CN111806094B

CN111806094B - Ink container

Info

Publication number: CN111806094B
Application number: CN202010690118.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵升魁; 林东明; 陈志远; 王朋
Original assignee: E Jet Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: E Jet Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-05
Filing date: 2020-07-17
Publication date: 2022-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-17
Also published as: CN112026367A; CN213565023U; CN111806094A; CN112026367B

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ink container detachably installed in an inkjet image forming apparatus, including an ink bag containing ink therein, a bottom case fixed to the inkjet image forming apparatus and supplying the ink to the inkjet image forming apparatus, and a control device for coupling and decoupling the ink bag and the bottom case at the same time at opposite sides of a coupling direction of the ink bag and the bottom case, whereby the ink bag and the bottom case can be stably coupled.

Description

Ink container

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of inkjet image forming, and more particularly, to an ink container detachably mounted in an inkjet image forming apparatus.

Background

An ink container is a consumable required when an ink jet image forming apparatus is operated, for example, an ink cartridge device according to chinese invention patent application CN201911306799.6 published on 4/17/2020 includes a printer head case 1, an ink bag 2 and an elastic member 3, in a state shown in fig. 1 of the patent application, the ink bag 2 is mounted to a bottom case 1 in a downward direction, the elastic member 3 is mounted to a bottom of a mounting chamber formed in the bottom case 1 or to a bottom of an ink bag body, and the ink bag 2 is fixed in the bottom case 1 by engaging a engaging piece 23 formed on the ink bag with an engaging groove 12 formed in the bottom case 1 after overcoming an elastic force of the elastic member 3.

As can be seen from the above description, the ink bag 2 and the bottom case 1 are detachably coupled, and the engagement between the engaging member 23 and the engaging groove 12 is achieved only by the engagement between the engaging member 23 and the engaging groove 12, and when the engagement between the engaging member 23 and the engaging groove 12 needs to be released, the ink bag 2 is ejected by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 3.

In actual use, the engagement between the ink bag 2 and the bottom case 1 in the ink cartridge device merely engaged by the engaging piece 23 and the engaging groove 12 is unstable, and thus there may be problems such as interruption of electrical contact between the ink bag 2 and the bottom case 1, leakage of ink in the ink bag 2, and the like, and therefore, it is necessary to further optimize the structure of the existing ink cartridge device.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention is improved by improving the ink box device, especially the combination structure between the ink bag and the bottom shell, so as to ensure more stable combination between the ink bag and the bottom shell.

In order to realize the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

an ink container detachably installed in the inkjet image forming apparatus, including an ink bag containing ink therein, a bottom case fixed to the inkjet image forming apparatus and supplying the ink to the inkjet image forming apparatus, and a control device for coupling and decoupling the ink bag and the bottom case at the same time at opposite sides of a coupling direction of the ink bag and the bottom case; the control device comprises a locking assembly and an unlocking assembly, wherein the locking assembly is used for combining the ink bag and the bottom shell, the unlocking assembly is used for unlocking the combination of the ink bag and the bottom shell, the locking assembly comprises a first part arranged on the ink bag and a second part arranged on the bottom shell, and the first part and the second part can be mutually disengaged under the action of the unlocking assembly.

The bottom shell comprises a first side plate located in front, a second side plate located in rear, a third side plate located in left, a fourth side plate located in right and a fifth side plate located below, the first side plate, the second side plate, the third side plate, the fourth side plate and the fifth side plate enclose to form a cavity for containing the ink bag, and an opening is formed in the upper portion of the bottom shell.

The ink bag is combined with the bottom shell from top to bottom; alternatively, the second side plate is cut out so that both the upper side and the rear side of the bottom case are open, and the ink bag is combined with the bottom case from the top down or combined with the bottom case from the rear to the front.

With respect to the locking assembly, as one of the arrays, the ink bag includes a bag body and a cover coupled to each other, and the first portion is formed as a part of the bag body.

