JP7528561B2 - Lid member for waste liquid tank, waste liquid recovery device, liquid discharge device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a lid member for a waste liquid tank, a waste liquid recovery device, and a device for discharging liquid.

In a printer, for example, which is a device that ejects liquid, waste liquid is generated by performing idle ejection (including flushing, purging, etc.) to eject liquid that does not contribute to printing as maintenance of the liquid ejection head.

A waste liquid recovery tank is known that is made up of a tank body and a lid member that covers the opening of the tank body, with a waste liquid inlet provided in the lid member and an air vent provided in the lid member (Patent Document 1).

JP 2015-085577 A

However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that the waste liquid introduced from the lid member will scatter and adhere to and solidify at the air communication port, blocking the air communication port and making it impossible to properly store the waste liquid. In this case, if the air communication port is made larger, there is a risk that the stored waste liquid will dry out and solidify inside.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to make it possible to stably store waste liquid.

In order to solve the above problems, the lid member for a waste liquid tank according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises:
A cover member for covering a waste liquid intake portion of a waste liquid tank for collecting waste liquid,
The waste liquid tank includes at least an inner opening facing the inside of the waste liquid tank, and a communication passage that connects the inner opening to the atmosphere,
At least, an area of an opening of the inner opening facing the inside of the waste liquid tank is larger than an area of an opening of the communication passage portion communicating with the inner opening,
The communication passage portion and the inner opening portion are arranged with a positional deviation in an in-plane direction,
A part of the communication passage portion opens into the inner opening portion.
The composition was as follows.

According to the present invention, waste liquid can be stored stably.

1 is a side view illustrating a waste liquid recovery device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 4 is an enlarged side view of a main portion of the waste liquid recovery device when a rotating member is in a standby position. FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view illustrating a main portion when the rotating member is in a connected position. FIG. 2 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 11 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 11 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 10 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 13 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 13 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 23 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of a cover member according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an example of an apparatus for discharging liquid according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an example of a head unit of the device.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig. 1 is a side view of a waste liquid recovery device according to the embodiment, Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the waste liquid recovery device when a rotating member of the device is in a standby position, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the waste liquid recovery device when the rotating member is in a connected position.

The waste liquid recovery device 1 has a tank storage section 3 into which a waste liquid tank 2, which is a waste liquid recovery container (waste liquid container, waste liquid storage container) that contains waste liquid, can be inserted and removed.

The waste liquid tank 2 has a tank body 21 that contains waste liquid, and a waste liquid intake portion 22 that protrudes from the tank body 21 and forms a waste liquid intake port 22a that leads into the tank body 21.

The waste liquid tank 2 can be inserted and removed from the tank storage section 3 in the direction of arrow A, with the insertion direction being the direction of arrow A1 and the removal direction being the direction of arrow A2.

A rotating lever 4, which is a rotating member, is rotatably arranged in the tank storage section 3 at the rear side (the end side of the insertion direction) in the direction in which the waste liquid tank 2 is inserted and removed (the direction of arrow A). The rotating lever 4 is rotatably supported by a shaft 41 on the support section 3a of the tank storage section 3, and can rotate between the standby position shown in Figures 1 and 2 and the connected position shown in Figure 3. The connected position is a position where the waste liquid discharge port 7a faces the waste liquid intake port 22a of the waste liquid tank 2 and is in a state in which waste liquid can be discharged.

The rotating lever 4 is a member formed by bending a flat plate-shaped member, and has an engagement portion 4a that is pressed by the front portion 2a of the waste liquid tank 2, and a holding portion 4b that intersects with the engagement portion 4a at a substantially right angle. The rotating lever 4 is biased to the standby position shown in FIG. 2 by a biasing member 42 such as a coil spring provided between the end opposite the shaft 41 and the tank storage portion 3.

The holding portion 4b of the pivot lever 4 holds a lid member 10 as a capping means for covering the waste liquid intake portion 22 of the waste liquid tank 2, and is movable (slidable) along the in-plane direction of the holding portion 4b and can move forward and backward relative to the holding portion 4b.

The cover member 10 includes a seal member 6, which is an abutting member that abuts against the waste liquid intake port 22 of the waste liquid tank 2 and covers the waste liquid intake port 22, and a slider member 5, which is a holding member (pressing member) that can slide in the in-plane direction of the holding portion 4b of the rotating lever 4 and holds the seal member 6 so that it can advance and retreat relative to the holding portion 4b.

Here, the four guide shafts 43 provided on the holding portion 4b of the rotating lever 4 and the guide grooves 51 provided on the slider member 5 are movably fitted together, so that the slider member 5, together with the seal member 6, can slide and move forward and backward relative to the holding portion 4b of the rotating lever 4.

