JP2019177567A - Ink bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

To inhibit an ink from leaking from a nozzle part unexpectedly and adhering to a user and a printer part to make smudges.SOLUTION: An ink bottle 70 includes: a bottle body 71 having a first opening 71b2; and a bottle cap 72 which is rotatably attached to the bottle body 71. The bottle cap 72 has a nozzle part 72a, a partition plate 72c formed with a second opening 72c1, and an engagement plate 72a4. The bottle cap 72 is configured to be selectively in a sealing state in which the first opening 71b2 is sealed by the partition plate 72c and an opening state in which the first opening 71b2 is arranged facing the second opening 72c1 to release the first opening 71b2 from the sealing state by rotating the bottle body 71 in a state in which the engagement plate 72a4 is engaged with a tank 18.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink bottle for replenishing ink in a tank of an ink jet printer.

  Patent Document 1 describes an ink storage bottle for replenishing ink in a tank-type inkjet printer having a tank for storing ink. The ink storage bottle includes a bottle portion that stores ink, a nozzle portion that sends out ink, and a cap that is attached to the nozzle portion. The nozzle portion is formed with a counterbore portion that communicates the reduced pressure holding space formed between the cap and the nozzle portion with the outside of the ink storage bottle in a state where the cap is attached to the nozzle portion. As a result, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the internal pressure reduction degree with a simple configuration.

JP 2017-81087 A

  However, the ink storage bottle described in Patent Document 1 is in a state in which ink can be sent out from the nozzle portion by simply removing the cap from the nozzle portion when the ink is replenished to the tank of the inkjet printer. For this reason, if the user grips the bottle portion of the ink storage bottle with the cap removed slightly harder, the ink is unexpectedly sent out from the nozzle portion, and the ink adheres to the user or the ink jet printer and becomes dirty. Problems arise.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ink bottle that can prevent ink from unexpectedly leaking from a nozzle portion and ink from adhering to a user or an ink jet printer.

  An ink bottle of the present invention is an ink bottle for replenishing ink in the tank of an ink jet printer having a tank for containing ink, and an ink chamber for storing ink and a first opening for discharging ink in the ink chamber. And a bottle cap that is rotatably attached to the bottle body while covering the first opening. The bottle cap is engaged with the nozzle portion for pouring ink into the tank, a partition plate for partitioning the nozzle portion and the first opening, and the bottle cap with respect to the tank. And a second opening for allowing the ink discharged from the first opening to flow to the nozzle part is formed in the partition plate. The bottle cap has a sealed state in which the first opening is sealed with the partition plate by rotating the bottle main body with the engagement portion engaged with the tank; and An open state in which the opening is opened from the sealed state can be selectively taken.

  According to this, before the ink is refilled in the ink jet printer (that is, before the ink bottle is attached to the ink jet printer), the first opening is in a sealed state, and when the ink is refilled, the engaging portion is engaged with the tank. In this state, the bottle main body is rotated to be opened, and the ink in the ink chamber can be replenished to the tank via the nozzle portion. As a result, it is possible to take a sealed state until the bottle body is rotated and the ink is replenished with the engaging portion engaged with the tank. In addition, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the ink jet printer and becoming dirty.

  In this invention, it is preferable that the said partition plate has an elastic member for sealing a said 1st opening in the said sealing state. Thereby, it becomes possible to take a sealing state with an easy structure.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the bottle cap is attached to the bottle body by screw fitting. Thereby, a bottle cap becomes removable from a bottle main body. For this reason, it becomes possible to easily replenish ink into the ink chamber of the bottle body.

  In the present invention, the bottle body is attached to the bottle body while covering at least a part of the periphery of the nozzle part of the bottle cap, and the bottle body is rotated in a state where the engagement part is engaged with the tank. It is preferable to further include a cap stopper that restricts rotation of the bottle body with respect to the bottle cap by contacting the bottle cap when the opened state is taken from the sealed state. Thereby, it can be easily understood that the state is an open state.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the cap stopper is attached to the bottle body by screw fitting. Thereby, even if it has a cap stopper, a cap stopper and a bottle cap can be attached or detached from a bottle main body. For this reason, it becomes possible to easily replenish ink into the ink chamber of the bottle body.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that tightening directions of the cap stopper and the bottle cap with respect to the bottle body are opposite to each other. This makes it possible to prevent the cap stopper from rotating with respect to the bottle body together with the bottle cap when taking the open state from the sealed state.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the cap stopper constitutes an ink receiving portion for receiving ink that has flowed down from the nozzle portion between the cap cap and the bottle cap. As a result, even if ink flows down from the nozzle portion after ink is replenished to the tank, it can be received by the ink receiving portion. For this reason, it becomes possible to suppress that an ink adheres to a user and gets dirty.

