JP2545894Y2 - Ink container for inkjet printer - 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 container mounted on an ink jet printer which performs printing by ejecting ink from a head toward paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a general ink jet printer. Inside the printer body 15, a cylindrical platen 12 is rotatably provided, and two guide shafts 13, 1 are provided in front of the platen 12.
3 is provided along the axial direction of the platen 12. The carriage 1 is provided on each of these guide shafts 13 so as to be able to reciprocate along the guide shafts 13. The carriage 1 ejects ink of each color such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Print head 2 is mounted. An ink container 3 for supplying ink of each color to the print head 2 is mounted on the carriage 1. Further, the platen 12 of the printer body 15
A continuous sheet 14 wound in a roll shape is provided on the rear side of the sheet, and the sheet 14 is guided to a predetermined printing position along the outer periphery of the platen 12.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of an ink supply system in a conventional ink jet printer. Carriage 1
Is mounted with the print head 2 and the ink container 3, and performs printing while reciprocating along the guide shaft 13. An opening 3 a formed at the bottom of the sealed ink container 3 is closed by a rubber stopper 8. A vertically extending air intake pipe 11 is provided inside the ink container 3, and a lower opening end 11 a of the air intake pipe 11 is closed by a rubber stopper 8. At the upper end of the air intake pipe 11 is an air intake 1
1b is formed, and a water repellent filter 9 generally using a nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene is attached to the air intake port 11b. The ink intake amount is controlled so that the air intake port 11b is located above the liquid level of the ink in the ink container 3. When the sealed ink container 3 is mounted on the carriage 1, the air supply needle 7 and the ink supply needle 4 break through the rubber stopper 8 to supply ink from the ink container 3 to the print head 2 and to supply air from outside to the ink container 3. Can be supplied through the hole 7a of the air supply needle 7 and the hole 4a of the ink supply needle 4, respectively. The ink is supplied from the ink container 3 to the print head 2 through an ink supply needle 4 and an ink supply tube 5. Then, an amount of air corresponding to the supplied ink amount passes through the air supply tube 6 and the air supply needle 7 and finally hits the air intake port 11b, through a water-repellent filter 9 using a nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene. Supplied inside. The end of the air tube 6 during printing is open to the atmosphere.

An ink container 3 for supplying ink to a print head 2 of an ink-jet printer can be roughly divided into an ink container 3 in which ink is directly charged and an ink container 3 in which ink is once sealed in a bag made of aluminum or the like. There are two types: In general, it is often used to directly fill the ink container 3 with the ink because the structure is simple and the remaining amount of the ink can be directly checked with the eyes.

[0005]

However, in the case of a structure in which ink is directly inserted into the ink container 3, if the printer main body is installed at an angle, the ink comes into contact with the filter 9 attached to the air intake port 11a. Since the components of the ink include not only water-soluble components but also various solvents, it was difficult for the filter 9 attached to the air intake 11a to completely repel the ink. Therefore, when the internal pressure of the ink container 3 becomes higher than the external atmospheric pressure due to a temperature change, a pressure change, or the like in a state where the filter 9 is in contact with the ink, the ink in the ink container 3 permeates into the filter 9 and the filter 9 This causes clogging, preventing air corresponding to the amount of ink ejected from the print head 2 from entering, and causing a problem that the ink supply system eventually becomes negative pressure and adversely affects the ejection performance. In particular, high-speed printing ink jet printers with a large amount of ink ejected per time were the most susceptible.

An object of the present invention is to prevent clogging of a filter and to enable stable ink supply.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of an ink container for an ink jet printer of the present invention is,
Air intake at the boundary between the stored ink and the outside world
And a plurality of openings for the air intake are provided,
A water repellent filter in one opening of the air intake
Attachment, characterized in that a flexible diaphragm is attached to another opening .

[0008]

According to the present invention, the flexible diaphragm attached to the boundary between the inside of the ink container and the outside expands and contracts in response to a change in temperature and a change in atmospheric pressure, so that the front side (outside world) and the back side of the flexible diaphragm. Since the pressure difference (in the container) can be eliminated, the ink in the ink container does not easily permeate the filter, and the filter does not easily become clogged.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of the print head drive system of the ink jet printer according to the present invention is almost the same as that of the general ink jet printer shown in FIG. 2, so that the ink supply system according to the present invention will be described in detail. I do. FIG.
3 shows the configuration of an ink supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The carriage 1 carries a print head 2 and an ink container 3 and performs printing while reciprocating along a guide shaft 13. An opening 3 a formed at the bottom of the sealed ink container 3 is closed by a rubber stopper 8. An air intake pipe 11 extending in the up-down direction is provided inside the ink container 3, and a lower opening end 11a of the air intake pipe 11 is provided.
Is closed by a rubber stopper 8. An air intake port 11b is formed at the upper end of the air intake pipe 11, and a water repellent filter 9 generally using a nonwoven fabric made of polypropylene is attached to the air intake port 11b. The ink intake amount is controlled so that the air intake port 11b is located above the liquid level of the ink in the ink container 3.

When the sealed ink container 3 is mounted on the carriage 1, the air supply needle 7 and the ink supply needle 4 pierce the rubber 8 to supply ink from the ink container 3 and supply air into the ink container 3. This is possible through the hole 7a of the air supply needle 7 and the hole 4a of the ink supply needle 4. The ink is supplied from the ink container 3 to the print head 2 through an ink supply needle 4 and an ink supply tube 5. Then, an amount of air corresponding to the supplied ink amount is finally passed through the air supply tube 6 and the air supply needle 7 to the air intake port 11.
b, for example, made of polytetrafluoroethylene,
The ink is supplied into the ink container 3 through a filter 9 made of polypropylene or the like. At the boundary between the inside of the ink container 3 and the outside, a flexible diaphragm 10 made of a very thin plastic film such as a polyethylene-nylon polymer film or a polyethylene-nylon-polyethylene polymer film is attached. The location of the diaphragm 10 may be anywhere on the boundary between the inside of the ink container 3 and the outside. In this embodiment, the air intake pipe 11 is provided so as to face the filter 9 of the air intake 11b of the air intake pipe 11. It is attached to another air intake port 11c formed at the upper end of 11 and this position is optimal. When a pressure difference occurs between the front side and the back side of the plastic film 10, the plastic film 10 swells in the lower pressure direction to eliminate the pressure difference. During printing, the end of the air tube 6 is open to the atmosphere.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, the flexible diaphragm attached to the boundary between the inside of the ink container and the outside expands and contracts according to the temperature change and the atmospheric pressure change.
Since the pressure difference between the front side (outside world) and the back side (inside of the container) of the flexible diaphragm can be eliminated, the ink in the ink container hardly penetrates into the filter, so that the filter is unlikely to be clogged. Ink can be supplied stably, so that it can sufficiently cope with high-speed printing ink jet printers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an ink supply system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a general inkjet printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional ink supply system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 carriage 2 print head 3 ink container 3a opening 4 ink supply needle 5 ink supply tube 6 air supply tube 7 air supply needle 8 rubber stopper 9 filter 10 plastic film 11 air intake 11a lower opening 11b air intake 11c air intake 12 Platen 13 Guide shaft 14 Paper 15 Printer body

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An ink container mounted on an ink jet printer for ejecting ink on paper based on a predetermined drive signal, wherein a boundary between the stored ink and the outside world is provided.
An air intake is provided in the air intake, and the opening of the air intake is duplicated.
Several units, at least one opening of the air intake
Attach an aqueous filter and place a flexible septum in the other opening.
An ink container for an ink jet printer, characterized by being attached .