JPS58177367A - inkjet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the leakage of liquid and the mixing-in of air, etc. when the liquid is filled up initially, and thereby to facilitate the work of filling-up thereof, by providing a pressure-reducing means for reducing the pressure at one end of a liquid supplying system from the side of a liquid supplying tank in an ink jet printer. CONSTITUTION:A stopper 31 is seated on the ceiling part of a pressure-reducing chamber 21, and the opening of the end part 14a of a supply pipe 14 is arranged in the chamber. A piston 27 is moved toward the pressure-reducing chamber 21 to put the inside of the chamber 21 under the atmospheric pressure, and then the piston 27 is drawn. Under the pressure thus reduced, ink 30 in an ink chamber 25 is made to flow through a supply pipe 13 and fill up the common liquid chamber 34 of a head 6 and all nozzles 37 in succession. The ink filling up them reaches the pressure-reducing chamber 21 through the pipe 14, excluding remaining air in the channels 13, 34 and 14. Next, the end part 14a of the pipe 14 is depressed onto the side of the liquid chamber 25 to be immersed in the ink 30, whereby the initial work of filling up the ink is completed. In this way, stains by leakage from a part to be supplied and the mixing-in of air can be prevented, and the work of filling up the ink is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid supply device, and more particularly to a liquid supply device 11 equipped with means for initially filling a portion to be supplied.

An on-demand type ink jet printer has been proposed that performs recording by ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle using near-s and m-pressure pulses.In such printers, for example, a heating element f: embedded in the nozzle generates heat. A bubblegient method, which uses bubbles to eject ink droplets, is used.

However, in such a conventional 1g printer, t'
If z, m positive pulses are not applied, f! Ink must not be ejected from the nozzle, but ink must be ejected quickly in response to the pressure pulse.
It is not suitable to pressurize the ink using a pump or the like and supply it to the nozzle, and the ink is mainly supplied using capillary phenomenon. Therefore.

When the liquid chamber of the IK nozzle becomes empty during device assembly work or maintenance adjustment work, an initial filling work is required to lead the ink in the ink tank to the nozzle and fill it with ink. Conventionally, the initial filling is generally performed using ink WEE.
Because it was done by doing.

At that time, a considerable amount of ink is pushed out from the nozzle.

Both layers cause the recording paper and its surroundings to become dirty. On the other hand, attempts have been made to perform initial filling by attaching a nozzle side pressure reducing means and suctioning the air inside the nozzle and ink supply pipe, but the air inside the ink supply pipe mixes with the ink. It had serious defects that made it difficult to put it into practical use, and it was also difficult to install and remove the pressure reducing means and to take subsequent measures. In addition, attempts were made to inject ink from the nozzle side with a syringe, but this was difficult in the case of multi-nozzles, and there was also the problem of air being mixed in with the ink.

In addition to the printers mentioned above, this 5-year Wi is also applicable to devices that supply liquid using capillary action.
This is something that can happen with both arcs.

In view of the above-mentioned points, the present invention provides a pressure reducing means f for reducing the pressure at one end of the liquid supply system from the liquid supply tank side, thereby preventing liquid leakage and sudden air intrusion during initial filling. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid supply device that is easy to operate.

The actual IjJf: review will be explained below with reference to one drawing.

Fig. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a multi-nozzle ink side printer according to actual #4, where l is a recording paper percentage, a paper feed roller that feeds the recording paper/lil in the scanning direction, and 3 a paper feed roller 3f. :Paper feed pulse motor driven by drive and j
is the paper roller that forms the recording plane. 4 is a multi-nozzle inkjet head, which has a predetermined Seki II (
It has a plurality of nozzles arranged in a straight line in the sub-scanning direction, and ejects ink toward the recording paper by drive pulses supplied through the seven-reciprocal printed circuit board 7. It is assumed that the ink is ejected in 1 to 5 rows by an on-demand method, for example.

r is a carriage 7 on which the above-mentioned head ≦ is mounted, and a head feed pulse motor lθ is connected via a timing belt 9t.
and reciprocate in the main running direction along the guide rail //. Reference numeral 12 denotes an ink tank which is a main part of the liquid supply device of the present invention, and uses capillary phenomenon (1) to supply ink to each nozzle of the head via a pair of ink supply pipes/JM and 1. 15 and /6 are a pair of joints that freely connect supply pipes /11M and /- to Hekudo≦ and f:III, and 77 connects He7do'6 at right angles to the carrier 7ji. This is a head mounting member that is easy to install.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the internal configuration of the ink supply system Q shown in FIG.
From FIG. 3, j15 shows the state 11Art at the time of initial filling. Here, 1 is an EE pump, n is a piston chamber, 1 and 22 are provided at the upper part of the ink tank 12, and communicate with each other via an air vent. 3 is a gasket which is fixedly attached to the ink liquid chamber BII of the communication hole which communicates with the vacuum M1 and the ink liquid M25 and can be opened and closed freely, and the communication hole is sealed when the pressure is reduced. 1 is a piston that slides in the piston w122 to Wj to remove air from the reduced pressure Wil.

Xkl: It is a pull (handle) provided at the end of the piston rod.

/#a is the sliding end of one ink supply pipe 1, which is slidably attached to the hole EK penetrating the ceiling of the decompression chamber 1;
The opening at the end S/-1 should be placed at a predetermined position in the vacuum 1 [Jl during initial filling, and during normal ink supply K] from the vacuum 1 to the communication hole 1 [pass through the gasket 21f: push open, ink t1M2J Place it within the ink. Jl is a stopper fixed at a predetermined position on the outer circumferential surface of the above-mentioned sliding end @/#a, and is seated on the ceiling of the decompression chamber l at the time of initial filling and stops the opening of the sliding end lcha [decompression chamber 2/ keep it inside. Therefore, it is also suitable that the stopper J/ is formed of a magnetic S material. /
J a is the air filter 77 fo arranged in the other in
: Communication with the ink liquid inside the bottle facilitates the initial filling and subsequent ink supply.

