JPH01101157A - Nonimpact printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the title printer simple in structure and make its maintenance easy, by providing a plurality of heat generating body arranged in a row on a heating base, and an ink feeding groove for feeding a thin layer recording liquid on the heat generating body. CONSTITUTION:When ink is fed through an ink feeding port 13 from an ink feeding path 14, ink 16 penetrates by capillary force into an ink feeding groove 15 to cover on a minute heating element 17 in the form of a thin layer due to the surface tension of ink and wettability of the heating base 11 and the flow path wall 12. When a heating element 17 is selectively energized, ink on the heating element is boiled instantaneously, and it flies out as mist 16a to impinge against the printing face disposed opposite to an printing head, and adheres thereon to make recording on the face. After ink flies, it returns to the initial state due to the wettability of the ink. Incidentally by arranging many heating elements densely to the printing sheet width, a full-line multi-head can easily be worked.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention Technical Field The present invention relates to a non-impact printer, and more particularly, to a non-impact printer that performs recording by energizing a minute heating element to instantaneously boil a recording liquid and making it fly in the form of a mist. Regarding.

A large number of micro heating elements are arranged below the surface of the ink liquid, these micro heating elements are selectively energized to form bubbles, and as these bubbles burst, micro droplets of ink are released. For example, a non-impact printer that uses the micro droplets of ink released in this way for printing or printing is developed by
Although it is known from Japanese Patent No. 0-58698, the above invention arranges minute heating elements below the ink liquid surface, and it is difficult to maintain the ink liquid level constant.

Further, a liquid path having an ejection port for ejecting the recording liquid, an inlet communicating with the liquid path to supply the recording liquid, and a part of the recording liquid supplied to the liquid path is provided with thermal energy. The thermal energy applying means is heated to generate bubbles in the recording liquid in the liquid path, and an increase in the volume of the bubbles causes ink droplets to be ejected and recorded. Non-impact printers using so-called bubbles that perform
Although it is known in Publication No. 5, since the invention has a nozzle discharge port, there are problems such as clogging of the discharge port, air bubbles entering from the discharge port, liquid dripping at the discharge port, etc., and maintenance is difficult. Met.

Purpose The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances.
In particular, the purpose of this invention is to provide a non-impact printer that is simple in structure, easy to process, and easy to maintain.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of heat generating elements arranged in a line on a heating table, a part of which is parallel to the heating table and formed by a wall surface of the heating table, It is composed of an ink supply groove that supplies a thin layer of recording liquid onto the body, and an ink supply port that supplies the recording liquid to the ink supply groove, and selectively applies heat energy to the heating element to remove the thin layer. It is characterized by making a recording liquid fly.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the print head section of a non-impact printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. heating stand, 1
2 is a channel wall, 13 is an ink supply port, 14 is an ink supply path, 15 is an ink supply groove, 16 is ink, 17 is a heating element 1 As shown in the figure, the head base 10 has a convex heating element. A table 11, a channel wall 12, and an ink supply port 13 are arranged, and a large number of micro heating elements 17 are arranged in a line on the heating table 11. An ink supply channel 14 is connected to the ink supply port 13, and the ink supply channel 14 is further connected to an ink tank (not shown). is formed. Now, when ink is supplied from the ink supply path 14 through the ink supply port 13, the ink supply groove 1
Ink 16 enters and fills the inside of 5. When filling with ink, the ink forms a thin layer on the micro heating element 17 due to the surface tension of the ink and the wettability of the heating table 11 and the channel wall 12 (FIG. 2(a)).

Here, when electricity is selectively applied to one heating element 17, the ink on the heating element 17 that is energized is instantly boiled, forming a mist 16.
a and flies away (Figure 2 (b)).

The flying ink collides with and adheres to a printing surface disposed opposite to the print head, and is recorded on the printing surface. After the ink flies, the initial state (
Return to FIG. 2(a).

Note that a full-line multi-head can be easily fabricated by arranging a large number of one heating element at high density in the printing paper.

In addition, since the ink supply groove dimensions are sufficient for water, the effect of the mass of the ink liquid can be ignored with respect to capillary force.

Therefore, the direction in which the head is disposed is not restricted, and the design of the printer is not restricted (only the water head difference between the ink tank and the head needs to be considered).

FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the channel wall 12 is expanded 12a so as to cover the ink supply groove 15.
The meniscus surface of the ink liquid on the heating element 17 can be further stabilized, and the capillary force of the supply groove 15 can also be improved.

4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining other embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view. A shielding plate 18 is provided. In this way, the ink liquid meniscus surface on the heating element 17 can be stabilized, mutual interference between adjacent elements can be prevented, and furthermore, ink mist can be prevented. The flight direction can be stabilized.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view for explaining still another embodiment of the present invention, which has a plurality of rows (in the illustrated example,
In this example, positional accuracy can be easily ensured by processing multiple heads in one piece. For example, by supplying four colors of ink to the four rows of heads, High quality color images can be obtained. The head base can be easily machined with high precision by applying LSIN microfabrication technology.

From the above, a full line multi-head configuration is possible with a simple configuration. Furthermore, problems such as nozzle clogging, ink dripping, and air bubbles that occur in ordinary inkjet heads that eject ink droplets from nozzles are avoided, and maintenance management is therefore facilitated.

Effects As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a non-impact printer that has a simple configuration, is easy to process, easy to maintain, and is capable of full-line multi-head printing. be able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a head section used in a non-impact printer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are views for explaining other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. 10... Head base, 11... Heating stand, 12...
channel wall. 13... Ink supply port, 14... Ink supply path, 1
5... Ink supply groove, 16... Ink, 17...
heating element. 18... Shielding plate. ! Figure 2 a ) (5) Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 61 1 I[I[[N

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of heating elements arranged in a row on a heating table,
an ink supply groove parallel to the heating table and partially formed by a wall surface of the heating table and supplying a thin layer of recording liquid onto the heating element; and an ink supply port supplying the recording liquid to the ink supply groove. A non-impact printer comprising: selectively applying heat generating energy to the heating element to cause the thin layer of recording liquid to fly. (2) The non-impact printer according to claim (1), characterized in that a plurality of shielding plates are provided around the heating element. (3) The non-impact printer according to claim (1) or (2), wherein a plurality of the heads are integrally processed.