possibility that the ejection is stopped.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7A, in the case where the windbreak member 14 is installed, the droplet 8a is not bent or decelerated to a minimum because it is not affected by the wind 40 immediately after discharge. Thus, the windshield member 14 reaches the opening 14a. Although the wind 40 is received after flowing out of the windbreak member 14, it is prevented from returning to the inside of the opening 14a and adhering to the nozzle surface. Even if it adheres to the outside of the windbreak member 14, it does not affect the subsequent ejection.

  According to the droplet discharge device according to the above-described embodiment, since the windbreak member 14 is provided around the discharge head 10, the droplets once discharged are reattached to the nozzle surface under the influence of the wind. This can be prevented, and the amount of droplets discharged can be stabilized.

  Further, by providing the wind direction indicating plate 3, the discharge head 10 always comes to the leeward side with respect to the shaft portion 2, so that the discharged liquid droplet moves in a direction away from the shaft portion 2. As a result, discharge loss due to adhesion to the ejection head, the shaft portion 2 and the apparatus main body portion 1 is reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the amount of droplets of pheromone and the like that have been released excessively.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the droplet discharge device according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, an example will be described in which droplets are ejected from the ejection head in a direction intersecting the vertical direction, for example, in the horizontal direction on the ground.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the apparatus main body 1 includes a discharge head (droplet discharge means) on the side surface, and discharges droplets in a direction intersecting the vertical direction, for example, in the horizontal direction. The nozzles of the discharge head are oriented in the direction toward the outside with the shaft portion 2 as the center. The shaft portion 2 supports the device main body portion 1 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane.

  In the droplet discharge device having the above configuration, when the wind blows in a state where the droplet discharge device is installed outdoors, the wind direction indicator plate 3 receives the wind, so that the main surface of the wind direction indicator plate 3 is in the wind direction. The shaft portion 2 rotates so as to be parallel to the shaft portion, and the apparatus main body portion 1 is always arranged leeward with respect to the shaft portion 2. As a result, the direction in which the liquid droplets are ejected coincides with the leeward direction, and the liquid droplets ejected from the apparatus main body 1 do not hit the ejection head, the shaft section 2 or the apparatus main body section 1 and do not touch the surroundings. Released.

The present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment.
In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is an external view of a droplet discharge device according to a first embodiment. (A) is an external view of an apparatus main body part, (b) is a figure which shows the internal structure of an apparatus main body part. It is a figure which shows an example of a tank and a discharge head. It is a figure which shows an example of a discharge head. (A) It is a top view of the nozzle surface of an apparatus main-body part, (b) is sectional drawing of the discharge head vicinity. It is an enlarged view which shows the structure of a windshield member. (A) is a figure for demonstrating an effect | action of a windbreak member, (b) is a figure for demonstrating the state when there is no windbreak member. It is an external view of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Apparatus main-body part, 2 ... Shaft part, 3 ... Wind direction indicator board, 4 ... Cover body, 5 ... Operation panel, 6 ... Battery, 7 ... Battery mounting part, 8 ... Discharge liquid, 8a ... Droplet, 9 ... Tank, 10 ... Discharge head, 11 ... Cartridge, 12 ... Tank mounting part, 13 ... Drive circuit, 14 ... Windbreak member, 14a ... Opening, 21 ... Pressurization chamber substrate, 22 ... Electrode substrate, 23 ... Cover glass, 25 ... Liquid supply port, 26 ... Orifice, 27 ... Pressurizing chamber, 28 ... Nozzle, 29 ... Diaphragm, 30 ... Common electrode, 31 ... Individual electrode, 32 ... Wiring, 40 ... Wind

Claims (7)

A nozzle, and droplet discharge means for discharging a droplet from the nozzle;
A windbreak member that surrounds the nozzle and includes an opening through which the droplets pass;
A droplet discharge device having The droplet discharge means is provided with a plurality of the nozzles,
The windbreak member has a plurality of the nozzles as one group and surrounds the periphery of the group.
The droplet discharge device according to claim 1. The edge of the opening extends outward from the position corresponding to the nozzle by 0.1 d or more and 0.5 d or less, where d is the distance between the opening surface and the nozzle.
The droplet discharge device according to claim 1 or 2. The droplet discharge means discharges the droplet vertically downward;
The droplet discharge device according to claim 1. The droplet discharge means discharges a droplet in a direction intersecting the vertical direction;
The droplet discharge device according to claim 1. A shaft portion that rotatably supports the droplet discharge means;
A wind direction indicator plate that rotates the droplet discharge means so that the droplet discharge means comes downwind with respect to the shaft portion;
The droplet discharge device according to claim 1, comprising: The droplet discharge means discharges a droplet containing a pheromone as the droplet;
The liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to claim 1.

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