JP4957957B2 - Liquid supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a liquid supply device capable of detecting the trouble exerted on liquid supply operation such as the clogging of a fluid flowing passage, the trouble of an air sending-out means, etc., and a trouble detection method thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid supply device is constituted so as to extrude the liquid held to the liquid holding part of a dispenser head to the outside by pressurized air and has a liquid injection means for injecting a predetermined amount of the liquid in the liquid holding part, an air sending-out means for sending the pressurized air in the liquid holding part, a first trouble detection means for detecting the trouble of the liquid injection means and a second trouble detection means for detecting the trouble of the air sending-out means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus for supplying a constant amount of liquid to the outside by a pressurized gas and a method for detecting a failure thereof.

Conventionally, the following inventions have been proposed as liquid supply devices for supplying a constant amount of liquid to the outside using pressurized gas.
JP 2004-237150 A

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional liquid supply apparatus described in Patent Document 1. In FIG.
The storage container 102 is a container in which the liquid 104 is placed, and a piston 103 that extrudes a certain amount of liquid is provided in the storage port of the storage container 102. For adjusting the extrusion amount of the liquid 104, for example, a memory is given to the storage container 2 at regular intervals, and the lower end of the piston 103 is pushed down to the position of the required amount of memory, or the push-down distance of the piston 103 is controlled. This is done by providing a control means.

  The piston 103 measures and pushes out an amount of liquid to be discharged to the outside of the apparatus, and the liquid 104 protrudes (104a) into the passage 105 via the passage 106 by the amount pushed out by the piston 103. The amount by which the liquid 104 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus at a time is finally determined by the movement amount of the piston 103.

  The passage 105 is formed with a discharge nozzle 108 having a liquid discharge part 110 at one end of the passage 105, and a gas delivery means 107 for sending compressed air to the protruding portion 104 a of the liquid 104 at the other end.

  The gas delivery means 107 ejects compressed air vigorously toward the liquid protruding portion 104a. By feeding the compressed air, the protruding portion 104a of the liquid is divided perpendicularly to the protruding direction, and the divided liquid is conveyed toward the liquid discharge unit 110. By discharging the transported liquid from the liquid discharge unit 110 to the outside of the apparatus, a constant amount of liquid is supplied.

  Thus, since the discharge amount of the liquid 104 is controlled by the piston 103 provided in the storage container 102, the discharge amount can be easily measured. Further, since the same amount of liquid 104 as is pushed out by the piston 103 protrudes into the passage 105 and is transported to the outside of the apparatus, the liquid 104 can be discharged to the outside with a quantitative accuracy. Further, since the liquid 104 is discharged with the pressure of the compressed air, it is possible to prevent the liquid 104 from remaining in the liquid discharge unit 110 and the occurrence of liquid dripping.

  However, in the invention such as Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the liquid is clogged in the passage 105, the passage 106, and the discharge nozzle 108, and the liquid supply is not performed correctly. In such a case, the configuration as in Patent Document 1 cannot detect that the passage 105 or the like is clogged. Further, even when the gas delivery means 107 fails and the compressed air is not sent to the passage 105 and the liquid supply is not performed correctly, it cannot be detected that a problem has occurred in the gas delivery means 107. . Thus, when the liquid supply operation is not properly performed, it is impossible to detect where and what kind of trouble has occurred in the apparatus.

  The present invention eliminates the conventional problems as described above, and can detect a malfunction when a malfunction that affects the liquid supply operation occurs, such as clogging of a passage through which the liquid flows or a failure of the gas delivery means. It is an object of the present invention to realize a supply device and a defect detection method thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, in the liquid supply apparatus configured to push out the liquid held in the liquid holding portion of the dispenser head to the outside by the pressurized gas,
Liquid injection means for injecting a predetermined amount of liquid into the liquid holding portion;
A gas delivery means for feeding a pressurized gas for ejecting the liquid held in the liquid holding unit to the outside of the apparatus;
A liquid detection sensor that detects whether or not a liquid is present inside the liquid holding unit, and a first defect that determines the presence or absence of a defect in the liquid injection means and a defect location based on the output of the liquid detection sensor First defect detection means comprising a determination unit;
A plurality of pressure sensors attached upstream and downstream of the components of the gas delivery means, and a second malfunction determination unit for determining whether or not there is a malfunction in the gas delivery means based on the output of the pressure sensor; A second defect detection means comprising :
The gas delivery means includes
A compressor that compresses the gas;
Control means for performing open / close control to send the compressed gas of the compressor to the dispenser head;
A filter installed to prevent dust and oil from flowing into the dispenser head;
It is characterized by providing .

