JP2003311994A - Inkjet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inkjet printer that can surely perform opening to the atmosphere in a structure that an ink bottle is opened to the atmosphere by sticking a hollow needle into the ink bottle. <P>SOLUTION: The ink bottle 1 is moved toward the hollow needle 20 such that the hollow needle 20 penetrates an atmosphere-opening hole 3 and a communication hole 20a formed on the hollow needle 20 is separated from the ink in the ink bottle 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inkjet printer having a replaceable ink bottle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an inkjet printer, a large-capacity ink bottle is used as an ink supply source, and ink is supplied from the ink bottle to a small-capacity sub-tank via a flexible tube, from which the inkjet head is ejected. A type in which ink is replenished (hereinafter referred to as a "recording head") is well known.

A large-capacity ink bottle used in such an ink jet printer is generally constructed so that it can be attached to and detached from the ink jet printer so that the user can replace it when the ink in the bottle is exhausted. Target.

For example, an ink bottle used in such an ink jet printer is shown in FIG. The ink bottle shown in FIG. 13 is a housing made of a hard material, and the ink is stored in the housing. A hollow needle insertion port (ink supply port) provided with a rubber seal 6 such as butyl rubber is provided below the side surface of the casing.

A hollow needle insertion port (atmosphere opening port) having the same structure as the ink supply port is provided above the same side surface. When mounting the ink bottle on the printer, the ink bottle is pushed toward the mounting position of the printer. At the mounting position, a hollow needle provided at the end of the ink path communicating with the inkjet head and a hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere are arranged. As the ink bottle is inserted and approaches the mounting position, two hollow needles are inserted into the rubber seals 6 of the ink supply port and the atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle, and when the ink bottle reaches the mounting position, Two hollow needles completely penetrate each rubber seal 6. As a result, an ink flow path is formed between the ink bottle and the printer, and the inside of the ink bottle is opened to the atmosphere.

[0006]

In designing an ink bottle, the ink capacity is reduced as much as possible,
I want to downsize. That is, it is desirable that the ink bottle is sufficiently filled with ink.

On the other hand, as described above, when the hollow needle is used to open the atmosphere in the ink bottle,
When the hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere is inserted, it is preferable that the communication hole provided at the tip of the hollow needle does not come into contact with the ink in the ink bottle. That is, a certain amount of air must be put in the ink bottle in advance, and there must be an air layer for positioning the hollow needle between the upper surface of the housing and the water surface of the ink.

From the above, it is preferable that the air layer in the ink bottle, that is, the gap between the water surface of the ink in the ink bottle and the upper surface of the housing is as small as possible. However, even if the ink bottle is constructed in this way, if the hollow needle is not correctly arranged in the printer, the insertion position with respect to the rubber seal 6 will change, and the communication hole of the inserted hollow needle will be provided in the ink bottle. May not be located in the air layer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer which can surely achieve atmospheric opening even if the ink bottle is sufficiently filled with ink.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet printer of the present invention comprises an ink jet head for ejecting ink for recording, and an ink bottle for accommodating ink to be supplied to the ink jet head. In the ink jet printer having an atmosphere opening hollow needle that penetrates the atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle and achieves the atmosphere opening inside the ink bottle in a state of being pierced into the ink bottle, an atmosphere opening hollow needle or an ink bottle, While relatively moving so as to be close to each other, with the relative movement, penetrate the atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle with the atmosphere opening hollow needle, and with the subsequent relative movement, the atmosphere opening hollow needle Moving means for moving the communication hole so as to move away from the surface of the ink contained in the ink bottle It is characterized by providing.

Further, an ink jet printer of another invention penetrates an ink jet head for ejecting ink for recording, an ink bottle for accommodating ink to be supplied to the ink jet head, and an atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle, In an ink jet printer having an air release hollow needle that achieves air release inside the ink bottle when pierced into the ink bottle, a movement that relatively moves the air release hollow needle or the ink bottle so that they are close to each other Further comprising means for penetrating the atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle with the air-releasing hollow needle in association with the relative movement, and, with subsequent relative movement, forming a communication hole of the atmosphere-releasing hollow needle in the ink bottle. The hollow needle for releasing the atmosphere is stored in the ink bottle so that it is separated from the surface of the ink stored in the ink bottle. It is characterized in that arranged to be inclined with respect to the ink surface of the water is.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) An ink jet printer of a first embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In order to simplify the description, the ink path of the inkjet printer described here is limited to the ink path for one of the plurality of ink paths used. For example, in a printer that performs color recording using four-color or six-color ink, it is natural to prepare the number of ink paths shown in the figure, that is, four or six ink paths.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an ink path of an ink jet printer, FIG. 2 shows a constitution of an ink bottle, FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 2 (b) is a partial vertical sectional view. is there. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the configuration of the bottle holder on which the ink bottle is placed, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the details of the configuration of the printer side joint section.

