JP2015182433A - Manufacturing method of liquid storage container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing apparatus of a liquid storage container capable of suppressing a reduction in productivity while performing sufficient deaeration treatment.SOLUTION: A manufacturing apparatus 1000 of a liquid storage container includes: first piping 100 connecting a storage section 10 storing ink L and containers 51a and 51b storing the ink L; first and second deaeration modules 41 being connected to the first piping 100 so as to communicate therewith in parallel with each other in a path of the first piping 100 and deaerating the ink L flowing therein; and a branch section 30 being disposed closer to a storage section 10 side than the first and second deaeration modules 41 and controlling an injection rate of the ink L injected into the first and second deaeration modules 41 in the first piping 100.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid container manufacturing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a liquid droplet ejection apparatus that ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles provided in a liquid droplet ejection head while moving the substrate and the liquid droplet ejection head relatively, and places the ink on the film formation surface of the substrate. Are known. In such an apparatus, liquid ink may be stored in a bag-like container called an “ink bag” formed of a film material having gas barrier properties and used while being appropriately discharged from the container.

  When ink is stored in such a container, the quality of the ink stored in the container may deteriorate. Such ink deterioration is caused by various causes such as oxidative deterioration due to the operation during ink injection and foreign matter contamination. Therefore, a technique capable of maintaining the quality of the stored ink has been demanded and developed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2014-4806 A

  The ink is usually injected into the container in a liquid container manufacturing apparatus having piping equipment. In such a manufacturing apparatus, in order to suppress oxidative deterioration of the ink, oxygen (dissolved oxygen) dissolved in the ink is removed before the ink is accommodated by using a reduced pressure environment, and reduced to a reference value or less. There is. Hereinafter, reducing the dissolved oxygen in the ink in this manner may be referred to as “deaeration” or “deaeration treatment”.

  When performing an ink injection operation while performing such a deaeration process in a manufacturing apparatus, a sufficient deaeration process is performed so that the dissolved oxygen concentration of the ink can be reduced to a reference value or less in order to suppress deterioration of the ink. There is a demand for it.

  For example, the ink deaeration process may be performed while flowing the ink in the deaeration facility in the deaeration facility connected to and connected to a pipe for feeding ink. In this case, in order to make the dissolved oxygen concentration of the ink equal to or less than the reference value, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient time for the ink to stay in the deaeration equipment. Since the flow rate of the ink flowing in the pipe strongly affects the filling speed, the manufacturing time of the liquid storage container tends to be prolonged for securing sufficient deaeration performance.

  On the other hand, in the ink filling operation performed in the manufacturing apparatus, there is a demand for suppressing a decrease in productivity due to the ink deaeration process in order to ensure productivity.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, Comprising: It aims at providing the manufacturing apparatus of the liquid storage container which can suppress the fall of productivity, performing sufficient deaeration processing. .

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an aspect of the present invention provides a first pipe that connects a storage unit that stores a liquid and a container that stores the liquid, and the first pipe in parallel with each other in a path of the first pipe. A first degassing module and a second degassing module which are connected in communication with the first pipe and degas the liquid flowing inside; and in the first pipe, the first degassing module and the first degassing module A liquid that is disposed closer to the reservoir than the second degassing module and has an injection amount control unit that controls an injection amount of the liquid injected into the first degassing module and the second degassing module. A container manufacturing apparatus is provided.

  According to this configuration, since it is possible to pass the injection amount when the liquid is injected into the first deaeration module and the second deaeration module, it is difficult for the deaeration process in each deaeration module to vary. By using a plurality of degassing modules, it is possible to perform degassing processing with stable quality.

  In addition, since a plurality of degassing modules can be used in combination, the amount of liquid that can be degassed per unit time increases. Therefore, even if the deaeration process is sufficiently performed by each deaeration module, it is possible to suppress a decrease in productivity.

