JP2017154483A - Ink filling device, ink filling method, manufacturing method for ink cartridge, and ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filling device that fills, without spilling ink, the ink into an ink container provided with an ink supply part that has a valve.SOLUTION: A joint part 53 for a filling device 300 is connected to a supply port 14 of an ink cartridge 1. An inside plug 15 of an ink cartridge is pushed into a supply port by a pressing part 52. The inside plug is pushed down against urging means 16, thereby opening an opening 14a and allowing communication between an ink filling part and an ink container. Ink is filled into the ink container by actuating a first pump. By separating the joint part after filling, the inside plug closes the supply port by the urging means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink filling apparatus and an ink filling method for filling an ink cartridge attached to and detached from an ink jet printing apparatus, and more particularly, since ink is not easily spilled when ink is filled in an ink cartridge. The present invention relates to an ink filling apparatus and an ink filling method that can efficiently produce an ink cartridge by filling ink.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet printing apparatus that prints a desired image on a sheet serving as a print medium (a printing medium) has an ink cartridge for an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as an “ink cartridge”) for supplying ink to an ink head. ) Is used. This ink cartridge has a structure in which an ink supply section for leading out ink is provided in an ink container containing ink, and this is stored in a box-shaped exterior body.

  There is a demand for this ink cartridge that can be easily attached to and detached from the ink jet printing apparatus, has resistance to drops during transportation and handling, vibration during transportation, and the like, and can be manufactured at low cost. In order to meet these demands, the applicant of the present application provides an ink cartridge as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

  As schematically shown in FIG. 9, the conventional ink cartridge 200 is a rectangular parallelepiped housing that is attached to and detached from the printing apparatus in the horizontal direction (attachment / detachment operation direction) and is an elongated outer box. 240, an engagement surface 220 provided at one open end of the exterior body 240 and engaged with the cartridge mounting mechanism of the printing apparatus, and an ink supply unit 230 serving as an ink discharge port provided on the engagement surface 220. And an ink container 210 that communicates with the ink supply unit 230 and is accommodated in the exterior body 240. In FIG. 9, the ink container 210 is shown in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but this is merely an example schematically showing a state in which a specified amount of ink is filled and swollen.

  Conventionally, in the process of manufacturing an ink cartridge having the above-described structure, the following procedure has been used particularly when an ink container is filled with a specified amount of ink. First, as shown in FIG. 10, two sheets of a synthetic resin rectangular parallelepiped sheet material, which is a material of the ink container 210, are stacked, and a communication pipe 250 having both ends opened is interposed at the center of one short side thereof. In this state, the four sides of the sheet body are heat-sealed to form a bag body in which the inside and outside communicate with each other through the communication pipe 250. In FIG. 10, the region pasted by heat fusion is shown by hatching. Next, the ink container 210 opened by the communication tube 250 is held up by an appropriate means with the communication tube 250 facing up, and is held by an appropriate means, and the communication tube 250 is inserted into the bag body using an appropriate ink filling device. Fill and fill with ink. At this time, it is not necessary to inject under pressure. Since the opening of the communication pipe 250 has a considerable width, if ink is supplied, the ink is injected into the ink container 210 by gravity and filled. When the specified amount of ink is filled, the supply of ink is stopped, and an ink supply unit 260 provided with a normally closed on-off valve is inserted into the communication pipe and fixed in a liquid-tight state. To seal. Thus, an ink container 210 that is filled with a prescribed amount of ink and that can supply ink to the outside via the ink supply unit 260 is completed.

  Note that the number of synthetic resin sheet materials constituting the ink container 210 is not necessarily two, and may be greater than that. However, even in that case, the synthetic resin sheet material may be used. In the point which becomes a structure where the communication pipe 250 penetrates a part of the configured bag body in a liquid-tight state, it is the same as the case where the two sheet materials described above are used.

JP 2010-82994 A

  As described above, since the communication pipe 250 provided in the ink container 210 of the ink cartridge 200 has a wide opening, the ink can be easily filled from the communication pipe 250 when the ink container 210 is set upright. A process of injecting ink into the ink container 210 from the opening of the communication pipe 250 before attaching the ink supply part 260 incorporating the opening / closing valve to the communication pipe 250 and then attaching the ink supply part 260 to the communication pipe 250. The reason for adopting was because of such advantages.

  However, although the opening of the communication pipe 250 for filling the ink is wide and the flow rate for filling the ink can be increased to complete the ink filling in a short time, the ink is not supplied if the ink charging stop timing accompanying the completion of the filling is mistaken. There was a risk of spilling from the opening of the communication pipe 250 and soiling the outside of the ink container 210 and the surrounding equipment. In addition, even if the ink can be completed without spilling from the opening of the communication tube 250, if the amount of ink filled inside is larger than the specified amount, the ink supply unit 260 is added to the opening of the communication tube 250 in the last step. When the ink is inserted, there is a risk that the ink in the ink container 210 overflows and stains the outside of the ink container 210 and the like.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and it is difficult to spill ink when an ink cartridge including an ink container provided with an ink supply unit with a valve is filled with ink. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink filling apparatus and an ink filling method that can reduce the risk of fouling the cartridge and the surrounding environment with ink and can efficiently produce an ink cartridge by filling the ink.

An ink filling device according to claim 1 is provided.
An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug for opening and closing the supply port;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
An ink filling device for filling ink into an ink cartridge having
A pressing portion that is movable relative to the inner plug along the moving direction of the inner plug, and moves the inner plug relatively against the biasing force of the biasing means;
A joint part that extrapolates the pressing part and is connected to the supply port part opened by the pressing body;
An ink filling part for filling the ink container with ink from the supply port part connected to the joint part and opened by the pressing body;
It is characterized by having.

The ink filling device according to claim 2 is the ink filling device according to claim 1,
The ink cartridge includes a covering member that is provided inside the ink container and restricts the sliding direction of the inner plug and protects the inner plug.

The ink filling device according to claim 3 is the ink filling device according to claim 1 or 2,
A suction unit that is connected to the joint unit and sucks the inside of the ink container from the supply port that is opened by the pressing body, and sucks out at least one of ink and air in the ink container to the outside; It is a feature.

The ink filling device according to claim 4 is the ink filling device according to claim 3,
The ink filling unit and the suction unit are provided with a switching valve that selectively connects and communicates with the joint unit.

The ink filling method according to claim 5 comprises:
An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug for opening and closing the supply port;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
An ink filling method for an ink cartridge having
A first step of opening the supply port portion by pressing the inner plug into the ink container against the bias of the biasing means;
A second step of injecting ink from the opened supply port;
A third step of releasing the pressure on the inner plug when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount;
It is characterized by including.

The ink filling method according to claim 6 is the ink filling method according to claim 5,
The ink cartridge includes a covering member that is provided inside the ink container and restricts the sliding direction of the inner plug and protects the inner plug.

The ink filling method according to claim 7 is the ink filling method according to claim 6,
After the second step is completed, the ink container is pressed in a state where the supply port portion is opened to release the air in the ink container to the outside of the ink container.

The ink filling method according to claim 8 is the ink filling method according to claim 6,
After the second step is completed, the air inside the ink container is discharged outside the ink container by sucking the inside of the ink container from the supply port and sucking out a part of the ink. Yes.

The ink filling method according to claim 9 is the ink filling method according to claim 7,
A residual ink processing step is provided between the first step and the second step to suck and suck out ink remaining in the ink container by the suction portion.

The ink filling method according to claim 10 is the ink filling method according to any one of claims 5 to 9,
The ink cartridge is arranged and arranged so that the supply port portion is in a horizontal direction.

  According to the ink filling device of the first aspect, the joint portion is connected to the supply port portion of the ink cartridge, and the pressing portion is relatively positioned with respect to the supply port portion along the moving direction of the inner plug of the ink cartridge. By moving and moving the inner plug relatively against the urging force of the urging means of the ink cartridge, the supply port portion can be opened to allow the ink filling portion and the ink container to communicate with each other. If the ink filling portion is operated here, the ink can be reliably filled into the ink container through the joint portion without spilling the ink to the outside. After ink filling, if the supply port of the ink cartridge and the joint are relatively separated, and the relative pressing of the inner plug by the pressing unit is released, the inner plug urged by the urging means ensures the supply port. To close. As described above, the ink cartridge can be efficiently and reliably produced by filling the ink without spilling the ink and without contaminating the cartridge and the surrounding environment with the ink.

  According to the ink filling device described in claim 2, the ink supply portion provided in the ink container of the ink cartridge targeted by the ink filling device is not subject to sliding when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Since the cover member is provided in a state where the shaft portion of the inner plug is always covered, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink container are in contact with each other even when the ink remaining amount is low and the ink container is deflated. There is no longer to do. Thereby, since the covering member functions as a member for protecting the ink container, it is possible to prevent ink leakage due to damage to the ink container that may have occurred in the conventional ink cartridge.

  According to the ink filling device of the third aspect, when ink is filled into the ink container in which the ink remains, the ink filling can be performed after the ink remaining in the ink container is sucked out from the ink container. it can. Further, if air enters the ink container when the ink is filled, it can be sucked out.

  According to the ink filling device of the fourth aspect, by switching the switching valve, the ink filling portion can be connected to the joint portion to communicate with the ink container, and ink can be filled as necessary. The suction part is connected to the joint part and communicated to suck the inside of the ink container, suck out ink from the ink container, and suck out air in the ink container.

  According to the ink filling method described in claim 5, in the first step, the inner plug is pressed into the ink container against the urging of the urging means to open the supply port, and in the second step, Ink is injected from the open supply port, and in the third step, when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount, the pressure on the inner plug is released and the ink container can be immediately sealed. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently and reliably produce an ink cartridge by filling ink without spilling ink and without fouling the cartridge and surrounding environment with ink.

  According to the ink filling method described in claim 6, the ink supply portion provided in the ink container of the ink cartridge targeted by the ink filling method is not subject to sliding when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Since the cover member is provided in a state where the shaft portion of the inner plug is always covered, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink container are in contact with each other even when the ink remaining amount is low and the ink container is deflated. There is no longer to do. Thereby, since the covering member functions as a member for protecting the ink container, it is possible to prevent ink leakage due to damage to the ink container that may have occurred in the conventional ink cartridge.

  According to the ink filling method described in claim 7, after injecting ink into the ink container from the supply port portion opened in the second step, the ink container is pressed with the supply port portion opened. The air in the ink container can be released out of the ink container.

  According to the ink filling method described in claim 8, after the ink is injected into the ink container from the supply port portion opened in the second step, the inside of the ink container is sucked from the supply port portion to partially By sucking out the ink, the air in the ink container can be released out of the ink container.

  According to the ink filling method described in claim 9, in the ink filling step using the ink filling device, the ink remaining in the ink container is sucked between the first stroke and the second stroke. Therefore, the remaining ink and the ink to be filled are not mixed inside the ink container.

