Asymmetric ink supply structure and printing structure

Abstract

The present invention discloses an asymmetric ink supply structure and a printing structure, which mainly relate to the technical field of printing equipment. The asymmetric ink supply structure comprises: an ink roller and an ink pool arranged below the ink roller, the surface of the ink roller contacts the ink in the ink pool; the groove of the ink pool for accommodating ink is divided into a first groove surface and a second groove surface by the extension line of the diameter of the ink roller in the vertical direction; wherein the horizontal length of the first groove surface is smaller than the radius of the ink roller, and the horizontal length of the second groove surface is larger than the radius of the ink roller. The present invention can effectively reduce / control the ink supply distance and meet the demand for good printing quality of ink by designing an asymmetric ink supply structure; on the other hand, it can also meet the design requirements of miniaturized printing equipment with a more compact structure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of printing equipment, and in particular relates to an asymmetric ink supply structure and a printing structure. Background Art

[0002] Printed electronics is an emerging technology that applies traditional printing (or coating) technology to the manufacture of electronic components and products. Among them, electronic paste is one of the basic materials in the printed electronics industry. At present, electronic paste is mainly silver paste, aluminum paste, gold paste, and copper paste, and is widely used in many fields such as the front and back electrodes of solar panels, RFID electronic tags, mobile phone antennas, and contactless IC card antenna circuits. However, the melting points of the metal components of the above electronic pastes are relatively high. After sintering, the conductive phase is still in particle contact, so the contact resistance is relatively large. Low-melting-point metals have low melting points and high conductivity. They can be liquid at room temperature and have good fluidity. The conductive phase is a continuous liquid. Therefore, conductive inks made of low-melting-point metals can replace electronic pastes and are widely used in the printed electronics industry.

[0003] The surface of low-melting-point metals exposed to the air is prone to oxidation reaction. Therefore, reducing / controlling the oxidation degree of low-melting-point metals during printing is beneficial to improving the quality of low-melting-point metal printed products. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, one object of the present invention is to provide an asymmetric ink supply structure to solve the problem in the prior art that the ink supply distance is too long, resulting in serious ink oxidation.

[0005] In some illustrative embodiments, the asymmetric ink supply structure includes: an ink delivery roller and an ink pool disposed below the ink delivery roller, wherein the surface of the ink delivery roller is in contact with the ink located in the ink pool; a groove of the ink pool for accommodating ink is divided into a first groove surface and a second groove surface by an extension line of the diameter of the ink delivery roller in the vertical direction; wherein the horizontal length of the first groove surface is smaller than the radius of the ink delivery roller, and the horizontal length of the second groove surface is larger than the radius of the ink delivery roller.

[0006] In some optional embodiments, the first groove surface has a first slope surface for gathering the ink, and the second groove surface has a second slope surface for gathering the ink; the height of the second slope surface is greater than that of the first slope surface.

[0007] In some optional embodiments, the first slope surface and the second slope surface are connected via a bottom surface; the rotation direction of the ink outlet roller is from the second slope surface through the groove bottom to the first slope surface.

[0008] In some optional embodiments, the asymmetric ink supply structure further includes: a scraper roller disposed outside the ink pool close to the first slope surface; a gap between the scraper roller and the ink outlet roller is used to filter out ink agglomerates adhering to the surface of the ink outlet roller and pre-level the ink.

[0009] In some optional embodiments, the asymmetric ink supply structure further includes: a wiping component soaked in a cleaning liquid and cooperating with the ink scraping roller.

[0010] In some optional embodiments, the surface of the doctor roller has a chrome layer to reduce the adhesion of ink on the doctor roller.

[0011] In some optional embodiments, the ink pool is made of elastic material; a squeezing rod acting on the ink pool is provided below the ink pool to squeeze the ink pool when the amount of ink in the ink pool decreases, so that the ink in the ink pool is close to the ink outlet roller.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing structure to solve the technical problems in the prior art.

