KR100307767B1 - A maintenance pump for inkjet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a maintenance release pump for an inkjet printer, which provides an improvement in operating reliability and quality while improving productivity by simplifying the configuration. To achieve the above object, the present invention divides the interior into two parts by a central partition wall. The first and second pumping parts are formed, and the open one side of the first and second pumping parts is covered by a pump cover. A shaft hole is formed in the center of the partition wall, and the inner circumferential surface of the first and second pumping parts is formed. Accordingly, the case in which the tube is in close contact with each other, one end is inserted into each of the first and second pump parts and supported by the shaft hole, and the other end has a pair of shafts protruding out of the pump cover, and a gear is formed on the outer circumferential surface thereof. A pump machine rotatably fitted to the outer end of the shaft and connected to the drive by the idle gear and the idle shaft to enable simultaneous drive. And a clutch spring having one end fixed to the pump gear while being wound on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft, the clutch spring allowing the transmission of driving force to the shaft to be interrupted in accordance with the rotation direction of the pump gear, and the shaft in the first and second pumping parts. It is fixed to the one side consisting of a plurality of rollers that are coupled to each other and the drum pins are projected to the opposite sides facing each other, rotatably coupled to each of the axial pins of the drum to press the tube in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the case The driving force transmitted through the pump gear is interrupted by the clutch spring, so that the pumping can be performed only at one side of the pumping part.

Description

Maintenance pump for inkjet printers

The present invention relates to a maintenance release pump for an inkjet printer, in which improvement in operating reliability and quality is provided while improving productivity by simplifying the configuration.

In general, an ink jet printer that prints by ejecting ink in the form of droplets causes nozzle clogging due to air bubbles in the nozzle portion or coagulation of foreign matter and ink when the ink jet printer does not operate for a long time or continuously operates for a long time.

When the nozzle is clogged like this, it becomes a poor performance state that printing is not performed properly, so that a maintenance device is provided to solve this problem.

The maintenance apparatus is generally provided on one side of the printer, and the head cartridge to which the print head is mounted is positioned to leave the head cartridge out of the printing area until the printing operation is performed again, and to clean the head of the seated head cartridge. to be.

The embodiment for maintenance is different depending on the manufacturer of the printer, but the most frequently used method is a suction method.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the maintenance using the suction, which can be largely divided into a driving unit 1, a pumping unit 2 and a seating unit (3), the drive unit 1 at this time can be normally reverse The step motor 1a and the rotation ratio for slowing down and transmitting the driving force generated by the step motor 1a are constituted by different gears 1b, and the pumping part 2 is provided to correspond to each other and is optional. It consists of a first pump (2a) and a second pump (2b) driven by, the first pump (2a) and the second pump (2b) at this time functions to suck the mono ink and color ink.

And the seating part 3 is connected to the first pump 2a and the second pump 2b by the tube 2c, respectively, while the upper surface is in close contact with the mono and color head 4a of the head cartridge 4, respectively. The mono and color ink caps 3a, the sliders 3b for allowing the ink caps 3a to be movable up and down, and the sliders 3b up and down by interlocking when the head cartridge 4 is moved. It is a structure comprised as the guide 3c which guides to be moved.

Therefore, immediately after the printing is finished, when the head cartridge 4 is moved out of the printing area to the upper part of the slider 3b, the slider 3b is moved upward by a predetermined inclination angle by the head cartridge 4, and the slider ( At the time when 3b is raised, the mono and color ink caps 3a fitted to the slider 3b are brought into close contact with the mono and color heads 4a of the head cartridges 4 located directly above the head cartridges. 4) to be kept firmly fixed.

In this state, it is maintained until the print signal is input again. At this time, the maintenance apparatus is driven immediately after performing a long printing operation or at a predetermined cycle and a user's arbitrarily.

That is, the maintenance apparatus is driven at any time when the head cartridge 4 is located in the non-printing area and the information already input to the control system of the printer and the user needs to clean.

When the driving signal input in the control system or the user inputs the driving signal arbitrarily, the step motor 1a of the driving unit 1 is first driven in one direction, and the driving force at this time is decelerated through the plurality of gears 1b. Transmitted to drive the first pump (2a) or the second pump (2b) of the pumping unit (2), the pump that actually pumping action is made in only one of these.