  Therefore, according to the manufacturing apparatus for a liquid container having the above-described configuration, it is possible to provide a manufacturing apparatus for a liquid container that can suppress a decrease in productivity while performing sufficient deaeration processing.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the injection amount control unit includes the branch pipe that branches the first pipe into the first degas module and the second degas module, the branch pipe, and the first pipe. It is good also as a structure which has the valve respectively provided in the piping path between these deaeration modules, and the piping path between the said branch pipe and said 2nd deaeration module.
According to this configuration, even if the first degassing module and the second degassing module have different configurations, the same amount of liquid can be easily passed through each valve by operating the valve. The deaeration process can be performed without variation in the air module.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the injection amount control unit includes the branch pipe that branches the first pipe into the first degas module and the second degas module, the branch pipe, and the first pipe. And a pipe for connecting the branch pipe and the second degas module, respectively, and connecting the branch pipe and the first degas module. The pipe and the pipe connecting the branch pipe and the second deaeration module may have the same pressure loss.
According to this configuration, since the injection pressure at the time of injecting the liquid into the first degassing module and the second degassing module becomes equal, there is no variation in the flow rate of the liquid flowing into each degassing module. It is easy to let the same amount of liquid flow through the air module. Therefore, the deaeration process in each deaeration module is less likely to vary, and the deaeration process can be performed with a stable quality using a plurality of deaeration modules.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a pipe connecting between the branch pipe and the first deaeration module, and a pipe connecting between the branch pipe and the second deaeration module are: It is good also as a structure which has the same length.
According to this configuration, it is possible to easily equalize the pressure loss of the piping.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the first deaeration module and the second deaeration module may be provided at an equal distance from the branch pipe.
According to this configuration, it is possible to easily equalize the pressure loss of the piping.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the first pipe may include a foreign matter removing unit that removes the foreign matter mixed in the liquid on the reservoir side of the injection amount control unit.
According to this configuration, since the foreign matter in the liquid can be removed collectively before the first pipe branches at the injection amount control unit, a liquid container having a high-quality liquid can be efficiently manufactured. Is possible. In addition, since foreign matters are removed from the liquid flowing into the deaeration module, the efficiency of the deaeration operation in the deaeration module is improved.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the manufacturing apparatus of the liquid container of this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of a 1st storage part. It is a schematic diagram of a foreign material removal part. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of a deaeration module. It is a schematic diagram of a 1st injection | pouring part. It is explanatory drawing of deaeration operation in a deaeration module. It is explanatory drawing explaining the deaeration operation at the time of using a some deaeration module. It is explanatory drawing explaining the deaeration operation at the time of using a some deaeration module.

  Hereinafter, the manufacturing apparatus of the liquid container according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In all the drawings below, the dimensions and ratios of the constituent elements are appropriately changed in order to make the drawings easy to see.

(Liquid container manufacturing equipment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a liquid storage container manufacturing apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment. In the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid container according to this embodiment, for example, functional ink for forming an organic layer of an organic EL element using a droplet discharge device or a color filter using a droplet discharge device is formed. It is possible to manufacture a liquid container that contains the color ink.

  As shown in the figure, the manufacturing apparatus 1000 includes a storage unit 10 that stores a liquid (ink) L, and an injection unit 50 that injects the ink L into the containers 51a and 51b.

  In the present specification, the ink L that satisfies the predetermined quality is stored in the containers 51a and 51b is referred to as a “liquid storage container” that is an object to be manufactured. That is, the liquid storage container includes the containers 51a and 51b and the ink L stored in the containers 51a and 51b.

  The storage unit 10 and the injection unit 50 are connected by a first pipe 100 and a second pipe 200. In the first pipe 100, a foreign matter removing unit (foreign matter removing means) 20, a branching unit (injection amount control unit) 30, and a deaeration unit 40 are connected in this order from the storage unit 10 side. Further, the first pipe 100 connects the pipe 110 that connects the storage unit 10 and the foreign matter removing unit 20, the pipe 120 that connects the foreign matter removing unit 20 and the branch unit 30, and the branch unit 30 and the deaeration unit 40. The piping 130 and the piping 140 which connects the deaeration part 40 and the injection | pouring part 50 are provided.

Furthermore, a pressure adjusting unit 70 that pressurizes or depressurizes the inside of the storage unit 10 is connected to the storage unit 10. The pressure adjusting unit 70 includes a pipe 71 and a vacuum pump 72 connected to one end of the pipe 71 with a valve 711 interposed therebetween. The pipe 71 is partially branched and connected to a pressurization facility (not shown) with a valve 712 interposed therebetween. For example, nitrogen (N ₂ ) is supplied from the pressurizing facility.
Hereinafter, it demonstrates in order.

