JP3230424B2 - 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 having an ink jet head for performing a printing operation using ink supplied from a detachably mounted ink tank. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improvement in an ink supply mechanism of an ink jet head in an ink jet printer of this type.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an ink jet printer, there is known a type in which an ink tank storing ink is removably mounted, and printing is performed by an ink jet head using ink supplied from the mounted ink tank. I have.

In an ink jet printer of this type,
An ink introduction portion is formed in a head case of the inkjet head. The ink introduction section has a shape protruding from the head case, and has an ink introduction port formed at the tip thereof, and an ink filter is attached to the ink introduction port.

On the other hand, an ink supply port into which the above-mentioned ink introduction portion can be inserted is formed on the side of the ink tank which is detachably mounted, and a cylindrical felt is provided inside the ink supply port. The filter is arranged so as to be movable in the insertion direction of the ink introduction unit. The ink tank is filled with a synthetic resin open cell (foam) impregnated with ink in a saturated state.

When the ink tank is mounted with the ink supply port aligned with the ink introduction section of the ink jet head, the front end face of the ink introduction section inserted into the ink supply port is pressed against the end face of the felt filter, and The felt filter is pushed in and the foam impregnated with the ink is compressed. As a result, the ink impregnated in the foam passes through the ink filter at the tip of the ink introduction section, reaches the ink introduction section, and is supplied to the ink chamber formed inside the ink jet head via this.

[0006]

The ink supply mechanism configured to supply ink from the detachable ink tank to the ink jet head has the following problems to be solved.

[0007] An ink filter is attached to the ink inlet formed at the tip of the ink inlet of the ink jet head to prevent foreign matter other than ink from entering from outside. In the ink supply state, fine powder such as foam residue is prevented from entering the inkjet head from the side of the connected ink tank.

As described above, the ink filter prevents fine powder other than ink from catching and entering the ink jet head. Therefore, if the ink filter is used for a long time, clogging may occur due to the fine powder captured by the ink filter. Therefore, there is a possibility that the circulation of the ink is hindered.

If the clogging of the ink filter occurs later than the service life of the ink jet head, the ink filter is attached before the clogging of the ink filter. There is no problem because the inkjet head itself is replaced. However, in general, clogging of the ink filter occurs during a period much shorter than the life of the ink jet head. In this case, it is necessary to replace the ink jet head, which is economically disadvantageous. In particular,
If the inkjet head is expensive or has a long service life, it is extremely uneconomical.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer having an ink supply mechanism which does not cause such adverse effects.
It is to propose a linter .

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet printer.
The printer uses the ink in the head body connected to the ink nozzles.
An ink jet head with an introduction section and an ink tank
And detachably joined to the ink inlet
An ink cartridge having an ink supply port formed therein.
In the ink jet printer , an ink filter facing the ink supply port is detachably attached to the ink introduction section, and the inside of the ink tank is impregnated with ink.
Contact the foam and the ink supply
A cylindrical felt filter that can move in the axial direction of the
The ink supply port is connected to the ink introduction section.
The ink filter in contact with the felt filter.
It is characterized in that it is slightly pushed into the ink tank .

[0012] In this case, the ink introduction section has an ink inside.
It has a substantially cylindrical needle-like projection forming an introduction path, and has an ink filter.
The filter is a cylindrical filter case that removably covers the needle-like projections.
And the filter attached to the tip of the filter case
And ink supply port with ink filter
It is joined to the needle-like projection in the state where
preferable.

In this case, the outer peripheral surface of the needle-like projection and the filter case
An O-ring should be interposed between the inner peripheral surface of
Is preferred. Similarly, the filter case is made of resin
And is press-fitted to the needle-like projection in a detachable and liquid-tight manner.
Is preferred.

In this case, the filter case is made of olefin.
It is preferable that the molded article is made of a thermoplastic elastomer.
New

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

In the ink jet head of the present invention, only the ink filter is detachable from the main body of the jet head. Therefore, when the ink filter is clogged, only the ink filter needs to be replaced with a new one. Therefore, it is not necessary to replace the entire ink jet head with a new one as in the related art.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Overall Configuration) The ink jet printer of this embodiment has a mounting portion for a tape cartridge in which a tape-shaped recording medium is stored in a rolled state, and a tape fed out from the tape cartridge mounted here. This is a type in which printing is performed on a recording medium using an inkjet head. In particular, the printer of this example is of a type called a label printer, label word processor, or the like that performs printing on the surface of a tape-shaped recording medium provided with an adhesive layer covered on the back side with release paper.

FIG. 1 shows an ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment.
Is shown. As shown in this figure, the ink jet printer 1 has a main body casing 101 having a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and an operation surface 102 is a front half of an upper surface thereof. Here, various keys are arranged, and a print button 103 for instructing a printing operation, a power button 104, and the like are also included. A liquid crystal display unit 107 for displaying character information and the like input via keys on the operation surface 102 is arranged on a rear portion of the upper surface of the casing 101.

