Pump body structure and ink path system of ink-jet printer

Abstract

The invention relates to a pump body structure and an ink path system of an ink-jet printer. The pump body structure comprises a first pump body unit, a second pump body unit and a third pump body unit, the second pump body unit is provided with a pumping-out mode and a pumping-in mode, and the working modes of the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit are set to be opposite; the medium flow channel is arranged between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit and used for circulation and exchange of fluid between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit. And one of the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit in the pump-out mode pumps fluid to the other one in the pump-in mode through the communicating flow channel. Compared with the prior art, the pumping suction force of the pump body is improved, and meanwhile the service life is prolonged.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of hydraulic transmission, and in particular to a pump body structure and an ink path system of an inkjet printer. Background Art

[0002] Inkjet printers are devices that use charged ink particles and the principle of electric field deflection to mark products in a non-contact manner. They are widely used in the food industry, cosmetics industry, pharmaceutical industry, automotive and other parts processing industries, wire and cable industry, aluminum-plastic pipe industry, tobacco and alcohol industry and other fields. They can be used to print production date, batch number, barcode, trademark pattern, anti-counterfeiting mark and Chinese characters, etc.

[0003] The inkjet printer is generally composed of a printing unit, an ink system and a control system. The ink system is mainly used for ink supply and recovery. The ink system generally includes ink cartridges and multi-head gear pumps. The multi-head gear pump supplies ink from the ink cartridge to the print head and recovers the unused ink from the print head back to the ink cartridge. However, the ink recovery effect of the multi-head gear pump is poor at the initial startup. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on this, the purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings and deficiencies in the prior art and to provide a pump body structure and an ink path system for an inkjet printer.

[0005] A pump body structure, characterized by comprising:

[0006] The first pump body unit is provided with a pump-out mode and a pump-in mode;

[0007] The second pump unit is provided with a pump-out mode and a pump-in mode, and the working modes of the first pump unit and the second pump unit are set to be opposite; and

[0008] The medium flow channel is arranged between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit, and is used for the circulation and exchange of fluid between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit, so that the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit in the pump-out mode can pump the fluid to the other side in the pump-in mode through the connecting flow channel.

[0009] Compared with the prior art, the present invention sets a medium flow channel between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit, which can pump the fluid from one end of the pump-out mode to one end of the pump-in mode, thereby increasing the pumping suction force at one end of the pump-in mode and improving the working effect of the pump body. At the same time, the fluid can lubricate the gear end face at one end of the pump-in mode, preventing dry grinding caused by lack of lubrication between gears and extending the service life of the pump body.

[0010] In one embodiment, one end of the medium flow channel is located at the lower part of the first pump body unit, and the other end is located at the middle part of the second pump body unit.

[0011] In one embodiment, the aperture of the medium flow channel at one end of the first pump body unit is larger than that at the other end.

[0012] In one embodiment, the pore size of the medium flow channel is 0.2-0.3 mm.

[0013] In one of the embodiments, a connecting unit is further included. The connecting unit is arranged between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit, and the connecting unit is provided with a medium flow channel.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit respectively include an axis core, a driving gear, a driven gear and a rotor, the axis core is movably connected to the connecting unit, the driving gear is fixedly sleeved on one end of the axis core close to the connecting unit, the driven gear is movably connected to the connecting unit and meshes with the driving gear, and the rotor is sleeved on the axis core.

[0015] In one of the embodiments, the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit further include a gear cover plate, a gear ball and a gear pressure ring. The gear cover plate is covered on the driving gear and the driven gear. A groove is provided on the surface of the gear cover plate. The gear ball is fixed in the groove and protrudes out of the surface of the gear cover plate. The gear ball is made of soft elastic material. The gear pressure ring is covered on the gear cover plate and the gear ball.

[0016] In one embodiment, there are two driven gears, and the two driven gears are located on two opposite sides of the driving gear.

[0017] In one of the embodiments, an interface unit is further included, wherein the interface unit is fixed on a surface of the connection unit, and the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit respectively form a communicating flow channel with the interface unit.

