JPS6260269B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink recovery device for recovering ink particles received by a gutter in a charge deflection type inkjet printer into a tank.

In general, a charged deflection type inkjet printer, as shown in FIG. 1, uses a charged electrode 3 to eject ink particles 2 continuously from a nozzle 1 of a head in response to an external printing command. The ink particles are electrically charged, and the charged ink particles are appropriately deflected and controlled by the deflection electrode 4 to sequentially print dots on predetermined locations on the recording paper 5 (the recording paper 5 is directed in the main scanning direction, and the head is directed in the sub-scanning direction). The gutter 6 receives and collects uncharged ink particles that are not used for printing.

Conventionally, in this type of inkjet printer, a gutter is integrally attached to the head side to collect unnecessary ink particles, but since this head moves in the sub-scanning direction, the gutter is attached to the bottom of the gutter. A flexible pipe is attached to the ink, and the ink is collected through the pipe into an ink tank installed on the fixed side.

However, in such conventional ink recovery means, the pipe moves as the head moves, and therefore the pipe length must be sufficient to accommodate the entire range of head movement, making it difficult to store the pipe. As the situation worsens, there is a high risk that unexpected accidents may occur due to pipes becoming clogged with dust, bending, or getting caught in other storage equipment.

The present invention has been made with these points in mind, and when unnecessary ink particles are collected by the gutter attached to the head side, an auxiliary tank is provided on the head side and ink is temporarily stored in this tank. To provide an ink recovery device for an inkjet printer, which automatically recovers ink in an auxiliary tank when a head returns to a standby position and eliminates a moving part in an ink recovery system.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink recovery device for an inkjet printer according to the present invention is integrated with a head 9 that is slidably mounted on a guide rail 7 and whose movement is controlled by a sub-scanning drive belt 8. A recovery tank 1 is provided with a gutter 6 and an auxiliary tank 10, and a fixing lever 11 is attached to the ink recovery position (for example, the standby position of the head 9) on the guide rail 7 of the head 9.
2. In the figure, numeral 13 indicates a nozzle for ejecting ink particles from the head 9, and charging electrodes and deflection electrodes are omitted in the figure for the sake of simplicity.

Furthermore, FIGS. 3 and 4 show the cooperative state in which ink is recovered from the auxiliary tank 10 to the recovery tank 12 at the ink recovery position of the head 9. The bottom of the auxiliary tank 10 is connected through a hole 14. A valve chamber 15 is formed, and in that part,
A valve 18 is provided via a drive pin 16 whose tip protrudes above the auxiliary tank 10 and a spring 17 mounted between the drive pin 16 and the bottom of the auxiliary tank 10 . In addition, in the figure, 19 indicates packing, and 20 indicates a spring presser. Furthermore, an opening 21 is formed in the upper part of the recovery tank 12 on the fixed side, corresponding to the hole 14 at the bottom of the auxiliary tank 10, and a drive pin 16 of the valve 18 is formed on the lower side of the fixed lever 11. A sloped portion 22 is formed that can cooperate with the valve 18 to push down the valve 18. Note that 23 in the figure indicates a check valve provided in a system for sending out the ink in the recovery tank 12.

In the ink recovery device for an inkjet printer according to the present invention configured as described above, while the head 9 is moving from its standby position in the sub-scanning direction and printing a predetermined dot on the recording paper 5, , the ink particles received by the gutter 6 are temporarily stored in the auxiliary tank 10 (at this time, the valve 18 is closed by the tension of the spring 17). Next, when the predetermined dot printing on the recording paper 5 is completed and the head 9 returns to the head standby position, which is, for example, the ink collection position, the valve drive pin 16 on the auxiliary tank 10 side contacts the fixed lever 11 and moves downward. This causes the valve 18 to open and the ink in the auxiliary tank 10 to fall naturally into the tank 12.
It is collected inside. The ink collected in the tank 12 is filtered by a filter and then supplied to the head 9 again by the pump.

As described above, in the ink recovery device for an inkjet printer according to the present invention, in a charge deflection type inkjet printer with a gutter attached to the head side, an auxiliary tank for temporarily storing ink particles received by the gutter is attached to the head side. A valve with a drive pin that opens and closes a hole formed at the bottom of the auxiliary tank is installed on the auxiliary tank along with a spring that presses the valve toward the closing side, and is also installed on the fixed side of the ink collection position. A fixed lever is provided with an inclined part on which the tip of the driving pin of the valve comes into contact, and when the head comes to the ink recovery position, the tip of the driving pin comes into contact with the inclined part of the fixed lever, causing the head to move. Then, the valve is pushed down against the spring through its drive pin to open the hole in the auxiliary tank, and the ink in the auxiliary tank is passed through the opened hole into the tank provided on the fixed side of the ink collection position. To enable efficient ink collection without requiring any pipes or the like to connect the gutter and tank as in the conventional method. It has the excellent advantage of being able to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a general charge deflection type inkjet printer, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an ink recovery device for an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a front view showing the structure of the auxiliary tank and the recovery tank in FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a side view thereof. 5... Recording paper, 6... Gutter, 7... Guide rail, 8... Sub-scanning drive belt, 9... Head, 10... Auxiliary tank, 11... Fixed lever, 12... Recovery tank, 13 ...Nozzle, 16
...Drive pin, 18...Valve.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a charge deflection type inkjet printer with a gutter attached to the head side, an auxiliary tank is provided on the head side to temporarily store ink particles received by the gutter, and a hole is formed in the bottom of the auxiliary tank. A valve with a driving pin for opening and closing is provided in the auxiliary tank along with a spring for pressing the valve toward the closing side, and furthermore, an inclined part is formed on the fixed side of the ink collection position, on which the tip of the driving pin of the valve comes into contact. A fixed lever is provided, and when the head comes to the ink collection position, the tip of the driving pin contacts the inclined part of the fixed lever, and as the head moves, the valve is pushed against the spring through the driving pin. This ink recovery device for an inkjet printer is configured to push down to open a hole in the auxiliary tank, and allow ink in the auxiliary tank to fall through the opened hole into a tank provided on a fixed side of an ink recovery position.