On the other hand, the rear end face 1 of the main body casing 101
01a has a tape discharge port 10 at the center position on the upper end side.
1b is formed, and the tape-shaped recording medium after printing is discharged to the outside through this. Also,
An opening / closing lid 105 is attached below the outlet 101b. When the lid 105 is opened, a mounting portion 4 of the tape cartridge 3 described later is formed inside.
Therefore, the tape cartridge 3 can be replaced by opening the lid. At the center of the upper surface of the main casing 101, an opening / closing lid 106 for replacing an ink cartridge 8 described later is arranged.

Inside the main body casing 101, a power supply unit, a battery such as a nickel-cadmium battery (not shown), and the like (not shown) are mounted on a front portion where the operation surface 102 is located. The drive mechanism unit 2 having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is mounted on the rear side.

(Driving Mechanism Unit) The driving mechanism unit 2 of this embodiment comprises a cartridge mounting section 4 in which a tape cartridge 3 as a supply source of the tape-shaped recording medium T is removably mounted, and a cartridge 3 mounted therein. Ink jet head 7 for printing on a tape-shaped recording medium T fed out from the printer, an ink cartridge 8 detachably mounted to supply ink to the ink jet head 7, and an inkjet head 7 in the width direction of the recording medium T. ,
In this example, the carriage 9 has a carriage 9 that reciprocates in the width direction of the drive mechanism unit. An ink cartridge mounting portion 901 for detachably mounting the ink cartridge 8 is formed on the carriage 9. further,
A head cap mechanism 11 for closing the ink nozzles of the ink jet head 7 is provided.

The components will be described in detail. The drive mechanism unit 2 is provided with a base 21 for mounting the above components.
A right side wall 22 and a left side wall 23 which stand upright are formed on both sides of the base 21. Right side wall 22
A motor mounting plate (not shown) extends horizontally at the upper part of the, and a carriage motor 91 is mounted thereon. The output shaft of the motor 91 extends downward, and a pulley 92 is fixed to a lower end thereof. On the opposite side of the left side wall 23, a tension pulley (not shown) is rotatably supported at the tip of a tension lever 93 supported on the base. A timing belt 95 is stretched between these pulleys in a constant tension state. The upper side of the carriage 9 on which the inkjet head 7 is mounted is connected to the timing belt 95. The lower side of the carriage 9 includes left and right side walls 22 and 23.
It is movably supported in the direction of its axis by a carriage guide shaft 97 extending between them.

The driving mechanism of the carriage 9 is configured as described above. By driving the motor 91, the carriage 9 connected to the timing belt 95 is reciprocated linearly in the width direction of the tape-shaped recording medium T. Moving. Therefore, the head 7 mounted thereon moves reciprocally linearly in the width direction. Therefore, by driving the head 7 in synchronization with this movement, a desired print can be formed on the surface of the tape-shaped recording medium T being conveyed.

The ink cartridge 8 detachably mounted on the ink cartridge mounting portion 901 of the carriage 9 has, for example, three ink tanks 83 (83-1, 8-1).
3-2, 83-3), in which cyan, magenta, and yellow inks are stored, respectively. Therefore, the ink jet head 7 also has ink nozzles (not shown) corresponding to each color.

(Ink Supply Mechanism Between Inkjet Head and Ink Cartridge) In FIG. 3, only the inkjet head 7 mounted on the carriage 9 and the ink cartridge 8 connected to the back side of the inkjet head 7 are taken out. Is shown.

The ink jet head 7 has a head case 701 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and a front wall portion thereof is a head main body 702 formed by a semiconductor manufacturing technique. A large number of ink nozzles (see FIG. (Not shown), and ink droplets are ejected from these nozzles. A connection portion 703 connected to the ink cartridge side is formed on the back surface side of the head case 701. The connecting portion 703 has a concave portion 705 surrounded by a peripheral wall 704 curved on both left and right sides in a semicircular shape. An ink introducing portion for introducing ink of each color into the ink jet head is provided on the bottom surface of the concave portion 705. Needle-like projections 706 to be constituted (706-1, 706-2, 706-3)
Is protruding. A cylindrical ink filter cartridge 707 is detachably mounted on the outer periphery of each needle-like projection 706.

On the other hand, the ink cartridge 8 has three vertically long ink tanks 83 (83-1 and 83-1).
83-2, 83-3) are connected in the horizontal direction. A circular ink supply port 831 is opened below the front wall of the ink cartridge 8. When the ink supply port 831 is inserted into the concave portion 705 on the side of the ink jet head 7, the ink filter cartridge 707 attached to the three needle-like protrusions 706 protruding from the concave portion 705 is moved from the ink supply port 831 to each ink tank. 83. In this state,
The ink of each color stored in each ink tank 83 is
The ink is supplied to the ink jet head 7 via the ink filter cartridge 707 inserted into the ink supply port 831 and the needle-like protrusion 706 inside the ink filter cartridge 707.

