JP2000127578A - Ink supplying device and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lengthen a period of replacing a cartridge by providing an ink tank capable of supplementing an ink to an ink supply member. SOLUTION: A cartridge 18 has an ink ribbon 20 and an ink sponge 22. Further, an ink tank 26 capable of supplementing an ink to the sponge 22 is provided out of the cartridge 18 in the printer 10. The tank 26 contains the same ink as the ink contained in the sponge 22. The tank 26 has a slit-like nozzle 26a, which is constituted to discharge the ink in the tank by opening the nozzle 26a by applying a pressure to the tank 26. The supply of the ink from the tank 26 to the sponge 22 is controlled by a controller provided in the printer so that a predetermined quantity of the ink is supplied and all the ink in the tank 26 is discharged. Thus, the cartridge can be used for a long period.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink supply device for a printer having a replaceable cartridge and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printer includes an ink ribbon housed in a cartridge. The ink ribbon itself contains the ink and the ink ribbon can be used until the contained ink is exhausted. There is also a cartridge which is provided with an ink supply member such as an ink sponge and can be used while supplying ink to the ink ribbon.

[0003]

Although such a cartridge can perform printing for a considerably long period of time, if the ink on the ink ribbon becomes insufficient, the cartridge must be replaced. In particular, when an ink sponge is used as the ink supply member, the amount of ink that can be contained in the ink sponge is limited, so the cartridge must be replaced quite frequently.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink supply device and a printer that can extend the period for replacing a cartridge.

[0005]

An ink supply device according to the present invention includes a cartridge having an ink ribbon and an ink supply member, and an ink tank capable of replenishing the ink supply member with ink. Is what you do. In the above configuration, since the ink supply member is provided with the ink tank capable of replenishing the ink, the replacement period of the cartridge can be lengthened even when the ink supply capacity of the ink supply member is limited. it can.

With the above construction, the cartridge is movably arranged, the cartridge can move between a normal operation area and an ink supply area beyond the normal operation area, and the ink tank is fixedly arranged. The ink supply member may be replenished with ink when the cartridge reaches the ink replenishment area. Further, a printer according to the present invention includes a print head, a cartridge movable with the print head, having an ink ribbon and an ink supply member, and an ink tank capable of replenishing the ink supply member with ink. It is characterized by the following. According to this configuration, ink can be supplied from the ink tank to the ink supply member by using the mechanism for reciprocating the cartridge conveniently.

[0007] Also in this case, the replacement period of the cartridge can be lengthened. In addition to the above configuration, it is possible to include a control unit that controls when ink is supplied from the ink tank to the ink supply member.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a printer 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. The printer 10 includes a carriage 14 that can reciprocate along a guide rod 12 in the direction of arrow A. The carriage 14 is driven by a motor (not shown). The carriage 14 has a print head 16 and a cartridge 18.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cartridge 18 has an ink ribbon 20 and an ink sponge (ink supply member) 22. The ink ribbon 20 is circulated past the print head 16 by, for example, a plurality of rollers 24 and guides (not shown). The print head 16 prints on paper via the ink ribbon 20 as is well known. The ink sponge 22 is arranged at a position in contact with the ink ribbon 20, contains a predetermined amount of ink, and constantly supplies ink to the ink ribbon 20. Therefore, by using the ink sponge 22, printing can be performed for a considerably long period of time.

Further, an ink tank 26 capable of supplying ink to the ink sponge 22 is provided in the printer 10.
Provided inside the cartridge 18. The ink tank 26 contains the same ink as the ink contained in the ink sponge 22. The ink tank 26 has a slit-shaped nozzle 26a. When pressure is applied to the ink tank 26, the nozzle 26a is opened, and the ink in the ink tank 26 is discharged.

In the embodiment, the ink tank 26 is
It is made of a resin material and has a bellows shape. A bellows-like ink tank 26 is arranged at a position along the guide rod 12. The casing of the cartridge 18 has an opening 28 that allows access to the ink tank 26 into the casing. The opening 28 is the ink sponge 2
2 is provided. The cartridge 18 can reciprocate for printing in the normal operation area (printing area) X as shown by an arrow A, and can also move to the ink supply area Y beyond the normal operation area X.

When the cartridge 18 is moved to the ink supply area Y, the tip of the ink tank 26 enters the opening 28, and the ink sponge 22 or the part of the cartridge 18 comes into contact with the ink tank 26, and a pressure is applied to the ink tank 26. It is designed to be applied. Therefore, the ink is discharged directly from the nozzle 26a of the ink tank 26 to the ink sponge 22 or to the sponge container. Therefore, ink is supplied from the ink tank 26 to the ink sponge 22. When the ink is supplied in this manner, the cartridge 18 can reciprocate for printing in the normal operation area X.

The ink sponge 22 is moved from the ink tank 26 to the ink sponge 22.
The supply of ink to the printer is controlled by a control device provided in the printer. The control device is, for example, the print head 1
6 is counted. For example, when the number of prints of the print head 16 reaches 100,000, the cartridge 18 is moved from the normal operation area X to the ink supply area Y to apply pressure to the ink tank 26, and the ink is discharged from the nozzle 26a. When the ink is supplied to the ink sponge 22 in this manner, the control device counts the supply, and further counts the number of prints of the print head 16. When the number of prints reaches 200,000, the cartridge 18 is moved to the normal operation area. The ink is moved from inside X to the ink supply area Y to apply pressure to the ink tank 26, and the ink is discharged from the nozzle 26a. It is preferable that the pressure applied to the ink tank 26 is higher in the second time than in the first time. For this purpose, the second movement amount of the cartridge 18 may be made larger than the first movement amount.

In this manner, as the number of times increases, the pressure applied to the ink tank 26 is increased stepwise so as to supply a fixed amount of ink. Thus, all the ink in the ink tank 26 is discharged. Instead of controlling the amount of movement of the cartridge 18, the time for pressing the cartridge 18 against the ink tank 26 may be controlled.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views showing modified examples of the ink tank 26. FIG. The ink tank 26 is the nozzle cap 3
0 and a spring 32. The nozzle cap 30 is slidably fitted to the tip of the ink tank 26, and can open and close the nozzle 26a. The spring 32 urges the nozzle cap 30 toward the closed position. Therefore,
Normally, the nozzle cap 30 closes the nozzle 26a, and when refilling ink, the movement of the cartridge 18 opens the nozzle cap 30 and then applies pressure to the ink tank 26 to discharge ink. ing. When the ink supply is completed, the nozzle cap 30 closes the nozzle 26a.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cartridge can be used for a longer period than before, and the user's economical burden is reduced as compared with the case where the cartridge is replaced in a short period of time. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a cartridge and an ink tank of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a modified example of the cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a use state of the cartridge of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer 12 ... Guide rod 14 ... Carriage 16 ... Print head 18 ... Cartridge 20 ... Ink ribbon 22 ... Ink sponge 26 ... Ink tank 26a ... Nozzle 28 ... Opening

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink supply device comprising: a cartridge having an ink ribbon and an ink supply member; and an ink tank capable of supplying ink to the ink supply member. 2. The cartridge is movably disposed, the cartridge is movable between a normal operation area and an ink supply area beyond the normal operation area, and the ink tank is fixedly disposed, 2. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein the ink supply member supplies ink to the ink supply member when the cartridge reaches the ink supply region. 3. A printing apparatus comprising: a print head; a cartridge movable with the print head and having an ink ribbon and an ink supply member; and an ink tank capable of replenishing the ink supply member with ink. And the printer. 4. The printer according to claim 3, further comprising control means for controlling when ink is supplied from said ink tank to said ink supply member.