US20100078087A1 - Liquid ejection apparatus - Google Patents
Liquid ejection apparatus Download PDFInfo
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- US20100078087A1 US20100078087A1 US12/559,545 US55954509A US2010078087A1 US 20100078087 A1 US20100078087 A1 US 20100078087A1 US 55954509 A US55954509 A US 55954509A US 2010078087 A1 US2010078087 A1 US 2010078087A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- liquid
- path
- flow
- feed
- discharge
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- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17596—Ink pumps, ink valves
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
- Y10T137/8593—Systems
- Y10T137/85978—With pump
- Y10T137/85986—Pumped fluid control
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus.
- the present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus using pumps.
- a technique is known in ink-jet-type liquid ejection apparatuses in which a biasing unit such as a pump is used to circulate liquid in a flow-path in order to prevent drying out of the nozzle meniscus portion of a printing head.
- a biasing unit such as a pump
- JP-A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
- a first pressure source and a second pressure source are respectively disposed at the inlet side and the outlet side of a head.
- the air pressure at the top of the ink tank is controlled while maintaining a liquid surface height in the ink tank by using a liquid pump, and pressure is also controlled by changing the placement height of the ink tank.
- JP-A No. 2006-175651 relating to ink circulation for a long head.
- a pressure pump for a head is in direct communication with the head, and the rotation speed of the pump is determined so that the head achieves a specific pressure.
- JP-A No. 2006-175651 does not describe a technique for precisely maintaining a constant pressure.
- the present exemplary embodiment provides a liquid ejection apparatus capable of precisely controlling the flow rate of liquid within a flow-path.
- a first aspect of the present invention is a liquid ejection apparatus including: an ejection head including a feed port for feeding liquid in and a discharge port for discharging liquid out, and that ejects fed liquid; a feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port; and a discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port; wherein at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path includes, a main pump that pumps a liquid at a constant flow rate in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path, a sub pump provided in parallel to the main pump and that pumps liquid in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path, and a detector unit that detects pressure of liquid in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path; and wherein the liquid ejection apparatus further includes, a control unit that controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path achieves a pre
- the feed port for feeding liquid in and the discharge port for discharging liquid out are provided to the ejection head.
- the ejection head also ejects fed liquid.
- at least one of the feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port and/or the discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port is equipped with the main pump, the sub pump, and the detector unit.
- the main pump pumps a constant flow rate of liquid in the flow-path.
- the sub pump is provided in parallel to the main pump and pumps liquid in the flow-path.
- the detector unit detects pressure of liquid in the flow-path.
- the control unit controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected by the detector unit in the flow-path reaches a predetermined pressure.
- the first aspect of the present invention provides a liquid ejection apparatus that can precisely control the flow rate of liquid in the flow-path.
- the first aspect of the present invention can further precisely control the liquid flow rate in the flow-path, if both the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path are equipped with a sub pump and a detector unit, and are configured so as to perform control as described above.
- each of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path may respectively include the main pump; and a common drive source may be used for driving the main pump.
- each of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path respectively includes main pumps that include a common drive source used therefor. Accordingly, the second aspect of the present invention can provide a lower cost liquid ejection apparatus in comparison to cases where separate drive sources are provided for each main pump.
- the present invention can provide a liquid ejection apparatus capable of precisely controlling the flow rate of liquid in a flow-path.
- FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment
- FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing pressure control process flow
- FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing pressure control process flow of a feed flow-path.
- FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing pressure control process flow of a discharge flow-path.
- FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.
- the liquid ejection apparatus is configured to include pumps, tanks, valves, ejection heads (referred to below as heads), and a degas device.
- the degas device indirectly reduces air bubbles contained in the ink.
- a feed port for ink feed and a discharge port for ink discharge are provided to the head.
- the head ejects ink that has been fed in.
- the number of flow-paths connecting each head to a feed tank 28 and a recovery tank 30 are increased according to the number of heads.
- the number of valves provided on the flow-paths connecting the heads to the feed tank 28 and the recovery tank 30 are also increased along with the increase in the number of flow-paths.