[0013] In some illustrative embodiments, the printing structure includes the asymmetric ink supply structure described in any one of the above items, and further includes: an ink forming roller that drives the ink outlet roller to rotate and a printing roller arranged below the ink forming roller; wherein the contact surface between the ink outlet roller and the ink forming roller is close to the first slope surface, and the ink transfer length from the ink outlet roller to the ink forming roller is less than 1 / 4 of the circumference of the ink outlet roller.

[0014] In some optional embodiments, the printing structure further includes: an ink-stirring roller and an ink-distributing roller acting on the inking roller.

[0015] In some optional embodiments, the surface of the inking roller has a nitrile rubber layer;

[0016] In some optional embodiments, the surface of the ink distribution roller has a tetrafluoroethylene layer;

[0017] In some optional embodiments, the surface of the ink-stirring roller has a polyurethane layer;

[0018] In some optional embodiments, the surface of the ink outlet roller has a stainless steel layer.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0020] The present invention can effectively reduce / control the ink feeding distance by designing an asymmetric ink feeding structure, thereby meeting the demand for good ink printing quality; on the other hand, it can also meet the design requirements of a miniaturized printing device with a more compact structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an asymmetric ink supply structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the ink pool structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the ink pool structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an asymmetric ink supply structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an asymmetric ink supply structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a printing structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 7 is an exploded view of the assembly of the ink supply device in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 8 is a side sectional view of an ink supply device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Fig. 9 It is a front view of the ink supply device in the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following description and the accompanying drawings fully illustrate specific embodiments of the present invention so that those skilled in the art can practice them. Other embodiments may include structural, logical, electrical, process and other changes. The examples represent possible variations only. Unless explicitly required, separate components and functions are optional, and the order of operation may vary. Parts and features of some embodiments may be included in or replace parts and features of other embodiments. The scope of the embodiments of the present invention includes the entire scope of the claims, and all available equivalents of the claims. In this article, these embodiments of the present invention may be represented individually or collectively by the term "invention", which is merely for convenience, and if more than one invention is disclosed in fact, it is not intended to automatically limit the scope of the application to any single invention or inventive concept.

[0031] It should be noted that the various technical features in the embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other without conflict.

[0032] The embodiment of the present invention discloses an asymmetric ink supply structure, such as Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1Schematic diagram of an asymmetric ink supply structure. The asymmetric ink supply structure includes an ink outlet roller 1 and an ink pool 2; the ink pool 2 is an upper open structure, specifically, Figure 2 As shown, the upper part of the ink pool 2 has a groove surface 21 for accommodating ink 3; the ink outlet roller 1 is located above the ink pool 2, opposite to the upper groove surface 21 of the ink pool 2, and its surface contacts the ink 3 in the ink pool 2, and takes away the ink 3 from the ink pool 2 by rotating. Figure 2 As shown, the extension line D of the diameter of the ink delivery roller 1 in the vertical direction divides the groove surface 21 of the ink pool 2 into a first groove surface 21a and a second groove surface 21b. The length of the first groove surface 21a in the horizontal direction is designed to be smaller than the radius of the ink delivery roller 1, so that the ink delivery roller 1 reduces the influence of the ink pool 2 on the contact space of its roller group on the side of the first groove surface 21a, which is beneficial to shortening the ink supply distance; the length of the second groove surface 21b in the horizontal direction is designed to be larger than the radius of the ink delivery roller 1, which can prevent the ink 3 on the ink delivery roller 1 from leaking out of the ink pool 2 on the side of the second groove surface 21a, and facilitate the subsequent ink adding operation.

