Printer

Abstract

To provide a printer which can inhibit ink mist contained in deodorized air from being discharged to the outside while reducing costs.SOLUTION: A printer 10 includes: a body casing 90 which houses an ink discharge head 64 configured to discharge an ink; and a deodorization unit 10 having an odor removal part 18 which removes odor occurring in the body casing. The deodorization unit includes: a housing 24 disposed in the body casing; an air passage 11 which is provided in the housing and through which air from which odor is removed by the odor removal part passes; a suction part 22 which suctions air in the body casing into the air passage and blows the suctioned air from an air outlet to the outside of the air passage; and a blown air collision part 36 which is disposed facing the air outlet and with which the air blown out from the air outlet collides. The body casing has exhaust holes for exhausting the air collided at the blown air collision part to the outside.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus equipped with a deodorizing unit for removing odors generated within the apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Printing devices that print images and characters on objects use inks such as solvent inks that contain pigments and organic solvents, and ultraviolet (UV) curable inks that contain pigments and ultraviolet curable components, and these inks emit odors during printing.

[0003] In recent years, printing machines are being installed in commercial environments such as cafes where food and drink is served, and in such environments it is desirable to eliminate odors from the installed equipment as much as possible. In response to these circumstances, printing machines equipped with deodorizing units that deodorize odors before discharging them outside the machine have been developed.

[0004] For example, in the printing device of Patent Document 1, a deodorizing unit installed in the device body has an exhaust duct that exhausts the air inside the device to the outside, and inside the exhaust duct are arranged a fan that sucks in the air inside the device and exhausts it to the outside, and a deodorizing filter that removes odorous components in the air. In this printing device, by driving the fan, odorous components generated during printing are removed through the filter, and clean air can be exhausted to the outside of the printing device from the exhaust port of the exhaust duct. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-16674 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the printing device of Patent Document 1, the air drawn into the exhaust duct by the fan may contain mist of ink (i.e., ink mist) that is generated when ink droplets are ejected from the ink head. Some of this mist may pass through the deodorizing filter and become mixed into the exhaust air. When the mist is discharged, it may adhere to objects placed near the exhaust port of the printing device, causing dirt. However, providing a separate device for collecting the mist increases manufacturing costs.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a printing device that can prevent ink mist contained in deodorized air from being discharged to the outside while keeping costs down. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the printing device of the present invention comprises a main casing that houses an ink ejection head that ejects ink onto a printed material, and a deodorizing unit having an odor removal section that removes odors generated within the main casing, wherein the deodorizing unit comprises a housing arranged within the main casing, an air flow path provided within the housing through which air within the casing from which odors have been removed by the odor removal section passes, a suction section that draws air within the main casing into the air flow path and blows the sucked air out of the air flow path from an outlet, and a blown air collision section arranged opposite the outlet and against which the air blown out of the outlet collides, and the main casing has an exhaust hole that discharges the air that has collided at the blown air collision section to the outside.

[0009] According to the printing device, when odor is generated by printing on a print medium, when the suction section of the deodorizing unit is driven, the air in the main casing is sucked into an air flow path separated by a wall section and passes through the odor removal section to be deodorized. The air sucked into the air flow path is blown out from the outlet of the suction section, collides with the blown air collision section provided in the air flow path, and then the flow direction is changed by the collision and is discharged to the outside of the main casing through the exhaust hole. The air sucked into the air flow path may contain mist, which is atomized ink. However, the air blown out from the outlet of the suction section collides with the blown air collision section, and the mist in the air adheres to the blown air collision section and is removed, so that the mist can be prevented from being discharged to the outside of the main casing through the exhaust hole. This makes it possible to prevent the discharge of mist at low cost without providing a separate device for collecting mist. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the mist contained in the deodorized air from being discharged to the outside of the printing device while suppressing costs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of the main body of the printing device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a rear view of the main body of the printing device. [Figure 4] 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2, illustrating the arrangement of the deodorizing unit, the guide rails, and the cap within the main body casing. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a deodorizing unit. [Figure 7] FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device body, illustrating the flow of air when the deodorizing unit is operated. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a side view of the device body, illustrating the flow of air when the deodorizing unit is operated. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of a deodorizing unit in the printing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] An embodiment of a printing device 1 according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the printing device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of a device body 2 of the printing device 1, and Fig. 3 is a rear view of the printing device 1. The printing device 1 comprises a device body 2 equipped with a printing section 60 which performs printing and a deodorizing unit 10 which deodorizes odors, and an operation terminal 4 which is an input section for inputting information to the device body 2.