At this time, the pumping unit 2 generates a negative pressure to suck air, and the negative pressure at this time is transmitted to the ink cap 3a of the seating unit 3 through the tube 2c.

Therefore, in the ink cap 3a, ink is forced to be sucked through each nozzle of the head 4a which is in close contact with the ink cap 3a by the action of negative pressure, and the ink thus sucked is absorbed into the ink cap 3a and the tube ( It is to be discharged to the outside through the 3c) and the pumping unit (2) to remove the foreign matter and clogging the nozzle.

On the other hand, the pumping unit 2, which is a negative pressure generating means for sucking the ink in the above-described structure, as shown in Fig. 2, the first pump 2a and the second pump 2b for sucking the mono ink and the color ink, respectively, Each pump has a drum (2d) to be rotated by the driving force of the step motor, each of the pump is to be formed in the slot corresponding to the cam diagram in the direction corresponding to each other based on the center of the drum (2d) This slot is provided with a roller 2f so as to be self-rotating while sliding along the slot, and the tube 2c is built in the outer side of the roller 2f along the inner circumferential surface of the case.

Such a pumping unit 2 forms a negative pressure or idles the roller 2f along the slot 2e when the drum 2d rotates as shown in FIG. 3 by the driving of the step motor. do.

That is, when the roller 2f moves to the outer end of the slot 2e by the drum 2d, the tube 2c is pressed by the roller 2f, so the tube 2c is rotated when the drum 2d is rotated. Negative pressure is generated in the inner circle. On the contrary, when the roller 2f moves to the inner end of the slot 2e, the roller 2f is idle while being in contact with the tube 2c.

In this way, when the roller 2f moves to the outer end of the slot 2e in the direction in which the drum 2d of one side is rotated, the suction negative pressure in the tube 2c is rotated because the tube 2c is compressed. Ink is forced through the ink cap 3a, and in the drum 2d on the other side, when the roller 2f is moved to the inner end of the slot 2e, there is no contact between the roller 2f and the tube 2c. In this state, the drum 2d is idling, so that the ink is discharged while selectively performing the driving of the pump so that the head cleaning of the head cartridge can be performed.

However, in the structure of the pumping part 2 described above, the slot 2e of the cam diagram must be formed in the drum 2d at the correct position. Therefore, the processing of the slot 2e is very difficult and the strength of the drum 2d is increased. There is a problem that the durability is lowered while increasing the defective rate of the product to become a weak factor.

In addition, the roller 2f is provided on the drum 2d so as to be movable along the slot 2e, and the roller 2f must be rotatable by itself so that the roller 2f is not removed from the slot 2e of the drum 2d. It is necessary to have a configuration to support the.

The present invention aims to correct the above problems, and the present invention has a main object of improving productivity by easier assembly while simplifying the structure of the pumping part.

In addition, the present invention is to be rotated by a predetermined angle opposite to the pumping direction immediately after pumping so that both pumps are in a non-contact state with the tube while the negative pressure in the tube is smoothly discharged to the outside to prevent intrusion of external air into the head. There are other purposes to make this possible.

1 is a plan view showing a conventional maintenance configuration,

2 is a plan sectional view of a conventional release pump,

Figure 3 is a side view showing the operation structure of the conventional pumping unit,

4 is an exploded perspective view of a release pump according to the present invention;

5 is a plan sectional view combining the configuration of FIG.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the main portion showing the power transmission structure between the pump gear and the shaft of the present invention,

7 is a side cross-sectional view showing a pumping structure according to the present invention;

8 and 9 is a main part sectional view showing a structure for controlling the driving force to the shaft by the clutch spring when driving the pump gear of the present invention,

10 is a pumping structure diagram of the ink according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: case 15: tube

20: shaft 30: pump gear

31: idle gear 40: clutch spring

50: drum 60: roller

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention divides the inside by a central partition so that the first and second pumping parts are formed on both sides, and the open one side of the first and second pumping parts is covered by a pump cover. A case in which a shaft hole is formed in the center of the partition wall, and the tube is in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the first and second pumping parts;

