JP4746180B2 - Method for manufacturing ink control assembly - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink control assembly for supplying ink to a head of a printing press.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An ink control unit used for an ink jet printer or the like for supplying ink to a printer head has a tank for storing ink, a sensor unit for detecting the remaining amount of ink, and an ink control unit for controlling the ink flow rate. Is generally known. In such a conventional ink control unit, the tank, the ink control unit, and the sensor unit are separately provided, and each unit is molded separately. The ink control unit is manufactured by connecting the ink control unit with a tank, a pump, and a tube, and attaching the sensor unit to the tank side surface by ultrasonic welding.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, each part of the conventional ink control unit is molded separately and connected by various methods. However, it is desirable to provide an ink control unit in which each part is integrated in order to reduce the size.
[0004]
Here, as a method of forming a hollow body such as a tank, a die slide injection molding method (hereinafter referred to as “DSI molding”) is known. In this DSI molding method, first, one half of a hollow body that is formed by primary molding is inserted into a mold, injection molded, the mold is opened, and the primary molded product is die-slid in the mold. In the secondary molding, a secondary resin is supplied to the joint surface between the other half body and the primary molded product, and the hollow body is molded by joining the half body and the primary molded product. Since this DSI molding has advantages such as a reduction in the molding process, it has been used in recent years for molding hollow bodies. For this reason, it is also conceivable to manufacture an ink control unit by this DSI molding method.
[0005]
However, the sensor part has a metal electrode with a special shape, and one end of the electrode must be inserted into the unit and the other end exposed outside the unit to be attached to the connector. Further, in order to obtain such a complicated structure, it is necessary to support the electrode portion with a support member in the sensor portion. For this reason, it is difficult to insert an electrode part directly into a metal mold | die, and there exists a problem that it cannot integrally mold by DSI shaping | molding.
[0006]
In addition, in the conventional method for manufacturing an ink control unit, the sensor unit and the lid are attached to the tank by ultrasonic welding. There is a risk of getting mixed in. Furthermore, since all parts must be formed separately and then each part must be connected, the number of manufacturing steps increases, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an ink control assembly capable of easily performing DSI molding. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a high-quality ink control assembly by avoiding the generation of waste and other unwanted materials such as dust in the molding process. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an ink control assembly capable of reducing the number of manufacturing steps and the manufacturing cost.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is a method of manufacturing an ink control assembly having a tank for storing ink in a main body and a flow path for leading ink inside the tank to the outside . A part molding process for integrally molding a predetermined part of the ink control assembly, and the integrally molded part is inserted into a mold to integrally mold the main body with the part and to mold the lid 1 A second molding step, and a main body formed by the first molding step is slid in a mold, and a secondary resin is supplied to a joint surface between the main body and the molded lid, and the main body And a secondary molding step for joining the lid body, and the component molding step includes a step of manufacturing a sensor portion by integrally forming an electrode for detecting the remaining amount of ink and an electrode support portion, and a predetermined step. The hole that has been perforated A step of injection molding the control unit and fitting a check valve into the hole to complete the ink control unit alone, wherein the primary molding step includes at least the integrally molded sensor unit. and characterized by forming Rutotomoni, the lid is provided with the ink control portion is integrally molded with the ink control unit, wherein the check valve is fitted in a position to control the ink flow rate between the tank and the flow path portion And
[0009]
The invention according to claim 1 is a method of manufacturing an ink control assembly using a DSI molding method. In the present invention, the ink control assembly is manufactured by performing DSI molding in the primary molding process and the secondary molding process. In the primary molding process, a predetermined part integrally molded in the part molding process is formed in the mold. Insert and mold integrally with the tank. In other words, in the present invention, a predetermined part is insert-molded in advance in the part molding process, and the insert-molded part is further insert-molded with the main body in the primary molding process and the secondary molding process. For this reason, even when the part has a special shape or has a complicated structure and it is difficult to directly perform insert molding by DSI molding, the ink control assembly can be easily manufactured by DSI molding. .
[0010]
Further, in the present invention, since the main body part and the lid body are joined to the joining surface by supplying the secondary resin in the secondary molding process of DSI molding, the fusion generated at the time of vibration welding such as ultrasonic welding. A high-quality ink control assembly can be produced without generating unwanted materials such as waste. In addition, the secondary molding process of DSI molding causes the lid to be securely fused to the main body as compared with the joining of the lid by conventional ultrasonic welding, which causes problems such as ink leakage during use of the printer. Can be prevented.