  The storage unit 10 includes a first storage unit 10A and a second storage unit 10B. 10 A of 1st storage parts have the tank 11a which stores the ink L, and the measuring device 12a which measures the mass of the tank 11a in which the ink L was stored. Similarly, the second storage unit 10B includes a tank 11b and a weighing device 12b.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the first storage unit 10A. A pipe 110 included in the first pipe 100, a second pipe 200, and a pipe 71 included in the pressure adjusting unit 70 are connected to the tank 11a of the first storage unit 10A. Since the second storage unit 10B has the same configuration as the first storage unit 10A, description thereof is omitted.

  The pipe 110 is connected to the pipe 112a with the valve 111a interposed therebetween. The end of the pipe 112a is buried in the ink L stored in the internal space 11x of the tank 11a.

  The second pipe 200 is connected to the pipe 202a with the valve 201a interposed therebetween. The pipe 202a extends to the internal space 11x of the tank 11a.

  The pipe 71 is connected to the tank 11a with the valve 713a interposed therebetween. The pressure adjusting unit 70 shown in FIG. 1 pressurizes the internal space 11x by supplying nitrogen to the internal space 11x of the tank 11a via the pipe 71. Further, the pressure adjusting unit 70 depressurizes the internal space 11x of the tank 11a through the pipe 71.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the piping 110 is branched into two on the storage unit 10 side, and is connected to the first storage unit 10 </ b> A and the second storage unit 10 </ b> B, respectively. Further, the end on the injection part 50 side is connected to the foreign matter removal part 20.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the foreign matter removing unit 20. The foreign matter removing unit 20 has a filter body 21 that filters the ink L passing through the inside and removes foreign matter. A pipe 120 is connected to the filter body 21 with a valve 121 interposed therebetween.

  The ink L flowing inside the pipe 110 passes through the filter body 21 and is sent to the pipe 120. Thereby, the foreign material contained in the ink L can be removed. The foreign matter removing unit 20 can be of a structure that is generally known as appropriate depending on the type of ink L and the size of the foreign matter to be removed.

  The foreign matter removing unit 20 includes a vent line 22 that connects the filter main body 21 and the pipe 120 and promotes gas discharge from the filter main body 21. The vent line 22 has one end connected to the filter main body 21 and the other end connected to the pipe 120 at the connection portion 125. The vent line 22 has a valve 221.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the piping 120 is connected to the foreign matter removing unit 20 on the storage unit 10 side. Further, the end on the injection part 50 side is connected to the branch part 30.

The branch part 30 has a branch pipe 31 branched in four directions, and valves 32 respectively provided corresponding to the four branch directions. A pipe 130 is connected to each branch part 30. By independently controlling the open / closed state of the valve 32 in the branching section 30, it is possible to select which pipe 130 the ink L flowing through the pipe 120 is sent to.
The branch part 30 (the branch pipe 31 and the valve 32) corresponds to the “injection amount control part” in the present invention.

  In the manufacturing apparatus 1000 of the present embodiment, all the four pipes 130 have the same inner diameter. Further, all the four pipes 130 have the same length. When such a pipe 130 is used, the pressure loss in the four pipes 130 can be controlled equally, and no matter which of the four pipes 130 the ink L flows, The internal pressure (injection pressure) of the ink L becomes equal.

  In addition, as long as the pressure loss becomes equal among the four pipes 130, the inner diameter and length of the pipe and the forming material of the inner surface of the pipe may be appropriately changed.

  The deaeration unit 40 includes four deaeration modules 41, pipes 42 connected to each of the four deaeration modules 41, and a vacuum pump 43 connected to one end of the pipe 42 with a valve 421 interposed therebetween. ing. Further, the pipe 42 is partially branched and connected to a valve 422 for releasing the atmosphere. The four pipes 130 are connected to the deaeration module 41 of the deaeration unit 40 at the end on the injection unit 50 side.

  Two of the four degassing modules 41 correspond to the “first degassing module” and the “second degassing module” in the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the deaeration module 41. The deaeration module 41 includes a housing 411 having an internal space 411 a and a conduit 412 disposed in the housing 411. One end is connected to the pipe 130 and the other end is connected to the pipe 140. A pipe 42 is connected to the housing 411.

  The pipe line 412 is constituted by a bundle of hollow fibers formed using a material that does not transmit the ink L but allows gas such as oxygen and nitrogen dissolved in the ink L to pass therethrough.