The first part is a supporting part, an extending part connected with the supporting part and a combining part connected with the extending part, wherein the supporting part is connected with the capsule body side plate, a gap is formed between the supporting part and the side plate, the extending part is arc-shaped, and compared with the supporting part, the gap between the combining part and the side plate is larger.

The unlocking component is an unlocking piece which is arranged on the side plate of the bottom shell and opposite to the first part; the unlocking piece is a part of the side plate of the bottom shell and comprises a base part connected with the side plate and an unlocking part connected with the base part.

Preferably, the control device further comprises a force receiving portion located between the unlocking assembly and the locking assembly, and when the unlocking portion receives a pushing force toward the ink bag, the force receiving portion transmits the pushing force to the locking assembly.

The first part is a supporting part, an extending part connected with the supporting part and a combining part connected with the extending part, wherein the supporting part is connected with the side plate of the capsule body, the extending part is arc-shaped, and the stress part is a rib at least formed on the extending part; more preferably, the rib extends from the combining portion toward the support portion, and the rib has an arc shape, a width of which varies with a curvature of the extending portion, as measured along opposite outer side edges of the locking assembly.

As another embodiment of the locking assembly, the ink bag includes a bag body and a cover coupled to each other, and the first portion is coupled to the cover.

The capsule body is provided with a groove matched with the first part, an operation hole is formed in the position, corresponding to the groove, of the bottom shell, the upper portion of the operation hole is formed into a second part, and the unlocking assembly is arranged on the first part.

As described above, in the ink container according to the present invention, the control means simultaneously combines the ink bag and the bottom case at opposite sides in the combining direction of the ink bag and the bottom case, and thus, the ink bag and the bottom case can be stably combined.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ink container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an ink bag and a bottom case of an ink container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3A and 3B are perspective views of a bottom case according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4A and 4B are perspective views of an ink bag according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the ink tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the rear and forward, taken in the left-right direction.

Fig. 6 is a partial schematic view of an ink bag combined with a bottom case according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an ink bag according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the ink bag according to the second embodiment of the present invention cut through the locking assembly in the left-right direction thereof.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the ink bag according to the second embodiment of the present invention, cut through the locking member in the left-right direction thereof.

Fig. 10 is a partial schematic view of the ink bag in combination with the bottom case according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of an ink container according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the cover, ink bag, and bottom case of an ink container according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an ink tank according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of the cover, ink bag, and bottom case of the ink container according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the ink container according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, taken along the left-right direction thereof through the locking assembly.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings.

[ example one ]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink container according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an ink bag and a bottom case of an ink container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Before describing in detail, the orientation of the ink container 100 is first defined as follows in conjunction with fig. 1:

after the ink container 100 is detachably mounted to the inkjet image forming apparatus, the height direction of the ink container is the up-down direction, the length direction of the ink container is the front-rear direction, and the width direction of the ink container is the left-right direction.

As shown in the drawing, the ink container 100 includes an ink bag 10 and a bottom case 20, and a control device 30 for coupling and decoupling the two, the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20 are detachably coupled by the control device 30, the ink bag 10 contains ink, and the bottom case 20 is fixed to and supplies ink to the inkjet image forming apparatus. In the present invention, the control device 30 applies the coupling force from both sides of the coupling direction at least simultaneously in the coupling direction of the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20, or the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20 are coupled in the left and right direction, thereby ensuring stable coupling of the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20.