  According to the ink filling method of the tenth aspect, since the ink cartridge is arranged so that the supply port portion is oriented sideways and the ink is filled, the ink is temporarily supplied from the supply port portion in the ink filling step. Even if it overflows to the outside, there is a small possibility that the overflowing ink will adhere to the outer surface of the ink container, and there is an advantage that the possibility of soiling the ink container is small.

(A) is the schematic plan view which showed the structure of the inkjet printing apparatus which loads the ink cartridge which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (b) is a schematic front view of the apparatus, (c) is the apparatus of the same It is a schematic side view. (A) is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance and the inside of the cartridge as viewed from the front side, and (b) is a schematic perspective view of the appearance of the cartridge as viewed from the back side. It is an expanded sectional view before the connection in the vicinity of the connection part of the cartridge and the ink filling device of the embodiment. It is a typical block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the ink filling apparatus to which the cartridge was connected. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view after connection in the vicinity of a connection portion between the cartridge and the ink filling device. (A) is a table | surface figure which shows the experimental result of the ink filling operation with respect to the cartridge by the ink filling apparatus, (b) is sectional drawing in the BB cut line of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the filling pressure and filling speed which were obtained from the table | surface figure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the filling pressure obtained from the table | surface figure of FIG. 6, and 1000 ml filling time. It is a schematic perspective view of a conventional ink cartridge. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure and manufacturing process of the ink container which the conventional ink cartridge has.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited by this embodiment, and other forms, examples, operation techniques, and the like that can be considered by those skilled in the art based on this form are all included in the scope of the present invention. To do.

  In the present specification, in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, when the words “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right” are used to indicate directions and positions, this is shown in FIG. Matches top, bottom, left, and right.

  Further, the direction in which the ink cartridge 1 according to the present invention is horizontally attached to and detached from the printing apparatus 100 is “attachment / detachment direction A”, and the direction in which the ink cartridge 1 is inserted into the printing apparatus 100 and loaded is “loading direction A1”. A direction in which the ink cartridge 1 is detached from the printing apparatus 100 and removed is referred to as a “separation direction A2”.

  Furthermore, the loading direction A1 is the same as the direction in which the ink filled in the ink cartridge 1 flows out to the printing apparatus 100 (hereinafter referred to as “ink outflow direction B”), and the ink container 10 is stored in the exterior body 20. The direction of insertion into the direction is the same as the direction of separation A2.

[1. Overall configuration of printing device]
As shown in any of FIGS. 1A to 1C, a printing apparatus 100 loaded with an ink cartridge 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of ink heads each having a plurality of nozzles, and each ink head. An example of an inkjet line color printer that discharges ink of different colors from each other, prints in line units, and forms a plurality of images so as to overlap each other on a printing medium (paper) transported by a transport belt. To do.

  In this embodiment, four line-type ink heads are provided, and the four color inks of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are ejected from each ink head. However, the number of ink heads and the number and type of ink colors are not particularly limited.

  In addition, the printing apparatus 100 includes a control unit 110 that performs overall control of each unit included in the apparatus to execute a printing process corresponding to the print job. This control unit 110 performs control related to ink supply from the ink cartridge 1 in addition to the above-described printing process by the ink head and drive control of the transport mechanism.

  Further, the control unit 110 is connected to a setting operation unit 120 including an input device including, for example, operation keys and a display / input panel, and receives an instruction and a setting operation by the user through the setting operation unit 120. be able to.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1C, a plurality of cartridge connection portions 130 for connecting the ink cartridge 1 are provided for each ink head on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 100a of the printing apparatus 100 (in the drawing, ink ink is shown). 4) according to the number of heads.

  Further, an upper surface device 140 is disposed so as to cover the upper part of the cartridge connection portion 130. When the ink cartridge 1 is loaded, it is inserted in the horizontal direction (loading direction A1) between the lower surface of the upper surface device 140 and the upper surface of the main body of the printing apparatus 100. The top surface device 140 is provided with, for example, an image reading device (scanner) that optically reads a document set on an ADF (auto document feeder) as it is conveyed and converts it into digital data, and the setting operation unit 120. .

  Furthermore, the cartridge connecting portion 130 is provided with a holder portion that fits into an engaging portion 30 described later when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100.

[2. Overall configuration of ink cartridge]
Next, the configuration of the ink cartridge 1 according to the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2A or 2B, the ink cartridge 1 is an elongated casing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is attached / detached along an attaching / detaching direction A that is a horizontal direction with respect to the printing apparatus 100. The ink cartridge 1 includes an ink container 10 made of a thermoplastic film material filled with predetermined ink, an exterior body 20 that is an outer box into which the ink container 10 is inserted, and one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the ink container 10. And the engagement portion 30 that engages with the cartridge connection portion 130 of the printing apparatus 100 described above or the cartridge connection portion 130 of the ink filling device 300 described later.

<2-1. Ink container>
The ink container 10 shown in FIG. 2 is a bag body in which ink is enclosed. Although details will be described later, the ink container 10 of the present embodiment has two rectangular thermoplastic films 11 stacked, and the periphery thereof is thermally welded with an ink supply unit 13 described later interposed at one end in the longitudinal direction. Are formed by bonding. The ink cartridge 10 is assembled by inserting the ink container 10 from the opening of the exterior body 20 and fitting the engaging portion 30 to which the ink supply portion 13 is assembled into the opening.

  The name of the ink supply unit 13 is named because ink is supplied to the printing apparatus 100 through this portion when used in the printing apparatus 100. As will be described later, the ink filling apparatus 13 If the ink cartridge 1 is connected to the cartridge connecting portion 130 of 300, the ink can also be injected and filled into the ink container 10 via the ink supply portion 13.

  As shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the ink supply part 13 of the ink cartridge 1 includes a supply port part 14 provided with an opening 14 a for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container 10. An annular recess 14b is provided on the front side of the supply port portion 14 so as to surround the opening 14a. The recess 14b has a structure for connecting to the cartridge connecting portions of the printing apparatus 100 and the ink filling apparatus 300 described later. The supply port portion 14 includes an inner plug 15 that opens or closes communication of the supply port portion 14, biasing means 16 that biases the inner plug 15 in the ink outflow direction B to close the supply port portion 14, and A covering member 17 that guides the sliding of the inner plug 15 accompanying the attachment / detachment of the ink cartridge 1 along the attachment / detachment direction A is incorporated.

  Further, the ink supply unit 13 has a communication pipe 19 that is heat-welded between the film 11 and the film 11 and integrated with the ink container 10. The communication pipe 19 is a cylindrical member and communicates the inside and outside of the ink container 10.

  Then, the supply port portion 14 and the ink container are inserted by inserting the supply port portion 14 incorporating the inner plug 15 or the like into the opening portion of the communication pipe 19 from the base end portion and fitting in a liquid-tight state. 10 is integrated. According to such a structure, the inside and the outside of the ink container 10 can be communicated or blocked by opening and closing the opening 14 a by the inner plug 15.

The structure in which the inner plug 15 opens and closes the path in the ink supply unit 13 will be described in detail.
The inner plug 15 has a tip abutting against the opening 14a of the supply port portion 14 to close the communication between the inside and the outside of the ink container 10, and a rear end side (the supply port portion 14 and the contact portion of the plug portion 15a). A shaft portion 15b extending from an end portion on the opposite side of the contact portion), a cartridge connection portion of the printing apparatus 100 or a cartridge connection portion of an ink filling device 300 described later, provided at the tip of the plug portion 15a. An engagement receiving portion 15c to be engaged and an O-ring 15d that is fitted around the plug portion 15a and fills the gap between the plug portion 15a and the supply port portion 14 when the opening 14a is closed. .

  The inner plug 15 having such a configuration closes the supply port portion 14 with the surface on the distal end side of the plug portion 15 a coming into contact with the opening 14 a of the supply port portion 14 by the urging force of the urging means 16. The O-ring 15d fills the gap between the plug portion 15a and the supply port portion 14. Thereby, the communication between the inside and the outside of the ink container 10 is blocked, and the ink does not flow out to the outside.

  The urging means 16 that urges the inner plug 15 in the closing direction is formed of an elastic body such as a spring or rubber, and closes the opening 14a of the supply port portion 14 from the rear end side of the plug portion 15a (that is, loading). Energize in direction A1). In this embodiment, a spring is used as the biasing means 16.

  The covering member 17 that covers the shaft portion 15b of the sliding inner plug 15 includes a support portion 17a that supports the biasing means 16 at the tip thereof, and a substantially cylindrical covering portion 17b that extends from the support portion 17a. Has been. The covering member 17 supports the urging means 16 by the support portion 17a, and is set to have a length so as to cover all the portions where the shaft portion 15a of the plug portion 15 is exposed from the supply port portion 14. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, even when the plug portion 15 closes the supply port portion 14, as shown in 5, the plug portion 15 is pushed into an external force and the supply port portion 14 is opened. However, the shaft portion 15 b of the plug portion 15 is covered with the covering member 17.

  As described above, the covering portion 17b has such a length as to cover the entire shaft portion 15b exposed from the supply port portion 14 regardless of whether or not the inner plug 15 slides. Even when the ink container 10 is deflated, the end of the shaft portion 15b does not contact the inner surface of the ink container 10. As a result, the risk of damaging the ink container 10 due to the inner plug 15 is eliminated, so that the user can use the ink cartridge 1 without care.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the upper half of the covering portion 17b has a predetermined length and an inner diameter (guide inner diameter) in which the gap with the shaft portion 15b is as narrow as possible. Accordingly, the shaft portion 15b can slide in the correct posture along the attaching / detaching direction A when the ink cartridge 1 is attached / detached. Furthermore, the lower half part of the coating | coated part 17b is made into the internal diameter that a clearance gap with the axial part 15b becomes wider.

  Since a high accuracy is required to process the guide inner diameter, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases. In the present embodiment, in the covering portion 17b, a portion that does not require the guide inner diameter is more predetermined than the guide inner diameter. The manufacturing cost is suppressed by enlarging only the diameter and not unnecessarily forming the portion serving as the guide inner diameter.

  According to the ink cartridge 1 of the present embodiment having the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, before the ink cartridge 1 is loaded into the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300, the biasing force of the biasing means 16 is used. Since the plug portion 15a is pressed toward the opening 14a, the opening 14a is closed, and the gap between the plug portion 15a and the supply port portion 14 is filled by the O-ring 15d, and the supply port portion 14 is closed and the ink is closed. Will be unable to pass.

