Tube pump and printer provided with the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016288507-A1
Application number	US-201615083931-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 29, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A tube pump includes a tube, a housing member having a cylindrical chamber including an inner peripheral surface, a rotator having a first shaft and a first portion, the first portion having a guide, and a roller having a first shank received by the guide. The tube pump includes a contact member having a contact portion in the cylindrical chamber extending outwardly towards the inner peripheral surface at least the first distance and less than the second distance, the contact portion being configured to selectively contact the roller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A tube pump comprising:
a tube through which fluid is flowed; a housing member comprising a cylindrical chamber in which the tube is accommodated, the cylindrical chamber including an inner peripheral surface along which the tube is arranged; a rotator comprising a first shaft and a first portion provided on the first shaft, the first portion including a guide having first and second ends, the first end positioned a first distance from the first shaft, the second end positioned a second distance from the first shaft, the second distance being greater than the first distance; a roller having a first shank received by the guide, the roller configured to selectively press the tube to deform the tube; and a contact member having a contact portion in the cylindrical chamber extending outwardly towards the inner peripheral surface at least the first distance and less than the second distance, the contact portion being configured to selectively contact the roller.

2 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein the guide comprises a curved groove defined by the first portion of the rotator.

3 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the rotator is disc shaped and includes a first side facing an open end of the cylindrical chamber and a second side opposite the first side, and wherein the guide is on the second side of the first portion of the rotator.

4 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein the roller further includes a roller body and a second shank, the first and second shanks extending axially from the roller body, wherein the second shank is configured to contact the contact portion when the first shank is positioned in the first end of the guide.

5 . The tube pump of claim 4 , wherein the second shank is configured to not contact the contact portion when the first shank is positioned in the second end of the guide.

6 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein the guide is configured to position the first shank in the first end of the guide in response to rotation of the rotator in a first rotation direction, and position the first shank in the second end of the guide in response to rotation of the rotator in a second rotation direction.

7 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein the roller is configured to revolve in response to rotation of the rotator.

8 . The tube pump of claim 4 , wherein the contact member further includes a second contact portion configured to contact the second shank of the roller to incline the roller with respect to the first shaft of the rotator such that the roller passes through the contact portion without contacting the contact portion.

9 . The tube pump of claim 8 , wherein:
the contact portion includes a first contact surface extending radially outwardly and having an outer end positioned closer to the inner peripheral surface than the first shaft of the rotator, and the second contact portion includes a second contact surface comprising a logarithmic spiral that extends from the outer end of the first contact surface at least partially around the first shaft of the rotator.

10 . The tube pump of claim 8 , wherein:
the cylindrical chamber includes a bottom surface and an open upper end, the contact portion and the second contact portion are provided on the bottom surface, the inner peripheral surface includes a first area opposite the second contact portion, the first area extending axially between the bottom surface and the open upper end; the tube comprises a first portion contacting the inner peripheral surface in the first area, and the first portion of the tube is positioned axially in the first area closer to the open upper end than the bottom surface.

11 . The tube pump of claim 10 , wherein:
the inner peripheral surface further comprises a second area opposite the first area, the tube comprises a second portion and a third portion, the first portion between the second portion and the third end portion, and the tube is arranged such that second and third portion contact the inner peripheral surface in the second area, and the second portion overlaps the third portion in the axial direction.

12 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein:
the cylindrical chamber includes a bottom surface and an open upper end, the bottom surface defines a recess configured to receive the first shaft of the rotator, the contact portion includes a first contact surface extending radially outwardly from a first side of the recess and extending from the bottom surface towards the open upper end a first axial distance, the contact portion includes a second contact surface extending radially outwardly from a second side of the recess and extending from the bottom surface towards the open upper end a second axial distance that is less than the first axial distance, and an ascent surface that inclines from the second contact surface to the first contact surface.

13 . The tube pump of claim 1 , wherein:
the contact portion comprises a first contact surface, and the second contact portion comprises a second contact surface opposite the first surface and spaced from the first surface.

14 . The tube pump of claim 8 , wherein
the rotator further comprises a second portion axially spaced from the first portion of the rotator, and at least one of the first portion and the second portion comprises a clearance such that the roller body does not contact with the first portion and the second portion when the roller is inclined.

15 . A printer comprising:
the tube pump according to claim 1 .

16 . The printer of claim 15 , further comprising:
a motor operably connected to the rotator; and a controller configured to control the motor to cause the rotator to rotate such that the roller is revolved at least once around the rotation shaft when the first shank moves from the first end of the guide to the second end of the guide.

17 . A tube pump comprising:
a tube through which fluid is flowed; a housing member comprising a cylindrical chamber in which the tube is accommodated, the cylindrical chamber including an inner peripheral surface along which the tube is arranged; a rotator comprising a rotation shaft and a first portion provided on the rotation shaft, the first portion including a guide, the rotator being rotatable in the cylindrical chamber; a roller received by the guide to be moved between a pressing position and a release position when the rotator is rotated in first and second rotation directions, respectively; and a contact portion, wherein the roller contacts the contact portion when the rotator rotates in the first rotation direction to move the roller from the release position to the pressing position, and the roller does not contact the contact portion when the rotator rotates in the second rotation direction.

18 . The tube pump of claim 17 , wherein the roller is configured to revolve in first and second directions in response to rotation of the rotator in first and second directions, respectively.

19 . The tube pump of claim 18 , wherein the roller includes a first shank received by the guide and a second shank configured to contact the contact portion when the rotator rotates in the first rotation direction.

20 . The tube pump of claim 17 , wherein the roller is configured such that when in the pressing position the roller presses the tube to deform the tube for generating a pressure in the tube, and when in the release position the roller is displaced from the release position and pressure in the tube is

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Tanabe Yuma

Classifications

• B41J2/16517 Primary

  Cleaning of print head nozzles (B41J2/16505, B41J2/1707 take precedence) · CPC title

• F04B43/12

  having peristaltic action · CPC title

• F04B43/1276

  Means for pushing the rollers against the tubular flexible member · CPC title

• F04B43/1238 Primary

  using only one roller as the squeezing element, the roller moving on an arc of a circle during squeezing · CPC title

• F04B43/08

  having tubular flexible members (F04B43/12 takes precedence) · CPC title