CN113954526A

CN113954526A - Ink box

Info

Publication number: CN113954526A
Application number: CN202111248667.XA
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: 2021-10-26
Filing date: 2021-10-26
Publication date: 2022-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 2041-10-26
Also published as: CN113954526B

Abstract

The invention relates to an ink box which can be detachably installed in an ink box containing cavity provided with a contact pin, wherein the ink box comprises a shell containing ink and a chip assembly movably arranged on the shell; the chip assembly comprises a chip seat and a chip which are combined with each other, the chip seat is provided with a stress surface for receiving acting force, the chip is provided with an electric contact part which can be contacted with the contact pin, and in the process that the ink box is installed towards the ink box accommodating cavity, the stress surface receives the acting force from the ink box accommodating cavity and forces the electric contact part to move between a first position and a second position along with the chip seat; in the first position, the electrical contact is not in contact with the contact pin, and in the second position, the electrical contact is in contact with the contact pin, and since the electrical contact is movable with the chip holder between the first position and the second position, the requirement for the accuracy of the mounting position of the electrical contact in the ink cartridge is reduced.

Description

Ink box

Technical Field

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

Background

An ink cartridge is a container for supplying ink to an inkjet image forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as "apparatus") and is detachably mounted in the apparatus, and generally, a plurality of ink cartridges, which are mounted in the apparatus in an adjacent arrangement and each contain ink of different colors, are simultaneously mounted in the apparatus, and accordingly, a plurality of ink cartridge accommodating chambers for accommodating the ink cartridges, each of which corresponds to one ink cartridge accommodating chamber, are provided in the apparatus, and each of the ink cartridge accommodating chambers is provided with an ink suction needle, a contact needle, and a locking portion.

The ink box is provided with an ink outlet component for ink to flow out, a chip for establishing communication connection with equipment and a locking surface for preventing the ink box from withdrawing from the equipment, the chip is horizontally arranged above the ink box, meanwhile, an electric contact part on the chip also faces upwards, and the locking surface faces to the direction opposite to the installation direction of the ink box; at the initial stage of the installation of the ink box towards the equipment, the whole ink box is in an inclined state, after the ink box reaches a preset position of the equipment, the whole ink box rotates by taking a certain point in the ink outlet assembly as a circle center to reach a non-inclined state, and finally, the ink box is installed to the equipment in a non-inclined posture.

The ink box is also provided with an air guide hole, and when the ink suction needle sucks ink from the ink box, external atmosphere is guided into the ink box through the air guide hole so as to maintain the internal pressure of the ink box to be stable; currently, the air guide hole is sealed by an air guide film, and a user needs to tear off the air guide film before installing the ink box in the device, and then install the ink box in the corresponding ink box accommodating cavity.

During the mounting process, the ink outlet assembly is combined with the ink suction needle, the electric contact part of the chip is electrically connected with the contact pin, and meanwhile, the locking part is combined with the locking surface to limit the ink box to move towards the direction opposite to the mounting direction; when the ink cartridge needs to be taken out, the ink cartridge is pushed again toward the mounting direction to release the engagement of the locking portion with the locking surface, and then, the ink cartridge is returned from the non-inclined posture to the inclined posture and moved in a direction opposite to the mounting direction, and finally, the user takes the ink cartridge out of the apparatus.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides an ink box, wherein an electric contact part used for establishing communication connection with equipment is not fixedly arranged on the ink box any more, but can move along with a movable part, thereby reducing the requirement of the installation position precision of the electric contact part in the ink box, and the adopted specific scheme is as follows:

an ink cartridge detachably mounted in an ink cartridge accommodating chamber provided with a contact pin, the ink cartridge including a case accommodating ink, and a chip assembly movably disposed on the case; the chip assembly comprises a chip seat and a chip which are combined with each other, the chip seat is provided with a stress surface for receiving acting force, the chip is provided with an electric contact part which can be contacted with the contact pin, and in the process that the ink box is installed towards the ink box accommodating cavity, the stress surface receives the acting force from the ink box accommodating cavity and forces the electric contact part to move between a first position and a second position along with the chip seat; in the first position the electrical contact is not in contact with the contact pin, and in the second position the electrical contact is in contact with the contact pin.

The lower surface of the ink cartridge is a plane parallel to the front-rear direction, and the ink cartridge is mounted and removed in the direction parallel to the front-rear direction.

In the up-down direction, the electrical contact portion in the second position posture is farther from the lower surface of the ink cartridge than the electrical contact portion in the first position posture.

The ink cartridge further includes an ink outlet chamber disposed below the casing, and the electrical contact portion in the second position posture is farther from a center line of the ink outlet chamber than the electrical contact portion in the first position posture.

In the process of mounting the ink box towards the ink box containing cavity, the chip seat is contacted with the ink box containing cavity to receive the force for moving the chip seat.

More specifically, the housing is formed with an ink chamber having a top surface lower than an upper surface of the housing in the up-down direction, and at least a portion of the chip holder is located between the upper surface and the top surface when the chip holder is located at the first position.

As one of the movable modes of the chip holder, the chip holder is mounted to rotate about a rotation axis, the electric contact part is located in front of the chip holder, and the rotation axis is closer to the rear end of the chip holder.