  On the contrary, as will be described in detail later, as shown in FIG. 5, when the inner plug 15 receives a pressing force in a direction opposite to the urging force of the urging means 16 and slides into the ink container 10, The opening 14a is opened so that the inside and the outside of the ink container 10 communicate with each other. At this time, if the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100, the ink can be supplied from the ink cartridge 1 to the printing apparatus 100 along the ink outflow direction B. At this time, if the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the ink filling device 300, the ink can be filled into the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, at the front end of the supply port portion 14, when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded into the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300, the connection portion of the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300 and the opening are opened. A slight gap is provided between the protrusion 14a and the protrusion 14c so as to optimize the outflow amount or inflow amount of ink to a constant amount. In the present embodiment, three protrusions 14c are provided at substantially equal angular intervals around the opening 14a.

<2-2. Exterior body>
As shown in FIG. 2, the exterior body 20 is opened at one end in the longitudinal direction by folding a fold side set on a sheet member made of paper (for example, cardboard) and bonding the paste margin part together. It is assembled in a box shape that forms a hollow rectangular parallelepiped with a closed bottom.

  An engaging portion 30 that engages with the cartridge connecting portion 130 on the printing device 100 side or the ink filling device 300 side is provided in the opening portion (opening portion on the printing device 100 or ink filling device 300 side when the cartridge is loaded) of the exterior body 20. Is fitted into the abutting surface of the connecting portion of the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, a pullout recess 21 that penetrates the surface of the exterior body 20 is formed on the lower surface of the exterior body 20. The concave portion 21 is formed by making a predetermined cut at a concave portion forming portion of the outer package 20 and bending the cut portion on the inner surface side and the terminal side on the surface of the member of the outer package 20. Yes.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the shape of the internal space between the inner surface of the outer package 20 and the pointed outer surface of the terminal portion 12 of the ink container 10 is secured at the inner end of the outer package 20. A partition member 22 is disposed. As a result, when the user performs the attachment / detachment operation of the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge can be pulled out by grasping the recess 21 at the end of the exterior body 20, and the attachment / detachment of the ink cartridge 1 is facilitated, thereby improving workability. Further, since the user's hand does not directly touch the ink container 10 when the ink cartridge 1 is attached or detached, the ink container 10 can be prevented from being damaged.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, labels 31 are attached to both ends of the exterior body 20 in the longitudinal direction so as to reinforce the both ends and hold the whole in a box shape. A notch 23 for peeling off the label is formed on the upper surface of the label so as to overlap the end portion of the label 31. The notch 23 is partially broken and the other part is broken. The user pushes the notch 23 into the inside of the exterior body 20 with a finger and picks the broken part to remove the label 31 and the exterior body 20. By pulling, the label 31 can be peeled off together with a part of the outer package 20 where the label 31 is broken, so that the separation work of the label 31 and the outer package 20 can be easily performed.

<2-3. Engagement section>
The engaging portion 30 is formed of a hard material such as resin or metal, and functions as an attaching / detaching mechanism that engages with a connecting portion when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the engaging portion 30 is fitted into the opening of the exterior body 20, and then has a sticky label 31 (for example, a film synthetic paper) having adhesiveness on the back surface. In this way, the sheet is affixed and fixed with a sheet material in which an adhesive is applied to the back side of the synthetic paper whose main component is a synthetic resin. The label 31 extends from the side surface of the opening portion of the exterior body 20 through the abutting surface 30a of the engagement portion 30 to the side surface of the opening portion on the opposite side in a state where the engagement portion 30 is fitted to the exterior body 20. The engaging part 30 is assembled and fixed to the exterior body 20 by being wound.

[3. Overall Configuration of Ink Filling Device 300]
The ink cartridge 1 described above can be filled with ink using the ink filling device 300 described below when the ink container 10 is empty or when the capacity of the ink container 10 is sufficient. .

The ink filling device 300 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, the ink filling device 300 includes an installation unit 50 to which the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1 is attached. The installation unit 50 can install the ink container 10 in a vertical posture with the ink supply unit 13 facing upward by engaging the engagement unit 30 to suspend the ink container 10 downward. Above the installation portion 50, a cartridge connection portion 51 is provided as a holder portion for connecting and holding the ink container portion 10. The cartridge connecting portion 51 presses the inner plug 15 of the ink container portion 10 to open the opening 14a, and extrapolates the pressing portion 52 and supplies the ink container 10 opened by the pressing portion 52. And a joint portion 53 connected to the mouth portion 14.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the joint portion 53 is connected to the switching valve S. The first switching path R1 of the switching valve S is connected to a first pump P1 as an ink filling unit and an ink tank T in which filling ink is stored. The first pump P1 has its suction side connected to the ink tank T and its discharge side connected to the switching valve S. By switching the switching valve S to the first switching path R1 and operating the first pump P1, the ink in the ink tank T can be injected and filled into the ink container 10 via the joint portion 53.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second switching path R <b> 2 of the switching valve S is connected to a suction port of a second pump P <b> 2 that is a suction unit that sucks the inside of the ink container 10. Although not shown, a discharge container for sucked air or a waste container for discharging sucked ink is provided at the discharge port of the second pump P2. Note that the air discharge port and the ink waste container may be selectively switched, or only one may be provided as necessary.

With reference to FIG. 3 etc., the cartridge connection part 51 of the ink filling apparatus 300 described above will be described in more detail.
The cartridge connecting portion 51 is disposed in opposition to the ink supply portion 13 of the ink container 10 held in the vertical posture in a state where the axes thereof coincide with each other. The joint portion 53 of the cartridge connecting portion 51 is a generally cylindrical member having an annular convex shape at the lower end thereof so as to match the annular concave portion 14 b of the supply port portion 14 of the ink container 10. A portion 54 is formed, and the inside of the convex portion 54 is a concave portion 55. An O-ring 56 for preventing ink leakage is provided on the inner peripheral surface near the opening of the recess 55. An ink flow path 57 communicates with the recess 55, and the ink flow path 57 is connected to the switching valve S (see FIG. 4). Further, at the center of the concave portion 55 of the joint portion 53, the rod-shaped pressing portion 52 described above is provided downward. The tip (lower end) of the pressing portion 52 has a sharp shape so as to be surely engaged with the engagement receiving portion 15c of the inner plug 15. An annular receiving plate 58 having an outer shape matching the recess 14 b is slidably inserted into the pressing portion 52, and an elastic member 59 such as a spring is interposed between the receiving plate 58 and the base of the pressing portion 52. It is intervened.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is movable up and down with respect to the ink container 10 along the moving direction of the inner plug 15 of the ink container 10. It is configured. However, since the cartridge connecting portion 51 and the ink container 10 of the ink filling device 300 need only be relatively movable, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is installed at a predetermined position, and the ink container 10 is installed. The installed portion 50 may be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the cartridge connecting portion 51, or both may be moved if necessary. In any case, by this operation, the pressing portion 52 of the ink filling device 300 moves the inner plug 15 of the ink container 10 against the urging force of the urging means 16 or releases the urging force to urge the ink container 10. If the means 16 moves the inner plug 15, the opening 14 a of the supply port portion 14 of the ink container 10 can be opened and closed.

[4. About filling process by ink filling apparatus 300]
A method for filling ink into the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1 using the ink filling device 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. The filling process by this method is performed as a part of the manufacturing process of the ink cartridge 1.

The ink container 10 is installed in a vertical posture in which the ink supply unit 13 is upward and the ink container 10 is suspended downward in the installation unit 50 of the ink filling apparatus 300 illustrated in FIG.
In the first step, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is lowered. The annular convex portion 54 of the joint portion 53 is fitted into the annular concave portion 14 b of the supply port portion 14 of the ink container 10, and the pressing portion 52 has its tip (lower end) at the engagement receiving portion of the inner plug 15. The inner plug 15 is pushed downward by engaging with 15c. Since there is an O-ring 56 on the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 55 of the joint portion 53 fitted to the inner plug 15, a reliable ink leakage preventing effect can be obtained. Along with the fitting between the joint portion 53 and the supply port portion 14, the receiving plate 58 of the joint portion 53 compresses the elastic member 59 and rises along the pressing portion 52, and the joint portion 53 and the supply port portion 14 are fitted. In this state, the receiving plate 58 receives the restoring force of the elastic member 59 and comes into contact with the supply port portion 14 with a predetermined force, so that the fitting state is stable and coupled with the sealing function of the O-ring 56, Prevent leakage.

  In the second step, ink is injected from the opening 14 a of the open supply port portion 14. That is, in FIG. 4, the switching valve S is switched to the first switching path R1 side and the first pump P1 is operated to inject and fill the ink in the ink tank T into the ink container 10 through the joint portion 53. be able to. The amount to be injected is arbitrary, and may be filled until it is full, or may be filled to such an extent that only a part of the effective capacity is satisfied according to the needs of the consumer.

FIG. 6A is a numerical example when ink is actually filled in the second ink filling step, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. An annular gap S that is the narrowest gap through which the ink to be filled passes is shown. In this example, the capacity of the ink container 10 is 1000 ml. Further, the ink passes through an annular gap S formed between the opening 14a of the supply port 14 and the pressing portion 52. As shown in FIG. 6B, the inner diameter of the opening 14a is 4.4 mm. Since the outer shape of the pressing portion 52 is 2.4 mm, the area is (4.4 ² −2.4 ² ) π / 4≈10.68 mm ² . The viscosity of the ink is about 10 mPa · s regardless of the color. When the pressure (kPa) on the discharge side of the first pump P1 is changed under these conditions, the ink filling speed (ml / s)) and the 1000 ml filling time (s) are as shown in the table of FIG. Changed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the filling pressure and the filling speed obtained from the data shown in the table of FIG. According to this figure, it can be seen that the higher the discharge pressure of the first pump P1, the higher the filling speed. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the filling pressure obtained from the data shown in the table of FIG. 6 and the 1000 ml filling time. According to this figure, it turns out that filling time becomes short, so that the discharge pressure of the 1st pump P1 is made high. If the discharge pressure is about 30 kPa, the 1000 ml ink container 10 can be filled in about one minute. From the data shown in the tables of FIGS. 7 and 8, even if the discharge pressure of the first pump P <b> 1 is increased, there is no particular problem, and the ink container 10 is filled with ink smoothly. I can see it going.

  In the third step, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 3, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is raised at an appropriate timing when the ink in the ink container 10 reaches a predetermined amount, and is pressed by the pressing portion 52. The pressing of the inner plug 15 is released, the inner plug 15 is moved upward by the urging force of the urging means 16, and the ink container 10 is sealed by the inner plug 15.

  Therefore, in the ink filling process, ink is not spilled, the outer surface of the ink container 10, the ink filling device 300, and the periphery thereof are not soiled with ink. It can be executed efficiently and reliably with high productivity while maintaining the state.

  In the ink filling process described above, air may enter the ink container 10 as the ink is filled. It is also conceivable that air is already contained in the ink container 10 before ink filling and the air remains after filling. If air is contained in the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1, when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100 and printing is performed, the air enters the ink supply system of the printing apparatus 100, and ink in the ink head. There may be a case in which a harmful problem occurs in printing such as discontinuous supply of ink or inability to supply ink. For this reason, it is desirable to remove air from the ink container 100 as much as possible (this is referred to as evacuation or degassing). In the ink filling apparatus 300 of this embodiment, as means for extracting air from the ink container 10, As described above, the second pump P2 is provided as a suction unit.

