JPH03205158A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure that a heating device works on a low electric power with out any time loss for ink supply and an entire ink jet head can be made compact by providing an ink supply part which supplies liquid ink from a heating part to an ink jet head and a feed device which advances an ink ribbon impregnated with a solid ink gradually. CONSTITUTION:An electric power is supplied to a heater 41 and thereby a heating part 9, an ink supply part 10 and an ink jet head 8 are heated. Then in turn, an ink ribbon 12 which comes in contact with a roller 51 in the heating part 9 receives heat and a solid ink with which the ink ribbon 12 is impregnated in the heating part 9 becomes molten and liquid. The liquid ink becomes absorbed in slits 51a on the surface of the roller 51 due to the capillary attraction of the slits. After that, the ink penetrates the ink supply part 10 consisting of a microgap of an upper slit 61 and a lower slit 62, and then fills the interior of the ink jet head 8. Next if the ink is depleted with a recording process in progress, ink is taken into the heating part 9 from the ink ribbon 12 due to the movement of a carriage and also the gradual advance of the ink ribbon 12 by a winding motor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Fields] The present invention melts solid ink (hot melt ink) at room temperature and flies ink droplets in a liquid state to form an ink image on a medium such as recording paper. Regarding inkjet recording devices, such as printers that print, and more specifically regarding ink supply systems [Conventional technology 1] Conventional inkjet recording devices using hot melt ink have high paper type compatibility and no ink evaporation during pauses. This has the advantage that it is possible to realize a device that does not cause clogging or the like. As shown in US Pat. No. 4,636,803, the ink supply system used in this apparatus is generally a system in which a plurality of solid inks are held in a cartridge and solid blocks are sequentially supplied to a head.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] However, in such conventional supply systems, ink is supplied in solid blocks, and therefore a large amount of energy is required to change the ink from solid to liquid. In other words, if you want to melt the ink immediately, you must apply a large amount of power and heat in a short period of time, or you must temporarily stop recording and melt it over a long period of time. Furthermore, a space is required to accommodate the ink blocks on the head, which inevitably increases the size of the head. Since the head needs to be kept at a high temperature in order to keep the ink in a liquid state, there is a problem in that the larger the head, the more power is applied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve these conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system that changes ink from solid to liquid in a short time using less electric power and supplies the ink to an inkjet head.

[A! l! Means for Solving the Problem 1 In order to solve the above problem, the recording device of the present invention includes an ink ribbon formed by uniformly impregnating a strip-like member with an ink that is solid at room temperature and having a constant melting point, and the ink ribbon. a heating section that heats a part of the ink to melt and liquefy the ink, an inkjet head that flies the liquid ink melted and liquefied by the heating section, and a supply section that supplies the liquid ink from the heating section to the inkjet head. The ink ribbon is characterized by comprising a ribbon feeding means for gradually advancing the ink ribbon in one direction.

[Operations] With the recording device configured as described above, with a small amount of electric power,
The ink constantly impregnated into the ink ribbon is heated and melted little by little by the heating section, and is supplied to the inkjet head via the supply section to perform predetermined recording.

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. 1st
The figure is a perspective view of a recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, recording paper 1 is wound around platen 2 twice,
It is pressed by feed rollers 3 and 4. Guide shafts 5, 6
An inkjet head 8, a heating section 9,
A supply unit 10 that supplies ink from the heating unit 9 to the inkjet head 8 is mounted. The inkjet head 8 has a plurality of nozzles that can independently control the ejection of ink droplets. Then, the recording paper 1 is scanned in the axial direction of the platen, and ink droplets are selectively ejected from the nozzles to form an ink image on the recording paper 1. The recording paper 1 is conveyed in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the scanning direction by rotation of the platen 2 and feed rollers 3 and 4, and printing is performed on the recording paper 1. Reference numeral 12 denotes an ink ribbon, which is a heat-resistant endless strip of PJ material uniformly impregnated with hot melt ink. ink ribbon l2
is housed in ribbon cassette ll. 13 is a winding knob for taking up the slack of the ink ribbon 12; 14;
is a take-up motor that gradually advances the ink ribbon 12 in one direction.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the inkjet head. The cantilever-shaped vibrator 21 is made of PZT and has Au on one side.
It has a multilayer structure including a piezoelectric material layer 22 having a thin electrode and a metal layer 23 made of a thin layer of Invar, which is an alloy whose coefficient of thermal expansion is approximately the same as that of PZT. It is joined to a base 24 made of an equal ceramic member. In order to form a plurality of vibrators 21 that can be driven independently, the vibrator 21 in a flat plate state joined to the base 24 is divided by cutting grooves 21a. By making the groove 21a deep enough to reach the base 24, a plurality of vibrators 2l are formed without mutual interference. An electrode pattern 25 to be electrically connected is provided on the upper surface of the base 24 which is an insulating material. and,
In order to connect the electrodes of the piezoelectric material layer 22 of the vibrator 21 to an external drive circuit, the electrode pattern 25 and a flexible substrate 26 having a corresponding wiring pattern facing the electrode pattern 25 are electrically connected to each other. It is joined while taking it. The electrodes for keeping each vibrator 21 at a common potential are electrically connected and wired when bonding the spacer 27 to the surface of the metal layer 23 opposite to the above-mentioned surface. Furthermore, the base 24 is placed on the holder 30. The holder 30 is made of aluminum alloy, which is a good thermal conductor. On the other hand, N
A nozzle forming substrate 28 having a plurality of nozzles 28a created by the electroforming process of i is fixed to the piezoelectric transducer 21 by a spacer 27 with a predetermined gap maintained. A cover 29 is provided to protect the nozzle forming board 28, the vibrator 21, etc., and the engaging part 29a is connected to the holder 3.
It is fixed by being engaged with the engaged portion 30a of No. 0.