The vertical direction in FIG. 1 indicates the vertical direction, and the positional relationship in the vertical direction of each member is, as shown in the figure, there is an ink bottle 1 in which ink for recording is stored, and a downward direction. The branching unit 3 described later
4, ink pool section 39, inkjet head 40,
The ink packs 44 are arranged in this order.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the ink bottle 1 disposed vertically above the ink path has a front surface 7 in the insertion direction of the ink bottle 1 into a bottle holder 21 described later. , Inclined so as to face downward. A hollow needle insertion port 2 provided with a rubber seal 6 such as butyl rubber is provided below the front surface 7. A hollow needle insertion port 3 having the same structure as the hollow needle insertion port 2 is also formed above the front surface 7. These hollow needle insertion ports 2 and 3 are provided so as to vertically project from the front surface 7.

The rubber seal 6 provided at any of the hollow insertion ports can maintain high airtightness due to its elasticity even when the hollow needles 12 and 20 are inserted and removed. In addition, thereafter, the hollow needle insertion port 2 formed below the front surface 7
Is referred to as an ink supply port 2, and the hollow insertion port 3 formed above the front surface 7 is referred to as an atmosphere opening port 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bottle holder 21 in which the ink bottle 1 is mounted has the ink bottle 1
A tray 22 for mounting the tray 22, a guide surface 23 for movably guiding the tray 22, and a link lever 24 for moving the tray 22 along the guide surface 23 in the bottle holder 21 in the attachment / detachment direction. There is. The tray 22, the guide surface, and the link lever constitute the ink bottle moving means.

An ink bottle 1 to be newly mounted is mounted on the tray 22, and the user operates the link lever 24 to move the ink bottle 1 mounted on the tray 22 along the guide surface 23 of the bottle holder 21. It can be moved inward (right side in FIG. 3). In this embodiment, the guide surface 23 is the tray 22 with the bottle holder 2
It is formed as a slope that gradually leads downward as it goes inward. The inclination of the guide surface 23 from the horizontal line matches the inclination of the front surface 7 of the ink bottle 1 from the vertical line.

The posture of the ink bottle 1 when the ink bottle 1 is mounted on the tray 22 is as follows.
The tray 22 is mounted on the tray 22 so that the upper surface 4 and the water surface of the ink in the ink bottle 1 are parallel to each other.

As shown in FIG. 4, the printer-side joint portion 11 has a space between the hollow needle 12 for ink supply, which sticks into the ink supply port 2 of the ink bottle 1, and the hollow needle 12 and the tube 31 for ink supply. The sub-tank 13 provided in the sub-tank 13, the communicating pipe 14 for detecting the remaining amount that communicates with the sub-tank 13 and extends upward, the remaining amount detecting sensor 15 provided in the communicating pipe 14 for detecting the remaining amount, and the sub-tank 13. A communication pipe 16 for opening the atmosphere to remove air bubbles in the communication sub-tank 13 and the sub-tank 13 are formed so as to be covered from below.
A waste ink pan 17 for collecting ink leaked from the sub tank 13 and the like is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the sub tank 13 is provided with an ink reservoir 18 below the connection position with the supply path tube 31. The ink whose viscosity and density have increased due to changes over time is stored in the ink reservoir 18, and the ink is supplied to the supply path tube 31 as little as possible. Then, a waste liquid path tube 54 communicating with a waste liquid bottle 51 (see FIG. 1) is connected to the bottom of the ink reservoir 18 so that the ink accumulated in the ink reservoir 18 can be treated as waste liquid. There is. The waste liquid tube 54 is provided with an electromagnetic valve 55, and by appropriately opening and closing the electromagnetic valve 55, the ink accumulated in the ink reservoir 18 can be made to flow to the waste liquid bottle 51.

Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the ink having an increased viscosity or density from the ink bottle, which is not suitable as the recording ink, is supplied to the printer side joint portion 11, the ink in the sub tank 13 is The ink is received by the reservoir 18, which prevents the ink from being supplied to the recording head.

Bubbles are collected from each ink path in the sub-tank 13. The bubbles are prevented from going to the ink supply hollow needle 12, and the bubbles go to the communicating pipe for opening to the atmosphere. To be collected by
A funnel 19 is provided in the sub tank 13.

Further, an atmosphere releasing hollow needle 20 for piercing the atmosphere releasing port 3 of the ink bottle 1 is fixed near the bottle holder 21. In the present embodiment, both the ink supply hollow needle 12 and the atmosphere release hollow needle 20 are fixed with the tip inclined upward by the same angle. The inclinations of the two hollow needles 12 and 20 both match the inclination of the guide surface 23 of the bottle holder 21, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tube joint 3 is placed on the supply path tube 31 from above in the vertical direction.
2, a solenoid valve 33, and a branch portion 34 are provided. In addition,
After this, the printer side joint section 11 to the branch section 34
The ink path up to is referred to as a "common supply path 35".

The solenoid valve 33 opens and closes the supply path tube 31 in response to an instruction from a control unit (not shown) to control ink supply. The solenoid valve 33 used here is a known one such as a manifold type or a pinch valve.

The branch portion 34 serves to branch the common replenishment path 35 into a head side path 36 and an ink pack side path 37. The head side path 36 has a branch portion 34.
An ink pool portion 39 is disposed below the vertical direction via an ink tube 38, and six recording heads 40 are disposed further below the ink pool portion 39.

The ink pool section 39 functions as an ink buffer so that a sufficient amount of ink can be supplied to the six recording heads 40. The ink pool portion 39 is provided with an ink amount detection sensor 41 for checking the filling condition of the ink inside.

The six recording heads 40 are connected to each other in the nozzle row direction to form a wide head, a so-called full line head. In the ink pack side path 37, the ink tube 4 is vertically downward from the branch portion 37.
2, a tube joint 43, and an ink pack 44 and a pressing portion 45 therebelow are arranged below the tube joint 43.

The ink pack 44 is a bag formed of a flexible film, and functions as an ink buffer for temporarily holding the ink supplied through the ink pack side path 37. The ink pack 44 is used in the recording head 40.
In order to secure a good head value for the nozzles, the nozzles are arranged vertically below the nozzle positions of the recording head 40.

The pressing unit 45 presses the ink pack 44 based on an instruction from a control unit (not shown) to push out the ink in the ink pack 44, and the ink pack side path 37,
The ink is supplied to the recording head 40 via the inkjet head side path 36. A solenoid, a cam, or the like can be used as the pressing portion 45.

In the vicinity of the ink pack 44, an ink amount detection sensor 46 for detecting the amount of ink in the ink pack 44 is arranged. This ink amount detection sensor 46
Is calculating the amount of ink in the ink pack 44 by detecting the degree of swelling of the ink pack.

The tube joint 32 on the common replenishing path 35 and the tube joint 43 on the ink pack side path 37 can separate each ink path at the position where they are arranged. As a result, for example, the tube joint 32 to the recording head 40 are unitized,
It is possible to replace the unit, replace only the ink pack 44 with a new ink pack 44, and improve the maintainability of the ink path.

Head side path 3 in the ink supply path
6. The ink tubes used in the ink pack side path 37 and the common replenishing path 35 have an inner diameter of 4 mm or more in order to secure a sufficient ink supply flow rate commensurate with high-speed recording and to improve the bubble removal property described later. It is preferably 6 mm or more, and the ink tubes are arranged so as to be inclined. This inclination angle is preferably 5 ° or more with respect to the horizontal plane.

Further, the ceiling of the ink containing portion in the ink pool portion 39 is also made an inclined surface in order to improve the bubble escape property described later. The inclination angle of the inclined surface is 5 ° from the horizontal plane.
It is configured as described above. The ink tube 38 of the head side path 36 is connected to the uppermost portion of the inclined surface in the vertical direction. This is a structure for helping the air mixed in the ink pool section 39 to travel to the ink tube 38 of the head side path 36 along the inclined surface of the ceiling of the ink pool section 39.

