JP2001088317A - Ink bottle, and ink supply apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink bottle and an ink supply apparatus which can prevent an ink bottle of a different color from being set wrong and can reduce maintenance costs. SOLUTION: Recesses 3 for receiving dowels 11a-11d projecting from bottoms of bottle storage parts 30a-30d are formed to bottoms of ink bottles 1a-1d respectively. For example, three ribs 5b, 5c and 5d are set in the recess 3 of the ink bottle 1a filled with a yellow ink to butt against the dowels 11b, 11c and 11d set to the bottle storage parts 30b, 30c and 30d of different colors, thereby preventing the ink bottle 1a from being set wrong.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink bottle which stores ink of a predetermined color and is mounted in a plurality of bottle housings provided in a printer apparatus corresponding to each color, and the ink bottle is provided with a printer. The present invention relates to an ink supply device that supplies ink by setting the ink supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an ink supply device, an ink bottle containing ink of a predetermined color is set in a printer device such as an ink jet printer, and the ink is supplied to the printer device. Exchange type is known.

[0003] When a printer supports color printing, for example, four types of ink bottles containing four color inks of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are prepared. The ink bottles are mounted in the four bottle storage portions provided in the respective colors in accordance with the colors. Then, the inks stored in the ink bottles of each color are respectively supplied by the supply devices provided in the respective bottle storage units.

[0004]

However, when each ink bottle is installed in the bottle accommodating section, if an ink bottle of a different color is installed by mistake, the inks of different colors are mixed when the ink is supplied. Consequently, it is necessary to clean the ink supply path of the ink supply device or replace the ink supply device itself. As described above, if inks of different colors are mixed, there is a problem that cleaning and replacement of the ink supply path requires a lot of cost, and maintenance cost increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide an ink bottle and an ink supply device which can prevent erroneous installation of ink bottles of different colors and reduce maintenance costs. Is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink bottle according to the present invention is provided with a specific bottle receiving portion among a plurality of bottle receiving portions each having a different projection position at the bottom of the concave portion. Having a configuration that can be mounted only in the concave portion of the container portion, containing a predetermined ink and mounted in the concave portion of the specific bottle storage portion, and recessed inward from the outside of the container body. A recess that is provided and that can accommodate the projections provided in the recesses of the plurality of bottle housings;
The protruding portion is provided in the recess, and the projection is provided in the recessed portion of the other bottle receiving portion so as to prohibit the mounting of the container body in another bottle receiving portion other than the specific bottle receiving portion. And a convex portion that is in contact therewith.

Further, according to the invention described above, the number of the convex portions is provided by one less than the number of the bottle accommodating portions.

In the ink supply apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of ink bottles each containing a different type of ink are mounted on a plurality of bottle storage portions provided corresponding to the respective types of ink, and each of the plurality of bottles is accommodated. The supply device provided in the unit supplies the ink in the ink bottle mounted in each bottle storage unit, and the bottle storage unit is configured to prohibit the mounting of other types of ink bottles. The ink bottle has a protrusion extending along the direction of insertion of the ink bottle, the ink bottle has a recess for receiving the protrusion, and the recess is provided with the ink bottle in another type of bottle accommodating portion. In order to prohibit the mounting, a convex portion is provided which comes into contact with the projection of another type of bottle accommodating portion. The height of at least one of the projection and the convex portion is such that the convex portion comes into contact with the projection. did In state, characterized in that it is set at a height to prohibit the supply of ink by the supply device.

Further, according to the invention described above, the number of the convex portions is provided by one less than the number of the bottle accommodating portions.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, an ink bottle 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cross section of the ink bottle 1 cut in the vertical direction at substantially the center thereof as viewed obliquely from the upper right.
3 shows a state in which the air plug mechanism 4 and the valve mechanism 10 are removed from the ink bottle 1 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ink bottle of FIG.

The ink bottle 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container main body 2, an air plug mechanism 4 for introducing air into the bottle is mounted on the upper surface of the container main body 2, and a filter is mounted on the bottom of the container main body 2. 6, a valve mechanism 10 is detachably attached. Further, on one side surface of the container body 2, a claw portion 2c for fixing and disposing the container body 2 in a bottle accommodating portion described later is integrally provided.

On the bottom surface of the container body 2, there is formed a substantially circular recess 2a recessed from the outside to the inside of the container for mounting the valve mechanism 10. A circular supply hole 2b for supplying the liquid contained in the ink bottle 1 is formed at the bottom of the recess 2a, and a locking portion for locking the circular filter 6 is formed around the supply hole 2b. Have been. Also,
A screw for screwing the valve mechanism 10 is cut on the inner peripheral wall surface of the recess 2a. The depth of the recess 2a is set such that when the valve mechanism 10 is screwed through the filter 6, the bottom surface of the valve mechanism 10 is flush with the bottom surface of the container body 2 or slightly recessed from the bottom surface of the container body 2. It is set to some extent.

