JPH0760986A - Hot-melt type ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method for supplying ink in a hot-melt type ink-jet printer which enables stable printing without causing unstable discharge or nondischarging of ink owing to mixing with ink produced by other manufacturers. CONSTITUTION:Ink 10A having a rubber ball 15 in the inside is charged into an ink tank 11. When ink 10A is melted and liquefied like ink 10B, the rubber ball 15 existing in the side of ink is settled because the density of the rubber ball 15 is larger than the density of ink 10B. A channel 14 for discharging ink is closed. On one side, ink which contains no rubber balls 15 is passed through an ink discharge channel 14 and discharged to the outside of a printer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hot melt type ink jet printer for printing using a hot melt type ink which is solid at room temperature and melts into a liquid when heated to a temperature above its melting point. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in hot melt type ink jet printers, for example, by making the shape of the ink when the ink is solid at room temperature and making the shape of the ink insertion port equal to the shape of the ink, inks of other companies are made. It was devised so as not to inadvertently put the ink into the cartridge, or the ink of a specific shape was stored in a specific cartridge so that the ink could not be supplied from other than the cartridge.

[0003]

However, in the conventional configuration, in the method of matching the shape of the ink with the shape of the ink insertion port, even if the ink is made by another company and is smaller than the ink insertion port. It is possible, and even if the ink is larger than the insertion port, it is possible to insert it by breaking the ink and making it smaller. Further, even in the method using the above-mentioned cartridge, if ink can be put into the cartridge, ink of other companies will easily be mixed.

In this way, when the ink of another company is mixed or replaced with the ink of another company, the printing quality is deteriorated due to the difference in the ink characteristics, and the foreign matter is generated in some cases due to the mixing with the genuine ink. However, the ink may not be ejected.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and does not cause unstable ink ejection or ink non-ejection due to the mixing of inks of other companies, and stable printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hot melt type ink jet printer capable of

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a hot melt type ink jet printer of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, has an ink holding portion 1 for holding the ink and the ink holding portion. An ink supply path 3 for supplying ink from 1 to an ink discharge port for discharging the ink;
The ink is discharged from the ink holding unit 1 which is provided in the ink held in the ink holding unit 1 and is closed by the discharge path closing means 5 which moves to the ink holding unit side when the ink is melted. Ink discharge path 4 for
Ink amount detecting means 6 provided in the ink holding portion 1
And a discharge passage closing releasing means 7 which is provided in the ink holding portion 1 and operates in conjunction with the ink amount detecting means 6 to release the closing of the discharge passage 4 by the discharge passage closing means 5. It is characterized by

[0007]

The operation of each member in the hot melt type ink jet printer of the present invention having the above construction will be described.

The ink holding unit 1 can hold the solid ink inserted in the tank and also the ink melted and liquefied by heating. The ink supply path 3 is
It is located between the ink holding unit 1 and the ink ejection port, and functions as a flow path for supplying ink from the ink holding unit 1 to the ink ejection port. The ink discharge path 4 functions as a discharge flow path for discharging the ink from the ink holding unit 1 to the outside, is provided in the ink, and melts the ink so that the ink Is closed by the discharge passage closing means 5 that reaches a predetermined position. The ink amount detecting means 6 is provided in the ink holding portion 1 and detects an increase / decrease in the ink amount, and when the ink is exhausted in the ink holding portion 1 and ink replenishment becomes necessary, the ink discharge path is closed. The means 7 serves to release the closing of the ink discharge path 4 by the ink discharge path closing means 5.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, the structure of this embodiment will be described.

The ink tank 11, which is the ink holding portion 1 of the present invention, has an ink supply passage 13 which is the ink supply passage 3 of the present invention, and an ink discharge portion which is the ink discharge passage 4 of the present invention. The ink amount detecting means 6 of the present invention is connected to the flow path 14 and is provided in the ink tank 11.
The thermal conductivity detecting device 16 is installed. In addition, a pump 17A and a valve 17B, which are the ink discharge passage closing release means 7 of the present invention, are installed in the ink discharge passage 14. Further, the ink tank 11, the ink supply passage 13 and the ink discharge passage 14 are wholly wound by a heater 12. The rubber ball 15, which is the ink discharge path closing means 5 of the present invention, has a density higher than that of the liquid state ink 10B obtained by melting and liquefying the solid state ink 10A, and the solid state ink Present in the ink 10A, the ink tank 1
When the ink 10A is melted in 1 to be in a liquid state like the ink 10B, the inside of the ink tank 11 and the ink discharge flow path 14 are set as a predetermined position to cut off the ink flow path. .