As shown in fig. 2, the ink bag 10 is combined with the bottom case 20 from the top down in the up-down direction, and the control device 30 applies a combining force at least on the left and right sides of the ink bag 10. The ink bag 10 includes a bag body 10a and a cover 10b which are combined with each other, ink is contained in an ink containing portion 10c in the bag body 10a, the bag body 10a has a front side plate 11 at the front, a rear side plate 13 at the rear, a left side plate 12 at the left, a right side plate 14 at the right, and a lower side plate 15 at the lower, and the cover 10b covers the bag body 10a at the upper side. The bottom case 20 includes a first side plate 21 located in front, a second side plate 23 located in back, a third side plate 22 located in left, a fourth side plate 24 located in right, and a fifth side plate 25 located in lower part, the first side plate 21, the second side plate 23, the third side plate 22, the fourth side plate 24, and the fifth side plate 25 enclose to form a cavity 20a for accommodating the ink bag 10, and the upper part of the bottom case 20 is open, and when the ink bag 10 is mounted to the cavity 20a, the upper part of the bottom case 20 is covered by the cover 10 b.

Fig. 3A and 3B are perspective views of a bottom case according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of an ink bag according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the ink tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the rear and forward, taken in the left-right direction.

The control device 30 comprises a locking assembly 32 and an unlocking assembly 31 which can interact, wherein the locking assembly 32 is used for combining the ink bag 10 and the bottom shell 20, and the unlocking assembly 31 is used for unlocking the combination of the ink bag 10 and the bottom shell 20; the unlocking assembly 31 is provided on the bottom case 20, and the locking assembly 32 includes a supporting portion 321 provided on the ink bag 10, an extending portion 322 connected to the supporting portion 321, a coupling portion 323 connected to the extending portion 322, and a coupled portion 324 engageable with the coupling portion 323, it may be simplified that the supporting portion 321, the extending portion 322, and the coupling portion 323 may be collectively referred to as a first portion, the coupled portion 324 may be referred to as a second portion, and the first portion and the second portion may be coupled to and uncoupled from each other.

As shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the unlocking assembly 31 is an unlocking member disposed opposite to the first portion on a side plate of the bottom case 20, and the unlocking member has the same structure, and one of them is taken as an example for description. As a whole, the unlocking member 31 is a part of the side plates of the bottom case 20, specifically, a part of the side plates of the bottom case 20 is cut away, and a gap is formed between the original side plates adjacent to the cut side plates, wherein one part of the side plates can elastically deform and move relative to the other part of the side plates. Referring to fig. 3A and 3B, taking the third side panel 22 on the left side of the bottom case as an example, the unlocking piece 31 includes a base 311 connected to the third side panel 22, and an unlocking portion 312 connected to the base 311, wherein the base 311 is located below the unlocking piece 31, so that the unlocking piece 31 is connected to the third side panel 22 through the lower side, the front, rear, and upper sides of the unlocking piece 31 respectively form a first gap g1, a second gap g2, and a third gap g3 with the third side panel 22, the unlocking portion 312 is located above the base 311, and when an urging force f from left to right (toward the cavity 20a) is applied to the unlocking portion 312, the unlocking portion 312 is elastically deformed toward the cavity 20 a.

Further, the coupled portion 324 is also formed on the side plate of the bottom chassis 20 and is disposed adjacent to the unlocking member 31, and specifically, the coupled portion 324 is disposed opposite to the unlocking member 312 with a third gap g3 therebetween, that is, the coupled portion 324 is located above the unlocking member 312. As shown in fig. 3B, the bonded surface 27 is opposite to the third gap g3 in the bonded portion 324. As shown in fig. 4A and 4B, the first portion of the lock assembly 32 is a portion of the ink bag 10 as a whole, specifically, a side plate of the bag body 10a is partially cut away, a portion farther from the ink accommodating portion 10c is formed as the support portion 321, the extension portion 322, and the coupling portion 323, the support portion 321 is connected to the left side plate 12, and a fourth gap g4 is formed between the support portion 321 and the left side plate 12 in the left-right direction, the gap between the coupling portion 323 and the left side plate 12 is larger than that of the support portion 321, and thus, when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the left-right direction of the ink bag 10, at least the coupling portion 323 is located outside the left side plate 12, and preferably, the extension portion 322 is formed to be bent from the support portion 321 to the outside of the ink accommodating portion 10 c; when an urging force is applied to one of the supporting portion 321, the extending portion 322, and the joint portion 323 from left to right (toward the ink containing portion 10c), the joint portion 323 is deformed toward the ink containing portion 10c, and then, the joint portion 323 is disengaged from the engaged surface 27.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an ink tank according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the rear to the front, taken in the left-right direction; fig. 6 is a partial schematic view of an ink bag combined with a bottom case according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the process of mounting the ink bag 10 to the bottom case 20, the joining portion 323 is pressed by the inside of the third side plate 22 and deformed toward the ink containing portion 10b until the ink bag 10 reaches the predetermined mounting position, at which time the joining portion 323 springs back in a direction away from the ink containing portion 10c opposite to the third gap g3, and the joining with the joined surface 27 is completed. As described above, the latching members 32 are oppositely disposed at the left and right sides of the ink bag 10, respectively, and thus, the latching members 32 apply downward forces to the ink bag 10 at the left and right sides of the ink bag 10 at the same time, that is, the coupling force to which the ink bag 10 is subjected is symmetrical, and the coupling of the ink bag 10 to the case 20 is more stable.