Head side path 36, ink pack side path 3
7. Since each ink tube of the common replenishment path 35 is arranged so as to be inclined upward in the vertical direction with respect to the ink bottle 1, it is mixed in the ink pool section 39, the ink pack 44, and each ink path. The air bubbles that have gone up move upward due to the difference in specific gravity with the ink, that is, toward the sub tank 13 of the bottle joint portion 11,
Atmosphere opening communication pipe 16 communicating with the sub tank 13
You will get out of it. (Ink Initial Filling) A detailed description will be given of a mode of performing so-called initial filling, in which the ink paths of the inkjet printer thus configured are first filled with ink except the waste liquid path.

First, the ink bottle 1 in which the ink is sufficiently stored is placed on the tray 22 and the bottle holder 21.
The hollow needle 12 for ink supply and the hollow needle 20 for air release penetrate the rubber seal 6 of the ink supply port 2 of the ink bottle 1 and the air release port 3 of the ink bottle 1, respectively, and communicate the ink flow path with the ink bottle 1. In addition, the atmosphere in the ink bottle 1 is released.

When the ink bottle 1 is attached, the solenoid valve 3
3 is opened by an instruction from a control unit (not shown). Therefore, when the ink bottle 1 is attached, the ink inside the ink bottle is supplied to the sub-tank 13 through the communication hole 12a of the hollow needle 12 by its own weight, and the ink is passed through the common path 35 and the ink pack side path 37. It is supplied to the pack 44. In addition, the ink passes through the common path 35 and the head side path 3.
It is also supplied to the ink pool section 39 via 6.

The control unit (not shown) detects the detection result of the remaining amount detection sensor 46 of the ink pack 44 and the ink pool unit 39.
Of the solenoid valve 3 based on the detection result of the remaining amount detection sensor 41 of
3 is controlled to close the ink path. That is,
When the ink pack 44 and the ink pool section 39 are sufficiently filled with ink, the electromagnetic valve 33 is closed to stop the supply of ink from the ink bottle 1. In addition,
The timing for closing the solenoid valve 33 is the ink pack 44,
When ink is filled in all the ink paths of the head side path 36, the ink pack side path 37, and the common replenishment path 35, not when the ink pool section 39 is filled with ink, the adverse effect due to air bubble mixing is reduced. It is preferable because it can be eliminated.

When the electromagnetic valve 33 is closed, the control section drives the ink pack pressing section 45 to push out the ink in the ink pack 44. The ink pushed out from the ink pack 44 applies a pressure to the ink in the ink pool section 39, and as a result, the ink filled in the ink pool section 39 is forced toward each recording head 40. Pushed out. That is, the pressing operation of the ink pack 44 is a pressure purge for the recording head 40. By performing this pressing operation, the ink flow path in each recording head 40 can be quickly filled with ink. Further, due to variations in accuracy of the print head 40, a difference in flow path resistance occurs in the ink flow path inside the print head 40. When the six recording heads 40 used include a recording head having a large difference in flow path resistance, the recording head having a small flow path resistance is easily filled with ink. A large amount of ink leaks from the 40 nozzles. On the contrary, there is a problem that the recording head having a large flow resistance is not filled with ink. However, by performing the pressure purging performed by pressing the ink pack 40 described above, it becomes possible to easily and evenly fill the ink in the ink jet head having a large flow path resistance. (Ink Supply) Next, a mode of supplying ink will be described in detail.

In this printer, the electromagnetic valve 33 is controlled by the control unit so as to close the ink tube 31 during image recording. Therefore, the ink is not supplied from the ink bottle 1. Ink supply during image recording is performed by supplying ink in the ink pack 44. Therefore, for the recording medium (not shown) being conveyed,
As ink is ejected from each recording head 40 to record an image, the ink in the ink pack 44 gradually decreases, and the ink pack 44 shrinks.

The remaining amount detecting sensor 46 detects the degree of swelling of the ink pack 44. The control unit monitors the detection output of the remaining amount detection sensor 46 of the ink pack, and controls to open the solenoid valve 33 when a predetermined swelling condition is reached.