  According to the ink bottle of the present invention, before the ink is replenished to the ink jet printer (that is, before the ink bottle is attached to the ink jet printer), the first opening is in a sealed state, and the ink is engaged with the tank when refilling the ink In a state where the bottle body is engaged, the bottle main body is rotated to be in an open state, and the ink in the ink chamber can be replenished to the tank via the nozzle portion. As a result, it is possible to take a sealed state until the bottle body is rotated and the ink is replenished with the engaging portion engaged with the tank. In addition, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the ink jet printer and becoming dirty.

1 is a perspective view of a multifunction machine. It is a schematic side view which shows the internal structure of the printer part shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a printer unit illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram of a control part. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a main part of the tank shown in FIG. 3 and its peripheral portion and showing a situation where a cap is removed from one tank. It is a principal part perspective view which shows the state which attached the ink bottle which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention to the tank shown in FIG. (A) is a perspective view of the ink bottle shown in FIG. 6, (b) is a perspective view of the bottle main body shown in FIG. 7 (a). It is principal part sectional drawing of the ink bottle which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a figure which shows a state when an ink bottle takes a sealing state, (b) is an ink bottle taking an open state It is a figure which shows the state at the time.

  Hereinafter, an MFP 1 including a printer unit (inkjet printer) having a tank that can be refilled with ink by an ink bottle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The multi-function device 1 is installed and used in the state shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, three directions indicated by arrows in FIG. 1 are a vertical direction A1, a front-rear direction A2, and a left-right direction A3. The three directions shown in FIG. 1 are the same in other drawings (FIGS. 1 to 6).

<Overview of MFP 1>
As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-function device 1 is formed in a generally thin rectangular parallelepiped, and has a display unit, operation buttons, and the like on the upper surface thereof. The printer unit 10 is provided in the lower part of the multifunction machine 1. The multifunction device 1 has various functions such as a scanner function and a print function.

  The printer unit 10 has a housing 11. An opening 12 is formed in the approximate center of the front wall 11 a of the housing 11. A paper feed tray 15 and a paper discharge tray 16 are provided in two upper and lower stages. The paper feed tray 15 is configured to be insertable / removable from the opening 12 in the front-rear direction A2, that is, to be detachable from the housing 11. A paper P having a desired size is placed on the paper feed tray 15. The multifunction machine 1 can be connected to an external device such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC). Then, a recording operation is executed based on a recording command from the scanner unit or the PC. Various functions are also executed by operating the operation buttons by the user.

  Moreover, the front wall 11a of the housing | casing 11 has the opening / closing cover 13 in the right part, as shown in FIG. The opening / closing cover 13 is configured to be rotatable about a rotation axis along the left-right direction A3 at the lower end thereof. In the closed state, the open / close cover 13 faces four tanks 18 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later, along the front-rear direction A2, and as shown in FIG. Ink can be replenished to the tank 18 (in FIG. 5, the opening / closing cover 13 and the cap 17 of the tank 18a are omitted).

<Internal structure of printer unit 10>
Next, the internal structure of the printer unit 10 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the printer unit 10 includes a feeding unit 20, a conveyance roller pair 35, a recording unit 40, four tanks 18, a discharge roller pair 36, and an ASF (Auto Sheet Feed). ) Motor 20M (see FIG. 4), LF (Line Feed) motor 35M (see FIG. 4), and control unit 5 (see FIG. 4). The feeding unit 20 feeds the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 15 to the transport path 25. The conveyance roller pair 35 conveys the paper P fed by the feeding unit 20 to the recording unit 40. The recording unit 40 has, for example, an inkjet recording system configuration, and records an image on the paper P conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 35. The paper discharge roller pair 36 discharges the paper P recorded by the recording unit 40 to the paper discharge tray 16. The feeding unit 20, the transport roller pair 35, and the paper discharge roller pair 36 constitute a transport mechanism that transports the paper P.

