KR100416540B1 - Ink supply apparatus for wet type printer - Google Patents

Abstract

An ink supply apparatus for a wet printer configured to supply a developer mixed with a toner and a liquid carrier to a developing gap between a developing unit and a photosensitive belt, comprising: a circulation tank connected to the developing unit and storing a developer to be supplied to the developing unit; ; An injection unit for injecting the developer stored in the circulation tank into the developing gap; An ink tank having an air suction port and storing a concentrated ink to be supplied to the circulation tank; A carrier tank having an air suction port and storing a liquid carrier to be supplied to the circulation tank; A waste tank connected to the circulation tank to collect waste ink in the circulation tank; A solenoid valve provided in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank to adjust an amount of the concentrated ink and the carrier supplied to the circulation tank; An air intake valve provided in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank to selectively supply air to the air intake port; And a control unit for controlling the opening and closing operations of the solenoid valve and the air suction valve, wherein the concentrated ink stored in the ink tank and / or the carrier stored in the carrier tank are supplied to the circulation tank and at the same time the air is sucked into the air inlet. Disclosed is an ink supply apparatus for a wet printer, characterized in that the supply of the concentrated ink and / or the carrier is made quickly.

Description

Ink supply apparatus for wet printers {Ink supply apparatus for wet type printer}

The present invention relates to an ink supply device for a wet printer, and more particularly, to rapidly supply a concentrated ink stored in an ink tank and a liquid carrier stored in a carrier tank to a circulation tank in which a developer to be supplied to a developing gap of a developing unit is stored. An ink supply apparatus for a wet printer.

In general, a wet printing machine scans a laser beam through a laser scanning unit (LSU) on a surface of a photosensitive medium to form a latent electrostatic image on the surface thereof, and then, as a developing gap between the photosensitive medium and the developing roller, A toner and a liquid carrier are sprayed to develop a electrostatic latent image by developing and transferring it onto printing paper.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wet printing machine includes a developing unit 20 for forming an image in the electrostatic latent image region formed on the surface of the photosensitive belt 10, which is a photosensitive medium, and has a predetermined density and a predetermined density so as to be suitable for the development. And an ink supply device for supplying a developer having a capacity to the developing unit 20.

Here, the developer is an ink obtained by mixing a concentrated ink containing a predetermined amount of powdery toner supplied from the ink cartridge 31 and a liquid carrier supplied from the carrier cartridge 32 at a predetermined ratio.

The ink supply device includes an ink tank 33 in which the concentrated ink supplied from the ink cartridge 31 is stored, a carrier tank 34 in which the carrier supplied from the carrier cartridge 32 is stored, and the developer is stored. The developing tank 35, the waste tank 36 for collecting the waste ink in the circulation tank 35, and the developing solution in the circulation tank 35 are exposed to the developing roller 22 of the developing unit 20. The injection part 37 which injects into the developing gap G between the belts 10 is included. The ink cartridge 31 is detachably installed in the mounting portion 2 provided in the printing main body 1, and includes an agitator 31a for preventing the concentrated ink contained therein from being deposited. The ink cartridge 31 is a consumable part that is replaced after the contained concentrated ink is supplied to the ink tank 33. In addition, the carrier cartridge 33 is also detachably installed in the mounting portion 2, and is a consumable part that is replaced when the carrier accommodated therein is consumed.

The ink tank 33 and the carrier tank 34 are fixed in the printing main body 1 and supply the stored concentrated ink and the carrier to the circulation tank 35 through the supply path 40. In addition, each of the ink tank 33 and the carrier tank 34 has a solenoid valve 41 for selectively adjusting the amount of the concentrated ink and the carrier supplied to the circulation tank 35 through the supply path 40, respectively. It is installed.

The circulation tank 35 is installed in the printing main body 1 so as to be positioned below the developing unit 20, and supplies a developing solution to the developing gap G through the injection part 37, and contributes to development. After that, the developer remaining in the developing unit 20 is reused. The circulation tank 35 is provided with a concentration sensor 35a for detecting the concentration of the contained developer and a lower limit level sensor 35b for sensing the capacity of the developer.

