KR100327240B1 - Ink Level Detection Device of Wet Printer_ - Google Patents

Abstract

A plurality of rotary vanes positioned at different levels in the ink barrel and rotatably installed in the ink barrel, each rotatably rotated by a vortex of ink stirred by the stirrer, respectively coupled to the rotary shaft, together with the rotary vanes A plurality of rotating disks that are rotated and turned on and off in accordance with the rotation thereof, and an optical sensor that detects light on-off signals due to rotation of the rotating disks by irradiating light to the rotating disks and receiving light through the rotating disks; Including a, it is disclosed an ink remaining amount detection device of a wet printer for measuring the rotation of the rotating blade to detect the remaining amount of ink.

The ink remaining amount detecting device includes a rotary wing driven at least in the upper and lower level positions according to the movement of the ink and measures the remaining ink level according to whether the rotating wing is rotated, so that the remaining ink level can be detected regardless of the ink viscosity. Reliability is secured. Further, the stirring state of the ink can be known from the frequency of the optical pulse signal by the rotating disk rotated together with the rotary vane.

Description

Ink level detection device of a wet printer

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink remaining amount detecting device of a wet printer, and more particularly, to an ink remaining amount detecting device of a wet printer which detects the remaining amount of ink contained in an ink container so as to replenish ink at an appropriate time to prevent an error of a printing operation due to ink depletion. It is about.

Generally, wet developing printers, such as laser printers or copiers, which use ink as a developer, can be replenished in a timely manner to prevent errors in print jobs due to ink depletion that may occur during printing. A device is needed to detect this. Here, the ink includes a toner and a liquid carrier, and the toner includes a pigment representing a color component, which causes the ink to have a viscosity. At this time, the viscosity of the ink depends on the kind of pigment.

When employing a floating body that floats due to buoyancy according to the amount of liquid and indicates the level of liquid in the ink remaining amount detection device, the floating body does not float in proportion to the buoyancy according to the remaining amount of ink due to the viscosity of the ink, It is not reliable to detect the remaining amount of ink because a malfunction in which the floating body installed to be able to flow to a degree can adhere to the inner wall of the ink container may occur. Therefore, it is inappropriate to employ a floating body which is usually used for measuring the level of liquid in the ink remaining amount detection device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has an ink remaining amount detecting device of a wet printing machine having improved reliability for measuring ink remaining according to whether a rotating wing is rotated by having a rotary wing driven according to ink movement. The purpose is to provide.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an ink remaining amount detecting device of a wet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the ink remaining amount detection device of a wet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1.Ink barrel 5 ... Agitator

10,20 ... swing van 10a, 20a ... spindle

11,21 ... rotating disc 11a, 21a ... light passing

15,25 ... light sensor 31a, 41a ... reflective

31b, 41b ... absorber

The ink remaining amount detection device of the wet printer according to the present invention for achieving the above object is located at different levels in the ink container, and the rotary shafts are respectively installed rotatably in the ink bottle by the vortex of the ink stirred by the stirrer A plurality of rotary vanes that are passively rotated; A plurality of rotating disks respectively coupled to the rotating shafts to be rotated together with the rotary vanes and to turn light on and off according to the rotations thereof; And a light sensor for irradiating light to the rotating disk and receiving light passing through the rotating disk to detect an optical on-off signal according to the rotation of the rotating disk. The remaining amount of ink is detected.

According to a feature of the invention, the rotating disk is provided with a plurality of light passing portion for passing the light to turn the light on-off in accordance with the rotation of the rotating disk.

According to another feature of the present invention, the rotating disk is provided with an alternating reflecting portion for reflecting light and the absorbing portion for absorbing light to turn the light on-off in accordance with the rotation of the rotating disk.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an ink remaining amount detection apparatus of a wet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the ink remaining amount detection device of the wet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is located at different levels in the ink container (1) and its rotating shafts (10a, 20a) are independently of the ink container (1), respectively. A plurality of rotary vanes 10 and 20 rotatably installed, a plurality of rotary disks 11 and 21 coupled to the rotary shafts 10a and 20a, and the rotary disks 11 and 21, respectively. The light sensor 15 and 25 which irradiate light to each other and detect the light via this rotating disk 11 and 21 are comprised.

Two rotary vanes 10 and 20 are provided, for example, and are positioned about the lower limit level position L and the upper limit level position H of the remaining amount of ink in the ink container 1, respectively. The first rotary shaft 10a of the L rotary blade 10 is inserted into the second rotary shaft 20a of the H rotary blade 20, and between the first and second rotary shafts 10a and 20a, When the bearing is installed between the two rotary shafts 20a and the ink bottle 1, the L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 are rotatable independently of the ink bottle 1, respectively. As such, by arranging the rotary vanes 10 and 20 coaxially, the installation space of the rotary vanes 10 and 20 may be reduced. Here, a plurality of rotary vanes 10 and 20 may be disposed at various level positions of the remaining amount of ink, and the rotary disks 11 and 21 and the optical sensors 15 and 25 may be provided correspondingly. .