<Tank 18>
The four tanks 18 are provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the printer unit 10 and on the right side in FIG. 3, and are arranged side by side in the left-right direction (scanning direction) A3. The four tanks 18 store black, yellow, cyan, and magenta inks in order from the one located on the right side. That is, black ink is stored in the rightmost tank 18a, and color ink is stored in the other three tanks 18b. The four color inks stored in the four tanks 18 are supplied to the inkjet head 41 via four tubes or the like (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 5, each tank 18 has an ink chamber (not shown) for storing ink therein, an ink injection portion 19, and a cap 17. The ink injection part 19 has an injection port 19a for injecting ink into the ink chamber and two pairs of engagement pieces 19b. The pair of engagement pieces 19b are disposed apart from each other in the left-right direction A3 so that an engagement plate 72a4 described later can be disposed therebetween. Of the two pairs of engagement pieces 19b, one pair of engagement pieces 19b is disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction, and the other pair of engagement pieces 19b is disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction. In other words, the two pairs of engagement pieces 19b are arranged apart from each other so as to sandwich the injection port 19a in the diameter direction of the injection port 19a. The pair of engagement pieces 19b are disposed in the vicinity of the injection port 19a.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the cap 17 is configured to be detachable from the ink injection unit 19, and is attached to the ink injection unit 19 to seal the injection port 19 a. When the cap 17 is removed from the ink injection portion 19, the injection port 19a is exposed to the outside. With the injection port 19a exposed, as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to inject ink into the ink chamber of the tank 18 by inserting a nozzle portion 72a of an ink bottle 70 described later into the injection port 19a. Details of the ink bottle 70 will be described later.

<Feeding unit 20>
As shown in FIG. 2, the feeding unit 20 is provided on the upper side of the paper feed tray 15. The feeding unit 20 includes a sheet feeding roller 21 and an arm 22. The paper feed roller 21 is pivotally supported at the tip of the arm 22. The arm 22 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 22 a and is urged by a spring or the like so as to be rotated downward so that the paper feed roller 21 contacts the paper feed tray 15. The arm 22 is configured to be retractable upward when the paper feed tray 15 is inserted and removed. The paper feed roller 21 is rotated by the power of the ASF motor 20M transmitted through a transmission mechanism (not shown), and the paper P stacked in the paper feed tray 15 is fed to the transport path 25.

<Paper Tray 15>
As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feed tray 15 has a slanted wall portion 15a. The inclined wall portion 15 a guides the paper P to the transport path 25 when the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 15 is fed by the paper feed roller 21.

<Conveyance path 25>
As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyance path 25 is formed by an outer guide member 25a and an inner guide member 25b that face each other at a predetermined interval. The conveyance path 25 is configured to bend upward from the rear end portion of the paper feed tray 15 and to the front side of the printer unit 10. The paper P fed from the paper feed tray 15 is guided to make a U-turn from the lower side to the upper side by the transport path 25 and reaches the recording unit 40.

<Conveying roller pair 35 and paper discharge roller pair 36>
The conveyance roller pair 35 includes a conveyance roller 35a disposed on the lower side and a pinch roller 35b disposed on the upper side. The conveyance roller 35a rotates by receiving the power of the LF motor 35M via a transmission mechanism (not shown). The pinch roller 35b is rotated along with the rotation of the conveying roller 35a. The conveyance roller 35a and the pinch roller 35b cooperate to sandwich the paper P from the vertical direction A1 and convey the paper P to the recording unit 40.

  The paper discharge roller pair 36 includes a paper discharge roller 36a disposed on the lower side and a spur roller 36b disposed on the upper side. The paper discharge roller 36a rotates when the power of the LF motor 35M is transmitted through a transmission mechanism (not shown). The spur roller 36b rotates with the rotation of the paper discharge roller 36a. The paper discharge roller 36a and the spur roller 36b cooperate to sandwich the paper P from the vertical direction A1 and convey the paper P to the paper discharge tray 16.

<Recording unit 40>
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the recording unit 40 includes an inkjet head 41, a head moving mechanism 50, and a platen 6. The head moving mechanism 50 includes a carriage 51. The carriage 51 reciprocates in the scanning direction (the left-right direction A3 and the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper P). The inkjet head 41 is supported by the carriage 51.

