JPH11257550A - Gas barrier-characterized tube and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas barrier-characterized tube which can feed a great amount of fluid, is sufficiently flexible, has a gas barrier characteristic, and is free of kinking even if it is used for a long time. SOLUTION: This gas barrier-characterized tube 10 is so constituted that the tube is provided with a resin pipe 1 having a passage through which fluid passes, a gas barrier-characterized type wound up in a spiral form over the outer circumference of the resin pipe, and with a protective film 8 formed over the outer circumference of the gas barrier-characterized tube 3, in which the resin pipe 1 is made of polyethylene, a gas barrier-characterized tape is formed out of a tape formed in such a way that a polyethylene film is bonded to an aluminum foil at least the one surface of which is coated with an adhesive, and the protective film 8 is made of vinyl chloride.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas barrier tube having impermeability to vapor or gas, and more particularly to a gas barrier tube having flexibility and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a fluid is passed through a tube, the moisture of the fluid or moisture in the atmosphere, air, and the like may permeate the tube wall and adversely affect the fluid. For example, ink as a fluid ejected when performing printing using an ink jet printer called an ink jet printer is supplied through an ink supply tube from an ink storage unit provided in the printer to an ink ejection port. I have. At the time of this ink supply, the ink in the ink supply tube is shut off from the outside in order to prevent deterioration such as discoloration or solidification,
That is, it is required to block evaporation of ink from the ink supply tube or intrusion of moisture, air, and the like in the atmosphere into the ink supply tube. It is required to have a non-permeability to the like, that is, a so-called gas barrier property.

Further, in the ink supply tube used in the above-described ink jet printer, the ink jet port moves with a change in the printing position. In order to make this movement smooth and quick. In addition, the ink supply tube must be flexible.

[0004] As a fluid supply tube for the above-mentioned flexible gas barrier ink or the like, ethylene-acetic acid has been used on the outer periphery of a resin tube of tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (hereinafter abbreviated as FEP). Laminated structure formed by co-extrusion of vinyl copolymer (hereinafter abbreviated as EVA) and soft polyvinyl chloride (hereinafter abbreviated as PVC) on both sides of polyvinylidene chloride (hereinafter abbreviated as PVDC) tape having excellent gas barrier properties A tube formed by winding a gas barrier tape described above and integrally forming the same is used.

[0005] However, the above-mentioned conventional gas barrier tube has a certain degree of flexibility and gas barrier properties, but is not yet satisfactory. In addition, in order to supply ink required for high-speed and large-volume printing to the ink ejection port, it is desired that the inner diameter of the gas barrier tube is large. In order to avoid breakage, that is, hindrance of ink supply to a printing portion caused by the occurrence of kink, a material having an inner diameter of less than 2 mm has been used.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the object thereof is to be used suitably for an ink jet printer, for example. A large amount of fluid such as ink can be supplied from the ink storage unit to the printing location,
An object of the present invention is to provide a gas barrier tube having sufficient flexibility and gas barrier properties without kinking even during long-term use, and a method for producing the same.

[0007]

The above object is achieved by the gas barrier tube and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention. That is, in summary, the present invention provides a resin pipe having a flow path through which a fluid passes, a gas barrier tape spirally wound around the outer circumference of the resin pipe, and a gas barrier tape formed on the outer circumference of the gas barrier tape. Protective coating, the resin tube is made of polyethylene, the gas barrier tape is bonded to a polyester film on aluminum foil,
A gas barrier tube comprising a tape formed by applying an adhesive to at least one surface of the bonded products, wherein the protective coating is made of polyvinyl chloride.

Further, the gas barrier tube comprises a step of preparing a resin tube made of polyethylene having a flow path through which a fluid passes, a step of bonding a polyester film to an aluminum foil, and applying an adhesive to at least one surface of the bonded film. A step of preparing a gas barrier tape formed by applying the above, a step of spirally winding the gas barrier tape around the outer periphery of the resin tube, and a step of spirally winding the gas barrier tape around the outer periphery of the resin tube from polyvinyl chloride. And extruding a protective coating.

Further, the present invention is a multiple gas barrier tube, wherein a plurality of the gas barrier tubes are arranged in parallel and the protective coatings of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel are joined together.