One end is inserted into each of the first and second pumping parts and supported by the shaft hole, and the other end is a pair of shafts protruding out of the pump cover;

A gear formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof, rotatably fitted to an outer end of the shaft, and connected to the pump gear to be simultaneously driven by an idle gear and an idle shaft;

A clutch spring having one end fixed to the pump gear while being wound on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft, and allowing a transmission of driving force to the shaft to be interrupted according to a rotational direction of the pump gear;

A drum which is fixedly coupled to the shaft in the first and second pumping parts and has a shaft pin protruding to face each other;

It is composed of a plurality of rollers rotatably coupled to each of the shaft pins of the drum to always press the tube in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the case so that the driving force transmitted through the pump gear on one side is interrupted by the clutch spring. It is characterized in that the pumping can be made only in the pumping unit.

Hereinafter, described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a maintenance pump according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the pump of the present invention coupled, the present invention is largely the case 10, shaft 20 and pump gear It consists of 30, the clutch spring 40, the drum 50, and the roller 60. As shown in FIG.

The case 10 is open at both sides, and the first and second pumping parts 12 having a predetermined size are provided by dividing the internal space by the central partition wall 11, and the first and second pumping parts ( The open one side of the 12 is to be covered by the pump cover 13, and the first and second pumping portions 12 on both sides are formed by forming a shaft hole 14 with a small diameter in the center of the partition wall (11). It is the structure which made it communicate.

Then, the first and second pumping parts 12 on both sides are inserted such that a tube 15 having one end connected to each of the mono ink cap and the color ink cap in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the case 10 is provided. The end of the to be drawn out of the case 10.

Two shafts 20 are fitted into the first and second pumping units 12 of the case 10, respectively, from directions corresponding to each other, but the shafts 20 have shaft ends 14 of one end facing each other. At each rotatably supported by a bearing or the like, the other end is to be rotatably supported by a bearing or the like as one end supported by the shaft hole 14 by allowing the pump cover 13 to partially protrude outward.

And both the shaft 20 is provided with a pump gear 30 having a gear tooth formed on the outer circumferential surface at the end projecting to the outside of the pump cover 13 through the bearing rotatably with respect to the shaft 20, The pump gears 30 on both sides allow the same driving force to be transmitted by the idle gear 31 and the idle shaft 32 for interlockingly connecting the idle gears 31, and the pump gears 30 on both sides. The driving force from the step motor is transmitted only to one of the pump gears 30.

Therefore, when the driving force from the step motor is transmitted to the pump gear 30 on one side, the driving force is transmitted to the pump gear 30 on the other side through the idle gear 31 and the idle shaft 32 at the same time and rotates.

One end of the clutch spring 40 is rotatably wound on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft 20 as shown in FIG. 6 in the pump gear 30 on both sides rotatably provided by the bearing with respect to the shaft 20. To be fixed.

That is, the clutch spring 40 has one end fixed to the pump gear 30, but the rest of the clutch spring 40 is simply wound on the shaft 20. The one end of the fixed pump gear 30 rotates when rotated in one direction. When the direction is the same as the winding direction of the spring 40, the inner diameter of the spring 40 is narrowed, the spring 40 is firmly in close contact with the shaft 20, when the spring 40 is rotated in the opposite direction As the inner diameter of the expansion is idle in the shaft (20).

On the other hand, in the shaft 20 inserted into the first and second pumping portions 12, the disk-shaped drums 50 are firmly coupled to the pump covers 13 on both sides, and the drums 50 face each other. The plurality of shaft pins 51 protrude integrally at equal intervals on the surface.

The rollers 60 are rotatably fitted to the shaft pins 51, and the outer circumferential surface of each roller 60 fitted to the shaft pins 51 is the first and second pumping parts 12 as shown in FIG. 7. It is in a state to pressurize the tube 15 brought into close contact with the inner circumferential surface thereof.

The operation of the present invention having the above-described configuration is performed by inputting a driving signal as in the past, and the driving force generated by the step motor is decelerated by the engagement between a plurality of reduction gears having different gear ratios. When the driving force is transmitted to the pump gear 30 of the idle gear 31 and the idle shaft 32 by the pump gear 30 on both sides to rotate at the same time.