The chip holder is inclined upward with respect to the front-rear direction in both the first position and the second position, and for this purpose, the chip assembly further includes a holding member coupled to the chip holder, the holding member being for holding the chip holder in the first position, the holding member being elastically deformed when the chip holder moves from the first position to the second position, or the chip holder is provided with a held portion, and the case is provided with a holding portion which holds the chip holder in the first position by at least one of surface contact, line contact, and point contact with the held portion.

As another mode of movement of the chip holder, the chip holder is mounted in a translational manner, and the chip holder further includes a force conversion mechanism for converting an acting force to be applied to the chip holder in an up-down direction.

Drawings

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

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the internal structure of the ink cartridge accommodating chamber according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a partially exploded schematic view of an ink cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ink cartridge according to the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction and passing through the center line of the ink outlet, with parts of the ink outlet assembly hidden.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a chip according to the present invention.

Fig. 6A and 6B are perspective views of a chip mount according to the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the ink cartridge according to the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction and passing through the center line of the ink outlet.

Fig. 8A is a schematic view of a state in which the ink cartridge according to the present invention is mounted to the apparatus.

Fig. 8B is a perspective view of the ink cartridge according to the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction and passing through the center line of the ink outlet, after being mounted to the apparatus.

Detailed Description

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

[ integral Structure of ink Cartridge and apparatus ]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to the present invention before installation; fig. 2 is a schematic view of the internal structure of the ink cartridge accommodating chamber according to the present invention. For convenience of description, the mounting direction of the ink cartridge 100 is defined as the front, the removing direction is defined as the rear, and when the ink cartridge 100 is mounted forward, the upper, lower, left, and right directions of the user's sight are the upper, lower, left, and right directions of the ink cartridge 100, respectively, and the ink cartridge accommodating chamber 200 located in the apparatus has the same orientation as the ink cartridge 100.

The ink cartridge 100 comprises a shell 1 for containing ink, and an ink outlet component 2, a chip component 3 and a locking component 4 which are arranged on the shell 1, wherein the ink outlet component 2 is used for supplying the ink to equipment, the chip component 3 is used for establishing communication connection with the equipment, and the locking component 4 is used for combining with the equipment and preventing the ink cartridge 100 from being withdrawn backwards. As a whole, the ink cartridge 100 has a front surface 11 at the front, a rear surface 12 at the rear, an upper surface 13 at the top, a lower surface 14 at the bottom, a left surface 15 at the left, and a right surface 16 at the right, and in the left-right direction, the casing 1 includes a bottom case 1a and a face cover 1b combined with each other to form an ink chamber 10 therebetween, and the chip module 3 and the lock module 4 are connected to the casing 1 in a manner such that at least a part thereof is movable.

As shown in fig. 1, the casing 1 further includes a first sub-lower surface 141 connected to the front surface 11 and a sub-front surface 111 connected to the lower surface 14, the first sub-lower surface 141 is connected to the sub-front surface 111, the first sub-lower surface 141 and the sub-front surface 111 are both located between the front surface 11 and the lower surface 14 along the up-down direction, and the ink outlet member 2 is located below the ink cartridge, is disposed near the lower surface 14, and passes through the sub-front surface 111 to communicate the ink chamber 10 and the outside of the ink cartridge. When the ink cartridge 100 is assembled, the lower surface 14 is a plane parallel to the front-rear direction, which can be understood as a plane that can make the movement direction of the ink cartridge 100 parallel to the front-rear direction during the process of mounting and removing the ink cartridge 100 in the front-rear direction, and although the ink cartridge 100 further has the first sub-lower surface 141, the first sub-lower surface 141 still does not affect the lower surface 14 of the ink cartridge 100 to be a plane parallel to the front-rear direction.

The ink cartridge accommodating chamber 200 includes an installation groove 201, a contact pin holder 202 and a stopper rod 203, the contact pin holder 202 and the stopper rod 203 are respectively located in front and rear of the installation groove 201 along a front-rear direction, a contact pin chamber 202a is formed in a downward direction of the contact pin holder 202, a blocking wall 202b is formed in a rearward direction, and a contact pin 204 is disposed in the contact pin chamber 202a and can move in an up-down direction.

[ ink discharging Assembly ]

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded schematic view of an ink cartridge according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ink cartridge according to the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction and passing through the center line of the ink outlet, with parts of the ink outlet assembly hidden.

As shown in fig. 3, one part of the upper surface 13 is located on the bottom case 1a, and the other part of the upper surface 13 is located on the surface cover 1b, and it is realized that the whole of the upper surface 13 may be disposed on the bottom case 1a, or the whole of the upper surface 13 may be disposed on the surface cover 1 b. The ink chamber 10 is formed on the bottom case 1a, the ink chamber 10 has a top surface 131 positioned above and a second sub-lower surface 142 positioned below, in the up-down direction, the top surface 131 is positioned below the upper surface 13, the second sub-lower surface 142 is positioned above the lower surface 14, the first sub-lower surface 141 and the second sub-lower surface 142 form a part of the bottom surface of the ink chamber 10, and the sub-front surface 111 is positioned between the first sub-lower surface 141 and the second sub-lower surface 142.