  When using such a deaeration module 41, first, the internal space 411a is decompressed using the vacuum pump 43 connected via the pipe. Next, oxygen dissolved in the ink L from the ink L flowing in the pipe 412 through the pipe wall of the pipe 412 by sending the ink L to the pipe 412 in a state where the internal space 411a is decompressed. And gases such as nitrogen are removed.

  The deaeration unit 40 includes four deaeration modules 41 in parallel. The four degassing modules 41 are arranged radially, for example, in a plan view, and the branch portions 30 are provided at positions equidistant from the four degassing modules 41.

  The four degassing modules 41 can be switched by switching the valve 32 of the branch part 30. These four deaeration modules 41 may be used at the same time, or may be used sequentially while being switched by the valve 32.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the piping 140 branches into four on the storage unit 10 side and is connected to the deaeration module 41 of the deaeration unit 40. Further, the end portion on the injection portion 50 side branches into two and is connected to the injection portion 50 with the three-way valves 141a and 141b interposed therebetween.

  The pipe 140 has a bypass pipe 150 having one end connected to the branch pipe 31 of the branch section 30 and the other end connected to the pipe 140 at the connection section 145. In addition, the bypass pipe 150 has a valve 151.

  The injection part 50 has a first injection part 50A and a second injection part 50B. The first injection unit 50A includes a container 51a for injecting the ink L and a measuring device 52a for measuring the mass of the container 51a into which the ink L has been injected. Similarly, the second injection unit 50B includes a container 51b and a weighing device 52b.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the first injection part 50A. A pipe 140 and a second pipe 200 are connected to the container 51a of the first injection part 50A with the three-way valve 141a interposed therebetween. Since the second injection unit 50B has the same configuration as the first injection unit 50A, description thereof is omitted.

  The three-way valve 141a has valves 142a, 143a, and 144a, the valve 142a is connected to the pipe 140, the valve 143a is connected to the container 51a, and the valve 144a is connected to the second pipe 200.

Returning to FIG. 1, in the second pipe 200, the storage unit 10 side branches into two and is connected to the tank 11 a of the first storage unit 10 </ b> A and the tank 11 b of the second storage unit 10 </ b> B, respectively. Further, the end portion on the injection portion 50 side branches into two and is connected to the injection portion 50 with the three-way valves 141a and 141b interposed therebetween.
The liquid container manufacturing apparatus 1000 of the present embodiment has the above-described configuration.

(Method for manufacturing liquid container)
Next, a method for manufacturing a liquid container using the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid container according to the present embodiment will be described. The liquid container manufacturing method of the present embodiment includes a temporary injection step of injecting ink L from the reservoir 10 to the containers 51a and 51b via the first pipe 100, and the ink L from the containers 51a and 51b to the reservoir 10. A recovery step of recovering, and a main injection step of injecting the recovered ink L into the containers 51a and 51b via the first pipe 100.

(Temporary injection process)
In the temporary injection step, first, for example, the inside of the tank 11a is pressurized using the pressure adjusting unit 70, the valve 111a is opened, and the ink L in the tank 11a is pumped. The ink L reaches the foreign matter removing unit 20 through the pipe 110.

  At the start of the temporary injection process, even if the ink L is passed through the filter body 21 of the foreign matter removing unit 20, the gas contained in the filter (not shown) inside the filter body 21 may be difficult to escape. In such a case, first, the ink L is fed so that the ink L flows through the vent line 22, thereby filling the inside of the filter body 21 with the ink L. The internal filter gradually infiltrates in the operation of flowing the ink L through the vent line 22, and the gas is gradually discharged in the process.

  Thereafter, after allowing the ink L to pass through the vent line 22 for a predetermined time, the valve 221 is closed and the valve 121 is opened to switch the flow path of the ink L. Thereby, in the foreign material removal part 20, discharge | emission of the gas in a filter becomes easy.

  Further, the ink L reaches the branch portion 30 via the pipe 120. In the branching section 30, the four valves 32 are opened to feed the ink L to the four deaeration modules 41, while the valve 151 is opened and the liquid is fed to the pipe 140 through the bypass pipe 150. Since the pressure loss of the bypass pipe 150 is smaller than that of the pipe 412 in the deaeration module 41, liquid feeding is easy and the ink L can be temporarily injected in a short time.

