JPS6158312B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a recording method and apparatus in which ink droplets are ejected toward a recording medium using thermal energy.

(Prior art) A piezoelectric element is placed in the flow path connecting the tank and the ejection port, and by applying a signal voltage to the element and distorting it, the ink in the flow path is pressurized and a part of it is transferred from the ejection port. The on-demand inkjet recording method, in which ink droplets are ejected onto the recording medium, is superior in that it does not generate noise during recording and can record on plain paper, but on the other hand, the piezoelectric element Since the amount of distortion is small, the effective area of the element must be increased in order to eject ink droplets of the required particle size, making it difficult to arrange a large number of ejection ports at high density. In addition to this, there is also the problem that a large amount of power is consumed to eject droplets.

On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 54-59936 discloses a recording method in which the ink itself is heated and ejected as small droplets from an orifice.
This type of method requires a large amount of electric power to cause the ink to change its state, and has problems such as deterioration of the quality of the ink due to heating.

(Purpose) The present invention was made in view of such problems, and
The purpose is to provide a new recording method and device that can downsize the device and reduce power consumption as much as possible.

(Means for achieving the objective) That is, in order to achieve the objective, the present invention has the following features:
A recording method in which a recording liquid led from a supply source to a discharge section is discharged as droplets from the discharge section toward a recording medium together with a heated liquid that is heated and vaporized according to a recording signal, and a recording liquid supply flow Each end of the flow path and the heated liquid supply flow path faces a common discharge port, and a heating means for heating the heated liquid based on a recording signal is disposed in a part of the heated liquid supply flow path. It's on the recording device.

(Example) The details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. A housing 2 constituting a head 1 is provided with an ink chamber 5 whose one end communicates with a tank 4 via a pipe 3. The other end of the ink chamber 5 is formed as an orifice 6 for ejecting ink droplets, and is opened from the side to a jetting port 17 for heated liquid b, which will be described later.

On the other hand, this housing 2 is provided with a heated liquid chamber 13, one end of which communicates with a tank 12 via a pipe 11, and the other end of this liquid chamber 13 communicates with the above-mentioned spout via a meniscus-forming cavity 14. A cylindrical heating element 15 made of a resistor or the like is integrally provided on the inner surface of the liquid chamber 13 and is open to the opening 17, and a signal voltage is applied to electrodes 16 provided at both ends of the heating element 15. causes the heating element 15 to generate heat, and the liquid chamber 13
It is configured to heat and vaporize the heated liquid b, which is made of an alcoholic, aqueous, organic solvent, etc. and has a low boiling point or has a large volume change during gasification, and ejects it from the ejection port 17 together with the ink a. ing.

Therefore, in the device configured as described above, when a signal voltage is applied to the heating element 15 in the heated liquid chamber 13, the low boiling point heated liquid b supplied here is heated and vaporized and ejected. The ink is ejected from the outlet 17, but as mentioned above, the orifice 6 at the other end of the ink chamber 5 is open on the side of the outlet 17, so the ink a here is vaporized and ejected from the outlet 17 to be heated. The liquid b is attracted by a velocity head proportional to the jetting speed, so-called negative dynamic pressure (Fig. 2a), and is ejected onto the recording medium as droplets together with the vaporized heated liquid h (Fig. 2b). ), and after ejection, new heated liquid b and ink a flow into these liquid chambers 13 and orifice 6, entering a standby position for the next recording operation (FIG. 2c).

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the recording liquid is ejected by heating and vaporizing the heated liquid different from the recording liquid and ejecting it from the ejection port. By eliminating the need for a mechanism for directly pressurizing the recording liquid, it is possible to downsize the apparatus, and by using a liquid with a low boiling point as the liquid to be heated, power consumption can be significantly reduced.

Moreover, since the liquid to be heated is heated and vaporized and the recording liquid is ejected to the contact point, deterioration of the recording liquid can also be prevented at the same time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus used in the present invention, and FIGS. 2a to 2c are explanatory diagrams showing its recording operation. 5... Ink head, 6... Orifice, 13... Heated liquid chamber, 15... Heating element, 7... Discharge port.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A liquid to be heated led from a supply source to a discharge port is heated and vaporized according to a recording signal, and is discharged from the discharge port, and a negative dynamic pressure proportional to the flow rate of this discharge stream is applied. A recording method, characterized in that a recording liquid guided from a supply source to the vicinity of the ejection port is sucked and is ejected from the ejection port as droplets toward a recording medium. 2. The end of the recording liquid supply pipe connected to the supply source is located closer to the discharge port than the end of the heated liquid supply pipe connected to the supply source, and
A heating vaporizing means for heating and vaporizing the heated liquid in the pipe in accordance with a recording signal is disposed at the end of the heated liquid supply pipe, and the heated liquid is vaporized and discharged from the discharge port. A recording apparatus characterized in that the recording liquid is sucked by negative dynamic pressure and ejected as droplets from the ejection port.