The L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 as described above are passively rotated by the vortex of ink stirred by the stirrer 5. Here, the stirrer 5 prevents non-uniformity of the ink concentration in the ink container 1 due to precipitation of the toner and / or mixing of the highly concentrated ink and the carrier, which is caused by the toner constituting the ink having a higher specific gravity than the liquid carrier. A device for agitating ink so that the ink density is even, which contributes to improving the quality of the ink image attached to the latent image position of the photosensitive medium (not shown) by development in a wet printer. This stirrer 5 normally agitates the ink by rotation in the lower part of the ink container 1, and is stirred while generating vortex in the ink according to the rotational action of the stirrer 5.

The rotating disks 11 and 21 are respectively coupled to the rotary shafts 10a and 20a of the rotary vanes 10 and 20 to rotate together with the rotary vanes 10 and 20, and the light is rotated according to the rotation. On-off. It is preferable that this rotating disk 11, 21 is provided in the ink container 1 outer side.

In the present embodiment, the rotating disks 11 and 21 are each provided with a plurality of light passing portions 11a and 21a, which are preferably arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference and allow light to pass therethrough. The light passing portions 11a and 21a can be formed by drilling holes in the rotating disks 11 and 21. Further, the body of the rotating disks 11 and 21 is a transparent member, and may be formed on at least one surface of the body by attaching, for example, light blocking plates having a plurality of perforated holes at equal intervals on the same circumference. It is also possible that the light passing portions 11a and 21a are made of a transparent member.

The rotating disks 11 and 21 are rotated by the rotation of the rotary vanes 10 and 20 to transmit or shield the light incident from the optical sensors 15 and 25 to turn the light on and off. .

The light sensors 15 and 25 are respectively disposed on one side of the rotating disks 11 and 21 to irradiate light and to emit light from the light sources 15a and 25a and the light sources 15a and 25a. And photodetectors 15b and 25b for detecting light passing through the light passing portions 11a and 21a, wherein the light sources 15a, 25a and the photodetectors 15b and 25b are supported members 16. It is installed in). The optical sensors 15 and 25 detect an optical on-off signal, that is, an optical pulse signal according to the rotation of the rotating disks 11 and 21.

Therefore, it is possible to know whether the rotary vanes 10 and 20 are rotated or stopped by detecting the optical on-off signal of the optical sensors 15 and 25.

3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the ink remaining amount detection device of the wet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reflecting portions 31a and 41a for reflecting light and the absorbing portions 31b and 41b for absorbing light are alternately preferably arranged on the same circumference. The feature is that they are arranged at equal intervals. In this case, the photosensors 15 and 25 irradiate light onto the rotating disks 11 and 21 and detect light reflected by the reflecting portions 31a and 41a. And photodetectors 15b and 25b are disposed on one side of the rotating disks 11 and 21. Here, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 denote the same members. On the other hand, the reflecting portions 31a, 41a and the absorbing portions 31b, 41b are provided on the surfaces of the two rotating disks 11, 21 facing each other, and the two optical sensors 15 ( It is also possible for 25) to be installed on one support member.

The rotating disks 11 and 21 are rotated together with the rotary vanes 10 and 20, and the optical sensors 15 and 25 are reflected or absorbed by the rotation of the rotating disks 11 and 21. The optical on-off signal, that is, the optical pulse signal, is detected.

Hereinafter, the operation of the ink remaining amount detection apparatus of the wet printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The stirrer 5 is operated during the warm-up mode and the printing mode of the wet printer, and by this stirring action, the ink is stirred by the vortex action.

When only the L rotary blade 10 is rotated passively by the ink which is stirred at the warm-up mode or the start of the printing mode of the wet printer, whereby the first rotary disk 11 is rotated, the first rotary disk 11 The light emitted from the first light source 15a is intermittently detected by the first photodetector 15b in accordance with the rotation of. As such, when the L rotary blade 10 is rotated such that the light on-off signal is detected only in the first photodetector 15b and the light on-off signal is not detected in the second photodetector 25b, the H rotary vane 20 Denotes that the ink container 1 is filled up to a predetermined position between the lower limit level position L or the lower limit level position L and the upper limit level position H. FIG. Therefore, the system judges that the remaining amount of ink contained in the ink container 1 is an appropriate amount to perform a warm-up completion or printing operation.