When the solenoid valve 33 is opened, ink is supplied from the ink bottle 1 and filled in the ink pack 44. When ink is filled in the ink pack 44,
The ink pack 44 again begins to swell. The remaining amount detection sensor 46 of the ink pack 44 is the ink pack 4
When the degree of swelling of No. 4 is detected and it is detected that the predetermined size is reached, the control unit closes the solenoid valve 33 again.

Even when the ink remaining amount in the ink pack 44 becomes small and the ink needs to be replenished, the ink remaining amount in the ink bottle 1 is less than or equal to a predetermined amount or none. In this case, the solenoid valve 33 is not opened. This is because there is a risk that air rather than ink will be supplied to the head side path 36 and the ink pack side path 37.

Further, in such a situation, when the image recording is further continued and the ink remaining amount in the ink pack 44 becomes extremely small or becomes empty, the control unit drives the recording head 40 and the like. The image recording is forcibly stopped by stopping the conveyance of the recording medium. Then, each component of the printer is controlled so that the next image recording is not performed unless ink is replenished.

Next, the ink bottle mounting operation in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, the link lever 24 is pulled forward (rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 5) and the tray 22 is pulled forward (left side in FIG. 5). The tray 22 is connected to a link lever 24, and when the link lever 24 is pulled toward you, the tray 2
2 is pulled out toward the front, and when the link lever 24 is pushed inward (rotated clockwise in FIG. 5), the tray 22 moves inward of the bottle holder 21.

The ink bottle 1 is mounted on the tray 22 pulled out to the front. The posture of the ink bottle 1 at this time is such that the ink bottle 1 is placed so that the upper surface 4 of the housing is parallel to the water surface of the ink in the ink bottle 1.

After the ink bottle 1 is placed on the tray 22, the tray 22 on which the ink bottle 1 is placed is inserted into the bottle holder 21 by pushing the link lever 24 inward. The tray 22 is the bottle holder 2
It moves diagonally downward (downward in FIG. 5) along the first guide surface 23.

When reaching the position shown in FIG. 6, the hollow needles 12 and 20 are inserted into the rubber seals 6 provided on the ink supply port 2 and the atmosphere opening port 3 of the ink bottle 1, respectively. However, at the position of the ink bottle 1 shown in FIG. 6, the communication holes 12 of the hollow needles 12 and 20 of each other still remain.
a, 20a does not penetrate from the rubber seal 6 into the ink bottle 1. Therefore, the ink flow path is not communicated, and the inside of the ink bottle 1 is still airtight.

When the link lever 24 is further rotated,
The communication hole 12a of the hollow needle 12 for supplying ink reaches the portion filled with ink, and the communication hole 20a of the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere reaches the air layer in the ink bottle 1, and the ink flow path with the ink bottle 1 is reached. Are communicated with each other, and the inside of the ink bottle 1 is opened to the atmosphere.

When the ink lever 1 reaches the position shown in FIG. 7 by further rotating the link lever 24, the mounting of the bottle holder 21 is completed. It should be noted that even after the ink flow path and the opening to the atmosphere are formed in this way, by further inserting the ink bottle into the back side of the bottle holder 21, the dispersion and length of the two hollow needles 12 and 20 can be changed. Variations in dimensions such as the size, and the communication holes 12a, 2
Even if there is a variation in the position of 0a, it is possible to surely achieve the ink flow path and open to the atmosphere.

In the present embodiment, the direction in which the ink bottle 1 is inserted into the bottle holder 21 and the direction in which the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere is facing are parallel to each other.
Will pierce the atmosphere opening port 3 smoothly.
Further, the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere and the hollow needle 1 for supplying ink
Since 2 and 2 are arranged in parallel, only the operation of moving the ink bottle 1 in one direction forms both the ink flow path with the ink bottle 1 and the atmosphere inside the ink bottle 1.

As can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7,
With the movement of the ink bottle 1, the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere
The inside of the ink bottle 1 is moved so that the communication hole 20a gradually separates from the ink surface inside the ink bottle 1.

Further, as the atmosphere-releasing hollow needle 20 is inserted into the ink bottle 1, the hollow needle 20 is moved inside the ink bottle 1 so that the position of the communication hole 20a approaches the ceiling inside the ink bottle 1, that is, the upper surface 4.