  Further, the ink L is fed from the connection part 145 toward the injection part 50 through the pipe 140, while the ink L is sent from the connection part 145 toward the degassing module 41 through the pipe 140. Thereby, the ink L is sent to the deaeration module 41 from the pipes 130 and 140, and the inside of the pipe line 412 is filled with the ink L in a short time.

  After the ink L is filled in the conduit 412 of the deaeration module 41, the valve 151 may be closed.

  The ink L reaches the containers 51 a and 51 b of the injection unit 50 through the pipe 140. As a result, the ink L is injected into the containers 51a and 51b.

  Further, in the temporary injection step, the deaeration unit 40 is driven to feed the ink L while deaeration, and the liquid is supplied into the pipe 140 from the injection unit 50 side outlet of the deaeration module 41 to the inlets of the containers 51a and 51b. The filled ink L is replaced with the degassed ink L. This makes it possible to inject the ink L in the pipe 140 into the containers 51a and 51b without performing a further deaeration process after the start of the main injection process, which will be described later, thereby reducing the work time.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the deaeration operation in the deaeration module 41. In the figure, in the degassing module 41, in order to make the dissolved oxygen concentration of the ink L below the reference value, a degassing processing time of 50 seconds is required, and the capacity of the conduit 412 of the degassing module 41 is 10 ml. It shows as that.

  In the case of using the degassing module 41 under such conditions, in the liquid container manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the liquid feeding operation for feeding the ink L below the capacity of the degassing module 41, and the liquid feeding of the ink L Alternately, the stop operation is stopped. In the figure, the period for performing the liquid feeding operation is denoted by reference numeral T1, and the period for performing the stop operation is denoted by reference numeral T2. The liquid feeding operation and the stop operation are controlled by opening and closing the valve 32, for example. In the figure, in the liquid feeding operation, 10 ml of ink L is fed by opening and closing the valve 32 once.

  The amount of ink L fed in the liquid feeding operation may be controlled by the metering device 12a of the storage unit 10 or the metering devices 52a and 52b of the injection unit 50. The liquid feeding amount can be calculated using the density of the ink L and the measured mass. Further, a flow meter may be provided in the first pipe 100, and control may be performed while monitoring the value of the flow meter.

  The total time of the liquid feeding time and the stopping time is equal to or longer than the degassing processing time required in the degassing module 41. It is preferable that the total time of the liquid feeding time and the stopping time is equal to the degassing time required for the degassing module 41. FIG. 6 shows that the total time of the liquid feeding time and the stopping time is 50 seconds that is the deaeration processing time.

  By operating in this way, the ink L is reliably deaerated in the deaeration module 41. The degassing operation is performed until the ink L in the pipe 140 is completely replaced with the degassed ink L according to the capacity of the pipe 140.

(Recovery process)
Next, in the recovery process, for example, the pressure inside the tank 11a is reduced using the pressure adjusting unit 70, and the valve 111a is opened. Accordingly, the ink L in the containers 51a and 51b is collected in the tank 11a through the second pipe 200 using the differential pressure between the tank 11a and the containers 51a and 51b. The injection unit 50 may have a mechanism that assists the recovery of the ink L as appropriate (for example, a mechanism that applies an external pressure that crushes the containers 51a and 51b).

  In the recovery step, the foreign matter present inside the containers 51a and 51b is discharged together with the ink L and is transferred to the tank 11a. Thereby, the inside of the containers 51a and 51b is cleaned.

(Main injection process)
Next, in the main injection process, for example, the inside of the tank 11a is pressurized using the pressure adjusting unit 70, and the valve 111a is opened to pressure-feed the ink L in the tank 11a as in the temporary injection process. The ink L reaches the foreign substance removing unit 20 through the pipe 110, and reaches the deaeration unit 40 while the foreign substance contained in the ink L is removed (while the foreign substance removing operation is performed).

  In the manufacturing apparatus 1000, the foreign matter removing unit 20 is disposed closer to the storage unit 10 than the degassing unit 40, and the foreign matter is removed from the ink L flowing into the degassing unit 40. Therefore, the efficiency of the deaeration operation in the deaeration unit 40 is improved.

  Further, in the main injection step, the ink L is injected into the containers 51a and 51b while performing the deaeration operation in the plurality of deaeration modules 41 by the method described above (the method shown in FIG. 6).

