JP2015077805A - Ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink cartridge comprising notification means capable of reliably recognizing a state of the ink cartridge by a signal transmitted from an infrared transmission part on a printer side without false recognition, and reliably recognizing the state of the ink cartridge by a signal transmitted from a visible light transmission part, which can transmit the signal even under a low voltage, on a user side without affecting the recognition on the printer side and without confusing the user.SOLUTION: A substantially box-shaped ink cartridge 1 comprises: a top face 3a including an atmosphere port 4 and an ink filling port; a bottom face 3b including an ink supply port 7; a front face 3c; a rear face 3d; an infrared transmission part 15 for transmitting an infrared ray with a wavelength longer than a visible light to a direction of a light receiving part 16 of a printer; and a visible light transmission part 17 for transmitting the visible light to a direction other than the light receiving part. The infrared transmission part is provided on the front face, and the visible light transmission part is provided on the top face. A covering part 18 for preventing scattering of the visible light is provided in the vicinity of the visible light transmission part.

Description

The ink cartridge of the present invention is a novel ink cartridge used in an ink jet printer that can accurately determine the state of the ink cartridge, such as the remaining amount of ink and the mounting state of the ink cartridge, and is easy for the user to recognize. The present invention relates to an ink cartridge provided with notification means.

In general, there is known a method for checking the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge of the printer or the mounting state of the ink cartridge by displaying it on a monitor via a PC. In recent years, with the spread of digital cameras, “non-PC recording” is performed without using a personal computer (PC). In these cases, when a digital camera or a portable terminal is directly connected to a printer as a recording device, a card type information storage medium which is an information storage medium that is detachably used in a digital camera or a portable terminal is directly connected. For example, when data is transferred to a printer. Even when performing the non-PC recording, the printer grasps the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge, the state of the ink cartridge, etc., and before the user starts printing, the printer replaces a new ink cartridge in advance or There is also a need to notify the user of the condition.

In such a market, an ink cartridge employing visible light as a notification means has been put into practical use. As the notification means using visible light, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, each of the ink cartridges is provided with an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light emitting unit, and an opening is provided in a carriage provided in the printer so that visible light from the light emitting unit can be detected. In addition, it is necessary to emit light directly to the light receiving unit and to allow the operator to visually recognize it.

In Patent Document 2, an LED light emitting unit similar to that in Patent Document 1 is provided, and instead of the opening in Patent Document 1, an optical path for guiding the light to a light receiving unit provided in the printer before the visible light diffuses is configured. Technology is disclosed. Patent Document 2 states that, for example, when the remaining amount of ink is reduced, and when the light emitter is turned on upon detection thereof, the light passes through an optical path provided in the ink cartridge and is an operation unit that is a constituent member of the ink cartridge. It is possible to emit light at the end of the displacement member such as, etc. When the light emitter is turned on by a specific optical path member, the light passes through the optical path provided in the ink cartridge, and the configuration of the ink cartridge It is guided to an end portion of a displacement member such as an operation portion which is a member, and that portion can emit light.

On the other hand, Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 are transmitting elements that transmit infrared or ultraviolet light having a wavelength longer than that of visible light as an alternative to the visible light notification unit disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above. An ink cartridge provided with a light receiving portion is disclosed.

Patent Registration No. 3793216 JP 2007-112150 A Utility Model Registration No. 3163016 Utility Model Registration No. 3161546

However, in the ink cartridge employing the visible light notification unit using one LED emission as described above, in order to transmit visible light toward the light receiving unit provided in the printer and to make the operator visually recognize the notification information, Since the amount of light emission of the LED itself must be made quite large, not only the LED itself is expensive, but also recognition failure due to diffusion / scattering of the emitted light occurs. The conventional method that further provides an auxiliary mechanism for preventing this is not only complicated and expensive as a whole, but also affects the light receiving unit recognition threshold value for discriminating light reception / non-light reception. The design must be expensive.

From another point of view, each of the individual (each color) ink cartridges provided in the printer holder emits light of the same wavelength, that is, the same color (for example, red) in addition to the high light quantity of the transmitting unit as the notification means. Therefore, there is another problem that it is very difficult for the user to recognize which ink cartridge emits light.

