CN220163484U

CN220163484U - Ink cartridge

Info

Publication number: CN220163484U
Application number: CN202321629787.9U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 肖剑; 陈达飞; 郭洪剑
Original assignee: Zhongshan Kingway Image Tech Co ltd
Current assignee: Zhongshan Kingway Image Tech Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-06-25
Filing date: 2023-06-25
Publication date: 2023-12-12
Anticipated expiration: 2033-06-25

Abstract

The utility model provides an ink box which is detachably arranged in an ink-jet printer provided with a limiting piece, wherein the limiting piece is used for enabling the ink box to be locked at an installation position in the ink-jet printer, the ink box comprises an unlocking component, the unlocking component comprises an acting piece and an unlocking piece, the acting piece and the unlocking piece are arranged in a split mode and are in transmission connection, the unlocking piece is used for receiving external force and transmitting the external force to the acting piece, and the acting piece is used for moving upwards to unlock the ink box by the limiting piece; as the preferred implementation mode, the unlocking piece is connected with the action piece through the gear-rack transmission, the gear-rack transmission structure can enable the unlocking action of the unlocking component to run more stably, and as long as the gear is meshed with the rack, the unlocking process is not influenced even if the unlocking component swings, so that the unlocking success rate of the ink box is improved.

Description

Ink cartridge

Technical Field

The present utility model relates to an ink cartridge for an inkjet image forming apparatus.

Background

An inkjet printer is an inkjet image forming apparatus capable of ejecting ink onto an image forming medium according to received image forming information, and an ink cartridge is a container that stores and supplies ink to the inkjet printer, and is generally detachably mounted in the inkjet printer so as to be replaced with a new one after the ink in the ink cartridge is consumed.

There is an ink cartridge mounted to an ink jet printer in a front-rear direction of the ink cartridge, the front side of the ink cartridge being provided with an elastic member, the elastic member on the ink cartridge being compressed when the ink cartridge is mounted in place in the ink jet printer, thereby accumulating elastic potential energy, the ink cartridge being provided with a restricted portion, the ink jet printer being provided with a stopper capable of cooperating with the restricted portion, thereby maintaining the ink cartridge in a mounted state.

The ink box is further provided with an unlocking component, the unlocking component comprises a swinging rod capable of rotating around a fixed shaft, when a user performs unlocking operation, the user only needs to press one end of the swinging rod, the other end of the swinging rod can tilt, the tilting action drives the limiting piece to be in clearance fit with the limited part, and then the compressed elastic piece releases elastic potential energy to eject a part of the ink box from the ink-jet printer, so that the user can take the ink box away.

In the above design, the unlocking assembly comprises a fixed shaft, and the swinging rod can translate in the extending direction of the fixed shaft besides rotating around the fixed shaft, so that the problem that unlocking fails due to the fact that unlocking operation is not performed in place can occur.

Disclosure of Invention

According to the technical problem, the ink box comprises the unlocking component with the gear rack structure, and compared with the existing technology of movably mounting the unlocking component on the fixed shaft, the gear rack structure can enable the unlocking action of the unlocking component to run more stably, so that the unlocking success rate of the ink box is improved. The technical scheme adopted by the utility model is as follows:

the utility model provides an ink box which is detachably arranged in an ink-jet printer provided with a limiting piece, wherein the limiting piece is used for enabling the ink box to be locked at an installation position in the ink-jet printer, and the ink box comprises an unlocking component. The unlocking piece comprises an operation part, a connecting part and a transmission part, wherein the operation part is used for receiving external force, the transmission part is arranged to rotate around a fixed axis, the transmission part is used for driving the acting piece to move in the up-down direction, and the connecting part is used for connecting the operation part and the transmission part. The transmission is configured as a full or non-full toothed gear. When the operation part does not receive external force, at least one part of the transmission part is positioned below the operation part.

Further, the acting member includes a driven portion for driving connection with the driving portion and a mounting portion for mounting the acting member on the ink cartridge in such a manner as to be movable in the up-down direction with respect to the driving portion. The driven part is provided with a rack, and teeth of the rack are arranged along the up-down direction. In other embodiments, at least one of the driven portion and the transmission portion is provided as a friction portion, and the driven portion is driven by a static friction force between the transmission portion and the driven portion. Further, the acting part further comprises an extending part, the extending part is used for being in contact with the limiting part, the ink box is further provided with a limited surface which is in butt joint with the limiting part, and compared with the driven part, the extending part is closer to the limited surface.

