CN113715520A

CN113715520A - Unlocking assembly and ink box

Info

Publication number: CN113715520A
Application number: CN202110959154.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐长江; 黄喜龙; 毕庆功
Original assignee: Topjet Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Topjet Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-20
Filing date: 2021-08-20
Publication date: 2021-11-30

Abstract

The invention relates to an unlocking assembly and an ink box, wherein the unlocking assembly is installed in the ink box, the ink box can be locked by a locking piece in an ink-jet printer, the unlocking assembly comprises a stress piece, a moving piece and a connecting piece for connecting the stress piece and the moving piece, the stress piece is used for receiving an acting force applied from top to bottom, the connecting piece is used for transmitting the acting force to the moving piece and forcing the moving piece to move from back to front so as to release the locking of the locking piece on the ink box, a first connecting part is arranged between the connecting piece and the stress piece, a second connecting part is arranged between the connecting piece and the moving piece, and at least the second connecting part is movably connected among the first connecting part and the second connecting part, so that the connecting piece can smoothly transmit the acting force to the moving piece, the direction of the acting force is basically the same as the overlooking direction of a user, and the use experience of the user can be effectively improved.

Description

Unlocking assembly and ink box

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of ink-jet imaging, in particular to an ink box for an ink-jet printer and an unlocking assembly in the ink box.

Background

The ink box is a commonly used office consumable material, and people often need to replace and install the ink box in the use process, so how to ensure the smooth replacement and installation of the ink box is a matter which needs attention. A chinese invention patent CN202022730219.0 filed by the applicant discloses an ink cartridge 10 having an unlocking assembly 20, wherein when the ink cartridge needs to be replaced, a person needs to push the unlocking assembly 20 along the installation direction d to release the restriction of the ink cartridge by the stopper 30.

In practice, it is advantageous to always operate the inkjet printer in a top view, whereas the mounting direction d is substantially perpendicular to the top view, and it is always not easy for a person who needs to replace or mount the ink cartridge to push the unlocking member 20 in the mounting direction d, and if it is possible to make the person apply a force to the unlocking member 20 in the same direction as the top view, it is better to make the ink cartridge be released.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides an unlocking assembly, which enables people to remove the limitation of an ink box when acting force is applied in the direction basically the same as the overlooking direction so as to improve the use experience of a user, and the specific scheme is as follows:

the unlocking assembly is used for being installed in the ink box, the ink box can be locked by the locking piece in the ink jet printer, the unlocking assembly comprises a stress piece, a moving piece and a connecting piece for connecting the stress piece and the moving piece, the stress piece is used for receiving an acting force applied from top to bottom, the connecting piece is used for transmitting the acting force to the moving piece, the moving piece is forced to move forwards after the acting force is received, the locking piece is unlocked from the ink box, a first connecting portion is arranged between the connecting piece and the stress piece, a second connecting portion is arranged between the connecting piece and the moving piece, and at least the second connecting portion is movably connected in the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion.

The stressed part comprises a stressed part for receiving acting force and a limiting part connected with the stressed part, and the limiting part limits the motion direction of the stressed part to be the vertical direction.

In one embodiment, the connecting member is made of an inflexible material, and the unlocking assembly further includes an elastic member connected to the force-receiving portion, and the elastic member is used for forcing the unlocking assembly to reset after the force is removed.

Preferably, the first connecting part is movably connected.

In another embodiment, the connecting member is made of an elastic material, and in this case, the first connecting portion is a rigid connection.

When the stressed part is acted by the action force from top to bottom, the connecting part is elastically deformed and then transmits the action force to the moving part.

The movable member is provided with a lifting surface for lifting the locking member and a holding surface for holding the locking member, the lifting surface being disposed adjacent to the holding surface.

Preferably, the lifting surface is an inclined surface, and an included angle formed between the lifting surface and the backward direction is an acute angle along the front-back direction.

The invention also provides an ink box which comprises a shell for containing ink and the unlocking assembly, wherein the unlocking assembly is arranged on the shell.

The ink cartridge further includes an ink outlet formed in front of the case for supplying ink to the inkjet printer, and an ink amount detecting member for detecting a remaining amount of ink in the case.

The ink box also comprises a chip mounting part for mounting the chip, and the ink box is in communication connection with the ink-jet printer through the chip; the casing has a front side plate facing forward and an upper side plate facing upward, the ink outlet and the ink amount detection member are formed by protruding forward from the front side plate, the chip mounting portion is located above the upper side plate, and the ink outlet is closer to the bottom of the ink cartridge than the ink amount detection member.