[0013] In FIG. 1, the symbols U and D indicate the upper and lower directions, the symbols Fr and Rr indicate the front and rear directions, and the symbols L and R indicate the left and right directions. Here, the forward direction Fr and the rear direction Rr refer to the direction toward the user and the direction away from the user, respectively, as seen from the user in front of the device body 2, and the left direction L and the right direction R refer to the left and right directions, respectively, as seen from the user in front of the device body 2. In addition, in this embodiment, the moving direction of the ink head 50 of the device body 2 is called the main scanning direction Y, the direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction Y in a plan view is called the sub-scanning direction X, and the direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction Y and the sub-scanning direction X is called the height direction Z. In this embodiment, the main scanning direction Y coincides with the left-right direction, the sub-scanning direction X coincides with the front-rear direction, and the height direction Z coincides with the up-down direction.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 2 of the printing device 1 comprises a table 50 on which the substrate to be printed is placed, a printing section 60 having an ink ejection head 64 that ejects ink onto the substrate to print, a moving mechanism 70 that moves the ink ejection head 64 and the substrate to be printed relatively, a deodorizing unit 10 for deodorizing odors generated inside the main body 2, a control section 80, and a main body casing 90 that houses these components.

[0015] The printing substrate to be printed on is, for example, flexible recording paper or resin sheet, rigid plate material, various cases, small electronic devices, daily necessities, etc. The material and shape of the printing substrate are not particularly limited, and may be, for example, paper, resin, fabric, metal, wood, glass, etc., or may be a flat or three-dimensional object. The printing device 1 is capable of printing on each of the printing substrates placed on the table 50.

[0016] The main body casing (hereinafter, simply referred to as the "casing") 90 includes a main body 92 and a front cover 96. The main body 92 is formed in a box shape surrounded by a bottom wall 92a, a front wall 92b, a rear wall 92c, a left side wall 92d, a right side wall 92e, and an upper wall 92f, and has an opening 93 that opens from the front surface to the upper surface of the main body 92. An air vent 95 is provided in the right side wall 92e. The air vent 95 is formed in an area that is forward and lower than a guide rail 72 described later. As shown in FIG. 3, the casing 90 has an exhaust hole 94 that exhausts air that has passed through the odor removal filter 18 of the deodorizing unit 10 to the outside of the casing 90. In this embodiment, a plurality of slit-shaped exhaust holes 94 that are long in the vertical direction are provided in the rear wall 92c that forms the back surface of the device main body 2.

[0017] The main body 92 directly or indirectly supports the table 50, the printing unit 60, the moving mechanism 70, and the control unit 80 of the printing device 1. The front cover 96 is formed in the shape of a translucent plate that covers the opening 93 of the main body 92 in an openable and closable manner.

[0018] The table 50 supports the printing material from below and is formed in a flat plate shape. The upper surface of the table 50 forms a planar placement surface 50a on which the printing material is placed. The placement surface 50a extends in the front-rear and left-right directions, and the main scanning direction Y and the sub-scanning direction X are parallel to the placement surface 50a.