[0033] The asymmetric ink supply structure in the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to any conventional ink, electronic ink, and conductive paste for printing, and is particularly suitable for conductive ink whose main component is a low-melting-point metal. The low-melting-point metal may refer to a low-melting-point metal element / low-melting-point metal alloy with a melting point below 300°C. For example, a gallium element, a gallium-based alloy, a bismuth-based alloy, etc.; preferably, any proportion of gallium-indium alloy, gallium-indium-tin alloy, bismuth-indium-tin alloy, etc. can be used, specifically, such as eutectic gallium-indium alloy, gallium-indium-tin alloy, bismuth-indium-tin alloy. Among them, gallium-indium alloy and gallium-indium-tin alloy can be liquid at room temperature, so they can be used for printing in a room temperature environment; the melting point of the bismuth-based alloy is slightly higher, reaching a melting point of 50°C-120°C, and it only needs to be simply heated to make it liquid for printing.

[0034] by Figure 1 The asymmetric ink supply structure provided in the specification is illustrated as an example. The ink delivery roller 1 is designed to rotate clockwise. The first groove surface 21a is located on the left side of the extended diameter line of the ink delivery roller 1 in the vertical direction, and the second groove surface 21b is located on the right side of the extended diameter line of the ink delivery roller 1 in the vertical direction. The left surface of the ink delivery roller 1 is used to contact the ink form roller to implement the inking operation on the ink form roller. Due to the miniaturized structure of the left side of the ink pool 1 (i.e., the position of the first groove surface 21a), the ink form roller can be set at the lower left position of the ink delivery roller 1. The lower left 90° arc surface of the ink delivery roller 1 is used to contact the ink form roller, so as to achieve an ink supply distance of less than 1 / 4 of the circumference of the ink delivery roller, which is beneficial to reduce the exposure time of ink in the air from the ink supply stage in the entire printing system.

[0035] The present invention can effectively reduce / control the ink feeding distance by designing an asymmetric ink feeding structure, thereby meeting the demand for good ink printing quality; on the other hand, it can also meet the design requirements of a miniaturized printing device with a more compact structure.

[0036] Preferably, the length of the first groove surface 21a in the horizontal direction is designed to be greater than 1 / 4 of the radius of the ink delivery roller 1 and less than 1 / 2 of the radius of the ink delivery roller 1, which can not only meet the demand for miniaturization of the asymmetric ink supply structure, but also ensure that the ink delivery roller 1 has sufficient bottom surface to contact the ink in the ink pool 2, thereby ensuring the inking effect of the ink delivery roller 1 itself.

[0037] In some embodiments, the groove surface 21 of the ink pool 2 can be designed as a circular groove surface corresponding to the shape of the ink outlet roller 1, or as a corrugated groove surface, or a "V"-shaped groove surface. Among them, the circular groove surface and the corrugated groove surface are preferred designs, which can reduce the ink dead angle of the ink pool 2 relative to the ink outlet roller 1 and maximize the amount of available ink in the ink pool 2.

[0038] Take a structure of corrugated groove surface as an example. Figure 3 As shown, the groove surface 21 is a trapezoidal structure with an upper flared structure, and the groove surface 21 includes a bottom surface 211, and a first slope surface 212 and a second slope surface 213 extending outward from both sides of the bottom surface 211 in an obliquely upward direction; the first slope surface 212 and the second slope surface 213 respectively form an obtuse angle greater than 90° with the bottom surface 211, thereby playing a role in collecting ink, and can also simultaneously increase the contact depth between the ink outlet roller 1 and the ink 3, thereby increasing the available amount of ink 3. Among them, the first slope surface 212 is located on one side of the first groove surface 21a, and the second slope surface 213 is located on one side of the second groove surface 21b.

[0039] For inks with poor fluidity, such as low-melting-point metals mixed with micro-nano metal particles, the demand for controlling their fluidity can be achieved by mixing the metal particles. At the same time, the ink can be given corresponding properties based on the functional properties of the added metal particles. Metal particles include micro-nano copper powder, iron powder, nickel powder, silver powder, and silver-coated copper powder; among them, copper powder, silver powder, and silver-coated copper powder can be used to increase the electrical conductivity of low-melting-point metals, adding iron powder can be used to increase the magnetic conductivity of low-melting-point metals, and adding nickel powder can be used to increase the antioxidant properties of low-melting-point metals and enhance the metallic gloss of low-melting-point metals.