The ink discharging unit 2 extends in the front-rear direction and passes through the sub front surface 111, as shown in fig. 3, the ink discharging unit 2 includes an ink discharging chamber 21, a piston 23, and an elastic member 24, the ink discharging chamber 21 has a center line C parallel to the front-rear direction, an ink discharging port 22 for supplying ink to the outside is formed at the front end of the ink discharging chamber 21, and the piston 23 keeps sealing the ink discharging port 22 by the elastic force of the elastic member 24. The piston 23 is rod-shaped and includes a rod 233 and a sealing end 231 at one end of the rod 233, and the sealing end 231 is forced to be pushed to a sealing position for sealing the ink outlet 22 by the elastic force of the elastic member 24 before the ink cartridge 100 is mounted.

The ink cartridge 100 further includes an air guide chamber 5 for introducing the atmosphere into the ink chamber 10, and before the ink cartridge 100 is mounted, the air guide chamber 5 is sealed by an air guide film 18 (shown in fig. 7) so as not to communicate with the atmosphere. Before the existing ink cartridge 100 needs to be installed, a user needs to tear off the air guide film 18 first, so that the air guide cavity 5 communicates the inside and the outside of the ink cartridge, and then the ink cartridge 100 is installed in the equipment, as the ink in the ink chamber 10 is sucked out, the air pressure in the ink chamber 10 is reduced, and the external atmosphere is supplemented to the ink chamber 10 through the air guide cavity 5, so that the pressure in the ink chamber 10 is kept stable.

However, the situation that the user forgets to tear off the air guide film 18 exists all the time, and particularly, the situation that the user forgets to tear off the air guide film 18 is easier to happen to the user who uses the device for the first time. To this end, the ink cartridge 100 according to the present invention is configured such that the ink cartridge 100 does not need to tear the air guide film 18 before being mounted, the user only needs to mount the ink cartridge 100 to the apparatus, and the air guide film 18 is opened during the mounting process.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the ink discharge chamber 21 communicates with the ink chamber 10 through the first communication hole 25, and thus the ink in the ink chamber 10 can be continuously replenished to the ink discharge chamber 21; the air guide chamber 5 is disposed adjacent to the ink outlet chamber 21, and the air guide chamber 5 communicates with the ink chamber 10 through an air guide passage, and the piston 23 extends from the ink outlet chamber 21 to the air guide chamber 5, and the piston 23 pierces the air guide film 18 while the ink outlet 22 is opened. Specifically, the air guide chamber 5 is communicated with the ink outlet chamber 21 through the second communication hole 26, the other end of the rod body 233 is tapered to form a puncture portion 232, the puncture portion 232 is located in the air guide chamber 5, as an ink suction needle (not shown) enters the ink outlet chamber 21 through the ink outlet 22, the piston 23 is pushed backward by the ink suction needle, the sealing end 231 reaches the open position from the sealing position, the ink outlet 22 is opened, the elastic member 24 is elastically deformed, the puncture portion 232 punctures the air guide film 18, and the air guide chamber 5 is communicated with the atmosphere through the air guide hole 51; when the ink cartridge 100 is removed from the apparatus, the elastic member 24 pushes the piston 23 to move forward, and the sealing end 231 returns to the sealing position from the open position, whereby it can be seen that the moving trace of the piston 23 is restricted by the second communication hole 26 during the forward and backward movement of the piston 23.

As a second implementation manner, the air guide chamber 5 and the ink storage chamber 21 may be spaced apart from each other, and communication holes are respectively formed on opposite surfaces of the air guide chamber and the ink storage chamber, and the pistons 23 respectively penetrate through the communication holes so that the puncturing part 232 reaches the air guide chamber 5, and the puncturing part 232 punctures the air guide film 18 as the piston 23 is pushed backward by the ink suction needle.

As a third implementation manner, the puncturing part 232 is formed separately from the piston 23 as an independent component, in this case, the piston 23 is combined with the puncturing part 232 through an intermediate component, the puncturing part 232 is triggered by the piston 23, and the piston 23 does not need to extend to the air guide chamber 5 through the intermediate component, so as to reduce the sealing requirement between the ink outlet chamber 21 and the air guide chamber 5, for example, a magnetic member is installed on both the piston 23 and the puncturing part 232, so that the puncturing part 232 can move along with the movement of the piston 23 through the magnetic force; furthermore, by adjusting the magnitude and direction of the magnetic force, the magnitude and direction of the acting force transmitted to the puncturing part 232 by the piston 23 can be controlled, so that the puncturing part 232 can puncture the air guide film 18 more accurately; still further, the intermediate member may be further configured to: after the puncture portion 232 punctures the air guide film 18, the intermediate member removes the puncture portion 232 from the air guide hole 51, and prevents the puncture portion 232 from blocking the air guide hole 51 to affect the communication efficiency of the air guide chamber 5 with the atmosphere.

From the above description, the piston 23 can be regarded as a trigger, the puncturing part 232 can be regarded as a triggered part, when the trigger 23 is pushed by the ink sucking needle, the sealing end 231 moves from the sealing position to the opening position, and the trigger 23 triggers the triggered part 232 to puncture the air guide film 18, so that the air guide chamber 5 is communicated with the atmosphere.

[ chip Assembly ]

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a chip according to the present invention; fig. 6A and 6B are perspective views of a chip mount according to the present invention.