[0011]
The primary molding step in the present invention may be any one that integrally molds a predetermined part of the ink control assembly, and the insertion position of the part into the mold can be arbitrarily determined.
[0012]
In addition, it is possible to arbitrarily determine the predetermined parts for insert molding in the part molding process. If there are multiple parts with complicated structures in addition to some parts, these multiple parts are integrally molded with the main body. If constituted so, DSI molding becomes easy. Examples of such predetermined parts include an ink sensor and an ink control unit, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
[0013]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing an ink control assembly according to the first aspect, in the sensor unit, parallel rod-shaped electrodes are inserted into the main body, and the other end of the electrode is disposed outside the main body. The ink control unit is exposed, and two check valves that allow flow in opposite directions to each other are inserted into the two holes .
[0014]
A part integrally molded in the part molding process of the present invention was used as a sensor portion . Depending on the shape of the electrode, the support structure of the electrode and the electrode support member, etc., it may be difficult to insert the sensor portion directly into the DSI molding die and insert molding the body portion. However, according to the present invention, since the sensor portion is manufactured by insert molding of the electrode support member and the electrode in advance in the component molding step, the sensor portion thus formed integrally with the electrode in the primary molding step. If it inserts in a metal mold | die in the state supported with the electrode support member, an electrode support member can be integrally molded with a main-body part. Therefore, the ink control assembly can be easily manufactured by DSI molding regardless of the shape of the electrode and the structure of the sensor portion.
[0016]
The invention according to 請 Motomeko 3 is the manufacturing method of the ink control assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the primary molding step further said body portion to secure the plurality of tubes to send the ink to the outside It is formed integrally with a tube mounting portion, a discharge port for discharging the air accumulated in the tank to the outside, and a flow path portion for leading the ink inside the tank to the outside .
[0017]
Molded integrally with all parts of the tank by the primary molding step Then, be reduced or connect later formed separately for each part, the reduction of manufacturing steps compared with the conventional manufacturing method of performing ultrasonic welding Can do. Further, since the number of parts is small and the number of manufacturing steps is small, the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional manufacturing method. Furthermore, if the lid is welded to the molded product manufactured in the primary molding process in the secondary molding process, all the processes are completed, so that subsequent processing such as connection work and vibration welding work is required after the molding process is completed. do not do. For this reason, unnecessary quality such as dust is not mixed into the product in a later processing step, and the quality can be improved. In addition, since each part can be arranged at a desired position and integrally molded, the degree of freedom of design is expanded compared to the conventional manufacturing method.
[0018]
In addition, since the ink control assembly manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention is integrated by integrating the tank, the sensor unit, and all other parts, the ink control assembly is simply combined to save space. Figured.
[0019]
In addition, all parts in the present invention include a tank, a sensor unit, an ink control unit, a tube mounting unit for fixing a tube for sending ink to the outside, a discharge port for discharging the air accumulated in the tank to the outside, a tank A flow path section for leading the internal ink to the outside is included, and other parts are included as long as they are related to storage, supply and detection of ink.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below together with illustrated examples. First, the ink control assembly of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is an external configuration diagram of the ink control assembly of the present embodiment. FIG. 3A is an external configuration diagram of the ink sensor of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3B is an external configuration diagram of the ink control unit. 5A is an external configuration diagram of the connector connection side of the ink sensor, FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of the ink control unit, and FIG. 5C is an external configuration diagram of the tube mounting portion. It is. As shown in FIG. 3C , the ink control assembly 1 of this embodiment is manufactured by a manufacturing method described later, as shown in FIG. 3C . 13 is integrally formed. In addition, the size, thickness, etc. of each part of the ink control assembly shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 are not limited to this, and can be arbitrarily determined.
[0021]
The tank 4 stores ink, and the ink sensor 5 detects the ink remaining amount in the tank 4. The ink sensor 5 includes two parallel rod-shaped electrodes 6 and an electrode support portion 7 that supports the electrodes 6, and the electrode support portion 7 is integrally formed with the main body portion 2. The electrode 6 is inserted into the main body, and the other end of the electrode 6 is exposed to the outside of the main body as shown in FIG. A connector is attached to the end on the outside of the main body.