In Claim 2, In the liquid supply apparatus of Claim 1,
The pressure sensor is
A first pressure sensor for measuring the pressure between the compressor and the control means;
A second pressure sensor for measuring the pressure between the control means and the filter;
It is a third pressure sensor that measures the pressure between the filter and the dispenser head.

In Claim 3, In the liquid supply apparatus in any one of Claim 1 or 2,
The second defect determination unit compares the pressure value input from the pressure sensor with the progress of the gas delivery operation, and the pressure value is not high when the pressure value should be high in each pressure sensor. 3. The liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein if the pressure value is not low when the pressure value should be low, it is determined that a problem has occurred in the gas delivery unit.

According to claim 4, in the liquid supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The liquid holding part is formed of a permeable member,
The liquid detection sensor is a transmissive optical fiber including a light-emitting side optical fiber and a light-receiving side optical fiber that are opposed to each other with the liquid holding unit interposed therebetween.

In Claim 5 , In the liquid supply apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3 ,
The liquid detection sensor is an electrostatic capacitance type sensor that includes electrodes facing each other with the liquid holding unit interposed therebetween, and detects the capacitance of the liquid holding unit.

In Claim 6 , In the liquid supply apparatus in any one of Claims 1-5 ,
The first and second failure detection means output an alarm signal when a failure is detected.

  As described above, by providing at least one of the first defect detection means for detecting the defect of the liquid injection means and the second defect detection means for detecting the defect of the gas delivery means, the passage of the liquid flow path is provided. It is possible to realize a liquid supply apparatus and a method for detecting the failure that can detect the failure when the failure affecting the liquid supply operation occurs, such as clogging or failure of the gas delivery means. Further, if the first or second failure detection means is provided, the failure location and the failure content can be specified when the failure occurs, so that the repair time after the failure occurs can be shortened.

  If both the first defect detection means and the second defect detection means are provided, the detection results of both the first defect detection means and the second defect detection means can be used. The accuracy of detection can be improved.

Regarding the failure detection of the liquid injection means, whether or not there is a failure in the liquid injection means by detecting whether or not there is liquid in the liquid holding part and comparing the detection result with the progress of liquid injection Can be examined. Furthermore, it is possible to know whether or not any trouble has occurred in the gas delivery means by checking the progress of the gas delivery by the gas delivery means.
Whether or not liquid is present in the liquid holding unit may be detected as a change in light transmittance using a transmission optical fiber, or may be detected as a change in capacitance using an electrode. Good.

Regarding the failure detection of the gas delivery means, the pressure of the passage through which the pressurized gas passes is detected, and the detection result is compared with the progress of the gas delivery to determine whether or not there is a malfunction in the gas delivery means. You can investigate.
Moreover, if the pressure of the passage through which the pressurized gas passes is detected at a plurality of positions, it becomes easy to identify the location where the failure occurs by comparing the pressure values.

  Furthermore, if an alarm signal is output when any malfunction is detected, the user of the liquid supply apparatus can easily recognize the occurrence of the malfunction.

  Hereinafter, a liquid supply apparatus and a fault detection method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a liquid supply apparatus and a fault detection method thereof according to the present invention.
The liquid supply apparatus of this embodiment includes a dispenser head 1 that discharges liquid to the outside of the apparatus, a liquid injection means 2 that supplies liquid to the dispenser head 1, a gas delivery means 3 that sends pressurized gas to the dispenser head 1, and a controller 4. The first defect detecting means 6 for detecting the defect of the liquid injection means 2 and the second defect detecting means 7 for detecting the defect of the gas delivery means 3 are configured. The solution bottle 5 is a liquid supply source.

  The liquid injection means 2 includes a syringe 22, a syringe piston 23 in the syringe 22, a piston drive rod 24 connected to the syringe piston 23, a short-axis drive slider 25 that controls the drive of the piston drive rod 24, The supply path 21 is connected to the dispenser head 1.

  The single-axis drive slider 25 is composed of a linear slider, a stepping motor, a ball screw, and the like, and receives a drive signal from the controller 4 to move the piston drive rod 24 in the axial direction of the syringe piston 23 by a desired distance. .

