JPS6226911B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved gutter device for an ink jet recording apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a charge deflection type inkjet recording apparatus. In FIG. 1, 1 is a pump, 2 is an accumulator, 3 is a three-way valve, 4 is a filter, 5 is an inkjet head, 6 is a charging electrode, 7a, 7b are deflection electrodes, 8 is a recording paper, 9 is a gutter, 10 11 is a filter, 11 is an ink reservoir, and 12 is a motor. In the inkjet recording device configured in this way,
The ink pressurized by pump 1 is transferred to accumulator 2.
When the three-way valve 3 opens, the filter 4
The ink is guided to the ink jet head 5, and is ejected from the nozzles of the ink jet head 5 to form fine ink droplets. The ink droplets are selectively charged by the charging electrode 6, and the charged ink droplets are deflected by the deflection electrodes 7a and 7b and printed on the recording paper 8, while the uncharged ink droplets go straight and reach the gutter 9. The ink is collected by the ink reservoir 11 through the filter 10.

As mentioned above, uncharged ink droplets are collected for reuse, but are captured in the gutter 9,
While the ink remains there, the water in the ink evaporates,
When this recovered ink is mixed with other inks, the viscosity of the ink increases, and as a result, the fluid resistance of the ink passing through the nozzles of the ink jet head 5 changes, and the ink jetting speed changes, resulting in printing. There was a drawback that distortion occurred in the image.

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional apparatus, the present invention provides a mechanism for moving the gutter up and down, lowers the gutter when not printing, and blocks the ink droplet trapping opening of the gutter with a guide block, thereby removing moisture in the ink. An object of the present invention is to provide a gutter device for an inkjet recording apparatus that prevents the evaporation of ink and, therefore, prevents distortion of printed images caused by changes in ink viscosity. Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the present invention.
The case of multi-head is shown. In FIG. 2, 13 is an ink jet head, 14 is an ink introduction tube, 15 is a charging electrode, 16a and 16b are a pair of deflection electrodes provided for each ink jet head, and 1
7 is a recording paper, 18 is a gutter, 19 is a guide block, 20 is a gutter stand, 21 is a spring, and 22 is a solenoid. The gutter 18 is attached to a gutter stand 20, and the gutter stand 20 is pulled downward by a spring 21, and can be moved upward when a solenoid 22 pushes up. The guide block 19 is fixed to the housing, so that the gutter 18 can slide up and down using the hole bored in the guide block 19 as a guide.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. During printing, the gutter stand 20 is pushed up by the solenoid 22, and the ink droplet catching port 18a of the gutter 18 attached to the gutter stand 20 protrudes from the upper surface of the guide block 19. And inkjet head 1
Among the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle No. 3, uncharged ink droplets jump into the ink droplet capture port 18a and are captured, and are sent to the ink reservoir through an ink passage pipe (not shown) connected to one end of the gutter 18. It will be done. Also, when not printing, solenoid 2
When the power source 2 is turned off, the gutter stand 20 is pulled down by the contraction force of the spring 21, and the ink droplet trapping port 18a of the gutter 18 operates to be closed by the guide block.

In this embodiment configured as described above, since the ink droplet trapping port 18a of the gutter 18 is blocked by the guide block 19 when not printing, it is possible to prevent the moisture in the ink accumulated in the gutter from evaporating during printing. effective. In addition, it is extremely efficient as many gutters can be opened and closed at the same time using a simple up and down mechanism.

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided a rod-shaped gutter, a common gutter stand to which the root portion of the gutter is fixed, a means for moving the gutter stand up and down, and a gutter that is slidable. consisting of an immovable guide block having a hole therethrough;
To prevent evaporation of ink water accumulated in the gutter during non-printing operations by lowering the gutter and positioning and blocking the ink droplet trap provided in the gutter inside the hole of the guide block during non-printing operations. Therefore, there is an advantage that distortion of a printed image due to a change in ink viscosity can be prevented from occurring. Furthermore, since a large number of gutters can be opened and closed at the same time using a simple up-and-down mechanism, the purpose can be achieved efficiently and at low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a charge deflection type inkjet recording device, and FIG.
The figure is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the invention. 18... Gutter, 18a... Ink droplet capture port, 19
...Guide block, 20...Gutter stand, 21...Spring, 22...Solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A non-imprinted ink droplet trapping device for a charged deflection type inkjet recording device, which includes one or more rod-shaped gutters each having an ink droplet trapping port, and a common rod-shaped gutter to which the root portions of the gutter are each fixed. The gutter is composed of a gutter base, a means for moving the gutter base up and down, and an immovable guide block having a hole through which the gutter is slidable. 1. A gutter device for an inkjet recording apparatus, characterized in that a trapping port is located inside the hole of the guide block and is closed.