  The lower surface of the inkjet head 41 is an ejection surface 41 b in which a plurality of ejection ports 41 a that eject ink to the paper P conveyed below the inkjet head 41 are formed. As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of discharge ports 41 a are arranged such that four rows of discharge port arrays arranged along the transport direction are formed in the scanning direction. In this embodiment, black ink is ejected from the ejection ports 41a belonging to the rightmost ejection port array in FIG. 3, and color inks (magenta, cyan) are ejected from the ejection ports 41a belonging to the other three ejection port arrays. , Yellow) is discharged. The inkjet head 41 ejects ink of each color as minute ink droplets from the ejection port 41a under the control of the control unit 5 based on the recording command.

  The inkjet head 41 is integrally provided with a tube joint 44. Then, the inkjet head 41 and the four tanks 18 are connected via four flexible tubes (not shown) coupled to the tube joint 44, and ink of each color is supplied to the inkjet head 41.

  Below the inkjet head 41, a platen 6 that supports the paper P conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 35 is disposed. The platen 6 is disposed in a portion where the paper P passes in the reciprocating range of the carriage 51. Since the width of the platen 6 is sufficiently larger than the maximum width of the transportable paper P, the paper P transported through the transport path 25 always passes over the platen 6.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head moving mechanism 50 includes a pair of guide rails 52 and a belt transmission mechanism 53. The pair of guide rails 52 are spaced apart in the front-rear direction A2 and extend parallel to each other in the left-right direction A3. The carriage 51 is disposed so as to straddle the pair of guide rails 52, and is reciprocated along the left-right direction A3 on the pair of guide rails 52.

  The belt transmission mechanism 53 includes two pulleys 54 and 55, an endless timing belt 56 partially fixed to the carriage 51, and a carriage motor 50M. The two pulleys 54 and 55 are spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction A <b> 3, and a timing belt 56 is stretched over the pulleys 54 and 55. The pulley 54 is connected to the drive shaft of the carriage motor 50M. When the carriage motor 50M is driven, the timing belt 56 travels, and the inkjet head 41 moves in the scanning direction together with the carriage 51.

  The inkjet head 41 ejects ink of each color from the ejection port 41a under the control of the control unit 5 based on the recording command. That is, the carriage 51 reciprocates in the left-right direction A3, whereby the inkjet head 41 is scanned with respect to the paper P, and the ink of each color is ejected from the ejection port 41a, thereby being conveyed on the platen 6. An image is recorded on the paper P. In the printer unit 10, a linear encoder (not shown) having a large number of light transmitting parts (slits) arranged at intervals in the scanning direction is provided. On the other hand, the carriage 51 is provided with a transmission type position detection sensor (not shown) having a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The printer unit 10 can recognize the current position in the scanning direction of the carriage 51 from the count value of the light transmitting portion of the linear encoder detected by the position detection sensor while the carriage 51 is moving, and the carriage motor 50M. Rotational drive of is controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 5 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and the like. The operation of the ASF motor 20M, the LF motor 35M, the carriage motor 50M, the inkjet head 41, and the like is controlled. For example, the control unit 5 controls the inkjet head 41, the ASF motor 20M, the LF motor 35M, the carriage motor 50M, and the like based on a recording command transmitted from the scanner unit or the PC, and records an image or the like on the paper P. .

  Although the control unit 5 of this embodiment has one CPU and one ASIC, the control unit 5 includes only one ASIC and performs processing necessary for the one ASIC in a batch. Alternatively, a plurality of ASICs may be included, and the plurality of ASICs may share the necessary processing.

  Next, an ink bottle 70 for replenishing ink to the tank 18 will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7A, the ink bottle 70 has a bottle body 71, a bottle cap 72, and a cap stopper 73. As shown in FIG. 8A, the bottle main body 71 includes a storage portion 71a, a connection portion 71b formed integrally in the center of the storage portion 71a in FIG. 7B, and an upper portion of the storage portion 71a. And an annular portion 71c disposed in the vicinity of the periphery of the. The reservoir 71a has a cylindrical shape with a closed bottom. The connection part 71b has a cylindrical shape with the upper part closed, and its diameter is smaller than that of the storage part 71a. The lower end of the connection portion 71b is connected to the upper end of the storage portion 71a, and an ink chamber 71d for storing ink is configured in the bottle body 71.