When the ink bag 10 needs to be taken out, the end user only needs to press the unlocking piece 31, as shown in fig. 5, the unlocking part 312 deforms toward the cavity 20a and presses one of the supporting part 321, the extending part 322 and the combining part 323, so that the combining part 323 deforms toward the ink accommodating part 10c and simultaneously releases the combination with the combined surface 27; further, since the joint 323 protrudes more outward with respect to the left and right side plates of the ink bag 10, the joint 323 carries the ink bag 10 as a whole upward while the joint 323 receives a pressing force toward the ink containing portion 10c, eventually achieving detachment of the ink bag 10 from the bottom case 20.

As shown in fig. 3B and 4B, the lower side plate 5 of the capsule 10a is further provided with an ink outlet 16, the fifth side plate 25 of the bottom case 20 is further provided with a print head 40, and ink is supplied to the print head 40 after flowing out from the ink outlet 16. when the technical solution of the present invention is adopted, since the bonding force in the same direction is applied to both the left and right sides of the ink bag 10, the ink bag 10 does not move in the cavity 20a, and good sealing of the ink outlet 16 is ensured before the ink container 100 is mounted to the inkjet image forming apparatus.

As shown in fig. 4A, 4B, 5, and 6, in order to enable the ink bag 10 to be disengaged from the bottom case 20 more smoothly, the control device 30 further includes a force receiving portion 33 between the unlocking member 31 and the locking member 32, the force receiving portion 33 transmitting an urging force to the locking member 32 when the unlocking portion 312 receives an urging force toward the ink accommodating portion 10 c/the bladder 10 a; in practice, although the unlocking portion 312 performs an arc motion around the base 311, since the distance of the unlocking portion 312 is short, the motion of the unlocking portion 312 after being forced can be regarded as a straight line, preferably, the force-receiving portion 33 is formed integrally with the locking assembly 32, and the force-receiving portion 33 is a rib formed at least on the extending portion 322, in this embodiment, the outer surface of the rib 33 is a straight surface.

As shown in fig. 6, taking the contact point P1 between the unlocking portion 312 and the rib 33 as an example for stress analysis, the force f applied by the unlocking portion 312 to the rib 33 is perpendicular to the rib 33, and is divided into a first component force f1 directed from the point P1 to the right and a second component force f2 directed from the point P1 to the upper direction, respectively, the first component force f1 forces the locking member 32 to move toward the ink accommodating portion 10c, so that the engaging portion 323 is disengaged from the engaged surface 27, the second component force f2 forces the locking member 32 to move the ink bag 10 integrally upward, and the ink bag 10 "pops up" from the bottom case 20, and finally the ink bag 10 is disengaged from the bottom case 20.