[0040] For the ink with poor fluidity as mentioned above, the second slope 213 can be designed to fit the surface of the ink roller 1 more closely, so that the height of the second slope 213 is higher than the first slope 212, so that the ink can be accumulated here without leakage, and the overall volume of the asymmetric inking structure can be reduced from this side to meet the design requirements of miniaturization. Preferably, the second slope 213 is designed as an arc structure.

[0041] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3 In some embodiments, the asymmetric ink supply structure in the embodiment of the present invention may further include: a scraper roller 4 arranged outside the ink pool 2 near the first slope 212, the scraper roller 4 is used to filter out ink agglomerates (such as metal particles formed by deposition, solid oxides, and the two together) adhering to the surface of the ink outlet roller 1, and pre-level the ink 3 adhering to the ink outlet roller 1, and the distance between the scraper roller 4 and the ink outlet roller 1 is set as required. Compared with the traditional scraper, the arc-shaped contact surface can reduce the gap control requirement between the scraper roller 4 and the ink outlet roller 1, and unlike the traditional scraper, the gap is set too small, which is very likely to cause the ink 3 to be completely scraped off the ink outlet roller 1, resulting in affecting the inking quality or failing to ink.

[0042] Preferably, the scraper roller 4 is a hard stick with a chromium layer on its surface to reduce the adhesion of the ink 3 on the scraper roller 4. It is particularly suitable for low-melting-point metals in liquid state. The chromium layer has good isolation properties from the surface of the low-melting-point metal, which can avoid the problem of oxide growth and agglomeration due to long-term adhesion of the liquid metal ink, thereby reducing the possibility of hindering the rotation of the scraper roller 4.

[0043] In some embodiments, the scraper roller 4 can be designed to be rotatable or non-rotatable. When it is non-rotatable, it can act on the ink on the ink outlet roller 1 through the arc surface; when it is a rotatable structure, it can further flatten the ink.

[0044] Preferably, if Figure 4 As shown, for the rotatable structure of the ink scraper roller 4, the asymmetric ink supply structure further includes: a wiping component 5 impregnated with a cleaning liquid and cooperating with the ink scraper roller 4. The wiping component 5 can be made of sponge, foamed silicone, rubber, etc. This embodiment further removes the ink adhering to the ink scraper roller 4 through the wiping component 5; wherein the rotation of the ink scraper roller 4 can be driven by the ink outlet roller 1, and the ink scraper roller 4 can also be locked in a manner similar to a latch, so that the ink scraper roller 4 cannot rotate with the ink outlet roller 1, that is, at this time, the wiping component 5 will not have a cleaning effect on the ink scraper roller 4, thereby realizing the selective cleaning of the ink scraper roller 4, such as cleaning the ink scraper roller 4 only after printing is completed, or cleaning the ink scraper roller 4 after the ink scraper roller 4 has an impact on the rotation speed or inking effect of the ink outlet roller 1 beyond the acceptable range.

[0045] The cleaning liquid in the embodiment of the present invention can be selected according to the different inks used. For example, for low-melting-point metals, alcohol can be used. Alcohol has a good cleaning effect on low-melting-point metals, and alcohol is volatile and will not affect the quality of the ink on the ink outlet roller 1.

[0046] In some optional embodiments, the ink pool 2 can be made of elastic material, such as rubber, silicone and other polymer materials, which have a certain ability to recover after deformation, and can ensure the contact between the ink roller 1 and the ink 3 by squeezing when the amount of ink is small. Figure 5 As shown, a squeezing rod 6 acting on the ink pool 2 may be provided below the ink pool 2 to squeeze the ink pool 2 when the amount of ink in the ink pool 2 decreases, so that the ink 3 in the ink pool 2 is close to the ink outlet roller 1.