For this reason, the hollow needle 2 for opening to the atmosphere in the state where the insertion of the ink bottle 1 is completed (the state shown in FIG. 7).
The communication hole 20a of No. 0 is located in the air layer in the ink bottle 1, and the release to the atmosphere can be surely achieved. (Second Embodiment) Next, an ink jet printer according to a second embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, by inserting the ink bottle 1 into the bottle holder 21 as in the first embodiment, the ink flow path and the opening to the atmosphere are not formed, but the ink supply hollow needle 12 and the opening to the atmosphere. By moving the hollow needle 20 for use so as to be close to the ink bottle 1, the ink flow path and the opening to the atmosphere are formed.

The details will be described below. As shown in FIG. 8, the ink supply hollow needle 12 and the air release hollow needle 20 are provided.
Are fixed on the base 25 so that they are parallel to each other and have the same orientation.

The base 25 is supported by a guide rail 26 fixed to the printer body, and is movable along the extending direction of the guide rail 26. The guide rail 26 is composed of two pieces, and the extending direction thereof is slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and is slightly inclined toward the ink bottle 1. That is, when the base 25 moves toward the ink bottle 1, it gradually rises. The extending directions of the two hollow needles 12 and 20 on the base 25 and the extending direction of the guide rail 26 are set to be parallel to each other.

The link lever 24 is provided on the front side (left side in FIG. 8) of the ink bottle 1 so as to be rotatable about a rotation fulcrum 28. And this link lever 24
One end of the link piece 27 is connected to the center of the, and the other end of the link piece 27 is connected to the base 25.

Since each member is configured as described above, the rotational movement of the link lever 24 can be converted into the linear movement of the base 25. That is, in the present embodiment, the link lever 24, the base 25, the guide lever 2
6, the link piece 27, and the rotation fulcrum 28 constitute moving means of the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere.

Next, the mounting operation of the ink bottle in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. First, the link lever 24 is pushed inward (rotated clockwise in FIG. 8) to separate the base 25 from the bottle holder 21. After that, the ink bottle 1 is placed in the bottle holder 21. The posture of the ink bottle 1 when placed on the bottle holder 21 is the upper surface 4 of the casing.
However, the ink bottle 1 is placed so that it is parallel to the water surface of the ink in the ink bottle 1. That is, the ink supply port 2 and the atmosphere opening port 3 face slightly downward.

When the ink bottle 1 is placed on the bottle holder 21, the link lever 24 is pulled to the front side (rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 8) to be fixed obliquely upward and fixed to the guide rail. 26 along the base 25
Are moved toward the ink bottle 1.

When the base 25 moves to the position shown in FIG. 9, the ink supply port 2 and the atmosphere opening port 3 of the ink bottle 1 are opened.
Corresponding hollow needles 12 and 20 are inserted into the respective rubber seals 6 provided in. However, in the position of the base 25 shown in this FIG.
The respective communication holes 12a and 20a of 2 and 20 do not penetrate from the rubber seal 6 into the ink bottle 1. Therefore, the ink flow path is not communicated, and the inside of the ink bottle is still airtight.

When the link lever 24 is further rotated,
The communication hole 12a of the hollow needle 12 for ink supply is in the ink,
Further, the communication hole of the air release hollow needle 20 reaches the air layer in the ink bottle 1, the ink flow path communicates with the ink bottle 1, and the atmosphere in the ink bottle 1 is opened.

If the base 25 reaches the position shown in FIG. 10 by further rotating the link lever 24,
The mounting of the ink bottle 1 is completed. It should be noted that even after the ink flow path and the opening to the atmosphere are formed in this way, the base 25 is further moved toward the ink bottle 1 so that the arrangement positions of the two hollow needles 12 and 20 vary in length and length. It is possible to reliably achieve the ink flow path and open to the atmosphere even when there is a variation in the size of the ink and the variation in the positions of the communication holes 12a and 20a.

In this embodiment, since the moving direction of the base 25 and the direction in which the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere is parallel are parallel, the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere smoothly penetrates the opening port 3 for opening to the atmosphere. . Further, since the air-releasing hollow needles 20 and the ink supply hollow needles 12 are arranged in parallel, the ink flow path to the ink bottle 1 and the inside of the ink bottle 1 can be obtained only by moving the base 25 in one direction. Both open to the atmosphere will be formed.