  A first opening 71b2 for discharging the ink in the ink chamber 71d is formed on the upper surface 71b1 of the connecting portion 71b. The first opening 71b2 is a circular hole. Further, an annular protrusion 71b3 is formed on the upper surface 71b1 so as to surround the first opening 71b2. A male screw 71b5 is formed on the outer peripheral side surface 71b4 of the connecting portion 71b. Further, the outer peripheral side surface 71b4 is provided with an O-ring 71b6 as a sealing member made of an elastic material. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent ink from leaking between the connection portion 71b of the bottle main body 71 and the bottle cap 72 attached to the connection portion 71b. Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, a male screw 71c2 is also formed on the outer peripheral side surface 71c1 of the annular portion 71c. The direction of the male screw 71c2 is formed in a direction opposite to the direction of the male screw 71b5. For this reason, the tightening directions of the cap stopper 73 and the bottle cap 72 with respect to the bottle main body 71 are opposite to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the bottle cap 72 has a nozzle portion 72a, an attachment portion 72b, and a partition plate 72c. As shown in FIG. 8A, the nozzle portion 72a is formed in a hollow shape, and includes a straight portion 72a1 and a diameter-expanded portion 72a2 that is increased in diameter toward the lower side. Further, on the outer peripheral side surface 72a3 of the nozzle portion 72a, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 8A, a pair of engagement plates (engagement portions) 72a4 stands in the diameter direction and the vertical direction of the straight portion 72a1. It is formed to be installed. The pair of engagement plates 72a4 is formed from the straight portion 72a1 to the enlarged diameter portion 72a2. Note that only one engagement plate 72a4 is shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 8 (a), but there are two pairs of engagement plates 72a4 so that the straight portion 72a1 is sandwiched in the diameter direction of the straight portion 72a1. Has been placed. In other words, the pair of engagement plates 72a4 can be disposed between the two pairs of engagement pieces 19b when the tip (straight portion 72a1) of the nozzle portion 72a is inserted into the injection port 19a. It is configured.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the attachment portion 72b is a portion for attaching to the connection portion 71b, and is an annular wall extending downward from the outer peripheral edge of the lower end of the nozzle portion 72a (expanded diameter portion 72a2). It is constituted by. A female screw 72b2 corresponding to the male screw 71b5 of the connecting portion 71b is formed on the inner peripheral surface 72b1 of the mounting portion 72b. Thereby, the bottle cap 72 can be attached to the bottle main body 71 by screw fitting.

  The partition plate 72c is formed at the lower end portion of the enlarged diameter portion 72a2 so as to cover the lower portion of the enlarged diameter portion 72a2. That is, the partition plate 72c partitions between the nozzle portion 72a and the first opening 71b2 of the bottle main body 71 as shown in FIG. Further, the partition plate 72c is formed with a second opening 72c1 for allowing the ink discharged from the first opening 71b2 to flow to the nozzle portion 72a. The second opening 72c1 is formed of a circular hole, and the diameter thereof is substantially the same as that of the first opening 71b2 as shown in FIG. 8B. Moreover, the partition plate 72c has a sealing member 72c2 that can seal the first opening 71b2. The sealing member 72c2 has a contact portion (elastic member) 72c3 that can contact the entire annular protrusion 71b3, and a fixing portion 72c4 for fixing the contact portion 72c3 to the partition plate 72c. Further, the sealing member 72c2 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, but only the contact portion 72c3 may be configured to have elasticity, or the sealing member 72c2 itself is only the contact portion 72c3. You may be comprised from.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the sealing member 72c2 and the second opening 72c1 have a central axis L passing through the center of the partition plate 72c in the diameter direction (left and right direction in the drawing) of the straight portion 72a1 of the nozzle portion 72a. They are lined up. The central axis L also passes through the center of the connecting portion 71b of the bottle main body 71, and extends in a direction (vertical direction in FIG. 8A) perpendicular to the first opening 71b2. In short, the central axis L is a central axis passing through the center of the ink bottle 70 (the center of the bottle main body 71). As shown in FIG. 8A, when the abutting portion 72c3 of the sealing member 72c2 takes a sealed state in which the entire upper end of the annular protrusion 71b3 is in contact with the first opening 71b2, The two openings 72c1 are arranged at a position facing the upper surface 71b1. Then, when the bottle cap 72 is rotated 180 ° around the central axis L with respect to the bottle body 71 from the sealed state, as shown in FIG. The first opening 72b2 is generally opposed (matched) with the first opening 72b2 so that the first opening 72b2 is opened from the sealed state, and the contact portion 72c3 of the sealing member 72c2 is disposed at a position facing the upper surface 71b1. Is done. In such an open state, the ink stored in the bottle main body 71 flows to the nozzle portion 72a through the first opening 71b2 and the second opening 72c1, and from the discharge port 72a5 formed at the tip of the nozzle portion 72a. It can be discharged to the outside.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, when the bottle cap 72 is attached to the bottle main body 71 and takes a sealed state, the bottle cap 72 is tightened so as to be closest to the bottle main body 71. It has become. As shown in FIG. 8B, when the bottle cap 72 is attached to the bottle main body 71 and takes the open state, the bottle cap 72 is tightened in a direction away from the bottle main body 71 than in the sealed state. Is in a relaxed state. That is, the bottle cap 72 is slightly moved upward with respect to the bottle main body 71 by changing from the sealed state shown in FIG. 8A to the opened state shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 8A, the cap stopper 73 has a cylindrical shape configured such that the inner diameter increases stepwise as it goes downward. More specifically, the cap stopper 73 includes an annular small-diameter portion 73a having a small diameter, an annular medium-diameter portion 73b having a diameter larger than that of the small-diameter portion 73a, and an annular large-diameter portion having a diameter larger than that of the medium-diameter portion 73b. 73c, and these three parts are connected in order. A female screw 73c2 corresponding to the male screw 71c2 of the annular portion 71c is formed on the inner peripheral surface 73c1 of the large diameter portion 73c. Thereby, the cap stopper 73 can be attached to the bottle body 71 by screw fitting.

