JP2878523B2 - 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 jet printer for performing recording by ejecting ink from nozzles provided on a recording head, and in particular, to reliably prevent the occurrence of ink leakage when a waste liquid tank is attached or detached. The present invention relates to an ink jet printer capable of performing the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ink jet printer which performs desired printing on a recording medium such as paper by ejecting ink supplied to a recording head from nozzles thereof.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of such an ink jet printer. A cylindrical platen 2 is rotatably driven inside a printer main body 1, and is provided at a front side of the platen 2. The two guide shafts 3 are arranged along the axial direction of the platen 2.

A carriage 4 is provided on each of the guide shafts 3 so as to be able to reciprocate along the guide shafts 3. The carriage 4 has, for example, inks of cyan, magenta, yellow and black colors, respectively. A plurality of ink cartridges 6 each having an ink tank for supplying each color ink to the recording head 5 are mounted.

A continuous sheet 7 wound, for example, in a roll shape is disposed behind the platen 2 of the printer body 1. You will be guided to the location.

Further, a recording head 5 is provided in the printer body 1.
When a non-ejection state of the ink occurs, the ink in the recording head 5 is pressurized or sucked and caused to flow out of the nozzle, thereby removing clogging of the nozzle, bubbles and foreign matters mixed in the ink flow path, and performing recording. A recovery device 8 for performing a head recovery operation is provided. The recovery device 8 is provided with a waste liquid tank case 10 for accommodating the waste liquid tank 9 adjacent thereto. The ink flowing out of the nozzles of the recording head 5 by the recovery operation is collected by the recovery device 8 and discharged. The waste liquid is stored in a waste liquid tank 9 mounted in a tank case 10.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional example of the structure of the waste liquid tank 9 and the waste liquid tank case 10. The waste liquid tank case 10 has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the waste liquid tank 9, and has a side portion thereof. Is provided with a detection switch 11 for detecting whether or not the waste liquid tank 9 is mounted. The waste liquid tank case 10 is connected to a waste ink tube 12 from the recovery device 8 and is connected to an ink introduction unit 17 of the waste liquid tank 9 described below to discharge the waste ink supplied from the recovery device 8 into the waste liquid tank 9. There is provided a plug 13 for introduction into the tub.

On the other hand, the tank body 14 of the waste liquid tank 9
It is formed in a sealed structure for storing the collected waste ink. However, normally, when a recovery operation is performed, air is collected together with the ink in the waste liquid tank 9. Since the pressure inside the ink tank 9 rises and it becomes difficult to collect the waste ink thereafter, air introduced together with the ink is supplied to the upper part of the tank body 14 of the waste liquid tank 9 so as to prevent such inconvenience. An opening 15 is provided for discharging the fluid to the outside.

A handle 16 is provided on the upper part of the tank body 14 for facilitating attachment / detachment to / from the waste liquid tank case 10 and transportation of the waste liquid tank 9 itself. Waste liquid tank case 10
An ink introduction unit 17 for introducing waste ink supplied from the waste ink tube 12 into the tank main body 14 connected to the plug 13 provided in the tank main body 14 is provided to protrude from the tank main body 14.

The ink introduction section 17 is provided with a waste ink introduction path 18 for allowing waste ink to flow into the tank body 14, and ink leakage does not occur in a portion connected to the plug 13. O-rings 19, 19 are provided to ensure the connection.

The ink introduction section 17 is provided with a check valve 20 for preventing the ink once collected in the tank main body 14 from flowing back toward the waste ink tube 12 again.

[0012]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the air in the tank is discharged to the tank body 14 of the waste liquid tank 9 in order to properly collect the waste ink in the waste liquid tank 9. If the user accidentally turns the waste liquid tank 9 down when the user removes the waste liquid tank 9 from the printer main body, the ink contained in the tank flows out from the opening 15 and is used. There was a problem of polluting the environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and does not pollute the use environment when replacing a waste liquid tank. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer that can reliably collect ink.