[0019] The movement mechanism 70 includes a carriage 71 carrying the ink ejection head 64, a guide rail 72, and a carriage movement mechanism (not shown) that moves the carriage 71 along the guide rail 72. The guide rail 72 is disposed above the table 50 and extends in the main scanning direction Y. In this embodiment, the guide rail 72 is disposed in the center of the casing 90 in the front-rear direction. The carriage 71 is engaged with the guide rail 72 with the ink ejection head 64 housed therein. The carriage movement mechanism includes a motor, and the carriage 71 is moved in the main scanning direction Y along the guide rail 72 by the driving force of the motor.

[0020] As shown in Fig. 4, the movement mechanism 70 includes a table movement mechanism 54 that moves the table 50. The table movement mechanism 54 includes a lifting device that moves the table 50 in the up-down direction below the guide rails 72, and a horizontal movement device that moves the table 50 in the front-rear direction, which is the sub-scanning direction X. Note that Fig. 2 shows the table 50 in the most elevated position, that is, moved to the frontmost side.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 5, the printing unit 60 includes a plurality of ink tanks 62 housed in a tank housing box 61, an ink ejection head 64, an ink flow path 63 connecting the ink tanks 62 and the ink ejection head 64, a cap 66, an ink discharge flow path 68, and a waste liquid tank 69. The ink tank 62 is a container for storing ink, such as an ink cartridge, and one or more ink tanks 62 are provided according to the type of ink (for example, each color of ink). In FIG. 1, six ink tanks 62 are illustrated as an example. The shape of the ink tank 62 can be set arbitrarily, and can be, for example, a pouch-like or box-like shape. The ink tanks 62 are disposed above the ink ejection head 64, and the ink flow path 63 is provided for each ink tank 62.

[0022] The ink ejection head 64 precisely controls the ink supplied from the ink tank 62 to be ejected in the form of minute droplets onto a substrate. The ink ejection head 64 has a nozzle surface 64b on the lower surface of which are formed a plurality of nozzle holes 64a for ejecting ink. The nozzle surface 64b is covered by a cap 66 during non-printing periods when printing is not being performed.

[0023] The cap 66 is disposed at a home position set at the right end of the guide rail 72 as shown in FIG. 4, and is driven by a capping mechanism 67 shown in FIG. 5 to be attached to and detached from the nozzle surface 64b. Here, the home position is a position where the ink ejection head 64 waits when not printing. The capping mechanism 67 is a mechanism that supports the cap 66 and moves the cap 66 up and down, and attaches the cap 66 to the nozzle surface 64b of the ink ejection head 64 that has been moved to the home position when not printing, and removes the cap 66 from the nozzle surface 64b when printing starts. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the cap 66 has been moved downward and removed from the nozzle surface 64b. In this way, by covering the nozzle surface 64b with the cap 66 when not printing, it is possible to prevent the ink attached to the ink ejection head 64 from hardening and clogging the nozzle holes 64a. The cap 66 is connected to a waste liquid tank 69 via an ink discharge flow path 68 , and the ink in the cap 66 is discharged through the ink discharge flow path 68 to the waste liquid tank 69 .

[0024] The deodorizing unit 10 is disposed within the casing 90 and serves to remove odors generated within the casing 90. As shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7, the deodorizing unit 10 includes a housing 24, an air flow path 11 separated by the walls of the housing 24, an odor removal filter 18 which is an odor removal section that removes odorous components from the air for deodorization, a fan 22 which is a suction section that draws air within the casing 90 into the air flow path 11, and an absorber 38 which is capable of absorbing ink mist contained in the air. Note that the portion indicated by the reference numeral 26 in Fig. 7 indicates an entrance / exit for a cable for supplying electricity to the fan 22.