When the valve mechanism 10 is mounted on the container body 2, a circular filter 6 is mounted in the recess 2a so as to close the supply hole 2b of the recess 2a and is locked by the locking portion.
The valve mechanism 10 is screwed into the recess 2a. Filter 6
For example, it is formed of a metal fiber non-woven fabric, and has a function of preventing impurities such as undesired dust and sediment in the ink bottle 1 from flowing out through the valve mechanism 10.

The valve mechanism 10 includes a supply hole 2b in the recess 2a.
And a flow path 12 for allowing the liquid flowing out through the filter 6 to flow out of the ink bottle 1, a valve 14 for opening and closing the flow path, a valve seal 16 for sealing the valve 14 to the flow path 12, and a valve 14. It has a spring 18 for pressing against the valve seal 16. The valve seal 16 is fixedly provided at the upper end of the flow channel 12, and the valve 14 is pressed from the inside of the valve seal 16 and is brought into close contact therewith.

When the ink bottle 1 is mounted on a bottle housing portion of a printer (not shown), which is located on the bottom surface of the container body 2 and at a position other than the position where the valve mechanism 10 is mounted, A recess 3 recessed from the outside to the inside of the container main body 2 is formed so as to receive a dowel projecting from a concave portion described later of the portion. A plurality of ribs 5 are provided in the recess 3 for interfering with a dowel in a recess described later and for selectively prohibiting the mounting of the ink bottle 1.

Ink bottle 1 configured as described above
Is filled with ink of a predetermined color, and then is loaded into a plurality of bottle storage units provided in a printer device (not shown). In the present embodiment, yellow, magenta, cyan,
Four types of ink bottles 1 each filled with four black inks are prepared, and the ink bottles 1 of each color are mounted in four bottle accommodating sections 30 provided in the printer device corresponding to each color.

FIG. 4 exemplifies one of the bottle accommodating sections 30 in which the ink bottles 1 of the respective colors are mounted for the respective colors. The bottle housing section 30 is provided with a substantially rectangular recess 8 for housing the ink bottle 1. A dowel 11 is provided at the bottom of the recess 8 so as to be received in the recess 3 of the ink bottle 1 when the ink bottle 1 is mounted in the recess 8. The projecting position of the dowel 11 is made different depending on the type of the ink bottle 1 to be mounted.

When the ink bottle 1 is mounted in the recess 8, an intake connector 9 that extends through the bottom of the recess 8 and extends into the recess 8 is fixed at a position where the flow path 12 of the valve mechanism 10 faces. Has been established. A pump (not shown) for sucking ink contained in the ink bottle 1 is connected to a base end (not shown) of the intake connector 9.

A rod-shaped fixing member 7 for fixing the ink bottle 1 at a predetermined position is attached to the outer surface of the recess 8. The base end of the fixing member 7 is rotatably attached to the outer surface of the recess 8 via a turning shaft 7 a, and a fixing claw protruding toward the recess 8 near the tip of the turning of the fixing member 7. 7b are provided integrally. The fixing claw 7b projects into the recess 8 through the corresponding side hole 8a of the recess 8, and engages with the claw 2c provided on the side wall of the ink bottle 1 housed in the recess 8. As a result, the ink bottle 1 is fixed in the recess 8. The fixing member 7 is constantly urged by a spring or the like (not shown) to a position shown in the figure, that is, a position where the fixing claw 7b projects into the recess 8.

When the ink bottle 1 is mounted in the concave portion 8 of the bottle accommodating portion 30, the dowel 11 of the concave portion 8 is received in the concave portion 3 of the ink bottle 1, and the tip of the intake connector 9 flows through the valve mechanism 10. The valve 14 is inserted into the passage 12, and the tip of the intake connector 9 pushes up the valve 14. As a result, the valve 14 is separated from the valve seal 16, the flow path 12 is communicated with the supply hole 2b of the recess 2a,
The ink in the ink bottle 1 can be sucked through the intake connector 9.

When the ink is removed by suction, the recess 8
The fixing member 7 is rotated to release the fixing of the ink bottle 1, and the ink bottle 1 is pulled out from the concave portion 8 of the printer device. Then, a new ink bottle 1 filled with a predetermined color ink is mounted in the recess 8.

Next, the positional relationship between the dowels 11 provided in the recessed portions 8 of the above-described bottle housing portions 30 of the respective colors and the plurality of ribs 5 provided in the recesses 3 of the ink bottles 1 of the respective colors will be described. This will be described with reference to FIG.