The connecting piece among the unblock subassembly can convert the effort that from top to bottom applys to the atress piece and applys to the moving part by the effort of backward forward/compel the thrust, and then forces the moving part to relieve the locking of locking piece to the ink horn, and the ink horn can be taken out smoothly, and wherein, the effort direction that is used for applyieing to the atress piece is the same with user's overlooking direction basically, and user's use experience can effectively be promoted.

Drawings

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

Fig. 2 is a partially exploded view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an action mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4A is a schematic view of a state of the unlocking assembly in the first position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4B is a schematic diagram of a state of the unlocking assembly in the second position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a comparison between the state before the force is applied and the state after the force is applied to the action mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an action mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a comparison between the state before the application of the force and the state after the application of the force to the working mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

[ example one ]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a partially exploded view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For convenience of description, the ink cartridge 100 is first defined as follows: the ink cartridge is mounted in a front direction and removed in a rear direction, and when the ink cartridge is mounted in the front direction, the ink cartridge has the same upper, lower, left, and right directions as the user, as shown in fig. 1.

The ink cartridge 100 includes a housing formed by combining a bottom case 100a and a top cover 100b, an ink outlet 102 formed on the housing, an ink amount detecting member 101, an ink cartridge detecting member 103, and a chip mounting portion 104, the bottom case 100a and the top cover 100b enclosing a cavity 100c for accommodating ink; an ink outlet 102, an ink amount detecting member 101, an ink cartridge detecting member 103, and a chip mounting portion 104 may be provided on at least one of the bottom case 100a and the cover 100b, wherein the ink outlet 102 is used to supply the ink stored in the cavity 100c to the inkjet printer, the ink cartridge detecting member 103 cooperates with a sensing device in the inkjet printer to detect whether the mounted ink cartridge is correct or not during the mounting of the ink cartridge 100 to the inkjet printer, the ink amount detecting member 101 is used to detect the remaining amount of ink in the cavity 100c after the ink cartridge 100 is mounted, so that the inkjet printer can notify a user when the amount of ink is low, and the chip mounting portion 104 is used to mount a chip (not shown), and the ink cartridge 100 is in a mounted state, and the ink cartridge 100 is communicatively connected to the inkjet printer through the chip.

As shown in fig. 2, the bottom case 100a has a front side plate 100d facing forward and an upper side plate 106 facing upward, the ink outlet 102 and the ink amount detecting member 101 are formed to protrude forward from the front side plate 100d, the chip mounting portion 104 is formed to protrude upward from the upper side plate 106, and the cartridge detecting member 103 is provided on the face cover 100 b. In the up-down direction, the chip mounting portion 104 is located above the upper side plate 106/bottom case 100a, and the ink outlet 102 is located below the bottom case 100a and closer to the bottom of the ink cartridge than the ink amount detection member 101, so that the chip mounting portion 104 and the ink outlet 102 are spaced as far as possible, the influence of vibration generated when the ink outlet 102 supplies ink to the ink jet printer on the chip located in the chip mounting portion 104 is reduced, and the communication connection between the ink cartridge 100 and the ink jet printer is ensured to be stable; further, the ink cartridge detecting member 103 and the ink amount detecting member 101 are located between the chip mounting portion 104 and the ink outlet 102 in the up-down direction, so that the interference between the ink cartridge detecting member 103 and the ink amount detecting member 101 and the chip during operation can be prevented while ensuring stable electrical contact between the chip and the inkjet printer.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the ink cartridge 100 further includes a stopper surface 105 provided on the housing, the stopper surface extending upward from the upper side plate 106 in the up-down direction, and when the ink cartridge 100 is mounted, the lock surface 203 in the ink jet printer abuts against the stopper surface 105, and the ink cartridge 100 can be stably mounted in the ink jet printer; the locking surface 203 is provided in the locking member 200 rotatable about a rotational axis L, and specifically, the locking member 200 includes a first portion 201 and a second portion 202 formed integrally, the rotational axis L passes through the first portion 201, the locking surface 203 is provided at a distal end of the second portion 202, and the locking surface 203 is provided for abutting against the stopper surface 105 to lock the ink cartridge 100.