Among the members of this embodiment, the heater 1
2, the thermal conductivity detector 16, the pump 17A, and the valve 1
7B is connected to a control device 20 capable of collecting information from each member and controlling the operation of the member according to the information.

Next, the operation of each member of this embodiment will be described along the flow of ink consumption.

The solid state ink 10A having the rubber ball 15 therein is put into the ink tank 11.
When heated by the heater 12 controlled by the controller 20, the ink 10A is melted and liquefied like the ink 10B, and the rubber ball 15 existing inside the ink is discharged from the ink 10B. Also has a high density, so it settles,
A predetermined position is set between the ink tank 11 and the ink discharge flow path 14, and the gap is cut off. As a result, the ink 10B does not flow into the ink discharge flow path 14.

When the ink discharge flow path 14 is closed by the rubber ball 15, the ink 10B in the liquid state becomes
The ink flows through the ink supply flow path 13 to an ink ejection port (not shown), and is ejected by an ink ejection mechanism (not shown) controlled by a controller (not shown). As a result, printing is performed.

After that, when most of the ink 10B is consumed by printing and the liquid level of the ink in the ink tank 11 becomes lower than the lowermost portion of the thermal conductivity detecting device 16, the thermal conductivity detecting device 16 causes the ink to flow. It detects that there is no such information and sends information to the control device 20. With this information, the controller 20 commands the pump 17A and the valve 17B. By this command, the pump 17A generates a negative pressure in the ink discharge passage 14. Also, the valve 17B
Completely shuts off the ink discharge flow path 14 and the outside of the printer according to the command. Due to the action of the pump 17A and the valve 17B, the rubber ball 15 is pulled by the negative pressure in the ink discharge passage 14 and falls into the ink discharge passage 14. When a sudden pressure change occurs due to the rubber ball 15 dropping, the control device 20 receives information on the pressure change of the pump 17A, and this control device 20 causes the control device 20 to receive the information.
A, and a command to the valve 17B. This command
The pump 17A is stopped, and the valve 17B releases the cutoff between the ink discharge passage 14 and the outside of the printer. As a result, the rubber ball 15 is discharged outside the printer.

Next, when the solid state ink 10A is newly supplied into the ink tank 11 and the ink is melted and liquefied, a new rubber ball 15 shuts off the ink discharge passage 14. After that, the above cycle is repeated each time ink is consumed and supplied.

Here, if ink other than the ink 10A that does not include the rubber ball 15 is supplied,
Since there is no means for closing the ink discharge flow path 14, the ink is not supplied to the ink supply flow path 13,
All the melted liquid is discharged to the outside of the printer through the ink discharge flow path 14.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the ink that does not contain the specific ink (rubber ball 15) is not used for printing and is entirely discharged to the outside of the printer. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even if ink made by another company or the like is put in, it is not used for printing, and there is no problem such as deterioration of printing quality due to different ink characteristics.

Incidentally, the rubber ball 15 in the present embodiment.
Is a thermally stable material that does not easily dissolve in the ink 10A, and may be arbitrarily selected from natural rubbers, synthetic rubbers, and resins. Further, the rubber ball 15 does not necessarily need to be a pure substance, and may be a mixture of two or more of the above substances, or may contain other additives and the like. Further, it is possible to use elastic solid spheres which are not the above substances but are thermally stable.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be considered.

For example, in the above embodiment, the rubber ball
The ink 10A having a new rubber ball 15 therein is placed in the ink tank 11 in advance.
After the ink is melted, two rubber balls 15 are present in the ink tank 11 so that a state exists in which two rubber balls 15 exist. Then, as described below, each member is configured to operate.

