JP6582238B2 - Liquid ejection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device that ejects liquid by pressurizing liquid in a storage chamber.

  In various technical fields such as the electronic device manufacturing field, liquid discharge devices that discharge liquids such as adhesives and cream solder in the form of droplets are widely used. Since many liquids to be ejected have high viscosity, a configuration for ejecting from a ejection hole by pressurizing liquid stored in a storage chamber is known as a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting this type of liquid. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In the prior art shown in this patent document example, a first member (pressurizing member) that is movably inserted into an opening formed in the head main body and presses the liquid by this movement, and a discharge that discharges the liquid A configuration is adopted in which a storage chamber in which liquid is stored is formed by a second member (discharge nozzle) provided with holes, and a gap between the first member and the opening is sealed by a seal member. With this configuration, air can be prevented from being sucked into the storage chamber from the outside when the liquid is discharged, and stable liquid discharge can be maintained.

JP 2014-501080 A

  However, the above-described prior art has the following problems during maintenance work associated with a change in the liquid to be ejected. That is, in the process of continuously using the liquid ejection device, the liquid to be ejected is appropriately changed according to the purpose of use. When changing the liquid, in order to avoid mixing different kinds of liquids, the liquid remaining in the storage unit is discharged, and maintenance work for cleaning the storage unit and the discharge nozzle is performed.

  However, in the prior art having the above-described configuration, due to the configuration of the head main body portion, the pressurizing member, and the discharge nozzle constituting the liquid discharge device, the liquid is placed in the gap between the opening provided in the head main body portion and the pressurizing member. There was a problem that it was easy to enter. The liquid that has entered the gap is difficult to remove by washing, and the liquid remaining in the gap is hardened to cause problems such as hindering the liquid discharge operation. As described above, the conventional liquid ejection apparatus has a problem that the liquid easily enters the gap between the head main body and the pressure member, and that maintenance work such as cleaning when changing the liquid is difficult.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a liquid ejection device that facilitates maintenance work such as cleaning when changing liquids.

  A liquid discharge apparatus according to the present invention is a liquid discharge apparatus that discharges liquid by pressurizing liquid in a storage chamber, and is attached to a head main body portion and the head main body portion so as to be reciprocally movable, and one end portion of the liquid discharge device is A pressure member protruding in the reciprocating direction from the head main body and a plate-like member having a predetermined thickness that is detachable from the head main body and surrounds one end of the pressure member protruding from the head main body In addition, a spacer having an opening serving as the storage chamber, an introduction flow path that is attached to the head main body through the spacer in a state of closing the opening, and introduces liquid into the storage chamber, and the storage A nozzle member having a discharge channel for discharging the liquid in the chamber to the outside, and a drive unit for discharging the liquid from the discharge channel by reciprocating the pressure member to change the volume of the storage chamber; The For example, between the side of the said spacer pressure member, the liquid in the storage chamber is provided with a packing for preventing the contact with the head body portion.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the liquid discharge apparatus with easy maintenance operations, such as washing | cleaning at the time of the change of a liquid, can be provided.

Structure explanatory drawing of the liquid discharge apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Sectional drawing of the discharge head of the liquid discharge apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Structure explanatory drawing of the storage chamber in the discharge head of the liquid discharge apparatus of one embodiment of this invention 1 is an exploded perspective view of a discharge nozzle in a liquid discharge apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the discharge nozzle in the liquid discharge apparatus of one embodiment of this invention

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration of the liquid ejection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a liquid discharge device 1 has a function of discharging a liquid by pressurizing the liquid in a storage chamber, and includes a liquid supply unit 2 that supplies a liquid to be discharged and a discharge head that discharges the supplied liquid. 3 is provided.

  The liquid supply unit 2 includes a syringe-shaped tank 4 that stores the liquid 5 and an air compressor 6 that is an air pressure supply source. The air compressor 6 supplies air pressure adjusted to a predetermined pressure by the electropneumatic regulator to the tank 4. As a result, the liquid 5 in the tank 4 is pushed out by air pressure and supplied to the discharge head 3 via the liquid feed pipe 7.