  The syringe 22 can store the liquid therein, and the liquid inside the syringe 22 can be pushed out from the tip of the syringe to the supply path 21 by moving the syringe piston 23 downward in FIG.

  In the supply path 21, a switching unit 211 is provided in the middle of the syringe 22 and the dispenser head 1. By means of the switching means 211, the connection destination of the syringe 22 can be switched from the dispenser head 1 to the solution bottle 5. As the switching means 211, a three-way valve or the like can be considered. The switching unit 211 selects a connection destination by a signal from the controller 4.

  When it is desired to store the liquid in the syringe 22, the switching means 211 connects the syringe 22 and the solution bottle 5, and the syringe piston 23 is pulled up from below. Then, the liquid in the solution bottle 5 is sucked into the syringe 22 from the solution bottle 5 via the liquid tubes 21c and 21a. When liquid is supplied from the syringe 22 to the dispenser head 1, the switching means 211 is switched so that the syringe 22 and the dispenser head 1 are connected.

  The gas delivery unit 3 includes a compressor 31 that compresses gas, a control unit 32, and a filter 33. The compressor 31 is connected to the dispenser head 1 via the control means 32 and the filter 33. 34 a is a gas tube connecting the compressor 31 and the control means 32, 34 b is a gas tube connecting the control means 32 and the filter 33, and 34 c is a gas tube connecting the filter 33 and the dispenser head 1. The control means 32 performs open / close control for sending the compressed gas of the compressor 31 to the dispenser head 1. As the control means 32, an electromagnetic valve or the like can be considered. Open / close control of the control means 32 is performed by a signal from the controller 4.

  The filter 33 is installed to prevent dust and oil from flowing into the dispenser head 1, and an air filter or a mist filter is used. In FIG. 1, the filter 33 is installed between the dispenser head 1 and the control unit 32, but may be installed between the control unit 32 and the compressor 31. Moreover, it may be installed in both as needed.

  The first defect detection means 6 receives a transmission type optical fiber sensor 611 attached to the dispenser head 1, an optical fiber amplifier 612 that amplifies a signal of the transmission type optical fiber sensor 611, and a signal of the optical fiber amplifier 612. The failure determination unit 62 is provided. The transmission type optical fiber sensor 611 and the optical fiber amplifier 612 constitute a liquid detection sensor 61. The location where the defect determination unit 62 is provided is not particularly limited, but is provided in the controller 4 in this embodiment.

  The second defect detection means 7 includes pressure sensors 71 a to 71 c and a defect determination unit 72. The pressure sensors 71 a to 71 c measure the pressure values of the gas tubes 34 a to 34 c, respectively, and input the measurement results to the failure determination unit 72. The location where the defect determination unit 72 is provided is not particularly limited, but is provided in the controller 4 in this embodiment.

  The pressure sensor may be attached upstream and downstream of the components that are likely to cause problems in the elements (for example, the control means 32 and the filter 33) constituting the gas delivery means 3. In the present embodiment, a pressure sensor 71 a is attached so as to measure the pressure between the compressor 31 and the control means 32, and between the control means 32 and the filter 33, the pressure sensor 71 b and between the filter 33 and the dispenser head 1. A pressure sensor 71c is attached. By arranging the pressure sensors in this way, the pressure upstream and downstream of the control means 32 can be grasped by the pressure sensors 71a and 71b, respectively. Similarly, the pressure sensors 71b and 71c can grasp the pressures upstream and downstream of the filter 33, respectively.

  The failure determination unit 72 compares the pressure value input from each pressure sensor with the progress of the gas delivery operation, and if the pressure value is not high when the pressure value should be high in each pressure sensor, or the pressure If the pressure value is not low when the value should be low, it is determined that a problem has occurred in the gas delivery means 3.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the relationship between the supply path 21 and the dispenser head 1. In order to explain the configuration of the supply path 21 and the dispenser head 1, the transmissive optical fiber sensor 611 is omitted in FIG.
21 a is a liquid tube connecting the tip of the syringe 22 and the switching means 211, 21 b is a liquid tube connecting the switching means 211 and the dispenser head 1, and 21 c is a liquid tube connecting the switching means 211 and the solution bottle 5. 211a, 211b, 211c are flow paths in the switching means 211, and are connected to 21a, 21b, 21c, respectively. 211 d is a valve inside the switching means 211. The valve 211d is controlled by a signal from the controller 4, and the flow path 211a is connected to either the flow path 211b or the flow path 211c.

