JP2009226808A - Gadget ink pack and ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sufficiently stabilize the supply of ink to a printer and reduce residual ink in a film bag. <P>SOLUTION: The gadget ink bag is formed by joining a plurality of flexible films in the form of a bag by thermal fusion. The film bag 4 has gadget side portions 4g which can be folded inward from folds P on both sides of the short side direction, and an ink channel groove 6 provided in a mouth stopper member 5 drawing out the ink S in the film bag 4 and extending in the long side direction of the film bag 4 is formed in the inside of the obverse portion and/or the reverse portion of the film bag 4. The ink channel groove 6 is structured so as to conforms to the folds P of the gadget side portions 4g, when the gazette side portions 4g are folded from the folds P. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gusset ink pack and an ink cartridge used for supplying ink to a printing apparatus such as an inkjet printing apparatus.

  In general, an ink cut ridge includes an ink pack and a rectangular box-shaped cartridge case that accommodates the ink pack. In recent years, an ink cut ridge has a high volume ratio (accommodation ratio) with respect to the internal space of the cartridge case. It is increasingly used as an ink pack.

  Here, the gusset ink pack is formed by joining a plurality of flexible films into a bag shape by heat welding and storing the ink, and a film bag provided at the leading end of the film bag. And a plug member for leading out the ink inside. And the film bag has the gusset side part which can be bend | folded inward from a crease | fold at both sides of a short side direction, respectively.

  Therefore, the ink cartridge is set at a predetermined position of the printing apparatus, and the leading end portion of the ink extraction member (for example, ink extraction needle) of the printing apparatus is inserted into the plug member. Thereby, ink can be supplied to the printing apparatus by discharging the ink from the plug member. On the other hand, the pair of gusset side surfaces of the film bag are folded inward from the fold as ink is supplied, and are folded after the ink supply is completed.

Here, as prior arts related to the present invention, there are those shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.
JP 2005-254570 A JP 2001-293882 A

  By the way, when the film bag is locally blocked during the supply of ink to the printing apparatus and the flow of ink toward the leading end of the film bag is stagnant, the ink supply to the printing apparatus becomes unstable, and the ink There is a problem that the performance of the cartridge is deteriorated and the residual ink is increased in the film bag. In particular, when the capacity of the gusset ink pack is large, or when the flexibility of the film constituting the film bag is low, the above problem becomes more prominent.

  On the other hand, an ink cartridge has also been developed in which regulating members that can contact the side face portions of the gusset side of the film bag are arranged on both sides in the short side direction in the cartridge case so as to suppress local blockage of the film bag. However, it is not sufficient to solve the above-described problem, and the number of parts of the ink cartridge increases, which complicates the configuration of the ink cartridge.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gusset ink pack and an ink cartridge having a novel configuration that can solve the above-described problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gazette ink pack used for supplying ink to a printing apparatus.
A plurality of flexible films are joined together in a bag shape by thermal welding, and each side has a gusset side portion that can be folded inward from a crease on both sides in the short side direction (short side direction). A film bag for storing
A plug member provided at the leading end of the film bag and leading out the ink in the film bag;
An ink flow channel groove extending in the long side direction (longitudinal direction) of the film bag is formed inside the front surface portion and / or the back surface portion of the film bag, and the gusset side surface portion of the ink flow channel groove is the fold line. When it is folded, the gist is configured to be aligned with the fold of the side surface of the gusset.

  Note that the periphery of the fold of the side surface of the gusset in the folded state is a portion where the ink inevitably remains (hereinafter referred to as an inevitably remaining portion) due to the structure of the gusset ink pack.

  According to the feature of the invention described in claim 1, when the ink cartridge is set at a predetermined position of the printing apparatus, the tip of the ink extraction member of the printing apparatus is inserted into the plug member, and the plug member Ink can be supplied to the printing apparatus by discharging the ink from the printer. On the other hand, the pair of gusset side portions of the film bag are folded inward from the folds as ink is supplied, and are folded after the ink supply is completed.

