JP2545189Y2 - ink cartridge - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink cartridge used in an apparatus such as an ink-jet printer which performs printing using ink, and more particularly to a running of a carriage.
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge capable of reliably preventing ink ripples caused by the ink cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer, an ink cartridge is generally mounted on a carriage that can reciprocate along a platen together with an ink jet head. Therefore, ink filled in an ink tank of the ink cartridge is It will be wavy as the carriage travels. Then, there is a problem that pressure fluctuation occurs in the ink filled in the ink tank, the dot diameter of the ink ejected from the nozzles varies, and printing of good quality cannot be performed.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relationship between the traveling speed of the carriage and the fluctuation of the pressure of the ink in the ink tank in the above-described conventional apparatus. The carriage reciprocates between the point A and the point D. Paper is located at

[0004] The pressure of the ink in the ink tank fluctuates as shown in FIG. 9 in relation to the traveling speed of the carriage. According to FIG. 9, the ink is actually used for printing. Since the ink pressure fluctuates even at the position, as described above, a problem occurs in the printing quality, and printing of good quality can be performed only in a range of about 50% of the paper width.

[0005]

Therefore, conventionally, a foam such as sponge is stored in the ink tank of the ink cartridge to prevent the ink from waving even when the carriage runs. Was.

However, when the foam is stored in the ink tank as described above, the ink permeates into the foam, so that only about half of the ink in the ink tank can be actually used. However, the resistance when supplying the ink from the ink tank to the nozzle was large.

On the other hand, conventionally, it is also known to float a plate-like float in an ink tank of an ink cartridge and to suppress the ripple of ink by the float.
With such a float, ripples of the ink could not be sufficiently suppressed.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an ink cartridge which can use the entire amount of ink in an ink tank and can surely prevent ripples of ink due to carriage movement. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object ink cartridge according to claim 1 of the present invention is an ink cartridge obtained by forming an ink tank in the interior of the cartridge body, the ink tank, the under
Under at least an intermediate portion each vertical excluding end
It is characterized in that a dividing member for dividing into a plurality of spaces whose ends are open and cannot communicate with each other in the horizontal direction is housed.

The ink cartridge according to claim 2 is
Claim 1 is characterized in that the dividing member is a bent plate having a waveform in a plane.

Further, the ink cartridge according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the dividing member is a honeycomb structure forming a plurality of honeycombs extending vertically.

[0012]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the inside of the ink tank is completely divided into a plurality of spaces at least in the vertical direction except for the lower end portion by the dividing member. It is possible to reliably prevent ripples of the ink due to the movement of the carriage, and
The entire amount of ink in the ink tank can be reliably used.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows an outline of an ink jet printer which performs printing using the ink cartridge 1 of the first embodiment. It is shown.

In FIG. 4, a cylindrical platen 3 is rotatably driven inside a printer main body 2, and two guide shafts 4, 4 are provided in front of the platen 3 on the front side thereof. 3 are arranged along the axial direction. A carriage 5 is provided on each of the guide shafts 4 so as to be able to reciprocate along the guide shaft 4. For example, ink of each color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black is supplied to the carriage 5 from nozzles. An inkjet head 6 for jetting is mounted. Further, the carriage 5 is provided with a plurality of ink cartridges 1 in which ink tanks 15 described later for supplying the inks of the respective colors to the ink jet heads 6 are mounted. Is a pump unit 8 for removing air bubbles and the like in the ink flow path to the ink jet head 6 of the carriage 5.
Are arranged. Further, on the rear side of the platen 3 of the printer main body 2, a continuous paper 9 wound in a roll shape is disposed.
Is guided to a predetermined printing position along the outer periphery of the printing head.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 1 to 3, the ink cartridge 1 has a top wall 11, a bottom wall 12, and both end walls 13A and 13B which are formed to be elongated, and both side walls having large dimensions both vertically and horizontally. Cartridge main body 1 formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape by 14A and 14B
0, and an ink tank 15 is formed in the cartridge body 10. On the top wall 11 of the cartridge body 10, a handle 16 for grasping with two fingers is integrally provided. A cylindrical outlet 17 is provided at the center of the bottom wall 12 and a cap 18 is attached to the outlet 17.

The cap 18 has a cap body 19 composed of a peripheral wall 20 and a bottom wall 21. An opening 22 is formed in the center of the bottom wall 21 of the cap body 19. Further, a rubber sealing member 23 whose central portion can be inserted into the outlet 17 of the ink cartridge 1 is mounted inside the cap body 19, and the sealing member 23 can be inserted into the outlet 17. A pair of recesses 24 communicating with the ink tank 15 is provided in the upper part of the center of the member 23.
A and 24B are formed. Among them, the recess 24A is
This is for supplying a pressurizing gas into the ink tank 15, and a pipe 25 reaching the upper end of the ink tank 15 is connected to the concave portion 24 </ b> A. The recess 24 </ b> B is for supplying ink pressurized by the pressurizing gas supplied into the ink tank 15 via the recess 24 </ b> A and the pipe 25 to the nozzle of the inkjet head 6. At the time of actual ink supply, a pair of needles communicating with the recesses 24A and 24B is inserted into the sealing member 23 through the opening 22 of the cap 18, and ink is supplied through the needles. Become.

