JP2004255890A - Method for filling ink cartridge with ink - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unerringly fill a porous body in an ink cartridge with an ink. <P>SOLUTION: The ink cartridge is provided with a plurality of walls forming the ink cartridge and partitioning a foam chamber 11, an ink supply port 13 formed in a first wall, two through holes 14 and 15 formed in a second wall, and the porous body 20 contacting the ink supply port 13 and stored as if to form a space between the second wall and itself and capable of absorbing the ink. The method for filling the ink cartridge comprises a first process of exhausting air from one through hole 14 through the interior of the cartridge, a second process of pouring the ink of an ink supply means K from one through hole 15 while maintaining an air exhaustion condition after air exhaustion ends, and a third process of sealing the cartridge by pasting a sealing material to the through holes 14 and 15 after a prescribed quantity of ink is to be poured in. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for filling an ink cartridge into an ink cartridge suitable for an ink jet printer in which an ink jet recording head and an ink cartridge are mounted on a carriage and ink is supplied by exchanging the cartridge.

In the case of an ink jet printer in which an ink container is mounted on a carriage equipped with an ink jet recording head, in order to prevent fluctuations in water head pressure due to ink swing due to movement of the carriage and printing defects due to foaming. In addition, as described in Patent Document 1, a porous body is housed in an ink container, and ink is supplied through the porous body.
With such a structure, ink is supplied to the recording head through the porous body, so that inconvenience caused by the ink swing can be prevented as much as possible.
European Patent Application No. 581531

  An object of the present invention is to propose a method for surely filling an ink cartridge containing such a porous body with ink.

  The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a plurality of walls constituting an ink cartridge and defining a foam chamber, and an ink supply port formed in a first wall and two ink supply ports formed in a second wall. A method of filling an ink cartridge with an ink cartridge, comprising: a through hole; and a porous body which is in close contact with the ink supply port and is capable of absorbing ink contained so as to form a space between the second wall. A first step of exhausting the inside of the cartridge from one of the through holes formed in the second wall, and an ink in the ink supply means from one of the through holes while maintaining the exhaust state after the exhaust is completed. A second step of injecting a predetermined amount of ink, and a third step of sticking a sealant to each of the through holes to seal the cartridge after injecting a predetermined amount of ink.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the injection of the ink in the second step is performed by inserting a hollow needle for supplying ink into the porous body.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to fill the ink after removing the air contained in the porous body.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the ink can be filled from the side near the ink supply port.

  FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) show an embodiment of an ink cartridge to which the ink filling method of the present invention is applied. In FIG. A foam containing a porous body 20 made of an elastic material suitable for absorbing ink by the partitions 10, 10, and 10, each of which is further divided into three chambers 4, 5, and 6; It is separated into a chamber 11 and an ink chamber 12 that stores ink as it is.

  Further, the container 1 is configured so that at least the ink chamber 12 is transparent or translucent, so that the amount of ink in the ink chamber 12 can be visually checked from the outside.

  The volume of the porous body 20 before being stored in the foam chamber 11 is selected to be larger than the volume of the foam chamber 11, and is stored in the foam chamber 11 in a compressed state.

  At the lower end of each foam chamber 11, ink supply ports 13, 13, 13 for engaging with the ink supply needles of the recording head are provided. It is sealed by a lid 16 having a hole 14 and a through hole 15 for ink injection.

  Protrusions 16a and 16b are formed so as to surround the through holes 14 and 15 in a region located in the foam chamber 11 on the back surface of the lid 16, and the porous body 20 is formed by the protrusions 16a and 16b. Is pressed against the bottom surface on which is formed.

  Of the protrusions 16a and 16b, the protrusion 16a facing the ink supply port 13 is formed to be longer than the protrusion 16b remote from the ink supply port 13 so as to be located below the ink supply port 13. 13 is compressed at the highest pressure.

  A convex portion 22 for compressing the porous body 20 in cooperation with the lid 16 is formed at the bottom of each foam chamber 11, and a concave portion 23 that forms a void having a certain opening area at the upper end thereof. And a through hole 24 communicating with the concave portion 23 and having the other end communicating with a packing member described later.

  A filter 25 having an ink passage area of 15 square mm to 30 square mm is fixed to the upper end of the concave portion 23. At the lower end of the through hole 24, a packing member 30 formed of an elastic material and expanding upward is mounted.

  Numeral 30 is a packing member provided at the lower end of the ink supply port 13 and is a funnel-shaped packing having a tapered portion 32 formed of an elastic material such as rubber and expanding upward as shown in FIG. It is configured as On the large-diameter side of the tapered portion 32, a thicker cylindrical portion 31 is provided at the boundary with the tapered portion 32 through a thin connecting portion 34, and a peripheral upper end 33 of the tapered portion 32 is provided. Is brought into contact with the inner step 13a of the ink supply port 13 and fitted into the ink supply port. The inner diameter of the opening 32 a of the tapered portion 32 is selected to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the ink supply needle 50.

