JP2639805B2 - Phase change ink ejection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary] The present invention provides a phase change ink ejecting apparatus that can efficiently remove impurities such as dust and dirt contained in ink so that ink can be smoothly supplied to an ink ejecting unit. The purpose of the present invention is to achieve the object by filtering liquid ink with a combustion filter.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to an improvement in a phase change ink ejection device.

In a conventional ink ejecting apparatus using liquid ink, clogging due to ink drying on a nozzle surface occurs,
Therefore, stable operation is hindered, and maintenance is troublesome.

On the other hand, recently, a phase change ink (hot melt ink) which is solid at normal temperature but melts by heating to have a viscosity capable of jetting is used in some cases. Clogging is eliminated, and highly reliable ejection characteristics and high-quality recording characteristics on various types of recording paper can be realized.

On the other hand, as this hot melt ink is heated for a long time or heated at a high temperature, the deterioration of the ink due to oxidation etc. becomes remarkable, so the phase change of the ink and the ink supply to the ink jet must be realized quickly and appropriately by appropriate heating. No. Faster ink supply leads to more stable ink ejection and a shorter ejection cycle, enabling high-reliability high-speed printing.

In addition, in the ink ejecting apparatus, impurities such as dust and dirt contained in the ink must be removed in order to stabilize the ejection and make the ejection reliable, and therefore, a filter is used.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a main part structure of a conventional phase change ink ejecting apparatus. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an ink reservoir, 2 denotes a heater, and 3 denotes a filter. The solid hot melt ink (solid phase change ink) 100 is supplied on the inclined plate 4 at the entrance of the ink reservoir 1. The inclined plate 4 and the heater 2 extended below this constitute phase change means 5, and the temperature of the inclined plate 4 is equal to or higher than the melting point of the hot melt ink 100 by the heating of the heater 2. . Then, the supplied solid hot melt ink 100 melts and becomes a liquid ink, flows down the inclined plate 4, is filtered by the filter 3, and accumulates in the ink reservoir 1. The liquid ink 100 'in the ink reservoir 1 reaches an ink ejecting unit (not shown) through the ink supply path 6, and is ejected from a nozzle by operating a piezoelectric element of the ink ejecting unit at a predetermined timing.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the filter 3 is provided by being immersed in the liquid ink 100 ′ of the ink reservoir 1.
The filter may be provided anywhere in the ink supply system from the phase change unit 5 to the ink ejecting unit. However, when the filter is provided so as to be exposed above the liquid ink 100 'of the ink reservoir 1, there is a disadvantage that the effective filtration area is reduced.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional ink ejecting apparatus having such a configuration and operation, it takes a certain time for the liquid ink to pass through the filter and be filtered, and there is a problem in terms of responsiveness.

To solve this, it is sufficient to make the area of the filter sufficiently large, but this is not advisable because it leads to an increase in the size of the device.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention provides a phase change ink ejecting apparatus which can solve the above-mentioned problems, and as a means for that purpose, in the present invention, a liquid ink obtained by melting a supplied solid phase change ink is used. A filter for filtering, and an ink ejecting unit for receiving a supply of liquid ink obtained by melting the solid phase change ink, and operating at a predetermined time to eject the liquid ink obtained by melting the solid phase change ink Wherein the filter comprises a heating filter, is used as phase change means for melting the solid phase change ink into liquid ink, and the heating filter has a temperature control mechanism.

[Action]

Since the heating filter is used as a phase change means,
Responsiveness is increased because the melting and filtering of the ink are performed simultaneously. And since the whole surface of the wide surface of a heating filter contributes to filtration, the efficiency of fusion and filtration can be improved.

In addition, it is possible to reduce ink deterioration by providing the filter with a temperature control mechanism and increasing the filter heating temperature only when ink is supplied, and lowering or stopping heating when ink is not supplied. it can.