The injection part 37 is provided in an injection path 37a for supplying a developer, a pump 37b installed in the injection path 37a to pump the developer, and the developing gap G of the injection path 37a. It is composed of a spray nozzle (37c) which is installed at a corresponding one end for injecting the developer into the developing gap (G).

The waste tank 36 is installed below the circulation tank 35 to collect waste ink in the circulation tank 35. The waste tank 36 is provided with an upper limit level sensor 36a for sensing the amount of waste ink collected. The amount of waste ink collected and stored in the waste tank 36 is controlled by the valve 38a provided in the discharge path 38, and the discharged waste ink is discarded. Here, the valve 38a is operated according to the amount of waste ink in the waste tank 36 detected by the upper limit level sensor 36a. In addition, when the waste tank 36 is filled with waste ink, the entire waste tank 36 may be replaced, or may be moved to the regeneration path 39 and used again.

By the way, in the conventional ink supply apparatus having the above configuration, when supplying the concentrated ink in the ink tank 33 or the carrier in the carrier tank 34 to the circulation tank 35, the ink tank 33 Since the carrier tank 34 is almost sealed, there is a problem that it takes a long time to supply the contents to the circulation tank 35 because the contents do not escape quickly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an ink supply apparatus for a wet printing machine having an improved structure so as to quickly supply a concentrated ink in an ink tank and a carrier in a carrier tank to a circulation tank. .

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an ink supply apparatus for a general wet printer.

2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an ink supply apparatus for a wet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the main portion of FIG.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the ink supply apparatus according to the present embodiment.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

1..Printing base 2 .. Mounting part 10. Photosensitive belt

20. Developing unit 31. Ink cartridge 32. Carrier cartridge

110 .. Circulation tank 116. Collection path 120. Injection part

122..Injection path 124..Pump 126..Injection nozzle

130. Ink tank 140 Carrier tank 150 Waste tank

154 .. Emission route 156. Regeneration route

161,164 .. 1st, 2nd ink supply pipe 161´, 164 ”. 1st, 2nd carrier supply pipe

162 Solenoid valve 170 Control unit 200 Air intake valve

210. Coil 220. Pipe 230. Housing

240. Support member 250. Connection member 262, 264 First, second sealing member

272.Flanger 274.Elastic member 276.Spring

In the ink supply apparatus for a wet printer according to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the ink supply apparatus for a wet printer, to supply a developing solution mixed with a toner and a liquid carrier to the developing gap between the developing unit and the photosensitive belt, A circulation tank connected to the developing unit and storing a developer to be supplied to the developing unit; An injection unit for injecting the developer stored in the circulation tank into the development gap; An ink tank having an air suction port and storing a concentrated ink to be supplied to the circulation tank; A carrier tank having an air suction port and storing a liquid carrier to be supplied to the circulation tank; A waste tank connected to the circulation tank to collect waste ink in the circulation tank; A solenoid valve provided in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank to adjust an amount of the concentrated ink and the carrier supplied to the circulation tank; An air intake valve provided in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank to selectively supply air to the air intake port; And a control unit for controlling opening and closing operations of the solenoid valve and the air suction valve, wherein the concentrated ink stored in the ink tank and / or the carrier stored in the carrier tank are supplied to the circulation tank and simultaneously supplied to the air intake port. By inhaling air, the concentrated ink and / or the carrier can be supplied quickly.

Here, the air intake valve, and the pipe wound around the coil; A housing installed at an outer circumference of the pipe to surround the coil, the housing having a through hole corresponding to the first opening of the pipe; A connection member having one end coupled to a second open portion of the pipe and the other end coupled to the air intake, and having a hollow communicating the second open portion and the air intake; A support member coupled to the first open portion of the pipe and having an air hole in communication with the through hole; And a valve body installed in the housing and movable between a first position for closing the air hole and a second position for opening by the electromagnetic force with the coil.

In addition, the valve body is installed in the housing, the flanger is moved by the electromagnetic force with the coil; An elastic member installed at one end of the flanger and selectively contacting the support member to open and close the air hole; It is preferable that a spring is installed on the other end of the flanger to elastically press the flanger to the first position.

