Hot-melt type ink jet printer having heating and cooling arrangement

• US 6,196,672 B1
• Filed: 06/17/1998
• Issued: 03/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Nakata, Takashi, Asano, Kazuya, Ito, Noritsugu, Kamimura, Naoya, Igarashi, Hiroshi, Suzuki, Shogo, Kimura, Shinji
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Judy
• Application Number:
  US09/098,520
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: 347/88, 347/104, 347/105, 347/18, 346/134, 400/649, 400/625
• US Class Current: 347/88
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0015 for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing selective coating B41J2/2114
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/00244 Means for heating the copy materials before or during printing
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/06 Flat page-size platens or smaller flat platens having a greater size than line-size platens B41J11/0085 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17593 Supplying ink in a solid state
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/377 Cooling or ventilating arrangements

Abstract

A hot-melt type ink jet printer includes a nozzle head for ejecting a hot-melt type ink onto a sheet. The printer has a sheet feed passage defined by, in order from an upstream side in a sheet feeding direction, a sheet supply roller, a preheat platen, a sheet feed roller, a main platen, a cooling platen, discharge roller and a sheet discharge opening. The preheat platen and main platen have preheater and main heater, respectively, and these platen and the cooling platen are supported on a frame. A first suction port is formed between the main platen and the cooling platen and a second suction port is formed between the cooling platen and the frame. A power board and a cooling fan is provided within the frame for cooling the power board. By rotation of the cooling fan, air is introduced from the sheet discharge opening into the frame through the first and second suction ports to also cool the cooling platen and the heating platen.

Claims

1. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding direction along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces;

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a sheet discharge opening adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage,

wherein the frame is formed with a suction port at a position downstream of the main platen,

the printer further comprises a fan disposed in the frame and positioned at a side facing the opposite surfaces of the main platen and the cooling platen, the fan introducing a cooling air into the frame through the sheet discharge opening and directing the cooling air toward the cooling platen through the suction port to cool the cooling platen, and the suction port includes a first suction port positioned between the main platen and the cooling platen at an upstream side of the cooling platen and open to the sheet feed passage so that the first suction port is closed by the image receiving medium when the image receiving medium passes along the sheet feed passage, and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprises an adiabatic partition member positioned in the first suction port for adiabatically separating the main platen from the cooling platen.

2. The hot-melt type ink Jet printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame has a front side at which a printed image receiving medium is discharged, and a rear side at which the image receiving medium is supplied into the sheet feed passage, the fan being positioned at an intermediate portion between the front side and the rear side;

and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising a power board positioned between the fan and the rear side of the frame, so that the cooling air sucked by the fan into the frame through the suction port is applied to the power board.

3. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image receiving medium has a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, the first surface being in confrontation with the nozzle head, and the second surface being in confrontation with the one surfaces of the main platen and the cooling platen;

and wherein the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising a main heater provided at the opposite surface of the main platen.

4. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suction port further includes a second suction port disposed downstream of the cooling platen and positioned offset from the sheet feed passage for supplying the cooling air toward the opposite surface of the cooling platen.

5. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a cooling fin provided at the opposite surface of the cooling platen and positioned in confrontation with the suction port.

6. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a control unit connected to the fan for controlling a rotation speed of the fan so that the fan rotates at a first speed during printing operation and at a second speed lower than the first speed during a standby state.

7. The hot-melt type ink Jet printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame comprises a support frame supporting portions of the opposite surfaces of the main platen and the cooling platen, the support frame being formed with an air introduction port for allowing the cooling air sucked into the frame through the suction port to be directed toward the fan.

8. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 2, wherein the frame comprises a support frame supporting portions of the opposite surfaces of the main platen and the cooling platen, the support frame being formed with an air introduction port for allowing the cooling air sucked into the frame through the suction port to be directed toward the fan.

9. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 2, wherein the suction port includes a first suction port provided at a position between the main platen and the cooling platen, and a second suction port disposed at a downstream of the cooling platen.

10. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 2, further comprising an adiabatic partition member positioned in the first suction port for adiabatically separating the main platen from the cooling platen, and wherein the rear side of the frame is formed with a discharge port through which the cooling air passing through the power board is discharged to an outside.

11. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a control unit connected to the fan for controlling a rotation speed of the fan so that the fan rotates at a first speed during printing operation and at a second speed lower than the first speed during a standby state.

12. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding direction along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces; and

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a sheet discharge opening adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage,

wherein a combination of the nozzle head and the main platen constitutes a printing portion,

and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising;

a temperature sensor provided downstream of the printing portion detecting a temperature of the cooling platen; and

means for controlling a printing speed of the nozzle head in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

13. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding direction along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces; and

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a sheet discharge opening adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage,

wherein a combination of the nozzle head and the main platen constitutes a printing portion,

and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising;

a preheat platen provided between the sheet supplying section and the main platen;

a temperature sensor provided downstream of the printing portion detecting a temperature of the cooling platen; and

means for controlling a temperature of the preheat platen in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

14. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding directing along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces;

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a discharge port adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage;

a sheet supplying section storing a stack of the image receiving mediums and having a sheet supply opening for supplying each one of the image receiving mediums of the stack;

a sheet feed roller disposed downstream of the sheet supplying section and upstream of the cooling platen, a combination of the sheet supply opening, the main platen, the sheet feed roller, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining an arcuate sheet feed passage protruding toward the nozzle head; and

an urging segment connected between the cooling platen and the frame for urging the cooling platen toward the nozzle head so that the one surface of the cooling platen is discontinuous from the arcuate sheet feed passage.

15. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:

a preheat platen positioned between the sheet supply opening and the sheet feed roller, the preheat platen having one surface and opposite surface;

a preheater provided at the opposite surface of the preheat platen;

a main heater provided at the opposite surface of the main platen,

and wherein the main platen is positioned downstream of the sheet feed roller, each one surface of the preheater, main heater and the cooling platen being arcuately curved.

16. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 14, wherein the urging segment provides a biasing force that yields the one surface of the cooling platen to be in conformance with the arcuate sheet feed passage by a tension of the image receiving medium the tension being imparted by the sheet feed roller and the discharge roller.

17. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 15, further comprising at least one baffle having a free end urged toward at least one of one surfaces of the preheat platen and the main platen for pressing the image receiving medium on the one surface.

18. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding direction along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces; and

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a sheet discharge opening adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage,

wherein a combination of the nozzle head and the main platen constitutes a printing portion,

and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising;

a sheet supplying section for supplying each one of the image receiving mediums to the printing portion;

a temperature sensor provided downstream of the printing portion detecting a temperature of the cooling platen; and

means for controlling a supplying timing of the image receiving medium from the sheet supplying section in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

19. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 18, further comprising means for temporarily stopping a printed image receiving medium upon the cooling platen for a selected period in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

20. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 18, further comprising means for controlling a temperature of the main platen in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

21. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 18, further comprising

a preheat platen provided between the sheet supplying section and the main platen; and

means for controlling a temperature of the preheat platen in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

22. The hot-melt type ink jet printer as claimed in claim 18, further comprising means for controlling a printing speed of the nozzle head in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

23. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding direction along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces; and

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a sheet discharge opening adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage,

wherein a combination of the nozzle head and the main platen constitutes a printing portion,

and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising;

a temperature sensor provided downstream of the printing portion detecting a temperature of the cooling platen; and

means for temporarily stopping a printed image receiving medium upon the cooling platen for a selected period in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

24. A hot-melt type ink jet printer for forming an inked image on an image receiving medium comprising:

a frame;

a nozzle head ejecting a hot-melt ink onto the image receiving medium;

a main platen having one surface in confrontation with the nozzle head, the image receiving medium being fed in a feeding direction along the one surface, the main platen having an opposite surface;

a cooling platen positioned downstream of the main platen in the feeding direction for cooling the inked image formed on the image receiving medium, the cooling platen having one and opposite surfaces; and

a discharge roller disposed downstream of the cooling platen for discharging the image receiving medium, the frame having a sheet discharge opening adjacent the discharge roller, an order of the main platen, the cooling platen and the discharge roller defining a sheet feed passage,

wherein a combination of the nozzle head and the main platen constitutes a printing portion,

and the hot-melt type ink jet printer further comprising;

a temperature sensor provided downstream of the printing portion detecting a temperature of the cooling platen; and

means for controlling a temperature of the main platen in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature sensor.