JPS61192559A - Ink injector using hot-melt ink and operating method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ink jetting device and its operating method, and in particular, the ink used in this ink jetting device is a phase change type ink called hot melt ink. The present invention relates to an ink ejecting device and an operating method thereof.

Below is a margin [Prior art and problems] Phase change ink used in ink jetting devices, that is,
Hot melt inks are solid in nature at room temperature. When heated, this ink melts to a jettable consistency. This hot melt ink can be jetted from any device.When using liquid ink, the ink must of course be supplied in liquid form.Normally, ink is supplied to an ink jetter. It is stored in some kind of closed container before being sent out. When employing hot melt inks, a different solution is required to provide reliable ink supply and minimize human intervention. It is not desirable to constantly heat all of the supplied hot melt ink because heating one hot melt ink for too long at the same time will result in deterioration of the ink.

Melts on demand to supply ink to the reservoir carried by the ink ejector in the drawing head (!! Melts on demand)
It is clear that in the mechanism, prolonged heating can be avoided as well as the deterioration of the ink that occurs as a result of such heating. The amount of ink that can be used in such a mechanism is limited by the amount of ink that can be loaded onto the imaging head.

An object of the present invention is to provide a hot melt ink supply mechanism that minimizes ink handling by humans.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hot melt ink supply mechanism capable of reliable ink supply to an ink ejecting device.

Yet another object of the present invention is to minimize excessive heating and consequent ink degradation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hot melt ink supply mechanism that can supply a large amount of ink without requiring human intervention.

[Means of solution and action]

In view of these objects of the invention, the solid state ink is stored in place and the movable depiction includes at least one ink ejector and a reservoir connected thereto. The imaging head is moved to an ink injection location adjacent to the reservoir of ink, where the solid ink is also melted to a liquid state and fills the reservoir of the imaging head. Moving the head to the ink injection position, melting, and filling the reservoir with ink can be repeated on demand whenever ink is needed.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the solid ink consists of an ink mass 9 with heating means thermally coupled to the ends thereof. The ink mass is advanced and remains in thermal contact with the heating means which is activated on demand when ink is required.

〔Example〕

Referring to FIG. 1, the ink ejector is located at arrow 12.14.
It is disclosed to include a head 10 mounted for movement along a scanning path indicated by . The head IO includes an ink ejection concealment mechanism providing an array of ink ejectors having orifices 16. The head 10 is
It includes a hakoya reservoir 18 with a reservoir 20 located at the back of the head 10.

The reservoir 18 has a limited capacity, in other words, the reservoir 18 can store an amount of ink that is heated by a heater (not shown) and for a reasonable amount of time for a reasonable printing speed. To operate an ink jet device reliably throughout the period.

However, there is a limit to the ink capacity.

In order to refill the reservoir 18 and thus the reservoir 20 of the head 10 with ink, the head 10 is configured so that it can be moved into a refill position, shown in phantom. In its refill position, the head 10 is located below a supply of solid state ink that can be phase changed to a molten state by heating. As shown, the dispenser includes a tubular container 22 with a heater 24 supplied by conductive wires 26,28. As shown in FIG. 1, when the barrel 20 is in close proximity to the ink supply in the tubular container 22, it is properly positioned so that the molten ink passes through the channel 30 and into the reservoir 2.
It is now possible to flow into 0. thus,
A reservoir 18 within the head 10 is filled with ink.

Next, referring to FIG. 112, the tubular container 22 is attached to the screw 36.
The coil is shown as encircling a 32 ft. coil abutting a fastener 34 which is securely fastened to the container 22. The other end of the spring 32 abuts a movable insert 38 that abuts one end of the solid state ink mass 40 . The other end of the ink blob 40 abuts a groove 42 that is aligned with the heater 24 embedded in a container 44 that is secured by a screw 46 . The groove 42 allows ink to pass through the opening 50.
can flow into. Container 44 includes a thermistor 48 or other temperature sensing element.

As the temperature of heater 24 increases, the end of ink mass 40 that rests against plate 42 melts. The molten ink then flows through channel 42 and into opening 50 in tubular container 22.

