CN103241002B - Liquid injection apparatus, liquid accommodating body and liquid-supplying system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a liquid ejection device, a liquid storage body, and a liquid supply system capable of easily performing maintenance operations of a maintenance section for performing maintenance of a liquid ejection head. An inkjet printer (11) has: a casing (12); a recording head (15) that ejects ink to paper (P); a maintenance unit (16) that performs maintenance of the recording head (15); an opening (17) ), which is formed on the housing (12), and is used to implement the maintenance of the maintenance unit (16) in the housing (12) from outside the housing (12); the box bracket (20), which is configured in the maintenance The lower side of the unit (16), and can install the ink cartridge (19) which can supply ink from the connection part (19a) connected with the ink supply tube (23) for supplying ink. The cartridge holder (20) is arranged such that the connecting portion (19a) is positioned below the lower end of the opening (17) when the ink cartridge (19) is mounted.

Description

Liquid ejection device, liquid container and liquid supply system

technical field

The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting device such as an inkjet printer, a liquid container mountable on the liquid ejecting device, and a liquid supply system including the liquid container and capable of supplying liquid to the liquid container.

Background technique

In general, an inkjet printer is widely known as a liquid ejecting device that ejects liquid from a liquid ejecting head. In this printer, printing is performed by supplying ink to a recording head (liquid ejection head) and ejecting the supplied ink from nozzles of the recording head toward paper (target).

In addition, when ink is supplied to the recording head in such a printer, the following method is generally adopted, that is, the ink cartridge is mounted in a detachable manner on a cartridge holder (mounting portion) provided at a predetermined position of the printer ( first liquid container), and the ink stored in the ink cartridge is supplied to the recording head.

However, since the ink cartridge is a member mounted on a cartridge holder, and the cartridge holder is installed on a printer whose space is also limited, the amount of ink that can be accommodated is usually small. Therefore, especially when printing is performed continuously on a large number of sheets, it is necessary to frequently replace the ink cartridge.

Therefore, conventionally, a printer has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1) that includes an additional ink tank (second liquid storage body) with a large capacity in addition to the ink cartridge. In the printer of Patent Document 1, an additional ink tank is disposed on the right main body, and an ink cartridge is detachably attached to the right main body from the rear side.

Furthermore, the additional ink tank and the ink cartridge are connected together via the first supply pipe (liquid supply pipe). As a result, the ink in the additional ink tank is supplied to the ink cartridge through the first supply tube.

In addition, a carriage reciprocating in the left-right direction is disposed in the central body portion adjacent to the left side of the right body portion. A print head (liquid ejection head) and a sub-tank temporarily storing ink and supplying ink to the print head are mounted on the carriage. The sub tank is connected to the ink cartridge through the second supply pipe. Thus, the ink in the ink cartridge is supplied to the sub tank via the second supply tube. Then, printing is performed by ejecting the ink supplied from the sub tank into the print head from the ejection nozzles of the print head toward the printing sheet.

Such a printer is generally equipped with a maintenance device (maintenance unit) for performing maintenance work such as cleaning the print head for the purpose of eliminating clogging of the ejection nozzles.

However, in the printer of Patent Document 1, when the maintenance device is arranged between the additional ink tank and the ink cartridge in the right main body, the first supply pipe will become an obstacle. Therefore, there is a problem that the maintenance operation of the maintenance device becomes difficult.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-42127

Contents of the invention

The present invention has been accomplished by focusing on the problems existing in such prior art. An object thereof is to provide a liquid ejecting device, a liquid storage body, and a liquid supply system capable of easily performing maintenance operations of a maintenance unit for performing maintenance of a liquid ejecting head.

