JP2017205905A - Light source device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure for preventing ink mist being generated from adjacent ink jet heads and entering a housing from a suction port of cooling air from adhering to an inside of the housing and from contaminating the inside thereof, in a light source device for curing ink that is provided with: the housing comprising the suction port and an exhaust port; a light source part provided inside the housing; and a cooling fan for cooling the light source part.SOLUTION: The light source device is provided with an ink mist processing part 50 comprising a light irradiation part 51 for curing ink mist that irradiates light toward cooling air in the vicinity of a suction port 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a light source device, and more particularly to an ink curing light source device used in combination with an inkjet head in an inkjet printer.

Conventionally, in the printing industry, the electronics industry, etc., the protective film, adhesive, paint, ink, photoresist, resin, alignment film, etc., which are objects to be processed, are cured, dried, melted, or softened. A light source that emits ultraviolet rays is widely used as a light source for performing a modification process or the like, but in recent years, LEDs that emit light in the ultraviolet region have been used, and emit light in the ultraviolet region. A light source device having an ultraviolet light source unit using LEDs has been developed.
And the structure which combined the light source device using said LED with the inkjet head in an inkjet printer is disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2004-358769 (patent document 1), Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2015-103335 (patent document 2), etc. ing.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-280195 (Patent Document 3), in the inkjet image forming apparatus, when ink is ejected from the nozzles of the inkjet head, the diameter is several μm to several It is known that ink mist composed of fine particles of about 10 μm is generated.
Usually, the ink dot diameter is several tens μm to several hundreds μm, and the particle size of the generated ink mist is several tens μm or less. The size of the ink mist, which is smaller than pollen and cannot be confirmed with the naked eye, is about one tenth of the diameter of the ink dots ejected from the nozzles. In order to increase the resolution, it is necessary to reduce the ink dot diameter, and accordingly, an ink mist having a smaller particle diameter is generated. Since this ink mist is very light, it is regarded as a problem that it diffuses in the air and contaminates the inside of the apparatus.

In particular, when ink mist is taken into the light source device adjacent to the ink jet head, the ink mist adheres to and accumulates on the electrical components and lighting circuits inside the device, thereby causing a continuity failure or electrical signal of the wiring pattern as the light source device. There is a problem that this causes a connection failure and causes a malfunction of the apparatus.
Thus, conventionally, a filter is provided at the air inlet of the light source device to prevent ink mist from entering. However, as described above, the generated ink mist also includes very fine particles of 1 μm or less, and the coarse filter cannot supplement the ink mist. On the other hand, if a fine filter is used, There is a problem that the flow of air from the intake port is hindered and the cooling performance of the apparatus is deteriorated.

JP 2004-358769 A JP2015-103335A JP 2010-280195 A

  In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a light source provided with a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a light source unit provided in the housing, and a cooling fan for cooling the light source unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure of a light source device that prevents ink mist that enters the housing from the cooling air intake port from adhering to and contaminating the inside of the housing.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the light source device of the present invention is provided with an ink mist processing unit including a light irradiation unit for curing ink mist that irradiates light toward the cooling air in the vicinity of the air inlet. It is characterized by that.

Further, the ink mist processing unit is provided with a reflecting member facing the light irradiation unit.
In addition, the ink mist processing unit is provided with a first reflecting member facing the light irradiating unit, and a second reflecting member facing the first reflecting member is also provided on the light irradiating unit side. It is characterized by being.
The casing includes a first casing that stores the light source unit and the cooling fan, and a second casing that stores the ink mist processing unit. The second casing includes the first casing. It is connected to the housing in a detachable manner.

In addition, the ink mist processing unit includes an optical lens for converging an emitted light beam from the light irradiation unit.
In addition, the light irradiation unit is characterized in that a plurality of LEDs are arranged in parallel.
In addition, the light irradiation unit includes a light guide and an LED disposed on an end surface of the light guide, and a reflection part is formed on a side surface of the light guide, so that light emitted from the LED is emitted. Is reflected in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the LED.

  According to the light source device of the present invention, when the fine ink mist generated by the ink jet head enters the inside of the housing from the air supply port together with the cooling air, it is cured by the ultraviolet light from the light irradiation unit of the ink mist processing unit. As a result, it does not adhere to the components inside the housing and does not cause malfunction of the apparatus. Further, since the cured ink mist is discharged out of the casing along the flow of cooling air, it does not accumulate in the casing.