The slider member 5 is biased to the initial position shown in FIG. 2 by a biasing means 52, such as a tension coil spring, provided between the slider member 5 and the tip end side of the rotating lever 4. When the waste liquid tank 2 is removed from the tank storage section 3 to the outside of the device, the biasing means 52 biases the lid member 10 in the upper left direction in the figure, and holds it in the initial position shown in FIG. 2.

The slider member 5 also has an abutment portion 55 that abuts and is pressed against the waste liquid intake portion 22 of the waste liquid tank 2 when the waste liquid tank 2 is inserted in the insertion direction (direction of arrow A1).

A biasing means 53 consisting of a compression coil spring or the like fitted into the guide shaft 43 is disposed between the slider member 5 of the cover member 10 and the holding portion 4b of the rotating lever 4, and the slider member 5 can advance and retreat into the holding portion 4b together with the seal member 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the seal member 6 of the lid member 10 abuts against the waste liquid intake portion 22 of the waste liquid tank 2, the biasing means 53 presses the seal member 6 against the waste liquid intake portion 22 by a biasing force (restoring force).

The biasing means 53 that presses (biases) the seal member 6 toward the waste liquid intake port 22 is supported on the slider member 5 by a retaining member 54 (Figure 3) that is a biasing means support member. This allows the end of the biasing means 53 on the slider member 5 side to move relative to the slider member 5, preventing twisting of the biasing means 53.

The slider member 5 holds a waste liquid discharge member 7 having a waste liquid discharge port 7a that passes through a through hole 8 in the seal member 6 to discharge waste liquid.

The waste liquid discharge member 7 passes through the pivot lever 4 so that it can move with the movement of the slider member 5.

As the sealing member 6, a material with high smoothness and low friction coefficient such as Mylar is preferable, but is not limited to this. Furthermore, the sealing member 6 may be abutted against the entire area of the upper end portion of the waste liquid intake portion 22 to seal the waste liquid intake 22a, or may be abutted against the portion while leaving a predetermined gap between the portion and cover the waste liquid intake 22a.

As shown in FIG. 1, the waste liquid recovery device 1 has an opening/closing door 31 on the front side in the insertion direction (arrow A1 direction) of the waste liquid tank 2. The opening/closing door 31 is rotatable around a rotation shaft 32, and a protrusion 33 provided on the inside of the opening/closing door 31 presses the waste liquid tank 2 toward the rear in the insertion direction. The protrusion 33 prevents the waste liquid tank 2 from being pushed back toward the front in the insertion direction by the biasing forces of the biasing members 42 and 52 of the rotating lever 4 after the insertion of the waste liquid tank 2 into the waste liquid recovery device 1 is complete.

In this waste liquid recovery device 1, when the waste liquid tank 2 is accommodated in the tank accommodation section 3, the waste liquid tank 2 is inserted in the direction of the arrow A1 in FIG. 1, so that the front portion 2a of the waste liquid tank 2 abuts against the engagement portion 4a of the pivot lever 4, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

By pushing the waste tank 2 further in the direction of arrow A1 from this state, the engaging portion 4a of the pivot lever 4 is pushed by the waste tank 2, causing it to pivot in the direction of arrow B1 in Figures 1 and 2 against the restoring force of the biasing means 42.

Then, by pushing the waste liquid tank 2 further in the direction of arrow A1, the waste liquid intake portion 22 of the waste liquid tank 2 comes into contact with the contact portion 55 of the slider member 5 of the lid member 10.

By pushing the waste tank 2 further in the direction of arrow A1 from this state, the pivot lever 4 further pivots in the direction of arrow B1. At the same time, the slider member 5 is pushed by the waste liquid intake portion 22, so that the slider member 5 of the lid member 10 moves (slides) in the direction of arrow C1 together with the seal member 6, as shown in FIG. 3.

At this time, the sealing member 6 comes into contact with the waste liquid intake port 22 of the waste liquid tank 2, but the slider member 5 slides relative to the rotating lever 4. Therefore, when the waste liquid tank 2 is pushed in the direction of the arrow A1, the rotating lever 4 can rotate in the direction of the arrow B1 while the relative position between the sealing member 6 and the waste liquid intake port 22 of the waste liquid tank 2 is roughly maintained.

Then, by further pushing the waste liquid tank 2 in the direction of the arrow A1, as shown in FIG. 3, the pivot lever 4 further pivots in the direction of the arrow B1, and the sealing member 6 is pressed against the waste liquid intake portion 22 of the waste liquid tank 2, thereby sealing (capping) the waste liquid intake portion 22 with the sealing member 6.

Next, the cover member according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member, and Figure 5 is a plan view of the same.

As described above, the lid member 10 is composed of a seal member 6 that contacts the waste liquid intake portion 22 of the waste liquid tank 2 and a slider member 5 that serves as a retaining member for retaining the seal member 6.