[0022]
The ink control unit 8 has two holes, and two check valves 9a and 9b (check valves) that allow flow in opposite directions are fitted into the holes, respectively. The ink flow is controlled by 9a and 9b.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the tube attachment portion 11 is formed by juxtaposing a plurality of fitting portions having an L-shaped cross section on the side surface of the tank 4, and attaching a plurality of tubes for sending ink to the outside. Fix it. That is, the tubes are fitted by the adjacent fitting portions to prevent the plurality of tubes from becoming messy.
[0024]
The flow path part 10 is carved on the upper edge of the main body part and serves as a passage for leading ink inside the tank to the outside. A tube is connected to the discharge port 13 to discharge the air and ink accumulated in the tank to the outside.
[0025]
As described above, since all the parts of the ink control assembly 1 according to the present embodiment are integrated, the whole is simply combined to save space.
[0026]
Note that the arrangement of each component of the ink control assembly 1 is not limited to this embodiment, and other arrangement configurations may be adopted as long as there is no functional problem.
[0027]
Next, a method for manufacturing the ink control assembly 1 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an ink control assembly manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a process diagram illustrating a state of a mold and a molded product in each process of the manufacturing method. In the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the ink control assembly 1 is manufactured by integrally forming the tank 4, the ink sensor 5, the ink control unit 8, and the lid 3 by DSI molding.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 2, the molding apparatus used in the ink control assembly manufacturing method of this embodiment includes a movable mold (slide core) 15 that molds the main body 2 of the ink control assembly 1, and the lid 3. Injection machine 18a for supplying primary molten resin into spaces 17a and 17b formed by movable mold 15 and fixed mold 16 in the primary molding process. And an injection machine 18b for supplying a secondary molten resin into the gap 17c in the secondary molding step. The movable mold 15 is slidable in the vertical and horizontal directions in FIG. 2, and is configured as a die-sliding mold.
[0029]
The ink control assembly manufacturing method of the present embodiment manufactures the ink control assembly 1 using DSI molding. First, the ink sensor 5 is insert-molded in advance using the electrode 6 and the electrode support portion 7 ( Part molding process). Separately, the ink controller 8 is formed (step 101). The ink sensor 5 and the ink control unit 8 are molded by normal injection molding. Then, the check valves 9a and 9b are fitted into the holes of the formed ink control unit 8 to complete the ink control unit alone.
[0030]
Next, as shown in FIG. 2A, the insert-molded ink sensor 5 and the molded ink control unit 8 are inserted into a predetermined position inside the movable mold 15 (step 102). Is moved to the right and matched with the fixed mold 16 to close the mold (step 103). Then, the primary molten resin is injected from the injection machine 18a into the spaces 17a and 17b formed by the movable mold 15 and the fixed mold 16, and the DSI primary molding is performed as shown in FIG. Is started (step 104). When the primary molten resin is filled in the spaces 17a and 17b, the primary molding is completed after cooling for a predetermined time. Then, the movable mold 15 is moved leftward to perform mold opening (step 105). Thereby, the main-body part 2 and the cover body 3 of the ink control assembly 1 are obtained as a primary molded product. FIG. 3C is an external configuration diagram of the main body 2 after the primary molding. As shown in FIG. 3C, the ink sensor 5 insert-molded in step 101 and the ink control unit 8 are integrally formed with the tank 4 to manufacture the main body unit 2.
[0031]
Next, the movable mold 15 is slid upward (step 106), and the mold is closed (step 107). As shown in FIG. 2 (d), the secondary molten resin is injected into the gap 17c from the injector 18b. The secondary molding is started by injection (step 108). When the secondary molten resin is filled in the gap 17c, the secondary molding is completed after cooling for a predetermined time. Then, the mold is opened (step 109), and the molded product is taken out (step 110). Thereby, the ink control assembly 1 in which the main body 2 (primary molded product) and the lid 3 are joined is completed.
[0032]
Thus, in the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the ink sensor 5 is insert-molded, and the insert-molded ink sensor 5 is further inserted into the mold and insert-molded. 7, the ink control assembly 1 can be easily manufactured by DSI molding. Moreover, in this embodiment, since the main-body part 2 and the cover body 3 are joined by the secondary shaping | molding of DSI shaping | molding, unnecessary things, such as a fusion | melting waste generated at the time of vibration welding, such as ultrasonic welding, may arise. In addition, the lid 3 and the main body 2 are securely joined.
[0033]
In the manufacturing method of the ink control assembly in the present embodiment, the ink sensor 5 is insert-molded in advance before the start of DSI molding, but other parts having a complicated structure or the like are insert-molded in advance. It may be configured.