[0018] On the other hand, the present invention provides an ink path system of an inkjet printer, comprising an ink cartridge and a pump body structure as described above, wherein the outlet end of the ink cartridge is connected to the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit that are in a pump-out mode, and the inlet end of the ink cartridge is connected to the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit that are in a pump-in mode. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the ink path system of the inkjet printer of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2A front view of an embodiment of a multi-head gear pump of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 An exploded view of an embodiment of a multi-head gear pump of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 It is a partial structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of a multi-head gear pump of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Exploded diagram of

[0024] Figure 6 A perspective view of an embodiment of a multi-head gear pump of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 7 for Figure 6 Sectional view of section A-A;

[0026] Figure 8 A perspective view of an embodiment of a multi-head gear pump of the present invention;

[0027] Fig. 9 for Figure 8 Cross-sectional view of section B-B. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without violating the connotation of the present application, so the present application is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0029] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that if the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. appear, the orientation or position relationship indicated by these terms is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0030] In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", and "fourth" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the term "plurality" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0031] In this application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, if the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like appear, these terms should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integrated connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise clearly defined. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0032] In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, if there is a description that a first feature is "above" or "below" a second feature, etc., or similar descriptions appear, it may mean that the first and second features are in direct contact, or that the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Moreover, the first feature being "above", "above" and "above" the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. The first feature being "below", "below" and "below" the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0033] After analyzing the working state of the multi-head gear pump, the technicians found that the working load of the gear at the recovery end of the multi-head gear pump is much smaller than that at the ink supply end, so the gear speed is small, resulting in small pump suction and poor ink recovery effect at the initial start-up of the multi-head gear pump. Based on this, the present invention sets a medium flow channel between the ink supply end and the recovery end of the multi-head gear pump, so that the ink at the ink supply end can enter the recovery end, thereby increasing the pump suction at the recovery end of the multi-head gear pump and improving the ink recovery effect. At the same time, the ink can lubricate the gear end face at the recovery end to prevent dry grinding caused by lack of lubrication between the gears, thereby extending the service life of the multi-head gear pump.

[0034] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

[0035] See also Figure 1 , 2The ink path system of the inkjet printer of the present invention includes an ink cartridge and a multi-head gear pump. The multi-head gear pump includes a connecting unit 10, a first pump unit 20, a second pump unit 30 and an interface unit 40. The first pump unit 20 and the second pump unit 30 are arranged on opposite sides of the connecting unit 10. The interface unit 40 is fixed on the surface of the connecting unit 10. The interface unit 40 forms a connecting flow channel with the first pump unit 20 and the second pump unit 30 respectively. Among them, the inlet end of the first pump unit 20 is connected to the ink cartridge, and the outlet end is connected to the print head to form an ink supply end; the inlet end of the second pump unit 30 is connected to the print head, and the outlet end is connected to the ink cartridge to form a recovery end. That is, the first pump unit 20 is in a pump-out mode to pump the ink in the ink cartridge to the print head, and the second pump unit 30 is in a pump-in mode to pump the unused ink of the print head into the ink cartridge.