- the flow-path from a buffer tank 20 , and extending through a degas device 24 , a buffer tank 26 , a pump 18 A (main pump), a pump 18 B (sub pump), the feed tank 28 , to the heads 10 A, 10 B, is a feed flow-path.
- the flow-path from the heads 10 A, 10 B, and extending through the recovery tank 30 , pumps 18 C, 18 D, to a buffer tank 20 is a discharge flow-path.
- the main tank 22 is an ink cartridge, which is removably mounted in the liquid ejection apparatus.
- the main tank 22 and the buffer tank 20 are connected together by a flow-path. Note that, ink flows from the main tank 22 to the buffer tank 20 .
- the buffer tank 20 and the degas device 24 are connected together by a flow-path.
- the degas device 24 by reducing the pressure of the ink with a vacuum pump or the like, discharges air dissolved in the liquid through a gas permeable membrane (generally a membrane of hollow fiber form).
- the degas device 24 thereby indirectly reduces air bubbles.
- the ink that has flowed from the buffer tank 20 is deaerated by the degas device 24 .
- the degas device 24 and the buffer tank 26 are also connected together by a flow-path.
- the ink that has been degased by the degas device 24 flows into the buffer tank 26 .
- the buffer tank 26 and the feed tank 28 are connected together by a flow-path via the pumps 18 A, 18 B.
- the pump 18 A is provided in the flow-path that connects the feed ports of the heads 10 A, 10 B to the discharge ports of the heads 10 A, 10 B.
- the pump 18 A pumps a constant flow rate of liquid in the flow-path.
- the pump 18 B is provided in parallel to the pump 18 A and pumps liquid in the flow-path.
- the feed tank 28 temporarily accumulates ink that is to be feed to the heads 10 A, 10 B.
- a pressure sensor 14 is provided to the feed tank 28 , and detects the pressure of ink in the feed tank 28 (namely, the pressure of the ink within the feed flow-path).
- the feed tank 28 is connected by flow-paths to the head 10 A and to the head 10 B, via a valve 12 A and a valve 12 B, respectively.
- Valves 12 A, 12 B, 12 C, 12 D are, for example, electromagnetic valves.
- the valves 12 A, 12 B, 12 C, 12 D stop the feed of ink to each of the heads 10 A, 10 B.
- the head 10 A and the head 10 B are each formed with a flow-path communicating their respective feed ports with respective discharge ports, and the heads 10 A, 10 B eject ink that has been fed form the flow-paths.
- the head 10 A and the head 10 B are connected to the recovery tank 30 by flow-paths including the valves 12 C, 12 D, respectively.
- the recovery tank 30 temporarily accumulates ink recovered from the heads 10 A, 10 B.
- a pressure sensor 16 is provided to the recovery tank 30 for detecting the pressure of ink in the recovery tank 30 (namely, the pressure of ink in the discharge flow-path).
- the recovery tank 30 and the buffer tank 20 are connected together by a flow-path via the pump 18 C (main pump) and the pump 18 D (sub pump).
- the pump 18 C that pumps liquid with a constant drive force in the discharge flow-path
- the pump 18 D is provided in parallel to the pump 18 C and pumps liquid in the discharge flow-path
- a pressure sensor 16 is also provided for detecting the pressure of liquid in the discharge flow-path.
- the ink is fed from the buffer tank 20 to the heads 10 A, 10 B via the degas device and the others.
- ink discharged from the heads 10 A, 10 B flows back into the buffer tank 20 .
- unidirectional pumps diaphragm pumps, piston pumps or the like
- a cheap pump with a long lifespan may be used as the above described pumps 18 A, 18 C.
- the pumps 18 B, 18 D are pumps which are capable of high precision control of liquid flow rate for relatively small flow rates in comparison to the pumps 18 A, 18 C.