[0034]
In the present embodiment, the mold for molding the main body 2 is configured as a movable mold that can move up and down, left and right. However, the mold for molding the lid is a movable mold, and the mold for molding the main body is fixed. It may be configured as a mold.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the invention according to claim 1, DSI molding is performed in the primary molding process and the secondary molding process, and the part insert-molded in the component molding process is inserted into the mold in the primary molding process. Since the main body and the insert are molded, the ink control assembly can be easily manufactured by DSI molding even when the parts have a complicated structure. In addition, according to the present invention, since the secondary resin is supplied to the joint surface and joined to the joint surface by the secondary molding process of DSI molding, a high-quality ink control assembly can be manufactured. Has an effect. Furthermore, since the lid is securely fused to the main body, it is possible to prevent problems such as ink leakage during use of the printer. In particular , in the primary molding process, the electrode support member is integrally molded with the electrode in advance to manufacture the sensor portion, and the insert-molded sensor portion is insert-molded by DSI molding. Regardless of the complicated structure, the ink control assembly can be easily manufactured by DSI molding.
[0036]
Further, an effect that molded integrally with all parts of the tank by the primary molding step Then, the reduction of manufacturing steps without requiring subsequent processing is achieved. In addition, since the manufacturing process is small and the number of parts is small, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, according to the present invention, since no subsequent processing is required, the quality can be improved without unnecessary materials such as dust being mixed into the product after the completion of the secondary molding process. In addition, each part can be arranged at a desired position and integrally molded, so that the degree of freedom in design is expanded. Further, according to the present invention, since the ink control assembly can integrate the tank, the sensor unit, and all other components, the ink control assembly can be simply assembled and space can be saved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method of manufacturing an ink control assembly according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing the state of each process of the ink control assembly manufacturing method of the present embodiment.
FIG. 3A is a configuration diagram of an ink sensor according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3B is a configuration diagram of the ink control unit of the present embodiment. FIG. 3C is a plan view of a molded product obtained by the primary molding of the ink control assembly manufacturing method of the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an ink control assembly obtained by the ink control assembly manufacturing method of the present embodiment.
FIG. 5A is an external configuration diagram of the connector connection side of the ink sensor. FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of the ink control unit, and FIG. 5C is an external configuration diagram of the tube attachment unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Ink control assembly 2: Body part 3: Cover body 4: Tank 5: Ink sensor 6: Electrode 7: Electrode support part 8: Ink control part 9a, 9b: Check valve (check valve)
10: flow path part 11: tube attachment part 12: air vent 13: discharge port 14: valve attachment part 15: movable mold (slide core)
16: Fixed mold (cavity)
17a, 17b: space 17c: gaps 18a, 18b: injection machine

Claims (3)

A method for producing an ink control assembly having a tank for storing ink in a main body and a flow path for leading ink inside the tank to the outside ,
A component molding step of integrally molding a predetermined component of the ink control assembly;
A primary molding step of inserting the integrally molded component into a mold, integrally molding the main body with the component, and molding a lid;
The main body molded by the primary molding step is slid in a mold, and a secondary resin is supplied to the joint surface between the main body and the molded lid, and the main body and the lid A secondary molding step of joining
Including
The component molding step includes a step of integrally forming an electrode for detecting the remaining amount of ink and an electrode support portion to manufacture a sensor portion, and an injection control portion in which a predetermined hole portion is perforated. A step of fitting a check valve into the hole to complete the ink control unit alone,
In the primary forming step, the main body portion is integrally formed with at least the integrally formed sensor portion and the ink control portion in which the check valve is inserted, and the ink control portion is interposed between the tank and the flow path portion. in Rutotomoni provided in a position to control the ink flow rate, the production method of the ink control assembly and characterized in that for molding the lid. In the sensor unit, parallel rod-shaped electrodes are inserted into the main body, and the other end of the electrode is exposed outside the main body.
2. The ink control assembly according to claim 1, wherein the ink control unit includes two check valves that are allowed to flow in opposite directions in the two holes, respectively. 3. Production method. In the primary molding step, the main body further includes a tube mounting portion for fixing a plurality of tubes for sending ink to the outside, a discharge port for discharging the air accumulated in the tank to the outside, and the ink inside the tank to the outside. 3. The method of manufacturing an ink control assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the ink control assembly is formed integrally with a flow path portion led out to the flow path .

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