  That is, when using the second pump P2 as the suction part, after the required amount of ink is injected into the ink container 10 in the second step, the state in which the supply port part 14 is opened is left as it is. The valve S is switched to the second switching path R2, and the second pump P2 is operated. The air in the ink container 10 is dissipated from the discharge port to the outside through the switching valve S by the second pump P2. Since the ink container 10 is filled with a necessary amount of ink and almost no air is present, the third step is performed here, and the ink container 10 is sealed with the inner plug 15.

  The ink filling device 300 includes the second pump P2 as a suction unit. However, if there is no suction unit, the air can be manually evacuated. In other words, after the ink filling in the second step is completed, if the user himself / herself applies an appropriate pressure to the ink container 10 with his / her hand while maintaining the opening of the opening 14a by the pressing portion 52, the opening 14a. Then, the air can be pushed out, and then the pressing portion 52 is retracted and the opening 14 a is closed by the plug portion 15.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the ink filling device 300 is provided with a suction portion, and the air in the ink container 10 is extracted by the suction portion. If the suction portion is not provided, the air is manually vented. It was decided. However, air can be extracted by other methods. For example, the installation unit 50 schematically shown in FIG. 4 has a substantially box-shaped structure for storing and holding the ink container 10, but the side walls thereof can be moved by power and the opening 14a is opened. Pressure may be applied so as to squeeze the ink container 10 from both sides to push out the internal air.

  In the ink filling process described above, if there is air in the ink container 10 after ink filling, this air is removed by the suction part. Can also be removed. In other words, the ink container 10 is filled with a slightly larger amount of ink than necessary in the second step, and then an appropriate amount of ink is sucked by the second pump P2 as a suction portion while the opening 14a is left open. When the required amount of ink in the ink container 10 is reached, the third step is executed to close the opening 14a. According to this method, when an excessive amount of ink is sucked and extracted outside the ink container 10, air can be reliably extracted together with the ink.

  The filling process described above has been described as a process for filling the empty ink container 10 with ink as part of the manufacturing process of the ink cartridge 1. However, the ink filling device 300 regenerates the used or used ink container 10 by filling the used or used ink container 10 with a required amount, or is used or used. The ink cartridge 1 can also be used for reproduction.

  In such a case, it is considered that there is virtually no ink in the ink container 10 or an amount of ink that is not full. If ink is replenished by performing the first to third steps (including the step of removing air and the like) as described above on such an ink container 10, the amount of ink in the ink container 10 is reduced to a necessary amount. can do. The necessary amount is not necessarily full, and may be half the amount or one-third the amount according to the user's request.

  Further, in such a case, the ink remaining in the ink container may be sucked out by operating the second pump P2 as the suction portion between the first stroke and the second stroke. By providing such a process, it is possible to avoid mixing the ink remaining in the ink container 10 and the ink in the ink tank T to be filled in the ink container 10. This is effective when there is a difference that cannot be overlooked in the properties of the ink remaining in the ink container 10 and the ink to be filled in the future.

  According to the ink filling device 300 described above and the ink filling method using the ink filling device 300, the ink container 10 is set so that the opening 14a through which ink enters and exits faces upward. The installation posture can be set horizontally. That is, the installation section 50 of the filling device shown in FIG. 4 can be installed in a state rotated 90 ° laterally, and the ink container 10 engaged with the installation section 50 by the engagement section 30 is A horizontal posture is set on a horizontal mounting table (not shown). According to such an ink filling process using the ink filling device 300, the ink container 10 is disposed so that the supply port portion 14 faces sideways and is filled with ink, so that it is temporarily supplied in the ink filling process. Even if the ink overflows from the opening 14, there is a small possibility that the overflowed ink will adhere to the outer surface of the ink container 10, and there is an advantage that the ink container 10 is less likely to be stained with ink.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink cartridge 10 ... Ink container 14 ... Supply port part (14a ... Opening, 14b ... Recessed part, 14c ... Projection part)
15 ... Inner plug (15a ... plug part, 15b ... shaft part, 15c ... engagement receiving part, 15d ... O-ring) 16 ... biasing means 17 ... cover member (17a ... support part, 17b ... cover part)
20 ... exterior body 30 ... engagement part (30a ... abutting surface)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 ... Installation part 51 ... Cartridge connection part 52 ... Press part 53 ... Joint part S ... Switching valve P1 ... The 1st pump which comprises an ink filling part T ... Ink tank which comprises an ink filling part P2 ... 2nd as a suction part Pump 100 ... Printing device 300 ... Ink filling device A ... Removal direction (A1 ... Loading direction, A2 ... Removal direction)
B: Ink outflow direction

  The present invention relates to an ink filling apparatus and an ink filling method for filling an ink cartridge attached to and detached from an ink jet printing apparatus, and more particularly, since ink is not easily spilled when ink is filled in an ink cartridge. The present invention relates to an ink filling apparatus and an ink filling method that can efficiently produce an ink cartridge by filling ink.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet printing apparatus that prints a desired image on a sheet serving as a print medium (a printing medium) has an ink cartridge for an ink jet recording apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as an “ink cartridge”) for supplying ink to an ink head. ) Is used. This ink cartridge has a structure in which an ink supply section for leading out ink is provided in an ink container containing ink, and this is stored in a box-shaped exterior body.

  There is a demand for this ink cartridge that can be easily attached to and detached from the ink jet printing apparatus, has resistance to drops during transportation and handling, vibration during transportation, and the like, and can be manufactured at low cost. In order to meet these demands, the applicant of the present application provides an ink cartridge as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

  As schematically shown in FIG. 9, the conventional ink cartridge 200 is a rectangular parallelepiped housing that is attached to and detached from the printing apparatus in the horizontal direction (attachment / detachment operation direction) and is an elongated outer box. 240, an engagement surface 220 provided at one open end of the exterior body 240 and engaged with the cartridge mounting mechanism of the printing apparatus, and an ink supply unit 230 serving as an ink discharge port provided on the engagement surface 220. And an ink container 210 that communicates with the ink supply unit 230 and is accommodated in the exterior body 240. In FIG. 9, the ink container 210 is shown in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but this is merely an example schematically showing a state in which a specified amount of ink is filled and swollen.

  Conventionally, in the process of manufacturing an ink cartridge having the above-described structure, the following procedure has been used particularly when an ink container is filled with a specified amount of ink. First, as shown in FIG. 10, two sheets of a synthetic resin rectangular parallelepiped sheet material, which is a material of the ink container 210, are stacked, and a communication pipe 250 having both ends opened is interposed at the center of one short side thereof. In this state, the four sides of the sheet body are heat-sealed to form a bag body in which the inside and outside communicate with each other through the communication pipe 250. In FIG. 10, the region pasted by heat fusion is shown by hatching. Next, the ink container 210 opened by the communication tube 250 is held up by an appropriate means with the communication tube 250 facing up, and is held by an appropriate means, and the communication tube 250 is inserted into the bag body using an appropriate ink filling device. Fill and fill with ink. At this time, it is not necessary to inject under pressure. Since the opening of the communication pipe 250 has a considerable width, if ink is supplied, the ink is injected into the ink container 210 by gravity and filled. When the specified amount of ink is filled, the supply of ink is stopped, and an ink supply unit 260 provided with a normally closed on-off valve is inserted into the communication pipe and fixed in a liquid-tight state. To seal. Thus, an ink container 210 that is filled with a prescribed amount of ink and that can supply ink to the outside via the ink supply unit 260 is completed.

  Note that the number of synthetic resin sheet materials constituting the ink container 210 is not necessarily two, and may be greater than that. However, even in that case, the synthetic resin sheet material may be used. In the point which becomes a structure where the communication pipe 250 penetrates a part of the configured bag body in a liquid-tight state, it is the same as the case where the two sheet materials described above are used.

JP 2010-82994 A

  As described above, since the communication pipe 250 provided in the ink container 210 of the ink cartridge 200 has a wide opening, the ink can be easily filled from the communication pipe 250 when the ink container 210 is set upright. A process of injecting ink into the ink container 210 from the opening of the communication pipe 250 before attaching the ink supply part 260 incorporating the opening / closing valve to the communication pipe 250 and then attaching the ink supply part 260 to the communication pipe 250. The reason for adopting was because of such advantages.

  However, although the opening of the communication pipe 250 for filling the ink is wide and the flow rate for filling the ink can be increased to complete the ink filling in a short time, the ink is not supplied if the ink charging stop timing accompanying the completion of the filling is mistaken. There was a risk of spilling from the opening of the communication pipe 250 and soiling the outside of the ink container 210 and the surrounding equipment. In addition, even if the ink can be completed without spilling from the opening of the communication tube 250, if the amount of ink filled inside is larger than the specified amount, the ink supply unit 260 is added to the opening of the communication tube 250 in the last step. When the ink is inserted, there is a risk that the ink in the ink container 210 overflows and stains the outside of the ink container 210 and the like.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and it is difficult to spill ink when an ink cartridge including an ink container provided with an ink supply unit with a valve is filled with ink. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink filling apparatus and an ink filling method that can reduce the risk of fouling the cartridge and the surrounding environment with ink and can efficiently produce an ink cartridge by filling the ink.

An ink filling device according to claim 1 is provided.
An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion ;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink container to restrict the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers and protects the shaft portion even when
An ink filling device for filling ink into an ink cartridge comprising:
A pressing portion that is movable relative to the inner plug along the moving direction of the inner plug, and moves the inner plug relatively against the biasing force of the biasing means;
A joint part that extrapolates the pressing part and is connected to the supply port part opened by the pressing part ;
It is characterized by having.

The ink filling apparatus according to claim 2, in the ink filling apparatus according to claim 1 Symbol placement,
A suction portion connected to the joint portion and sucked from the supply port portion opened by the pressing portion to suck the inside of the ink container and suck out at least one of ink and air in the ink container to the outside; It is a feature.

The ink filling device according to claim 3 is the ink filling device according to claim 2 ,
An ink filling part that fills the ink container with ink from the supply port part connected to the joint part and opened by the pressing part;
The ink filling unit and the suction unit are provided with a switching valve that selectively connects and communicates with the joint unit.

The ink filling method according to claim 4 ,
An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion ;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink container to restrict the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers and protects the shaft part even when
An ink filling method for an ink cartridge having
A first step of opening the supply port portion by pressing the inner plug into the ink container against the bias of the biasing means;
A second step of injecting ink from the opened supply port;
A third step of releasing the pressure on the inner plug when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount;
It is characterized by including.

The ink filling method according to claim 5 is the ink filling method according to claim 4 ,
After the second step is completed, the ink container is pressed in a state where the supply port portion is opened to release the air in the ink container to the outside of the ink container.

