JPS58194577A - Magnetic ink recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a recording paper or the like from being contaminated with splashes or the like, by a method wherein a guide member for flushing a concentrated magnetic ink generated at non-recording time by a non-concentrated magnetic ink is provided with a magnet and an ink-recovering circuit having an ink-receiving part. CONSTITUTION:When recording is resumed after resting for a predetermined period of time, an opening part 45 is closed by a closing lid 44, and the guide member 35 is rotated to form a passage extending from a slit part 14 to the ink-recovering passage 55. Then, a non-concentrated magnetic ink is forcedly blown out through a slit part 14 of the opening part to wash a slanted surface 17 of an ink-raising magnet 12, a stylus part 11 and an end face 18 of an auxiliary magnet, whereby the dried or concentrated magnetic ink is washed away, and is recovered through the passage 55. The magnetic ink thus blown out is decelerated by receiving an attractive force of a magnet 54 provided on an inside surface 47 of a guide lid. Therefore, little ink mist and little splashes are generated, and even when they are generated, they are not diffused, and further, splashing is prevented also by the ink-receiving part 49. Accordingly, the recording paper and the interior of the device can be prevented from being contaminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention uses magnetic force to hold and raise magnetic ink on a recording needle made of a magnetic material, and applies a Coulomb force corresponding to an image signal to the raised magnetic ink. , relates to an image recording device that records images by ejecting magnetic ink to a recording section.The magnetic ink is prevented from drying and condensation due to magnetic force by circulating the magnetic ink, and remains stable even after being left unused or stopped for a long period of time. The purpose is to be able to stably record images of high quality.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, a multi-needle recording unit 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a stylus) has recording needles made of magnetic material arranged in a line.

), the stylus 1 is magnetized by the bump magnet 6 provided on the stylus 1, and the stylus 1- is magnetized by the magnetic force.
In a device that forms an image on a recording paper 4 by forming a protrusion of magnetic ink 2 on the stylus 1 and applying an image signal voltage (applying a Coulomb force) between the stylus 1 and the back electrode 3, the following steps are performed. It had the following drawbacks. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the magnetic ink 2 is always in contact with the bump magnet 6 and the auxiliary magnet 6 and is affected by the magnetic force. Magnetic concentration (magnetic field segregation) 2' on top and auxiliary magnet 6
was occurring.

For this reason, the flow of the magnetic ink 2 on the bump magnet 6 was inhibited, and stable supply could not be performed as the magnetic ink 6 was consumed. Also, when the viscosity of the magnetic ink 2 increases due to evaporation, drying, and magnetic concentration of the magnetic ink 2, the stylus 1 and the back type fii! Even if a Coulomb force is applied between the magnetic ink 2 and the magnetic ink 3, the magnetic ink 2 has a drawback that it does not fly.

Therefore, in conventional image recording apparatuses, when recording is performed after being left unused or after a long recording stop, the supply and flight of the magnetic ink is obstructed, making it impossible to stably record high-quality images.

Furthermore, in order to prevent the magnetic ink 2 from drying out and being concentrated in the magnetic field, a structure has already been proposed in which a lid member 7 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided and the ink is circulated through a recovery path 8. However, according to this configuration, since a part of the lid member 7 constitutes the circulation recovery path 8, when the magnetic ink 2 is circulated, the pressure of the ink is directly applied to the lid member 7, which may cause ink leakage. However, if ink mist, droplets, etc. adhere to the lid member 7, the lid member 7 cannot be opened.

Furthermore, when the lid member 7 is opened, the magnetic ink adhering to the lid drips out of the recording section, staining the inside of the apparatus and staining the recording paper 4.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and provides an image recording apparatus that can stably record high-quality images.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a magnetic ink recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The recording head section 10 is made of a magnetic material arranged opposite to the recording paper 16! The stylus 11 includes a fixed housing 13 for fixing a stylus 11 and a protrusion magnet 12 provided in contact with the surface of the stylus 11.