An object of the present invention is to reliably recognize the state of an ink cartridge without erroneous recognition by an infrared signal from an infrared transmission unit on the printer side, and to determine the state of the ink cartridge by a signal from a visible light transmission unit on the user side. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink cartridge provided with a novel notification means that can be transmitted even under a low voltage without affecting the side recognition and can be reliably recognized by a user without being confused.

As a result of newly discovering the above problems and intensively studying the above problems, the present inventor completed the present invention. That is, according to the present invention, an infrared transmitter for a light receiving unit that transmits infrared light having a longer wavelength than visible light is transmitted to a light receiving unit provided in the printer, and visible light that can be recognized by the user is transmitted to a user. By providing the visible light transmitter for visual recognition, both the printer and the user can reliably recognize the state of the ink cartridge, thereby solving these problems. The units mounted on the ink cartridge and carriage of the present invention are as follows.
(1) A substantially box-shaped ink cartridge having an upper surface provided with an atmosphere port and an ink filling port, a bottom surface provided with an ink discharge port, a front surface, and a rear surface,
An infrared transmitter that transmits infrared light having a wavelength longer than visible light in the direction of the light receiving unit of the printer;
A visible light transmitter that transmits visible light in a direction other than the light receiver, the infrared transmitter is provided on the front surface, and the visible light transmitter is provided on the upper surface,
An ink cartridge comprising a cover portion for preventing visible light scattering near the visible light transmitting portion.
(2) The upper surface is provided with a locking member that is locked and fixed to a carriage of the printer, and the locking member includes a support portion that is rotatable upward. Ink cartridge.

According to the present invention (1), there is provided a substantially box-shaped ink cartridge having an upper surface provided with an air outlet and an ink filling port, a bottom surface provided with an ink discharge port, a front surface, and a rear surface. An infrared transmitter that transmits infrared light having a wavelength longer than visible light in the direction of the light receiver, and a visible light transmitter that transmits visible light in a direction other than the light receiver, and the infrared transmitter is provided on the front surface. The visible light transmitter is provided on the upper surface, and the ink cartridge provided with a cover for preventing scattering of visible light in the vicinity of the visible light transmitter suppresses the amount of light emitted from the LED and assists it. Of the ink cartridge provided with an informing means that allows the printer to accurately recognize the state of the ink cartridge without further providing an automatic mechanism and also allows the user to easily recognize the state of the ink cartridge. Test is possible.
Further, the following effects can be obtained by providing the front surface of the cartridge with an infrared transmitter that transmits infrared light having a wavelength longer than visible light in the direction of the light receiving unit of the printer.
The first point is that it has excellent directivity and can reach its purpose without being refracted. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly provide an expensive member such as a light guide only by adjusting the irradiation direction to the light receiving unit.
A second point is that a transparent or translucent resinous member that cannot be transmitted by visible light can also transmit infrared light. Therefore, for example, even when a transparent or translucent resinous member (the first locking member 11 in the present embodiment) exists between the infrared ray transmitting portion and the light receiving portion, a signal is obtained by using infrared rays. Can reliably reach the light receiving portion of the printer.
Thirdly, it can be applied to existing printers with a light receiving unit on the market without any problem by projecting infrared light onto the light receiving unit. Since it is possible to cope only by adopting a configuration of providing, there is an advantage that it is sufficiently practical as a replacement ink cartridge.
As a fourth point, compared to the case where visible light is used, there is a point that it is sufficiently possible to cause the light receiving unit provided in the printer to receive infrared light even under a low voltage. Therefore, since it can be driven with less power than using visible light, it can sufficiently cope with power saving that has been proposed as an environmental problem in recent years. With the configuration provided on the upper surface, the effect that the user can more easily recognize the state of the ink cartridge can be obtained.
As a fifth point, a signal (here, visible light) transmitted from the visible light transmitting part for visual recognition is further provided by an ink cartridge provided with a cover for preventing scattering of visible light in the vicinity of the visible light transmitting part. However, for example, since it is configured so that the light receiving unit is not erroneously received by a high light amount or scattering, or visible light does not reach the light receiving unit, an effect of preventing erroneous recognition can be obtained.

According to the present invention (2), the upper surface is provided with a locking member for locking and fixing to the carriage of the printer, and the locking member is formed by an ink cartridge provided with a support portion that can be rotated upward. Since the support portion is rotatable, an effect is obtained that the ink tank can be easily taken out by pinching the indication portion.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view showing the ink cartridge 1 of the present invention. 3 is a plan view showing the upper surface 3a side of the ink cartridge 1 of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the front surface 3c side of the ink cartridge 1 of the present invention. It is a circuit diagram showing a conventional ink cartridge. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an ink cartridge 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is another circuit diagram showing the ink cartridge 1 of the present invention.

One embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and can be appropriately selected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink cartridge 1 of the present embodiment is a generally box-shaped container comprising an upper surface 3a, a bottom surface 3b, a front surface 3c, a rear surface 3d, and a pair of side surfaces 3e and 3f connecting them, Contains ink. The ink cartridge 1 is mounted on a carriage (not shown, the same applies hereinafter) of a printer. For example, inks having substantially the same shape in each color such as cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (BK) are used. The cartridge 1 is accommodated in this carriage.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper surface 3a of the ink cartridge 1 has an air hole 4 for introducing air, an air hole rubber plug 5 for sealing the air hole 4, and a rubber plug 6 for sealing the ink filling hole. A first locking member 11 having a resiliently recoverable rigidity for locking and fixing the ink cartridge 1 to the carriage of the printer, and the first locking member 11 are supported by the ink cartridge 1 and supported upwardly. Part 14, visible light transmission part 17 for visual recognition, and cover part 18 are constituted in the neighborhood.

The first locking member 11 is made of a transparent or translucent resin member, the support portion 14 of the first locking member 11 is provided on the upper surface 3a, the latch claw 12 is provided on the front surface side, and the operation portion 13 is provided thereabove. Is provided and can be locked and fixed to the carriage of the printer. It should be noted that the first locking member 11 can be appropriately selected from configurations other than the present embodiment as long as it can be engaged with the configuration on the carriage side.

Further, the visible light transmitting part 17 for visual recognition described above is configured to transmit visible light by an LED as a light emitting element, and a covering part 18 that prevents visible light from being scattered in the vicinity of the visible light transmitting part 17 for visual recognition. Is configured.

Here, the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition transmits visible light so that the user can accurately recognize the state of the ink cartridge 1. For example, the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition is used when the ink cartridge is attached, or when it is notified that the ink cartridge is urged to be replaced due to a small amount of ink or no ink. It is configured to light up or blink. In the present embodiment, the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition is arranged at a substantially central portion of the upper surface 3a so as to be easily recognized by the user. Appropriate selection is possible.

The visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition is configured to transmit a wavelength that approximates the color of each ink cartridge, such as cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Specifically, a blue wavelength is transmitted from cyan (C), a red wavelength is transmitted from magenta (M), and a yellow wavelength is transmitted from yellow (Y). However, the black (BK) ink cartridge is configured to emit a wavelength such as white so as not to be mistaken for other ink cartridges.

In this way, the visible light transmitted from the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition is configured to transmit a wavelength that approximates the color of each color ink cartridge, so that it is clear from which color cartridge the user is notified. It has an excellent effect that it can be recognized. With this configuration, for example, it is possible to clearly recognize and replace only the notified ink cartridge without erroneously replacing another ink cartridge that has not been notified by the user.

In addition, when transmitting the wavelength approximated to the color of the ink cartridge of each color from the visible light transmitting unit 17 for visual recognition, it may be configured to transmit the light emission of the LED at a wavelength approximated, or the LED itself is transmitted with white light emission, The LED may be configured to transmit a wavelength approximate to the color of the ink cartridge of each color by covering the LED with a translucent film or a plastic having a wavelength approximate to the color of the ink cartridge of each color.

In addition to the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition, the ink cartridge 1 is configured such that a light receiver infrared transmitter 15 for transmitting infrared rays, which will be described later, is transmitted toward the light receiver 16 provided in the printer. . A signal (visible light here) transmitted from the visible light transmitting unit 17 for visual recognition to the light receiving unit 16 included in the printer is visible visible so that the light receiving unit 16 is not erroneously received by, for example, a high light amount or scattering. By arranging the cover portion 18 in the vicinity of the light beam transmitting portion 17, visible light is not allowed to reach the light receiving portion 16.