  The discharge head 3 has a U-shaped discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 having a bottom plate portion 9 a and an upper opening, and a flat base portion 8 is mounted on the opening side of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9. Yes. The base portion 8 and the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 are a head main body portion 10 that constitutes the main body of the discharge head 3. A nozzle member 17 is mounted on the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 9 a of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 via a spacer 16. The spacer 16 and the nozzle member 17 constitute a discharge nozzle 18 that discharges the liquid 5.

  A pressure member 11 is mounted on the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 via an annular spring 13, and an actuator 12 made of a piezoelectric element is disposed between the pressure member 11 and the base portion 8. . The actuator 12 is controlled by the actuator control unit 14 to expand and contract in the vertical direction, and the base unit 8 supports an upward reaction force when the actuator 12 is extended. Thereby, the pressurizing member 11 disposed on the lower surface of the actuator 12 reciprocates, and the liquid 5 supplied to the storage chamber S (see FIGS. 2 and 3) via the liquid feeding pipe 7 and the nozzle member 17. Are discharged by the configuration described below.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the ejection head 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 has a configuration in which the side plate portion 9d is extended upward from both side end portions of the flat bottom plate portion 9a, and the base portion 8 is fixedly mounted on the upper end portion of the side plate portion 9d. . A pressure member 11 is disposed on the lower surface of the actuator 12 whose upper surface is in contact with the lower surface of the base portion 8.

  The pressurizing member 11 has a shape in which a cylindrical end portion 11b (see FIG. 4) protrudes downward from a disk-shaped large-diameter portion 11a. In a state where the pressure member 11 is mounted on the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9, the one end portion 11 b is fitted in a circular opening 9 c provided on the bottom plate portion 9 a of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 so as to be able to reciprocate. In this state, the opening 9c and the outer peripheral surface of the one end portion 11b are sealed by the second packing 19B mounted in the packing groove on the outer peripheral surface of the one end portion 11b. That is, the pressure member 11 is mounted on the head main body 10 so as to be reciprocally driven by the actuator 12, and the one end 11 b protrudes from the head main body 10 in the reciprocating direction by the actuator 12. An annular spring 13 is interposed between the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 9a and the lower surface of the large diameter portion 11a.

  A spacer 16 is mounted on the mounting surface 9b of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 via the first gasket 20A. The spacer 16 is a plate-like member having a predetermined thickness that is detachable from the head main body 10. The spacer 16 has an opening 16 a having the same diameter as or slightly smaller in diameter than the opening 9 c and penetrates the thickness of the spacer 16. Is provided. In a state where the pressure member 11 is mounted on the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 of the head main body portion 10, the one end portion 11b protruding downward from the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 is surrounded by the opening 16a.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a holding portion 16b for holding the first packing 19A is formed on the upper portion of the opening portion 16a. By holding the first packing 19A on the holding portion 16b, the first packing 19A is positioned between the spacer 16 and the side surface of the one end portion 11b of the pressing member 11. Thus, the liquid 5 in the storage chamber S is prevented from entering the gap between the side surface of the opening 9c and the side surface of the one end portion 11b.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the first packing 19 </ b> A for preventing the liquid 5 from coming into contact with the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 constituting the head main body portion 10 is provided. As described above, by providing the holding portion 16b for holding the first packing 19A on the upper portion of the opening portion 16a, the processing for forming the holding portion 16b is facilitated, and the liquid that has entered the holding portion 16b is obtained. 5 and other foreign matters can be easily cleaned.

  A nozzle member 17 is mounted on the lower surface side of the spacer 16 via a second gasket 20B. The nozzle member 17 is attached to the spacer 16 in a state of closing the opening 16a. In this state, the storage chamber S is formed between the attachment surface 17a of the nozzle member 17 and the lower end surface 11c (see FIG. 3) of the one end portion 11b. Is done. That is, the spacer 16 surrounds the one end portion 11 b of the pressure member 11 and has an opening 16 a that becomes the storage chamber S.

