JP2006062282A - Liquid storage vessel, liquid supply device, inkjet recording apparatus, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance cleaning efficiency in recycling treatment for a liquid storage vessel; to shorten a liquid injection time; and to prevent a deterioration in the function of the supply of a liquid in actual use. <P>SOLUTION: A base body 21 with an opening 20 communicating with the inside of an ink bag 17 is fixed to the ink bag 17 serving as a liquid storage body, and a supply port member 22, which is provided with a tubular supply port 16 for sending ink to the outside, is disconnectably connected to the opening 20 of the base body 21. The opening area of the opening 20 is set sufficiently larger than that of the supply port 16. When the ink is re-infilled, the member 22 is separated from the base body 21, and the ink is infilled into the ink bag 17 through the opening 20 by opening the opening part 20. After filling, the member 22 is bonded to the opening 20, and the member 22 is re-connected to the base body 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid storage container capable of refilling a liquid with respect to a liquid storage main body that stores liquid, and a liquid supply device, an ink jet recording apparatus, and an image forming apparatus using the liquid storage container.

  The ink jet printer uses an ink storage container having a structure in which a supply port for taking out ink is attached to a bag made of a laminate film or the like for keeping ink deaeration in an ink supply section by heat welding or the like. There is.

  When the bag is reused, it is filled with new ink. Various techniques devised to fill the ink easily and satisfactorily during the filling have been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

As one of the problems at the time of refilling, there is a possibility that the old ink remaining in the bag has deteriorated due to aging, temperature change, intake air, etc. Sometimes it has to be removed.
Japanese Patent No. 3224443 Japanese Patent No. 3222294 JP 2002-178544 A

  When performing the cleaning, it is advantageous that the bag has a large opening because the cleaning liquid can be injected and sucked in a short time.

  However, during actual use (when supplying ink), it is usually not necessary to supply a large amount of ink to use up all the ink in the bag at once. There are also disadvantages such as a large connection with the printer body.

  The object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, increase the cleaning efficiency in the reuse processing of the liquid storage container, reduce the liquid injection time, and reduce the function of liquid supply during actual use. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid storage container that is prevented from being generated, and a liquid supply device, an ink jet recording apparatus, and an image forming apparatus using the liquid storage container.

  In order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 is a liquid storage main body for storing liquid, and a supply port for supplying the liquid stored in the liquid storage main body to a predetermined supply destination. A base body provided with an opening fixed to a part of the liquid storage body and communicating with the interior of the liquid storage body, and so as to cover the opening of the base body. And a supply port member provided in part with the supply port having an opening smaller than the opening and detachably coupled to the base body. Sometimes the supply port member is separated from the base body of the liquid storage body, the internal cleaning of the liquid storage body can be satisfactorily performed in a state where the opening area is wide, and the liquid can be easily filled. Is The supply port member releases by again coupled to the base body, does not change the function of the liquid container.

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the liquid storage container according to claim 1, the liquid storage main body is a bag-like body, and the bag-like body is provided in the box-like body. The liquid storage body itself is made of a laminate film, and the present invention is effective when applied to a liquid storage container configured to protect the liquid storage body with a hard box-like body.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the liquid storage container according to the first aspect, the portion bonded when the base body and the supply port member are separated is removed, and the portion near the removed portion is newly combined. With this configuration, the coupling portion of the base body or the supply port member can be updated and coupled, and can be reused in a reliable coupling state.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid container according to the first or third aspect, a sealing member is interposed between the base body and the supply port member. In this configuration, the base body and the supply port are provided. The airtightness of the joint portion between the members is increased.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid container according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the whole or a part of at least one of the base body and the supply port member is made of a flexible material. The base body and the supply port member are formed so that the joint portion between the base body and the supply port member can be brought into close contact with the base body or the supply port member by utilizing the flexibility of the base body or the supply port member itself. The space can be in a combined state maintaining confidentiality.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid supply apparatus for supplying a liquid from a liquid storage container provided in the apparatus main body to a predetermined liquid use part, the liquid storage container according to any one of the first to fifth aspects. A liquid container is used.

  According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink storage portion that stores ink; and a liquid supply portion that supplies ink from the ink storage portion to a predetermined portion of the ink jet head. The liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is used.

  The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7 is mounted on an image forming section.