An auxiliary magnet 16 forming a slit portion 14 is provided at a position facing the uplift magnet 12.

Further, a part of the magnet surface of the auxiliary magnet 16 except for the end face portion 18 is covered with a shield plate 19. Note that the uplift magnet 12 and the auxiliary magnet 16 constitute a part of the storage chamber 21 for the magnetic ink 20.

The magnetic ink supply pipe 22 is for supplying the magnetic ink 20 to the recording head section 1o, and one end thereof is connected to the magnetic ink storage chamber 21, and the other end is provided in a sub-tank 23 for storing the magnetic ink 20. There is.

A pump 24 provided in the middle of the magnetic ink supply pipe 22 is driven by a pump driving means 26 to supply the magnetic ink 20.
is supplied from the sub-tank 23 to the ink storage chamber 21.

Magnetic ink 20 is sent to the sub tank 23 from a main tank (not shown) through a pump 26 and a pipe 27. The liquid level of the sub-tank 23 is always maintained at a constant level by a detection means 28 such as a Hall element and a pump 26 that is driven in response to a liquid level position detection signal.

The stylus 11 is connected to a voltage applying means 29 that causes magnetic ink 20 raised at the tip of the stylus 11 to fly onto the recording paper 16 in response to an image signal. Further, a bias voltage is applied between the stylus 11 and the back electrode 30 by a power source 31. The guide member 36, which rotates around a fulcrum shaft 32 provided in the fixed housing 13, is composed of a guide member main body 33 and a packing member 34, as shown in FIG.

The guide member 36 is a rotating lever 3 that rotates around a fulcrum shaft 32 by links 36 and 37, as shown in FIG.
It is connected to 8. One end 38' of the rotating lever 38 engages with a recess 44' of the sealing lid 44, and as shown in FIG.
A sealing lid 4 that rotates around 1 by links 42 and 43.
4 and rotates the guide member 35 in conjunction with the movement of the sealing lid 4. Airtight lid 4
4 is provided with a gasket 46 on the outer periphery for sealing the opening 45 of the case body 39.

Further, the guide member 36 has an ink flow that allows the magnetic ink 20 to easily flow between the ink recovery path 66 provided in the case body 39 and the slit portion 14 when the guide member 36 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The ink guide groove 48 is formed on the inner surface 47 of the ink guide groove 48 . Further, a magnet 64 is attached to the inner surface 47 of the ink guide member 36 in a partially embedded state.

The mounting position of the magnet 62 is such that it faces at least the stylus 11, the protrusion magnet 12, and the slit portion 14 when the guide member 36 rotates in the direction of the arrow. Further, the magnet 64 is attached with a magnetic pole surface that repels a magnetic pole disposed near the slit portion 14 including the slope 17 of the uplift magnet 12 facing the slit portion 14 . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the magnet 64 is arranged so that one end surface thereof is slightly above the slit portion 14.

The ink recovery path 66 is formed by a part of the case body 39, and is located on the side of the auxiliary magnet 16. 1, the tip of the ink recovery path 66 is the slit part 1
The ink receiver constitutes a portion 49 that protrudes forward from 4.

The sealing lid 44 has an arm 61 that is rotated by a motor 60.
It is opened and closed by The torsion spring 62 biases the guide lid 36 in the direction of arrow B.

Further, a filter 53 is provided in the middle of the ink recovery path 66.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

At the same time as the device power is turned on, the pump 24 is driven for a certain period of time by the drive means 26, and the magnetic ink 2o is sent from the sub-tank 23 to the ink storage chamber 21 to fill it. At this time, since the magnetic force of the protruding magnet 12 and the auxiliary magnet 16 is acting on the opening slit portion 14 of the ink storage chamber 21, the magnetic ink 20 in the pipe 21 The magnetic ink 2o is maintained without falling even when pressure corresponding to the drop to the surface is applied.For this reason, the magnetic ink 2o is supplied to the tip of the stylus 11 through the slope portion 17 of the bumping magnet 12, and as shown in FIG. Form a ridge as shown.