As can be seen from FIGS. 9 and 10, the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere moves as the base 25 moves.
The ink bottle 1 is arranged so that the position of the communication hole 20a gradually separates from the surface of the ink contained in the ink bottle 1.
Move in.

Further, the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere is a base 25.
Along with the movement of, the communication hole 20a is moved inside the ink bottle 1 so that the position thereof approaches the ceiling inside the ink bottle 1, that is, the upper surface 4.

Therefore, the hollow needle 20 for opening to the atmosphere in the state where the movement of the base 25 is completed (the state shown in FIG. 10).
The communication hole 20a of is located in the air layer in the ink bottle 1 and can reliably open the atmosphere.

In the above two embodiments, the ink jet printer in which the front surface, that is, the surface facing the two hollow needles, is mounted with the flat ink bottle has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the bottle holder. By appropriately changing the configuration of 21 and the arrangement of the two hollow needles 12 and 20, it is possible to apply to ink bottles of various shapes.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the front surface of the ink bottle 1 is stepped between the upper side 7a and the lower side 7b, and the orientations of the ink supply port 2 and the atmosphere opening port 3 are as described above. When adopting the ink bottle 1 facing downward with a greater inclination, the following configuration can be adopted.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the extending directions of the two hollow needles 12 and 20 are parallel to the directions of the ink supply port 2 and the atmosphere opening port 3 of the ink bottle 1. Further, the moving direction of the tray 22 on which the ink bottle 1 is placed, that is, the inclination of the guide surface 23 is set to be parallel to the extending direction of the two hollow needles 12 and 20. Further, the two hollow needles 1 corresponding to the displacement between the upper front surface 7a and the lower front surface 7b of the ink bottle 1 in the moving direction of the tray 22.
2, 20 are arranged so as to be displaced in the moving direction of the tray 22.

By thus constructing the bottle holder 1 and setting the positions of the two hollow needles 12 and 20, it is possible to sufficiently cope with the ink bottle 1 having a unique shape as shown in FIG. A wide ink flow path and open to the atmosphere can be achieved.

[0074]

As described above, according to the ink jet printer of the present invention, it is possible to provide the ink jet printer which can surely achieve the atmospheric release even if the ink in the ink bottle is sufficiently filled with the ink. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an inkjet printer according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an ink bottle, FIG.
(B) is a partial longitudinal sectional view of the ink bottle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing details of the configuration of the bottle holder in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing details of the configuration of a printer side joint section in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an inserting operation of the ink bottle in the first embodiment, and is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where an ink bolt is placed on the tray.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an ink bottle inserting operation in the first embodiment, showing a state in which the ink bottle is inserted and hollow needles are starting to be inserted into the ink supply port and the atmosphere opening port, respectively. It is a fragmentary sectional view shown.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of inserting the ink bottle in the first embodiment, in which the hollow needle completely penetrates the ink supply port and the atmosphere opening port, and the ink flow path and the atmosphere opening are opened. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a completed state of mounting the ink bottle.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the movement operation of the base 25 in the second embodiment, and is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where an ink bottle is placed on the bottle holder.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the movement operation of the base 25 in the second embodiment, in which the base 25 moves and hollow needles are pierced into the ink supply port and the atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle, respectively. It is a fragmentary sectional view showing the state where it started.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the movement operation of the pace in the second embodiment, in which the hollow needle completely penetrates the ink supply port and the atmosphere opening port to open the ink flow path and the atmosphere. FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which mounting of the ink bottle is completed.

11 is a modification of the ink bottle, and FIG.
1 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 11 (b) is a partial vertical sectional view.