In a printer apparatus using inks of a plurality of colors as in this embodiment, it is necessary to mount the same color ink bottles 1 in the respective bottle accommodating sections 30. That is, when the ink bottles 1 of different colors are mounted in the bottle accommodating portion 30, the inks of different colors are mixed, and the ink path, that is, the valve mechanism 10, the intake connector 9, the pump not shown, and the ink supply not shown Roads and the like must be cleaned. In the worst case, the entire ink supply system must be replaced.

For this reason, in this embodiment, in order to prohibit the ink bottle 1 from being mounted in the bottle accommodating sections 30 of different colors, the projecting positions of the dowels 11 provided in the bottle accommodating sections 30 of the respective colors, The arrangement positions of the plurality of ribs 5 provided on the ink bottles 1 of the respective colors were set as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

FIG. 5A shows an ink bottle 1a containing yellow ink and a bottle container 30 for yellow.
FIG. 5B shows a schematic configuration of an ink bottle 1b containing magenta ink and a bottle storage portion 30b for magenta ink, and FIG. 5C shows an ink bottle containing cyan ink. FIG. 5D shows a schematic configuration of the ink bottle 1d containing black ink and the bottle storage unit 30d for black.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), an ink bottle 1a containing yellow ink has three ribs 5b, 5c, 5d of the same length in a recess 3 thereof. For example, when the ink bottle 1a is erroneously mounted on the magenta bottle accommodating portion 30b of FIG. 5B, the leftmost rib 5b is provided with a dowel 11b protruding from the bottom of the bottle accommodating portion 30b. The ink bottle 1a is provided at a position where the ink bottle 1a contacts the magenta bottle accommodating portion 30b.
It functions to prohibit being mounted by mistake.
In a state where the rib 5b is in contact with the dowel 11b, the rib 5b is provided so that the valve mechanism 10 provided at the bottom of the ink bottle 1a is not opened by the intake connector 9 provided at the bottom of the bottle accommodating portion 30b. Or the height of the dowel 11b is set. That is, the mounting of the ink bottle 1a to the bottle housing portion 30b is prohibited due to the positional relationship between the rib 5b and the dowel 11b.

Similarly, the rib 5c of the ink bottle 1a
Is provided at a position in contact with the dowel 11c provided at the bottom of the cyan bottle accommodating portion 30c, and functions to prohibit attachment to the cyan bottle accommodating portion 30c. The rib 5d is provided at a position in contact with the dowel 11d provided at the bottom of the black bottle housing portion 30d, and functions to prohibit the attachment to the black bottle housing portion 30d.

On the other hand, the three ribs 5b of the above-described ink bottle 1a are provided on the bottom of the yellow bottle housing portion 30a.
A dowel 11a is protruded at a position that does not interfere with any of 5c and 5d. That is, the ink bottle 1a filled with the yellow ink can be mounted only in the bottle storage section 30a for yellow, and is not mounted in the bottle storage section of another color and mixed with ink of another color.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the magenta ink bottle 1b is provided with three ribs 5a at positions where they do not interfere with the dowels 11b protruding from the bottom of the magenta bottle accommodating portion 30b. , 5c and 5d. The rib 5a is provided in a positional relationship to interfere with the dowel 11a protruding from the bottom of the yellow bottle housing portion 30a, and the rib 5c is provided on the dowel 11 protruding from the bottom of the cyan bottle housing portion 30c.
The rib 5d is provided with a dowel 11d protruding from the bottom of the black bottle container 30d.
Are provided in a positional relationship that interferes with That is, the ink bottle 1b filled with the magenta ink can be mounted only in the magenta bottle accommodating portion 30b.

As shown in FIG. 5 (c), the cyan ink bottle 1c is located at a position where it does not interfere with the dowel 11c protruding from the bottom of the cyan bottle container 30c.
The book has ribs 5a, 5b, and 5d. The rib 5a is provided with a dowel 11 protruding from the bottom of the yellow bottle housing portion 30a.
The rib 5b is provided in a positional relationship interfering with the dowel 11a and the dowel 11b protruding from the bottom of the magenta bottle housing portion 30b.
The rib 5d is provided in a positional relationship to interfere with the dowel 11d protruding from the bottom of the black bottle housing portion 30d. That is, the ink bottle 1c filled with the cyan ink can be mounted only in the bottle storage section 30c for cyan.