When the voltage applying means 29 applies a voltage between the stylus 11 and the back electrode 30 in accordance with the image signal with the protrusions as described above formed, the magnetic ink 20 is drawn from the tip of the stylus 11 by Coulomb force. It flies and forms an image on the recording surface 16. Incidentally, as the magnetic ink 2o is consumed, it is automatically supplied onto the stylus 11 through the pipe 22 by magnetic force.

When recording has finished and you want to pause for a certain period of time and start recording again,
Before starting recording, the motor 60 is driven and the arm 61 is moved to rotate the sealing lid 44 in the direction of the arrow, thereby sealing the opening 46 of the grounding body 39. At this time, the airtight lid 44
The rotation lever 38 rotates in conjunction with the movement of the guide member 3.
6 in the direction of arrow A to form a flow path from the slit portion 14 to the ink recovery path 66.

In the above state, the pump 24 is driven by the pump driving means 26 to forcefully blow out the magnetic ink from the opening slit 14. At this time, since the guide member 36 is configured to receive the ejected ink flow and guide the flow in the direction of the auxiliary magnet 16, the slope portion 17 of the uplift magnet 12. Stylus portion 11 and auxiliary magnet end face 1 following the slope
8 is washed by a rapidly flowing stream of magnetic ink.

Therefore, the ink that has dried or magnetically concentrated on the surfaces of each of the magnets and the stylus is washed away and is collected into the sub-tank 23 via the filter 63 of the ink collection path 46.

At this time, the magnetic ink 20 vigorously blown out from the slit section 14 hits the guide member 36 vigorously while cleaning the stylus section 11, the protruding magnet 12, and the auxiliary magnet 16, as described above. Since the guide member 36 receives an attractive force due to the magnetic force of the magnet 64 provided on the inner surface 47 of the guide lid facing the guide member 14, the force of the ink flow flowing down in the direction of the ink recovery path 66 at the guide member 36 is significantly weakened. Therefore, ink mist and splashes are less likely to occur.

Furthermore, even if ink mist or droplets are generated, they are attracted by the magnetic force of the magnet 64, so that they do not spread widely. Note that since the magnet 64 is provided above the guide member 35, it exerts a magnetic shielding effect against the magnetic ink 20 that tends to leak from the gasket 34 of the guide member 36, thereby preventing leakage of the magnetic ink 2o. be able to.

Further, since the magnet 64 is provided slightly protruding from the inner surface 47 of the end face guide member 36, the blown magnetic ink flow mainly flows below the guide member 36 and reaches the ink recovery path 66.

The ink receiving portion 49 provided at the tip of the ink recovery path 66 that is a part of the case body 39 is provided at a position that protrudes beyond the opening slit portion 14 and the position of the guide member 36, so that the ink receiving portion 49 is not guided by the guide member 36. Since it can receive the splashed ink and the splashes generated from the ink flow, the sealing lid 44 will not be soiled. Further, since the guide member 36 and the sealing lid 44 are provided apart from each other, the gasket 4 of the sealing lid 44
6 and the magnetic ink 20 do not come into direct contact with each other, the magnetic ink 2o will not leak out of the case body 39, and the ink 2o will stick between the surface of the case body 39 and the gasket 46, preventing the sealing lid 44 from closing. There will be no situation where it won't open.

After driving the pump 24 for a certain period of time, the pump 24 is stopped, the sealing lid 44 is rotated in the direction of arrow B, the guide member 36 is also rotated, and the opening 46 of the case body 39 is rotated.
open. At this time, the bump magnet 12. Magnetic ink 2 that does not dry or magnetically concentrate is placed on the auxiliary magnet 16 and the stylus 11.
Since the ridges are formed by supplying o, a high quality image can be stably recorded again.