[0047] Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing structure based on the above-mentioned asymmetric ink supply structure, such as Figure 6 As shown, Figure 6 : is a schematic diagram of the structure of the printing structure, which includes: the ink pool 2 and the ink roller 1 provided in the asymmetric ink supply structure in any of the above embodiments, and in addition, it also includes: an ink roller 7 driving the ink roller 1 to rotate and a printing roller 8 provided below the ink roller 7; wherein, the contact surface between the ink roller 1 and the ink roller 7 is close to the first slope surface, and the ink transfer length from the ink roller 1 to the ink roller 7 is less than 1 / 4 of the circumference of the ink roller 1. wherein, the rotation of the ink roller 1 is driven by the rotation of the ink roller 7.

[0048] The printing structure in this embodiment is conducive to the miniaturization design of the equipment, while reducing the ink transfer distance from the ink outlet roller 1 to the ink form roller 7, which is conducive to reducing the oxidation degree of the low-melting-point metal ink.

[0049] In some preferred embodiments, the printing structure may further include: an ink-stirring roller 9 and an ink-distributing roller 10 directly acting on the inking roller 7 .

[0050] The ink transfer, ink distribution and ink channeling effects between the roller groups in the printing structure have higher requirements on the ink adhesion degree of each roller, which directly affects the printing effect of the inking roller 7. In this regard, the inventor has found a roller group selection that can achieve good low-melting-point metal ink printing effect for low-melting-point metal ink.

[0051] Specifically, the surface of the ink roller 7 has a nitrile rubber layer, the surface of the ink distribution roller 10 has a tetrafluoroethylene layer, the surface of the ink-stirring roller 9 has a polyurethane layer, and the surface of the ink outlet roller 1 has a stainless steel layer (or is a stainless steel roller). The roller group design in this specific embodiment can achieve a good printing effect of the ink roller 7 and reduce useless loss of ink.

[0052] Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink feeding device, such as Figure 7-9 As shown, Figure 7 It is an exploded view of the assembly of the ink supply device in the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 is a side sectional view of an ink supply device in an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 91 is a front view of an ink supply device in an embodiment of the present invention; the ink supply device comprises: an ink delivery roller 1, a first bearing 11 and a second bearing 12, an insertion handle 13, and an ink delivery roller fixing seat 14; wherein, the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 are sleeved on both ends of the ink delivery roller 1, and the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 are connected by the insertion handle 13, so that the ink delivery roller 1, the first bearing 11, the second bearing 12 and the insertion handle form an integrated device, and the ink delivery roller fixing seat 14 is provided with a first slot 15 and a second slot 16 corresponding to the shape of the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12. During assembly, the operator only needs to pull or press down the insertion handle 13 to disengage or insert the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 into the corresponding slots, and then fix them using a locking structure such as a latch 17.

[0053] In this embodiment, the structure of the ink supply device is simplified, and the ink delivery roller 1 can be installed and replaced by plugging and pulling, without the need to disassemble the device as a whole to obtain the ink delivery roller and replace it.

[0054] In some embodiments, the ink supply device may further include: a first sliding assembly 18 and a second sliding assembly 19 mounted on both sides of the ink roller fixing seat 14, wherein the first sliding assembly 18 and the second sliding assembly 19 are arranged in a mirror image, and are used to drive the ink roller fixing seat 14 to move in a straight line direction, thereby driving the structure on the ink roller fixing seat 14 (such as the ink roller 1 and the ink pool 2) to move, that is, to achieve the requirement of controlling the ink roller 1 to contact or separate from the ink roller 7. In addition, the first sliding assembly 18 and the second sliding assembly 19 can be mounted on the supporting bracket 20. Specifically, the first sliding assembly 18 is used for illustration, and the sliding part of the first sliding assembly 18 is fixedly connected to the ink roller fixing seat 14, and the fixed part of the first sliding assembly 18 is fixedly connected to the supporting bracket 20.