Assuming that the angle between the rib 33 and the left-right direction is α 1, and the angle between the second component force f2 and the acting force f is β 1, α 1 is β 1, and f2 is f cos β 1, so that the smaller β 1, the larger f2, and at this time, the more easily the ink bag 10 moves upward from the bottom case 20 to "pop up". As a variation of the embodiment of the present invention, the supporting portion 321, the extending portion 322 and the combining portion 323 in the locking assembly 32 may also be inverted, that is, the combining portion 323 is located below the supporting portion 321, and correspondingly, the unlocking member 31 also needs to be inverted, and the unlocking portion 312 is located below the base portion 311; the control device 30 is provided either in the front-rear direction of the ink container 100 or below the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20.

As a further alternative, the ink bag 10 may also be combined with the bottom case 20 in the left-right direction, in which case the control device 30 is provided on the front and rear sides of the ink container 100; or the ink bag 10 is combined with the bottom case 20 in the front-rear direction, and at this time, the control device 30 is disposed on the left and right sides of the ink container 100.

On the other hand, according to the technical idea provided by the present invention, the ink container 100 can be replaced quickly, when the ink in the ink bag 10 is consumed, generally, when the end user takes out the ink container 100 from the inkjet image forming apparatus, the unlocking member 31 can be pressed by two fingers, the empty ink bag 10 is immediately separated from the bottom case 20, after the ink container 100 is completely taken out, the end user mounts a new ink bag 10 to the bottom case 20 to form a new ink container 100, in this process, the bottom case 20 with higher cost is recycled, the ink bag 10 with low cost is replaced, and therefore, the use cost of the end user can be effectively reduced as a whole; further, bottom case 20 may not be removed, and an end user only needs to remove and replace ink bag 10, in which case, since bottom case 20 is not moved, the relative position of the portion of bottom case 20 that is originally electrically contacted or positioned with the inkjet image forming apparatus with respect to the inkjet image forming apparatus is not changed, and thus, the stability of ink container 100 is ensured.

For a production factory of the ink container 100, the technical idea provided by the present invention can also realize the regeneration of the ink container 100, and specifically, when the production factory faces an ink container 100 without the control device 30, the ink bag 10 welded in the cavity 20a is firstly taken out, then the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20 are processed as described above to form the control device 30 on the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20, and finally the ink is filled into the empty ink bag 10, and the ink bag 10 filled with ink again is combined with the bottom case 20 by using the control device 30 to form a regenerated ink container 100. Similarly, the end user may perform a quick replacement following the first use of ink from the regenerative ink reservoir 100, following the above-described steps.

Compared with the ink cartridge device related to the background art, the unlocking component 31 of the control device 30 of the present invention can achieve the disengagement of the ink bag 10 from the bottom case 20 during the process of the end user taking out the ink container 100 from the inkjet image forming apparatus, while the engaging member 23 and the engaging groove 12 of the ink cartridge device of the background art are both disposed at the bottom of the ink cartridge device, thereby determining that the ink cartridge device can achieve the disengagement of the ink bag 2 from the bottom case 1 after the ink cartridge device is completely taken out from the inkjet image forming apparatus; further, the control device 30 according to the present invention is integrally formed with the ink bag 10 and the side plate of the bottom case 20, and thus the appearance of the ink container 100 is more complete as a whole.

[ example two ]

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an ink bag according to a second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 8 is a perspective view of the ink bag according to the second embodiment of the present invention cut through the locking assembly in the left-right direction thereof; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the ink bag cut through the locking assembly in the left-right direction thereof according to the second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 10 is a partial schematic view of the ink bag in combination with the bottom case according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The present embodiment differs from the above-described embodiment in the structure of the rib 33, and the same components as those of the above-described embodiment will be given the same reference numerals. The ribs 33 in this embodiment extend from the combining portion 323 toward the supporting portion 321, and as shown in fig. 7 and 8, at least one rib 33 is provided on the locking assembly 32, and preferably, the ribs 33 are provided in three spaced apart relation.