The ink box comprises a first shell and a second shell which are combined with each other, an accommodating cavity for accommodating ink is formed between the first shell and the second shell, a limited part is arranged above the accommodating cavity, and a limiting part for limiting the upward movement of an operating part of the unlocking piece is arranged in the limited part.

Specifically, hold the chamber top and set up the upper plate, be provided with the plate body that extends in left and right direction and the first curb plate and the second curb plate that are opposite at left and right direction interval on the upper plate, plate body, first curb plate and second curb plate enclose and form by spacing portion, by spacing portion has upwards and backward opening. At least a part of the connecting part of the unlocking piece is positioned in the limited part, a rib is arranged on the connecting part, the limiting part comprises a first limiting part arranged on the first side plate and a second limiting part arranged on the second side plate, and the rib is positioned between the first limiting part and the second limiting part.

Further, the unlocking piece further comprises a resetting piece, the resetting piece is arranged below the connecting piece and connected with the connecting piece, and the resetting piece is used for enabling the unlocking assembly to recover to an initial state after the unlocking action is completed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an ink cartridge according to the present utility model when mounted to an inkjet printer.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the cartridge of the present utility model after hiding the first case.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an unlocking member according to the present utility model.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an action member according to the present utility model.

Fig. 5A is a schematic view of an unlocking assembly according to the present utility model when an unlocking operation is not performed.

Fig. 5B is a schematic diagram of an unlocking module according to the present utility model when an unlocking operation is performed.

Detailed Description

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an ink cartridge according to the present utility model when mounted to an ink jet printer; fig. 2 is an exploded view of the cartridge of the present utility model after hiding the first case.

The present utility model provides an ink cartridge 10 for supplying ink to an inkjet printer, the ink cartridge 10 being detachably mountable in an inkjet printer having a stopper 30. The direction d shown in fig. 1 is the mounting direction of the ink cartridge 10, and the direction opposite to the mounting direction d is the removal direction of the ink cartridge 10. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the ink cartridge 10 includes a first housing 11 and a second housing 12 coupled to each other in a direction perpendicular to a mounting direction d, with a receiving chamber 121 for receiving ink therebetween, and a second housing 12. For the purposes of this description, the cartridge 10 is first defined as follows: the mounting direction d of the ink cartridge is the front, the taking-out direction is the rear, and the two directions are jointly described as the front-rear direction; when the ink cartridge is in the mounted state, the gravity direction thereof is the up-down direction, the up-down direction intersects with the front-rear direction, preferably the up-down direction is perpendicular to the front-rear direction; the direction intersecting both the up-down direction and the front-back direction is a left-right direction, which is preferably perpendicular to the front-back direction and the up-down direction; when the ink cartridge is mounted in the forward direction, the ink cartridge has the same upper, lower, left and right directions as the user, as particularly shown in fig. 1 and 2.

The ink cartridge 10 is provided with a guide part 13, an ink outlet part 14, a limited part 15 and an unlocking component 20, the guide part 13 and the ink outlet part 14 are arranged in front of the ink cartridge 10 along the installation direction d, the guide part 13 is used for guiding the ink cartridge 10 when the ink cartridge 10 is installed, the guide part 13 is provided with an elastic piece 131, and the elastic piece 131 is gradually compressed along with the installation of the ink cartridge 10 and generates an elastic force for forcing the ink cartridge 10 to exit the ink-jet printer; the ink outlet portion 14 is provided with an outlet for supplying ink to the inkjet printer. The limited portion 15 is configured to cooperate with a limiting member 30 in the inkjet printer, so that the ink cartridge 10 is locked in the installation position in the inkjet printer, and the unlocking assembly 20 is configured to release the limiting member 30 from cooperation with the limited portion 20, so that the ink cartridge 10 can be removed from the inkjet printer.

Specifically, the upper plate 16 is disposed above the accommodating chamber 121 of the ink cartridge 10, the upper plate 16 includes an upper surface 161 facing upward, the portion to be regulated 15 includes a surface to be regulated 151 facing rearward, and the surface to be regulated 151 is disposed on a plate body extending upward from the upper surface 161 and also extending in the left-right direction; the upper plate 16 is further provided with two side plates oppositely arranged at intervals in the left-right direction, namely a first side plate 171 and a second side plate 172, the first side plate 171 and the second side plate 172 extend upwards from the upper surface 161 to form and are respectively connected with a plate body forming a limited surface 151, the upper plate 16, the limited surface 151, the first side plate 171 and the second side plate 172 enclose to form a limited part 15, and the limited part 15 is provided with an upward opening and a rearward opening. In this design, the left and right sides of the restrained portion 15 are closed, the unlocking assembly 20 can be prevented from being detached, and the first side plate 171 and the second side plate 172 can restrain the unlocking assembly 20 from moving left and right, thereby ensuring the stability of the unlocking action of the unlocking assembly 20.