3 is a sectional view mainly showing the ink supply path of the recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. A heater 41 on the carriage 7 connects the heating section 9, the supply section 10, and the inkjet head 8.
is being heated. Inque is melted and filled in the shaded area in the figure.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the heating section 9 and supply section 10 in FIG. 3. A pair of rotating rollers 51 made of aluminum alloy are provided within the heating section 9 . The roller 51 has a plurality of slits 51a on its outer surface that generate capillary force, and is in contact with the ink ribbon 12. The supply section 10 is made up of an upper slit 61 and a lower slit 62 which are also made of aluminum alloy, and these two slits form a minute gap with their concavities and convexities aligned with each other. The liquefied ink from the heating section 9 is transferred from the lower part of the roller 51, which has entered the hole 61a formed in the upper slit 61, to the small gap in the supply section 10 using only capillary force. Furthermore, roller 5
1 is enclosed in a casing as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure so as not to be directly exposed to the outside.

Next, the operation will be explained. At the start of the printing operation, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, power is supplied to the heater 41 to heat the heating section 9, the supply section 10, and the inkjet head 8. As a result, the ink ribbon 12 in contact with the roller 51 in the heating section 9 receives heat from the heating section 9, and the solid ink impregnated inside is melted and liquefied. The liquefied ink is drawn into the slit 51a on the surface of the roller 51 by its capillary force, and then permeates into the supply section 10, which is formed by a minute gap formed by an upper slit 61 and a lower slit 62, and eventually fills the inside of the inkjet head 8. In the case of this example, a solid ink containing wax as the main component is used,
The temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature of 100° C. to 200° C., which has a desired viscosity in view of the discharge characteristics.

Next, in FIG. 2, a voltage is applied via the flexible substrate 26 between the piezoelectric material layer 22 and the metal layer 23 that constitute the vibrator 21. As shown in FIG. Then, since the piezoelectric material layer 22 contracts and the metal layer 23 does not contract, a bending moment is generated, and the tip of the vibrator 21 is displaced in the thickness direction (direction away from the nozzle forming substrate 28). Next, when this voltage is released, ink is ejected from the nozzle 28a of the nozzle forming substrate 28 due to the pressure generated by the elastic restoring force of the vibrator 21. By repeating this operation according to the print signal, desired printing can be performed.

When the ink is consumed as printing progresses, the heating section 9 is heated one after another by the movement of the carriage 7 and the gradual advancement of the ink ribbon 12 by the take-up motor 14.
Ink is taken in from step 2. Note that if the supply section 10 and the heating section 9 are filled with ink, the heating section 9
The melted ink is held by the capillary force of the fibers of the ink ribbon 12 and is regulated so as not to be oversupplied. Therefore, the ink ribbon 12 can be used repeatedly because only a small amount of ink needs to be supplied at one time.

[Advantageous Effects of the Invention 1] As described above, according to the present invention, since ink is continuously supplied, the heating means can be made smaller and consume less power, and there is no lost time spent on ink supply. Moreover, since there is no need to store ink, the entire head can be made smaller. Furthermore, since the minimum amount of ink required for recording is heated and supplied,
For example, it is also possible to prevent ink from deteriorating, which occurs when it is stored in a reservoir or the like and exposed to high temperatures for a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the inkjet head shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an ink supply path of a recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the heating section and supply section shown in FIG. 3. 8: Inkjet head 9: Heating section 1 0: Supply section 1 2: Ink ribbon or more

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ink ribbon formed by uniformly impregnating a band-shaped member with an ink that is solid at room temperature and has a constant melting point, a heating section that heats a part of the ink ribbon to melt and liquefy the ink, and an ink that is melted and liquefied by the heating section. A recording device comprising: an inkjet head that flies liquid ink; a supply unit that supplies liquid ink from the heating unit to the inkjet head; and ribbon feeding means that gradually advances the ink ribbon in one direction. .