The ink filling method according to claim 6 is the ink filling method according to claim 4 ,
After the second step is completed, the air inside the ink container is discharged outside the ink container by sucking the inside of the ink container from the supply port and sucking out a part of the ink. Yes.

The ink filling method according to claim 7, in the ink filling method according to claim 5,
A residual ink processing step is provided between the first step and the second step so as to suck out and suck out the ink remaining in the ink container by the suction portion.

The ink filling method according to claim 8 is the ink filling method according to any one of claims 4 to 7 ,
The ink cartridge is disposed so that the supply port portion is in a horizontal direction and is filled with ink .
The method for producing an ink cartridge according to claim 9 comprises:
An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink container to restrict the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers and protects the shaft part even when
A method of manufacturing an ink cartridge comprising:
A first step of opening the supply port portion by pressing the inner plug into the ink container against the bias of the biasing means;
A second step of injecting ink from the opened supply port;
A third step of releasing the pressure on the inner plug when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount;
It is characterized by including.

  According to the ink filling device of the first aspect, the joint portion is connected to the supply port portion of the ink cartridge, and the pressing portion is relatively positioned with respect to the supply port portion along the moving direction of the inner plug of the ink cartridge. By moving and moving the inner plug relatively against the urging force of the urging means of the ink cartridge, the supply port portion can be opened to allow the ink filling portion and the ink container to communicate with each other. If the ink filling portion is operated here, the ink can be reliably filled into the ink container through the joint portion without spilling the ink to the outside. After ink filling, if the supply port of the ink cartridge and the joint are relatively separated, and the relative pressing of the inner plug by the pressing unit is released, the inner plug urged by the urging means ensures the supply port. To close. As described above, the ink cartridge can be efficiently and reliably produced by filling the ink without spilling the ink and without contaminating the cartridge and the surrounding environment with the ink.

According to the ink filling device described in claim 1 , the ink supply unit provided in the ink container of the ink cartridge targeted by the ink filling device is not subject to sliding when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Since the cover member is provided in a state where the shaft portion of the inner plug is always covered, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink container are in contact with each other even when the ink remaining amount is low and the ink container is deflated. There is no longer to do. Thereby, since the covering member functions as a member for protecting the ink container, it is possible to prevent ink leakage due to damage to the ink container that may have occurred in the conventional ink cartridge.

According to the ink filling device of the second aspect , when ink is filled into the ink container in which the ink remains, the ink filling is performed after the remaining ink is sucked out from the ink container by the suction unit. it can. Further, if air enters the ink container when the ink is filled, it can be sucked out.

According to the ink filling device of the third aspect , by switching the switching valve, the ink filling portion can be connected to the joint portion to communicate with the ink container, and ink can be filled as necessary. The suction part is connected to the joint part and communicated to suck the inside of the ink container, suck out ink from the ink container, and suck out air in the ink container.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 4 , in the first step, the inner plug is pressed into the ink container against the bias of the biasing means to open the supply port, and in the second step, Ink is injected from the open supply port, and in the third step, when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount, the pressure on the inner plug is released and the ink container can be immediately sealed. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently and reliably produce an ink cartridge by filling ink without spilling ink and without fouling the cartridge and surrounding environment with ink.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 4 , the ink supply unit provided in the ink container of the ink cartridge targeted by the ink filling method is not subject to sliding when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Since the cover member is provided in a state where the shaft portion of the inner plug is always covered, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink container are in contact with each other even when the ink remaining amount is low and the ink container is deflated. There is no longer to do. Thereby, since the covering member functions as a member for protecting the ink container, it is possible to prevent ink leakage due to damage to the ink container that may have occurred in the conventional ink cartridge.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 5 , after injecting ink into the ink container from the supply port portion opened in the second step, the ink container is pressed with the supply port portion opened. The air in the ink container can be released out of the ink container.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 6 , after injecting ink into the ink container from the supply port portion opened in the second step, the inside of the ink container is sucked from the supply port portion to By sucking out the ink, the air in the ink container can be released out of the ink container.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 7 , in the ink filling step using the ink filling device, the ink remaining in the ink container is sucked between the first step and the second step. Therefore, the remaining ink and the ink to be filled are not mixed inside the ink container.

According to the ink filling method of the eighth aspect , since the ink cartridge is arranged so that the supply port portion is oriented sideways and the ink is filled, the ink is temporarily supplied from the supply port portion in the ink filling step. Even if it overflows to the outside, there is a small possibility that the overflowing ink will adhere to the outer surface of the ink container, and there is an advantage that the possibility of soiling the ink container is small.
According to the method for manufacturing an ink cartridge described in claim 9, in the first step, the inner plug is pressed into the ink container against the urging of the urging means to open the supply port, and the second step. In the third step, ink is injected from the open supply port, and in the third step, when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount, the pressure on the inner plug is released and the ink container can be immediately sealed. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently and reliably produce an ink cartridge by filling ink without spilling ink and without fouling the cartridge and surrounding environment with ink.
In addition, the ink supply portion provided in the ink container of the ink cartridge targeted by this ink cartridge manufacturing method always covers the shaft portion of the inner plug regardless of whether the ink cartridge is slid during attachment or detachment. Since the covering member is provided, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink container do not come into contact with each other even when, for example, the remaining amount of ink is reduced and the ink container is deflated. Thereby, since the covering member functions as a member for protecting the ink container, it is possible to prevent ink leakage due to damage to the ink container that may have occurred in the conventional ink cartridge.

(A) is the schematic plan view which showed the structure of the inkjet printing apparatus which loads the ink cartridge which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (b) is a schematic front view of the apparatus, (c) is the apparatus of the same It is a schematic side view. (A) is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance and the inside of the cartridge as viewed from the front side, and (b) is a schematic perspective view of the appearance of the cartridge as viewed from the back side. It is an expanded sectional view before the connection in the vicinity of the connection part of the cartridge and the ink filling device of the embodiment. It is a typical block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the ink filling apparatus to which the cartridge was connected. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view after connection in the vicinity of a connection portion between the cartridge and the ink filling device. (A) is a table | surface figure which shows the experimental result of the ink filling operation with respect to the cartridge by the ink filling apparatus, (b) is sectional drawing in the BB cut line of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the filling pressure and filling speed which were obtained from the table | surface figure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the filling pressure obtained from the table | surface figure of FIG. 6, and 1000 ml filling time. It is a schematic perspective view of a conventional ink cartridge. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure and manufacturing process of the ink container which the conventional ink cartridge has.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited by this embodiment, and other forms, examples, operation techniques, and the like that can be considered by those skilled in the art based on this form are all included in the scope of the present invention. To do.

  In the present specification, in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, when the words “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right” are used to indicate directions and positions, this is shown in FIG. Matches top, bottom, left, and right.

  Further, the direction in which the ink cartridge 1 according to the present invention is horizontally attached to and detached from the printing apparatus 100 is “attachment / detachment direction A”, and the direction in which the ink cartridge 1 is inserted into the printing apparatus 100 and loaded is “loading direction A1”. A direction in which the ink cartridge 1 is detached from the printing apparatus 100 and removed is referred to as a “separation direction A2”.

  Furthermore, the loading direction A1 is the same as the direction in which the ink filled in the ink cartridge 1 flows out to the printing apparatus 100 (hereinafter referred to as “ink outflow direction B”), and the ink container 10 is stored in the exterior body 20. The direction of insertion into the direction is the same as the direction of separation A2.

[1. Overall configuration of printing device]
As shown in any of FIGS. 1A to 1C, a printing apparatus 100 loaded with an ink cartridge 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of ink heads each having a plurality of nozzles, and each ink head. An example of an inkjet line color printer that discharges ink of different colors from each other, prints in line units, and forms a plurality of images so as to overlap each other on a printing medium (paper) transported by a transport belt. To do.

  In this embodiment, four line-type ink heads are provided, and the four color inks of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are ejected from each ink head. However, the number of ink heads and the number and type of ink colors are not particularly limited.

  In addition, the printing apparatus 100 includes a control unit 110 that performs overall control of each unit included in the apparatus to execute a printing process corresponding to the print job. This control unit 110 performs control related to ink supply from the ink cartridge 1 in addition to the above-described printing process by the ink head and drive control of the transport mechanism.

  Further, the control unit 110 is connected to a setting operation unit 120 including an input device including, for example, operation keys and a display / input panel, and receives an instruction and a setting operation by the user through the setting operation unit 120. be able to.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1C, a plurality of cartridge connection portions 130 for connecting the ink cartridge 1 are provided for each ink head on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 100a of the printing apparatus 100 (in the drawing, ink ink is shown). 4) according to the number of heads.

  Further, an upper surface device 140 is disposed so as to cover the upper part of the cartridge connection portion 130. When the ink cartridge 1 is loaded, it is inserted in the horizontal direction (loading direction A1) between the lower surface of the upper surface device 140 and the upper surface of the main body of the printing apparatus 100. The top surface device 140 is provided with, for example, an image reading device (scanner) that optically reads a document set on an ADF (auto document feeder) as it is conveyed and converts it into digital data, and the setting operation unit 120. .

  Furthermore, the cartridge connecting portion 130 is provided with a holder portion that fits into an engaging portion 30 described later when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100.

[2. Overall configuration of ink cartridge]
Next, the configuration of the ink cartridge 1 according to the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2A or 2B, the ink cartridge 1 is an elongated casing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is attached / detached along an attaching / detaching direction A that is a horizontal direction with respect to the printing apparatus 100. The ink cartridge 1 includes an ink container 10 made of a thermoplastic film material filled with predetermined ink, an exterior body 20 that is an outer box into which the ink container 10 is inserted, and one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the ink container 10. And the engagement portion 30 that engages with the cartridge connection portion 130 of the printing apparatus 100 described above or the cartridge connection portion 130 of the ink filling device 300 described later.

<2-1. Ink container>
The ink container 10 shown in FIG. 2 is a bag body in which ink is enclosed. Although details will be described later, the ink container 10 of the present embodiment has two rectangular thermoplastic films 11 stacked, and the periphery thereof is thermally welded with an ink supply unit 13 described later interposed at one end in the longitudinal direction. Are formed by bonding. The ink cartridge 10 is assembled by inserting the ink container 10 from the opening of the exterior body 20 and fitting the engaging portion 30 to which the ink supply portion 13 is assembled into the opening.

  The name of the ink supply unit 13 is named because ink is supplied to the printing apparatus 100 through this portion when used in the printing apparatus 100. As will be described later, the ink filling apparatus 13 If the ink cartridge 1 is connected to the cartridge connecting portion 130 of 300, the ink can also be injected and filled into the ink container 10 via the ink supply portion 13.