- the present exemplary embodiment employs one pump that pumps a larger flow rate of liquid with a constant flow rate, and employs a high precision pump for the other pump. Accordingly, the liquid ejection apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment can precisely control the flow rate in the flow-path. In addition, the flexibility for selecting the pump increase in the liquid ejection apparatus of the present exemplary embodiment, by assigning roles to plural pumps, in comparison to a case where a single precision high-volume pump is employed. Accordingly, the present exemplary embodiment can provide a high precision ink ejection device that can be configured at low cost.
- a damper structure may be employed in the structure of the above described feed tank 28 and recovery tank 30 .
- Plural pumps may also be used to configure each of the respective pumps 18 A to 18 D.
- the pumps 18 A, 18 C may be configured with plural pumps that pump a constant liquid flow through the flow-path.
- the pumps 18 B, 18 D may also be configured with plural pumps with which the liquid flow rate is controllable with a control unit.
- the electrical configuration of the liquid ejection apparatus includes a control unit 40 , a valve control unit 42 , a valve control unit 44 , a motor drive switch 46 , and a motor 48 .
- the control unit 40 is configured to include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and others. A program for executing processes of a later described flow chart is stored in the RAM. Various data is stored in the RAM.
- the control unit 40 is connected to the valve control unit 44 , the valve control unit 42 , the pressure sensors 14 , 16 and the motor drive switch 46 .
- the control unit 40 performs overall control of the liquid ejection apparatus.
- control unit 40 controls the drive force of the pump 18 B to set the pressure of the liquid in the feed flow-path detected by the pressure sensor 14 at a predetermined pressure.
- control unit 40 also controls the drive force of the pump 18 D to set the pressure of liquid in the discharge flow-path detected by the pressure sensor 16 at a predetermined pressure.
- control unit 40 controls the pumps 18 B, 18 D to set the pressure of liquid in the flow-paths detected by the pressure sensors 14 , 16 at respective predetermined pressures in each of the flow-paths.
- the valve control unit 42 opens or closes each of the valves according to instructions from the control unit 40 .
- the valve control unit 44 controls the drive force of each of the pumps 18 B, 18 D according to instructions from the control unit 40 , by changing the rotation speed of the motors driving the pumps 18 B, 18 D.
- the motor drive switch 46 drives the motor 48 according to instructions from the control unit 40 .
- the motor drive switch 46 drives the motor 48 by being switched ON, and stops driving the motor by being switched OFF.
- the present exemplary embodiment uses the common power source, which is the motor 48 , to drive the pump 18 A and the pump 18 C. The present exemplary embodiment can thereby provide an even lower cost liquid ejection apparatus.
- the control unit 40 acquires the pressure in the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path. These pressures are acquired with the pressure sensors 14 , 16 .
- the control unit 40 determines whether or not the pressure X of the feed flow-path is equivalent to that of a specific pressure Pl.
- the specific pressure P 1 here, and a later described specific pressure P 2 are pressures predetermined according to the material configuring the flow-paths, the components of the heads 10 A, 10 B, and others.
- control unit 40 When determination at step 102 is affirmative, the control unit 40 performs the pressure control processing of the feed flow-path of step 104 , described below, and the processing is ended.
- control unit 40 determines at step 103 whether or not the pressure Y of the discharge flow-path is equivalent to that of the specific pressure P 2 . If determination at step 103 is negative, then processing is ended here, since the pressures of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path are the predetermined pressures.
- step 103 If determination at step 103 is affirmative then the control unit 40 performs the pressure control processing of the discharge flow-path of step 105 , described below, and the processing is ended.
- Step 102 and 103 determination is made as to whether or not there is a difference from the predetermined pressures.
- a range may be used for the predetermined pressures. Namely, if the acquired pressure is pressure Z, then determination may be made that Z is the predetermined pressure if p ⁇ Z ⁇ q (where p and q are pressures) is satisfied.
- step 201 the control unit 40 determines whether or not the pressure X of the feed flow-path is greater than the specific pressure P 1 .
- step 202 the control unit 40 instructs the valve control unit 44 to reduce the flow rate of liquid pumped by the pump 18 B, and the processing is ended.