Hereinafter, an ink supply apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ink supply apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a circulation tank 110 in which a developer to be supplied to a developing gap G of a developing unit 20 installed below the photosensitive belt 10 is stored, and An injection unit 120 for injecting the developer stored in the circulation tank 110 into the developing gap G, an ink tank 130 for storing the concentrated ink to be supplied to the circulation tank 110, and the circulation tank ( Carrier tank 140 and the liquid carrier to be supplied to 110 is stored. A waste tank 150 for collecting waste ink in the circulation tank 110, a solenoid valve 162 provided in each of the ink tank 130 and the carrier tank 140, and the ink tank 130. And an air intake valve 200 provided in each of the carrier tanks 140, and a control unit 170 for controlling opening and closing operations of the solenoid valve 162 and the air intake valve 200.

Here, the developer stored in the circulation tank 110 is a concentrated ink containing approximately 9 wt% of powdered toner supplied from the ink cartridge 31 and a liquid carrier supplied from the carrier cartridge 32 at a predetermined ratio. It is an ink having a toner concentration of approximately 2 to 4 wt% by mixing. Here, since the ink cartridge 31 and the carrier cartridge 32 have been described in detail with reference to FIG. 1, the description thereof will be omitted.

The circulation tank 110 is installed below the developing unit 20, supplies the contained developer to the developing gap G through the injection unit 120, and contributes to the development of the photosensitive belt 10. The developer remaining in the developing unit 20 is re-received so that the developer is continuously supplied to the developing gap G during development.

The concentration tank 112 is installed inside the circulation tank 110 to detect the concentration of the developer contained therein, and a lower limit level sensor 114 is installed on the inner bottom thereof to detect the capacity of the developer.

The injection unit 120 includes an injection path 122 for supplying a developer contained in the circulation tank 110, a pump 124 installed in the injection path 122 to pump a developer, and the injection path 122 And an injection nozzle 126 installed at an end portion corresponding to the developing gap G of FIG.

The waste tank 150 is installed in the printer main body 1 to be located below the circulation tank 110. The waste tank 150 is connected by the circulation tank 120 and the collection path 116 to collect the waste ink in the circulation tank 110. The collection path 116 is provided with a valve 127 to adjust the amount of waste ink collected. In addition, the waste tank 150 is provided with an upper limit level sensor 152 for sensing the storage amount of the collected waste ink. Here, the waste ink collected into the waste tank 150 contains a small amount of toner, a foreign substance and a liquid carrier. The discharge path 154 for discharging the waste ink collected in the waste tank 150 may be connected, or the regeneration path 156 for regenerating the waste ink may be connected.

The ink tank 130 is fixed in the printing main body 1 to be located at a position higher than the circulation tank 110. The ink tank 130 is for supplying the concentrated ink from the ink cartridge 31 to re-supply to the circulation tank 110, as shown in Figure 3, the air inlet 132 and the ink inlet 134 ) And an ink outlet 136. The air intake 132 is connected to the air intake valve 200. The ink inlet 134 is provided above the ink tank 130 to be connected to the mounting portion 2 through the first ink supply pipe 161 to receive the concentrated ink. The ink outlet 136 is provided below the ink tank 130 and is connected to the solenoid valve 162. Here, the solenoid valve 162 is connected to the circulation tank 110 through the second ink supply pipe 164.

The carrier tank 140 receives and stores the liquid carrier from the carrier cartridge 32 and resupplies the circulation tank 110. The carrier tank 140 is installed in the printing main body 1 such that the ink tank 130 is located above the circulation tank 110. In addition, the carrier tank 140 has an air inlet 142 of FIG. 3, a carrier inlet 144, and a carrier outlet 146 provided below. The air intake valve 200 is connected to the air intake 142. The carrier inlet 144 is connected to the mounting portion 2 through the first carrier supply pipe 161 ′ to receive the carrier. The solenoid valve 162 is communicatively coupled to the carrier outlet 146, and the solenoid valve 162 is connected to the circulation tank 110 through a second carrier supply pipe 164 ′.