The ink 10A in a solid state having the rubber ball 15 inside is charged into the ink tank 11.
When heated by the heater 12 controlled by the controller 20, the ink 10A is melted and liquefied like the ink 10B, and the rubber ball 15 existing inside the ink is discharged from the ink 10B. Also has a large density and therefore settles, but the ink tank 11 and the ink discharge flow path 14 have already been set.
Since the old rubber ball 15 is present in the space between them, the newly supplied new rubber ball 15 is present.
Exists near the bottom of the ink tank 11 above the old rubber ball 15.

Here, when the thermal conductivity detecting device 16 detects that most of the ink 10A is melted and liquefied and the ink 10B is filled in the ink tank 11,
Information is sent to the control device 20. With this information, the controller 20 commands the pump 17A and the valve 17B. By this command, the pump 17A generates a negative pressure in the ink discharge passage 14. Also the valve 17B
Completely shuts off the ink discharge flow path 14 and the outside of the printer according to the command. Due to the action of the pump 17A and the valve 17B, the old rubber ball 15 is pulled by the negative pressure in the ink discharge passage 14 and falls into the ink discharge passage 14. And the old rubber ball 15
When a sudden pressure change occurs due to the falling of the water, the control device 20 receives the information of the pressure change of the pump 17A, and this control device 20 causes the control device 20 to receive the information.
7A and the valve 17B are commanded. By this command, the pump 17A is stopped, and the valve 17B releases the cutoff between the ink discharge passage 14 and the outside of the printer. As a result, the old rubber ball 15 is discharged outside the printer.

On the other hand, at this time, the new rubber ball 15 supplied from the ink 10A has a predetermined space between the ink tank 11 and the ink discharge passage 14 due to the fall of the old rubber ball 15. It comes to exist as a position.

Next, when the solid state ink 10A is newly supplied into the ink tank 11 and the ink is melted and liquefied, a new rubber ball 15 is settled at the bottom of the ink tank and the rubber ball 15 is formed. As for the old one, the old one closes the discharge flow path 14, and the new one sinks in the bottom of the ink tank 11, so that there are two again. After that, the above cycle is repeated each time ink is consumed and supplied.

Here, if ink other than the ink 10A that does not include the rubber ball 15 is supplied,
When the molten ink is detected by the thermal conductivity detecting device 16, the old rubber ball 15 is discharged to the outside of the printer, so that there is no means for closing the ink discharge flow path 14, and the ink is the ink. All of the melted and liquefied material is discharged to the outside of the printer through the ink discharge flow path 14 without being supplied to the supply flow path 13.

As described above, according to this modification, as in the above-described embodiment, the ink that does not contain the specific ink (rubber ball 15) is not used for printing, and all the ink is discharged to the outside of the printer. Resulting in. Therefore, even if an ink made by another company is used, the ink is not used for printing, and there is no problem such as deterioration of printing quality due to different ink characteristics.

Further, according to this modification, since the ink discharge flow path 14 is closed when the ink is melted,
In the above-described embodiment, even if the legitimate ink is ejected to some extent when the ink is melted, there is an advantage that the legitimate ink is not wasted.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, instead of the rubber ball 15 in the above embodiment, it is solid at the normal ink heating temperature when the printer is used, and melts by being exposed to a temperature higher than that. A resin ball 25 having a density higher than that of the ink 10B so as to be flowable is used, and the pump 17A and the valve 1 in the above embodiment are used.
Instead of 7B, a high-temperature heater 27 that can raise the temperature of the ink discharge passage 14 from the lower portion of the ink tank 11 to a temperature higher than the normal operating temperature of the printer such that the resin balls 25 melt and fluidize is used. It is possible to obtain the same effect.

The operation of each member of this embodiment will be described along the flow of ink consumption.

