JPH0193368A - Ink recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an ink recorder having a simple construction and consuming a small quantity of electric power, by applying a voltage between a recording electrode and a counter electrode so that an ink is jetted through a nozzle by a movement of bubbles. CONSTITUTION:An ink 2 is contained in an ink tank 1, and compressed air supplied from an air source 8 through a pipe 9 is fed into the tank 1 through the center of a recording electrode 5. In the condition where bubbles 13 are successively generated and floating upward, a voltage is applied between the recording electrode 5 and a counter electrode 7, upon which the bubbles 13 are moved rectilinearly toward a nozzle 4 provided at a central part of the electrode 7. With the applied voltage selected appropriately, the bubbles are jetted through the tip of the nozzle 4, thereby recording on a recording paper 10. A bias electrode 11 is provided on the back side of the paper 10, and a bias voltage of a polarity opposite to that of the recording voltage is applied to the bias electrode 11. The bias voltage efficiently attracts the ink to the side of the paper.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink recording device, and more particularly to an ink recording device that utilizes the force of bubble movement.

BACKGROUND ART A recording device is known that generates air bubbles in the ink by energizing a heating element disposed in the ink, and performs recording using the ink droplets that fly when the air bubbles burst on the ink liquid surface. However, in this recording device, it is necessary to keep the ink liquid level constant, it is necessary to bring the liquid level and the position of the heating element close to each other, and the power consumption is reduced due to the integration of the heating element. There were problems such as increased size.

Purpose The present invention has been made for the purpose of providing an ink recording device with a new configuration that is free from the above-mentioned problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink recording device that jets ink from an ink jet orifice to print on recording paper, and includes a counter electrode provided near the ink jet orifice;
It has an air supply port located opposite to the counter electrode and into which a certain amount of air is injected, and a recording electrode provided near the air supply port, and a voltage is applied between the recording electrode and the counter electrode. is applied to control the movement of the bubbles that are injected in a fixed amount, and the movement of the bubbles causes ink to be ejected from the nozzle. An explanation will be given below based on one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 1 is an ink tank, 2 is ink, 3 is an air supply port, and 4 is an ink ejection port (nozzle).

5 is a recording electrode, 6 is a recording voltage, 7 is a counter electrode, 8 is an air source, 9 is an air supply pipe, 10 is a recording paper, 11 is a bias electrode, 12 is a bias power supply, and the ink tank 1 contains ink 2. A recording electrode 5 is provided on a part of its wall, and compressed air is sent from an air source 8 from the center of the recording electrode 5 through a pipe 9. When no voltage is applied to the recording electrode 5, this air forms bubbles 13 as shown in FIG.
Then, due to buoyancy, it floats almost directly above the center of the recording electrode and ruptures at the liquid surface. When the voltage described in 8 is applied to the recording electrode 5 while the bubbles are continuously generated and floating in this way, the bubbles 13 are caused by the electrostatic field between the recording electrode 5 and the counter electrode 7 to move in the same way as when no voltage is applied. The diameter is smaller and the particles are finer. Further, the bubble 13 moves linearly to the nozzle 4 at the center of the counter electrode, as shown in FIG. 3, due to the electrophoretic force caused by the electrical charge on the surface of the bubble. The flow speed and travel distance of the bubbles 13 can be controlled by the magnitude of the applied voltage. Therefore, by appropriately selecting the applied voltage, bubbles are ejected from the tip of the nozzle 4 and recorded on the recording paper 10.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, a bias electrode 11 is provided on the back side of the recording paper 10, and a bias voltage having the opposite polarity to the recording voltage is applied. Although this bias electrode is not necessarily required, a further effect can be obtained by applying a bias voltage to the bias electrode. That is, this bias voltage applies a Coulomb force to the ink at the tip of the nozzle to electrostatically attract the ink toward the bias electrode, causing the bubbles 13 to reach the nozzle and ink to be ejected from the tip of the nozzle. The ink is efficiently sucked onto the recording paper side.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink recording apparatus that has a completely new configuration, is simple in configuration, easy to handle, and has low power consumption.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the present invention. 1... Ink tank, 2... Ink, 3... Air supply port.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an ink recording device that prints on recording paper by ejecting ink from an ink ejection port, a counter electrode is provided near the ink ejection port, and a fixed amount of air is injected into the counter electrode located opposite the counter electrode. an air supply port, and a recording electrode provided near the air supply port, and applying a voltage between the recording electrode and the counter electrode to control the movement of the bubbles to be injected in a fixed amount; An ink recording device characterized in that ink is ejected from a nozzle by movement of the bubbles. (2) The ink recording device according to claim (1), which has a bias electrode provided on the back side of the recording paper, and applies a voltage of opposite polarity to the recording voltage to the bias electrode. .