As shown in FIG. 5D, the black ink bottle 1d is provided with three ribs 5a at positions where they do not interfere with the dowels 11d protruding from the bottom of the black bottle housing portion 30d. , 5b and 5c. The rib 5a is provided in a positional relationship to interfere with the dowel 11a protruding from the bottom of the yellow bottle housing portion 30a, and the rib 5b is provided on the dowel 1 protruding from the bottom of the magenta bottle housing portion 30b.
The ribs 5c are provided in a positional relationship that interferes with the ribs 1b, and the ribs 5c project from the bottom of the cyan bottle accommodating portion 30c.
Are provided in a positional relationship that interferes with That is, the ink bottle 1d filled with the black ink can be mounted only in the black bottle storage section 30d.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, four bottle housing portions 30a to 30d are provided in the printer device according to each color, and the projecting positions from the bottom of each bottle housing portion are made different from each other. Dowels 11a to 11d are protrudingly provided, and ink bottles 1a to
Three ribs were respectively provided in the recess 3 of 1d in a positional relationship in contact with the dowels of other colors. Thus, it is possible to reliably prevent an ink bottle containing inks of different colors from being erroneously attached to the bottle containing section. For this reason,
It is not necessary to clean or replace each member in the ink supply path where inks of different colors are mixed, and the maintenance cost for cleaning or replacing the members can be greatly reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, since the plurality of ribs 5 are provided in the recess 3 provided on the bottom of the ink tank, the ribs 5 may be broken by an undesired external impact or the like. There is no need to worry about being mounted in a different color bottle container.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, four types of ink bottles having different positions of the ribs 5 in the recesses 3 are prepared for the ink bottles 1a to 1d of the respective colors. One type of ink bottle having ribs 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d may be prepared, and one of the ribs 5 may be folded according to the color of the ink.

In the above-described embodiment, the three ribs 5 are provided in the recesses 3 of the ink bottle 1 of each color. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and five or more types of ink (not limited to colors) are used. The number of ribs may be increased in accordance with the area where the ink bottle 1 containing ink is used, for example. In any case, at least (n)
-1) The ribs 5 may be provided in the recesses 3.

[0037]

As described above, since the ink bottle and the ink supply device of the present invention have the above-described configuration and operation, the ink bottles of different colors may be erroneously mounted. And maintenance costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional perspective view of an ink bottle according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is cut at a substantially central portion in a vertical direction.

FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view showing a state where an air plug mechanism and a valve mechanism are removed from the ink tank of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the ink bottle of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the ink bottle of FIG. 1 is mounted in a bottle accommodating portion of the ink jet printer.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a positional relationship between a rib in a recess provided on the bottom of the ink bottle of FIG. 1 and a dowel provided on the bottom of the bottle accommodating portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a-1d: ink bottle, 2: container body, 3: recess, 5a-5d: rib, 8: recess, 9: intake connector, 10: valve mechanism, 11a-11d: dowel, 12: flow path, 14 ... Valve, 16 ... Valve seal, 18 ... Spring, 22 ... Protrusion, 24 ... Absorptive member, 30a-30d ... Bottle accommodating part.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Nakamura 6-78, Minamimachi, Mishima-shi, Shizuoka F-term in Toshiba Tec Corporation Mishima Plant (reference) 2C056 EA12 EA22 EB20 EB45 KC06

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink bottle which can be mounted only in a concave portion of a specific bottle receiving portion among a plurality of bottle receiving portions having projections having different projection positions at the bottom of the concave portion, wherein a predetermined ink is provided. And a container main body to be attached to the concave portion of the specific bottle housing portion, and provided to be recessed inward from the outside of the container main body,
A recess capable of accommodating projections provided in the recesses of the plurality of bottle housings, and a container protruding into the recess, and the container body being mounted on another bottle housing other than the specific bottle housing. And a projection that abuts a projection provided in a recessed portion of the other bottle accommodating portion so as to prohibit the ink bottle. 2. The ink supply device according to claim 1, wherein the number of the convex portions is smaller than the number of the bottle accommodating portions by one. 3. A plurality of ink bottles each containing a different type of ink are mounted in a plurality of bottle storage portions provided corresponding to the respective ink types, and supplied by a supply device provided in each bottle storage portion. In an ink supply device for supplying ink in an ink bottle mounted in each bottle storage section, the bottle storage section may be arranged along an ink bottle insertion direction to prohibit another type of ink bottle from being mounted. The ink bottle has a recess for receiving the protrusion,
In this recess, there is provided a convex portion which abuts on the above-mentioned projection of another type of bottle accommodating portion so as to prohibit mounting the ink bottle in the other type of bottle accommodating portion. The height of at least one of the portions is set to a height at which the supply of the ink by the supply device is prohibited in a state where the protrusion is in contact with the protrusion. 4. The ink supply device according to claim 3, wherein the number of the protrusions is smaller by one than the number of the bottle accommodating portions.