The solenoid valve 162 is coupled to each of the ink outlet 146 and the carrier outlet 136 to adjust the flow rate of the concentrated ink and the carrier supplied to the circulation tank 110, the control unit 170 Is selectively opened and closed. Since the solenoid valve 162 has a structure that is widely used throughout the industry, its description will be omitted.

On the other hand, the air intake valve 200 is coupled to the air inlet 132, 142 of each of the ink tank 130 and the carrier tank 140 to selectively supply air therein. The air intake valve 200 is a pipe 220 wound around the coil 210 as shown in the outer circumference, a housing 230 installed on the outer circumference of the pipe 220 to surround the coil 210, The support member 240 coupled to the first open portion 222 of the pipe 220, the connection member 250 coupled to the second open portion 224 of the pipe 220, and the pipe 220. It is provided with the valve body installed so that a movement is possible in the inside.

A through hole 232 corresponding to the first opening 222 of the pipe 220 is formed in the housing 230 to communicate with the pipe 220. The support member 240 is press-fitted to the first opening portion 222 so as to be located between the housing 230 and the valve body, and the through hole 232 and the first opening portion 222. It has an air hole 242 to enable communication. One end of the connection member 250 is press-fitted to the second open portion 224 of the pipe 220, and the other end is press-fitted to the air suction holes 132 and 142. The connection member 250 is formed with a hollow 252 for communicating the second open portion 224 and the air suction openings 132 and 142. In addition, the connection member 250 has a first sealing member 262 for sealing between the outside and the inner circumference of the pipe 220 and the agent for sealing between the inner circumference of the air inlet 132, 142 Two sealing members 264 are respectively coupled.

Meanwhile, the valve body is movable between a first position in which the air hole 242 is closed in the pipe 220 and a second position in which the air hole 242 is opened as shown in FIG. 4. to be. The valve body is a flanger 272 which is installed to be movable in the pipe 220 by the electromagnetic force of the coil 210, the elastic member 274 is supported on one end of the flanger 272 and elastically deformable and the A spring 276 is supported at the other end of the flanger 272. The elastic member 274 is selectively contacted and separated from the support member 240 when the flanger 272 is moved to open and close the air hole 242. One end of the spring 276 is supported by the flanger 272 and the other end is in contact with the connecting member 250 to elastically press the flanger 272 to the first position. In the air suction valve 200 having the above configuration, the housing 230 is the ink tank 130 and the carrier tank while the connection member 250 is press-fitted into the air suction ports 132 and 142. 140 may be fastened to a screw or the like.

Effects of the ink supply apparatus according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, respectively.

During the printing operation, the developing solution in the circulation tank 110 is injected into the developing gap G through the injection unit 120, so that an image is displayed on the electrostatic latent image region formed on the photosensitive belt 10 by the developing unit 20. Develop. At this time, the concentration sensor 112 and the lower limit level sensor 114 installed in the circulation tank 110 detects the concentration and remaining amount of the developer in the circulation tank 110. When the concentration of the developer in the circulation tank 110 sensed by the concentration sensor 112 is less than the reference value, the concentrated ink of the ink tank 130 is supplied through the second ink supply pipe 164. In this case, the supply of the concentrated ink is driven by the solenoid valve 162 provided in the ink tank 130 controlled by the controller 170 to open the ink outlet 136.

At the same time, the air suction valve 200 is also driven by the control unit 170 and the solenoid valve 162 to open the air hole 242 so that the air is sucked into the air inlet 132. . That is, the flanger 272 is moved to the second position by the electromagnetic force with the coil 210 and the interaction with the connecting member 250. Accordingly, the contact between the elastic member 274 and the support member 240 is separated and the air hole 242 is opened, so that external air is sucked into the ink tank 130. In this way, the concentrated ink is discharged from the ink tank 130 and the outside air is sucked through the air suction port 132, thereby preventing the pressure in the ink tank 130 from being lowered. Therefore, it is possible to supply the concentrated ink to the circulation tank 110 easily and quickly. Here, the concentrated ink stored in the ink tank 130 is supplied from the ink cartridge 31 through the first ink supply pipe 161 as necessary to maintain a charged state.