As further shown in fig. 3, the chip module 3 is located under the ink cartridge and includes a chip holder 31 and a chip 32 which are coupled to each other, the chip 32 is fixedly mounted on the chip holder 31, the chip holder 31 is movably coupled to the housing 1, and the chip 32 has a first position and a second position as described below along with the movement of the chip holder 31, the chip 32 is not in contact with the contact pins 204 in the first position, the chip 32 is not in communication with the device, and the chip 32 is in contact with the contact pins 204 in the second position, the chip 32 is in communication with the device; the chip 32 does not have to be fixedly arranged and the accuracy requirement of its mounting position can be reduced.

As shown in fig. 5, the chip 32 includes a substrate 321, and an electrical contact part 322 and a storage part 323 respectively located at two sides of the substrate 321, the electrical contact part 322 is used for contacting with the contact pin 204, the storage part 323 stores various parameter information of the ink cartridge 100, and the electrical contact part 322 is electrically communicated with the storage part 323; further, the chip 32 further comprises a power supply 324 arranged on the same side as one of the electrical contacts 322 and the storage 323, the power supply 324 supplying power to the chip 32 when the chip 32 is in communication connection with the device.

As is conventional, the chip 32 may also be configured such that the electrical contacts 322 are disposed separately from the substrate 321, and in this case, the electrical contacts 322 are connected to the storage part 323 by wires, so that it is only necessary to ensure that the electrical contacts 322 with a smaller relative area are disposed on the chip holder 31, and the substrate 321, the storage part 322, and the power supply 324 with a larger relative area may be disposed at other locations according to the space design requirements of the ink cartridge 100.

As shown in fig. 6A and 6B, the chip holder 31 includes a main body 311, first and

second support portions

312 and 313 respectively located at front and rear sides of the main body 311, and a force receiving portion 315 protruding upward from the main body 311, the force receiving portion 315 facing forward to form a force receiving surface 315a, the first and

second support portions

312 and 313 are spaced apart in the front-rear direction, the force receiving portion 315 is spaced apart from the two support portions in the up-down direction, the chip 32 is mounted between the force receiving portion 315 and the support portions, the electrical contact portion 322 faces upward, and the storage portion 323 and/or the power supply 324 are located in a space between the first and

second support portions

312 and 313. Further, the main body 311 is further provided with a viewing hole 314 opposite to the second supporting portion 313, so that a user can view whether the base plate 321 is supported by the second supporting portion 313 through the viewing hole 314.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the ink cartridge according to the present invention cut along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction through the center line of the ink outlet;

fig. 8A is a schematic view of a state in which the ink cartridge according to the present invention is mounted to the apparatus; fig. 8B is a perspective view of the ink cartridge according to the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction and passing through the center line of the ink outlet, after being mounted to the apparatus.

In the present invention, the chip holder 31 is provided to be rotatable about a rotation axis L, preferably, the rotation axis L is located between the upper surface 13 and the top surface 131, and at least a part of the chip holder 31 is located between the upper surface 13 and the top surface 131 in the up-down direction. As shown in fig. 3, the chip holder 31 is rotatable about the rotation axis L in a direction indicated by r and a direction r 'opposite to the direction r, and accordingly, at least the electrical contacts 322 of the chip 32 are rotatable with the chip holder 31 in the direction indicated by r/r' between the first position and the second position, hereinafter, the description will be given taking the case where the electrical contacts 322 are provided on the substrate 321 and the chips 32 are all mounted on the chip holder 31.

As shown in fig. 7, before the ink cartridge 100 is mounted, the chip holder 31 is in the first position, the distance between the chip electrical contact 322 and the top surface 131 in the up-down direction is h1, the sealing end 231 of the piston 23 is in the sealing position, and the air guide hole 51 is sealed by the air guide film 18. The ink cartridge 100 is mounted forward in the front-rear direction, as shown in fig. 8A, the ink cartridge 100 enters the cartridge accommodating chamber 200 in a direction parallel to the front-rear direction, as shown in fig. 8B, the piston 23 is pushed rearward by the ink suction needle, the sealing end 231 reaches the open position from the sealing position, the ink outlet 22 is opened, the elastic member 24 is elastically deformed, the air guide film 18 is pierced by the piercing portion 232, the force receiving surface 315a is in contact with the blocking wall 202B, the chip holder 31 rotates the chip 32 from the first position to the second position in the direction indicated by r, the electrical contact 322 enters the contact chamber 202a and is in contact with the contact pin 204, the distance between the chip electrical contact 322 and the top surface 131 in the up-down direction is h2, h2 > h1 is satisfied, that is, with respect to the electrical contact 322 being in the first position, the electrical contact 322 in the second position is farther from the top surface 131, or, in the up-down direction, the electrical contact 322 located at the second position is farther from the center line C of the ink outlet chamber 21 than the electrical contact 322 is located at the first position, and it can also be said that the electrical contact 322 located at the second position is farther from the lower surface 14 of the ink cartridge than the electrical contact 322 is located at the first position in the up-down direction.

In contrast, when the ink cartridge 100 is removed from the cartridge accommodating chamber 200, the piston 23 moves forward under the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 24, the sealing end 231 returns from the open position to the sealing position, and at the same time, the force receiving surface 315a is out of contact with the blocking wall 202b, the chip holder 31 rotates in the direction indicated by r' under its own weight from the second position to the first position, and the electrical contact portions 322 are out of contact with the contact pins 204.