  According to the liquid storage container, the liquid supply apparatus, the ink jet recording apparatus, and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the supply port member is separated from the base body of the liquid storage main body when cleaning for reuse (recycling), and the opening area is It is possible to easily and satisfactorily perform internal cleaning and liquid filling of the liquid storage body in a wide state, and after filling, the separated supply port member is re-coupled to the base body, thereby providing a liquid storage container. The effect is large, such as not changing the function.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus portion in the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an ink supply device in the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 2.

  In FIG. 1, an operation / setting unit 2 is provided in an apparatus main body 1, and a cassette 3 in which recording paper is stored is detachably installed.

  2 and 3, 4 is a carriage on which the inkjet head 5 is mounted, 6 is a guide rod for guiding the movement of the carriage 4, 7 is a sensor for detecting the movement of the carriage 4, and 8 is built in the inkjet head 5. An ink sub-tank that stores ink of each color (four types of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in this example), and 9 is a box-shaped ink cartridge (main book) in which a liquid storage body that stores ink of each color is built. (4 in the example) 10 is a liquid feed tube for sending ink of each color from the ink cartridge 9 to the ink sub-tank 8, 11 is an ink supply pump for sending ink through the liquid feed tube 10, and 12 is an ink for driving the ink supply pump 11. A supply pump drive motor 13 is a cartridge holder for holding and storing the ink cartridge 9. That.

  In the image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, the ink stored in the ink cartridge 9 is mounted on the carriage 4 through the liquid supply tube 10 by the ink supply pump 11 driven by the motor 12 for driving the ink supply pump. The ink is sent to the ink sub tank 8. The ink sub-tank 8 is connected to the inkjet head 5, and receives an image data and ejects ink from the inkjet head 5 that moves together with the carriage 4 to form an image on recording paper.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the inside of the ink cartridge with the cover removed, and a case 15 of the ink cartridge 9 constituting the liquid storage container is a liquid storage body provided with a supply port 16 serving as an ink supply passage. An ink bag 17 made of a laminate sheet or the like is provided inside. A hollow needle 18 provided in the ink feed pump 11 is inserted into the supply port 16, and ink inside the ink bag 17 is sucked out through the hollow needle 18.

  FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the ink bag of the liquid storage body. A base body 21 having an opening 20 communicating with the inside of the ink bag 17 is fixed to the ink bag 17, and a cylindrical supply port 16 is further provided. The protruding supply port member 22 is detachably coupled to the opening 20. The opening area of the opening 20 is set to be sufficiently larger than the opening area of the supply port 16.

  As described above, the supply port member 22 is detachably coupled to the base body 21, so that the supply port member 22 is separated from the base body 21 and the opening 20 is opened when the ink bag 17 is internally cleaned. Therefore, the injection and suction of the cleaning liquid can be performed in a short time. In addition, ink can be injected from the opening 20 before the supply port member 22 is coupled to the base body 21. For this reason, compared with a case where ink is injected from the supply port 16 after the supply port member 22 is coupled, The ink injection time can be shortened.

  In addition to the flexible ink bag 17 as described above, the liquid storage body may be a box-shaped liquid storage body 23 made of a resin material as shown in FIG.

  As for the supply port 16, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a shield rubber 24 is press-fitted into the opening end portion 16a of the cylindrical supply port 16, and a cap 25 is provided so that a part of the shield rubber 24 is exposed. By fixing to the side of the supply port 16 and holding the shield rubber 24, it is possible to prevent leakage of ink (liquid) stored during storage / transportation.

  With such a configuration, when the ink is supplied, as shown in FIG. 8, when the hollow needle 18 provided in the ink feeding pump 11 shown in FIG. The ink is not leaked because it is sealed by elasticity, and when the hollow needle 18 is pulled out, the hole formed by the hollow needle 18 is closed by the elasticity of the shield rubber 24, so that the ink does not leak.

  Further, as shown in a perspective view of a modified example of the supply port member shown in FIG. 9 and an AA cross-sectional view in FIG. 9 shown in FIG. 10, the supply port member 22 is separated from the supply port 16 for supplying ink. It is also conceivable to provide an injection port 26 used for injection.

  Note that if the inlet 26 is opened after ink injection, there is a risk of ink leakage or the like, so it is preferable to seal it after ink injection. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, a male screw 27 is engraved at the end of the injection port 26, and a lid body 29 in which a female screw 28 is engraved is screwed onto the male screw 27, whereby the injection port 26 is formed. A sealing configuration can be employed.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 12, as a simpler configuration, after injecting the ink, the injection port 26 is welded by pressing a heated iron 30 or the like to the side of the injection port 26 to close the opening hole. The method to do can be adopted. If the injection port 26 is welded in this way, it is difficult to reuse the injection port 26 itself, which hinders re-injection of ink into the liquid storage container, but the configuration of the present embodiment shown in FIG. As described above, if the supply port member 22 and the base body 21 can be separated, the component members of other liquid storage containers can be reused by replacing the supply port member 22 with another new one. It becomes possible. This inlet 26 is not essential.