- step 203 the control unit 40 instructs the valve control unit 44 to increase the flow rate of liquid pumped by the pump 18 B, and the processing is ended.
- step 301 the control unit 40 determines whether or not the pressure Y of the discharge flow-path is greater than the specific pressure P 2 .
- step 302 the control unit 40 instructs the valve control unit 44 to reduce the flow rate of liquid pumped by the pump 18 D, and the processing is ended.
- step 303 the control unit 40 instructs the valve control unit 44 to increase the flow rate of liquid pumped by the pump 18 D, and the processing is ended.
- control unit 40 when controlling the pressure of the flow-paths, the control unit 40 may perform control such that the flow of liquid is in the reverse direction rather than in the normal direction.
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- Ink Jet (AREA)
Abstract
The present invention provides a liquid ejection apparatus capable of precisely controlling a flow rate of liquid in a flow-path. The liquid ejection apparatus is equipped with: an ejection head that is provided with a feed port and a discharge port, and that ejects fed liquid; a feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port; a discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port; at least one of the feed flow-path and/or the discharge flow-path equipped with a main pump that pumps a constant flow rate of liquid in the flow-path, a sub pump provided in parallel to the main pump and that pumps liquid in the flow-path, and a detector unit that detects liquid pressure in the flow-path; and a control unit that controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the pressure detected achieves a predetermined pressure.
Description
- This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-251032 filed on Sep. 29, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus. In particular the present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus using pumps.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- A technique is known in ink-jet-type liquid ejection apparatuses in which a biasing unit such as a pump is used to circulate liquid in a flow-path in order to prevent drying out of the nozzle meniscus portion of a printing head. For example, an inkjet apparatus control method is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2007-313884. In this inkjet apparatus, a first pressure source and a second pressure source are respectively disposed at the inlet side and the outlet side of a head. Further, in the inkjet apparatus control method, as a technique for adjusting pressure in an ink tank that is a pressure source, the air pressure at the top of the ink tank is controlled while maintaining a liquid surface height in the ink tank by using a liquid pump, and pressure is also controlled by changing the placement height of the ink tank.
- A technique is described in JP-A No. 2006-175651 relating to ink circulation for a long head. In this technique, a pressure pump for a head is in direct communication with the head, and the rotation speed of the pump is determined so that the head achieves a specific pressure.
- However, when the technique described in JP-A No. 2007-313884 is applied to a system that circulates and consumes large volumes of ink, such as a line head, the speed of control may not be quick enough. In addition, in the method of controlling pressure by liquid surface height, there is air present in the ink tank above the ink. Accordingly, there are occurrences of air bubbles flowing into the head and air dissolving in the ink etc., causing poor ejection.
- Further, JP-A No. 2006-175651 does not describe a technique for precisely maintaining a constant pressure.
- Accordingly, precise control of the flow rate of a liquid in a flow-path is difficult with existing techniques.
- The present exemplary embodiment provides a liquid ejection apparatus capable of precisely controlling the flow rate of liquid within a flow-path.
- A first aspect of the present invention is a liquid ejection apparatus including: an ejection head including a feed port for feeding liquid in and a discharge port for discharging liquid out, and that ejects fed liquid; a feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port; and a discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port; wherein at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path includes, a main pump that pumps a liquid at a constant flow rate in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path, a sub pump provided in parallel to the main pump and that pumps liquid in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path, and a detector unit that detects pressure of liquid in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path; and wherein the liquid ejection apparatus further includes, a control unit that controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path achieves a predetermined pressure.
- In the first aspect of the present invention, the feed port for feeding liquid in and the discharge port for discharging liquid out are provided to the ejection head. The ejection head also ejects fed liquid. Further, in the first aspect, at least one of the feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port and/or the discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port is equipped with the main pump, the sub pump, and the detector unit. The main pump pumps a constant flow rate of liquid in the flow-path. The sub pump is provided in parallel to the main pump and pumps liquid in the flow-path. The detector unit detects pressure of liquid in the flow-path. The control unit controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected by the detector unit in the flow-path reaches a predetermined pressure. Accordingly, the first aspect of the present invention provides a liquid ejection apparatus that can precisely control the flow rate of liquid in the flow-path. In particular, the first aspect of the present invention can further precisely control the liquid flow rate in the flow-path, if both the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path are equipped with a sub pump and a detector unit, and are configured so as to perform control as described above.