The chip holder 31 has the first position and the second position as described above, in which the chip electrical contacts 322 are in contact with the contact pins 204, and in the case where the chip holder 31 is provided to be rotatable about the rotation axis L, the plane in which the electrical contacts 322 are located is inclined upward with respect to the front-rear direction, as shown in fig. 8B, the electrical contacts 322 will be in contact with the front surfaces of the contact pins, and the contact area of the electrical contacts 322 with the contact pins in the present invention is larger than that of the existing electrical contacts with the vertices of the contact pins. Preferably, when the chip holder 31 is in the first position, the plane of the chip electrical contact portion 322 is also inclined with respect to the front-back direction, as shown in fig. 7, the chip holder 32 is inclined upward with respect to the front-back direction, the electrical contact portion 322 is positioned at the front upper side, and the force-bearing surface 315a is inclined forward with respect to the up-down direction, so that the force-bearing surface 315a is more easily contacted with the blocking wall 202b, and the force-bearing surface 315a is not separated from the blocking wall 202b during the rotation of the chip holder 31 in the direction indicated by r.

How the chip holder 31 is held in a state inclined with respect to the front-rear direction will be described below with reference to fig. 3, 7, and 8B.

As shown in fig. 7, part R2, the distance from the front end of the chip holder 31 to the rotation axis L is much greater than the distance from the rear end of the chip holder 31 to the rotation axis L, and the chip holder 31 has a tendency to rotate in the direction of R' in a natural state; when the chip 32 is mounted to the chip holder 31, most of the weight of the chip 32 is located in front of the rotation axis L, and thus the chip assembly 3 as a whole has a tendency to rotate in the r' direction.

In order to hold the chip holder 31 located at the first position in the above-described tilted state, the casing 1 is further provided with a holding portion, and the chip holder 31 is provided with a held portion. As shown in fig. 3, the holding portion includes a first holding portion 134 for holding the chip holder 31 at a first position and a second holding portion 135 for holding the chip holder 31 at a second position, the held portion includes a first held portion 311a for contacting the first holding portion 134 and a second held portion 311B for contacting the second holding portion 135, the first held portion 311a and the second held portion 311B are adjacently disposed, the first holding portion 134 and the second holding portion 135 are also adjacently disposed, when the chip holder 31 is mounted, the first holding portion 134 and the second holding portion 135 enter a region between the first held portion 311a and the second held portion 311B, the first holding portion 134 abuts the first held portion 311a so that the chip holder 31 is held at a first position inclined upward with respect to the front-rear direction, as shown by a partial R3 in fig. 8B, when the force receiving surface 315a receives the blocking wall 202B to rotate the chip holder 31 in the direction of the rotational axis L shown around the rotational axis R, the first holding portion 134 is out of contact with the first held portion 311a until the chip holder 31 reaches the second position, and at this time, the second holding portion 135 comes into contact with the second held portion 311b, and the chip holder 31 is held at the second position.

As can be seen from this, the angle at which the chip holder 31 is inclined upward with respect to the front-rear direction at the first position can be determined by the contact position of the first holding portion 134 and the first held portion 311a, and similarly, the angle at which the chip holder 31 is inclined upward with respect to the front-rear direction at the second position can be determined by the contact position of the second holding portion 134 and the second held portion 311b, and at least one of surface contact, line contact, and point contact can be formed between the first holding portion 134 and the first held portion 311a and between the second holding portion 135 and the second held portion 311 b; in the present invention, the first holding portion 134 is in surface-to-surface contact with the first held portion 311a, the second holding portion 135 is in surface-to-line contact with the second held portion 311b, the first holding portion 134 is an inclined surface inclined rearward with respect to the front-rear direction, and the second holding portion 135 is a flat surface parallel to the front-rear direction.

Further, the holding portion further includes a third holding portion 136 disposed adjacent to the second holding portion 135, and when the chip holder 31 is located at the first position, the third holding portion 136 is kept in contact with the main body 311 in addition to the first holding portion 134 being in contact with the first held portion 311a, and the chip holder 31 can be more stably positioned at the first position.

Further, the chip assembly 3 may be further provided with a holding member such as a tension spring or a compression spring coupled to the chip holder 31 such that the chip holder 31 is held in an upwardly inclined posture with respect to the front-rear direction at the first position, the holding member is elastically deformed when the chip holder 31 moves from the first position to the second position, and the chip holder 31 is moved from the second position to the first position by an elastic restoring force of the holding member when the force receiving surface 315a is out of contact with the stopper wall 202 b.

The chip holder 31 can also move between the first position and the second position in a translational manner, for example, a force conversion mechanism is disposed between the force-bearing portion 315 and the supporting portion, when the force-bearing surface 315a contacts with the blocking wall 202b, the force conversion mechanism can convert the force applied to the force-bearing surface 315a into a force applied to the supporting portion in the up-down direction, so as to force the chip holder 31 to move from the first position to the second position, the electrical contact portion 322 in the chip holder 31 can contact with the contact pin 204, and when the force-bearing surface 315a is out of contact with the blocking wall 202b, the chip holder 31 returns from the second position to the first position under its own gravity; in this embodiment, the chip holder 31 may be disposed obliquely or horizontally.