[0036] See also Figure 3-5 The first pump body unit 20 includes a gear assembly and a rotor assembly, and the gear assembly includes a shaft core 211, a gear 212, a gear cover plate 213, a gear wave 214, a gear pressure ring 215 and a mounting plate 216. One end of the shaft core 211 is movably connected to the connecting unit 10, and the gear 212 includes a driving gear and two driven gears. The driving gear is fixedly sleeved on one end of the shaft core 211 close to the connecting unit 10, and the two driven gears are located on the opposite sides of the driving gear, and are respectively movably connected to the connecting unit 10, and are respectively meshed with the driving gear. In the present invention, the driving gear and the shaft core 211 are clearance-matched, which can ensure the parallelism of the two end faces of the driving gear and the contact surface of the connecting unit, and the verticality of the tooth profile surface of the driving gear and the contact surface of the connecting unit, so that the internal space compression rate of the gear pump is smaller, thereby achieving low-speed high-pressure output. There are two driven gears, which can increase the flow rate of the multi-head gear pump and reduce the internal space at the same time, thereby shortening the height size of the multi-head gear pump. There are two gear cover plates 213, which are arranged opposite to each other on both sides of the shaft core 211, and each gear cover plate 213 covers the driving gear and one of the driven gears. Figure 4-5 , a groove for accommodating the gear ball 214 is provided on the surface of each gear cover plate 213, and the gear ball 214 protrudes from the surface of the gear cover plate 213. The gear pressure ring 215 is a hollow cylinder, which is covered on the gear cover plate 213 and the gear ball 214. The mounting plate 216 is a circular plate with an opening in the middle. The gear pressure ring 215 and the mounting plate 216 are respectively provided with three through holes, which are fixedly connected to the connecting unit 10 by screws. The rotor assembly passes through the middle opening of the mounting plate 216 and the gear pressure ring 215, and is mounted on the shaft core 211. The rotor assembly includes a rotor 222 and a magnetic ring cover 224, and the magnetic ring cover 224 is mounted on the rotor 222.

[0037] Please continue reading Figure 3The interface unit 40 includes a first connector 402, a second connector 404, a third connector 406 and a fourth connector 408. Figure 6-7 , the connection unit 10 and the first pump body unit 20 form a cavity, and the gear 212 divides the cavity into an intake cavity and a discharge cavity. The intake cavity is connected to the first joint 402, and the discharge cavity is connected to the second joint 404, so that the connection unit 10 and the first pump body unit 20 form a first connecting flow channel. When the gear pump is used in conjunction with the motor, the motor drives the rotor 222 to operate after being energized. When the driving gear rotates with the rotor 222 and drives the driven gear to rotate, the volume of the intake cavity changes from small to large, forming a vacuum, thereby sucking the ink in the ink cartridge through the first joint 402; the ink is pushed to the discharge cavity by the gear 212 through the tooth groove; the volume of the discharge cavity changes from large to small, and the ink is discharged from the second joint 404 to the print head.

[0038] See also Figure 4 The gear 212 rotates in the narrow cavity between the gear cover plate 214 and the connecting unit 10. When the fluid fills the internal space, the pressure generated will squeeze the gear cover plate 213 outward. In the present invention, the gear pressing ring 215 and the gear ball 214 are interference fit, which can press the gear ball 214 against the gear cover plate 213, so that the gear cover plate 213 maintains close contact with the end face of the gear 212, thereby increasing the suction of the multi-head gear pump.

[0039] When moving at high speed, the end face of the gear 212 is easily worn, which shortens the product life of the multi-head gear pump. In the present invention, the gear ball 214 is made of soft elastic material. When the end face of the gear 212 is worn, the gear cover plate 213 adapts to the end face of the gear 212 with the elastic force of the gear ball 214, so that the end face of the gear 212 always maintains a good clearance fit, thereby extending the service life of the multi-head gear pump.

[0040] Please continue reading Figure 3 The second pump body unit 30 has the same structural composition as the first pump body unit 20, and is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the connecting unit 10. The structural composition of the second pump body unit 30 will not be repeated, and the first pump body unit 20 may be specifically referred to. In the present invention, a group of pump body units are respectively arranged on both sides of the connecting unit 10, and each group of pump body units includes a separate shaft core and a rotor, so that each group of pump body units can be driven by a motor alone, and different speed parameters can be adjusted. At the same time, since the first pump body unit 20 and the second pump body unit 30 have the same structural composition, their working mode can be selected as a pump-out mode or a pump-in mode according to the situation, so the speed parameters of the two groups of pump body units can be interchanged to avoid the shortening of the life of the gear pump caused by the fast wear of the group of pump body units with a high speed.

