JPS60262875A - Ink production unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce efficiently several kinds of inks having different colors at the same time without a fear of erroneous formulation, by feeding each of raw materials in a quantity preset in a controller to each of a plurality of ink preparing tanks which are independent of one another, and mixing them in each tank. CONSTITUTION:The quantities of a dye, first to third liquid mediums, etc. to be fed are preset in an operation part 14 according to the quantities and compositions of inks to be prepared. Valves 5a-b for the first liquid medium are opened for a predetermined period of time on the basis of the preset value by means of a controller 13 to feed the preset quantity of the first liquid medium to ink preparing tanks 1a-b, and the valves 5a-b are closed. Subsequently, valves 6a- b, 7a-b for the second and third liquid mediums and valves 3a-b for dye tanks 4a-b are opened for a predetermined period of time to feed the preset quantities thereof and closed. They are stirred for a predetermined period of time by using agitating blades 2a-b, and discharge valves 12a-b are opened to take the resulting ink out. When signals from liquid quantity detector 11a-b becomes 0, valves 12a-b are closed to terminate one cycle of the operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink manufacturing device particularly suitable for simultaneously mass producing a plurality of different types of ink, such as an ink manufacturing device for writing instruments such as felt pens and fountain pens. It can also be used to manufacture ink, but especially when used in the manufacture of ink used in inkjet recording methods, such as recording methods in which ink in a recording head is ejected from an ejection orifice using vibrations caused by a piezo vibrator, etc. It is beneficial to

[Prior Art] Ink preparation in conventional ink manufacturing equipment involves manually weighing raw materials one by one according to the desired ink composition and adding them to an ink mixing tank, which is completely batch-type and requires manual processing. However, there are many things.

However, even when mass-producing the same type of ink, repeating manual weighing of raw materials for each patch requires too much time and effort to mix the ink, which not only reduces production efficiency, but also poses the problem of a large risk of mixing errors. be. Particularly in the inkjet recording system, if the desired ink characteristics cannot be obtained due to incorrect formulation, the recording head, which has an extremely detailed structure because it ejects minute amounts of ink at high speeds of thousands of times per second, may become clogged. , which may cause a malfunction.

By the way, the composition and amount of liquid media added to ink often changes depending on the type of colorant in order to obtain optimal ink characteristics, and even if the same colorant is used, the liquid added may vary depending on the purpose of use etc. The composition and amount of the medium may be changed, and there are a wide variety of types. When multiple inks of different types are manufactured at the same time, the amount of each ink produced is often different, which makes the work even more complicated and increases the risk of mismixing. . Therefore, even if a plurality of different types of inks are manufactured at the same time, there are significant restrictions on the number of types that can be manufactured at the same time.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention aims to make it possible to mass-produce a plurality of different types of inks at the same time without reducing production efficiency or risking mixing errors by automating ink mixing. This is a problem that should be solved.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, the means taken to solve the above problems is to provide a plurality of ink mixing tanks, and to supply each necessary raw material to each ink mixing tank through a valve. The present invention is to provide an ink manufacturing apparatus which is capable of supplying ink through the ink valves and is further provided with a controller that independently controls the opening and closing of these valves based on variable set values.

In the present invention, raw materials refer to the colorant and liquid medium of the ink, where the colorant is a dye or pigment, and the liquid medium is its solvent or dispersion medium, as well as other additives for adjusting the properties of the ink. means a drug.

Specifically, for example, in water-based ink for inkjet recording, the colorant is a water-based dye, the liquid medium is water as a solvent for the water-based dye, and other additives include glycols as anti-drying agents. It will be done.

[Function] In the present invention, the controller acts as a device that automatically supplies each raw material at a predetermined mixing ratio to each ink mixing tank. By using this controller to appropriately determine the raw material supply ratio to each ink mixing tank,
Appropriate compositions can be determined for various types of ink.

[Example] Figure 141 shows an example of the present invention, in which la,
Ib is an ink mixing tank, which has stirring blades 2a and 2b for stirring and mixing supplied raw materials.

Each ink preparation tank 1a, lb is provided with a colorant valve 3a.

Colorant tanks 4a and 4b containing the colorant are connected via the colorant valve 3a or 3b.
By opening the colorant tank 1, the colorant tank 4a or 4b is supplied to the ink mixing tank 1a or lb.