Front sectional view (A) and side sectional view (B) of the first embodiment of the light source device of the present invention Partial enlarged sectional view of FIG. Side sectional view of the second and third embodiments Side sectional view of the fourth embodiment (A), front sectional view (B), detailed view of the light irradiation part (C) Partial sectional view of fifth and sixth embodiments Sectional view of the seventh embodiment Front sectional view (A) and side sectional view (B) of the eighth embodiment Side sectional view of the ninth embodiment

1A and 1B show a first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a light source device 1 according to the present invention includes a light source unit 20 including a plurality of light source units 21 and 21 and an electrical component attached on an electrical board 31 in a housing 10 having an intake port 11 and an exhaust port 12. The unit 30 and the cooling fan 40 are accommodated.
The light source unit 21 includes a plurality of LEDs 22 as light emitting elements, an LED substrate 23 on which the LEDs 22 are mounted, and a heat sink 24 on which the LED substrate 23 is mounted.
The cooling fan 40 is disposed so as to face the cooling fins 25 of the heat sink 24, and the cooling air sucked from the air supply port 11 by the cooling fan 40 strikes the cooling fins 25 to cool the cooling fan 25. Discharged from.
The housing 10 is provided with a window member 13 made of quartz glass or the like for emitting ultraviolet light from the light source unit 20.

  An ink mist processing unit 50 is provided in the vicinity of the intake port 11 of the housing 10. In this embodiment, the ink mist processing unit 50 includes a light irradiation unit 51 in which a plurality of LEDs 52 are arranged in parallel. Light emitted from the light irradiation unit 51 is transmitted from the intake port 11 to the housing 10 by the cooling fan 40. Irradiated toward the cooling air sucked in.

  In this embodiment, each of the three light source units 21 corresponds to the cooling fan 40. However, the number of the light source units 21 is determined by the size of the light source unit 21, the size of the cooling fan 40, and the like. Is done.

The operation in the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
The ink mist X floating in the atmosphere around the light source device 1 enters the housing 10 together with the cooling air sucked into the housing 10 by the cooling fan 40. The ink mist X is in an uncured state. On the other hand, ultraviolet light is irradiated from the light irradiation unit 51 of the ink mist processing unit 50, and the ink mist X is cured and rendered harmless. As a result, the cured ink mist X does not adhere to the electrical unit 30, the light source unit 20, the cooling fan 40, or the like in the housing 10.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the light irradiation unit 51 of the ink mist processing unit 50 as the second and third embodiments. In these embodiments, an optical lens for narrowing the luminous flux of the light emitted from the LED 52 is provided.
3A, the LED 52 itself is covered with the optical lens 53, and in the third embodiment of FIG. 3B, a separate optical lens 54 is disposed in front of the LED 52. Is.
In any of these cases, the light beam emitted from the LED 52 is narrowed so as not to spread too much, whereby the ink mist in the cooling air can be effectively irradiated with ultraviolet light.

4 is an example in which the light irradiation unit 51 of the ink mist processing unit 50 disposed in the vicinity of the air inlet 11 of the housing 10 includes a light guide 55 and an LED 56. In the fourth embodiment shown in FIG.
As shown in detail in FIG. 4C, the light irradiation unit 51 includes a rod-shaped light guide 55 and an LED 56 disposed on the end surface thereof. A reflecting portion 57 made of a prism surface is formed. As a result, the light guided from the LED 56 into the light guide 55 travels through the light guide 55 and is reflected by the reflecting portion 57 and guided in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the LED 56. The light is emitted from the light body 55.
A reflection mirror M is provided behind the light guide 55 on the reflective portion 57 side, and the light leaked from the light guide 55 is reflected and used effectively.

FIG. 5 shows still other fifth and sixth embodiments, in which a reflection member 58 is disposed so as to face the light irradiation section 51 of the ink mist processing section 50 through cooling air. . The reflecting member 58 is a planar reflecting member as shown in the fifth embodiment of FIG. 5A, or a concave reflecting member as shown in the sixth embodiment of FIG. 5B. There may be.
By doing so, after the light from the light irradiation unit 51 is once irradiated to the cooling air, it is reflected by the reflecting member 58 and irradiated again to the cooling air, thereby making the ink mist curing action more effective. be able to.