  In addition, the cap stopper 73 is arranged so that the small diameter portion 73a covers a part of the periphery of the nozzle portion 72a and the medium diameter portion 73b covers the attachment portion 72b when attached to the bottle body 71. The large-diameter portion 73c is arranged so as to cover the annular portion 71c. When the cap stopper 73 is tightened so as to be closest to the bottle main body 71 and takes the above-described sealing state as shown in FIG. 8A, the lower end of the nozzle portion 72a and the lower end of the small diameter portion 73a. A gap S is formed between the nozzle portion 72a and the lower end of the small-diameter portion 73a so that the gap S disappears when the above-described open state is taken as shown in FIG. Has been. That is, the cap stopper 73 restricts the rotation of the bottle body 71 with respect to the bottle cap 72 when taking the open state from the sealed state.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 8A, the small diameter portion 73a of the cap stopper 73 is an ink receiver for receiving ink that has dropped from the nozzle portion 72a between the enlarged diameter portion 72a2. Part 74 is configured. As a result, even if the ink adhering to the vicinity of the discharge port 72a5 drips down through the nozzle portion 72a after the ink is replenished to the tank 18 with the ink bottle 70, it can be received by the ink receiving portion 74. Since the gap S shown in FIG. 8A is not a large gap, even if the ink from the ink receiving portion 74 flows into the gap S, the ink is held by the capillary force generated in the gap S. For this reason, most of the ink dripping from the nozzle portion 72 a is held by the ink receiving portion 74. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the user and getting dirty. Since the bottle main body 71 has an annular portion 71c, even if the bottle main body 71 flows from the ink receiving portion 74 to the bottle main body 71 side through the bottle cap 72 and the cap stopper 73, the annular portion 71c Ink can be received in a region surrounded by the storage portion 71a. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the dripping ink from adhering to most of the outer peripheral side surface of the bottle main body 71 (the lower portion than the annular portion 71c). Therefore, it is possible to suppress the ink from adhering to the user and getting dirty.

  Next, the operation when the ink in the ink bottle 70 is injected into the tank 18 and replenished will be described below. The ink bottle 70 normally takes the sealed state shown in FIG. For this reason, even if the ink bottle 70 falls down unexpectedly in this state, the ink does not overflow from the discharge port 72a5. A cap (not shown) for sealing the discharge port 72a5 is attached to the tip of the nozzle portion 72a of the ink bottle 70, and the cap is removed from the ink bottle 70 when ink is injected into the tank 18. It is.

  First, the user opens the opening / closing cover 13 and removes the cap 17 of the tank 18 to be refilled with ink. Hereinafter, a case where ink is replenished to the tank 18a will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the nozzle part 72a of the ink bottle 70 is inserted from the tip into the injection port 19a of the ink injection part 19 of the tank 18a from which the cap 17 has been removed. At this time, the pair of engagement plates 72a4 of the ink bottle 70 is disposed between the two pairs of engagement pieces 19b. Thus, the pair of engagement plates 72a4 and the two pairs of engagement pieces 19b are engaged, and the rotation of the bottle cap 72 relative to the tank 18a is restricted.