Both the L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 are driven to rotate independently of each other by the ink which is stirred at the warm-up mode or at the start of the printing mode of the wet press, whereby the first and second rotary discs 11 ( When the 21 is rotated, respectively, the light emitted from the first and second light sources 15a and 25a is intermittently generated by the rotation of the first and second rotating disks 11 and 21, respectively. It is detected by the photodetectors 15b and 25b. When the light on-off signal is detected by all the photodetectors 15b and 25b in this manner, it indicates that the ink container 1 is filled with ink up to the upper limit level position H or higher. Therefore, the system judges that the remaining amount of ink contained in the ink container 1 is sufficient to perform a warm-up completion or printing operation.

On the other hand, when no light on-off signal is detected by the two optical sensors 15 and 25 at the start up of the warm-up mode or the printing mode of the wet press, both the L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 are stirred. It shows that ink is filled below the lower limit level position L in the ink container 1 in a state where it cannot be driven by the ink to be turned. Accordingly, the system performs an operation of filling ink into the ink container 1 to fill the ink until rotation of both the L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 is detected, and then performs a warm-up completion or printing operation. .

On the other hand, the ink remaining amount detection device detects the remaining ink level continuously or intermittently during the print mode operation. If the rotation of both the L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 is detected by the ink remaining amount detection device during the print mode operation, the system determines that the remaining ink level in the ink container 1 is sufficiently filled above the upper limit level H. do. In addition, when only the rotation of the L rotary blade 10 is detected, in a state where the H rotary blade 20 cannot be driven to rotate, the system maintains the ink remaining amount in the ink container 1 at the upper and lower limit levels H (L). It is judged to be appropriate amount between). If the printing operation is further performed so that the rotation of both the L and H rotary vanes 10 and 20 is not detected by the ink remaining amount detection device, the system determines that the remaining ink level in the ink bottle 1 is less than the lower limit level L. The ink refilling operation is performed, and when the rotation of the L rotary blade 10 is detected and the rotation of the H rotary blade 20 is detected after a predetermined time has elapsed, the system stops the ink refilling operation.

Therefore, the ink remaining amount is maintained between the upper and lower limit levels H (L) in the ink bottle 1 during the continuous printing operation.

As such, the ink remaining amount detection device detects an optical pulse signal input to the optical sensors 15 and 25 according to whether or not the rotating disks 11 and 21 are rotated to determine whether or not the rotary vanes 10 and 20 are rotated. By judging, it can be seen whether the ink remaining amount is filled to the upper limit or the lower limit level position H (L). According to the detection signal of the ink remaining amount detection device, the system executes or stops the ink refilling operation in the ink bottle 1 so that the ink bottle 1 is always filled with an appropriate amount of ink between the upper and lower level positions H and L. Manage.

On the other hand, when the ink remaining amount detecting device according to the present invention is used, the stirring state of the ink can be known incidentally from the frequency of the optical pulse signal detected by the optical sensors 15 and 25. That is, when the frequency of the light pulse signal is large, it means that the ink agitation is well occurring, and when the frequency is small, it means that the ink agitation is not properly performed.

The ink remaining amount detection device according to the present invention as described above is provided with at least the upper and lower level of the rotary blade driven driven according to the movement of the ink to measure the remaining amount of ink depending on whether the rotating blade is rotated regardless of the ink viscosity, etc. Remaining ink can be detected and reliability is ensured. Therefore, the wet printing machine employing the ink remaining amount detecting device according to the present invention can replenish ink at an appropriate time, thereby preventing errors in the printing operation due to ink depletion.

On the other hand, when the ink remaining amount detection device according to the present invention is adopted, there is an advantage that the stirring state of the ink can be known from the frequency of the optical pulse signal by the rotating disk rotated together with the rotary vane.

Claims (3)

A plurality of rotary vanes which are located at different levels in the ink bottle and whose rotary shafts are rotatably installed in the ink bottle, respectively, and are passively rotated by a vortex of ink stirred by the stirrer; A plurality of rotating disks respectively coupled to the rotating shafts to be rotated together with the rotary vanes and to turn light on and off according to the rotations thereof; And a light sensor for irradiating light to the rotating disk and receiving light passing through the rotating disk to detect an optical on-off signal according to the rotation of the rotating disk. An ink remaining amount detection device for a wet printer, characterized in that the remaining amount of ink is detected. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotating disk is provided with a plurality of light passing portions through which the light passes. The ink remaining amount detection apparatus of the wet printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotating disk is turned on and off according to the rotation of the rotating disk. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotating disk includes a reflecting portion reflecting light and an absorbing portion absorbing light to alternately turn on and off the light according to the rotation of the rotating disk. .