The limiting member 30 includes a limiting surface 31 extending in a left-right direction and a vertical direction and facing forward, when the ink cartridge 10 is mounted to the ink jet printer, the limited surface 151 of the limiting member 30 abuts against the limiting surface 31, and the limiting member 30 applies a forward resistance to the ink cartridge 10, so as to overcome a rearward elastic force applied to the ink cartridge 10 by the elastic member 131 in the guiding portion 12, thereby preventing the ink cartridge 10 from being ejected from the ink jet printer, and when the unlocking assembly 20 applies an upward force to the limiting member 30, such that the limiting surface 31 is disengaged from the limited surface 151, the ink cartridge 10 is withdrawn from the ink jet printer at least partially under the elastic force of the elastic member 131, and at this time, the user can take out the ink cartridge 10.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an unlocking member according to the present utility model; fig. 4 is a perspective view of an action member according to the present utility model.

The unlocking assembly 20 comprises an acting piece 21 and an unlocking piece 22 which are in transmission connection, wherein the unlocking piece 22 is used for receiving an external force and transmitting the external force to the acting piece 21, and further, the acting piece 21 moves upwards and applies a force to the limiting piece 30 so as to release the position locking of the limiting piece 30 to the ink box 10; as shown in fig. 3, the unlocking member 22 includes an operation portion 221, a connection portion 222, and a transmission portion 223, wherein the operation portion 221 is disposed outside the limited portion 15, and at least a portion of the connection portion 222 is disposed inside the limited portion 15; the operation part 221 is used for receiving an external force, the transmission part 223 is rotatably installed between the first side plate 171 and the second side plate 172 around the fixed axis 22a, and the transmission part 223 is used for being in transmission connection with the acting piece 21; the connecting part 222 is used for connecting the operating part 221 and the transmission part 223, and when the operating part 221 does not receive external force, at least one part of the transmission part 223 is positioned below the operating part 221; the acting element 21 is mounted in the limited portion 15 in a manner movable in the up-down direction with respect to the transmission portion 223, as shown in fig. 4, the acting element 21 includes a driven portion 211 for driving connection with the transmission portion 223, as shown in fig. 2, the first side plate 171 and the second side plate 172 are provided with the mounted portion 152, and the mounting portion 213 is provided with the acting element 211 mounted between the first side plate 171 and the second side plate 172, preferably, one of the mounting portion 213 and the mounted portion 152 is provided with a guide projection, and the other is provided with a guide groove extending in the up-down direction for the guide projection to move in the up-down direction. Preferably, in the present embodiment, the unlocking member 22 and the acting member 21 are connected by a rack and pinion transmission, specifically, the transmission portion 223 of the unlocking member 22 is provided as a gear, and the gear may be provided as a full-tooth gear or may be provided as a non-full-tooth gear; the driven portion 211 of the operating member 21 is provided as a rack, and teeth of the rack are arranged in the up-down direction.

When the operating portion 221 of the unlocking member 22 receives an external force, the transmitting portion 223 rotates about the axis 22a, so that the transmitted portion 211, which is in transmission connection with the transmitting portion 223, moves in the up-down direction. An extension part 212 is further arranged above the driven part 211 of the acting piece 21, and the extension part 212 is used for contacting with the limiting piece 30; the extension portion 212 may be configured to extend from the driven portion 211 to the position where the limited surface 151 is located, that is, the extension portion 212 is closer to the abutment of the limited surface 151 and the limiting surface 31 than the driven portion 211, so that the limited surface 151 and the limiting surface 31 are more easily separated from abutment when the limiting member 30 is forced; furthermore, the provision of the extension 212 also reduces the amount of material used for the unlocking assembly 20, since the driven portion 211 and the driving portion 223 do not have to be arranged close to the limited surface 151 at this time, as long as the extension 212 is close. In addition, the limiting member 30 is disposed in the inkjet printer so as to be rotatable about an axis 30a, and the limiting member 30 has two ends disposed at opposite intervals, and the limiting surface 31 is located at one end of the limiting member, where the axis 30a is closer to an end opposite to the end of the limiting surface 31 than the end of the limiting surface 31, that is, a distance between the end of the limiting surface 31 and the axis 30a is greater than a distance between the other end of the limiting surface and the axis 30a, so that the acting member 21 can disengage the limiting surface 31 from the limited surface 151 with a small acting force.