The above describes the manner in which the force-bearing surface 315a contacts the blocking wall 202b to move the chip holder 31, however, according to the technical idea of the present invention, the force-bearing surface 315a may be disposed at other positions of the chip holder for contacting other positions of the ink cartridge accommodating chamber 200, for example, the force-bearing surfaces 315a are disposed at the left and right sides of the main body 31, and during the installation of the ink cartridge 100, the force-bearing surfaces 315a contact the left and right sides of the ink cartridge accommodating chamber 200, thereby forcing the chip holder 31 to move between the first position and the second position.

[ locking Assembly ]

As described above, when the ink cartridge 100 is mounted to the cartridge accommodating chamber 200, the ink suction needle abuts against the piston 23 to elastically deform the elastic member 24, which in turn will cause the ink cartridge 100 to have a tendency to move backward, and to prevent the ink cartridge 100 from being pushed out backward, the locking member 4 will engage with the stopper rod 203 in the cartridge accommodating chamber 200, so that the ink cartridge 100 is held at a predetermined mounting position.

As shown in fig. 4, 7 and 8B, the locking assembly 4 includes a base 41 connected to the housing 1 and a locking member 42 provided on the base 41, at least one of the base 41 and the locking member 42 being provided to be movable in an up-down direction; when the ink cartridge 100 is mounted toward the cartridge accommodating chamber 200, the locking member 4 is higher than the stopper rod 203 in the up-down direction, so that, during the mounting of the ink cartridge 100, the locking member 4 interferes with the stopper rod 203 and forces at least one of the base 41 and the locking member 42 to move downward until the stopper rod 203 passes over the highest point of the locking member 4, and then at least one of the base 41 and the locking member 42 moves upward again to the front of the stopper rod 203, and finally, the prevention of the ink cartridge 100 from being withdrawn backward is achieved by the abutment of the locking member 42 with the stopper rod 203.

It is preferable that the base 41 is formed integrally with the bottom case 1a, the base 41 is formed to extend upward from the upper surface 13, the locking member 42 is provided to have elasticity and to be movable in the up-down direction, the locking member 42 is elastic rubber installed above the base 41, the elastic rubber is installed in an arc shape, so that, when the stopper rod 203 is in contact with the elastic rubber, the slope in front of the elastic rubber can guide the stopper rod 203, and as the stopper rod 203 goes over the apex of the elastic rubber, the slope behind the elastic rubber abuts the stopper rod 203 when the ink cartridge 100 is installed to a predetermined position.

As a simpler implementation, the locking assembly 4 may also be configured without elasticity, in which case the locking assembly 4 makes hard contact with the stop rod 203; for the ink cartridge 100, in the up-down direction, the ink suction needle applies a backward pushing force to the ink cartridge 100 below the ink cartridge 100, and in the upper direction of the ink cartridge 100, the limiting rod 203 and the locking component 4 are pressed to make the ink cartridge 100 receive a forward pushing force, as shown in fig. 8B, the whole ink cartridge 100 tends to rotate downward and forward around the contact point of the ink suction needle and the piston 23 as a circle center, and the ink cartridge 100 may shake during the operation of the device.

However, when at least one of the base 41 and the locking member 42 in the locking assembly 4 is provided to be movable in the up-down direction, not only can the resistance received by the ink cartridge 100 during the mounting process be alleviated, but also when the ink cartridge 100 is mounted to the predetermined position, the stopper rod 203 presses the locking member 42 so that the ink cartridge 100 receives a downward pressing force, and the tendency of the ink cartridge 100 to rotate downward and forward can be prevented.

Further, as shown in fig. 3, 4 and 7, the ink cartridge 100 further includes a hook 133 disposed at the rear of the housing 1, and a recess 132 is formed between the hook 133 and the locking member 4 along the front-rear direction, and the locking member 4, the recess 132 and the hook 133 are sequentially arranged from front to rear. When the ink cartridge 100 needs to be removed, the recess 132 forms a receiving portion for receiving a finger of a user, and the ink cartridge 100 is withdrawn backward by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 24 by applying a backward pulling force to the hook portion 133 so that the stopper rod 203 passes over the highest point of the locking assembly 4 again.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

the lower surface 14 is a flat surface, and the ink cartridge 100 can be mounted and removed in a direction parallel to the front-rear direction, and the movement locus of the ink cartridge 100 is simpler during the mounting and removal, and accordingly, the apparatus and the structure of the ink cartridge 100 can be simplified.

The air guide chamber 5 is provided with a puncture part 232 which can be linked with the piston 23, and in the installation process of the ink box 100, the puncture part 232 punctures the air guide film 18 for sealing the air guide hole 51 while the ink absorption needle pushes the piston 23 to move backwards, so that the ink chamber 10 is communicated with the atmosphere, and the operation that a user needs to tear off the air guide film before installing the ink box is omitted.

Preferably, one end of the piston 23 is formed as a sealing end 231 sealing the ink outlet and the other end is formed as a piercing part 232 piercing the air guide film 18, i.e., the piston 23 is formed integrally with the piercing part 232, the air guide film 18 is directly pierced by the piston 23 while the piston 23 moves backward, the pushing force applied to the piston 23 by the ink suction needle can be effectively transmitted to the piercing part 232, and at the same time, the structure of the ink cartridge will become simpler.