In order to achieve the above object, the liquid ejecting device of the present invention includes: a housing; a liquid ejecting head disposed in the housing and capable of ejecting liquid to a target object; a maintenance unit disposed in the housing and used for carrying out the maintenance of the liquid ejection head; an opening part formed on the casing for carrying out the maintenance of the maintenance part from the outside of the casing; a mounting part arranged on the casing The lower side of the maintenance part in the body, and a liquid storage body can be installed, wherein the liquid storage body can supply the liquid from a connection part connected with a liquid supply pipe for supplying the liquid , the mounting portion is arranged in such a manner that, in a state where the liquid container is mounted on the mounting portion, the connecting portion of the liquid container is located at a lower end than the opening. position on the lower side.

According to this invention, in the state where the liquid storage body is attached to the mounting portion, the connection portion of the liquid storage body is located on the lower side than the lower end portion of the opening, so it is possible to suppress the connection from the opening. When the liquid supply pipe becomes an obstacle during the maintenance operation of the maintenance department. Therefore, the maintenance operation of the maintenance section for performing the maintenance of the liquid ejection head can be easily performed.

In the liquid ejecting device of the present invention, the liquid storage body can be inserted and removed from the mounting portion, and the liquid storage body is mounted on the mounting portion in such a manner that the mounted The connecting portion of the liquid storage body in the state on the mounting portion is located on the side of the liquid storage body in a pulling-out direction with respect to the mounting portion rather than the opening.

According to this invention, since the connection portion of the liquid storage body in the state of being mounted on the mounting portion is located on the side of the liquid storage body in the direction of pulling out the mounting portion relative to the opening, it is possible to connect the liquid storage body from the opening. At the separated position, the liquid supply pipe can be easily arranged. Therefore, when the maintenance work of the maintenance part is performed from the opening part, it is possible to further suppress the liquid supply pipe from becoming an obstacle.

In the liquid ejecting device according to the present invention, a cover is provided which covers the opening in an openable and closable manner, and when the cover is opened from the closed state, the cover moves toward the open state. The insertion direction side of the liquid storage body with respect to the attachment part moves.

According to this invention, it is possible to suppress the liquid supply tube from becoming an obstacle when opening and closing the lid.

The liquid storage body of the present invention is a liquid storage body that can be mounted on the mounting portion in the liquid ejecting device having the above-mentioned structure, and includes: the connection portion; The liquid ejecting head side leads out the liquid accommodated inside.

According to this invention, the liquid supplied from the connection portion into the liquid container can be supplied from the outlet portion to the liquid ejection head side.

The liquid supply system of the present invention includes: the liquid storage body of the above structure; the flexible liquid supply tube; The liquid supply pipe supplies the liquid to the first liquid storage body.

According to this invention, the liquid in the second liquid storage body can be supplied to the first liquid storage body through the liquid supply tube.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an inkjet printer in an embodiment;

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged schematic view of the main part of Figure 2;

Fig. 4 shows the maintenance unit of the printer, wherein Fig. 4(a) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the cover is in a standby position away from the recording head, and Fig. 4(b) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing that the cover is in contact with the recording head Schematic cross-sectional view of the state at the contact position.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention is embodied as an inkjet printer will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 , an inkjet printer 11 as a liquid ejecting device includes a casing 12 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Inside the casing 12, a rectangular plate-shaped support stand 13 for supporting a paper P as a target object is arranged. On the upper side of the support table 13 , a carriage 14 is arranged so as to be reciprocatable in the scanning direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1 ). At the lower end portion of the carriage 14 , a recording head 15 as a liquid ejection head capable of ejecting ink as a liquid from a plurality of nozzles 15 a toward the paper P supported on the support table 13 is supported.

At a position adjacent to the supporting table 13 in the scanning direction (moving direction) of the carriage 14 (a position on the right side of the supporting table 13 in FIG. 1 ), a maintenance unit 16 as a maintenance section is disposed. 16 is used to carry out maintenance such as cleaning of the recording head 15 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , an opening is formed in the casing 12 from the front wall 12 a corresponding to the maintenance unit 16 (in FIG. 1 , the wall near the front side of the paper) to the upper wall 12 b. 17 , the opening 17 is used to allow the operator to perform maintenance (part replacement, cleaning, etc.) of the maintenance unit 16 from outside the casing 12 . The housing 12 is provided with a cover 18 that covers the opening 17 in an openable and closable manner.