[0014]

To SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, in click-jet printer of the present invention includes a recording head for recording by ejecting ink from nozzles onto a recording medium, the recording head In an ink jet printer having a recovery device for performing a recovery operation and a waste liquid tank for storing ink flowing out of the head by the recovery operation, the waste liquid tank is provided with an opening for discharging air that has flowed in along with the ink. When this opening is attached in conjunction with the attachment / detachment of the waste tank
An opening / closing mechanism that performs an operation of opening and closing at the time of detachment is provided.

[0015]

According to the present invention, by providing an opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the opening for discharging the air provided in the waste liquid tank in conjunction with the attaching / detaching operation of the waste liquid tank, the operation of mounting the waste liquid tank on the printer. The opening for discharging air is opened in conjunction with the operation, and the opening is closed in conjunction with the operation of removing the waste liquid tank from the printer.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same components as those of the above-described conventional device are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the structure of a waste liquid tank and a waste liquid tank case in an ink jet printer according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the overall structure thereof. FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

Waste liquid tank case 21 in the present embodiment
Is similar to the conventional one in that it has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the tank body 23 of the waste liquid tank 22 to be mounted, and is provided with a plug 13 to which the waste ink tube 12 from the recovery device 8 is connected. However, at the upper part, click leaf springs 24, 24 as shown in FIG. This click leaf spring 2
Reference numeral 4 indicates that the attachment / detachment operation of the waste liquid tank 22 can be smoothly performed, and the once mounted waste liquid tank 22 can be removed from the waste liquid tank case 21 without applying a certain force or more. And is movable in the direction indicated by the arrow B in the figure by the elastic force.

On the other hand, the difference between the waste liquid tank 22 of the present embodiment and the above-described conventional one is the structure of the upper part of the tank body 23 of the present embodiment. Space 2 communicating with main body 23
5, a pair of pipes 26, 26 are formed near the upper center of the tank body 23 to form a cylindrical portion 29 having upper and lower openings 27, 28. I have. The cylindrical portion 29 is provided with a handle 30 slidably in contact with the inner surface thereof and movable in the vertical direction in FIG.

The handle 30 includes an operating portion 31 operated by a user during attachment / detachment or transportation, a cylindrical portion 32 engaged with a cylindrical portion 29 provided on the tube portion 26, and a handle 30.
It comprises a stopper portion 33 for preventing itself from falling off from the cylindrical portion 29, and the columnar portion 32 further comprises a first portion 34 having a diameter substantially corresponding to the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion 29. The second part 3 which also has a smaller diameter
It consists of five.

Further, two O-rings 36 and 37 are attached to the first portion 34 so that the hermeticity between the cylindrical portion 29 and the cylindrical portion 32 is maintained.

According to the structure of the handle 30, when the handle 30 is at the position shown by the solid line in FIG.
That is, when the waste liquid tank 22 is removed from the printer body and transported, the upper opening 27 is
In addition, the lower openings 28 are respectively sealed by O-rings 37, and as a result, the waste liquid tank 22 is completely sealed.

When the handle 30 is at the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, that is, when the waste liquid tank 22 is mounted on the printer body, the lower opening 28 is closed by the O-ring 37 (the position of the broken line in the figure). ), But the upper opening 27 is not closed by the O-ring 36 (the position of the dashed line in the drawing), and the second opening of the cylindrical portion 29 and the columnar portion 32 of the handle 30 is not closed. The space 2 of the tube 26 through the space 38 formed by the
5 communicates with the outside of the tank, and the waste liquid tank 22
The air inside can be discharged to the outside of the tank.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When attaching the waste liquid tank 22 to the printer main body, the waste liquid tank 22 is inserted into the waste liquid tank case 21 by holding the operating portion 31 of the handle 30 and pushing down the handle 30. , Tank body 2
3 is prevented from moving downward by the click leaf spring 24 provided on the upper part of the waste liquid tank case 21,
First, the handle 30 moves from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG.
3 is a space portion 38 formed by the cylindrical portion 29 and the second portion 35 of the cylindrical portion 32 of the handle 30.
To the atmosphere via

Next, when the handle 30 is further depressed, the handle 30 cannot be moved further downward, so that a stronger force is applied to the click leaf spring 24 provided in the waste liquid tank case 21, and as a result, the click leaf spring 24 is pressed. 24 is displaced outward from the waste liquid tank case 21 to allow the waste liquid tank 22 to pass below the tank body 23, and the waste liquid tank 22 is located in the waste liquid tank case 21 as shown in FIGS. It is attached to a predetermined position.