  Accordingly, the ink supply port 13 is securely held by the tubular portion 31 and the upper end 33 of the peripheral edge is prevented from moving upward by the deep step 13a. It will be fixed firmly. Further, since the tapered portion 32 for securing airtightness with the ink supply needle 50 is fixed to the ink supply port 13 by a thin connecting portion 34, the tapered portion 32 can be moved to some extent without being deformed. The airtightness with the ink supply needle 50 can be secured while absorbing the relative displacement with the needle 50.

  On the other hand, the partition 10, which divides the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12, forms a continuous slot from the bottom of the container to a certain height, and is provided with a communication hole 19 for gas-liquid exchange. The porous body 20 is housed in the foam chamber 11 in a state where a part thereof is in contact with the communication hole 19 and the communication hole 19 is pressed to some extent.

  The porous body 20 is compressed about 5 to 10 mm upward from the bottom surface of the container 1 by the convex portion 22. As a result, a tension is applied in the direction indicated by the symbol A in the figure, and the compression ratio of the region B near the communication hole 19 decreases, which may hinder the replacement of the air in the communication hole 19 with the ink in the ink chamber 12. There is.

  For this reason, in the present embodiment, the distance C between the convex portion 22 and the communication hole 19 is set to be 1.5 times or more the height of the convex portion 22 so that the porous body 20 can securely adhere to the communication hole 19. Is configured.

  By adopting such a configuration, the porous body 20 has the highest compression ratio in the vicinity of the filter 25 at the upper end of the convex portion 22, and the compression ratio gradually decreases toward the communication hole 19. Therefore, the capillary force gradually increases from the communication hole 19 toward the upper end of the projection 22, so that the ink in the ink chamber 12 can be reliably guided to the hole 24.

  FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the lid 16 described above. In the figure, reference numerals 14 and 15 denote the aforementioned through holes, which are formed in a region where the porous body is accommodated. In this embodiment, the through hole 14 is connected to the atmosphere communication ports 41, 41, 41 through the meandering grooves 40, 40, 40.

  These grooves 40, 40, and 40 form a capillary tube when a seal 43 covering the through holes 14, 15 and the atmosphere communication port 41 is attached at the stage when an ink injection operation described later is completed. ing. The seal 43 is provided with a cutting line 44 in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port 41 in advance, and is configured so that the atmosphere communication port 40 can be easily exposed by pulling up the tongue piece 45.

Next, the ink filling method of the present invention will be described.
The cartridge thus configured is housed in a negative pressure environment with the ink supply port 24 sealed with the film 46 as shown in FIG. In this state, airtightness is maintained by the sealing members S, S in the exhaust hole 14 and the ink injection hole 15, and one injection needle N 1 is inserted into the upper space of the foam chamber 11 and the other injection needle is injected. The needle N2 is inserted through the porous body 20 so as to reach the vicinity of the bottom and as close to the communication hole 19 as possible. Then, one injection needle N1 is connected to the exhaust means P, and the other injection needle N2 is closed by the valve V1.

  When the exhaust means P is operated in this state, the pressure in the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 is further reduced. At the stage when the pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure, the exhaust means P is stopped to maintain the predetermined pressure. Thereafter, when the valve V1 of the other injection needle N2 is opened to communicate the measuring tube K, the ink contained in the measuring tube K is absorbed by the porous body 20, and then the ink chamber is passed through the communication hole 19. It flows into 12.

  At the stage when the ink specified by the measuring tube K has flowed into the cartridge, the valve V1 of the injection needle N2 is closed, the exhaust means P is opened to the atmosphere, and the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 are returned to the atmospheric pressure. The injection needles N1 and N2 are pulled out of the holes 14 and 15.

  In this state, since the measuring tube K maintains the reduced pressure state, the ink can flow into the measuring tube K by opening the valve V2. Then, the valve V2 is closed to prepare for injection of ink into the next cartridge.

  On the other hand, a seal 42 is adhered to the surface of the lid 16 to seal the injection ports 14 and 15, the meandering groove 40, and the atmosphere communication port 41 under reduced pressure of the cartridge into which the ink has been injected.

  As a result, the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 are maintained in a reduced pressure state, so that the injected ink is also maintained in a degassed state. As described above, since the ink is injected into the ink chamber 12 via the porous body 20, the ink can be filled without leaving the pores of the porous body 20, and the entire cartridge is stored under reduced pressure. Since an excessive increase in pressure due to an increase in temperature can be prevented, it is possible to increase the filling rate of ink and reduce the size of the cartridge.