In this embodiment, the seal member 6 is provided with an inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2, and the slider member 5 is provided with a communication passage portion 64 that connects the inner opening 63 to the atmosphere. In the seal member 6, the inner opening 63 and the communication passage portion 64 form an atmosphere communication passage 65 that connects the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 to the atmosphere.

Here, the area of the opening 63a of the inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 is larger than the area of the opening 64a that communicates with the inner opening 63 of the communication passage portion 64.

This configuration prevents the waste liquid discharged from the waste liquid discharge port 7a from scattering, thereby preventing the waste liquid from adhering to and solidifying on the wall surface of the air communication passage 65, resulting in the air communication passage 65 becoming clogged.

In addition, since the minimum opening area of the atmosphere communication passage 65 is the area of the opening 64a of the communication passage portion 64, the provision of an inner opening 63 with a large opening 63a can reduce the risk of the collected waste liquid being dried and solidified.

In this way, it is possible to prevent the waste liquid from becoming difficult to discharge due to clogging of the air communication passage 65, or the waste liquid contained in the waste liquid tank 2 from solidifying, and the waste liquid can be stably collected in the waste liquid tank 2.

Next, a cover member according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member, and Figure 7 is a plan view of the same.

In this embodiment, the communication passage 64 provided in the slider member 5 is shaped so that the area of the opening 64b on the opposite side to the inner opening 63 (the side that is on the outside when covering the waste liquid intake 22) is larger than the area of the opening 63a of the inner opening 63.

Even in this case, the area of the communication passage portion 64 other than the opening 64a is blocked by the sealing member 6, so the area of the opening 63a of the inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 is larger than the area of the opening 64a that communicates with the inner opening 63 of the communication passage portion 64.

In other words, the minimum opening area of the atmosphere communication passage 65 is the area of the opening 64a that communicates with the inner opening 63 of the communication passage portion 64, as in the first embodiment, and the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Next, a cover member according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member, and Figure 9 is a plan view of the same.

In this embodiment, the slider member 5 is provided with multiple (here, three) communication passages 64.

In this case, the area of the opening 63a of the inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 is made larger than the total area of the openings 64a that communicate with the inner openings 63 of the three communication passages 64.

The communication passage 64 can also have a mesh structure.

Even with this configuration, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Next, a cover member according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 10 and 11. Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member, and Figure 11 is a plan view of the same.

In this embodiment, the inner opening 63 provided in the seal member 6 and the communication passage portion 64 provided in the slider member 5 are offset in position in the in-plane direction. In this case, the overlapping portion of the inner opening 63 and the communication passage portion 64 becomes the opening 64a where the inner opening 63 of the communication passage portion 64 faces.

Therefore, even in this configuration, the area of the opening 63a of the inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 is larger than the area of the opening 64a that communicates with the inner opening 63 of the communication passage portion 64.

Next, a cover member according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 12 and 13. Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member, and Figure 13 is a plan view of the same.

In this embodiment, the inner opening 63 provided in the seal member 6 and the communication passage portion 64 provided in the slider member 5 are offset in position in the in-plane direction. In this case, the overlapping portion of the inner opening 63 and the communication passage portion 64 becomes the opening 64a of the communication passage portion 64 facing the inner opening 63. Both the inner opening 63 and the communication passage portion 64 are circular.

Therefore, even in this configuration, the area of the opening 63a of the inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 is larger than the area of the opening 64a that communicates with the inner opening 63 of the communication passage portion 64.

In addition, if the maximum width of the opening 64a (left-right direction in FIG. 13) is the same as the width of the opening 64a in the fourth embodiment (left-right direction in FIG. 11), the area of the opening 64a is smaller in this embodiment than in the fourth embodiment. Therefore, the risk of accelerating the drying and solidification of the waste liquid can be reduced more in this embodiment than in the fourth embodiment.

Next, a cover member according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member.

In this embodiment, the cover member 10 is a single member and has an inner opening 63 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 and a communication passage 64 that connects the inner opening 63 to the atmosphere.

Next, a lid member according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the lid member.

In this embodiment, the cover member 10 is constructed by stacking three members 10A to 10C, with an inner opening 63 provided in member 10A on the inside side of the waste liquid tank 2, and through holes 66b and 66c that form a communication passage portion 64 in members 10B and 10C.

The opening area of the through hole 66b of the member 10B is made smaller than the opening area of the inner opening 53, and the opening where the through hole 66b faces the inner opening 53 is the opening 54a of the communication passage portion 54.

Next, a cover member according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the cover member.

In this embodiment, the cover member 10 is provided with an air communication passage 65 formed by a through hole that converges continuously (or in stages) from the surface 10a facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 to the surface 10b opposite to surface 10a. Note that the cover member 10 may be made up of multiple members, as in the first embodiment.