Note that the visible light does not reach the light receiving unit 16 provided in the printer by changing the configuration of the light emitting element of the visible light transmitting unit 17 for visual recognition or the surrounding configuration without configuring the cover unit 18 of the present embodiment. Any configuration may be used. For example, the visible light emitted from the visual visible light transmitter 17 is emitted with a light amount less than a threshold that cannot be recognized by the light receiver 16, or the light is not allowed to reach the light receiver 16 by using a light emitting element with a narrow irradiation angle. Adopting the structure of the element, attaching a label that does not transmit light so as to cover the visible light transmitting part 17 for visual recognition, or providing a notch or hole that leaks a light amount that cannot be recognized by the light receiving part 16 or receiving light The structure around the visible light transmitting part 17 for visual recognition, such as providing a reflector that does not reach the part 16 in the vicinity of the light emitting element, may be used. These configurations can be appropriately selected and may be adopted in combination.

Below the rear surface 3d of the ink cartridge 1, a second locking member 10 that engages with a second locking member formed on the carriage of the printer is provided. The second locking member 10 has a protruding shape in the present embodiment, but may be a well-known opening or recess, and may be appropriately selected in configurations other than the present embodiment as long as it can be engaged according to the configuration of the carriage. Is possible.

An ink supply port 7 for supplying ink to the printer is configured on the bottom surface 3 b of the ink cartridge 1, and a sealing material 8 is loaded at the tip of the ink supply port 7. In the present embodiment, the ridge portion region of the bottom surface 3b and the front surface 3c is configured as an inclined surface 3g, and the inclined surface 3g is provided with information including a plurality of contact points connected to a connector provided in the carriage of the printer. A storage medium 9 is configured. The information storage medium 9 stores ink cartridge color information, ink remaining amount information, and the like.

The printer carriage includes a plurality of ink cartridges 1 such as cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (BK) so as to include the above-described configurations. A connector is connected to each contact of the cartridge. Further, as disclosed in the configuration of a printer (not shown) described in Patent Document 1, these are electrically connected by bus.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the front surface 3 c of the ink cartridge 1 is configured with a light-receiving unit infrared transmitter 15 that transmits infrared light having a wavelength longer than that of visible light. It is comprised so that infrared rays may be transmitted using.

The infrared light transmitting unit 15 for the light receiving unit notifies the state of the ink cartridge in the same manner as the visible light transmitting unit 17 for visual recognition described above. The transmitting unit transmits infrared light to the light receiving unit 16 of the printer. To inform you. For example, when the ink cartridge is installed, or when it is informed that the ink cartridge is urged to be replaced when there is little ink remaining or no ink, etc. 15 is configured to be turned on or blinking by infrared rays. Then, the light receiving unit 16 provided in the printer receives the infrared rays and collates the signal by the internal processing of the printer, thereby determining the state of the ink cartridge.

  Here, the advantage of using infrared rays rather than visible rays is that, as a first point, it has excellent directivity and can reach its purpose without being refracted. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly provide an expensive member such as a light guide only by adjusting the irradiation direction to the light receiving unit.

A second point is that a transparent or translucent resinous member that cannot be transmitted by visible light can also transmit infrared light. Therefore, for example, even when a transparent or translucent resinous member (the first locking member 11 in the present embodiment) exists between the infrared ray transmitting portion and the light receiving portion, a signal is obtained by using infrared rays. Can reliably reach the light receiving portion of the printer.

Thirdly, it can be applied to existing printers with a light receiving unit on the market without any problem by projecting infrared light onto the light receiving unit. Since it is possible to cope only by adopting a configuration of providing, there is an advantage that it is sufficiently practical as a replacement ink cartridge.

  As a fourth point, compared to the case where visible light is used, there is a point that it is sufficiently possible to cause the light receiving unit provided in the printer to receive infrared light even under a low voltage. Therefore, since it can be driven with power saving rather than using visible light, it can sufficiently cope with power saving proposed in recent years as an environmental problem.

In addition, the infrared ray transmitting unit 15 for the light receiving unit is configured to transmit infrared rays in the direction of the light receiving unit 16 included in the printer (the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1). Further, if this infrared ray can reach the light receiving unit 16 provided in the printer, the arrangement of the infrared ray transmitting unit 15 for the light receiving unit can be appropriately selected even in configurations other than the present embodiment.

Next, transmission control of infrared rays transmitted from the infrared ray transmitter 15 for the light receiving unit and visible rays transmitted from the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition will be described.