That is, the cover 18 has an L-shaped plate shape, and its upper end is rotatably supported by the upper wall 12 b of the housing 12 via a shaft 18 a extending along the scanning direction of the carriage 14 . Therefore, when the opening part 17 is opened and closed by the cover body 18, the cover body 18 turns around the shaft 18a.

On the lower side of the opening 17 in the front wall 12a of the housing 12, there is provided a cartridge holder 20 as a mounting portion capable of mounting a plurality of liquid storage bodies (first liquid storage bodies) (in In the present embodiment, four) rectangular parallelepiped ink cartridges 19 that store ink supplied to the recording head 15 are individually mounted. Ink cartridges 19 store inks of different colors.

Each ink cartridge 19 has a structure that can be inserted into and removed from the cartridge holder 20 individually. At this time, the insertion and removal direction of each ink cartridge 19 with respect to the cartridge holder 20 is perpendicular to the scanning direction of the carriage 14 . In addition, the respective ink cartridges 19 are inserted and removed from the cartridge holder 20 to be attached and detached individually.

At this time, the direction when each ink cartridge 19 is inserted (installed) on the cartridge holder 20 is set as the insertion direction A, and the direction when each ink cartridge 19 is pulled out (pulled out and removed) from the cartridge holder 20 is set as Determined as the pull-out direction B. Therefore, when the above-mentioned cover body 18 is brought into the open state (state shown in FIG. 2 ) from the closed state (state shown in FIG. 1 ), the cover body 18 will face each ink cartridge 19 through the upper side. Turn (move) in the insertion direction A side of the cartridge holder 20 .

On one side (right side in FIG. 1 ) of the housing 12 , at a position higher than the cartridge holder 20 , a rectangular plate-shaped device stand 21 is provided. On the device table 21 , external ink tanks 22 serving as second liquid storage bodies for storing various inks for supplying to the respective ink cartridges 19 are mounted.

The various ink capacities of the external ink tank 22 are set to be significantly larger than the various ink capacities of the respective ink cartridges 19 . And, the external ink tank 22 is opened to the atmosphere at the upper end, and is connected to the upstream end side of the flexible ink supply tube 23 as a liquid supply tube at the lower end, and the ink supply tube 23 is used to supply each The ink cartridge 19 supplies various inks inside.

When each ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 , the end portion on the side opposite to the insertion direction A side is exposed from the cartridge holder 20 . Connection portions 19 a are formed on the upper surfaces of the exposed portions of the respective ink cartridges 19 . At this time, the connecting portion 19 a of each ink cartridge 19 is located on the lower side than the lower end portion of the opening 17 (cover 18 ), and is located closer to the opening 17 than the opening 17 of each ink cartridge 19 relative to the cartridge holder 20 . Pull out direction B side.

Further, the downstream ends of the respective ink supply tubes 23 whose upstream ends are respectively connected to the external ink tanks 22 are connected to the connection portions 19 a of the respective ink cartridges 19 . Therefore, the various inks in the external ink tank 22 are supplied to the respective ink cartridges 19 from the respective connection portions 19 a via the respective ink supply tubes 23 . At this time, each ink supply tube 23 is arranged at a lower side than the lower end portion of the opening 17 (cover 18 ) so as not to interfere with the opening and closing of the cover 18 .

In addition, in the present embodiment, a liquid supply system is constituted by each ink cartridge 19 , the external ink tank 22 , and each ink supply tube 23 .

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , on the side wall (the right side wall in FIG. 3 ) on the insertion direction A side of the ink cartridge 19, an ink outlet 24 as an outlet portion is formed, and the ink outlet 24 It is used to lead out the ink in the ink cartridge 19 to the recording head 15 side. A valve (not shown) that is always in a closed state is provided in the ink outlet port 24 . Furthermore, when the ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 , the hollow ink supply needle 25 included in the cartridge holder 20 is inserted into the ink outlet 24 .