The multiple gas barrier tube comprises a step of preparing a resin tube made of polyethylene having a flow path through which a fluid passes, a step of bonding a polyester film to an aluminum foil, and an adhesive on at least one surface of the bonded film. A step of preparing a gas barrier tape formed by applying the above, a step of spirally winding the gas barrier tape around the outer periphery of the resin tube, and a step of spirally winding the gas barrier tape around the outer periphery of the resin tube from polyvinyl chloride. Extruding a protective coating, and arranging a plurality of gas barrier tubes obtained in these steps in parallel, and joining the protective coatings of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel with each other. Obtained by a method for producing a conductive tube.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The gas-barrier tube of the present invention in which the respective structures and the respective materials of the above constitution of the present invention are appropriately combined, even if the inner diameter of the resin tube is made larger than that of the conventional gas-barrier tube It has sufficient flexibility and gas barrier properties without kinking during long-term use as a fluid supply tube. Therefore, this gas barrier tube is suitably used as an ink supply tube for supplying a large amount of ink from an ink storage unit in an ink jet printer to a printing location. Furthermore, a plurality of these gas barrier tubes are arranged in parallel,
The multiple gas barrier tubes in which adjacent protective coatings of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel are joined together allow a plurality of different fluids to pass through the respective tubes.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gas barrier tube according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a part of a gas barrier tube 10 according to the present invention. This tube 10 is a resin tube 1 having a flow path through which a fluid passes, and has an inner diameter of about 2 m.
m, having a polyethylene resin tube having an outer diameter of about 2.5 mm and a wall thickness of about 0.25 mm. On the outer circumference of this resin tube,
The gas barrier tape 3 described below according to the present invention is
It is wound in a right-handed spiral with 10% to 50%, preferably about 30% of the loop width overlapped. Further, on the outer periphery of the gas barrier tape 3, a protective coating 8 made of a soft PVC extrusion coating having a thickness of about 0.3 mm is formed.

Here, the gas barrier tape 3 will be described. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the gas barrier tape 3 used in the present invention, taken along the line AA. FIG.
In the gas barrier tape 3 shown in FIG. 1, a first adhesive 22 having a thickness of about 2 μm is applied to one side of an aluminum foil 20 having a thickness of about 10 μm, and a polyester film 24 having a thickness of about 12 μm is coated thereon. Laminated and laminated, soft PVC
Alternatively, it is formed by forming a tape width of about 10 mm in a state where the second adhesive 26 such as EVA is applied at about 2 μm. The application and lamination of the first adhesive 22, the polyester film 24, and the second adhesive 26 to the aluminum foil 20 may be performed on the other side of the aluminum foil 20, or may be performed on both sides of the aluminum foil 20. You may.

These gas barrier tapes 3 are wound in a right-handed spiral shape so that the second adhesive is on the outer periphery of the resin tube 1 and about 30% of the tape width is overlapped. Since it is wound, PV used when forming the protective coating 8 is used.
The second adhesive 26 is thermally melted by the heat and pressure during the extrusion molding of C, and the gas barrier tapes 3 are fused to each other at the overlapping portions of the tapes, and are also fused to the protective coating 8. And
As a result, the resin tube 1 is closely attached to the outer periphery of the resin tube 1 without any gap.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the gas barrier tube according to the present invention. The gas barrier tube of this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the gas barrier tube shown in FIG. 1, but the configuration different from that is as follows. That is, the gas barrier tube 10 of FIG.
In FIG. 3, the gas barrier tape 3 is wound around the resin tube 1 in a right-handed spiral with about 30% of the tape width overlapped. On the other hand, in the gas barrier tube 11 shown in FIG. The gas barrier tape 3 is wound in a right-handed spiral with approximately 30% of the tape width overlapped, and the gas barrier tape 3 is further surrounded by 10% of the tape width. From about 50%, and preferably about 30%. Thereby, the gas barrier tape 3 can be prevented from being separated.

In order to measure the gas barrier properties and flexibility of the gas barrier tube thus obtained, both ends 36 of the gas barrier tube 10 of the present invention (sample T in the figure) cut to a length of 900 mm. , 38 are provided with a slide table 32 of a sliding test machine 30 shown in FIG.
, The gas barrier tube was formed in a substantially horizontal U-shape, and the slide table 32 was slid in the directions of arrows R and L to measure the flexibility and gas barrier properties before and after the slide.
The bending radius r of the gas barrier tube 10 between the slide table 32 and the support table 34 is 40 mm. Specifically, the gas-barrier tube set in this manner is placed at an ambient temperature of 5 degrees C.
When the slide table is reciprocated 100,000 times,
Was reciprocated 8 million times, the appearance of the gas barrier tube before and after the reciprocal sliding was observed, and the amount of water permeated through the tube wall of the gas barrier tube was measured. The water permeation amount was measured as a water permeation amount per one meter per day through a gas barrier tube in a temperature environment of 60 ° C.

