JPS60202168A - Ink production unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the acquisition of highly reliable analytical data to thereby facilitate the control of ink, lot and production unit, by automating the sampling of a given quantity of ink, adjusting a sample soln., metering it and introducing it into a specified analytical means. CONSTITUTION:Ink is sampled from an ink tank 1 by means of a constant delivery pump in a sampling means 2, and mixed with an adjusting liquid fed by another constant delivery pump in an adjusting means 3 to prepare a sample solution suitable for use in analysis. A given quantity of the sample soln. is introduced through a metering and introducing means 4 into an analytical means 5. Since a liquid chromatograph is used as the analytical means 5, a six-way valve can be used as the metering and introducing means 4 to automate the introduction of a given quantity of the sample soln. into the analytical means 5. The analytical results are displayed and recorded by various display and recording devices. Signals for process control are output from a control unit 6 on the basis of said results to effect the process control.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an ink manufacturing device, and in particular to a recording liquid (generally referred to as ink) suitable for inkjet recording, writing instruments, etc.
The present invention relates to an ink manufacturing apparatus having automatic analysis means suitable for the preparation of ink.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, ink used in the inkjet recording method, in which recording is performed by ejecting ink in a recording head from an ejection orifice using vibrations caused by a piezo vibrator, has been made by mixing various dyes and pigments with water or other organic solvents. It is known to be dissolved or dispersed in a liquid medium consisting of: It is also known that similar inks are used in writing instruments such as felt pens and fountain pens.

Such inks require strict control of the concentration, color tone, pH, viscosity, surface tension, purity, etc. of the constituent components from the viewpoints of ejection characteristics, printing characteristics, and storage stability. For example, if inorganic salts are mixed in, the stability of dye dissolution in the ink will be reduced, resulting in aggregation and precipitation of the dye. In addition, in inkjet recording heads and writing instruments, when the ink evaporates near the ejection orifice and the liquid composition changes, it causes the precipitation of inorganic salts, which is the most avoided cause of clogging of the ejection orifice. Become.

Therefore, in order to eliminate such adverse effects, ink production,
When storing, it is necessary to measure the above characteristic values and control them so that they are within a predetermined range, but conventionally this has been done using an analysis and measurement device after sampling by the operator, which is only complicated. There were also problems with reproducibility and accuracy due to contamination caused by substances mixed in during sampling.

[Objective] In view of these points, the object of the present invention is to adjust the ink,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink manufacturing apparatus having a means for automatically analyzing and measuring the characteristics required for high-performance ink excellent in high-speed printing such as inkjet ink when storing.

To this end, the present invention provides an automatically controlled sample collection means,
By providing sample solution adjustment means, sample measuring and injection means, and analysis and measurement means, automatic analysis and measurement can be performed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a means for automatically collecting a target sample from an ink manufacturing process and a storage process, a means for automatically adjusting the sample concentration or sample composition, and a means for analyzing and measuring the adjusted sample solution. a metered injection means capable of injecting into the
An ink manufacturing apparatus is provided, which is characterized by having an analysis and measurement means for analyzing and measuring an injected sample solution, wherein the analysis and measurement means is a chromatography system.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Here, 1 is an ink tank used in the ink manufacturing process and the storage process. In the present invention, the ink manufacturing process and storage process refer to the processes that start from the purification of the dye and go through until it is filled into a container as an ink, including the purification of the dye, and the dissolution and preparation of the purified dye in a solvent. , concentration adjustment, color adjustment of the filtered ink solution, transportation, etc., and storage, etc., which may be carried out as appropriate at each stage or between each stage.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a sampling means for automatically sampling a sample, which uses a constant flow pump or valve. 3 is an adjustment means for automatically adjusting the sample collected by the collection means 2 into a sample solution suitable for analysis. Normally, it is difficult to directly analyze the sample collected by 2, and it is difficult to adjust the concentration and pH.
1 Adjustment of the sample composition such as salt concentration is required, and these adjustments are performed by the adjustment means 3.

To analyze organic impurities using liquid chromatography,
For better separation, it is necessary to dilute the sample 1-100 times with the eluent used for chromatography. It is also necessary to add an internal standard to increase the reliability of quantitative values. Therefore, there is a need for an adjustment means that automates the dilution and mixing operations mentioned above. A fixed amount of the sample solution adjusted by the adjustment means 3 is injected into the analysis means 5 by the metering and injection means 4.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a control section for controlling the drive of each section, and 7 is an operation section equipped with various display sections, a recording section, drive switches, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the adjusting means in the device of FIG. 1. Here, 8 is a constant flow pump of sample collection means, 9 is a regulating liquid tank, 10 is a constant flow pump for feeding the regulating liquid, and 11 is a mixing device. The adjustment solution includes an eluent used in chromatography and a solution to which an internal standard is added.

The sample and adjustment liquid sent by the constant flow pumps 8 and 10 are mixed here to create a sample solution suitable for analysis. The concentration and composition of the sample solution can be arbitrarily changed by changing the flow rate of the pump or by changing the concentration and composition of the adjustment solution.

A commonly used autosampler can be used as the metering and injection means for injecting a fixed amount of the prepared sample solution into the analysis means.

In the present invention, since a liquid chromatograph is used as the analysis means, a fixed amount of the sample solution can be automatically injected into the analysis means by using a six-way valve as the metering and injection means.

(The results analyzed and measured through the above operations are displayed and recorded by various display and recording devices.Furthermore, based on the results, the process can be controlled by outputting a process control signal from the control unit. is also possible.

[Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention, when analyzing and measuring various ink properties, a certain amount is automatically collected, and then a sample solution is adjusted. By measuring and injecting ink, the operator can easily obtain highly reliable analytical measurements just by setting the operating conditions, which makes it easier to manage the ink loft and control the manufacturing equipment. becomes easier.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the adjusting means in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. l...Ink tank 2...Collection means 3...Adjustment means 4...Measuring and injection means 5...Analysis means 6...Control section 7...Operation section 8...Sample collection means Constant flow pump 9...Adjustment liquid tank 10...Constant flow pump 11 for sending the adjustment liquid...Mixing device Applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent 1) Yu Yoshi

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A means for automatically collecting a target sample from the ink manufacturing process and storage process, a means for automatically adjusting the sample concentration or sample composition, and automatically metering and injecting the adjusted sample solution into the analytical measurement means. 1. An ink manufacturing apparatus comprising: a metering and injection means that can be used to measure a sample solution; and an analysis and measurement means that analyzes and measures the injected sample solution, the analysis and measurement means being liquid chromatography.