The upstream end side of the ink supply flow path 26 is connected to the base end side of the ink supply needle 25 , and the downstream end side of the ink supply flow path is connected via a sub tank (not shown) mounted on the carriage 14 . Connected to the recording head 15. And, by inserting the ink supply needle 25 into the ink outlet 24, the valve (not shown) in the closed state is turned into the valve state, and the ink in the ink cartridge 19 is formed from the ink outlet 24 through the ink outlet 24. The through hole 25 a at the tip of the ink supply needle 25 flows into the ink supply needle 25 .

By driving the pump (not shown) provided on the ink supply channel 26, the ink flowing into the ink supply needle 25 is supplied to the recording device via the ink supply channel 26 and the sub tank (not shown). Head 15. By driving the piezoelectric element (not shown) provided in the recording head 15 while reciprocating the carriage 14, the ink supplied to the recording head 15 is supported from the respective nozzles 15a toward the support. The paper P on the table 13 is ejected. As a result, printing on the paper P is performed.

As shown in FIG. 4( a ), the maintenance unit 16 includes: a protective cover 30 in the shape of a square box with a bottom; and an elevating device 31 that lifts the protective cover 30 . The elevating device 31 moves the carriage 14 so that the recording head 15 and the cover 30 face each other between the contact position (position shown in FIG. 4( b )) and the standby position (position shown in FIG. 4( a ). ), wherein the contact position is the position where the protective cover 30 abuts on the recording head 15 so as to surround each nozzle 15a, and the standby position is where the protective cover 30 moves from The position where the recording head 15 leaves.

The upstream end of the ink discharge tube 32 is connected to a through hole (not shown) provided in the bottom wall of the cap 30 , and the downstream end of the ink discharge tube 32 is inserted into the waste liquid tank 33 . At a halfway position of the ink discharge pipe 32, there is provided a tube pump 34 that pumps the inside of the ink discharge pipe 32 from the protective cover 30 side that is the upstream side toward the waste liquid tank 33 side that is the downstream side. suction.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4( b ), by driving the tube pump 34 with the cover 30 moved to the contact position, a negative pressure is generated in the cover 30 . By generating this negative pressure, thickened ink or air bubbles in the recording head 15 are discharged from the respective nozzles 15 a into the cap 30 as waste liquid. The waste liquid discharged into the cap 30 is collected into the waste liquid tank 33 through the ink discharge tube 32 .

Next, the operation when performing maintenance of the maintenance unit 16 will be described.

The maintenance unit 16 needs to perform maintenance such as cleaning when the cover 30 or its periphery is stained with ink, or replacing components such as the cover 30 when they are degraded. Furthermore, when performing maintenance of the maintenance unit 16, first, the operator turns the cover body 18 from the closed state to the open state.

Furthermore, by maintaining the lid body 18 in the open state, an operator can approach the maintenance unit 16 from outside the housing 12 through the opening 17 . At this time, since each ink supply tube 23 is arranged at a lower side than the lower end portion of the opening portion 17 , it does not come into contact with the cover body 18 .

Next, the operator performs a maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 from outside the casing 12 through the opening portion 17 . At this time, since each ink supply tube 23 is arranged to a position on the lower side than the lower end portion of the opening portion 17, each ink supply tube 23 does not hinder maintenance operations. Therefore, the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 can be smoothly carried out by the operator.

After the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16, the operator turns the cover 18 from an open state to a closed state. At this time, since each ink supply tube 23 is arranged at a lower side than the lower end portion of the opening portion 17 , it does not come into contact with the cover body 18 .

In this way, since the connection portion 19a of each ink cartridge 19 is located on the lower side than the lower end portion of the opening 17, each ink supply tube 23 can be easily arranged so as not to interfere with the opening and closing of the lid body 18. Action or maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 .