Further, a comparison between this gas barrier tube and a conventional tube was made under the same conditions as above. The conventional comparative example (sample TC in the figure) used for this measurement has an inner diameter of about 2 mm.
mm, FEP with outer diameter of about 2.5mm and wall thickness of about 0.25mm
EVA (thickness 35 μm) and PVC
(Thickness: 30 μm) and a gas barrier tape having a laminated structure formed by co-extrusion on both sides of a PVDC tape (thickness: 15 μm) having a gas barrier property.
The right-handed spiral wound with 0% overlapped and cut to a length of 900 mm was used.

Table 1 shows the results of the measurement.

[Table 1]

As is evident from Table 1, the gas barrier tube of the present invention is more excellent in gas barrier property and flexibility than the conventional gas barrier tube.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the multiple gas barrier tube according to the present invention. In the multiple gas barrier tube 40 shown in the figure, five gas barrier tubes 10 or 11 described above are arranged in parallel, and the adjacent protective coatings 8 or 9 of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel are thermally fused or melted. Bonded with adhesive. This joining may be performed continuously or intermittently along the longitudinal direction of the multiple gas barrier tube 40. This multiple gas barrier tube 40 is useful when different fluids are passed through the tubes 10 or 11, respectively.

For example, the multiple gas barrier tube 4
If 0 is used, a signal wire 44 for controlling ink ejection is provided in one tube 10 and 11, and the other tubes 10 and 11 are provided in different colors such as yellow, cyan, and magenta. To supply a multicolor ink supply tube for supplying a color image and printing.

[0022]

As described above, according to the gas barrier tube of the present invention, it can be suitably used for, for example, an ink jet printer, and can supply a large amount of ink from an ink storage section to a printing portion. It is possible to provide a gas barrier tube having sufficient flexibility and gas barrier properties without kinking even during long-term use. Furthermore, the multiple gas barrier tubes in which a plurality of the gas barrier tubes are arranged in parallel and the adjacent protective coatings of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel are joined together allow a plurality of different fluids to pass through the respective tubes. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a gas barrier tube according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the gas barrier tape used in the gas barrier tube according to the present invention, taken along the line AA.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the gas barrier tube according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a sliding tester.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a multiple gas barrier tube according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Resin tube 3 Gas barrier tape 8, 9 Protective coating 10, 11 Gas barrier tube 20 Aluminum foil 22 Adhesive 24 Polyester film 26 Adhesive 30 Sliding tester T Sample of gas barrier tube of the present invention TC Conventional example to be a comparative example Tube sample 40 Multiple gas barrier tube 44 Signal wire

Claims (4)

[Claims] A resin pipe having a flow path through which a fluid passes;
A gas barrier tape spirally wound around the outer periphery of the resin tube, and a protective coating formed on the outer periphery of the gas barrier tape, wherein the resin tube is made of polyethylene,
The gas barrier tape is a tape formed by bonding a polyester film to an aluminum foil and applying an adhesive to at least one surface of the bonded film, and the protective coating is formed of polyvinyl chloride. Sex tube. 2. A step of preparing a resin tube made of polyethylene having a flow path through which a fluid passes, laminating a polyester film on an aluminum foil, and applying an adhesive to at least one surface of the laminated film. A step of preparing a gas barrier tape, a step of spirally winding the gas barrier tape around the outer periphery of the resin pipe, and an extrusion molding of a protective coating made of polyvinyl chloride around the outer periphery of the wound gas barrier tape. And producing the gas barrier tube. 3. A resin tube having a flow path through which a fluid passes,
A gas barrier tape spirally wound around the outer periphery of the resin tube, and a protective coating formed on the outer periphery of the gas barrier tape, wherein the resin tube is made of polyethylene,
The gas barrier tape is a tape formed by bonding a polyester film to an aluminum foil and applying an adhesive to at least one surface of the bonded film, and the protective coating is a gas barrier tube made of polyvinyl chloride. A plurality of gas barrier tubes are arranged in parallel, and the protective coatings of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel are joined together. 4. A step of preparing a resin tube made of polyethylene having a flow path through which a fluid passes, laminating a polyester film on an aluminum foil, and applying an adhesive to at least one surface of the laminated film. A step of preparing a gas barrier tape, a step of spirally winding the gas barrier tape around the outer periphery of the resin pipe, and an extrusion molding of a protective coating made of polyvinyl chloride around the outer periphery of the wound gas barrier tape. And a step of arranging a plurality of gas barrier tubes obtained by these steps in parallel and joining the protective coatings of the gas barrier tubes arranged in parallel.