Further, each ink preparation tank 1a, lb has first to third liquid medium valves 5a to 7a, 5b to 7b, respectively.
Third liquid medium pipes 8 to 1O are connected. The first to third liquid medium pipes 8 to 1O are connected to liquid medium tanks (not shown) each containing a different type of liquid medium, and each of the first to third liquid mediums is Third liquid medium valve 5a
By opening 7a to 7b or 5b to 7b, the ink is supplied to the ink mixing tank 1a or Ib.

Inside each ink preparation tank 1a, lb, there is a liquid amount detector 11a.
, llb are provided, and each ink preparation tank Ia, lb is provided.
The amount of ink in b is to be detected. Also,
The ink mixed and produced in each ink preparation tank 1a, Ib is taken out by opening the discharge valves 12a, 12b.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a controller that performs control operations based on values arbitrarily set by the operating section 14. The controller 13 controls colorant valves 3a, 3b and first to third liquid medium valves 5a to 7a, 5b to ? b, and their opening and closing are controlled independently. In addition, the controller 13
are liquid level detector 11a, llb and discharge valve +2
It is electrically connected to the liquid volume detectors 11a and 12b, and receives signals from the liquid level detectors 11a and 11b to control the opening and closing of the discharge valves +2a and +2b.

FIG. 2 is a flow sheet of the controller 13 in FIG. 1, and the operation of the present device will be explained based on this flow sheet. Although FIG. 2 only shows the flow on the ink preparation tank 1a side for convenience of explanation, the flow on the ink preparation tank 1b side is also similar.

First, the control section! 4, the supply amounts of the colorant and the first to second liquid media are set based on the ink composition and amount to be produced. Based on this set value, the controller 13 opens the first liquid medium valve 5a for a predetermined time T, and supplies a set amount of the first liquid medium to the ink mixing tank 1a. After T, the controller 13 closes the first liquid medium valve 5a,
Second and third liquid medium valves 6a, ? b and colorant valve 3
A is similarly controlled to open and close sequentially for predetermined times T2 to T, and thereby supply the first to third liquid media and colorant at a predetermined ratio into the ink preparation tank Ia. complete.

Next, the stirring blade 28 is rotated for a predetermined time T5, and the raw materials supplied into the ink mixing tank Ia are stirred and mixed to produce a desired ink. After T5 has elapsed, the stirring blade 2a is stopped, the discharge valve +2a is opened, and the manufactured ink is taken out from the ink mixing tank 1a. Then, when the signal from the liquid level detector 11a becomes O and it is confirmed that all the ink in the ink mixing tank 1a has been taken out,
The exhaust valve 12a is closed to complete the 1-cycle operation.

In this way, once the values are set in the controller 13, the settings for each ink mixing tank 1a are automatically set.

Since the ink is manufactured in Ib and the control values are determined independently, it is easy to simultaneously manufacture various types of ink in the ink mixing tanks 1a and 1b.

Of course, the ink mixing tank is not only la and lb, but also la,
Even if a large number of Ib... are provided, ink can be manufactured in the same manner.

Although this device does not necessarily have to be used for the simultaneous production of different types of ink, it is most useful when used for the simultaneous production of different types of ink, and in this case, the ink preparation tank 1a,
Ib is provided depending on the type of ink to be manufactured. Generally, it is convenient to have separate ink mixing tanks 1a and 1b for each color of ink to be manufactured (black, black, yellow, magenta, cyan, etc.); simply change the mixing ratio for the same color. In the case of ink mold making, the mixing tank 1a, lb
This is because it can be used as is by simply washing it lightly.

[Effects] According to the present invention, once the value of the controller is set to an appropriate value, the ink is automatically mixed, so there is little risk of mismixing.

This control value can be determined for each desired raw material for each ink mixing tank, so by changing the value for each mixing tank, a plurality of different types of ink can be manufactured simultaneously. Even in this case, once the values are set, each formulation is automatically made, so there is no risk of incorrect formulations and the manufacturing efficiency is good.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of an ink manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow sheet of the controller in FIG. 1. la, lb: ink preparation tank, 2a, 2b: stirring blade, 3
a, 3b: Colorant valve, 4a, 4b: Colorant tank, 5a
~7a, 5b~7b = th-~tertiary liquid medium 8lube, 8~I
O: 1s-~3rd liquid medium pipe, 11a, llb
:Liquid level detector. +2a, +2b: Discharge section, 13: Controller, 14:
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Claims (1)

[Claims] l) A plurality of ink mixing tanks are provided, and each necessary raw material can be supplied to each ink mixing tank via a valve,
An ink manufacturing apparatus further comprising a controller that independently controls opening and closing of these valves based on variable setting values.