When the ink cartridge 100 needs to be taken out, the locking between the locking surface 203 and the limiting surface 105 needs to be released, the ink cartridge 100 further comprises an unlocking assembly 300 arranged in the ink cartridge, when a user applies acting force to one part of the unlocking assembly 300 from top to bottom along the vertical direction, the other part of the unlocking assembly 300 releases the locking between the locking surface 203 and the limiting surface 105, and when the acting force is removed, the unlocking assembly 300 resets. As shown in fig. 2, the unlocking assembly 300 is detachably installed in the ink cartridge 100, and includes an acting mechanism 400 and an elastic member 500, the acting mechanism 400 is used for receiving acting force and unlocking the locking surface 203 and the limiting surface 105, and the elastic member 500 is used for forcing the acting mechanism 400 to reset.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an action mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a schematic view of a first embodiment of an unlock assembly of the present invention in a first position; fig. 4B is a schematic diagram of a state of the unlocking assembly in the second position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The action mechanism 400 includes a force receiving member 41, a movable member 42 and a connecting member 43 connecting the force receiving member 41 and the movable member 42, wherein the force receiving member 41 is configured to receive a downward acting force, the connecting member 43 is configured as a force conversion member and is configured to transmit the downward acting force to the movable member 42 to force the movable member 42 to move forward along a front-back direction, so as to release the locking between the locking surface 203 and the limiting surface 105, preferably, the elastic member 500 is combined with the force receiving member 41, and in a process of resetting the action mechanism 400, the acting force of the elastic member 500 can be more directly applied to the force receiving member 41, as shown in fig. 3, the force receiving member 41 includes a force receiving portion 411, an elastic member combining portion 412 and a limiting portion 413 connected with the force receiving portion 411, the force receiving portion 411 is further provided with a rib 414 for increasing a friction force, one end of the elastic member 500 abuts against the elastic member combining portion 412, the other end abuts against the housing, and the limiting portion 413 is combined with the housing, for preventing the force receiving member 41 from falling off the housing, and defining the moving direction of the force receiving member 41 as the up-down direction.

The movable piece 42 includes a bottom plate 421, a raised surface 422 extending from the bottom plate 421, and a holding surface 423 disposed adjacent to the raised surface 422. As shown in fig. 4A and 4B, when the movable member 42 receives the urging force, the bottom plate 421 slides forward on the housing, and the lifting surface 422 lifts the locking member second portion 202, so that the locking member 200 rotates integrally about the rotation axis L, and when the locking member 200 reaches above the movable member 42 as a whole, the locking member 200 is held by the holding surface 423, the locking of the locking surface 203 and the stopper surface 105 is released, and the ink cartridge 100 can be smoothly taken out. The lifting surface 422 may be a plane parallel to the up-down direction, or an inclined surface inclined with respect to the up-down direction, and the lifting surface on the inclined surface is relatively more labor-saving, so that the lifting surface 422 is preferably an inclined surface, and the inclined direction is that, along the front-back direction, the front of the lifting surface 422 is closer to the housing/base plate 421 than the rear, and an included angle formed between the lifting surface 422 and the rear direction is an acute angle, and the smaller the included angle is, the smoother the movement of the movable member 42 is.

A first connection portion 43a is disposed between the connection member 43 and the force receiving member 41, and a second connection portion 43b is disposed between the connection member 43 and the movable member 42, wherein at least the second connection portion 43b is movably connected, for example, the connection member 43 and the movable member 42 are connected by a spring, a connection capable of rotating around a fixed pin, or a flexible material, so that the connection member 43 is movable relative to the movable member 42, and the connection member 43 can transmit the acting force to the movable member 42 through the second connection portion 43 b. The connection mode of the first connection portion 43a is not limited, that is, the connection member 43 and the force-receiving member 41 may be rigidly connected in a fixed manner, or may be connected in the same manner as the second connection portion 43b, in this embodiment, the connection member 43 itself is made of a non-flexible material so that the connection member 43 does not elastically deform, loss of the acting force in the transmission process through the connection member 43 can be reduced, and then, in the transmission process of the acting force from the connection member 43 to the movable member 42 through the second connection portion 43b, even if the relative position between the connection member 43 and the movable member 42 is not favorable for the transmission of the acting force, under the action of the acting force, the connection member 43 may move at an angle relative to the movable member 42, so that the connection member 43 reaches a position more favorable for the transmission of the acting force to the movable member 42.

When the connecting member 43 is rigidly connected to the force-receiving member 41, as described above, the second connecting portion 43b between the connecting member 43 and the movable member 42 is movably connected, so that the connecting member 43 can move to a position favorable for transmitting an acting force with respect to the movable member 42; when the connecting member 43 and the force-receiving member 41 are movably connected, it can be understood that even though the connecting member 43 is still at the position unfavorable for force transmission relative to the movable member 42, the force can first force the connecting member 43 to move by an angle relative to the force-receiving member 41, so that the force can be smoothly transmitted from the force-receiving member 41 to the connecting member 43, and then the connecting member 43 moves by another angle relative to the movable member 42, so that the force can be smoothly transmitted from the connecting member 43 to the movable member 42, and thus it can be seen that when the first connecting portion 43a and the second connecting portion 43b are both set in a movable link manner, the force applied to the force-receiving member 41 from top to bottom is more easily transmitted to the movable member 42.