  Inside the dispenser head 1, the liquid tube 21 b and the liquid holding part 11 intersect to form an intersecting part 14. One end of the liquid holding unit 11 is connected to a holding liquid storage unit 13 that can store an amount of liquid supplied to the outside at a time, and the other end is connected to a liquid discharge unit 12 formed of a thin tube.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the intersection 14 and the transmissive optical fiber 611. The light-emitting side optical fiber 611a and the light-receiving side optical fiber 611b of the transmission type optical fiber sensor 611 are installed facing each other so that the laser light passes through the intersection 14 of the liquid holding unit 11. The liquid holding unit 11 is made of a material that transmits laser such as PFA. The dispenser head 1 enables the transmission type optical fiber sensor 611 to be attached to the liquid holding unit 11.

4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of liquid detection by the liquid detection sensor 61. FIG. 4A shows a case where no liquid is held in the liquid holding unit 11, and FIG. 4B shows a case where liquid is held.
As an example, consider a transparent or translucent liquid supplied to the outside of the apparatus. When the previous liquid supply operation is completed, as shown in FIG. 4A, liquid is present in the liquid tube 21b, but no liquid is present in the liquid holding unit 11. When the liquid holding unit 11 is irradiated with laser, light is reflected by the flow path wall of the liquid holding unit 11 and the light transmittance is lowered.

  Next, when the syringe piston 22 is moved to inject a desired amount of liquid into the dispenser head 1 (the liquid is set), a liquid column 15 is formed in the liquid holding portion 11 as shown in FIG. Then, the material of the dispenser head 1 and the refractive index of the liquid are close to each other, and the laser transmittance is increased. As described above, the liquid detection sensor 611 determines whether or not the liquid is present in the liquid holding unit 11 based on the difference in the transmittance of the laser.

  When the liquid to be supplied is opaque, the laser transmittance is lower when the liquid is present in the liquid holding unit 11. Therefore, a determination criterion is provided in consideration of the relationship between the type of liquid to be supplied and the change in transmittance of the laser.

  The signal of the transmissive optical fiber 611 is output to the optical fiber amplifier 612, and the optical fiber amplifier 612 monitors the change in transmittance.

  The liquid supply operation of the liquid supply apparatus having such a configuration will be described. The main point of the liquid supply operation is that the syringe piston 23 is moved by the volume to be supplied and sent to the intersection 14, and the liquid held in the liquid holding part 11 and the liquid storage part 13 is liquid discharged by the air pressurized by the compressor 31. The liquid is supplied by being ejected from the nozzle 12.

First, after the liquid is sucked from the solution bottle 5 into the syringe 22, the syringe piston 23 is moved in the discharge direction so that the liquid reaches the intersection 14.
Next, the syringe piston 23 is moved by a volume to be supplied to the outside at a time, and the liquid is pushed out from the intersecting portion 14 and held in the liquid holding portion 11. When the supplied capacity is large, the liquid is also stored in the liquid storage unit 13. If the cross-sectional area of the liquid reservoir 13 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the thin tube of the liquid discharger 12, the liquid does not leak from the tip of the thin tube due to the difference in tube frictional resistance. Save to 13.

  When the liquid injection into the liquid holding unit 11 is completed, the valve of the control unit 32 is opened, and the pressurized gas is sent from the compressor 31 toward the liquid storage unit 13. By sending out the pressurized gas, the liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 13 and the liquid holding unit 11 is ejected from the tip of the liquid discharge unit 11, and the liquid is supplied to the outside of the apparatus.

  In a series of liquid supply operations, clogging of the liquid occurs somewhere in the syringe 22, each liquid tube, the liquid holding unit 11, and the liquid discharge unit 12, and the liquid may not move correctly. Further, in the path from the compressor 31 to the dispenser head 1, there may be a case where the pressurized gas is not correctly delivered due to the failure of the control means 32 or the clogging of the filter 33. Hereinafter, a first defect detection means and a second defect detection means for detecting such a defect occurring in the liquid injection system and the gas delivery system will be described.

  First, the operation of the first defect detection means 6 will be described. Here, the case where the liquid is transparent or translucent will be described as an example. When the syringe piston 23 is moved to send a desired liquid amount to the dispenser head 1, a liquid column 15 is formed in the liquid holding unit 11. Since the material of the liquid holding part 11 is close to the refractive index of the liquid, the laser transmittance should be high. A normal value of the laser transmittance when the liquid is present in the liquid holding unit 11 is defined as T1.