In the ink tank 15, a corrugated plate 26 as an example of a dividing member extends from the upper end to the lower end thereof.
Are arranged. The corrugated plate 26 is to form a waveform in plan, the side walls 14A, are respectively formed as folded with equal angular increments several times in a position in contact with the inner surface of the 14B, the vertical direction of the ink tank 15
The middle part of the
Is divided into a plurality of spaces that cannot communicate with each other . The corrugated plate 26 is disposed so as not to contact the pipe 25, and
Is the direction of the arrow in FIG. further,
At the upper end and lower end in the ink tank 15
The spaces are communicated with each other.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described.

In FIG. 3, printing is performed by moving the carriage 5 along the platen 3 and ejecting ink from a predetermined nozzle (not shown) of the ink jet head 6 toward the paper 9 in accordance with print information. .

By the way, during printing, each ink cartridge 1 mounted on the carriage 5 moves together with the carriage 5 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, and with this movement, the ink filled in the ink tank 15 is removed. Although attempts to hit the waves, is in the ink tank 15 and corrugated plate 26 is disposed, the ink tank by the corrugated plate 26
The inside of 15 is completely divided the middle part in the vertical direction into multiple spaces
Therefore, since the ripple of the ink is suppressed, the ink in the ink tank 15 does not undulate. As a result, the pressure in the ink in the ink tank 15 does not fluctuate, so that good quality printing can be performed.

Further, the entire amount of ink in the ink tank 15 can be reliably used.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the traveling speed of the carriage 5 and the pressure fluctuation of the ink in the ink tank 15 in the first embodiment of the present invention. Unlike the pressure fluctuation in the graph, the pressure fluctuation in the ink in the ink tank 15 occurs only in a narrow range, and as a result, printing of good quality can be performed over almost the entire area of the paper.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the ink cartridge according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a honeycomb structure in which the divided members form a large number of honeycombs 28 extending vertically. It is a body 27. The honeycomb structure 27 has end walls 13A and 13B and side walls 14 from the upper end to the lower end in the ink tank 15.
The honeycombs 28 are arranged so as to be in contact with the inner surfaces of A and 14B, and the respective honeycombs 28 each having a hexagonal column shape are arranged and arranged. In the vicinity of the pipe 25 for supplying the pressurizing gas into the ink tank 15, four large honeycombs 28 are combined so as not to come into contact with the pipe 25, and a large honeycomb 28A having a plane cross shape is formed. Are formed.

According to such a configuration, the ink tank 1
The intermediate portion in 5 is formed by a plurality of honeycombs 28 and 28A.
Since the ink is further subdivided, the ripple of the ink is further suppressed than in the first embodiment described above, and the ink in the ink tank 15 does not undulate greatly. As a result, the pressure in the ink in the ink tank 15 does not fluctuate so much, and printing with good quality can be performed.

Further, the entire amount of ink in the ink tank 15 can be reliably used.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the traveling speed of the carriage 5 and the fluctuation of the pressure of the ink in the ink tank 15 in the second embodiment of the present invention. The pressure fluctuation in the ink in the ink tank 15 occurs only in a range narrower than the pressure fluctuation in the graph of FIG. 5, and as a result, printing of good quality can be performed over the entire area of the paper.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as necessary. For example, the dividing member is located at the lower end of the ink tank.
It is sufficient if at least the middle part in the vertical direction excluding the above can be divided into a plurality of spaces.

[0029]

As described above, according to the ink cartridge according to the present invention, the entire amount of ink in the ink tank can be used, and the ripple of ink caused by the movement of the carriage can be reliably prevented. It has a practical effect. Especially, each space in the ink tank is horizontal
One space because it is completely divided in the direction
The effect of the waves in the building does not reach other adjacent spaces
To reliably prevent ink ripples due to carriage movement.
Can be stopped.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of an ink cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a printer using the ink cartridge of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a second embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3, showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the operation of a conventional ink cartridge.

[Description of Signs] 1 Ink cartridge 2 Printer main body 3 Platen 5 Carriage 6 Inkjet head 9 Paper 10 Cartridge main body 15 Ink tank 18 Cap 26 Corrugated plate 27 Honeycomb structure 28, 28A Honeycomb

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An ink cartridge having an ink tank formed inside a cartridge body, wherein at least an intermediate portion in a vertical direction excluding a lower end portion thereof is opened at a lower end in the ink tank, and a lower end is opened.
An ink cartridge containing a dividing member for dividing into a plurality of spaces that cannot communicate with each other . 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the dividing member is a bent plate having a waveform in a plane. 3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the dividing member is a honeycomb structure forming a plurality of honeycombs extending in a vertical direction.