Fig. 5 shows the comparison of the relative positions of the force-receiving member 41, the connecting member 43 and the movable member 42 before and after the force is transmitted to the action mechanism 400, wherein the force-receiving member 41 is limited to move only in the up-down direction, and the movable member 42 is limited to move only in the front-back direction, so that the connecting member 43 serves as a force conversion member for converting the upward-downward force received by the force-receiving member 41 into a force for forcing the movable member 42 to move forward. When the acting force from top to bottom is applied, the moving member 41 moves downward in the up-down direction, the elastic member 500 is compressed and deformed, the connecting member 43 pushes the moving member 42 to move forward through the second connecting portion 43b, meanwhile, the first connecting portion 43a moves downward together with the force receiving member 41, the included angle between the connecting member 43 and the backward direction gradually decreases in the front-back direction, and the acting force from top to bottom is converted into the acting force/forced thrust from back to front to force the moving member 42 to move forward by the distance g. As can be seen from fig. 5, when the first connecting portion 43a is in the movable connection mode, in the second position, the smaller the angle between the connecting portion 43 and the backward direction is, the larger the distance g that the movable member 42 moves forward is. Once the force from top to bottom is removed, the force-receiving member 41 is reset upward under the elastic reset force of the elastic member 500, and at the same time, the connecting member 43 pulls the movable member 42 to reset, so that the unlocking assembly 300 returns to the first position from the second position.

[ example two ]

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an action mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 7 is a diagram showing a comparison between the state before the application of the force and the state after the application of the force to the working mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

For simplicity, the same components in this embodiment are numbered the same as those in the above embodiment, and as shown in fig. 6, the action mechanism 400 in this embodiment still includes a force receiving member 41, a movable member 42, and a connecting member 43 ', the connecting member 43 ' connects the force receiving member 41 and the movable member 42, the force receiving member 41 is used for receiving a downward acting force, and the connecting member 43 ' is used as a force converting member for transmitting the downward acting force to the movable member 42, so as to force the movable member 42 to move forward in the front-back direction, thereby releasing the locking between the locking surface 203 and the limiting surface 105.

As shown in the figure, a first connection portion 43a ' is disposed between the connection member 43 ' and the force-receiving member 41, and a second connection portion 43b ' is disposed between the connection member 43 ' and the movable member 42, wherein at least the second connection portion 43b ' is movably connected, and the specific connection manner of the first connection portion 43a ' and the second connection portion 43b ' is the same as that of the first embodiment, and is not repeated herein. What is different, in the present embodiment, the connecting element 43 ' itself is made of an elastic material so that the connecting element 43 ' itself can be elastically deformed, for example, the connecting element 43 ' itself is made of plastic sheet, thin metal sheet, and the like, accordingly, the elastic element 500 for forcing the unlocking assembly 300 to reset can be omitted, the force-receiving element 41 is still provided with a force-receiving portion 411 for receiving the acting force and a limiting portion 413 for preventing the force-receiving element 41 from falling off the housing, the limiting portion 413 is still connected with the force-receiving portion 411, and in the present embodiment, the unlocking assembly 300 is identical to the acting mechanism 400.

The second connection portion 43b ' in this embodiment is preferably movably connected, the first connection portion 43a ' is rigidly connected, as shown in fig. 7, when the unlocking assembly 300 is at the first position, the connection portion 43 ' is bent, that is, the connection portion 43 ' is bent in the initial state, when a force is applied to the force-receiving portion 411 from top to bottom, the force-receiving member 41 starts to move downward and immediately pulls the connection portion 43 ' to elastically deform, as shown in fig. 7, when the connection portion 43 ' deforms to the maximum amount and the force-receiving member 41 continues to move downward, the downward force starts to be transmitted to the movable member 42 through the connection portion 43 ' and forces the movable member 42 to move forward by a distance g, and the unlocking assembly 300 is at the second position, during which the locking member 200 rotates to the position above the movable member 42 around the rotation axis L and is supported by the movable member 42, the ink cartridge 100 can be removed.

When the force from the top to the bottom is removed, the restoring force of the connecting member 43 'forces the force-receiving member 41 to move upward, and at the same time, the connecting member 43' pulls the movable member 42 to move backward, and finally, the unlocking assembly 300 returns to the first position from the second position to be reset.