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a deaeration operation when a plurality of deaeration modules 41 are used in the main injection step. In the figure, the four deaeration modules 41 included in the manufacturing apparatus 1000 are indicated by reference numerals 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d, respectively. Similarly to FIG. 6, the symbol T <b> 1 indicates a period for performing the liquid feeding operation, and the symbol T <b> 2 indicates a period for performing the stop operation.

  As shown in the figure, in the main injection step, the plurality of degassing modules 41 are moved in parallel while setting the liquid feeding operations in the plurality of degassing modules 41 so as not to overlap each other in terms of time. Thereby, as the whole deaeration part 40 (the whole deaeration module 41a-41d), the period which performs liquid feeding operation continuously can be set, and continuous injection | pouring becomes possible.

  By performing the main injection in this way, the time during which the deaeration unit 40 is not injecting into the containers 51a and 51b (period T2 during which the stop operation is performed) can be shortened. Therefore, it is possible to increase the injection amount per unit time and improve the production efficiency.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining another deaeration operation when a plurality of deaeration modules 41 are used in the main injection step. In the figure, arbitrary two of the four deaeration modules 41 included in the manufacturing apparatus 1000 are indicated by reference numerals 41x and 41y, respectively.

  As shown in the figure, in the main injection step, the plurality of degassing modules 41 may be moved in parallel while setting the liquid feeding operations in the plurality of degassing modules 41 so as to overlap each other in time. Good. However, in this case, the amount of ink supplied to each deaeration module 41 in the liquid feeding operation, the set pressure in each deaeration module 41, etc. are set in advance so that the deaeration state in each deaeration module 41 becomes equal. There is a need.

  When the deaeration states in the respective deaeration modules 41 are equal, the quality of the degassed ink L injected into the containers 51a and 51b can be secured. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to simultaneously use a plurality of degassing modules 41 and increase the injection amount per unit time in the liquid feeding time, for example, from 10 ml to 20 ml, thereby improving the production efficiency.

  Of course, in the manufacturing method of the liquid container according to the present embodiment, the deaeration operations shown in FIGS.

  In the manufacturing method of the liquid container of the present embodiment, since the inside of the tank 11a is pressurized and the ink L is pumped in the main injection step, for example, in the switching operation when different types of ink are injected, The ink L in the pipe 100 can be pushed out to the containers 51a and 51b, and the waste loss of the ink L can be reduced.

  In each of the containers 51a and 51b, the ink L is first injected into the container 51a, and when the container 51a is filled with the ink L, the three-way valves 141a and 141b are operated to inject the ink into the container 51b. The ink L may be injected one by one. Further, the ink L may be simultaneously injected into the containers 51a and 51b.

  As described above, when the ink L is injected into each of the containers 51a and 51b, it is preferable to inject the ink using the first storage unit 10A and the second storage unit 10B of the storage unit 10 at the same time. . For example, the pressure inside the tank 11b of the second reservoir 10B is depressurized to temporarily pressurize the inside of the tank 11a of the first reservoir 10A and pump the ink L, and temporarily inject the ink L into the container 51a. Adjust as you like. That is, it is preferable to perform the temporary injection process of the ink L on one of the first storage unit 10A and the second storage unit 10B and prepare the recovery process of the ink L on the other side.

  In the temporary injection process, the ink cannot be temporarily injected or the main injection can be performed while the pressure in the tanks 11a and 11b is increased to the set value. Further, in the recovery step, ink cannot be recovered while the pressure in the tanks 11a and 11b is reduced until the pressure reaches a set value. That is, the time required for adjusting the pressure in the tanks 11a and 11b is a time during which the production of the liquid container does not proceed.

On the other hand, when the first storage unit 10A and the second storage unit 10B are used at the same time as described above, preparation for the recovery process proceeds in the tank 11b while the temporary injection into the container 51a is performed. Therefore, as soon as the temporary injection into the container 51a is completed, the recovery process can be performed using the second storage unit 10B having the tank 11b. Therefore, the time during which the production of the liquid container does not proceed can be reduced, and the working efficiency can be improved.
The manufacturing method of the liquid container using the manufacturing apparatus 1000 of the present embodiment is performed as described above.

  According to the liquid container manufacturing apparatus of the above method, it is possible to reduce the amount of ink to be discarded while reliably performing a sufficient deaeration process.