  In general, as shown in FIG. 4, an ink cartridge having only one conventional transmitter transmits a signal (in this case, lighting or blinking by a light emitting element) when determining whether the ink cartridge is mounted or not. At the time of determination, at the time of ink remaining amount determination, or when there is an error related to them, the optical verification process is performed by receiving the signal transmitted at the time of transmitting a predetermined signal among them at the light receiving unit provided in the printer, and the verification The printer is configured to be controlled based on the result.

  In the ink cartridge, from the circuit diagram shown in FIG. 5, at least two transmitters, ie, a light receiver infrared transmitter 15 (corresponding to LED 1 in the figure) and a visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition (corresponding to LED 2 in the figure) are provided. Each transmitter is wired and configured in parallel connection. With the configuration, the timing at which signals are transmitted from the transmitters is the same timing, and signals having the same content (lighting, blinking, etc.) are transmitted. In this case, for example, when the visible light from the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition is adjusted to a low light amount less than a threshold that cannot be recognized by the light receiver 16 by a resistor (corresponding to R2 in the figure), the above-described light is emitted. Even if visible light is mistakenly applied to the light receiving unit 16 during the optical verification process, the user can visually recognize the optical verification without affecting the optical verification.

Further, in addition to the light amount adjustment by the resistor described above, a light emitting element with a narrow irradiation angle is used, or a label that does not transmit light is attached so as to cover the visible light transmitting unit 17 for visual recognition, and the light receiving unit 16 does not recognize it. A configuration in which a notch or a hole that leaks the amount of light is provided, a reflection plate that does not reach the light receiving portion 16 is provided in the vicinity of the light emitting element, or these configurations may be appropriately combined.

Next, as shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 6, at least two transmitters, that is, a light receiving infrared transmitter 15 (corresponding to LED 1 in the figure) and a visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition (corresponding to LED 2 in the figure) are provided. Each transmitter is wired as shown in FIG. With this wiring, signal transmission to the transmitter is controlled by the controller inside the IC. For example, when confirming the mounting position of each ink cartridge, when a signal is transmitted from the light-receiving unit infrared transmitter 15 (LED1) to the light-receiving unit 16 to perform optical collation processing, the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition ( Control for restricting signal transmission so that no signal is transmitted from the LED 2) is performed by a control unit provided in the IC.

By this internal control of the IC, a signal is transmitted only from the light receiving part infrared transmitter 15 during the optical verification process, and a signal is not transmitted from the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition, thus affecting the optical verification process. Without being able to recognize the state of the ink cartridge. Note that it is desirable to arbitrarily switch the control for restricting signal transmission to the visible light transmitter 17 for visual recognition.

  Here, although LED is employ | adopted as a structure of the light emitting element of the visible light transmission part for visual recognition in this embodiment, it is also possible to employ | adopt an incandescent light source, a fluorescent light source, etc. of a low power amount and a low light quantity.

  1 to 6 can be variously combined and can be included in the configuration of the present invention without being limited to the above-described embodiments.

The ink cartridge of the present invention relates to an ink cartridge provided in a printing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ink cartridge such as a toner cartridge, an ink jet cartridge, and an ink cartridge with a head that is mounted on a printer such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, or a multifunction machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink cartridge 2 Ink chamber 3a Top surface 3b Bottom surface 3c Front surface 3d Rear surface 3e Side surface 3f Side surface 3g Inclined surface 4 Air hole 5 Air hole rubber plug 6 Rubber plug 7 which seals an ink filling hole 7 Ink supply port 8 Seal material 9 Information storage medium 10 Second locking member 11 First locking member 12 Latch claw 13 Operation section 14 Support section 15 Infrared light transmitting section for light receiving section 16 Light receiving section 17 Visible light transmitting section for visual recognition 18 Cover section

Claims (2)

A substantially box-shaped ink cartridge having an upper surface provided with an atmosphere port and an ink filling port, a bottom surface provided with an ink discharge port, a front surface, and a rear surface,
An infrared transmitter that transmits infrared light having a wavelength longer than visible light in the direction of the light receiving unit of the printer;
A visible light transmitter that transmits visible light in a direction other than the light receiver, the infrared transmitter is provided on the front surface, and the visible light transmitter is provided on the upper surface,
An ink cartridge comprising a cover portion for preventing visible light scattering near the visible light transmitting portion. 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a locking member that is locked and fixed to a carriage of the printer is provided on the upper surface, and the locking member includes a support portion that is pivotable upward.

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