  When the user rotates the bottle main body 71 around the central axis L, the bottle main body 71 rotates with respect to the bottle cap 72. As a result, the sealed state shown in FIG. 8A proceeds to the open state shown in FIG. 8B. Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the bottle body 71 is rotated by 180 ° around the central axis L, the bottle cap 72 is tightened with respect to the bottle body 71, and the nozzle portion 72a of the bottle cap 72 is released. And the lower end of the small diameter portion 73a of the cap stopper 73 come into contact with each other, and the rotation of the bottle body 71 with respect to the bottle cap 72 is restricted. In this way, the first opening 71b2 and the second opening 72c1 face each other and take an open state, so that the ink discharged from the first opening 71b2 of the bottle body 71 is smoothly nozzled through the second opening 72c1. It flows into the part 72a. Then, ink is injected into the tank 18a from the discharge port 72a5 of the nozzle portion 72a. In this way, the ink in the ink bottle 70 can be replenished to the tank 18a.

  When the ink amount in the tank 18a reaches a predetermined amount (for example, full amount), the user ends the ink injection. At this time, the user rotates the bottle main body 71 in the direction opposite to the rotation direction when taking the opened state from the sealed state. Thereby, the bottle main body 71 rotates with respect to the bottle cap 72, and the open state shown in FIG. 8 (b) advances to the sealed state shown in FIG. 8 (a). Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, the bottle cap 72 is tightened with respect to the bottle main body 71, whereby the rotation of the bottle main body 71 with respect to the bottle cap 72 is restricted. At this time, the contact portion 72c3 of the sealing member 72c2 contacts the entire annular protrusion 71b3, and the first opening 71b2 is in a sealed state. Thereafter, the user removes the ink bottle 70 from the ink injection portion 19 so as to remove the nozzle portion 72a from the injection port 19a. As described above, the ink bottle 70 can be removed from the ink injection portion 19 in a state where the first opening 71b2 is sealed by the sealing member 72c2, so that the ink remaining in the ink bottle 70 is discharged from the discharge port 72a5. There is no leakage. For this reason, it becomes possible to prevent the ink injection part 19 and the tank 18 periphery from being stained with ink. Thereafter, the cap 17 is attached to the ink injection portion 19 of the tank 18a, and the open / close cover 13 is closed, whereby ink replenishment to the tank 18a is completed.

  As described above, the first opening 71b2 is sealed before the ink is supplied to the printer unit 10 (that is, before the ink bottle 70 is attached to the printer unit 10), and the tank 18 is supplied when the ink is supplied. With the pair of engagement pieces 19b engaged with the pair of engagement plates 72a4, the bottle body 71 is rotated to open, and the ink in the ink chamber 71d is replenished to the tank 18 through the nozzle portion 72a. It becomes possible to do. Thus, since the bottle body 71 is rotated with the tank 18 engaged with the pair of engagement plates 72a4 and the ink is replenished, the sealed state can be maintained. Therefore, the discharge port 72a5 of the nozzle portion 72a is provided. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ink from leaking unexpectedly and adhering to the user or the printer unit 10 (multifunction device 1) and becoming dirty.

  Moreover, the partition plate 72c has the sealing member 72c2 (contact part 72c3). Thereby, the sealed state of the first opening 71b2 can be taken with an easy configuration. As a modification, the annular protrusion 71b3 may not be formed. In this case, what is necessary is just to seal the 1st opening 71b2 directly with the sealing member 72c2 (contact part 72c3).

  The bottle cap 72 is attached to the bottle main body 71 by screw fitting. Further, the cap stopper 73 is also attached to the bottle main body 71 by screw fitting. Thereby, the cap stopper 73 and the bottle cap 72 can be detached from the bottle main body 71. For this reason, it becomes possible to easily replenish ink into the ink chamber 71d of the bottle main body 71.

  Further, since it is possible to regulate the rotation of the bottle body 71 relative to the bottle cap 72 when the cap stopper 73 takes the opened state from the sealed state, the user can easily determine that the ink bottle 70 is in the opened state. I understand.