  However, if there is a problem with the syringe 22 or the syringe piston 23, or if there is a problem with the supply path 21, the switching means 211, etc., the liquid column 15 cannot be formed in the liquid holding part 11. Therefore, the laser transmittance is a value lower than the normal value T1. In such a case, the failure determination unit 62 determines that a failure has occurred in the liquid injection means 2. That is, it is determined that a problem has occurred somewhere in the syringe 22, the syringe piston 23, the piston drive device 24, the switching unit 211, and the supply path 21. On the other hand, when the laser transmittance after the liquid injection operation to the liquid holding unit 11 is the normal value T1, the liquid injection means 2 determines that the liquid injection operation has been normally completed without any trouble.

When the liquid injection operation is normally completed and the control means 32 is opened and the pressurized gas is ejected to the dispenser head 1, the liquid column 15 in the liquid holding unit 11 is blown off by the pressurized gas, and the liquid holding unit 11 The laser transmittance should fall below the transmittance T1 again.
However, when the narrow tube of the liquid discharge unit 12 is clogged or there is a malfunction in the gas delivery means 3 (compressor 31, control means 32, filter 33, gas tubes 34a to 34c), the pressurized gas is delivered correctly. Instead, the liquid column 15 remains in the liquid holding unit 11 without being blown off. Therefore, the laser transmittance remains high. In such a case, the failure determination unit 72 determines that there is a failure somewhere in the liquid discharge unit 12 or the gas delivery means 3.

  As described above, the defect determination unit 62 receives information from the liquid detection sensor as to whether or not the liquid is present in the liquid holding unit 11 and compares it with the progress of the liquid supply operation to the outside of the apparatus. 11, it is determined that a failure has occurred when no liquid is present at a timing when the liquid should be present or when a liquid is present at a timing when the liquid should not be present.

Next, the operation of the second defect detection means 7 will be described.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing examples of measurement results of the pressure sensors 71a to 71c. FIG. 5A shows a normal operation, FIG. 5B shows a case where the dispenser head 1 is clogged, and FIG. It shows the case where clogging has occurred. Line A is the measurement pressure of the pressure sensor 71a, line B is the measurement pressure of the pressure sensor 71b, and line C is the measurement pressure of the pressure sensor 71c. The vertical axis is the pressure value, the horizontal axis is the time, the control means 32 is closed from zero to t _ON , the control means 32 is opened from t _ON to t _OFF , the pressurized gas is sent out, and the liquid discharge section 12 is a state in which the liquid is discharged, and at t _OFF , the control means 32 is closed again.

In FIG. 5A, the pressures C and B are values close to the atmospheric pressure from zero to t _ON , and the pressure A is the pressurizing pressure of the compressor 31. Since the liquid is discharged from t _ON to t _OFF , the pressure A approaches atmospheric pressure, and the pressure C and the pressure B slightly increase. When the control means 32 is closed at t _OFF , the initial state is restored.
If the pressure A is not the pressurized pressure before t _ON , the failure determination unit 72 can determine that a failure such as the compressor 31 not operating has occurred.

When the dispenser head 1 is clogged, the pressure A hardly changes even when the control means 32 is opened at t _ON as shown in FIG. 5B, and the pressure C and the pressure B approach the pressurized pressure of the compressor 31. In this case, it can be determined that the dispenser head 1 is clogged.

When the filter 33 is clogged, the pressure A and the pressure C hardly change even when the control means 32 is opened at t _ON as shown in FIG. 5C, and only the pressure B approaches the pressure pressure of the compressor 31. In this case, it can be determined that the filter 33 is clogged.

  Furthermore, if the pressures A, B, and C do not change even when the control means 32 is opened and closed, it can be determined that the control means 32 is defective.

  The controller 4 controls the operation of the liquid supply apparatus, and performs defect determination in the defect determination units 62 and 72. When a problem occurs, information regarding these problems is displayed to the outside through the controller 4 and an alarm signal is output. Or you may make it record on a recording medium.

  In the liquid supply apparatus of the present embodiment, both the first defect detection unit 6 and the second defect detection unit 7 are mounted, but only one of them may be mounted. Even when only the first failure detection means 6 is mounted, it is possible to detect the occurrence of a failure in the liquid supply means 2 or the gas delivery means 3. Further, even when only the second failure detection means is mounted, a failure such as clogging of the gas delivery means 3 or the dispenser head 1 can be detected.