On the other hand, when the concentration of the developer detected by the concentration sensor 112 exceeds the reference value, the carrier stored in the carrier tank 140 through the second carrier supply pipe 164 ′ is the circulation tank 110 It is supplied to adjust the concentration. In this case, the solenoid valve 162 and the air suction valve 200 provided at the carrier tank 140 are simultaneously driven by the controller 170 as in the case of supplying the concentrated ink. Therefore, the carrier is supplied from the carrier tank 140 to the circulation tank 110 through the carrier outlet 146 and at the same time external air is supplied through the air inlet 142 to maintain a constant pressure in and out of the carrier tank 140. The carrier can be supplied easily and quickly. Here, the carrier stored in the carrier tank 140 is supplied from the carrier cartridge 32 whenever necessary through the first carrier supply pipe 161 ′.

In addition, since it is possible to selectively open and close the air inlets 132 and 142 using the air intake valve 200 as described above, even when the printing main body 1 is tilted or rolled over, the ink tank 130 and The contents in the carrier tank 140 can be prevented from flowing out.

Meanwhile, the waste ink remaining in the circulation tank 110 is collected into the waste tank 150 through the collection path 116. The waste ink collected by the waste tank 150 may be recycled by being discharged through the discharge path 154 and disposed of or recycled by being moved to the regeneration path 156.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the solenoid valve 162 is directly installed below the ink outlet 136 and the carrier outlet 146. However, the solenoid valve 162 is merely an example, and the second ink supply pipe 164 and the outlet are illustrated. It goes without saying that it can be installed in each of the second carrier supply pipes 164 '.

According to the ink supply apparatus for a wet printer of the present invention as described above, by providing an air suction valve for selectively inhaling air in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank, the concentrated ink and the carrier in the circulation tank can be easily and quickly The advantage is that it can be supplied.

Claims (4)

An ink supply apparatus for a wet printer, wherein a developing solution comprising a mixture of toner and a liquid carrier is supplied to a developing gap between a developing unit and a photosensitive belt. A circulation tank connected to the developing unit and storing a developer to be supplied to the developing unit; An injection unit for injecting the developer stored in the circulation tank into the development gap; An ink tank having an air suction port and storing a concentrated ink to be supplied to the circulation tank; A carrier tank having an air suction port and storing a liquid carrier to be supplied to the circulation tank; A waste tank connected to the circulation tank to collect waste ink in the circulation tank; A solenoid valve provided in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank to adjust an amount of the concentrated ink and the carrier supplied to the circulation tank; An air intake valve provided in each of the ink tank and the carrier tank to selectively supply air to the air intake port; And And a control unit for controlling the opening and closing operation of the solenoid valve and the air suction valve. The concentrated ink stored in the ink tank and / or the carrier stored in the carrier tank is supplied to the circulation tank and at the same time the air is sucked into the air inlet, so that the supply of the concentrated ink and / or the carrier can be made quickly. An ink supply device for a wet printer. The method of claim 1, wherein the air intake valve, A pipe wound around its outer circumference and having first and second open portions; A housing installed at an outer circumference of the pipe to surround the coil and having a through hole corresponding to the first opening; A connection member having one end coupled to the second open portion and the other end coupled to the air intake port and having a hollow communicating the second open portion and the air intake port; A support member coupled to the first open portion of the pipe and having an air hole in communication with the through hole; And And a valve body installed in the housing and movable between a first position of closing the air hole and a second position of opening by the electromagnetic force with the coil. The method according to claim 2, wherein the valve body, A flanger installed in the housing and moved by electromagnetic force with the coil; An elastic member installed at one end of the flanger and selectively contacting the support member to open and close the air hole; And a spring installed at the other end of the flanger to elastically pressurize the flanger to the first position. According to claim 2 or 3, The air intake valve, A first sealing member for sealing between an outer circumference of the connecting member and an inner circumference of the pipe; And a second sealing member for sealing between the outer circumference of the connection member and the inner circumference of the air intake port.