  Further, the tightening directions of the cap stopper 73 and the bottle cap 72 with respect to the bottle body 71 are opposite to each other. This makes it possible to prevent the cap stopper 73 from rotating relative to the bottle body 71 together with the bottle cap 72 when taking the opened state from the sealed state.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. For example, when the ink bottle 70 in the above-described embodiment is opened from the sealed state, the first opening 71b2 and the second opening 72c1 are generally opposed to each other, but the first opening 71b2 The second opening 72c1 may be partially opposed. Furthermore, as long as the sealing of the first opening 71b2 by the partition plate 72c (the contact portion 72c3) is released, the first opening 71b2 and the second opening 72c1 do not have to face each other. In these cases, the same effect as described above can be obtained. Further, the sealing member 72c2 may not be provided on the partition plate 72c. In this case, the first opening 71b2 may be directly sealed by the partition plate 72c in the sealed state, and in the open state, the partition plate 72c is separated from the first opening 71b2 or the first opening 71b2 is separated from the first opening 71b2. The two openings 72c1 may be at least partially opposed to the first openings 71b2. Moreover, the shape and size of the first opening 71b2 and the second opening 72c1 are not particularly limited, and may be any shape or size, or a plurality of shapes and sizes may be formed.

  Further, the bottle cap 72 may be attached to the bottle body 71 by a method other than screw fitting as long as the bottle cap 72 is attached to the bottle body 71 so as to be rotatable around the central axis L. Only one pair of engaging plates 72a4 as the engaging portions may be formed, or three or more may be formed. Further, the engagement portion formed on the bottle cap 72 may be any shape as long as the bottle cap 72 can be prevented from rotating with respect to the tank 18 by engaging with the tank 18. You may do it. Preferably, a shape in which the user holds the engaging portion and makes it difficult for the bottle cap 72 to rotate with respect to the bottle main body 71 is good.

  Further, the ink bottle 70 in the above-described embodiment has the cap stopper 73, but the cap stopper 73 may not be provided. Further, the cap stopper 73 may be fixed to the bottle body 71 so as not to rotate. The cap stopper 73 may be screwed to the bottle main body 71 so as to be in the same tightening direction as the bottle cap 72. Further, the cap stopper 73 does not have to be formed with the small diameter portion 73a constituting the ink receiving portion 74.

10 Printer section (inkjet printer)
18 Tank 70 Ink bottle 71 Bottle body 71b2 First opening 71d Ink chamber 72 Bottle cap 72a Nozzle part 72a4 Engagement plate (engagement part)
72c Partition plate 72c1 2nd opening 72c3 Contact part (elastic member)
73 Cap stopper 74 Ink receiving part

Claims (7)

In an ink bottle for replenishing ink in the tank of an inkjet printer having a tank for containing ink,
A bottle body having an ink chamber for storing ink and a first opening for discharging ink in the ink chamber;
A bottle cap that is rotatably attached to the bottle body while covering the first opening;
The bottle cap is engaged with the nozzle portion for pouring ink into the tank, a partition plate for partitioning the nozzle portion and the first opening, and the bottle cap with respect to the tank. And an engaging portion for restricting rotation of the
The partition plate is formed with a second opening for circulating the ink discharged from the first opening to the nozzle portion,
The bottle cap has a sealed state in which the first opening is sealed with the partition plate by rotating the bottle body with the engagement portion engaged with the tank, and the first opening. An ink bottle configured to be capable of selectively taking an open state from the sealed state.   The ink bottle according to claim 1, wherein the partition plate includes an elastic member for sealing the first opening in the sealed state.   The ink bottle according to claim 1, wherein the bottle cap is attached to the bottle body by screw fitting.   The bottle cap is attached to the bottle body while covering at least a part of the periphery of the nozzle portion, and the bottle body is rotated by rotating the bottle body with the engagement portion engaged with the tank. The ink according to claim 3, further comprising a cap stopper that restricts rotation of the bottle body relative to the bottle cap by contacting the bottle cap when the opened state is taken from a state. Bottle.   The ink bottle according to claim 4, wherein the cap stopper is attached to the bottle body by screw fitting.   The ink bottle according to claim 5, wherein tightening directions of the cap stopper and the bottle cap with respect to the bottle body are opposite to each other.   The said cap stopper comprises the ink receiving part for receiving the ink which flowed down from the said nozzle part between the said bottle caps, The any one of Claims 4-6 characterized by the above-mentioned. Ink bottle.

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