12 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an inkjet printer when the ink bottle of FIG. 11 is adopted.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which an ink flow path to an ink bottle and opening to the atmosphere are made in a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Ink bottle, 2 ... Ink supply port, 3 ... Atmosphere opening port, 4 ... Top surface (ceiling), 6 ... Rubber seal, 7 ... Front surface, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer side joint part, 12 ... Ink supply hollow needle, 12a ... Communication hole, 13 ... Sub tank, 14 ... Remaining amount detection communication pipe, 15 ... Ink remaining amount detection sensor, 16 ... Atmosphere opening communication pipe, 17 ... Waste ink pan, 18 ... Ink reservoir, 19 ... Funnel, 20 ... Atmosphere opening hollow needle, 20a ...
Communication hole, 21 ... Bottle holder, 22 ... Tray, 23 ... Guide surface, 24 ... Link lever, 25 ... Base, 26 ... Guide rail, 27 ... Link piece, 28 ... Rotation fulcrum, 31 ...
Supply route tube, 32 ... Tube joint, 33
... Solenoid valve, 34 ... Branch section, 35 ... Common supply path, 36 ...
Inkjet head side path, 37 ... Ink pack side path, 38 ... Ink tube, 39 ... Ink pool section, 4
0 ... Inkjet head, 41 ... Sensor, 42 ... Ink tube, 43 ... Tube joint, 44 ... Ink pack, 45 ... Pressing part, 46 ... Ink remaining amount detection sensor,
51 ... Waste liquid bottle, 52 ... Waste liquid path

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet head for ejecting ink for recording, an ink bottle for accommodating ink to be supplied to the ink jet head, and an ink in a state of being pierced into the ink bottle through an atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle. In an ink jet printer having a hollow needle for releasing the atmosphere to the inside of the bottle, and a hollow needle for releasing the atmosphere or an ink bottle are relatively moved to be close to each other, and with the relative movement, A movement that penetrates the atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle with the air releasing hollow needle, and moves the communication hole of the air releasing hollow needle away from the ink stored in the ink bottle with the relative movement thereafter. An inkjet printer provided with means. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the extending direction of the hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere is parallel to the moving direction of the moving means. 3. An ink supply hollow needle further comprising an ink supply hollow needle that penetrates the ink supply port of the ink bottle and forms an ink flow path with the ink bottle when the ink bottle is stuck into the ink bottle. 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the extending direction of the ink is parallel to the extending direction of the hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere. 4. An ink jet head for ejecting ink for recording, an ink bottle for accommodating ink to be supplied to the ink jet head, and an ink in a state of being pierced into the ink bottle through an atmosphere opening port of the ink bottle. An inkjet printer having a hollow needle for releasing the atmosphere to the inside of the bottle, further comprising: a moving means for relatively moving the hollow needle for releasing the atmosphere or the ink bottle so as to be close to each other. The hollow needle for releasing the air penetrates the opening port of the ink bottle with the static movement, and the communication hole of the hollow needle for releasing the atmosphere separates from the ink stored in the ink bottle with the relative movement thereafter. The air-releasing hollow needle so that it is inclined with respect to the surface of the ink contained in the ink bottle. It is characterized in that. 5. The inclination of the hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere and the inclination of the moving means in the moving direction are the same.
The described inkjet printer. 6. An ink supply hollow needle further comprising an ink supply hollow needle that penetrates the ink supply port of the ink bottle and forms an ink flow path with the ink bottle in a state of being pierced into the ink bottle. 6. The ink jet printer according to claim 5, wherein the inclination degree of 1 and the inclination degree of the hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere are the same. 7. The moving means comprises a base to which a hollow needle for opening to the atmosphere and a hollow needle for supplying ink are fixed, and a guide for defining the moving direction of the base. The described inkjet printer. 8. The ink jet printer according to claim 6, wherein the moving means is composed of a tray on which an ink bottle is mounted and a guide which defines a moving direction of the tray. 9. An ink jet head for ejecting ink for recording, an ink bottle for accommodating the ink to be supplied to the ink jet head, and a state in which the ink bottle is pierced through the atmosphere opening port and stuck in the ink bottle. An ink-jet printer having a hollow needle for releasing air into the ink bottle, and further comprising moving means for relatively moving the hollow needle for releasing air or the ink bottle so as to approach each other, Along with the relative movement, the air release hollow needle penetrates the atmosphere release port of the ink bottle, and with the relative movement thereafter, the communication hole of the air release hollow needle is separated from the ink stored in the ink bottle. The air release hollow needle to the water surface of the ink in the ink bottle so that it approaches the top of the ink bottle. Inkjet printer characterized by disposing is inclined with.