JP2602901Y2 - Ink cartridge 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 internal structure of an ink cartridge for an ink jet printer, and more particularly to a compression mechanism of an ink holder made of a porous material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a cartridge for supplying a liquid ink to a print head for ejecting an ink jet, an ink holder made of a sponge or felt-like porous material is inserted in order to prevent the ink from swinging. ing. The capillary force of the ink holder generates a negative pressure as a resistance to the suction force of the print head.However, if the negative pressure is too small, the air is sucked into the print head when the ink runs out, which may cause clogging. Become. On the other hand, if the negative pressure is excessive, the ink cannot be efficiently sucked from the ink holding member, and a large amount of ink remains.

Therefore, a thin rib is provided on the inner wall surface of the cartridge, and the density of the porous material is increased by appropriately compressing the ink holding member to adjust the capillary force.
Another effect of the provision of the rib is that the space portion excluding the ink holder by the rib can be filled only with ink, so that the volume efficiency is improved. Thus, various ink cartridges have been devised in consideration of the adjustment of the negative pressure and the volumetric efficiency. Hereinafter, the internal structure of a conventional ink cartridge will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional example of an ink cartridge in which ribs are provided to press an ink holding member. FIG. 4A is a side cross-sectional view, and FIG. It is a side sectional view of a direction orthogonal to A). A rectangular parallelepiped ink container including an upper plate 12 having a vent 11 communicating with the outside air, four side plates 14, and a bottom plate 16 having a supply port 18 for supplying ink to a print head (not shown). An ink holder 15 made of a porous material having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is inserted into the inside of an inner plate 10.
3 and a rib 17 provided on the side plate 14. In this conventional example, the ink holding member 15 is almost uniformly compressed except for the vicinity of the tip of the rib, and the liquid collecting effect of collecting the ink in the direction of the supply port 18 cannot be expected. FIG. 5 shows a conventional example in which this point is improved.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional example of an ink cartridge having an improved liquid collecting effect, and is constituted by an upper plate 12 having a rib 13, a side plate 14, and a bottom plate 16 having a supply port 18. An ink holder 15 made of a porous material is inserted into the ink container 10, and is pressed downward by a rib 13. A pipe 29 is interposed between the supply port 18 and the ink holder 15 so as to protrude into the ink container. This pipe 29 secures an ink passage and simultaneously presses the ink holder 15 locally. Then, the density in the vicinity thereof is locally increased. With this configuration, the capillary force of the ink holder 15 is increased near the pipe 29, and a liquid collecting effect appears. However, this effect does not reach the entire ink holder 15, and there is a drawback in volume efficiency.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to increase the volumetric efficiency of an ink cartridge, store a large amount of ink, minimize residual ink consumption, and suction air when liquid runs out. It is an object of the present invention to realize such an ink cartridge with a relatively simple structure.

[0007]

According to the present invention, at least one of the upper plate and the side plate includes a top plate having a vent, four side plates, and a bottom plate having a supply port at an end. In an ink cartridge for an ink jet printer in which an ink holding member made of a porous material is inserted in a compressed state pressed by the rib, inside a rectangular parallelepiped ink container provided with a thin plate-shaped rib in the inserted state, Compression means for sequentially increasing the compression density of the ink holder toward the supply port at a predetermined gradient is provided, so that the capillary force of the ink holder is sequentially increased toward the supply port. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of an ink cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a side sectional view, and FIG. 1B is a side view in a direction orthogonal to FIG. It is sectional drawing.
On the inner surface of the upper plate 12 having the ventilation port 11, a wedge-shaped rib 23 whose height is gradually increased toward the supply port 18 is provided. A wedge-shaped rib 27 whose height gradually increases toward the supply port 18 is also provided on the inner surface of the side plate 14.
In a non-inserted state, the ink holder 15 made of a polyurethane foam having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is inclinedly pressed by the ribs 23 and 27 in the inserted state, and has a substantially trapezoidal cross-sectional shape as shown in the figure. Supply port 1
A filter 19 made of a metal mesh is arranged on the upper part of 8, but this is not an essential member.