When the ink outlet cavity 21 provided with the piston 23 and the air guide cavity 5 are arranged at intervals, through holes sealed by sealing pieces are respectively arranged on the opposite surfaces of the ink outlet cavity 21 and the air guide cavity 5, the ink outlet cavity 21 and the air guide cavity 5 are isolated before the ink box 100 is installed, the piston 23 is completely positioned in the ink outlet cavity 21, when the ink box 100 is installed, the ink absorption needle pushes the piston 23 to move backwards, the puncture part 232 penetrates through the sealing pieces to reach the air guide cavity 5 and puncture the air guide film 18, in the movement process of the piston 23, the sealing pieces are in contact with the outer surface of the piston rod body 233, and the sealing performance of the ink outlet cavity 21 and the air guide cavity 5 is guaranteed.

Further, the ink outlet chamber 21 is disposed adjacent to the air guide chamber 5, and is communicated with the air guide chamber 5 through the second communication hole 26, the sealing member is installed on the second communication hole 26, the piston 23 passes through the second communication hole 26, so that the puncture portion 232 is located in the air guide chamber 5, and the sealing member is in contact with the outer surface of the piston rod body 233, and the ink outlet chamber 21 and the air guide chamber 5 are still kept in a mutually isolated state; when the piston 23 moves backward, the puncturing part 232 may puncture the gas guide membrane 18 more quickly.

Furthermore, the piston 23 and the puncturing portion 232 are formed separately and connected through an intermediate member, by adjusting the intermediate member, the force and direction of the puncturing portion 232 puncturing the air guide membrane 18 can be adjusted, and at the same time, the time of puncturing the air guide membrane 18 can be delayed according to requirements, for example, a user only needs to install the ink cartridge 100 to the device without performing imaging operation immediately after installation, the air guide membrane 18 does not need to be punctured in the installation process of the ink cartridge 100, at this time, the acting force of the ink suction needle pushing the piston 23 to move backwards can be stored by the intermediate member, when the ink suction needle starts to suck ink from the ink outlet chamber 21, the flow of the ink causes the intermediate member to release the acting force, so that the puncturing portion 232 punctures the air guide membrane 18, and at this time, the puncturing portion 232 can also be considered to be triggered by the piston 23. Based on the technical idea of the present invention, when the piston 23 deviates from the sealing position, the air guide film 18 is punctured, and the timing of puncturing the air guide film 18 can be set as required.

As shown in fig. 4, 7 and 8B, the air guide chamber 5 is located in the cavity 17 between the second sub-lower surface 142 and the lower surface 14 in the up-down direction, and the air guide chamber 5 does not extend beyond the lower surface 14, so that the air guide chamber 5 does not interfere with the device during the mounting and removal of the ink cartridge 100, and the air guide film 18 can be effectively protected. The air guide chamber 5 and the ink outlet chamber 21 are disposed near the front and at the rear of the air guide chamber 5 in the front-rear direction, and the cavity 17 is formed with a space for allowing the movement of the piercing part 232.

The chip holder 31 is arranged to be movable between a first position and a second position, and at least the electrical contact part 322 of the chip 32 is mounted on the chip holder 31 and movable with the chip holder 31 between the first position where the electrical contact part 322 is not in contact with the contact pins 204 in the apparatus and the second position where the electrical contact part 322 is in contact with the contact pins 204 and the distance between the electrical contact part 322 and the center line C of the ink chamber top surface 131/ink outlet chamber 21/the cartridge lower surface 14 in the second position posture is greater than the distance between the electrical contact part 322 and the center line C of the ink chamber top surface 131/ink outlet chamber 21/the cartridge lower surface 14 in the first position posture in the up-down direction, on the one hand, the chip holder 31/the electrical contact part 322 does not interfere with the apparatus during the mounting of the ink cartridge 100, on the other hand, during the operation of the apparatus, the electrical contact 322 is located as far as possible from the ink outlet chamber 21 in the vertical direction, and vibration generated when the ink suction needle sucks ink from the ink outlet chamber 21 does not easily affect the contact between the electrical contact 322 and the contact pin.

In addition, at least the electrical contacts 322 are movable with the chip holder 31 between the first position and the second position, and thus, the accuracy of the mounting position of the electrical contacts 322 on the chip holder 31 can be reduced.

The electrical contact 322 is located in front of the chip carrier 31, when the chip carrier 31 is rotated, the rotation axis L of the chip carrier 31 is closer to the rear end of the chip carrier 31, and the chip carrier 31 has a tendency to rotate around the rotation axis L in the direction indicated by r 'in fig. 4 under the action of the self-gravity of the chip carrier 31, so that when the force-bearing surface 315a is out of contact with the blocking wall 202b, the chip carrier 31 automatically returns from the second position to the first position around the rotation axis L in the direction indicated by r' under the action of the self-gravity; it follows that this arrangement allows the chip holder 31 to return from the second position to the first position without relying on external forces, and the structure of the chip assembly 3 can be simplified.