In this state, as described above, since the space in the waste liquid tank 22 is in communication with the atmosphere, the collection and storage of the waste ink in the waste liquid tank 22 is performed smoothly.

Next, when the waste liquid tank 22 is full and the waste liquid tank 22 is to be removed from the printer main body in order to replace the waste liquid tank 22, the operation unit 31 of the handle 30 is first held.
The waste liquid tank 22 is removed from the waste liquid tank case 21 by pulling up the zero. The tank body 23 is moved upward by a click leaf spring 24 provided on the upper part of the waste liquid tank case 21. 1, the handle 30 first moves from the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 1 to the position indicated by the solid line, whereby the space 38 communicating the space 25 of the tank main body 23 with the atmosphere becomes an O-ring 36. And the waste liquid tank 22 is closed.

Next, when the handle 30 is further lifted, the handle 30 cannot be moved further upward, so that a stronger force is applied to the click leaf spring 24 provided in the waste liquid tank case 21, and as a result, the click leaf spring 24 24 is displaced outward from the waste liquid tank case 21 to allow the waste liquid tank 22 to pass above the tank body 23, and the waste liquid tank 22 is removed from the waste liquid tank case 21.

The waste liquid tank 22 removed from the waste liquid tank case 21 is in a sealed state, so that even if the waste liquid tank 22 is turned over, ink does not flow out.

As described above, according to the present embodiment , the opening for communicating the inside of the waste liquid tank with the atmosphere is opened at the time of mounting and closed at the time of detachment in conjunction with the mounting operation of the waste liquid tank. In addition, it is possible to reliably store the ink, and there is no possibility that the ink may be erroneously discharged when the waste liquid tank is replaced.

In the above-described embodiment, the mechanism for opening and closing the opening of the waste liquid tank is described by way of example provided on the handle of the waste liquid tank. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which a lever or a switch that performs an operation of opening when the opening is attached and closing the same when detaching the opening in conjunction with the attaching / detaching operation of the waste liquid tank is provided, and various changes can be made as necessary. .

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The waste liquid tank is provided with an opening for discharging the air that has flowed in along with the ink, and an opening and closing mechanism that opens and closes when this opening is attached and detaches in conjunction with the attachment and detachment operation of the waste liquid tank. In addition, it is possible to reliably collect and store the ink, and to provide a practical effect that the ink is erroneously discharged when the waste liquid tank is replaced, thereby contaminating the working environment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of a structure of a waste liquid tank and a waste liquid tank case in the ink jet printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the structure of the waste liquid tank and the waste liquid tank case of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view showing a general configuration of an inkjet printer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the structure of a conventional waste liquid tank and a conventional waste liquid tank case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer main body 2 Platen 5 Recording head 6 Ink cartridge 8 Recovery device 9 Waste liquid tank 10 Waste liquid tank case 21 Waste liquid tank case 22 Waste liquid tank 23 Tank main body 30 Handle 36 O-ring 37 O-ring 38 Space part

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printhead for performing printing by ejecting ink from a nozzle to a print medium, a recovery device for performing a recovery operation of the printhead, and a storage device for storing ink flowing out of the head by the recovery operation In the ink jet printer having the waste liquid tank, the waste liquid tank is provided with an opening for discharging the air that has flowed in along with the ink, and the opening is opened at the time of mounting in conjunction with the attaching / detaching operation of the waste liquid tank. inkjet printer, wherein the opening and closing mechanism for moving <br/> operation for at closure is provided. 2. The ink jet printer according to claim 1, wherein the opening and closing mechanism is a handle provided on the waste liquid tank. 3. The handle is movable and has a cylindrical shape.
A first portion having a diameter substantially corresponding to said opening of the shape and
A cylindrical portion comprising a second portion having a small diameter;
The opening and the first portion face each other when the waste liquid tank is detached.
To close the opening, and when mounting the waste liquid tank,
An opening facing the second portion to open the opening;
The ink-jet pudding according to claim 1, wherein
Ta.