In the process that the connecting member 43 ' converts the acting force from top to bottom to the acting force/thrust force from back to front, the second connecting portion 43b ' is movably connected, so that the connecting member 43 ' can be angularly adjusted relative to the movable member 42, so that the acting force can be more smoothly transmitted to the movable member 42; because the connecting piece 43 'has elasticity, in the process of transmitting the acting force from the force-bearing piece 41 to the connecting piece 43', even if the two pieces are rigidly connected, the connecting piece 43 'can ensure the smooth transmission of the acting force between the two pieces by adjusting the angle of the connecting piece 43' per se; it is understood that the first connection portion 43a 'may also be in an articulated manner, in which the acting force can be delayed in the process of being transmitted from the force-bearing member 41 to the connection portion 43', and in the action mechanism 400 in which the first connection portion 43a 'is in the articulated manner, under the condition that the connection portion 43' has the same deformation amount, the distance g of forward movement of the movable member 42 will be shortened, or in other words, under the condition that the distance g of forward movement of the movable member 42 is ensured to be unchanged, the distance of downward movement of the force-bearing member 41 will be increased, and this structure is more advantageous for the ink cartridge in which the requirement for the forward movement distance of the movable member 42 is smaller or the requirement for the downward movement distance of the force-bearing member 41 is larger.

As described above, the connection component 43/43' in the unlocking assembly 300 according to the present invention can convert the force applied from top to bottom to the force-receiving component 41 into a backward force/forward force applied to the movable component 42, so as to force the movable component 42 to lift and hold the locking component 200 in the inkjet printer, and release the locking between the locking surface 203 and the limiting surface 105, so that the ink cartridge 100 can be smoothly taken out, the direction of the force applied to the force-receiving component 41 is substantially the same as the top-view direction of the user, and the user experience can be effectively improved.

Claims

1. The unlocking component is used for being installed in the ink box, the ink box can be locked by the locking piece in the ink-jet printer, the unlocking component comprises a stress piece, a moving piece and a connecting piece for connecting the stress piece and the moving piece, the stress piece is used for receiving an acting force exerted from top to bottom, the connecting piece is used for transmitting the acting force to the moving piece and forcing the moving piece to move from back to front so as to release the locking of the locking piece on the ink box, and the unlocking component is characterized in that,

a first connecting part is arranged between the connecting piece and the stress piece, a second connecting part is arranged between the connecting piece and the movable piece,

among the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion, at least the second connecting portion is swing joint.

2. The unlocking assembly according to claim 1, wherein the force receiving member includes a force receiving portion for receiving the acting force and a stopper portion connected to the force receiving portion, the stopper portion defining a movement direction of the force receiving member as an up-down direction.

3. The unlocking assembly of claim 2, wherein the connector is made of a non-flexible material.

4. The unlocking assembly of claim 3, further comprising a resilient member coupled to the force receiving portion for urging the unlocking assembly to reset upon release of the force.

5. The unlocking assembly of claim 4, wherein the first connection portion is a living connection.

6. The unlocking assembly of claim 2, wherein the connector is made of an elastic material.

7. The unlocking assembly of claim 6, wherein the first connection is a rigid connection.

8. The unlocking assembly of claim 7 wherein the connecting member is configured to elastically deform to transfer the force to the movable member when the force-receiving member is acted upon by a downward force.

9. The unlocking assembly of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the movable member is provided with a lifting surface for lifting the locking member and a holding surface for holding the locking member, the lifting surface being disposed adjacent to the holding surface.

10. The delatch assembly of claim 9 wherein the lifting surface is beveled and the angle formed between the lifting surface and the rearward direction is acute in the forward and rearward directions.

11. An ink cartridge comprising a housing containing ink and an unlocking assembly according to any of claims 1 to 10, the unlocking assembly being mounted on the housing.

12. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 11, further comprising an ink outlet port formed in a front of the housing for supplying ink to the inkjet printer, and an ink amount detecting member for detecting a remaining amount of ink in the housing.

13. The ink cartridge of claim 12, wherein the ink cartridge further comprises a chip mounting portion to which the chip is mounted, the ink cartridge establishing a communication connection with the inkjet printer via the chip; the casing has a front side plate facing forward and an upper side plate facing upward, the ink outlet and the ink amount detection member are formed by protruding forward from the front side plate, the chip mounting portion is located above the upper side plate, and the ink outlet is closer to the bottom of the ink cartridge than the ink amount detection member.