According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) When each ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 , the connecting portion 19 a of each ink cartridge 19 is located below the lower end portion of the opening 17 . Therefore, each ink supply tube 23 can be easily arranged so as not to interfere with the opening and closing action of the cover body 18 or the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 . That is, when the operator performs the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 from the opening portion 17 , it is possible to suppress the respective ink supply tubes 23 from being an obstacle to the maintenance operation. Therefore, the maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 for carrying out the maintenance of the recording head 15 can be easily carried out.

(2) In the state where each ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 , the connecting portion 19 a of each ink cartridge 19 is located on the side of the drawing direction B of each ink cartridge 19 relative to the cartridge holder 20 than the opening 17 . Therefore, each ink supply tube 23 can be easily arranged at a position separated from the opening portion 17 . That is, when an operator performs a maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 from the opening portion 17 , it is possible to further suppress that each ink supply tube 23 becomes an obstacle to the maintenance operation.

(3) When the cover body 18 is brought into the open state from the closed state, the cover body 18 turns (moves) toward the insertion direction A side of each ink cartridge 19 with respect to the cartridge holder 20 . Therefore, it is possible to suppress that each ink cartridge 19 becomes an obstacle when opening and closing the cover body 18 . In addition, since the opened cover 18 is located on the opposite side from the operator, the opened cover 18 does not interfere with the operator's maintenance operation of the maintenance unit 16 through the opening 17 .

(4) Each ink cartridge 19 is provided with: the connecting portion 19 a connected to the ink supply tube 23 ; and the ink outlet 24 for leading out the ink stored inside to the recording head 15 side. Therefore, the ink supplied from the connection portion 19 to the external ink tank 22 in each ink cartridge 19 can be smoothly supplied from the ink outlet 24 to the recording head 15 side.

(5) The external ink tank 22 and each ink cartridge 19 are connected together via the ink supply tube 23 , respectively. Therefore, the ink in the external ink tank 22 can be smoothly supplied to each ink cartridge 19 via each ink supply tube 23 .

Change example

In addition, the above-mentioned embodiment may be modified in the following manner.

The external ink tank 22 may be arranged on the upper wall 12 b of the casing 12 , or may be arranged on a stand provided separately from the casing 12 .

The cover body 18 may be omitted.

The connecting portion 19 a may be provided on a side surface or a bottom surface of a portion of the ink cartridge 19 exposed from the cartridge holder 20 in a state where the ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 . In this case, considering ink leakage, it is preferable to change the ink cartridge 19 to an ink-sealed ink cartridge.

The volume of the part of the ink cartridge 19 exposed from the cartridge holder 20 in the state where the ink cartridge 19 is mounted on the cartridge holder 20 can be set so that the connecting portion 19 a is located on the lower side than the lower end portion of the opening 17 . The range at the position increases.

On the cartridge holder 20, it is not necessary to mount the ink cartridge 19 in such a manner that the connecting portion 19a of the ink cartridge 19 in the state mounted on the cartridge holder 20 is located closer to the ink cartridge than the opening 17. 19 with respect to the pull-out direction B side of the cartridge holder 20 .

Instead of the paper P, a plastic film, cloth, foil, or the like can be used as the target.