In other embodiments, at least one of the transmission portion 223 and the driven portion 211 may be provided as a friction portion, for example, rubber or sponge is provided on at least one of the transmission portion 223 and the driven portion 211, and at this time, the driving force member 21 may be moved in the up-down direction by using a static friction force between the transmission portion 223 and the driven portion 211.

FIG. 5A is a schematic view of an unlocking assembly according to the present utility model when an unlocking action is not performed; fig. 5B is a schematic diagram of an unlocking module according to the present utility model when an unlocking operation is performed.

As shown in fig. 5A and 5B, the unlocking member 22 is further provided with a restoring member 224, the restoring member 224 is disposed below the connecting portion 222 and connected to the connecting portion 222, the restoring member 224 is used for restoring the unlocking member 20 after the user operates the unlocking member, the restoring member 224 is made of an elastic material, preferably, the restoring member 224 is provided as a spring, and in addition, the restoring member 224 may be provided as a tension spring. When the operation part 221 receives the pressing force to move downwards, the connection part 222 can be driven to apply a compression force to the reset piece 224, the reset piece 224 is elastically deformed to accumulate elastic potential energy, when the operation part 221 no longer receives the pressing force after the unlocking piece 22 drives the action piece 21 to complete the unlocking action, the reset piece 224 releases the elastic potential energy to enable the operation part 221 to move upwards, and in order to enable the operation part 221 to return to the initial position in the upward movement process, a limiting part 17 for limiting the upward movement of the operation part 221 is arranged in the limited part 15; specifically, the restricting portion 17 includes a first restricting portion 173 provided on the first side plate 171 and a second restricting portion 174 provided on the second side plate 172, the first restricting portion 173 and the second restricting portion 174 being provided at opposite intervals in the left-right direction and for restricting upward movement of the operating portion 221, so that the unlocking assembly 20 can be restored to the original state by the reset piece 224. Meanwhile, a rib 225 is disposed on the connecting portion 222 of the unlocking member 22, and the rib 225 is disposed between the first limiting portion 173 and the second limiting portion 175, and if the unlocking member 22 moves in the left-right direction, the first limiting portion 173 or the second limiting portion 175 will touch the rib 225, i.e. the limiting portion 17 also has the function of limiting the left-right movement of the unlocking member 22. In other embodiments, the first restricting portion 173 and the second restricting portion 174 may be integrally formed, and the rib 225 is not provided on the unlocking member 22, that is, the restricting portion 17 only serves to restrict the upward movement of the operating portion 221, and does not serve to restrict the leftward and rightward movement of the unlocking assembly 20.

The following describes the mounting process and the taking-out process of the ink cartridge 10: the user can grasp the rear portion of the ink cartridge 10 and mount the ink cartridge 10 into the ink jet printer along the mounting direction d, the guide portion 13 plays a guiding role during the mounting, and the elastic member 131 is compressed to accumulate elastic potential energy; when the ink cartridge 10 is mounted at a predetermined position, the limiting piece 30 in the ink-jet printer limits the ink cartridge 10, at this time, the limiting surface 31 on the limiting piece 30 is abutted against the limited surface 151 of the limited portion 15, so that the limiting piece 30 applies a force to the ink cartridge 10 in a mounting direction d to overcome the elastic force applied to the ink cartridge 10 by the elastic piece 131 in the opposite direction to the mounting direction, and the ink cartridge 10 is locked at the mounting position; when the ink cartridge 10 is taken out, a user needs to press the operating part 221 of the unlocking piece 22 to apply a downward pressing force to the operating part 221, the operating part 221 moves downwards under the action of the pressing force and drives the connecting part 222 to elastically deform the resetting piece 224, so that the resetting piece 224 accumulates elastic potential energy, meanwhile, the transmission part 223 rotates around the axis 22a and drives the acting piece 21 in transmission connection with the transmission part to move upwards, after the acting piece 21 moves upwards until the extending part 212 contacts with the limiting piece 30, the acting piece 21 applies an upward force to the limiting piece 30, so that the limiting surface 31 of the limiting piece 30 is gradually separated from the limited surface 151 on the ink cartridge 10, and when the limiting surface 31 and the limiting piece are completely separated from each other, the compressed elastic piece 131 releases the elastic potential energy, so that the ink cartridge 10 exits the ink jet printer along the direction opposite to the installation direction d, and at the moment, the user releases the pressing of the operating part 221, and the resetting piece 224 releases the elastic potential energy to reset the unlocking component 20, so that the ink cartridge can still be normally installed at the next time.