39 is a common liquid electrode with a multi-nozzle inkjet head installed inside, and a pair of introduction passages! ! and 3≦ are filled with ink supplied from the ink supply pipe 13 and l-, and a number of orifice-shaped nozzles 77 communicating with this liquid conduit are filled with ink. The number of nozzles 1 is, for example, 1 center with a spacing of r li/fi.

Next, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the operation t during initial filling will be explained.
-Explain.

Fig. 1 shows the state mt- at the start of initial filling, where hect≦ and the supply pipes 13 and l- are empty.

At this time, connect the end of one supply pipe l# to the ceiling of
a If) Opening [Place the piston 27 in the reduced EE depth I and move the piston 27 to the reduced pressure *2/value to abut the gap 11. After the reduced pressure l[2/ returns to atmospheric pressure, pull the puller d of the piston l outward as shown in Fig. 3, and a:
Since the air in Wln is drawn into the piston chamber n through the air vent n, the pressure in the reduced HI is reduced, and the pressure in the ink supply lines /l, n, and 13 communicating with the reduced pressure chamber 1 is rapidly reduced. be done. Therefore, due to the pressure difference between the atmospheric pressure in the ink liquid chamber B and the atmospheric pressure, the ink 3θ in the ink liquid 1iIB is sucked into one ink supply pipe 1) 3, and the ink 3θ in one ink supply pipe 1)
It passes through S and introduction passages 3S and t', enters the common wave sound 3# in the hendro, and fills all the nozzles (orifices) n one after another with ink.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1, the ink filled with the common liquid ￥3 passes through the other ink supply pipe ￥3 and the other ink supply pipe ￥3, and enters the reduced pressure ￥3￥. reach When a certain amount of ink flows out from the pipe l#, the residual air in the ink supply line /J, and the other side is completely swept away, so as shown in FIG. 41 is pushed down into the ink chamber B@, and the ink chamber is immersed in the ink y, completing the initial filling operation. In addition, just before pushing down the supply pipe no, if you push histone l back a little towards the decompression chamber 1 side,
Since the pressure of the liquid % 71 in the head 6 increases, the ink can be completely distributed to the tip of each nozzle 1.

In this way, a pair of supply pipes /3 and l# are provided that communicate with the liquid chamber M of the head 7, and the ink tank /2 side of one of the pipes l# is depressurized to transfer the ink to the ink supply system/l#.
3. /41-M and Nozzle I are filled, which prevents leakage of liquid from the nozzle during initial filling and contamination of air into the filled ink, eliminating the need for test printing. The best image quality can be obtained immediately after filling.

In addition, all of the initial filling can be completed simply by operating the piston 1 and the supply pipe 1#, and all of the large number of orifices 1 can be evenly filled with ink.

Compared to conventional devices that require post-processing and installation of special equipment, the work is significantly simpler. 1! ! Since the structure is also simple, it can be provided at a low price, and since it can be made relatively compact, the product value can be increased.

Note that in the state shown in FIG. 5, the ink supply system 13. /- and MK are filled with ink, and the ink does not leak out from the nozzle n due to the pressure difference with atmospheric pressure and surface tension, and the ink remains stationary. Therefore, when ink is ejected from the nozzle 1 due to the drive pulse, the ink is supplied to the liquid jet 34I through both the supply pipes -f/1 and /2 due to the capillary IIF phenomenon.

As explained above, according to the present invention, liquid is not supplied during initial filling! ! [A pair of liquid supply pipes t are connected to 1, and the open end of one of the supply pipes is thrown into the liquid in the liquid tank, and the open end of the other supply pipe on the liquid tank side]
Since the pressure is reduced and the liquid is guided to the open end, it is possible to prevent leakage contamination from the supplied part and air incorporation into the liquid, and to obtain a liquid supply system @rt that facilitates the light work. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a printer according to the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the structure of the liquid supply system of 717/l shown in Fig. 1, and Figs. FIG. l... Recording paper, coated paper feed roller. J...Paper feed pulse motor. Hiroshi, S... Paper guide loaf. ≦...Multi-nozzle inkjet head. 7...7 Requipure printing board. l...Carrying Iji, 9-Timing belt. /θ...Head feed pulse motor. //...Guide rail% 12-Ink tank. /J, /#...Ink supply pipe, /Ja, 11
m −= end@, /j@/4-di-invasion. /2...Head mounting member, l-EEl! , n
...Piston chamber, B-air vent hole. 2 Da... Punkin, B- Ink liquid chamber. TS...Communication hole, L...Piston, 1.
-Holder, J-・Through hole, X・-Ink,
J/-Stomach (, n.--Air hole, 37-Air filter, Evaluation--Common electrification, B, 5--Introduction passage. I-Nozzle. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 3 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] When initially filling the liquid supply system using capillary action,
A pair of liquid supply pipes communicating with each of the liquid INKs of the liquid supply section, and a pressure reduction means for reducing the pressure from the mouth end of one of the housing tank side of the pair of liquid supply pipes, The liquid supply device is characterized in that the liquid in the liquid tank is sucked through the other side of the liquid supply pipe to fill the liquid to be supplied into the liquid supply section.