The top surface 131 of the bottom case is lower than the upper surface 13 of the casing, as shown in fig. 7, at least a portion of the chip holder 31 is located between the top surface 131 and the upper surface 13 at least in the first position, and when the ink cartridge 100 is assembled, the chip holder 31 can be protected by the casing 1 and exposed only through the upper part of the casing 1, and the chip holder 31 and the electrical contacts 322/chips 32 mounted on the chip holder can be effectively protected by the casing 1, thereby reducing the probability that the electrical contacts 322/chips 32 are damaged.

When the chip holder 31 is located at the first position, the chip holder 31 is tilted upward with respect to the front-rear direction, and correspondingly, the electrical contact portions 322 located on the chip holder 31 are also tilted upward with respect to the front-rear direction, so that the electrical contact portions 322 can be brought into contact with the contact pins 204 faster regardless of whether the chip holder 31 is rotated or translated, and it is apparent that the electrical contact portions 322 in the present invention are brought into contact with the contact pins 204 more closely when the chip holder 31 is located at the second position, in comparison with the conventional arrangement in which the electrical contact portions 322 are parallel to the front-rear direction, and the distance of the movement of the chip holder 31 in the up-down direction is a certain value.

The locking piece 42 is made of elastic rubber, a certain friction force can be generated between the limiting rod 203 and the elastic rubber 42, the friction force is favorable for overcoming the backward thrust of the ink absorption pair to the piston 23, the ink box 100 is prevented from being pushed out backwards, and meanwhile, the resistance of the limiting rod 203 to the ink box 100 in the installation and taking-out processes of the ink box 100 is reduced by the elasticity of the elastic rubber 42; in addition, after the ink cartridge 100 is mounted to a predetermined position, the stopper rod 203 applies a downward force to the elastic rubber 42, and the ink cartridge 100 is prevented from rotating downward and forward around the contact point of the ink suction needle and the piston 23.

The locking component 4 and the chip component 3 are both positioned above the ink outlet component 2 along the up-down direction, the chip component 3 is closer to the locking component 4 than the ink outlet component 2 along the front-back direction, the vibration generated during the operation of the ink outlet component 2 is less likely to be transmitted to the chip component 3 and the locking component 4, and even if the vibration is transmitted from the lower part to the upper part of the ink box, the locking component 4 can effectively inhibit the vibration, thereby ensuring the stable electric connection between the chip component 3 and the equipment; along the fore-and-aft direction, go out black subassembly 2 and chip subassembly 3 and all be located the place ahead of locking subassembly 4, when the ink horn was installed, chip subassembly 3 and locking subassembly 4 can not receive external disturbance, especially for chip subassembly 3 first position, chip subassembly 3 only exposes through the ink horn top, and electric contact 322 can not be touched to user's hand second position, chip subassembly 3 still is sheltered from by locking subassembly 4, and electric contact 322 can not still be touched to user's hand or external component, and the job stabilization nature of chip 32 is ensured.

Claims

1. An ink cartridge detachably mounted in an ink cartridge accommodating chamber provided with a contact pin, the ink cartridge including a case accommodating ink, and a chip assembly movably disposed on the case; the chip assembly comprises a chip holder and a chip, which are mutually combined, the chip holder is provided with a stress surface for receiving acting force, the chip is provided with an electric contact part which can be contacted with the contact pin,

during the process that the ink box is installed towards the ink box containing cavity, the force bearing surface receives acting force from the ink box containing cavity, and the electric contact part is forced to move between the first position and the second position along with the chip holder;

in the first position the electrical contact is not in contact with the contact pin, and in the second position the electrical contact is in contact with the contact pin.

2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the ink cartridge is a plane parallel to the front-rear direction, and the ink cartridge is mounted and removed in a direction parallel to the front-rear direction.

3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the electrical contact portion in the second position posture is farther from the lower surface of the ink cartridge than the electrical contact portion in the first position posture in the up-down direction.

4. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising an ink discharge chamber provided below the housing, the electrical contact portion in the second position posture being farther from a center line of the ink discharge chamber than the electrical contact portion in the first position posture.

5. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chip holder is in contact with the cartridge accommodating chamber to receive a force for moving the chip holder during the mounting of the ink cartridge to the cartridge accommodating chamber.

6. The ink cartridge as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the housing is formed with an ink chamber, a top surface of the ink chamber is lower than an upper surface of the housing in an up-down direction, and at least a part of the chip holder is located between the upper surface and the top surface when the chip holder is located at the first position.

7. The ink cartridge of claim 6, wherein the chip holder is mounted for rotation about a rotational axis, the electrical contact being located forward of the chip holder, the rotational axis being closer to a rear extremity of the chip holder.

8. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 7, wherein the chip holder is inclined upward with respect to the front-rear direction in both the first position and the second position.

9. The ink cartridge of claim 8, wherein the chip assembly further comprises a retaining member coupled to the chip holder, the retaining member being adapted to retain the chip holder in the first position, the retaining member being elastically deformed when the chip holder moves from the first position to the second position.

10. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 8, wherein the chip holder is provided with a held portion, and the case is provided with a holding portion which holds the chip holder at the first position by at least one of surface contact, line contact and point contact with the held portion.

11. The cartridge of claim 6, wherein the chip holder is mounted in a translational manner, and the chip holder further comprises a force conversion mechanism for converting a force applied to the chip holder in an up-down direction.