  Here, since the ink flow channel groove extending in the long side direction of the film bag is formed inside the front surface portion and / or the back surface portion of the film bag, during the supply of ink to the printing device, It is possible to avoid stagnating ink flow toward the leading end of the film bag.

  The ink channel groove is configured to align with the fold of the gusset side surface when the side surface of the gusset is folded from the fold. It can be utilized as a part, and the flow path cross-sectional area of the ink flow path groove itself can be reduced accordingly.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in addition to the feature of the first aspect of the invention, the ink channel groove is formed from the vicinity of the rear end of the film bag (from the front side of the rear end) to the front end. The gist is that it extends to the vicinity (the front side of the tip).

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge used for supplying ink to a printing apparatus.
A gusset ink pack comprising the features of the invention according to claim 1 or 2,
And a cartridge case for accommodating the gusset ink pack.

  According to the invention of any one of claims 1 to 3, the flow of ink toward the leading end of the film bag is stagnant during the supply of ink to the printing apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently stabilize the ink supply to the printing apparatus to improve the performance of the ink cartridge and to reduce the residual ink in the film bag. In particular, the inevitable residual portion can be used as a part of the ink flow path, and the flow path cross-sectional area of the ink flow path groove itself can be reduced accordingly, so that the residual in the film bag can be reduced. Ink can be further reduced.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Here, FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a view taken along line IB-IB in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 2 is a gusset. FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are diagrams illustrating a process in which a pair of gusset side portions of a film bag are folded, and FIG. 3 (c) is an enlarged view of the arrow IV, and FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b), and 5 (c) are diagrams showing how ink inevitably remains from the structure of the gusset ink pack, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of VI in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, the ink cartridge 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is used to supply ink S to a printing apparatus (not shown) such as an inkjet printing apparatus. In this case, a gusset ink pack 2 and a rectangular box-shaped cartridge case 3 for accommodating the gusset ink pack 2 are provided. The specific configurations of the gusset ink pack 2 and the cartridge case 3 are as follows.

  That is, the gusset ink pack 2 includes a four-side-seal type film bag 4 that stores the ink S. The film bag 4 includes a plurality of flexible bags (in the embodiment of the present invention, 4 Sheet) of film F is joined in a bag shape by heat welding. Each film F includes a polyethylene layer excellent in heat-welding property, an aluminum foil layer formed on the outside of the polyethylene layer and excellent in airtightness, and a protective layer formed on the outside of the aluminum foil layer. Made of nylon layer.

  The film bag 4 has gusset side portions 4g that can be folded inward from the fold line P on both sides in the short side direction (short direction). As long as the film bag 4 has gusset side portions 4g on both sides in the short side direction, the film bag 4 is not limited to the four-sided seal type, and may be a center pillow type or a standing pouch type.

  A plug member 5 for leading out the ink S in the film bag 4 is provided at the tip of the film bag 4 by heat welding. The plug member 5 is an ink extraction member such as an ink extraction needle of a printing apparatus. (Not shown) has an insertion portion 5a through which insertion is possible.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5 </ b> B, and 5 </ b> C, and FIG. 6, the ink S inevitably exists around the fold line P of the gusset side surface portion 4 g in the folded state due to the structure of the gusset ink pack 2. It is a part that remains (hereinafter referred to as an inevitable residual part).

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B and FIG. 2, an ink channel groove 6 is formed inside the surface portion of the film bag 4, and the ink channel groove 6 is formed on the film bag 4. It extends in the long side direction (longitudinal direction) from the vicinity of the rear end portion to the vicinity of the front end portion. The ink flow path groove 6 is configured to align with the fold line P of the gusset side surface portion 4g when the gusset side surface portion 4g is folded from the fold line P. Here, a region A1 between the leading end of the film bag 4 and the leading end of the ink flow channel groove 6 is a region that is not closed due to the structure of the gusset ink pack 2, and the rear end of the film bag 4 and the ink flow channel. A region A2 between the rear end portions of the grooves 6 is a region that may be closed during the supply of the ink S.