- In a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-described aspect, each of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path may respectively include the main pump; and a common drive source may be used for driving the main pump.
- In the second aspect of the present invention, each of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path respectively includes main pumps that include a common drive source used therefor. Accordingly, the second aspect of the present invention can provide a lower cost liquid ejection apparatus in comparison to cases where separate drive sources are provided for each main pump.
- Accordingly, the present invention can provide a liquid ejection apparatus capable of precisely controlling the flow rate of liquid in a flow-path.
- Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein:
-
FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; -
FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing pressure control process flow; -
FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing pressure control process flow of a feed flow-path; and -
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing pressure control process flow of a discharge flow-path. - An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that in the explanation below, a liquid is described as ink. An inkjet recording device is given as an example of a liquid ejection apparatus.
-
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a liquid ejection apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. As shown inFIG. 1 , the liquid ejection apparatus is configured to include pumps, tanks, valves, ejection heads (referred to below as heads), and a degas device. The degas device indirectly reduces air bubbles contained in the ink. - A feed port for ink feed and a discharge port for ink discharge are provided to the head. The head ejects ink that has been fed in. There are two heads depicted in
FIG. 1 . However, the number of heads may also be one, or three or more. - In such cases the number of flow-paths connecting each head to a
feed tank 28 and arecovery tank 30 are increased according to the number of heads. The number of valves provided on the flow-paths connecting the heads to thefeed tank 28 and therecovery tank 30 are also increased along with the increase in the number of flow-paths. - In the configuration shown in
FIG. 1 , the flow-path from abuffer tank 20, and extending through adegas device 24, abuffer tank 26, a pump 18A (main pump), apump 18B (sub pump), thefeed tank 28, to the heads 10A, 10B, is a feed flow-path. The flow-path from the heads 10A, 10B, and extending through therecovery tank 30,pumps buffer tank 20, is a discharge flow-path. - Explanation will now be given of each part of the configuration. The
main tank 22 is an ink cartridge, which is removably mounted in the liquid ejection apparatus. Themain tank 22 and thebuffer tank 20 are connected together by a flow-path. Note that, ink flows from themain tank 22 to thebuffer tank 20. - The
buffer tank 20 and thedegas device 24 are connected together by a flow-path. Thedegas device 24, by reducing the pressure of the ink with a vacuum pump or the like, discharges air dissolved in the liquid through a gas permeable membrane (generally a membrane of hollow fiber form). Thedegas device 24 thereby indirectly reduces air bubbles. - The ink that has flowed from the
buffer tank 20 is deaerated by thedegas device 24. Thedegas device 24 and thebuffer tank 26 are also connected together by a flow-path. The ink that has been degased by thedegas device 24 flows into thebuffer tank 26. - The
buffer tank 26 and thefeed tank 28 are connected together by a flow-path via thepumps 18A, 18B. - As shown in
FIG. 1 , the pump 18A is provided in the flow-path that connects the feed ports of the heads 10A, 10B to the discharge ports of the heads 10A, 10B. The pump 18A pumps a constant flow rate of liquid in the flow-path. Thepump 18B is provided in parallel to the pump 18A and pumps liquid in the flow-path. - The
feed tank 28 temporarily accumulates ink that is to be feed to the heads 10A, 10B. Apressure sensor 14 is provided to thefeed tank 28, and detects the pressure of ink in the feed tank 28 (namely, the pressure of the ink within the feed flow-path). Thefeed tank 28 is connected by flow-paths to the head 10A and to the head 10B, via avalve 12A and avalve 12B, respectively. -
Valves valves - The head 10A and the head 10B are each formed with a flow-path communicating their respective feed ports with respective discharge ports, and the heads 10A, 10B eject ink that has been fed form the flow-paths.