In the above-described embodiments, the liquid ejecting device is embodied as the inkjet printer 11 , but a liquid ejecting device that ejects or ejects liquid other than ink may also be employed. The present invention can be transferred to various liquid ejection devices including a liquid ejection head that ejects a small amount of liquid droplets. In addition, the liquid drop refers to the state of the liquid ejected from the above-mentioned liquid ejection device, and also includes the state of the liquid that is in the form of granular, lacrimal, and filamentous and draws tails. In addition, the liquid mentioned here only needs to be a material that can be ejected by a liquid ejecting device. For example, it only needs to be a material in the state when the substance is in the liquid phase, which not only includes liquids with high or low viscosity, sols, gelled water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, liquid Fluids such as metals (melt metals), or liquids as a state of matter, and liquids in which particles of functional materials composed of solids such as pigments and metal particles are dissolved, dispersed, or mixed in solvents wait. In addition, as a representative example of the liquid, the ink as described in the above-mentioned embodiment can be mentioned. Here, the ink refers to general water-soluble inks, oil-based inks, and various liquid compositions such as gel-like inks and hot-melt inks. As a specific example of the liquid ejection device, it is possible to exemplify a liquid crystal display, an EL (ElectroLuminescence: electroluminescence) display, a surface emission display, a color filter, etc., which contain an electrode material in a dispersed or dissolved form. A liquid ejection device that ejects a liquid of a material such as a coloring material, a liquid ejection device that ejects a bioorganic substance used in the manufacture of a biochip, a liquid that is used as a precision pipette and ejects a liquid that becomes a sample Injection devices, printing and dyeing devices and micro-dispensers, etc. In addition, a liquid ejecting device that sprays lubricating oil to confidential instruments such as clocks and cameras using dot-like apertures, and a micro-hemispherical lens (optical lens) used to form optical communication elements, etc., can also be used. A liquid ejecting device for ejecting a transparent resin liquid such as an ultraviolet curable resin or the like on a substrate, or a liquid ejecting device for ejecting an etchant such as an acid or an alkali to etch a substrate. Also, the present invention can be applied to any of these devices for liquid ejection.

Symbol Description

11...an inkjet printer as a liquid ejection device; 12...casing; 15...a recording head as a liquid ejection head; 16...a maintenance unit as a maintenance unit; 17...an opening; 18...a cover; 19...a configuration Ink cartridge of the liquid storage body (first liquid storage body) of the liquid supply system; 19a...connecting part; 20...cartridge holder as the mounting part; 22...external ink tank as the second liquid storage body constituting the liquid supply system; 23 ...the ink supply tube as the liquid supply tube constituting the liquid supply system; 24 ...the ink outlet as the outlet; A...the insertion direction; B...the extraction direction; P...the paper as the target object.

Claims (5)

1. a liquid injection apparatus, is characterized in that, possesses:

Housing;

Jet head liquid, it is configured in described housing, and can to object atomizing of liquids;

Maintenance department, it is configured in described housing, and for implementing the maintenance of described jet head liquid;

Opening portion, it is formed on the housing, and for implementing the maintenance of described maintenance department outside described housing;

Installation portion, it is configured in the downside of in described housing, described maintenance department, and can install liquid accommodating body, wherein, described liquid accommodating body can supply described liquid from the connecting portion being connected with feed tube for liquid, described feed tube for liquid is for supplying described liquid

Described installation portion is configured as follows, that is, under described liquid accommodating body is installed on this installation portion state, make the described connecting portion of this liquid accommodating body in position on the lower compared with the bottom of described opening portion.

2. liquid injection apparatus as claimed in claim 1, is characterized in that,

Described liquid accommodating body can plug relative to described installation portion,

On described installation portion, described liquid accommodating body is installed as follows, that is, make described connecting portion under the state on this installation portion that is installed in, described liquid accommodating body in, extract side, direction by described liquid accommodating body compared with described opening portion relative to described installation portion.

3. liquid injection apparatus as claimed in claim 2, is characterized in that,

Possess lid, described lid covers described opening portion in opening and closing mode freely,

When described lid is placed in open mode from closed condition, this lid moving relative to the direction of insertion side of described installation portion to described liquid accommodating body.

4. a liquid accommodating body, is characterized in that,

Described liquid accommodating body can be installed on the described installation portion of the liquid injection apparatus described in any one in claims 1 to 3,

Described liquid accommodating body possesses:

Described connecting portion;

Leading-out portion, it is derived to described jet head liquid side and is accommodated in inner described liquid.

5. a liquid-supplying system, is characterized in that, possesses:

Liquid accommodating body according to claim 4;

Flexible described feed tube for liquid;

Second liquid packaging container, it can supply described liquid via described feed tube for liquid to described first liquid packaging container when described liquid accommodating body is set as first liquid packaging container.