The area of the interior opening 65a of the atmosphere communication passage 65 facing the inside of the waste liquid tank 2 is larger than the area of the opening 65b on the opposite side to the interior opening 65a.

With this configuration, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

The contact members of the above embodiments can be applied not only to the waste liquid recovery device of the first embodiment, but also to waste liquid recovery devices having configurations other than that of the waste liquid recovery device of the first embodiment.

Next, an example of a device for ejecting liquid according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 17 and 18. Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the device, and Figure 18 is a plan view of an example of a head unit of the device.

The printing device 500, which is a device for ejecting this liquid, includes an input means 501 for inputting a continuous body (web) 510, a guide and conveyance means 503 for guiding and conveying the continuous body 510 inputted from the input means 501 to a printing means 505, a printing means 505 for ejecting liquid onto the continuous body 510 to perform printing to form an image, a drying means 507 for drying the continuous body 510, and an ejection means 509 for ejecting the continuous body 510.

The continuous body 510 is sent out from the original winding roller 511 of the carrying-in means 501, guided and transported by the rollers of the carrying-in means 501, the guide and transport means 503, the drying means 507, and the carrying-out means 509, and then wound up by the winding roller 591 of the carrying-out means 509.

This continuous body 510 is transported in the printing means 505 facing the head unit 550 and head unit 555, an image is formed by the liquid ejected from the head unit 550, and post-processing is performed with the processing liquid ejected from the head unit 555.

Here, the head unit 550 is arranged with, for example, full-line head arrays 551A, 551B, 551C, and 551D (hereinafter, when no distinction is made between colors, they will be referred to as "head array 551") for four colors from the upstream side in the transport direction.

Each head array 551 is a liquid ejection means, and ejects black K, cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y liquid onto the transported continuum 510. Note that the types and number of colors are not limited to these.

The head array 551 is, for example, a staggered arrangement of liquid ejection heads (also simply called "heads") 100 on a base member 552, but is not limited to this.

The printing means 505 is equipped with a waste liquid recovery device 1 according to the present invention.

This allows the waste liquid recovery device 1 to recover waste liquid over a long period of time without causing clogging of the waste liquid discharge port 7a.

In this case, the waste liquid collected by the waste liquid recovery device 1 includes, for example, waste ink and processing agent generated during idle ejection (including flushing, purging, etc.), which ejects liquid that does not contribute to printing, as part of the maintenance of the liquid ejection head.

Note that the printing device 500 may be a device that prints on sheets of paper, i.e., cut paper, rather than a device that prints on a continuous sheet.

In addition, in this application, the terms image formation, recording, printing, copying, printing, modeling, etc. are all synonymous.

1 Waste liquid recovery device 2 Waste liquid tank 3 Tank storage section 4 Rotating lever (rotating member)
5 Slider member 6 Sealing member 7 Waste liquid discharge member 10 Lid member 22 Waste liquid intake port 500 Printing device (device for ejecting liquid)
550 Head Unit

Claims (6)

A cover member for covering a waste liquid intake portion of a waste liquid tank for collecting waste liquid,
The waste liquid tank includes at least an inner opening facing the inside of the waste liquid tank, and a communication passage that connects the inner opening to the atmosphere,
At least, an area of an opening of the inner opening facing the inside of the waste liquid tank is larger than an area of an opening of the communication passage portion communicating with the inner opening,
The communication passage portion and the inner opening portion are arranged with a positional deviation in an in-plane direction,
A cover member for a waste liquid tank, wherein a part of the communication passage portion opens into the inner opening portion. A cover member for covering a waste liquid intake portion of a waste liquid tank for collecting waste liquid,
The waste liquid tank includes at least an inner opening facing the inside of the waste liquid tank, and a communication passage that connects the inner opening to the atmosphere,
At least, an area of an opening of the inner opening facing the inside of the waste liquid tank is larger than an area of an opening of the communication passage portion communicating with the inner opening,
the cover member includes a contact member that contacts the waste liquid inlet portion and a holding member that holds the contact member,
A lid member for a waste liquid tank, wherein the inner opening is provided in the abutment member, and the communication passage is provided in the holding member. A waste liquid recovery device capable of inserting and removing a waste liquid tank for recovering waste liquid,
A waste liquid recovery device comprising the lid member for a waste liquid tank according to claim 1 or 2 . 4. A liquid discharging device comprising: a lid member for a waste liquid tank according to claim 1 or 2 ; or a waste liquid recovery device according to claim 3 . 5. The liquid ejecting device according to claim 4 , wherein waste ink that does not contribute to printing is collected in the waste liquid tank. 6. The liquid ejecting device according to claim 4 , wherein waste liquid of the processing liquid is recovered in the waste liquid tank.

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