  In the present embodiment, the branch portion 30 has the valve 32. However, when the pressure loss is equal as in the pipe 130, the branch portion 30 may not have the valve 32. In that case, the branch pipe 31 and the pipe 130 correspond to the “injection amount control unit” in the present invention.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the pressure loss of the piping 130 was equal, it is not restricted to this, You may use piping from which pressure loss differs. In this case, the valve operation may be appropriately controlled so that an equal amount of liquid flows through each deaeration module 41 in the liquid feeding operation.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, in the circulation system formed by the first piping 100 and the second piping 200 that connect the storage portion 10 and the injection portion 50, and the storage portion 10 and the injection portion 50, the foreign matter removal portion 20 is 1 However, the present invention is not limited to this. By providing a plurality of foreign matter removing portions in the circulation system, foreign matter contained in the ink L may be removed at a plurality of locations. The arrangement position of the foreign substance removing unit is not limited to the storage unit 10 side with respect to the deaeration unit 40, and may be in the circulation system.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the storage part 10 decided to have two storage parts, 10A of 1st storage parts, and the 2nd storage part 10B, not only this but many storage parts (tank and It is good also as having a measuring device. Moreover, it does not matter as having only one storage part (one tank and one measuring device).

  In the present embodiment, the injection part 50 has two injection parts, the first injection part 50A and the second injection part 50B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and more injection parts (containers and It is good also as having a measuring device. Moreover, it is good also as having only one injection | pouring part (one container and one measuring device).

  In the present embodiment, the recovery process is performed using the second pipe 200, but the ink L can also be recovered using the first pipe 100.

  In the present embodiment, the inside of the tank 11a is pressurized and the ink is pumped to the containers 51a and 51b. However, the ink is pumped separately using a pump for feeding ink, such as a tube pump. Also good.

  In the present embodiment, the inside of the tank 11a is depressurized, and the ink is recovered using the differential pressure between the tank 11a and the containers 51a and 51b. However, the ink is recovered using a separate ink recovery pump. It is good as well.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of deaeration modules 41 are used. However, even if only one deaeration module is used, the liquid feeding operation and the stop operation are performed as in the manufacturing method of the present invention. By alternately and repeatedly injecting ink L while degassing ink L, it is possible to reduce the amount of ink to be discarded while performing sufficient degassing processing.

  In the present embodiment, the bypass pipe 150 is provided, but the bypass pipe 150 may not be provided.

  Further, in the present embodiment, 10 ml of ink L is similarly fed by opening and closing the valve 32 once with respect to a capacity of 10 ml of the pipe line 412 of the deaeration module 41. May not be the same as long as the capacity is equal to or less than the capacity of the pipeline 412.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such examples. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described examples are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Storage part, 30 ... Branch part (injection amount control part), 31 ... Branch pipe, 32 ... Valve, 41 ... Deaeration module, 51a, 51b ... Container, 100 ... 1st piping

Claims (6)

A first pipe that connects a reservoir that stores liquid and a container that stores the liquid;
A first degassing module and a second degassing module, which are connected in parallel with each other in the first piping path and degas the liquid flowing inside;
In the first piping, the liquid is disposed closer to the storage portion than the first degassing module and the second degassing module, and is injected into the first degassing module and the second degassing module. And an injection amount control unit for controlling the injection amount of the liquid container. The injection amount control unit includes a branch pipe that branches the first pipe into the first deaeration module and the second deaeration module;
2. A valve provided in a piping path between the branch pipe and the first degassing module and in a piping path between the branch pipe and the second degassing module, respectively. The manufacturing apparatus of the liquid container described in 1. The injection amount control unit includes a branch pipe that branches the first pipe into the first deaeration module and the second deaeration module;
A pipe for connecting between the branch pipe and the first deaeration module and between the branch pipe and the second deaeration module,
The pipe connecting the branch pipe and the first degassing module and the pipe connecting the branch pipe and the second degassing module have the same pressure loss. The manufacturing apparatus of the liquid container described in 1. The pipe connecting between the branch pipe and the first deaeration module and the pipe connecting between the branch pipe and the second deaeration module have the same length. Item 4. The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid container according to Item 3.   The apparatus for producing a liquid container according to claim 4, wherein the first deaeration module and the second deaeration module are provided at an equal distance from the branch pipe.   6. The liquid container according to claim 1, further comprising a foreign matter removing unit that removes foreign matter mixed in the liquid on the side of the storage unit with respect to the injection amount control unit in the first pipe. apparatus.

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