[0025] The air flow path 11 is provided in the casing 90, and in this embodiment, is formed by a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing 24 with both ends open. The housing 24 has a bottom plate 24a, a pair of side walls 24b, 24c erected from the bottom plate 24a, and an upper plate 24d connecting the upper ends of the pair of side walls, which constitute the wall portion. The housing 24 is formed by combining two housing parts, that is, a plate-shaped first member 24-1 forming one side wall 24b, and a cross-sectionally L-shaped second member 24-2 forming the other side wall 24c and the upper plate 24d. In FIG. 7, the second member 24-2 is shown in a semi-transparent state so that the inside of the housing 24 can be easily understood. In this embodiment, the bottom wall portion 92a of the casing 90 is used as the bottom plate 24a of the housing 24, and the first member 24-1 and the second member 24-2 are fixed to the bottom wall portion 92a using screws or the like. In this embodiment, a deodorizing filter 18 is disposed on the upstream side of the air flow path 11, and a fan 22 is disposed on the downstream side.

[0026] The odor removal filter 18 is disposed at one open end of the housing 24, and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape that closes the opening. In this embodiment, an activated carbon filter is used as an example of the odor removal filter 18. An airtight member 32 is attached to the open end of the housing 24 where the odor removal filter 18 is disposed, and the odor removal filter 18 is installed at the open end of the housing 24 with the airtight member 32 sandwiched therebetween. The airtight member 32 can be, for example, a foamed sealant that is flexible and elastic. As shown in FIG. 7, a filter receiver 28 is provided at one open end of the housing 24, extending from the bottom wall 24a to the outside of the open end, and the odor removal filter 18 is placed on the filter receiver 28. An L-shaped leaf spring 30 is attached to the upper plate 24d of the housing 24 as a biasing means for biasing the odor removal filter 18 placed on the filter receiver 28 toward the airtight member 32. The leaf spring 30 vertically holds the odor removal filter 18 together with the filter receiving portion 28, and biases the odor removal filter 18 towards the airtight member 32.

[0027] The fan 22 is disposed downstream of the deodorizing filter 18, and has an air inlet 22b and an air outlet 22a, as shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, a plate-shaped member 20 that divides the air flow path 11 is disposed in the housing 24 at a position a predetermined distance away from the odor removing filter 18, and the fan 22 is attached to the plate-shaped member 20. The plate-shaped member 20 has a through hole (not shown) in the center, and the fan 22 is installed on the downstream surface of the plate-shaped member 20 so as to cover the through hole of the plate-shaped member 20, with the inlet 22b overlapping the through hole of the plate-shaped member 22. In this way, a space, i.e., a chamber, that becomes the air flow path 11 divided by the downstream end face of the odor removing filter 18 and the plate-shaped member 20 is provided between the odor removing filter 18 and the fan 22, so that the air drawn into the deodorizing unit 10 when the fan 22 is driven can pass uniformly through the entire area of ​​the odor removing filter 18.

[0028] The fan 22 has an outlet 22a that blows out the air sucked into the air flow path 11 to the outside of the air flow path 11. The outlet 22a of the fan 22 opens to face downward (toward the bottom plate 22a of the housing 24). In the present embodiment, a sirocco fan is used as an example of the fan 22.

[0029] The deodorizing unit 10 is disposed opposite the air outlet 22a of the fan 22, and has an air blown collision section 36 against which the air blown out from the air outlet 22a collides. The air blown collision section 36 is provided between the air outlet 22a and the exhaust hole 94 in the air flow direction. In this embodiment, the bottom plate 24a of the housing 24 facing the air outlet 22a, that is, the bottom plate 24a located downstream of the air flow path 11 from the plate-like member 20, constitutes the air blown collision section 36. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the downstream open end of the housing 24 abuts against a rear wall 92c of the casing 94 when the deodorizing unit 10 is installed in the casing 90, and the downstream open end of the housing 24 is covered by the rear wall 92c. 3, a rear wall portion 92c covering the open end of the housing 24 is provided with a plurality of exhaust holes 94 for discharging the air blown out from the air outlet 22a and colliding with the air blown out at the air blown collision portion 36 to the outside of the casing 90. Each exhaust hole 94 is provided above the air outlet 22a.