- The head 10A and the head 10B are connected to the
recovery tank 30 by flow-paths including thevalves recovery tank 30 temporarily accumulates ink recovered from the heads 10A, 10B. - A
pressure sensor 16 is provided to therecovery tank 30 for detecting the pressure of ink in the recovery tank 30 (namely, the pressure of ink in the discharge flow-path). Therecovery tank 30 and thebuffer tank 20 are connected together by a flow-path via thepump 18C (main pump) and thepump 18D (sub pump). - As shown in
FIG. 1 , on the discharge path, which is the other flow-path on which thepumps 18A, 18B and thepressure sensor 14 are not provided, there is further provided thepump 18C that pumps liquid with a constant drive force in the discharge flow-path, thepump 18D is provided in parallel to thepump 18C and pumps liquid in the discharge flow-path, and apressure sensor 16 is also provided for detecting the pressure of liquid in the discharge flow-path. - According to the configuration as explained above, the ink is fed from the
buffer tank 20 to the heads 10A, 10B via the degas device and the others. In addition, ink discharged from the heads 10A, 10B flows back into thebuffer tank 20. - It should be noted that, unidirectional pumps (diaphragm pumps, piston pumps or the like) may be used as the above described
pumps 18A, 18C. Also a cheap pump with a long lifespan may be used as the above describedpumps 18A, 18C. However, thepumps pumps 18A, 18C. Further, it is preferable to use pumps (tube pumps, gear pumps or the like) that are capable of pumping liquid in forward and reverse directions for thepumps - The present exemplary embodiment employs one pump that pumps a larger flow rate of liquid with a constant flow rate, and employs a high precision pump for the other pump. Accordingly, the liquid ejection apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment can precisely control the flow rate in the flow-path. In addition, the flexibility for selecting the pump increase in the liquid ejection apparatus of the present exemplary embodiment, by assigning roles to plural pumps, in comparison to a case where a single precision high-volume pump is employed. Accordingly, the present exemplary embodiment can provide a high precision ink ejection device that can be configured at low cost.
- It should be noted that, in order to absorb rapid changes in ink pressure, a damper structure may be employed in the structure of the above described
feed tank 28 andrecovery tank 30. - Plural pumps may also be used to configure each of the respective pumps 18A to 18D. For example, the
pumps 18A, 18C may be configured with plural pumps that pump a constant liquid flow through the flow-path. Thepumps - Explanation will now be given of the electrical configuration of the liquid ejection apparatus, with reference to
FIG. 2 . As shown inFIG. 2 , the electrical configuration of the liquid ejection apparatus includes acontrol unit 40, avalve control unit 42, avalve control unit 44, amotor drive switch 46, and amotor 48. - The
control unit 40 is configured to include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and others. A program for executing processes of a later described flow chart is stored in the RAM. Various data is stored in the RAM. Thecontrol unit 40 is connected to thevalve control unit 44, thevalve control unit 42, thepressure sensors motor drive switch 46. Thecontrol unit 40 performs overall control of the liquid ejection apparatus. - Specifically, the
control unit 40 controls the drive force of thepump 18B to set the pressure of the liquid in the feed flow-path detected by thepressure sensor 14 at a predetermined pressure. Thecontrol unit 40 also controls the drive force of thepump 18D to set the pressure of liquid in the discharge flow-path detected by thepressure sensor 16 at a predetermined pressure. - Namely, the
control unit 40 controls thepumps pressure sensors - The
valve control unit 42 opens or closes each of the valves according to instructions from thecontrol unit 40. - The
valve control unit 44 controls the drive force of each of thepumps control unit 40, by changing the rotation speed of the motors driving thepumps - The
motor drive switch 46 drives themotor 48 according to instructions from thecontrol unit 40. Themotor drive switch 46 drives themotor 48 by being switched ON, and stops driving the motor by being switched OFF. The present exemplary embodiment uses the common power source, which is themotor 48, to drive the pump 18A and thepump 18C. The present exemplary embodiment can thereby provide an even lower cost liquid ejection apparatus. - Explanation will now be given of the processes executed by the above described configuration, with reference to a flow chart. Note that, the processes of the flow chart described below are executed by the
control unit 40. - Explanation will first be given of the pressure control processing according to the present exemplary embodiment, with reference to the flow chart of