  Instead of forming the ink flow channel groove 6 inside the surface portion of the film bag 4, or while forming the ink flow channel groove 6 inside the surface portion of the film bag 4, the back surface of the film bag 4. An ink channel groove may be formed inside the portion.

  As described above, the cartridge case 3 is configured in a rectangular box shape, and the front end side is open and the rear end side is closed. The cartridge case 3 is made of cardboard or cardboard.

  Then, the effect | action and effect of embodiment of this invention are demonstrated.

  When the ink cartridge 1 is set at a predetermined position of the printing apparatus, the tip of an ink extraction member (not shown) such as an ink extraction needle of the printing apparatus is inserted into the insertion part 5 a of the plug member 5, and the plug member 5 By deriving the ink S, the ink S can be supplied to the printing apparatus. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3A, 3 </ b> B, and 3 </ b> C, the pair of gusset side surfaces 4 g of the film bag 4 is bent inward from the fold line P with the supply of the ink S, and the ink S It will be in the folded state after the end of supply.

  Here, since the ink flow channel groove 6 extending in the long side direction of the film bag 4 is formed inside the surface portion of the film bag 4, the leading end of the film bag 4 is supplied during the supply of the ink S to the printing apparatus. It is possible to avoid the stagnation of the flow of the ink S toward the direction.

  Further, since the ink channel groove 6 is configured to align with the fold line P of the gusset side surface portion 4g when the gusset side surface portion 4g is folded from the fold line P, as shown in FIG. 3C and FIG. In addition, the inevitably remaining portion can be used as a part of the flow path of the ink S, and the flow path cross-sectional area of the ink flow path groove 6 itself can be reduced accordingly.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to avoid the stagnation of the flow of the ink S toward the front end of the film bag 4 during the supply of the ink S to the printing apparatus. Can be sufficiently stabilized to improve the performance of the ink cartridge 1, and the residual ink S ′ in the film bag 4 can be reduced. In particular, the inevitably remaining portion can be utilized as a part of the flow path of the ink S, and the flow path cross-sectional area of the ink flow path groove 6 itself can be reduced by that amount. Residual ink S ′ can be further reduced.

  In addition, this invention is not restricted to description of the above-mentioned embodiment, In addition, it can implement in a various aspect. Further, the scope of rights encompassed by the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a view taken along line IB-IB in FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the gusset ink pack in a state in which the gusset side surface portion is folded. FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are diagrams illustrating a process in which a pair of gusset side portions of a film bag is folded. It is an enlarged view of the arrow view part IV in FIG.3 (c). It is a figure which shows a mode that an ink inevitably remains from the structure of a gusset ink pack. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the arrow portion VI in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

S ink S 'residual ink F film P crease 1 ink cartridge 2 gusset ink pack 3 cartridge case 4 film bag 4g gusset side surface portion 5 plug member 5a insertion portion 6 ink channel groove

Claims (3)

In a gusset ink pack used to supply ink to a printing device,
A film bag in which a plurality of flexible films are joined together in a bag shape by thermal welding, and each side has a gusset side face that can be folded inward from the crease on both sides in the short side direction, and stores ink. When,
A plug member provided at the leading end of the film bag and leading out the ink in the film bag;
An ink channel groove extending in the long side direction of the film bag is formed inside the front surface portion and / or the back surface portion of the film bag, and the ink channel groove is formed by folding the gusset side surface portion from the fold. The gusset ink pack is configured to be aligned with the crease of the side surface portion of the gusset.   The gusset ink pack according to claim 1, wherein the ink flow path groove extends from the vicinity of the rear end portion of the film bag to the vicinity of the front end portion thereof. In an ink cartridge used for supplying ink to a printing apparatus,
A gusset ink pack comprising the invention-specific matters according to claim 1 or 2,
An ink cartridge comprising: a cartridge case that accommodates the gusset ink pack.

Images