FIG. 6 shows still another seventh embodiment, which is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. 5A, and is disposed opposite to the light irradiation unit 51 in this example. The second reflecting member 59 is disposed opposite to the first reflecting member 58, that is, on the light irradiation unit 51 side. The second reflecting member 59 is formed with a passage opening 59a so that the LED 52 faces.
Thereby, after the emitted light from LED51 is reflected from the 1st reflection member 58, it is reflected by the 2nd reflection member 59 again, and the further improvement of the hardening effect | action of an ink mist can be anticipated.

7 and 8 show another embodiment in which the ink mist processing unit 50 is housed in a separate housing.
In the eighth embodiment of FIG. 7, the casing 10 includes a first casing 10 a that stores the light source unit 20 and the cooling fan 40, and a second casing 10 b that stores the ink mist processing unit 50. The second casing 10b is placed on the intake port 11a at the top of the first casing 10a and is detachably connected to the first casing 10a.
An ink mist processing unit 50 is accommodated in the second housing 10b, and an intake port 11b is formed in the upper portion and an exhaust port 12b is formed in the lower portion. The exhaust port 12b of the second housing 10b is formed. Is arranged so as to correspond to the air inlet 11a of the first housing 10a.

  In the ninth embodiment of FIG. 8, the second housing 10b is connected to the front side of the first housing 10a. The first housing 10a is formed with an intake port 11a that opens forward. The second housing 10b is formed with an intake port 11b on the front and an exhaust port 12b on the rear. It is connected to the front of the air supply port 11a of one housing 10a.

  In the eighth embodiment and the ninth embodiment, outside air is sucked from the air inlet 11b of the second housing 10b by the cooling fan 40 in the first housing 10a, and the ink mist in the second housing 10b. The processing unit 50 emits ultraviolet light from the light irradiation unit 51. As a result, the ink mist in the cooling air is hardened and introduced into the first housing 10a from the exhaust port 12b through the intake port 11a of the first housing 10a to cool the light source unit 20 and exhaust from the exhaust port 12a. It is what is done.

  According to the eighth embodiment and the ninth embodiment, the second housing 10b that houses the ink mist processing unit 50 includes the first housing 10a that houses the light source unit 20, the electrical unit 30, the cooling fan 40, and the like. Since it has a separate structure and is detachably connected thereto, there is an advantage that the second housing 10b accommodating the ink mist processing section 50 can be combined with an existing light source device and attached.

  As described above, in the light source device of the present invention, light irradiation for ink mist curing that irradiates light toward the cooling air near the air inlet of the housing provided with the light source unit and the cooling fan that cools the light source unit. Since the ink mist processing section provided with a portion is provided, the ink mist contained in the cooling air can be cured by irradiating it with ultraviolet light, so the ink mist remains uncured and the light source section in the housing It can be prevented from adhering to electric parts or cooling fans.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light source device 10 Housing | casing 10a 1st housing | casing 10b 2nd housing | casing 11 Intake port 11a Intake port of 1st housing | casing 11b Inlet port of 2nd housing | casing 12 Exhaust port 12a Exhaust port of 1st housing | casing 12b 2nd housing Body exhaust port 13 Window member 20 Light source unit 21 Light source unit 22 LED
23 LED board 24 Heat sink 30 Electrical part 31 Electrical board 40 Cooling fan 50 Ink mist processing part 51 Light irradiation part 52 LED
53 Optical lens 55 Light guide 56 LED
57 Reflecting portion 58 (first) reflecting member 59 second reflecting member X ink mist

Claims (7)

In a light source device comprising a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a light source unit provided in the housing, and a cooling fan for cooling the light source unit,
In the vicinity of the intake port, an ink mist processing unit including a light irradiation unit for curing ink mist that irradiates light toward the cooling air is provided.   The light source device according to claim 1, wherein a reflection member is provided in the ink mist processing unit so as to face the light irradiation unit.   The ink mist processing unit is provided with a first reflecting member facing the light irradiating unit, and a second reflecting member facing the first reflecting member is also provided on the light irradiating unit side. The light source device according to claim 1.   The casing includes a first casing in which the light source unit and the cooling fan are stored, and a second casing in which the ink mist processing unit is stored. The second casing is the first casing. The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the light source device is detachably connected to the light source device.   The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the ink mist processing unit includes an optical lens for converging an emitted light beam from the light irradiation unit.   The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the light irradiation unit includes a plurality of LEDs arranged in parallel. The light irradiation part is composed of a light guide and an LED disposed on an end face of the light guide, a reflection part is formed on a side surface of the light guide, and the light emitted from the LED is The light source device according to claim 1, wherein the light source device reflects in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the LED.

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