When the ink 10A in a solid state having the resin balls 25 therein is put into the ink tank 11 and heated by the heater 12 controlled by the controller 20, the ink 10A is heated. Is melted and liquefied like the ink 10B, and the resin spheres 25 existing inside the ink have a higher density than the ink 10B and thus settle down, and a predetermined space is provided between the ink tank 11 and the ink discharge flow path 14. As a result, the space between them is cut off, and as a result, the ink 10B does not flow into the ink discharge flow path 14.

The ink discharge flow path 1 is formed by the resin balls 25.
4 is closed, the ink 10B in the liquid state flows through the ink supply flow path 13 to an ink ejection port (not shown) and is ejected by an ink ejection mechanism (not shown) controlled by a control means (not shown). Is performed, and as a result, printing is performed.

After that, when most of the ink 10B is consumed by printing and the liquid level of the ink in the ink tank 11 becomes lower than the lowermost portion of the thermal conductivity detecting device 16, the thermal conductivity detecting device 16 causes the ink to flow. It detects that there is no such information and sends information to the control device 20. Based on this information, the controller 20 issues a command to the high temperature heater 27. By this command, the high temperature heater 27 melts and flows the resin ball 25, which is higher than the normal ink melting temperature, in the lower portion of the ink tank 11 in which the resin ball 25 is stagnant and the ink discharge flow path 14. Heat to a high temperature that causes Due to the action of the high temperature heater 27, the resin balls 25 are melted and fluidized and flow down into the ink discharge flow path 14.
Then, after a time such that the resin balls 25 have finished flowing down, the control device 20 commands the high temperature heater 27,
By this command, the high temperature heater 27 is stopped, and the lower portion of the ink tank 11 and the ink discharge passage 14 are returned to the normal heating state. Further, the resin balls 25 are gradually discharged and discharged to the outside of the printer while the above cycle is repeated.

Here, if ink other than the ink 10A that does not contain the resin balls 25 is supplied, there is no means for closing the ink discharge flow path 14 as in the above embodiment, The ink is not supplied to the ink supply flow path 13, and all the melted liquid is discharged to the outside of the printer through the ink discharge flow path 14.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the apparatus becomes simpler than that of the above-mentioned embodiments.

The resin balls 25 in this embodiment have a density higher than that of the ink 10B, are not easily dissolved in the ink 10B, and are higher than the ink melting actual use temperature which is the heating temperature of the heater 12. A resin having a high softening point or a softening point of the same level may be used.

Specifically, the types of resin of the resin balls 25 include the following.

For example, petroleum resin, hydrogenated petroleum resin, terpene resin, hydrogenated terpene resin, phenol resin, rosin resin, hydrogenated rosin resin, vinyl resin and polyethylene resin can be mentioned. To be

The rubber ball 15 and the resin ball 25 used in each of the above-mentioned embodiments are spherical, but as long as the effects of the present invention can be obtained, it is not necessary to stick to the spherical shape and the cube is not necessary. It may have any shape such as a rectangular parallelepiped or a cylinder.

[0042]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the hot melt type ink jet printer of the present invention, inks of other companies are not mixed, and therefore,
It is possible to perform stable printing without causing unstable ink ejection or ink non-ejection due to this.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a principle configuration of a hot melt type inkjet printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink holding section 3 Ink supply path 4 Ink discharge path 5 Ink discharge path closing means 6 Ink amount detection means 7 Ink discharge path closing release means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hot melt type ink jet printer for printing using a hot melt type ink which is solid at room temperature and melts into a liquid when heated to a temperature higher than its melting point. An ink holding part, an ink supply path for supplying ink from the ink holding part to an ink ejection port for ejecting the ink, and an ink supply path provided in the ink held by the ink holding part and by melting the ink. An ink discharge path for discharging ink from the ink holding section, which is closed by a discharge path closing section that moves to the ink holding section side, an ink amount detecting means provided in the ink holding section, and an inside of the ink holding section. A discharge path closing release for canceling the closure of the discharge path by the discharge path closing means, which is operated in conjunction with the ink amount detecting means. Hot melt type ink jet printer characterized by having a stage. 2. The hot melt type ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the discharge path closing means comprises:
A hot-melt type inkjet printer, characterized in that it is made of a substance having a density higher than that of the ink in a molten state.