[0030] Furthermore, an absorber 38 capable of absorbing mist, which is atomized ink contained in the air, is disposed within the housing 24. The absorber 38 is formed of a porous material such as foamed resin, and has water absorption properties. In this embodiment, the sheet-shaped absorber 38 is disposed on the surface of the blown air collision section 36.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 1, the deodorizing unit 10 of this embodiment is disposed on the left side and rear side (back side) inside the casing 90. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the deodorizing unit 10 is preferably disposed rearward of the front surface 72a of the guide rail 72 extending in the left-right direction. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, the deodorizing unit 10 is preferably disposed below the cap 66. In this embodiment, the deodorizing unit 10 is disposed to the left of the table 50, and a space is provided in the area of ​​the device body 2 forward of the guide rail 72 and left of the table 50 (i.e., the area in front of the deodorizing unit 10).

[0032] The control unit 80 is communicatively connected to the printing unit 60, the moving mechanism 70, and the deodorizing unit 10, and controls the operations of these units. The control unit 80 is also communicable with the operation terminal 4, and can control the operations of the printing unit 60, the moving mechanism 70, and the deodorizing unit 10 based on electrical signals transmitted from the operation terminal 4. The control unit 80 includes, for example, an interface (I / F) that receives print data and the like transmitted from the operation terminal 4, a central processing unit (CPU) that executes a control program, a ROM that stores the control program, a RAM that is used as a working area when the CPU executes processing, and a recording medium that stores various data.

[0033] The operation terminal 4 is a terminal connected to the device body 2 so as to be capable of data communication, and functions as an input unit that accepts instructions from a user. The operation terminal 4 is a computer equipped with a storage device, a central processing unit (CPU), etc., and is equipped with a communication device for communicating with the device body 2 and a display for displaying information. The operation terminal 4 can be, for example, a tablet terminal or a mobile terminal, and can function as an input unit that accepts instruction information for operating the printing unit 60 and the deodorizing unit 10 of the device body 2 by installing software for operating the device body 2 on a general-purpose terminal. The terminal device 4 of this embodiment is equipped with a touch panel 4a, and instruction information for operating the device body 2 can be input by operating the touch panel 4a. The printing device 1 may be configured so that the device body 2 is provided with an operation panel that is an input unit.

[0034] Next, the operation of the deodorizing unit 10 of the printing device 1 will be described. In Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, the air flow generated in the casing 90 when the deodorizing unit 10 is operated is indicated by solid arrows. In Fig. 9, the position of the exhaust hole 94 in the vertical direction is indicated by a dashed line. In the above-mentioned printing device 1, the front cover 96 is opened, and the printing material is placed on the table 50, and the control unit 80 operates the printing unit 60 to execute printing. When the printing unit 60 is printing or after printing, the ink discharged from the ink discharge head 64 may generate odor or mist, which is atomized ink. In such a situation, when the control unit 80 operates the deodorizing unit 10, the fan 22 of the deodorizing unit 10 is driven, and the air in the casing 90 is sucked into the air flow path 11. Furthermore, when the fan 22 is driven, outside air flows into the casing 90 through gaps in the casing 90 , particularly the gap between the main body 92 and the front cover 96 , and through the ventilation holes 95 provided in the main body 92 .

[0035] The air sucked into the air flow path 11 of the deodorizing unit 10 is deodorized by passing through the odor removing filter 18. The air that has passed through the odor removing filter 18 is blown out of the air flow path 11 from the outlet 22a of the fan 22 and collides with the blown air collision part 36, and then the flow direction is changed by the collision and the air is discharged to the outside of the casing 90 from the exhaust hole 94. The air sucked into the air flow path 11 may contain mist of ink, but the air blown out from the outlet 22a of the fan 22 collides with the blown air collision part 36, so that the mist in the air adheres to the blown air collision part 36 and is removed. This makes it possible to prevent the mist from being discharged to the outside of the casing 90 from the exhaust hole 94. In this way, in the printing device 1, by providing the blown air collision part 38 in the housing 24 of the deodorizing unit 10, it is possible to prevent the discharge of the mist at low cost without providing a separate device for collecting the mist. Furthermore, in the printing device 1 of this embodiment, by arranging an absorbent at the blown air collision section and having the absorbent absorb the mist, it is possible to enhance the effect of removing the mist.