  FIG. 13 to FIG. 24 are explanatory diagrams of configuration examples in consideration of adhesion (coupling) / separation between the base body and the supply port member according to the present embodiment.

  In the configuration example shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 13 and the AA sectional view in FIG. 13 of FIG. 14, as shown in FIG. It is formed in a plurality of steps that become narrower (in this example, three step portions 31a, 31b, and 31c). When the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 are bonded for the first time, the outermost step is formed. Bonding is performed using only the portion 31a. When the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 are separated, the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 can be separated relatively easily by shaving only the portion P of the outermost step portion 31a. Thereafter, when the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 are bonded for the second time, bonding is performed using the step portion 31b next to the stepped portion 31a on the outermost periphery. In the third time, in the same manner as described above, the step portion 31b can be shaved during separation, and further bonded using the next step portion 31c. In this way, the bonding site is newly updated sequentially, so that a good bonding state is obtained.

  In the example shown in the perspective view of the sheet feeding port member of FIG. 15 viewed from the bottom surface side and the cross-sectional view of FIG. 16, a plurality of adhesive surfaces are provided on the bottom surface side (side facing the base body 21) of the supply port member 22. A rectangular convex portion (three strips 33a, 33b, and 33c in this example) is formed, and the outermost convex portion 33a is used at the time of the first bonding similarly to the configuration examples shown in FIGS. Only the outermost convex portion 33a is shaved when the base body 21 is separated, and the next convex portions 33b and 33c are sequentially adhered to the base body 21 at the time of the next bonding.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the back surface of the supply port member 22 is made flat, and widths corresponding to a plurality of times of bonding / cutting (in this example, three bonding / cutting width portions 34a, 34b, and 34c) are previously set. It is possible to set and repeat the bonding, separation, and scraping in the same manner as described above, but the bonding width of the configuration example shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 or the configuration examples shown in FIGS. It is difficult to specify and stabilize, and it becomes difficult to determine the shaving margin during separation.

  Various methods can be considered for the bonding method. For example, a method using an adhesive, a method of melting and welding the base body and / or the supply port member by heating, an ultrasonic welding, etc. The method used can be employed.

  As a bonding method, a better method includes bonding the base body and the supply port member by using a re-peelable adhesive or an adhesive capable of peeling the bonded portion with a peeling agent. . By doing so, it becomes unnecessary to scrape the adhesive portion when separating the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 as described above, and the base body 21 or the supply port member 22 can be easily reused. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 18, a method in which a double-sided adhesive tape 35 is interposed on the joint surface between the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 to bond them together, or as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B. In addition, a method is conceivable in which the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 are bonded and the outer peripheral surfaces of the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 are bonded and bonded using a single-sided adhesive tape 36.

  In the configuration example shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 20 and the AA cross-sectional view in FIG. 20 of FIG. 21, the convex portion 37 formed on the bottom surface of the supply port member 22 protrudes in a trapezoidal shape, and is a base to be coupled. The opening 20 that is a receiving portion of the body 21 is formed as a concave portion 38 that matches the shape of the convex portion 37. By doing so, the convex portion 37 of the supply port member 22 is press-fitted and fitted into the concave portion 38 of the base body 21, thereby eliminating the gap between them and preventing ink leakage, It is possible to prevent the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 from easily coming off during use.

  Note that the convex portion 37 and the concave portion 38 do not need to be trapezoidal as described above, and the side surface (N portion) has a linear shape as shown in FIG. 22, or as shown in FIG. In this way, the side surface (M portion) may have a tapered shape that narrows in the direction of extraction.

  As shown in FIG. 24, if the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 are fastened by using a screw 40 screwed through the supply port member 22 to a female screw portion 39 formed in the base body 21, the comparison is made. It is possible to perform separation and coupling repeatedly with ease.

  As in the configuration example shown in FIG. 25, the ink can be made more difficult to leak by interposing an elastic sealing material 41 as a sealing member between the base body 21 and the supply port member 22.