  However, if both the first and second failure detection means are provided, it is possible to comprehensively determine where and what failure has occurred in the liquid supply device from both failure detection results. As a result, the accuracy of defect detection is improved and the location of the defect occurrence can be easily identified.

  In the first embodiment, the transmission type optical fiber sensor 611 and the optical fiber amplifier 612 are used as the liquid detection sensor 61. However, it is detected whether or not liquid is present in the liquid holding unit 11 using a capacitance type sensor. Can do.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a capacitive sensor is installed in the liquid holding unit 11. The electrodes 613a and 613b are opposed to each other with the liquid holding unit 11 in between, and the capacitance C between these electrodes is measured. Since the capacitances of water and air are greatly different from each other by about 80 times, the capacitance C between the electrodes is increased when there is a liquid in the liquid holding unit 11. By detecting the capacitance value, it is possible to detect whether or not a liquid exists in the liquid holding unit 11. The measured capacitance C is input to the defect determination unit 62, and thereafter, defect detection such as clogging can be performed as in the case of using the optical fiber sensor of the first embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a liquid supply apparatus and a fault detection method thereof according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing the relationship between the supply path 21 and the dispenser head 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the intersection 14 and the transmission type optical fiber 611. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of liquid detection by the liquid detection sensor 61. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of measurement results of the pressure sensors 71a to 71c. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a capacitive sensor is installed in the liquid holding unit 11. FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a conventional liquid supply apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dispenser head 11 Liquid holding part 12 Liquid discharge part 13 Liquid storage part 14 Crossing part 2 Liquid injection | pouring means 21 Supply path 21a-21c Liquid tube 211 Switching means 22 Syringe 23 Syringe piston 24 Piston drive rod 25 Short axis drive slider 3 Gas Delivery means 31 Compressor 32 Control means 33 Filters 34a to 34c Gas tubes 4 Controller 5 Solution bottle 6 First failure detection means 61 Liquid detection sensor 611 Transmission type optical fiber sensor 611a Light emission side optical fiber 611b Light reception side optical fiber 612 Optical fiber Amplifier 613a, 613b Electrode 62 Defect determination unit 7 Second defect detection means 71a to 71c Pressure sensor 72 Defect determination unit

Claims (6)

In the liquid supply apparatus configured to push out the liquid held in the liquid holding part of the dispenser head to the outside by the pressurized gas,
Liquid injection means for injecting a predetermined amount of liquid into the liquid holding portion;
A gas delivery means for feeding a pressurized gas for ejecting the liquid held in the liquid holding unit to the outside of the apparatus;
A liquid detection sensor that detects whether or not a liquid is present inside the liquid holding unit, and a first defect that determines the presence or absence of a defect in the liquid injection means and a defect location based on the output of the liquid detection sensor First defect detection means comprising a determination unit;
A plurality of pressure sensors attached upstream and downstream of the components of the gas delivery means, and a second malfunction determination unit for determining whether or not there is a malfunction in the gas delivery means based on the output of the pressure sensor; A second defect detection means comprising :
The gas delivery means includes
A compressor that compresses the gas;
Control means for performing open / close control to send the compressed gas of the compressor to the dispenser head;
A filter installed to prevent dust and oil from flowing into the dispenser head;
Liquid supply apparatus comprising: a. The pressure sensor is
A first pressure sensor for measuring the pressure between the compressor and the control means;
A second pressure sensor for measuring the pressure between the control means and the filter;
The liquid supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid supply apparatus is a third pressure sensor that measures a pressure between the filter and the dispenser head. The second defect determination unit compares the pressure value input from the pressure sensor with the progress of the gas delivery operation, and the pressure value is not high when the pressure value should be high in each pressure sensor. 3. The liquid supply device according to claim 1, wherein if the pressure value is not low when the pressure value should be low, it is determined that a problem has occurred in the gas delivery unit. The liquid holding part is formed of a permeable member,
The said liquid detection sensor is a transmissive | pervious optical fiber provided with the light emission side optical fiber and light reception side optical fiber which oppose on both sides of the said liquid holding | maintenance part, It is any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Liquid supply device. The liquid detection sensor comprises an electrode facing each other across the liquid holding portion, claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the capacitance type sensor that detects the electrostatic capacitance of the liquid holding portion The liquid supply apparatus according to 1. Wherein the first and second fault detection means, the liquid supply apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that outputs an alarm signal upon failure detection.

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