[0055] The first sliding assembly 18 can be controlled by a cylinder, a motor, a magnetic attraction, or other methods to achieve its directional reciprocating movement.

[0056] In some embodiments, the ink supply device may further include: a mirror-image ink pool mounting frame 21 for mounting the ink pool 2 and / or the ink scraping roller 4; wherein the ink pool mounting frame 21 is mounted on the inner side of the ink outlet roller fixing seat 14.

[0057] The asymmetric ink supply structure in the ink supply device in the embodiment of the present invention, which is at least composed of an ink outlet roller and an ink pool, or the asymmetric ink supply structure which is at least composed of an ink outlet roller, an ink pool and an ink scraper roller, can be directly applied to the ink supply device. Its position and structure can be referred to the above embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0058] In some embodiments, the ink supply device may further include: an ink leakage groove 22 for receiving ink that may leak. The ink leakage groove 22 is located below the ink pool 2, and in some embodiments, it may be specifically arranged opposite to the contact position between the ink scraping roller 4 and the ink pool 2.

[0059] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the embodiments herein can all be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate the interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described above around their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. A skilled person can implement the described functions in an alternative manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as departing from the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An asymmetric ink supply structure, characterized in that: include: An ink outlet roller and an ink pool disposed below the ink outlet roller, wherein the surface of the ink outlet roller contacts the ink in the ink pool; The groove of the ink pool for accommodating ink is divided into a first groove surface and a second groove surface by an extension line of the diameter of the ink outlet roller in the vertical direction; wherein, The horizontal length of the first groove surface is smaller than the radius of the ink delivery roller, and the horizontal length of the second groove surface is larger than the radius of the ink delivery roller; The first groove surface is used for collecting the first slope of the ink, and the second groove surface is used for collecting the second slope of the ink; The height of the second slope is greater than that of the first slope; The first slope surface and the second slope surface are connected via a bottom surface; The ink outlet roller rotates from the second slope surface through the groove bottom toward the first slope surface.

2. The asymmetric ink supply structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: An ink scraping roller disposed outside the ink pool and close to the first slope surface; The ink scraping roller and the ink outlet roller are matched with each other in a clearance so as to filter out ink agglomerates adhering to the surface of the ink outlet roller and pre-level the ink.

3. The asymmetric ink supply structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: A wiping component impregnated with cleaning liquid cooperates with the ink scraping roller.

4. The asymmetric ink supply structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: The surface of the ink scraping roller has a chrome layer for reducing the adhesion of ink on the ink scraping roller.

5. The asymmetric ink supply structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The ink pool is made of elastic material; A squeezing rod acting on the ink pool is arranged below the ink pool, and is used to squeeze the ink pool when the amount of ink in the ink pool decreases, so that the ink in the ink pool is close to the ink outlet roller.

6. A printing structure, characterized in that: The asymmetric ink supply structure comprises the asymmetric ink supply structure described in any one of claims 1 to 5, and further comprises: an ink forming roller for driving an ink outlet roller to rotate and a printing roller arranged below the ink forming roller; wherein the contact surface between the ink outlet roller and the ink forming roller is close to the first slope surface, and the ink transfer length from the ink outlet roller to the ink forming roller is less than 1 / 4 of the circumference of the ink outlet roller.

7. The printing structure according to claim 6, characterized in that: Also includes: An ink-shifting roller and an ink-distributing roller act on the inking roller.

8. The printing structure according to claim 7, characterized in that: The surface of the ink-forming roller has a nitrile rubber layer, the surface of the ink-distributing roller has a tetrafluoroethylene layer, the surface of the ink-shifting roller has a polyurethane layer, and the surface of the ink-discharging roller has a stainless steel layer.

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