As the driving force is transmitted to the pump gears 30 on both sides, the pump spring 30 is rotated at the same time, and the clutch spring 40 having one end fixed to each pump gear 30 as shown in FIG. At 20, the clutch spring 40 is firmly adhered to the shaft 20 while being rotated toward the shaft 20 to rotate the shaft 20 in association with the rotational force of the pump gear 30.

On the other hand, the clutch spring 40 and the shaft 20 are pushed in the direction in which the clutch spring 40 rotates outward of the shaft 20 as shown in FIG. 9 when the pump gear 30 rotates on the other shaft 20. Only the clutch spring 40 is idle by the shaft 20 by the pump gear 30 while the adhesion between the two is completely removed.

Therefore, as the pump gear 30 rotates, the shaft 20 on one side is interlocked by the clutch spring 40, while the other shaft 20 is in a non-driven state, and thus is coupled to the shaft 20 on one side. While only the drum 50 rotates, as shown in FIG. 10, the negative pressure is generated in the tube 15 while the pressurized portion of the tube 15 is moved by the roller 60 so as to suck ink. do.

And the pumping part 12 of the other side will continue to maintain a non-driven state.

On the other hand, when the pump gear 30 is reversed by reversing the driving force by the step motor, the pump 12 in which the shaft 20 is interlocked by the clutch spring 40 in the pump gear 30 on the one side is clutched. The spring 40 is pushed toward the outside of the shaft 20 by the pump gear 30 to idle the clutch spring 40 at the shaft 20, and at the pump gear 30 on the other side, the clutch spring ( 40 is tightened in a direction in which the shaft 20 is in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the shaft 20 while the shaft 20 is interlocked with the pump gear 30 by the clutch spring 40 so as to rotate the drum 50 and the tube 15. Through the maintenance work to suck the ink.

Therefore, the present invention performs the pumping action by rotating the shaft 20 through the clutch spring 40 by the pump gear 30 on one side in the direction in which the pump gear 30 rotates, the pump gear on the other side At 30, the clutch spring 40 is configured to allow the ink to be selectively sucked while being idle in the shaft 20.

Thus, the present invention is a structure that allows the selective transmission of the ink by simply stopping the power transmission to the shaft 20 by the clutch spring 40 in accordance with the direction to drive the pump gear 30, so that the roller as before By moving along the slots of the cam diagrams machined in the drum, it is possible to simplify the complex structural defects of selecting the negative pressure forming tube.

In addition, it was a very difficult task to form a slot in a conventional roller, but in the present invention, there is an advantage in that the formation of such a slot is removed, thereby providing convenience of manufacturing and assembling each driving component.

In particular, only the desired ink of the mono and color inks can be selectively pumped, thereby simplifying the operation and providing more stable and enhanced pumping efficiency.

Therefore, the present invention improves the product productivity by making the manufacturing and assembly of each component easier by the simplified configuration, and at the same time improves the stable and enhanced driveability and consequent operation reliability and product quality. This is a very useful effect.

Claims (1)

By dividing the inside by a partition wall in the center to form the first and second pumping parts on both sides, the open one side of the first and second pumping parts to be covered by a pump cover, the shaft hole is formed in the center of the partition wall A case in which a tube is in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the first and second pumping units; A pair of shafts, one end of which is inserted into the first and second pumping parts and supported by the shaft hole, and the other end of which protrudes out of the pump cover; A gear gear formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof, rotatably fitted to an outer end of the shaft, and connected to the gear by an idle gear and an idle shaft to enable simultaneous driving; A clutch spring having one end fixed to the pump gear while being wound on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft, and allowing a transmission of driving force to the shaft to be interrupted according to a rotational direction of the pump gear; A drum fixedly coupled to the shaft in the first and second pumping parts, the shaft pins protruding from the surfaces facing each other; A plurality of rollers rotatably coupled to each axial pin of the drum to always press a tube in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the case; The maintenance pump for the inkjet printer to be made so that only the pumping portion of the pumping portion of the one side by allowing the driving force transmitted through the pump gear of the intermittent by the clutch spring.