  As shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the ink supply part 13 of the ink cartridge 1 includes a supply port part 14 provided with an opening 14 a for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container 10. An annular recess 14b is provided on the front side of the supply port portion 14 so as to surround the opening 14a. The recess 14b has a structure for connecting to the cartridge connecting portions of the printing apparatus 100 and the ink filling apparatus 300 described later. The supply port portion 14 includes an inner plug 15 that opens or closes communication of the supply port portion 14, biasing means 16 that biases the inner plug 15 in the ink outflow direction B to close the supply port portion 14, and A covering member 17 that guides the sliding of the inner plug 15 accompanying the attachment / detachment of the ink cartridge 1 along the attachment / detachment direction A is incorporated.

  Further, the ink supply unit 13 has a communication pipe 19 that is heat-welded between the film 11 and the film 11 and integrated with the ink container 10. The communication pipe 19 is a cylindrical member and communicates the inside and outside of the ink container 10.

  Then, the supply port portion 14 and the ink container are inserted by inserting the supply port portion 14 incorporating the inner plug 15 or the like into the opening portion of the communication pipe 19 from the base end portion and fitting in a liquid-tight state. 10 is integrated. According to such a structure, the inside and the outside of the ink container 10 can be communicated or blocked by opening and closing the opening 14 a by the inner plug 15.

The structure in which the inner plug 15 opens and closes the path in the ink supply unit 13 will be described in detail.
The inner plug 15 has a tip abutting against the opening 14a of the supply port portion 14 to close the communication between the inside and the outside of the ink container 10, and a rear end side (the supply port portion 14 and the contact portion of the plug portion 15a). A shaft portion 15b extending from an end portion on the opposite side of the contact portion), a cartridge connection portion of the printing apparatus 100 or a cartridge connection portion of an ink filling device 300 described later, provided at the tip of the plug portion 15a. An engagement receiving portion 15c to be engaged and an O-ring 15d that is fitted around the plug portion 15a and fills the gap between the plug portion 15a and the supply port portion 14 when the opening 14a is closed. .

  The inner plug 15 having such a configuration closes the supply port portion 14 with the surface on the distal end side of the plug portion 15 a coming into contact with the opening 14 a of the supply port portion 14 by the urging force of the urging means 16. The O-ring 15d fills the gap between the plug portion 15a and the supply port portion 14. Thereby, the communication between the inside and the outside of the ink container 10 is blocked, and the ink does not flow out to the outside.

  The urging means 16 that urges the inner plug 15 in the closing direction is formed of an elastic body such as a spring or rubber, and closes the opening 14a of the supply port portion 14 from the rear end side of the plug portion 15a (that is, loading). Energize in direction A1). In this embodiment, a spring is used as the biasing means 16.

  The covering member 17 that covers the shaft portion 15b of the sliding inner plug 15 includes a support portion 17a that supports the biasing means 16 at the tip thereof, and a substantially cylindrical covering portion 17b that extends from the support portion 17a. Has been. The covering member 17 supports the urging means 16 by the support portion 17a, and is set to have a length so as to cover all the portions where the shaft portion 15a of the plug portion 15 is exposed from the supply port portion 14. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, even when the plug portion 15 closes the supply port portion 14, as shown in 5, the plug portion 15 is pushed into an external force and the supply port portion 14 is opened. However, the shaft portion 15 b of the plug portion 15 is covered with the covering member 17.

  As described above, the covering portion 17b has such a length as to cover the entire shaft portion 15b exposed from the supply port portion 14 regardless of whether or not the inner plug 15 slides. Even when the ink container 10 is deflated, the end of the shaft portion 15b does not contact the inner surface of the ink container 10. As a result, the risk of damaging the ink container 10 due to the inner plug 15 is eliminated, so that the user can use the ink cartridge 1 without care.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the upper half of the covering portion 17b has a predetermined length and an inner diameter (guide inner diameter) in which the gap with the shaft portion 15b is as narrow as possible. Accordingly, the shaft portion 15b can slide in the correct posture along the attaching / detaching direction A when the ink cartridge 1 is attached / detached. Furthermore, the lower half part of the coating | coated part 17b is made into the internal diameter that a clearance gap with the axial part 15b becomes wider.

  Since a high accuracy is required to process the guide inner diameter, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases. In the present embodiment, in the covering portion 17b, a portion that does not require the guide inner diameter is more predetermined than the guide inner diameter. The manufacturing cost is suppressed by enlarging only the diameter and not unnecessarily forming the portion serving as the guide inner diameter.

  According to the ink cartridge 1 of the present embodiment having the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, before the ink cartridge 1 is loaded into the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300, the biasing force of the biasing means 16 is used. Since the plug portion 15a is pressed toward the opening 14a, the opening 14a is closed, and the gap between the plug portion 15a and the supply port portion 14 is filled by the O-ring 15d, and the supply port portion 14 is closed and the ink is closed. Will be unable to pass.

  On the contrary, as will be described in detail later, as shown in FIG. 5, when the inner plug 15 receives a pressing force in a direction opposite to the urging force of the urging means 16 and slides into the ink container 10, The opening 14a is opened so that the inside and the outside of the ink container 10 communicate with each other. At this time, if the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100, the ink can be supplied from the ink cartridge 1 to the printing apparatus 100 along the ink outflow direction B. At this time, if the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the ink filling device 300, the ink can be filled into the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, at the front end of the supply port portion 14, when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded into the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300, the connection portion of the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300 and the opening are opened. A slight gap is provided between the protrusion 14a and the protrusion 14c so as to optimize the outflow amount or inflow amount of ink to a constant amount. In the present embodiment, three protrusions 14c are provided at substantially equal angular intervals around the opening 14a.

<2-2. Exterior body>
As shown in FIG. 2, the exterior body 20 is opened at one end in the longitudinal direction by folding a fold side set on a sheet member made of paper (for example, cardboard) and bonding the paste margin part together. It is assembled in a box shape that forms a hollow rectangular parallelepiped with a closed bottom.

  An engaging portion 30 that engages with the cartridge connecting portion 130 on the printing device 100 side or the ink filling device 300 side is provided in the opening portion (opening portion on the printing device 100 or ink filling device 300 side when the cartridge is loaded) of the exterior body 20. Is fitted into the abutting surface of the connecting portion of the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, a pullout recess 21 that penetrates the surface of the exterior body 20 is formed on the lower surface of the exterior body 20. The concave portion 21 is formed by making a predetermined cut at a concave portion forming portion of the outer package 20 and bending the cut portion on the inner surface side and the terminal side on the surface of the member of the outer package 20. Yes.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the shape of the internal space between the inner surface of the outer package 20 and the pointed outer surface of the terminal portion 12 of the ink container 10 is secured at the inner end of the outer package 20. A partition member 22 is disposed. As a result, when the user performs the attachment / detachment operation of the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge can be pulled out by grasping the recess 21 at the end of the exterior body 20, and the attachment / detachment of the ink cartridge 1 is facilitated, thereby improving workability. Further, since the user's hand does not directly touch the ink container 10 when the ink cartridge 1 is attached or detached, the ink container 10 can be prevented from being damaged.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, labels 31 are attached to both ends of the exterior body 20 in the longitudinal direction so as to reinforce the both ends and hold the whole in a box shape. A notch 23 for peeling off the label is formed on the upper surface of the label so as to overlap the end portion of the label 31. The notch 23 is partially broken and the other part is broken. The user pushes the notch 23 into the inside of the exterior body 20 with a finger and picks the broken part to remove the label 31 and the exterior body 20. By pulling, the label 31 can be peeled off together with a part of the outer package 20 where the label 31 is broken, so that the separation work of the label 31 and the outer package 20 can be easily performed.

<2-3. Engagement section>
The engaging portion 30 is formed of a hard material such as resin or metal, and functions as an attaching / detaching mechanism that engages with a connecting portion when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100 or the ink filling apparatus 300.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the engaging portion 30 is fitted into the opening of the exterior body 20, and then has a sticky label 31 (for example, a film synthetic paper) having adhesiveness on the back surface. In this way, the sheet is affixed and fixed with a sheet material in which an adhesive is applied to the back side of the synthetic paper whose main component is a synthetic resin. The label 31 extends from the side surface of the opening portion of the exterior body 20 through the abutting surface 30a of the engagement portion 30 to the side surface of the opening portion on the opposite side in a state where the engagement portion 30 is fitted to the exterior body 20. The engaging part 30 is assembled and fixed to the exterior body 20 by being wound.

[3. Overall Configuration of Ink Filling Device 300]
The ink cartridge 1 described above can be filled with ink using the ink filling device 300 described below when the ink container 10 is empty or when the capacity of the ink container 10 is sufficient. .

The ink filling device 300 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, the ink filling device 300 includes an installation unit 50 to which the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1 is attached. The installation unit 50 can install the ink container 10 in a vertical posture with the ink supply unit 13 facing upward by engaging the engagement unit 30 to suspend the ink container 10 downward. Above the installation portion 50, a cartridge connection portion 51 is provided as a holder portion for connecting and holding the ink container portion 10. The cartridge connecting portion 51 presses the inner plug 15 of the ink container portion 10 to open the opening 14a, and extrapolates the pressing portion 52 and supplies the ink container 10 opened by the pressing portion 52. And a joint portion 53 connected to the mouth portion 14.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the joint portion 53 is connected to the switching valve S. The first switching path R1 of the switching valve S is connected to a first pump P1 as an ink filling unit and an ink tank T in which filling ink is stored. The first pump P1 has its suction side connected to the ink tank T and its discharge side connected to the switching valve S. By switching the switching valve S to the first switching path R1 and operating the first pump P1, the ink in the ink tank T can be injected and filled into the ink container 10 via the joint portion 53.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second switching path R <b> 2 of the switching valve S is connected to a suction port of a second pump P <b> 2 that is a suction unit that sucks the inside of the ink container 10. Although not shown, a discharge container for sucked air or a waste container for discharging sucked ink is provided at the discharge port of the second pump P2. Note that the air discharge port and the ink waste container may be selectively switched, or only one may be provided as necessary.