When recording is completed, the sealing lid 44 and the guide member 36 are rotated in the direction of the arrow to position the guide member 35 in front of the recording head 1o and seal the opening 46. Therefore, the evaporation of the magnetic ink 20, ii'tp, 1-cax,
1.4 Also at this time, guide member 3
The magnetic ink 20 in the vicinity of the protrusion magnet 12 and the slit part 14 changes because the magnet 64 provided in the protrusion magnet 64 changes the magnetic force line distribution state near the slit part 14 including the protrusion magnet 12.
magnetic concentration can be reduced. This is because the magnetic pole of the magnet 54 is provided so as to repel the magnetic pole near the slit section 14 including the uplift magnet 12, so a repulsive force acts on the uplift magnet 12 and the magnetic ink 2o near the slit section 14. This is because the adhesion thickness becomes extremely thin.

Furthermore, since the ink adhesion thickness at the slit portion 14 becomes thinner, when the magnetic ink 20 is blown out by the pump 24,
The ink film in the slit portion 14 is easily cut, and air bubbles and foreign matter that have entered the ink supply path 22 are likely to come out of the supply path.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment in which the magnet 54 provided on the guide member 36 is extended into the recovery path. The above embodiment has the same effect as the embodiment described above, and the magnetic ink 20 blown out from the slit portion 14 is attracted by the magnetic force of the magnet 64, and is guided toward the collection path 56 and collected. The side surface of the guide member 36, the edge of the recovery path 66, etc. are not significantly soiled, and the generation of ink mist can be reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, the concentrated magnetic ink generated near the tip of the recording needle and on each of the magnets is removed by the magnetic force of the bumping magnet and the auxiliary magnet, evaporation, drying, etc. when recording is stopped or left unused. The magnetic ink can be circulated as needed by providing a guide member for flushing and cleaning with a flow of unconcentrated magnetic ink, a magnet provided on the guide member, and an ink recovery path having an ink receiver. It is possible to form a magnetic ink circulation path that prevents ink leakage, ink mist, flying, etc. from occurring when removing the concentrated ink, and can significantly reduce the diffusion of ink even if it occurs. can. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate stains on the recording paper and the inside of the apparatus due to ink mist and splashes, and the lid member can be opened and closed smoothly, and images of good quality can be stably recorded.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the head section of a conventional magnetic ink recording device, Figures 2 and 4 are schematic diagrams of the recording device, and Figure 3 is the head section of the same recording device. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the recording head section of a magnetic ink recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of the recording apparatus, and FIG.
8 is a sectional view taken along line CC' in FIG. 6, FIG. 9 is a side view of the main part of the head, FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the guide member of the device, and FIG. FIG. 11 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the guide member of the same device. 11...Multi stylus, 12...
Raising magnet, 2o...Magnetic ink, 22...
... Ink supply path, 36 ... Ink guide member, 44 ... Sealing lid, 46 ... Sealing gasket, 66 ... Ink recovery path, 42・43・
...Link, 60...Motor, 64.
····magnet. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and one other person II
Figure 2, 9 Figure 3 Figure llI4 Figure #15 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A recording needle made of a magnetic material, a bump magnet provided on the recording needle, a magnetic ink supply path and a collection path with openings arranged in parallel near the bump magnet, and a magnetic ink supply path and a collection path in front of the recording needle. The magnetic ink flow path from the ink supply path to the collection path is
A magnetic ink recording comprising: an ink guide member that is movable to a forming or releasing position; and means for moving the ink guide member; and a magnet is provided on at least a part of the ink guide member. Device. (2) The ink guide member provided with the magnet is movably provided in a space including at least the openings of the magnetic ink supply path and recovery path, which is sealed or opened by an airtight lid provided in front of the recording needle. A magnetic ink recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that: (3) The magnetic ink recording device according to claim 1, wherein the magnet provided on the ink guide member is provided to extend into the recovery path.