  Here, an example in which the first gasket 20A is mounted on the upper surface of the spacer 16 and the second gasket 20B is mounted on the lower surface is shown, but the second gasket 20B on the lower surface of the spacer 16 is not essential, and at least the discharge of the head main body 10 is performed. What is necessary is just to provide the 1st gasket 20A between the nozzle mounting part 9 and the spacer 16. FIG. In particular, when the spacer 16 is formed of a material that does not have a gasket function, the first gasket 20A needs to be mounted. By providing the first gasket 20A in this way, the cleaning liquid or the scattered liquid 5 enters from between the head main body 10 and the spacer 16, and enters the gap between the one end 11b of the pressure member 11 and the bottom plate 9a. Intrusion can be prevented. On the other hand, when the spacer 16 is formed of a material having a gasket function such as rubber, it is not necessary to provide the first gasket 20A and the second gasket 20B specially.

  On one side surface of the nozzle member 17, a joint 22 connected to the liquid feeding pipe 7 shown in FIG. 1 and having an inlet portion 22 a inside is implanted. The inlet portion 22 a communicates with an introduction flow path 23 that is provided inside the nozzle member 17 and introduces the liquid 5 into the storage chamber S. That is, the introduction flow path 23 communicates with the storage chamber S via the outlet portion 23a opened on the mounting surface 17a (see FIG. 3) of the nozzle member 17. The outlet 23 a functions as a supply hole for supplying the liquid 5 to be discharged to the storage chamber S.

  Here, the introduction flow path 23 has a shape inclined from the inlet portion 22a opened on the side surface of the nozzle member 17 toward the outlet portion 23a. As a result, the introduction flow path 23 is formed in a linear shape without a bent portion inside the nozzle member 17. For this reason, it can be set as the structure where clogging by the liquid 5 remaining in the introduction flow path 23, a foreign material, etc. does not generate | occur | produce easily. Further, in the maintenance work required when the liquid is exchanged, it is possible to easily clean the inside of the introduction flow path 23 by inserting a tool such as a cleaning pin through the introduction flow path 23.

  The nozzle member 17 is provided with a discharge flow path 24 a that communicates from the storage chamber S to a discharge port 24 provided on the lower surface of the nozzle member 17 and discharges the liquid 5 in the storage chamber S to the outside. The discharge flow path 24a has a tapered hole shape with a reduced diameter in the lower part, and the diameter increases toward the storage chamber S side. Here, the position of the discharge port 24 is arranged so as to be separated from the center position in the storage chamber S on the side opposite to the outlet portion 23a. With such an arrangement, the liquid 5 supplied into the storage chamber S from the outlet 23a in the liquid discharge for reciprocating the one end portion 11b in the storage chamber S forms an air pool in the storage chamber S. The whole can be filled without any discharge failure due to the accumulation of air remaining in the storage chamber S.

  When the liquid 5 is discharged by the liquid discharge apparatus 1, first, the liquid 5 is supplied from the liquid supply unit 2 into the storage chamber S through the liquid supply pipe 7 and the introduction flow path 23. Next, the actuator 12 is charged by the actuator controller 14 and the pressure member 11 is extended by a predetermined stroke against the urging force of the annular spring 13. Thereby, the volume of the storage chamber S changes, and the liquid 5 is discharged from the discharge port 24 through the discharge flow path 24a. After discharging, the actuator 12 is discharged to return the extension of the actuator 12 and the pressure member 11 is pushed up by the urging force of the annular spring 13 so that the next liquid discharge is possible. That is, the actuator 12, the annular spring 13, and the actuator control unit 14 become the drive unit 15 that discharges the liquid 5 from the discharge flow path 24 a by changing the volume of the storage chamber S by reciprocating the pressure member 11. Yes.

  FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of components assembled to the mounting surface 9 b of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9. That is, when assembling these components, the first packing 19 </ b> A is mounted on the one end portion 11 b of the pressure member 11 protruding from the mounting surface 9 b of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9. Next, the second gasket 20B, the spacer 16, the first gasket 20A and the nozzle member 17 are overlapped, and a fastening bolt 25 is inserted into a fastening hole 17c provided in the discharge surface 17b of the nozzle member 17 to form the mounting surface 9b. The screw hole 9e is screwed and fastened. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the discharge nozzle 18 in which the spacer 16 and the nozzle member 17 are superimposed on the mounting surface 9 b of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 is screwed by the fastening bolt 25.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the pressure member 11 that is attached to the head main body portion 10 so as to be able to reciprocate and whose one end 11b projects from the head main body portion 10 in the reciprocating movement direction, and the head main body portion 10. A spacer 16 having an opening 16a that surrounds one end 11b of the pressurizing member 11 that protrudes from the storage chamber S and closes the opening 16a is attached to the spacer 16, and the reservoir 5 is filled with the liquid 5 A configuration including an introduction flow path 23 to be introduced and a nozzle member 17 having a discharge flow path 24a for discharging the liquid 5 in the storage chamber S to the outside, and discharging the liquid 5 by pressurizing the liquid 5 in the storage chamber S. In the liquid discharge apparatus 1, the first packing 19 </ b> A for preventing the liquid 5 in the storage chamber S from contacting the head main body 10 is provided between the spacer 16 and the side surface of the one end 11 b of the pressure member 11. Is the example was constructed.

  Accordingly, the first packing 19A can seal between the one end portion 11b and the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 and prevent the liquid 5 from entering the gap between the one end portion 11b and the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9. can do. At the same time, since the one end portion 11b of the pressure member 11 protrudes from the mounting surface 9b of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9, the cleaning of the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 of the head main body portion 10 can be performed with good workability during maintenance. And maintenance work such as cleaning when changing the liquid is facilitated.

  In addition, the nozzle member 17 of the discharge nozzle 18 mounted on the discharge nozzle mounting portion 9 includes an introduction flow path 23 for introducing the liquid 5 into the storage chamber S, and a discharge flow path 24a for discharging the liquid 5 in the storage chamber S to the outside. Further, as the form of the introduction flow path 23 in the nozzle member 17, an arrangement in which the introduction flow path 23 is inclined from the inlet portion 22a opened on the side surface of the nozzle member 17 toward the outlet portion 23a is adopted. . As a result, the introduction flow path 23 has a straight shape without a bent portion, and clogging inside the introduction flow path 23 is less likely to occur, and the introduction flow path 23 can be easily cleaned in maintenance work such as cleaning when the liquid is changed. Can be done.

  The liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention has an effect that it can provide a liquid discharge apparatus that can easily perform maintenance work such as cleaning when changing the liquid, and discharges liquid by pressurizing liquid in a storage chamber. Is useful.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid discharge apparatus 2 Liquid supply part 3 Discharge head 4 Tank 5 Liquid 8 Base part 9 Discharge nozzle mounting part 9c Opening part 10 Head main-body part 11 Pressurization member 11b One end part 12 Actuator 13 Annular spring 14 Actuator control part 15 Drive part 16 Spacer 16a Opening portion 17 Nozzle member 18 Discharge nozzle 19A First packing 19B Second packing 20A First gasket 20B Second gasket 22a Inlet portion 23 Introducing flow path 23a Outlet portion 24a Discharge flow path S Storage chamber

Claims (4)

A liquid ejection device that ejects liquid by pressurizing liquid in a storage chamber,
The head body,
A pressure member attached to the head main body portion so as to be reciprocally movable, and having one end projecting from the head main body portion in the reciprocating direction;
A spacer having a predetermined thickness that is detachable from the head main body, and that surrounds one end of the pressure member protruding from the head main body and includes an opening serving as the storage chamber;
An inlet channel that introduces liquid into the storage chamber, and a discharge channel that discharges the liquid in the storage chamber to the outside are attached to the head main body through the spacer in a state of closing the opening. A nozzle member;
A drive unit for discharging liquid from the discharge flow path by changing the volume of the storage chamber by reciprocating the pressurizing member;
A liquid ejection apparatus comprising: a packing for preventing the liquid in the storage chamber from coming into contact with the head main body between the spacer and the side surface of the pressure member.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a holding portion that holds the packing is formed above the opening of the spacer.   The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a gasket between at least the head main body and the spacer.   4. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the introduction flow path is inclined from an inlet portion opened on a side surface of the nozzle member toward an outlet portion. 5.

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