With reference to FIG. 3 etc., the cartridge connection part 51 of the ink filling apparatus 300 described above will be described in more detail.
The cartridge connecting portion 51 is disposed in opposition to the ink supply portion 13 of the ink container 10 held in the vertical posture in a state where the axes thereof coincide with each other. The joint portion 53 of the cartridge connecting portion 51 is a generally cylindrical member having an annular convex shape at the lower end thereof so as to match the annular concave portion 14 b of the supply port portion 14 of the ink container 10. A portion 54 is formed, and the inside of the convex portion 54 is a concave portion 55. An O-ring 56 for preventing ink leakage is provided on the inner peripheral surface near the opening of the recess 55. An ink flow path 57 communicates with the recess 55, and the ink flow path 57 is connected to the switching valve S (see FIG. 4). Further, at the center of the concave portion 55 of the joint portion 53, the rod-shaped pressing portion 52 described above is provided downward. The tip (lower end) of the pressing portion 52 has a sharp shape so as to be surely engaged with the engagement receiving portion 15c of the inner plug 15. An annular receiving plate 58 having an outer shape matching the recess 14 b is slidably inserted into the pressing portion 52, and an elastic member 59 such as a spring is interposed between the receiving plate 58 and the base of the pressing portion 52. It is intervened.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is movable up and down with respect to the ink container 10 along the moving direction of the inner plug 15 of the ink container 10. It is configured. However, since the cartridge connecting portion 51 and the ink container 10 of the ink filling device 300 need only be relatively movable, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is installed at a predetermined position, and the ink container 10 is installed. The installed portion 50 may be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the cartridge connecting portion 51, or both may be moved if necessary. In any case, by this operation, the pressing portion 52 of the ink filling device 300 moves the inner plug 15 of the ink container 10 against the urging force of the urging means 16 or releases the urging force to urge the ink container 10. If the means 16 moves the inner plug 15, the opening 14 a of the supply port portion 14 of the ink container 10 can be opened and closed.

[4. About filling process by ink filling apparatus 300]
A method for filling ink into the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1 using the ink filling device 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. The filling process by this method is performed as a part of the manufacturing process of the ink cartridge 1.

The ink container 10 is installed in a vertical posture in which the ink supply unit 13 is upward and the ink container 10 is suspended downward in the installation unit 50 of the ink filling apparatus 300 illustrated in FIG.
In the first step, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is lowered. The annular convex portion 54 of the joint portion 53 is fitted into the annular concave portion 14 b of the supply port portion 14 of the ink container 10, and the pressing portion 52 has its tip (lower end) at the engagement receiving portion of the inner plug 15. The inner plug 15 is pushed downward by engaging with 15c. Since there is an O-ring 56 on the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 55 of the joint portion 53 fitted to the inner plug 15, a reliable ink leakage preventing effect can be obtained. Along with the fitting between the joint portion 53 and the supply port portion 14, the receiving plate 58 of the joint portion 53 compresses the elastic member 59 and rises along the pressing portion 52, and the joint portion 53 and the supply port portion 14 are fitted. In this state, the receiving plate 58 receives the restoring force of the elastic member 59 and comes into contact with the supply port portion 14 with a predetermined force, so that the fitting state is stable and coupled with the sealing function of the O-ring 56, Prevent leakage.

  In the second step, ink is injected from the opening 14 a of the open supply port portion 14. That is, in FIG. 4, the switching valve S is switched to the first switching path R1 side and the first pump P1 is operated to inject and fill the ink in the ink tank T into the ink container 10 through the joint portion 53. be able to. The amount to be injected is arbitrary, and may be filled until it is full, or may be filled to such an extent that only a part of the effective capacity is satisfied according to the needs of the consumer.

FIG. 6A is a numerical example when ink is actually filled in the second ink filling step, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. An annular gap S that is the narrowest gap through which the ink to be filled passes is shown. In this example, the capacity of the ink container 10 is 1000 ml. Further, the ink passes through an annular gap S formed between the opening 14a of the supply port 14 and the pressing portion 52. As shown in FIG. 6B, the inner diameter of the opening 14a is 4.4 mm. Since the outer shape of the pressing portion 52 is 2.4 mm, the area is (4.4 ² −2.4 ² ) π / 4≈10.68 mm ² . The viscosity of the ink is about 10 mPa · s regardless of the color. When the pressure (kPa) on the discharge side of the first pump P1 is changed under these conditions, the ink filling speed (ml / s)) and the 1000 ml filling time (s) are as shown in the table of FIG. Changed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the filling pressure and the filling speed obtained from the data shown in the table of FIG. According to this figure, it can be seen that the higher the discharge pressure of the first pump P1, the higher the filling speed. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the filling pressure obtained from the data shown in the table of FIG. 6 and the 1000 ml filling time. According to this figure, it turns out that filling time becomes short, so that the discharge pressure of the 1st pump P1 is made high. If the discharge pressure is about 30 kPa, the 1000 ml ink container 10 can be filled in about one minute. From the data shown in the tables of FIGS. 7 and 8, even if the discharge pressure of the first pump P <b> 1 is increased, there is no particular problem, and the ink container 10 is filled with ink smoothly. I can see it going.

  In the third step, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 3, the cartridge connecting portion 51 of the ink filling device 300 is raised at an appropriate timing when the ink in the ink container 10 reaches a predetermined amount, and is pressed by the pressing portion 52. The pressing of the inner plug 15 is released, the inner plug 15 is moved upward by the urging force of the urging means 16, and the ink container 10 is sealed by the inner plug 15.

  Therefore, in the ink filling process, ink is not spilled, the outer surface of the ink container 10, the ink filling device 300, and the periphery thereof are not soiled with ink. It can be executed efficiently and reliably with high productivity while maintaining the state.

  In the ink filling process described above, air may enter the ink container 10 as the ink is filled. It is also conceivable that air is already contained in the ink container 10 before ink filling and the air remains after filling. If air is contained in the ink container 10 of the ink cartridge 1, when the ink cartridge 1 is loaded in the printing apparatus 100 and printing is performed, the air enters the ink supply system of the printing apparatus 100, and ink in the ink head. There may be a case in which a harmful problem occurs in printing such as discontinuous supply of ink or inability to supply ink. For this reason, it is desirable to remove air from the ink container 100 as much as possible (this is referred to as evacuation or degassing). In the ink filling apparatus 300 of this embodiment, as means for extracting air from the ink container 10, As described above, the second pump P2 is provided as a suction unit.

  That is, when using the second pump P2 as the suction part, after the required amount of ink is injected into the ink container 10 in the second step, the state in which the supply port part 14 is opened is left as it is. The valve S is switched to the second switching path R2, and the second pump P2 is operated. The air in the ink container 10 is dissipated from the discharge port to the outside through the switching valve S by the second pump P2. Since the ink container 10 is filled with a necessary amount of ink and almost no air is present, the third step is performed here, and the ink container 10 is sealed with the inner plug 15.

  The ink filling device 300 includes the second pump P2 as a suction unit. However, if there is no suction unit, the air can be manually evacuated. In other words, after the ink filling in the second step is completed, if the user himself / herself applies an appropriate pressure to the ink container 10 with his / her hand while maintaining the opening of the opening 14a by the pressing portion 52, the opening 14a. Then, the air can be pushed out, and then the pressing portion 52 is retracted and the opening 14 a is closed by the plug portion 15.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the ink filling device 300 is provided with a suction portion, and the air in the ink container 10 is extracted by the suction portion. If the suction portion is not provided, the air is manually vented. It was decided. However, air can be extracted by other methods. For example, the installation unit 50 schematically shown in FIG. 4 has a substantially box-shaped structure for storing and holding the ink container 10, but the side walls thereof can be moved by power and the opening 14a is opened. Pressure may be applied so as to squeeze the ink container 10 from both sides to push out the internal air.

  In the ink filling process described above, if there is air in the ink container 10 after ink filling, this air is removed by the suction part. Can also be removed. In other words, the ink container 10 is filled with a slightly larger amount of ink than necessary in the second step, and then an appropriate amount of ink is sucked by the second pump P2 as a suction portion while the opening 14a is left open. When the required amount of ink in the ink container 10 is reached, the third step is executed to close the opening 14a. According to this method, when an excessive amount of ink is sucked and extracted outside the ink container 10, air can be reliably extracted together with the ink.

  The filling process described above has been described as a process for filling the empty ink container 10 with ink as part of the manufacturing process of the ink cartridge 1. However, the ink filling device 300 regenerates the used or used ink container 10 by filling the used or used ink container 10 with a required amount, or is used or used. The ink cartridge 1 can also be used for reproduction.

  In such a case, it is considered that the ink container 10 is substantially free of ink or contains an amount of ink that is not full. If ink is replenished by performing the first to third steps (including the step of removing air and the like) as described above on such an ink container 10, the amount of ink in the ink container 10 is reduced to a necessary amount. can do. The necessary amount is not necessarily full, and may be half the amount or one-third the amount according to the user's request.

In such a case, the ink remaining in the ink container may be sucked out by operating the second pump P2 as the suction unit between the first step and the second step . By providing such a process, it is possible to avoid mixing the ink remaining in the ink container 10 and the ink in the ink tank T to be filled in the ink container 10. This is effective when there is a difference that cannot be overlooked in the properties of the ink remaining in the ink container 10 and the ink to be filled in the future.

  According to the ink filling device 300 described above and the ink filling method using the ink filling device 300, the ink container 10 is set so that the opening 14a through which ink enters and exits faces upward. The installation posture can be set horizontally. That is, the installation section 50 of the filling device shown in FIG. 4 can be installed in a state rotated 90 ° laterally, and the ink container 10 engaged with the installation section 50 by the engagement section 30 is A horizontal posture is set on a horizontal mounting table (not shown). According to such an ink filling process using the ink filling device 300, the ink container 10 is disposed so that the supply port portion 14 faces sideways and is filled with ink, so that it is temporarily supplied in the ink filling process. Even if the ink overflows from the opening 14, there is a small possibility that the overflowed ink will adhere to the outer surface of the ink container 10, and there is an advantage that the ink container 10 is less likely to be stained with ink.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink cartridge 10 ... Ink container 14 ... Supply port part (14a ... Opening, 14b ... Recessed part, 14c ... Projection part)
15 ... Inner plug (15a ... plug part, 15b ... shaft part, 15c ... engagement receiving part, 15d ... O-ring) 16 ... biasing means 17 ... cover member (17a ... support part, 17b ... cover part)
20 ... exterior body 30 ... engagement part (30a ... abutting surface)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 ... Installation part 51 ... Cartridge connection part 52 ... Press part 53 ... Joint part S ... Switching valve P1 ... The 1st pump which comprises an ink filling part T ... Ink tank which comprises an ink filling part P2 ... 2nd as a suction part Pump 100 ... Printing device 300 ... Ink filling device A ... Removal direction (A1 ... Loading direction, A2 ... Removal direction)
B: Ink outflow direction

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and it is difficult to spill ink when an ink cartridge including an ink container provided with an ink supply unit with a valve is filled with ink. To provide an ink filling device , an ink filling method , an ink cartridge manufacturing method, and an ink cartridge capable of efficiently producing an ink cartridge by filling the ink with little risk of fouling the cartridge and the surrounding environment. It is aimed.

An ink filling device according to claim 1 is provided.
An ink bag for storing ink ;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink bag body ;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink bag body to regulate the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers at least a part of the shaft portion so as not to come into contact with the ink bag body even in a state in which
An ink filling device for filling ink into an ink cartridge comprising:
A pressing portion that is movable relative to the inner plug along the moving direction of the inner plug, and moves the inner plug relatively against the biasing force of the biasing means;
A joint part that extrapolates the pressing part and is connected to the supply port part opened by the pressing part;
It is characterized by having.