In this embodiment, the ink holding member 15
Since the compression density of both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is gradually increased at a predetermined gradient toward the supply port,
The capillary force increases from the far side to the near side of the supply port, and an efficient liquid collecting effect is exhibited. Since the ink carrier 15 is a low-density foam, it can impregnate a large amount of ink, and its capillary force is set to be weaker than the suction force of the print head, so that most of the impregnated ink is consumed. However, the capillary force is increased near the supply port 18 to prevent air suction when the liquid runs out. Further, the filter 19 made of a metal mesh ensures prevention of dust and air suction.

[0010]

Embodiment 2 FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of an ink cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, different types of ink holders 15 and 25 are employed. In the non-inserted state, the ink holder 15 made of a polyurethane foam having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is inclinedly pressed by a wedge-shaped rib 23 provided on the upper plate 12, and its cross-sectional shape is substantially trapezoidal. Same as Example 1. Below the ink holder 15 made of polyurethane foam, an ink holder 25 made of felt is inserted in a compressed state. FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the ink holder 25.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the shape of the ink holding member 25. FIG. 3A shows a plan view of an uninserted state, and FIG. 3B shows a plan view of an inserted state. The planar shape of the ink holder 25 is trapezoidal when not inserted, and the dimension of the long side 21 is set to be larger than the inner dimension (not shown) of the ink container 10. When the ink holding member 25 is pressed into the bottom of the ink container, the ink holding member 25 is pressed obliquely by the side plate of the ink container to have a rectangular planar shape as shown in FIG. The density increases gradually toward. In this case, the ink holder 25 is arranged so that the high-density portion is located near the supply port 18.

In this embodiment, since the upper plate 12 is provided with the wedge-shaped ribs 23 and the side plate 14 is provided with the rectangular ribs 17, a large amount of ink is supplied to the space secured by these ribs. Can be injected. Since the ink holder 15 made of a polyurethane foam has a low density and a weak capillary force, it can be impregnated with a large amount of ink and discharged without leaving it. Ink holder 25 made of felt
Is relatively high-density, but the capillary force is set to be weaker than the suction force of the print head on the low-density side away from the supply port, so that ink in this portion can also be consumed. On the other hand, since the capillary force is increased in the high-density portion of the ink holding body 25, a small amount of ink is held even when the liquid runs out, and suction of air is prevented.

[0013]

According to the ink cartridge of the present invention, since the compression density and the capillary force of the ink holding member are adjusted in the vertical and horizontal directions by a relatively simple internal structure, the volumetric efficiency of ink filling is high. It has an excellent liquid collection effect of guiding ink toward the supply port, and has high use efficiency of residual ink. Furthermore, the suction of air, which may cause a failure of the print head, is reliably prevented by the minimum residual ink.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ink cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ink holder according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional ink cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ink container 11 Vent 12 Top plate 13 Rib (top plate side rectangle) 14 Side plate 15 Ink holder (rectangular parallelepiped) 16 Bottom plate 17 Rib (side plate side rectangle) 18 Supply port 19 Filter 21 Long side 23 Rib (top plate side) Wedge type) 25 Ink holder (trapezoidal) 27 Rib (side plate side wedge type) 29 Pipe

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An upper plate having ventilation holes, four side plates, and an end portion.
And a bottom plate with a supply port.
At least a part of a rectangular parallelepiped
And the ink in a compressed state by being pressed by the rib.
Ink made of porous material inserted inside the container
For inkjet printers composed of a holder
In the ink cartridge, the ink in the inserted state
Increasing the capillary force of the holder gradually and gradually toward the supply port
That includes a compression means are Inkuka - a cartridge, a wedge whose height the compression means is provided in at least a portion of the inner surface of the top plate and the side plate are sequentially increased toward the supply port rib and Ri Kumiawasedea the ink holding member having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the ink holding member insertion state the rib by inclined manner compressed by the cross-sectional shape Louis to the feature that it is substantially a trapezoid Nkuka - cartridge .