It is the flow from the aperture 50 that forms the ink flow 30 shown in FIG. 2. As also shown in FIG. Equipped with If a sufficient amount of ink 40 is present and the light from the light source 56 is blocked and no light is detected by the detector 5B, the resulting signal from the detector indicates that a reasonable amount of ink 40 is present. Indicate what is being done. However, ink 40
If the amount of ink is such that it cannot shut off the detector 58, the detector 58 indicates that the ink supply is low. This point will be discussed in more detail below in connection with the ga diagram.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the heater control section 60 activates and deactivates the heater 24.

In order to control the temperature of the heater 24, a heater controller 60 is provided.
is responsive to a signal from thermistor 48.

Preferably, heater 24 is capable of operating for a period of time when refilling of ink within reservoir 18 is required. This fixed length of time is controlled by a timer 62 that sends an input signal to heater control 60. The important point, of course, is that if ink is needed in the reservoir 18, simply set a timer and start heating. This is determined by the liquid level sensing circuit 64 which receives the signal. However, the timer 62 can be used by the detector 58 as shown in FIG.
can be set only when indicating the presence of an appropriate amount of ink 40.

In the present invention, it is important that melting begins only when the head 10 is located in the proper location below the tubular container 22. A position sensor 66 is provided for this purpose, which allows control of the heater when the head 10 is in the correct position.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that other embodiments and embodiments may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. For example, it is possible to remove the heating plate 42 and utilize a solid ink dispenser containing a heater element extending the length of the ink. If such an ink supply is utilized, the ink t-advancing spring 3' (KFi) can be omitted. On the other hand, if a hot plate is used, it may be desirable to use means other than approximately 32 to advance the ink. It may also be desirable for the light sensing mechanism, including light source 56 and photodetector 5B, and heater container 44 to be separable from container 22. Furthermore, due to space issues, the container 22″f: 90″
It may also be made rotatable.

[Effects of the Invention j] As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides an ink jetting device using hot melt ink that requires minimal human handling and provides a reliable ink supply mechanism. Thus, there is provided an ink ejecting device that can minimize excessive heating of the ink and the resulting deterioration of the ink.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jetting device showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig. WE2 is a cross-sectional view of the ink supply device of Fig. gi, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a control device for the device shown in Fig. 1. Figure 3. 10...head, 16...orifice,
18... Reservoir, 20... Row, 22.
...Tubular container, 24 ... Heater, 30.
...Flow path, 32...Coil spring, 40.
...Ink lump, 42...Groove, 44...
...Container, 48...Thermistor, 50...
...Aperture, 56...Light source, 58...
Photodetector, 60...--Heating device control section, 62...
...Timer, 64-...Liquid level detection circuit, 66.
...Position detector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Storing ink in a solid state at a fixed location;
scanning the at least one ink ejector and its associated reservoir, and moving the at least one ink ejector and its associated reservoir to a position adjacent to the home position as necessary;
A method of operating an ink ejection device comprising the steps of melting the solid state ink and filling the reservoir with the molten ink. 2. The method of operating an ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising repeating the operating step. 3. Sequentially melting the portions of said ink, and said at least one ink ejector and its associated reservoir at said position adjacent to said home position to receive the melted portions of sequentially melted ink. 2. The method of operating an ink ejecting device according to claim 1, further comprising the step of periodically moving the ink ejecting device. 4. The method of operating an ink ejecting device according to claim 3, wherein the volume of the ink stored in a solid state exceeds the volume of the ink in the reservoir. 5. Stopping melting of the solid state ink when the at least one ink ejector and its associated reservoir are not adjacent to the home position. A method of operating the described ink ejection device. 6. a scanning ink jetting head having a reservoir and at least one ink ejector; a fixedly disposed solid ink supply; heating the solid ink when the head is coupled with the ink supply; , and means for melting the ink and flowing the melted ink into the reservoir. 7. The ink ejecting device according to claim 6, wherein the solid ink comprises a lump. 8. The ink jetting device according to claim 6, wherein the heating means comprises a plate thermally coupled to an end of the ink mass. 9. The ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for advancing the ink mass and maintaining thermal coupling between the ink mass and the heating means. 10. The ink ejecting apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means for stopping heating and melting when the head is not connected to the ink supply device.