FIG. 3 . First, at step 101, thecontrol unit 40 acquires the pressure in the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path. These pressures are acquired with thepressure sensors - Then, in the next step 102, the
control unit 40 determines whether or not the pressure X of the feed flow-path is equivalent to that of a specific pressure Pl. The specific pressure P1 here, and a later described specific pressure P2, are pressures predetermined according to the material configuring the flow-paths, the components of the heads 10A, 10B, and others. - When determination at step 102 is affirmative, the
control unit 40 performs the pressure control processing of the feed flow-path of step 104, described below, and the processing is ended. - However, when determination at step 102 is negative, the
control unit 40 determines at step 103 whether or not the pressure Y of the discharge flow-path is equivalent to that of the specific pressure P2. If determination at step 103 is negative, then processing is ended here, since the pressures of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path are the predetermined pressures. - If determination at step 103 is affirmative then the
control unit 40 performs the pressure control processing of the discharge flow-path of step 105, described below, and the processing is ended. - Note that, in the above described steps 102 and 103 determination is made as to whether or not there is a difference from the predetermined pressures. However, a range may be used for the predetermined pressures. Namely, if the acquired pressure is pressure Z, then determination may be made that Z is the predetermined pressure if p<Z<q (where p and q are pressures) is satisfied.
- Explanation will now be given of the feed flow-path pressure control processing flow of above step 104, with reference to the flow chart of
FIG. 4 . First, at step 201, thecontrol unit 40 determines whether or not the pressure X of the feed flow-path is greater than the specific pressure P1. When determination at step 201 is affirmative, at step 202 thecontrol unit 40 instructs thevalve control unit 44 to reduce the flow rate of liquid pumped by thepump 18B, and the processing is ended. - However, if determination at step 201 is negative, at step 203 the
control unit 40 instructs thevalve control unit 44 to increase the flow rate of liquid pumped by thepump 18B, and the processing is ended. - Explanation will now be given of the discharge flow-path pressure control processing of above step 105, with reference to the flow chart of
FIG. 5 . First, at step 301, thecontrol unit 40 determines whether or not the pressure Y of the discharge flow-path is greater than the specific pressure P2. When determination at step 301 is affirmative, at step 302 thecontrol unit 40 instructs thevalve control unit 44 to reduce the flow rate of liquid pumped by thepump 18D, and the processing is ended. - However, if determination at step 301 is negative, at step 303 the
control unit 40 instructs thevalve control unit 44 to increase the flow rate of liquid pumped by thepump 18D, and the processing is ended. - In the pressure control processing of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path described above, when controlling the pressure of the flow-paths, the
control unit 40 may perform control such that the flow of liquid is in the reverse direction rather than in the normal direction. - It should be noted that the process flows in each of the above flow charts are only examples thereof. Accordingly, changes to the processing sequence, addition of new steps, and deletion of redundant steps can obviously be made within a scope not departing from the spirit of the present invention.
Claims (4)
1. A liquid ejection apparatus comprising:
an ejection head including a feed port for feeding liquid in and a discharge port for discharging liquid out, and that ejects fed liquid;
a feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port; and
a discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port;
wherein at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path includes,
a main pump that pumps a liquid at a constant flow rate in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path,
a sub pump provided in parallel to the main pump and that pumps liquid in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path, and
a detector unit that detects pressure of liquid in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path; and
wherein the liquid ejection apparatus further comprises, a control unit that controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected in the at least one of the feed flow-path or the discharge flow-path achieves a predetermined pressure.
2. The liquid ejection apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
each of the feed flow-path and the discharge flow-path respectively include the main pump; and
a common drive source is used for driving the main pump.