〔Example〕

First, before describing an embodiment of the present invention, a reference example serving as a premise of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a main part of a phase change ink ejecting apparatus in which a filter also serves as a phase change means, which is a premise of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is an ink reservoir, 12 is a heater, and 13 is a heating filter. It is. The ink reservoir 11 includes an ink supply unit 14
The heater 12 is arranged so as to heat the entire apparatus from the ink reservoir 11 to the ink ejecting unit from the bottom through the ink ejecting unit (not shown).

The heating filter 13 is formed of ceramics or the like and is heated by an electric current. The heating filter 13 is arranged at a predetermined position in the ink reservoir 11 as shown in the drawing, and is provided with a temperature controller.
Heating is controlled by 15.

The heating filter 13 serves both as a role of a phase change means for melting the solid hot melt ink and a role of a filter.
Supplied on 3. Solid hot melt ink supplied 1
00 is directly heated, melted and filtered by the heating filter 13 and flows into the ink reservoir 11. In this case, the responsiveness becomes faster because the melting and filtering of the ink are performed simultaneously. If the wide surface of the heating filter 13 is effectively used, the efficiency of melting and filtration can be improved, which is more effective. Liquid ink 10 flowing into ink reservoir 11
0 ′ is maintained at a constant temperature by heating by the heater 12, and is supplied to the ink ejecting unit through the ink supply path 14 as necessary. The amount of ink supplied to the ink supply unit 14 depends on the heating filter
It can be controlled by a temperature controller 15 for heating control of 13.

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part structure of the phase change ink ejecting apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes an ink reservoir, and reference numeral 22 denotes a heating filter. The ink reservoir 21 communicates with an ink ejecting section (not shown) via an ink supply path 23,
22 is made of ceramics or the like and is heated by electric current. Reference numeral 24 denotes a temperature controller for controlling the temperature of the heating filter 22.

In the case of the embodiment of the present invention, a heater for heating the ink reservoir 21 is not provided, and the heating filter 22 is provided so as to be immersed in the liquid ink 100 ', and serves to maintain the liquid ink 100' at a constant temperature. Fulfill. In this case, the liquid ink 10
Since the viscosity of the liquid ink in the vicinity is rapidly reduced by the direct contact with 0 'and the heating by the heating filter 22, the filtering efficiency is improved and the responsiveness is also improved in connection with the fact that the entire filter contributes to the filtration. The degree can be controlled by controlling the temperature of the heating filter 22 by the temperature controller 24. However, in order to reduce the deterioration of the liquid ink 100 ', it is necessary to keep the heating temperature of the heating filter 22 from being too high.

In the above description, the heating filter in which the filter itself generates heat is illustrated. However, the heating filter may be configured to include a heating unit and a non-heating filter thermally connected to the heating unit. good. In this case, as the filter medium, a metal such as stainless steel which has good thermal conductivity and is hardly deteriorated is effective.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a temperature control function for maintaining a predetermined temperature is provided, and the adoption of a heating filter also serving as a phase change unit improves the melting efficiency and the filtration efficiency. As a result, it is possible to smoothly supply the ink to the ink ejecting unit and to reduce ink deterioration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a main part structure of a phase change ink ejecting apparatus of a reference example which is a premise of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part structure of a phase change ink ejecting apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. Is an explanatory view of a main part structure of a conventional phase change ink ejecting apparatus. In the figure, 11,21 is an ink reservoir, 13,22 is a heating filter, 14,23 is an ink supply path, 15,24 is a temperature controller, 100 is Solid hot melt ink (solid phase change ink), 100 'is a liquid ink.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Noboru Takada, Inventor Fujitsu Limited, 1015 Uedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi (56) References JP-A-61-95947 (JP, A) JP-A-57-83485 (JP) , A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A filter for filtering liquid ink obtained by melting the supplied solid phase change ink; and receiving a supply of liquid ink obtained by melting the solid phase change ink.
A phase change ink ejecting apparatus including an ink ejecting unit that operates at a predetermined time and ejects the liquid ink obtained by melting the solid phase change ink, wherein a temperature control function for causing the filter to maintain a predetermined temperature is provided. A phase change ink ejecting apparatus, comprising: a heating filter, wherein the phase change means melts the solid phase change ink into liquid ink.