In other embodiments, the stopper 30 of the ink jet printer is configured to move in the left-right direction of the ink cartridge 10, so that when the stopper surface 31 abuts against or is separated from the surface 151 to be stopped from the left-right direction, the teeth of the rack of the driven portion 211 of the acting member 21 are arranged in the left-right direction, and the driving portion 223 of the unlocking member 22 is still configured to be in driving connection with the driven portion 211, and at this time, the operating portion 221 needs to receive an external force in the left-right direction to enable the acting member 21 to apply a force to the stopper 30, thereby releasing the position restriction of the stopper 30 on the ink cartridge 10.

The utility model provides an ink box, which comprises an unlocking component, wherein the unlocking component comprises an unlocking piece and an acting piece which are arranged in a split mode, the unlocking piece comprises a transmission part, the acting piece comprises a driven part, the transmission part is in transmission connection with the driven part, and preferably, the ink box adopts a transmission structure of a gear rack, namely, the transmission part is provided with a gear, and the driven part is provided with a rack. Compared with the prior art that the unlocking component is movably arranged on the fixed shaft, the gear rack structure can enable the unlocking action of the unlocking component to run more stably, because the unlocking component in the background art swings in the extending direction of the fixed shaft, the unlocking component can deviate from the position of a limiting piece in the ink-jet printer when the unlocking operation is carried out, and thus the problem of unlocking failure occurs; and the unlocking component has less force transmission times in the operation process, and can finish unlocking action only by jacking up the limiting part through the acting part, so that the unlocking component has higher unlocking efficiency compared with the prior art.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present utility model, and are not limited thereto. It should be noted that modifications to the embodiments described above, or equivalents of some of the features, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present utility model; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present utility model.

Claims

1. The ink box is detachably installed in an ink-jet printer provided with a limiting piece, the limiting piece is used for enabling the ink box to be locked at an installation position in the ink-jet printer, and the ink box comprises an unlocking component.

2. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the unlocking member includes an operation portion for receiving an external force, a connection portion for driving the acting member to move in an up-down direction, and a transmission portion for connecting the operation portion and the transmission portion, the transmission portion being provided to rotate about a fixed axis.

3. The cartridge of claim 2, wherein the transmission is configured as a gear having full teeth or non-full teeth.

4. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least a part of the transmission portion is located below the operation portion when the operation portion does not receive an external force.

5. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 2, wherein the acting member includes a driven portion for driving connection with the driving portion and a mounting portion for mounting the acting member on the ink cartridge in such a manner as to be movable in an up-down direction with respect to the driving portion.

6. The ink cartridge as in claim 5, wherein the driven portion is provided as a rack, and teeth of the rack are arranged in an up-down direction.

7. The ink cartridge as in claim 5, wherein at least one of the driven portion and the transmission portion is configured as a friction portion, the driven portion being driven by a static friction force between the transmission portion and the driven portion.

8. The ink cartridge as in claim 5, wherein the acting member further comprises an extending portion for contacting the stopper, and a limited surface abutting against the stopper is further provided on the ink cartridge, the extending portion being closer to the limited surface than the driven portion.

9. The ink cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the ink cartridge includes a first housing and a second housing that are coupled to each other, a containing chamber that contains ink is provided between the first housing and the second housing, a limited portion is provided above the containing chamber, and a limiting portion that limits upward movement of the operating portion of the unlocking member is provided in the limited portion.

10. The ink cartridge as in claim 9, wherein an upper plate is provided above the accommodation chamber, the upper plate being provided with a plate body extending in a left-right direction and first and second side plates opposing each other at an interval in the left-right direction, the upper plate, the plate body, the first side plate, and the second side plate enclosing a limited portion having an opening facing upward and rearward.

11. The ink cartridge as in claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the connecting portion of the unlocking member is located in the restrained portion, wherein a rib is provided on the connecting portion, wherein the restrained portion includes a first restraining portion provided on the first side plate and a second restraining portion provided on the second side plate, and wherein the rib is located between the first restraining portion and the second restraining portion.

12. The ink cartridge as in any one of claims 2-11, wherein the unlocking member further comprises a reset member disposed below and coupled to the coupling member, the reset member configured to restore the unlocking assembly to an initial state after the unlocking action is completed.