Inkjet Printing Device Gas-Liquid Separator Capillary Action
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printing devices face issues with solvent liquefaction in exhaust gases, leading to contamination of the print head and reduced printing quality, and increased running costs due to solvent volatilization and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
An inkjet printing device equipped with a gas-liquid separator using capillary action to separate liquefied ink solvent from exhaust gases, and a drip prevention unit to prevent solvent from reaching the print head, along with a system to recycle the solvent, reducing volatilization and environmental load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If the exhaust gas temperature is decreased to liquefy the ink solvent during carriage into the gutter, then the ink solvent volatilization is suppressed, but the liquefied solvent may spill and contaminate the print head
Solution Approach 1:
The exhaust passage is divided into multiple sections with different temperature zones. The first section maintains high temperature to prevent liquefaction, while the second section provides cooling for liquefaction. This segmentation allows controlled solvent condensation away from the print head while still achieving volatilization suppression.
Solution Approach 2:
A gas-liquid separator is introduced as an intermediary component between the exhaust passage and the gutter. This separator uses capillary action to remove liquefied solvent from the exhaust gas before it reaches the gutter, preventing contamination while maintaining the temperature control strategy.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the exhaust gas is circulated back into the gutter to reduce solvent volatilization, then environmental load is reduced, but liquefied solvent may collide with ink particles and affect printing quality
Solution Approach 1:
The gas-liquid separator acts as an intermediary that filters out liquefied solvent from the exhaust gas circulation stream. This ensures that only clean gas is recirculated into the gutter, preventing solvent-ink particle collisions while maintaining the environmental benefit of solvent recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system controls the temperature parameters in the exhaust passage to optimize the balance between liquefaction (for solvent recovery) and preventing excessive condensation that would harm printing quality. By carefully managing temperature gradients, the system achieves environmental protection without compromising print head performance.
3Device complexity
If a gas-liquid separator using gravity separation is used, then the structure is simple, but it cannot effectively separate solvent when the installation direction changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces gravity-based mechanical separation with capillary action-based separation. The capillary force in the porous material provides a mechanism that is independent of gravitational direction, allowing the separator to function effectively in any installation orientation while maintaining structural simplicity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively separates and recycles ink solvent, preventing contamination of the print head, reducing running costs, and minimizing environmental impact by minimizing solvent volatilization and ensuring stable printing operations.
Implementation Method 1
a gas-liquid separator for separating the exhaust gas from liquefied ink solvent formed by liquefaction of the ink solvent contained in the exhaust gas in the exhaust passage using capillary action
Implementation Method 2
The gas-liquid separator includes a gas-liquid inflow pipe connected to the exhaust passage, a gas-liquid outflow pipe connected to the ink separation-collection passage, an exhaust port, and a case member having a chamber part into which the gas-liquid inflow pipe and the gas-liquid outflow pipe are inserted in parallel from one outer direction, and having the exhaust port from the other direction
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
An inkjet printing device is configured to allow appropriate separation of the ink solvent liquefied in the exhaust passage from the exhaust gas, and prevention of the separated exhaust gas from contaminating the inside of the print head into which it is returned so that the resultant function achieves the low running costs. When the ink fed from an ink container 3 is jetted from a nozzle 6 for printing on a printing object, the ink 7 that has not been used for the printing is drawn by a gutter 8 along with air and collected into the ink container 3. The air that is mixed with the ink solvent and collected is discharged as the exhaust gas into an exhaust passage 15 from the ink container 3. At this time, the liquefied ink solvent that has been liquefied in the exhaust passage 15 is separated from the gas by retaining the liquid using capillary action in a gas-liquid separator 22, and the separated liquefied ink solvent is collected. The trace amount of the ink solvent leaking on the exhaust side of the gas-liquid separator is prevented from dripping into the print head by a drip prevention unit.