Like the first embodiment, the extension portion 322 is bent from the support portion 321 to a direction away from the ink accommodating portion 10c, and the bending arc of the extension portion 322 is larger in this embodiment, so that the locking assembly 32 in the above-mentioned embodiment and this embodiment can be regarded as an arc-shaped protrusion protruding from a side plate of the ink bag 10 to a direction away from the ink accommodating portion 10c, wherein at least the extension portion 322 is arc-shaped, and a gap is formed between the protrusion 32 and the corresponding side plate of the ink bag along the left-right direction of the ink bag 10, and the protrusion 32 can move relative to the side plate of the ink bag 10 when receiving a force toward the ink accommodating portion 10 c.

As shown in fig. 9, the width of the rib 33 is w2, the width of the protrusion 32 is w1, and the width of the portion of the protrusion 32 where the rib 33 is disposed is w, wherein the width w2 of the rib 33 varies with the curvature of the extension 322, that is, the rib 33 is also arc-shaped, and the width w2 is not a fixed value, but generally, w1+ w2 is satisfied, that is, the rib 33 is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the outer edge of the protrusion 32, so that the width of the protrusion 32 where the rib 33 is disposed is substantially uniform, and thus, the force applied to the protrusion 32 by the rib 33 can be kept stable.

As shown in fig. 10, since the rib 33 is arc-shaped, the acting force f applied by the unlocking piece 31 to the rib 33 is perpendicular to the tangent L of the contact point P2, and like the first embodiment, the acting force f is divided into a first component force f1 in the left-right direction and a second component force f2 in the up-down direction, wherein the included angle between the second component force f2 and the acting force f is α 2, the included angle between the tangent L and the straight line in the left-right direction is also α 2, and the smaller the α 2, the larger the f2 is.

Referring to fig. 10, when contact point P2 is located at a position where extension portion 322 is close to joint 323, included angle α 2 is smallest, where f2 is largest, and f2 gradually decreases as contact point P2 gradually moves away from joint 323, and when ink bag 10 is disengaged from bottom case 20, second component force f2 gradually decreases to reduce the "ejection" (upward movement) speed of ink bag 10 from bottom case 20, so as to prevent ink bag 10 from moving upward too fast to cause ink bag 10 to collide with the hand of the end user.

The rib 33 of the above embodiment and this embodiment can greatly reduce the acting area of the unlocking member 31 when acting force is applied, so as to reduce the friction force when the ink bag 10 is separated from the bottom case 20; the ribs 33 in this embodiment extend longer than the ribs in the first embodiment, thereby ensuring that the unlocking member 31 is in contact with the ribs 33 throughout the application of force to the projections 32.

On the other hand, as can be seen from the above analysis, the smaller the included angle α 1 or α 2, the larger the second component force f2, and particularly in the initial stage when the unlocking piece 31 starts to apply a force to the protrusion 32, the better the second component force f2, when the outer surface of the rib 33 is straight, as shown in fig. 6, the smaller α 1, the rib 33 will extend further toward the ink containing portion 10c while keeping the bonding position of the bonding portion 323 and the bonded surface 27 unchanged, and thus the space of the ink containing portion 10c becomes smaller, and the magnitude of the second component force f2 in the first embodiment is kept unchanged all the time, which is not beneficial to controlling the speed of detachment of the ink bag 10 from the bottom case 20; the rib 33 in the second embodiment is provided in an arc shape, which not only makes the second component force f2 gradually smaller to facilitate control of the speed of the ink bag 10 detaching from the bottom case 20, but also ensures that the space of the ink accommodating portion 10c is not occupied.

[ third example ]

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of an ink container according to a third embodiment of the present invention; fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the cover, ink bag, and bottom case of an ink container according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between this embodiment and the above embodiment is that the volume of the ink bag 10 becomes larger, and the remanufacturer of the ink container 100 can expand the original ink bag according to the number of empty ink bags 10, and for convenience of description, the same parts of this embodiment as those of the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals.