The ink filling device according to claim 2 is the ink filling device according to claim 1,
Comprising a suction unit sucking at least one of ink and air from the supply opening portion which is opened by sucking the inside of the ink bag in the ink bag body to the outside by the pressing portion is connected to the joint portion It is characterized by that.

The ink filling device according to claim 3 is the ink filling device according to claim 2,
An ink filling portion for filling the ink bag body with ink from the supply port portion connected to the joint portion and opened by the pressing portion;
The ink filling unit and the suction unit are provided with a switching valve that selectively connects and communicates with the joint unit.

The ink filling method according to claim 4,
An ink bag for storing ink ;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink bag body ;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink bag body to regulate the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers at least a part of the shaft portion so as not to come into contact with the ink bag body even in a state in which
An ink filling method for an ink cartridge having
A first step of opening the supply opening by pressing the in plug in the ink bag inside the body against the bias of said biasing means,
A second step of injecting ink from the opened supply port;
A third step of the ink of the ink bag in the body to release the pressing against the in plug at the stage of reaching a predetermined amount,
It is characterized by including.

The ink filling method according to claim 5 is the ink filling method according to claim 4,
After the second step is completed, it is characterized in that to release the air in the ink bag body pressed by the ink bag in the body in a state in which the supply opening is opened to the outside of the ink bag body.

The ink filling method according to claim 6 is the ink filling method according to claim 4,
After the second step is completed, thereby releasing air in the ink bag in the body outside the ink bag body by sucking a portion of ink by sucking the inside of the ink bag from the supply port It is characterized by.

The ink filling method according to claim 7 is the ink filling method according to claim 5,
Between the first step and the second step is characterized in that a residual ink processing step sucking by sucking ink remaining in the interior of the ink bag by the suction引部.

The ink filling method according to claim 8 is the ink filling method according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
The ink cartridge is disposed so that the supply port portion is in a horizontal direction and is filled with ink.
The method for producing an ink cartridge according to claim 9 comprises:
An ink bag for storing ink ;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink bag body ;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink bag body to regulate the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers at least a part of the shaft portion so as not to come into contact with the ink bag body even in a state in which
A method of manufacturing an ink cartridge comprising:
A first step of opening the supply opening by pressing the in plug in the ink bag inside the body against the bias of said biasing means,
A second step of injecting ink from the opened supply port;
A third step of the ink of the ink bag in the body to release the pressing against the in plug at the stage of reaching a predetermined amount,
It is characterized by including.
The ink cartridge according to claim 10 is:
An ink bag for containing newly filled ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink bag body;
An inner plug having a plug portion for opening and closing the supply port portion, and a shaft portion extending from the plug portion;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
Provided inside the ink bag body to regulate the sliding direction of the shaft portion of the inner plug, and the plug portion opens the supply port portion even when the plug portion closes the supply port portion. A covering member that covers at least a part of the shaft portion so as not to come into contact with the ink bag body even in a state in which
It is characterized by being an ink cartridge having.

According to the ink filling device of the first aspect, the joint portion is connected to the supply port portion of the ink cartridge, and the pressing portion is relatively positioned with respect to the supply port portion along the moving direction of the inner plug of the ink cartridge. By moving and moving the inner plug relatively against the urging force of the urging means of the ink cartridge, the supply port portion can be opened to allow the ink filling portion and the ink bag body to communicate with each other. Here if caused to operate the ink filling part, the ink can be reliably filled in the ink bag inside the body through the joint without spilling to the outside. After ink filling, if the supply port of the ink cartridge and the joint are relatively separated, and the relative pressing of the inner plug by the pressing unit is released, the inner plug urged by the urging means ensures the supply port. To close. As described above, the ink cartridge can be efficiently and reliably produced by filling the ink without spilling the ink and without contaminating the cartridge and the surrounding environment with the ink.

According to the ink filling device of the first aspect, the ink supply portion provided in the ink bag body of the ink cartridge targeted by the ink filling device is not affected by the presence or absence of sliding when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Since the covering member is provided in a state where the shaft portion of the inner plug is always covered, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink bag body , for example, even when the remaining amount of ink is reduced and the ink bag body is deflated And no contact. Thus, the coating member, to function as a member for protecting the ink bag body, it is possible to prevent the ink leakage due to damage to the ink bag body occur in the conventional ink cartridge in advance.

According to the ink filling apparatus according to claim 2, when the ink charging into the ink bag in which ink remains in the ink remaining by the suction unit from sucking the ink bag body, performs filling of the ink be able to. Further, if air enters the ink bag body when the ink is filled, it can be sucked out.

According to the ink filling device of the third aspect, by switching the switching valve, the ink filling portion can be connected to the joint portion so that the ink bag body can be filled with the ink. depending suction part by through connection with the joint portion by sucking the inside of the ink bag body, sucking the ink from the ink bag body, also it is possible to suck air within the ink bag body.

According to the ink filling method according to claim 4, in a first step, the inside cap against the bias of the biasing means to open the supply port is pressed into the ink bag body, in a second step , ink is injected through the open supply opening, in the third step, the ink in the ink bag body can be immediately sealed ink bag body by releasing the pressure against the inner plug at the stage of reaching a predetermined amount. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently and reliably produce an ink cartridge by filling ink without spilling ink and without fouling the cartridge and surrounding environment with ink.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 4, the ink supply unit provided in the ink bag body of the ink cartridge targeted by the ink filling method is not affected by the presence or absence of sliding when the ink cartridge is attached or detached. Since the covering member is provided in a state where the shaft portion of the inner plug is always covered, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink bag body , for example, even when the remaining amount of ink is reduced and the ink bag body is deflated And no contact. Thus, the coating member, to function as a member for protecting the ink bag body, it is possible to prevent the ink leakage due to damage to the ink bag body occur in the conventional ink cartridge in advance.

According to the ink filling method according to claim 5, presses the ink bag body in a state in which the ink from the supply opening portion which is open in the second step after injection into the ink bag body, the supply opening is opened the air in the ink bag body can be released to the outside of the ink bag body and.

According to the ink filling method according to claim 6, with the ink from the supply opening portion which is open in the second step after injection into the ink bag body, to aspirate the ink bag from the supply opening one the air in the ink bag body can be released to the outside of the ink bag body by sucking the part of the ink.

According to the ink filling method described in claim 7, in the ink filling step using the ink filling device, the ink remaining inside the ink bag body is sucked between the first step and the second step. Therefore, the remaining ink and the ink to be filled are not mixed inside the ink bag body .

According to the ink filling method of the eighth aspect, since the ink cartridge is arranged so that the supply port portion is oriented sideways and the ink is filled, the ink is temporarily supplied from the supply port portion in the ink filling step. even overflowing outside, the risk of overflowing ink adheres to the outer surface of the ink bag body small, there is an advantage that a possibility is small or stains ink bag body.
According to the manufacturing method of an ink cartridge according to claim 9, in a first step, the inside cap against the bias of the biasing means to open the supply port is pressed into the ink bag body, a second in step, ink is injected through the open supply opening, in the third step, the ink in the ink bag body can be immediately sealed ink bag body by releasing the pressure against the inner plug at the stage of reaching a predetermined amount. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently and reliably produce an ink cartridge by filling ink without spilling ink and without fouling the cartridge and surrounding environment with ink.
Further, the ink supply portion provided in the ink bag body of the ink cartridge targeted by this ink cartridge manufacturing method always covered the shaft portion of the inner plug regardless of whether or not the ink cartridge was slid when attached or detached. Since the covering member is provided in the state, for example, even when the remaining amount of ink is reduced and the ink bag body is deflated, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink bag body do not contact each other. Thus, the coating member, to function as a member for protecting the ink bag body, it is possible to prevent the ink leakage due to damage to the ink bag body occur in the conventional ink cartridge in advance.
According to the ink cartridge of claim 10, since the covering member is provided in the ink supply portion provided in the ink bag body of the ink cartridge, for example, the ink remaining amount is reduced and the ink bag body is deflated. Even at that time, the end portion of the shaft portion and the inner surface of the ink bag body do not come into contact with each other. Thereby, since the covering member functions as a member for protecting the ink bag body, it is possible to prevent ink leakage due to damage to the ink bag body that may have occurred in the conventional ink cartridge.

<2-1. Ink container>
The ink container 10 shown in FIG. 2 is an ink bag body in which ink is enclosed. Although details will be described later, the ink container 10 of the present embodiment has two rectangular thermoplastic films 11 stacked, and the periphery thereof is thermally welded with an ink supply unit 13 described later interposed at one end in the longitudinal direction. Are formed by bonding. The ink cartridge 10 is assembled by inserting the ink container 10 from the opening of the exterior body 20 and fitting the engaging portion 30 to which the ink supply portion 13 is assembled into the opening.

Claims (10)

An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug for opening and closing the supply port;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
An ink filling device for filling ink into an ink cartridge having
A pressing portion that is movable relative to the inner plug along the moving direction of the inner plug, and moves the inner plug relatively against the biasing force of the biasing means;
A joint part that extrapolates the pressing part and is connected to the supply port part opened by the pressing body;
An ink filling part for filling the ink container with ink from the supply port part connected to the joint part and opened by the pressing body;
An ink filling device comprising:   The ink filling device according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge includes a covering member that is provided inside the ink container and restricts the sliding direction of the inner plug and protects the inner plug. .   A suction unit that is connected to the joint unit and sucks the inside of the ink container from the supply port that is opened by the pressing body, and sucks out at least one of ink and air in the ink container to the outside; The ink filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink filling apparatus is an ink filling apparatus.   The ink filling device according to claim 3, further comprising a switching valve that selectively connects the ink filling unit and the suction unit to the joint unit. An ink container for storing ink;
A supply port for communicating the inside and the outside of the ink container;
An inner plug for opening and closing the supply port;
Urging means for urging the inner plug in a closing direction;
An ink filling method for an ink cartridge having
A first step of opening the supply port portion by pressing the inner plug into the ink container against the bias of the biasing means;
A second step of injecting ink from the opened supply port;
A third step of releasing the pressure on the inner plug when the ink in the ink container reaches a predetermined amount;
An ink filling method comprising:   6. The ink filling method according to claim 5, wherein the ink cartridge includes a covering member that is provided inside the ink container and restricts the sliding direction of the inner plug and protects the inner plug. .   7. The method according to claim 6, wherein after the second step is completed, the ink container is pressed in a state where the supply port portion is opened to release air in the ink container to the outside of the ink container. Ink filling method.   After the second step is completed, the air in the ink container is discharged outside the ink container by sucking the inside of the ink container from the supply port and sucking out a part of the ink. The ink filling method according to claim 6.   The residual ink processing step of sucking and sucking out ink remaining in the ink container by the suction portion is provided between the first step and the second step. Ink filling method.   The ink filling method according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the ink cartridge is disposed so that the supply port portion is in a horizontal direction.