  When the tongue piece 45 of the lid 16 is peeled off when the cartridge configured as described above is used, the through hole 14 of the foam chamber communicates with the atmosphere communication port 41 via the capillary formed by the groove 40 and the seal 43. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink from leaking from the nozzle opening regardless of the water head difference from the recording head while preventing the evaporation of the ink.

  In this state, when the ink supply port 13 of the ink cartridge is positioned and pushed into the ink supply needle 50 of the recording head, the ink supply needle 50 has its tapered portion 51 penetrating the film 46 as shown in FIG. It contacts the hole of the packing member 30. Since the packing member 30 is expanded upward, the packing member 30 penetrates the packing member 30 while being elastically deformed by being elastically pressed by the tapered portion 51 of the ink supply needle 50.

  If such an ink supply needle 50 is used in a form inserted into the packing member 30, even if there is a slight horizontal displacement between the ink supply needle of the recording head and the center of the packing member 30, As long as the tip of the ink supply needle 50 is engaged with the hole of the packing member 30, the tapered portion 32 follows the ink supply needle 50 by elasticity, so that the ink supply port 13 and the ink supply needle 50 are securely sealed. can do.

  When the ink is consumed by printing, the ink amount of the porous body 20 decreases and the head pressure decreases. Therefore, the pressure of the ink chamber 12 overcomes the ink holding force of the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19. Bubbles enter the ink chamber 12 from the communication hole 19. As a result, the pressure in the ink chamber 12 increases, and the ink flows into the foam chamber 11.

  The ink flowing into the foam chamber 11 is absorbed by the porous body 20 and slightly raises the ink level in the foam chamber 11, so that the ink holding power of the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19 and the pressure of the ink chamber 12 are balanced. At this point, the flow of ink from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11 stops.

  FIG. 5 shows this process. In the figure, the reference symbol A indicates the head pressure of the porous body 20 in the foam chamber 11, and the reference symbol B indicates the amount of ink in the ink chamber 12, as apparent from FIG. The ink initially filled in the porous body 20 is consumed up to a certain amount w1 so that the water head pressure of the porous body 20 is a predetermined value, that is, the pressure of the ink chamber 12 is maintained at the ink in the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19. When the force is reduced to a level that overcomes the force, the ink in the ink chamber 12 gradually flows into the foam chamber 11 until the ink holding force of the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19 restores the pressure and balance of the ink chamber 12. .

  Therefore, although the amount of ink in the ink chamber 12 gradually decreases, the head pressure of the porous body 20 is maintained substantially constant, and ink can be supplied to the recording head with a constant pressure difference.

  When the ink is consumed up to the predetermined amount w2 by the recording head, the ink in the ink chamber 12 runs out, but the porous body 20 is still the same as when the ink is still intermittently supplied from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11. Since the remaining ink remains, printing can be further performed with the amount of ink absorbed by the porous body 20. When the ink of the specified amount w3 is consumed, the supply of the ink from the porous body 20 becomes impossible.

  By the way, since a constant amount Δw of ink can still be supplied to the recording head from the time when all the ink in the ink chamber 12 has been absorbed by the porous body 20 until printing becomes impossible, this characteristic is used in the present invention. In order to positively use, the volume ratio of the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 is selected so that the amount of ink stored in the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 is 1 to 3 times the range of the foam chamber 11 side. I have.

  That is, when the liquid absorption rate of the porous body 20 is, for example, 80%, when the volume ratio between the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 is set to be 2: 1, about 20% of the total filled ink amount at the beginning Is consumed from the foam chamber 11 side, and then about 40% of the total charged ink amount filled in the ink chamber 12 is gradually absorbed by the foam chamber 11 and consumed.

  When all of the ink in the ink chamber 12 has been consumed, 40% of the total filling ink amount remains in the foam chamber 11, but 30% of the ink is converted to the total filling ink amount. After being consumed, about 10% of the total amount of the filled ink finally remains in the foam chamber 11.

  Accordingly, when the three color inks are provided in one cartridge, variations in the ink chamber liquid level due to the imbalance in the consumption amounts of the inks of the respective colors are visually eliminated, and the uselessness of the consumer with respect to the remaining ink amount is eliminated. You can eliminate worry.

  When the cartridge is discarded, since the ink is absorbed by the porous body 20 and does not exist in the ink chamber 12 in a liquid state, it is announced that the cartridge should be replaced when all the ink chambers 12 have run out of ink. Is performed, the flow of the ink from the cartridge can be prevented as much as possible to protect the environment.

  Furthermore, since the presence or absence of ink in the ink chamber 12 indicates the near end of the ink in the entire cartridge, if a new cartridge is prepared at this stage, it is possible to quickly supply new ink without running out of ink. It becomes.

  FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the packing member for sealing the ink supply needle, which is formed of a flexible resin material and has a circular cross section with an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the ink supply needle 50. Needle-shaped seal portion 60 and a ring-shaped seal 61 having a circular cross section whose outer diameter is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the ink supply port 13. A short, thin cone-shaped connecting ring 62 for integrally connecting the seals 60, 61 constitutes a centering ring.

  A movable bush 64 having an L-shaped cross section and having a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the inner portion of the ink supply port 13 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the needle rotation seal 60 to prevent the outer diameter of the seal 60 from increasing. A fixed bush 65 having an L-shaped cross section, which guides the insertion of the ink supply needle 50, is mounted inside the mouth seal 61 so as not to contact the needle seal 60. It is attached so as to be brought into sliding contact with the portion 13 a and the mouth seal 61 is fitted into the ink supply port 13.

  The movable bush 64 has a radial projection 66 formed on the surface thereof which is in sliding contact with the inner deep step 13a of the ink supply port 13, and a plurality of through holes 67 are formed between the projections 66. When the ink is injected with the inside of the inside being in a negative pressure, the inside air is released from the space between the ridges 66 to the outside of the alignment ring through the through hole 67.

  When the ink supply needle 50 is aligned with the ink supply port 13 and the cartridge is inserted, the ink supply needle 50 breaks the film 46 sealing the ink supply port 13 and falls into the inside, and is closely fitted to the movable bush 64. While penetrating into the through hole. The ink supply needle 50 is displaced in one of the radial directions while the needle circumference seal 60 is moved along the inner deep step by the tapered portion 51 at the tip thereof and the thin cone-shaped connection ring 62 is deformed. The outer periphery of the ink supply needle 50 is sealed without causing significant deformation of the seal 60 itself.

  FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the packing member for sealing the ink supply needle 50. The annular seal 70 has a circular cross section made of an elastic material and abuts against the inner deep step 13a of the ink supply port 13. And an annular seal 71 made of an elastic material and having a circular cross section and located on the film 46 side, and a bush 73 for fixing the two seals 70 and 71 to the ink supply port 13 in a state of elastic contact.

  The inner diameters of these two seals 70 and 71 are selected to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the ink supply needle 50, and the outer diameters of the seals 70 and 71 are set so as to be in elastic contact with the ink supply port 13. 13 is selected to be slightly larger than the inside diameter.

  When the ink supply port of the cartridge is positioned at the ink supply needle 50 and the cartridge is pushed in, the ink supply needle 50 penetrates the film 46 and passes through the second seal 71 and the first seal 70. At this time, a part of the film 46 is pushed by the ink supply needle 50 and enters the ink supply port 13, but is handled by the second seal 71 located below and enters above the second seal 71. Is prevented. Thereby, the first seal 70 reliably seals the periphery of the ink supply needle 50.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views each showing an embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention. Figures (a) and (b) show the structure of the upper surface of the lid body on the foam chamber side, respectively. Figure (a) shows the state before the sticker is attached, and Figure (b) shows the seal. It is a figure which shows the state after sticking. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of a filling device for carrying out the method for filling a cartridge with ink according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state of joining between a packing member of the ink cartridge and an ink supply needle when the ink cartridge is mounted on a recording head. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship among an ink consumption amount, a water head pressure, and an ink amount in an ink chamber. FIG. 11 is a view showing another embodiment of the packing member for sealing the ink supply needle. FIG. 11 is a view showing another embodiment of the packing member for sealing the ink supply needle.

Explanation of reference numerals

    DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cartridge main body, 2, 3 partition plate, 10 middle partition, 11 foam chamber, 12 ink chamber, 13 ink supply port, 14, 15 ink injection hole, 16 lid, 19 communication hole, 20 porous body, 24 Through hole, 30 packing, 41 atmosphere communication port, 42 seal, hollow needle for N1 exhaust, hollow needle for N2 ink supply

Claims (3)

A plurality of walls defining an ink cartridge and defining a foam chamber; an ink supply port formed in a first wall; two through holes formed in a second wall; And a porous body capable of absorbing ink accommodated so as to form a space between the second wall and the second wall.
A first step of exhausting the inside of the cartridge from one of the through holes formed in the second wall;
A second step of injecting the ink in the ink supply means from one of the through holes while maintaining the exhaust state after the exhaust is completed;
A third step of attaching a sealing material to each of the through holes to seal the cartridge after injecting a predetermined amount of ink;
A method for filling ink into an ink cartridge comprising:   2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ink is injected in the second step by inserting a hollow needle for supplying ink into the porous body. 3.   2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the attaching of the sealing material in the third step is performed under a negative pressure environment. 3.

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