[0041] See also Figure 8-9In the multi-head gear pump of the present invention, the connecting unit 10 is further provided with a medium flow channel 102, and the two ends of the medium flow channel 102 are respectively connected with the first pump body unit 20 and the second pump body unit 30. The medium flow channel of the present invention can allow the ink at the ink supply end to enter the recovery end, which can avoid the situation that the pumping suction force is small due to the lack of ink at the recovery end, and improve the ink recovery effect; at the same time, the gear end surface at the recovery end is lubricated to prevent dry grinding caused by lack of lubrication between gears.

[0042] See also Fig. 9 , one end of the medium flow channel 102 is located at the lower part of the connecting unit 10, and the other end is located at the middle part of the connecting unit 10. Therefore, the position of the medium flow channel 102 at the ink supply end is at the lower part of the connecting unit 10, so that the ink can flow into the recovery end in a shorter time; the position of the medium flow channel 102 at the recovery end is in the middle part of the connecting unit 10, so that the ink flows out at the recovery end at a position close to the center of the gear, and can flow into the gear end face at the shortest distance to achieve the lubrication effect.

[0043] Please continue reading Fig. 9 , the aperture of the medium flow channel 102 at one end of the first pump body unit 10 is larger than that at the other end. Therefore, the aperture of the medium flow channel 102 at the ink supply end is larger than that at the recovery end, which can control the flow rate and prevent too much ink from flowing into the recovery end, affecting the normal use pressure ink supply at the ink supply end. In addition, if the aperture of the medium flow channel 102 is too small, the ink will easily clog the channel, and if the aperture is too large, it will cause a large change in the internal pressure of the gear pump, affecting normal use. Therefore, the aperture of the medium flow channel 102 of the present invention is 0.2-0.3mm.

[0044] The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0045] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A pump body structure, characterized in that: include: The first pump body unit is provided with a pump-out mode and a pump-in mode; The second pump unit is provided with a pump-out mode and a pump-in mode, and the working modes of the first pump unit and the second pump unit are set to be opposite; and The medium flow channel is arranged between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit, and is used for the circulation and exchange of fluid between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit, so that the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit in the pump-out mode can pump the fluid to the other side in the pump-in mode through the connecting flow channel.

2. The pump structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: One end of the medium flow channel is located at the lower part of the first pump body unit, and the other end is located at the middle part of the second pump body unit.

3. The pump body structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The aperture of the medium flow channel at one end of the first pump body unit is larger than that at the other end.

4. The pump structure according to claim 3, characterized in that: The aperture of the medium flow channel is 0.2-0.3 mm.

5. The pump structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The pump also includes a connecting unit, which is disposed between the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit and is provided with a medium flow channel.

6. The pump structure according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first pump body unit and the second pump body unit respectively include an axis core, a driving gear, a driven gear and a rotor. The axis core is movably connected to the connecting unit. The driving gear is fixedly sleeved on one end of the axis core close to the connecting unit. The driven gear is movably connected to the connecting unit and meshes with the driving gear. The rotor is sleeved on the axis core.

7. The pump structure according to claim 6, characterized in that: The first pump body unit and the second pump body unit also include a gear cover plate, a gear ball and a gear pressure ring. The gear cover plate is covered on the driving gear and the driven gear. A groove is provided on the surface of the gear cover plate. The gear ball is fixed in the groove and protrudes from the surface of the gear cover plate. The gear ball is made of soft elastic material. The gear pressure ring is covered on the gear cover plate and the gear ball.

8. The pump structure according to claim 6, characterized in that: There are two driven gears, and the two driven gears are located on two opposite sides of the driving gear.

9. The pump structure according to claim 5, characterized in that: It also includes an interface unit, which is fixed on the surface of the connecting unit, and the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit form communication channels with the interface unit respectively.

10. An ink path system of an inkjet printer, characterized in that: It comprises an ink cartridge and a pump body structure as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the outlet end of the ink cartridge is connected to the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit that are in a pump-out mode, and the inlet end of the ink cartridge is connected to the first pump body unit and the second pump body unit that are in a pump-in mode.

Images