  Further, the base body 21 and / or the supply port member 22 itself is formed of a flexible material such as a rubber material, or a joint portion in at least one of the base body 21 and the supply port member 22 is made flexible. The ink leakage can be prevented by improving the adhesion by forming the material with a material having the above. By doing in this way, it is not necessary to use the sealing material 37 demonstrated in FIG. 25, and can simplify a structure structurally. Of course, if the sealing material 37 is used together, the airtightness is further improved.

  The present invention relates to a liquid storage container such as a cartridge that can be refilled with a liquid such as ink, and an information processing system such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a word processor, and a personal computer. It is effective for use in an ink jet recording apparatus as an image forming apparatus for printing on a recording medium such as the above.

1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording apparatus for describing an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows schematic structure of the inkjet recording device part in this embodiment. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an ink supply device of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment. The perspective view which removes the cover of the ink cartridge in this embodiment, and shows an inside The disassembled perspective view of the ink bag of the liquid storage body in this embodiment The disassembled perspective view which shows the other example of the liquid storage main body which concerns on this embodiment Sectional drawing which shows the supply port part in this embodiment Sectional drawing which shows the use condition of the supply port in this embodiment The perspective view of the modification of the supply port member which concerns on this embodiment AA sectional view of the supply port member in FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the example of sealing of the injection inlet in this embodiment Sectional drawing which shows the other sealing example of the injection inlet in this embodiment The exploded perspective view for demonstrating the structural example of the base body and supply port member in this embodiment AA sectional view of the base body and the supply port member in FIG. The perspective view which looked at the paper feed port member for demonstrating the structural example of the base body and supply port member in this embodiment from the bottom face side Sectional drawing of the base body and supply port member of the structural example in FIG. Sectional drawing for demonstrating the structural example of the base body and supply port member in this embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the example which adhere | attaches the joint surface of the base body and supply port member in this embodiment with a double-sided adhesive tape. (A), (b) is a perspective view which shows the example which adhere | attaches a base body and a supply port member using an adhesive tape. The exploded perspective view for demonstrating the structural example of the base body and supply port member in this embodiment AA sectional view of the base body and the supply port member in FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the modification of the convex shape and concave shape of the base body and supply port member which concern on this embodiment Sectional drawing which shows the other modification of the convex shape and concave shape of the base body and supply port member which concern on this embodiment The disassembled perspective view which shows the structural example which fastened the base body and the supply port member in this embodiment with the screw | thread. Sectional drawing which shows the structural example which interposed the sealing material between the base body and supply port member in this embodiment

Explanation of symbols

5 Inkjet head 8 Ink sub tank 9 Ink cartridge (liquid container)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Liquid supply tube 11 Ink supply pump 12 Ink supply pump drive motor 15 Ink cartridge case 16 Supply port 17 Ink bag (liquid storage body)
20 Opening portion 21 Base body 22 Supply port member 23 Box-shaped liquid storage main bodies 31a, 31b, 31c Step portions 33a, 33b, 33c of the opening inner wall portion of the base body Projections 34a, 34b, 34c on the bottom side of the supply port member Adhesion / cutting width portion 41 of supply port member Sealing material (sealing member)

Claims (8)

In a liquid storage container comprising a liquid storage main body for storing a liquid and a supply port for supplying the liquid stored in the liquid storage main body to a predetermined supply destination.
A base body fixed to a part of the liquid storage body and provided with an opening communicating with the inside of the liquid storage body, and detachably coupled to the base body so as to cover the opening of the base body And a supply port member provided in part with the supply port having an opening smaller than the opening.   The liquid storage container according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage body is a bag-like body, and the bag-like body is provided in the box-like body.   The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein when the base body and the supply port member are separated, the joined portion is removed and a portion near the removed portion is newly joined.   The liquid container according to claim 1 or 3, wherein a sealing member is interposed between the base body and the supply port member.   The whole or a part of at least one of the base body and the supply port member is formed of a flexible material so that a joint portion between the base body and the supply port member can be closely attached. The liquid storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4. In a liquid supply apparatus that supplies liquid from a liquid storage container provided in the apparatus main body to a predetermined liquid use section,
A liquid supply apparatus using the liquid storage container according to claim 1 as the liquid storage container. In an ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink containing portion that contains ink; and a liquid supply portion that supplies ink from the ink containing portion to a predetermined portion of the ink jet head.
An ink jet recording apparatus using the liquid storage container according to claim 1 as the ink storage section.   An image forming apparatus comprising the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7 mounted on an image forming unit.

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