As shown in the drawing, the ink bag 10 further includes an expansion portion 10d communicating with the ink accommodating portion 10c, and the second side plate 23 of the bottom case 20 is cut away so that the upper portion and the rear portion of the bottom case 20 are open, so that the ink bag 10 can be combined with the bottom case 20 from the top down in the up-down direction and can also be combined with the bottom case 20 from the rear forward in the front-rear direction; when the ink bag 10 is completely combined with the bottom case 20, the expansion portion 10d is located outside the range of the bottom case 20.

Also, the ink container 100 of the present embodiment still uses the above-mentioned control device 30, and when the ink bag 10 is combined with the bottom case 20 in a top-down manner, the ink bag 10 is stably combined with the bottom case 20 at both left and right sides under the control of the control device 30; when the ink bag 10 is combined with the bottom case 20 from the rear to the front and the above-described control device 30 is still used, the control device 30 may be integrally rotated backward by 90 degrees, and also, stable combination of the ink bag 10 with the bottom case 20 at both the left and right sides can be achieved.

[ example four ]

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an ink container according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a cover, an ink bag, and a bottom case of an ink container according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the ink container according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, taken along the left-right direction thereof through the locking assembly.

Unlike the first to third embodiments, the present embodiment proposes another control device 30, and the same components as those of the first to third embodiments are given the same reference numerals.

As shown in the drawings, the locking assembly 32 includes a supporting portion 321 combined with the cover 10b, an extending portion 322 connected with the supporting portion 321, a combining portion 323 connected with the extending portion 322, and a combined portion 324 combinable with the combining portion 323, wherein the supporting portion 321, the extending portion 322, and the combining portion 323 as a first portion are integrally formed and the first portion is connected with the cover 10b, and the combined portion 324 as a second portion is provided on the bottom case 20; correspondingly, the capsule 10a is provided with a groove 17 adapted to the first portion; preferably, the first portion is formed integrally with the cover 10b, i.e., the first portion extends in a cantilever fashion from the cover 10b, so that it is only necessary to form the groove 17 in the capsule 10a, rather than to cut the protrusion 32 in the capsule 10a as in the above-described embodiment, thereby reducing the number of operating steps for the capsule 10a and improving the recycling efficiency for the recycled ink container 100.

In this embodiment, an operation hole 221 is provided at a position of the bottom case 20 corresponding to the groove 17, an upper portion of the operation hole 221 forms a combined portion 324/second portion, the first portion is combined with the second portion when the ink bag 10 is combined with the bottom case 20, and the first portion is exposed through the operation hole 221, and does not exceed the bottom case 20 in the left-right direction, and a fifth gap g5 is formed between the first portion and the corresponding side plate 12/14 in the groove 17, and the fifth gap g5 is used to provide a space for movement of the first portion when the ink bag 10 is separated from the bottom case 20.

The unlocking assembly 31 is provided on the first portion and comprises a base 311 connected to the cover 10b and an unlocking portion 312 connected to the base 311, preferably, the unlocking portion 312 is a protrusion protruding from the base 311 in a direction away from the capsule 10a for operation by an operator.

Similarly, the ink bag 10 is combined with the bottom case 20 from top to bottom, and the control device 30 enables the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20 to be combined stably on the left side and the right side at the same time on two opposite sides in the up-down direction; of course, based on the idea of the present embodiment, the control device 30 can also stably combine the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20 at the front and rear sides; by operating the control device 30, the opposite sides of the ink bag 10 in the direction of engagement with the bottom case 20 are simultaneously disengaged, and the ink bag 10 is smoothly "ejected". Assuming that the process of coupling and decoupling the ink bag 10 to and from the bottom case 20 are not performed simultaneously on opposite sides of the coupling direction, "jamming" occurs in both the process of coupling and decoupling the ink bag 10 to and from the bottom case 20, resulting in a degraded use experience for the end user.