[0036] In addition, in the deodorizing unit 10 of this embodiment, a sirocco fan is used as the fan 22, so that the sucked air can be blown out from the outlet 22a by changing the flow direction so as to face the blown air collision section 36 with a simple configuration. Since the ink mist has a higher specific gravity than air, by arranging the blown air collision section 36 below the outlet 22a of the fan 22 and providing the exhaust hole 94 above the outlet 22a as in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the mist in the air from being discharged from the exhaust hole 94 without colliding with the blown air collision section 36. This makes it possible to reduce the distance between the outlet 22 and the exhaust hole 94 and to miniaturize the deodorizing unit 10, while improving the effect of removing the mist by the blown air collision section 36.

[0037] In the printer 1 described above, the deodorizing unit 10 is disposed behind the front surface 72a of the guide rail 72, that is, behind the ink ejection head 64, which is the odor generating portion. Therefore, the fan 22 is driven to generate an air flow in the casing 90 so that the odor generated during printing flows backward. This can prevent the odor from leaking to the outside through the opening 93 provided in the front surface of the casing 90. In addition, the ink ejection head 64 may generate an odor when the cap 66 is attached at the home position and the ink adhering thereto is removed. Since the volatile organic compounds contained in the ink have a higher specific gravity than air, the odor generated during printing tends to accumulate at the lower side in the casing 90. However, in this embodiment, the deodorizing unit 10 is disposed below the cap 66, so that the odor with a higher specific gravity can be efficiently sucked into the air flow path 11, improving the deodorizing performance.

[0038] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0039] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the deodorizing unit 10 is disposed inside the rear wall portion 92c which is formed in a flat shape in the casing 90, but the location of the arrangement is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 10, a portion of the rear wall portion 92c may be formed in a convex shape toward the outside of the casing 90, and the deodorizing unit 10 may be disposed inside it. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1 Printing device 2. Device body 4 Operation terminal 10 Deodorizing unit 11 Air flow path 18 Odor removal filter (odor removal part) 22 Fan (suction part) 22a Air outlet 24 Case 36 Air outlet collision section 38 Absorbent 50 Tables 60 Printing Department 64 Ink ejection head 64b Nozzle surface 66 Cap 70 Moving mechanism 71 Carriage 72 Guide rail 72a Front of guide rail 90 Main casing 94 Exhaust Vent 95 Ventilation Hole

Claims

1. a main body casing that houses an ink ejection head that ejects ink onto a printing medium; a deodorizing unit having an odor removing section that removes odors generated within the main casing, The deodorizing unit includes: A housing disposed within the main body casing; an air flow path provided in the housing, through which the air in the casing from which the odor has been removed by the odor removal unit passes; a suction section that draws air from within the main body casing into the air flow path and blows the drawn air out of the air flow path through an air outlet; a blown air collision section disposed opposite the air outlet and with which the air blown out from the air outlet collides, The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the main body casing has an exhaust hole for discharging the air impinged by the blown air impingement portion to the outside.

2. The blown air collision portion is disposed below the blowout port, The printing device according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust hole is provided above the air outlet.

3. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an absorber capable of absorbing the ink mist is disposed in the blown air collision portion.

4. a guide rail disposed within the main body casing for guiding the movement of the ink ejection head; 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the deodorizing unit is disposed rearward of a front surface of the guide rail.

5. a cap for covering a nozzle surface of the ink ejection head; 4. The printing device according to claim 3, wherein the deodorizing unit is disposed below the cap.

6. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suction unit is a sirocco fan.

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