3. A liquid ejection apparatus comprising:
an ejection head including a feed port for feeding liquid in and a discharge port for discharging liquid out, and that ejects fed liquid;
a feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port;
a discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port;
a main pump that pumps liquid at constant flow rate of liquid in the feed flow-path and in the discharge flow-path;
a sub pump provided in parallel to the main pump and that pumps liquid in the feed flow-path and in the discharge flow-path;
a first detector unit that detects liquid pressure in the feed flow-path;
a second detector unit that detects liquid pressure in the discharge flow-path; and
a control unit that controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressures detected in the feed flow-path and in the discharge flow-path are within a predetermined pressure range.
4. A method for controlling liquid ejection comprising:
providing a liquid ejection control apparatus including, an ejection head that includes a feed port and a discharge port, and that ejects fed liquid, a feed flow-path that feeds liquid to the feed port, a discharge flow-path that discharges liquid from the discharge port, a main pump that pumps liquid at a constant flow rate in the feed flow-path and in the discharge flow-path, a sub pump provided in parallel to the main pump and that pumps liquid in the feed flow-path and in the discharge flow-path, a first detector unit that detects liquid pressure in the feed flow-path, a second detector unit that detects liquid pressure in the discharge flow-path, and a control unit that controls the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump;
controlling the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected by the first detector unit is within a predetermined pressure range; and
controlling the flow rate of liquid pumped by the sub pump such that the liquid pressure detected by the second detector unit is within the predetermined pressure range.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
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JP2008251032A JP5127649B2 (en) | 2008-09-29 | 2008-09-29 | Liquid ejection device |
JP2008-251032 | 2008-09-29 |
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US20100078087A1 true US20100078087A1 (en) | 2010-04-01 |
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US12/559,545 Abandoned US20100078087A1 (en) | 2008-09-29 | 2009-09-15 | Liquid ejection apparatus |
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Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US20170087864A1 (en) * | 2015-09-30 | 2017-03-30 | Fujifilm Corporation | Printing device and ink circulation control method |
US20190270314A1 (en) * | 2016-07-11 | 2019-09-05 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Liquid supply device and liquid ejecting apparatus |
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JP5754976B2 (en) | 2010-03-31 | 2015-07-29 | キヤノン株式会社 | Image processing apparatus and control method |
WO2013042457A1 (en) * | 2011-09-21 | 2013-03-28 | コニカミノルタIj株式会社 | Inkjet recording apparatus |
JP2016221817A (en) * | 2015-05-29 | 2016-12-28 | 株式会社東芝 | Ink supply device and inkjet device |
JP2019031098A (en) * | 2018-10-25 | 2019-02-28 | 株式会社東芝 | Ink supply device and inkjet device |
JP7178924B2 (en) * | 2019-02-18 | 2022-11-28 | 株式会社Screenホールディングス | PRINTING DEVICE AND INK SUPPLY METHOD |
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JPH10237676A (en) * | 1997-02-24 | 1998-09-08 | Dainippon Screen Mfg Co Ltd | Resist applying device |
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US3383044A (en) * | 1965-08-09 | 1968-05-14 | Britt Tech Corp | Hydraulically controlled pressure washer |
US6164557A (en) * | 1998-04-30 | 2000-12-26 | Sioux Steam Cleaner Corporation | Fluid temperature control for a heated fluid cleaner with multiple outlets |
US20030122905A1 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2003-07-03 | Konica Corporation | Inkjet printer utilizing white ink |
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US20170087864A1 (en) * | 2015-09-30 | 2017-03-30 | Fujifilm Corporation | Printing device and ink circulation control method |
US20190270314A1 (en) * | 2016-07-11 | 2019-09-05 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Liquid supply device and liquid ejecting apparatus |
US11084297B2 (en) * | 2016-07-11 | 2021-08-10 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Liquid supply device and liquid ejecting apparatus |
Also Published As
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JP2010082811A (en) | 2010-04-15 |
JP5127649B2 (en) | 2013-01-23 |
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