In general, regardless of the arrangement of the coupling direction of the ink bag 10 to the bottom case 20, the control device 30 is arranged in the ink container 100, so long as it is ensured that the coupling forces applied by the control device 30 to couple the ink bag 10 to the bottom case 20 are distributed in the same direction at least on the opposite sides of the ink container 100, respectively, the ink bag 10 and the bottom case 20 can be stably coupled.

Claims

1. An ink container detachably installed in the inkjet image forming apparatus, including an ink bag containing ink therein and a bottom case fixed to the inkjet image forming apparatus and supplying the ink to the inkjet image forming apparatus, and a control device for coupling and decoupling the ink bag and the bottom case, wherein the control device simultaneously couples the ink bag and the bottom case at opposite sides of a coupling direction of the ink bag and the bottom case;

the control device comprises a locking assembly, an unlocking assembly and a stressed part, wherein the locking assembly and the unlocking assembly can interact with each other, the stressed part is positioned between the locking assembly and the unlocking assembly, the locking assembly is used for combining the ink bag and the bottom shell, the unlocking assembly is used for releasing the combination of the ink bag and the bottom shell, and the stressed part is used for transmitting the forced pushing force applied to the unlocking assembly to the locking assembly; the stress part is a rib at least formed on the locking component and is arranged on the bent part of the locking component;

the width of the rib is changed along the bending of the part of the locking assembly, which is bent, measured along the opposite outer side edge of the unlocking assembly, the width of the stress part is w2, the width of the unlocking assembly is w1, the width of the part provided with the stress part is w, and the requirement that w is w1+ w2 is met.

2. The ink container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the locking assembly includes a first portion provided on the ink bag and a second portion provided on the bottom case, the first portion and the second portion being disengageable from each other by the unlocking assembly.

3. The ink container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom case includes a first side plate located at the front, a second side plate located at the rear, a third side plate located at the left, a fourth side plate located at the right, and a fifth side plate located below, the first side plate, the second side plate, the third side plate, the fourth side plate, and the fifth side plate enclose a cavity for accommodating the ink bag, and the upper portion of the bottom case is open, and the ink bag is combined with the bottom case from top to bottom.

4. The ink container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom case includes a first side plate located at the front, a third side plate located at the left, a fourth side plate located at the right, and a fifth side plate located below, the first side plate, the third side plate, the fourth side plate, and the fifth side plate enclose a cavity for accommodating the ink bag, the upper side and the rear side of the bottom case are open, and the ink bag is combined with the bottom case from top to bottom or combined with the bottom case from back to front.

5. The ink tank as in claim 2, wherein the ink bag includes a bag body and a cover coupled to each other, the first portion being formed as a part of the bag body.

6. The ink container according to claim 5, wherein the first portion is a support portion, an extension portion connected to the support portion, and a coupling portion connected to the extension portion, wherein the support portion is connected to the side plate of the capsule body, and a gap is formed between the support portion and the side plate, and the extension portion has an arc shape, and the gap between the coupling portion and the side plate is larger than that of the support portion.

7. The ink container of claim 6, wherein the unlocking assembly is an unlocking member disposed opposite the first portion on a side plate of the bottom case; the unlocking piece is a part of the side plate of the bottom shell and comprises a base part connected with the side plate and an unlocking part connected with the base part.

8. The ink container according to claim 2, wherein the first portion is a support portion, an extension portion connected to the support portion, and a coupling portion connected to the extension portion, wherein the support portion is connected to the capsule side plate, the extension portion is arc-shaped, and the force receiving portion is disposed on the extension portion.

9. The ink container as claimed in claim 8, wherein the rib extends from the combining portion toward the support portion, and the rib has an arc shape.

10. The ink container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ink bag includes a bag body and a cover combined with each other, and the first portion is connected to the cover.

11. The ink container as claimed in claim 10, wherein the capsule is provided with a recess adapted to the first portion, and an operation hole is provided at a position of the bottom case corresponding to the recess, and an upper portion of the operation hole is formed as the second portion.

12. The ink container of claim 11 wherein the unlocking assembly is disposed on the first portion.