The head case 701 of the ink-jet head 7 has attachment portions 708 to the carriage 9 on both left and right sides, respectively, and these portions are fixed to the carriage 9 by screws or the like. . As shown by the imaginary line, a flexible cable 709 for wiring is disposed inside the head case 701 through a slit 701a opened on the back surface.
The cable 709 is connected to the main body of the inkjet head on the front side in the head case, and the other end is connected to the drive control circuit of the inkjet head (not shown). The ink jet head is electrically driven through this cable, and the ink ejection operation is performed.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional configuration in a state where the ink cartridge 8 is mounted on the ink jet head 7 mounted on the carriage 9. FIG.
2 shows only the cross-sectional configuration on the side of the inkjet head 7. As shown in these figures, an ink supply path 710 for supplying ink to each ink chamber (not shown) formed in the front head main body 702 is provided at the upper part of the head case 701 of the ink jet head 7. It is formed horizontally toward the side. The rear end opening 711 of the ink supply path 710 is tapered, and a stainless steel mesh filter 712 is attached here. The base end of the needle-like projection 706 constituting the ink introduction portion is attached to the opening 710.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, the needle-like projection 706 has a small-diameter cylindrical body 731, a large-diameter flange 732 formed at the base end thereof, and a cone formed at the end thereof. A head 733 is provided. An ink introduction path 735 is formed inside the needle-like projection 706 in the axial direction thereof, and its original end side opening 736 is formed at the rear end opening 711 of the ink supply path 710 formed in the head case via the mesh filter 712. Communicating. The distal end side of the ink introduction path 735 communicates with a plurality of ink introduction ports 736 formed in the conical head 733 of the needle-like projection 706.

An ink filter cartridge 707 is detachably mounted on the outer periphery of the needle-like projection 706. The ink filter cartridge 707 has a cylindrical filter case 741, and the needle-like projection 706 can be inserted through an opening at the base end of the filter case 741. In this example, the filter case 741 is formed from polyacetal POM. Of course, other materials may be used.

The inner peripheral surface of the filter case 741 has a large-diameter inner peripheral surface 742 on the original end side.
An inner peripheral surface 743 having a smaller diameter than that of the annular peripheral surface 743 is formed at the front end of the annular stepped surface 7.
44 are formed. An O-ring 745 made of a material such as butyl rubber is fixed to the annular end surface 744. This small-diameter inner peripheral surface 743 is just a needle-like projection 706.
Is set to a size in which the torso 731 is fitted.

An ink filter 751 is attached to a circular opening on the distal end side of the filter case 741 and covers the opening. As the ink filter 751, for example, a stainless steel mesh filter can be used. Instead, a nonwoven fabric mesh or a synthetic fiber mesh may be used.

The ink filter cartridge 7 having this configuration
07 is attached to the outer periphery of the needle-like projection 706 constituting the ink introducing portion, the outer peripheral surface of the needle-like projection 706 and the filter case 741 are fixed by the O-ring 745 attached and fixed to the inner periphery thereof. A liquid-tight state is maintained between the inner peripheral surfaces.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, each of the ink tanks 83 into which the ink filters 707 formed in the ink jet head 7 are inserted has a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped hollow case 832, the inside of which is horizontal. A partition plate 833 vertically separates the upper and lower compartments into an ink chamber 834 storing ink, and the lower compartment forms a foam 83 filled with ink in a saturated state.
5 is an ink supply chamber 836 filled. The upper and lower chambers communicate with each other through a communication hole 837 opened in the partition plate 833.

As described above, the lower ink supply chamber 83
An ink supply port 831 is formed at a lower position of the front wall 6. The ink supply port 831 is defined by a cylindrical projection 841 protruding forward. A cylindrical felt filter receiver 843 is attached to the circular opening 842 inside the cylindrical projection 841. The felt filter receiver 843 has a large-diameter portion 844 on the ink supply chamber side and a small-diameter portion 845 located inside the cylindrical projection 841. It is in contact with the inner opening edge. A cylindrical felt filter 851 is inserted into the large-diameter portion 844 of the felt filter receiver 843 so as to be movable from the opening toward the ink supply chamber. On the other hand, the ink filter cartridge 707 on the ink jet head 7 side can be slidably inserted into the small diameter portion 845 of the felt filter receiver 841 from the outside.

In a state where the ink cartridge 8 is connected to the ink jet head 7, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink filter cartridge 707 on the ink jet head 7 side is connected to the ink supply port 831 of each ink tank 83 of the ink cartridge. , And the filter 851 disposed therein is pushed in. When the felt filter 851 is pushed in this way, the foam 83 filled in the ink supply chamber
5 is compressed, and the ink collects in the compressed portion due to the capillary phenomenon, and reaches the circular tip surface of the ink filter cartridge 707 pressed against the circular tip surface via the felt filter 851.

An ink filter 751 such as a mesh filter is provided on the tip end surface of the ink filter cartridge 707.
The ink, from which fine dust and the like have been removed, passes through the ink filter 751 through the ink introduction port 736 of the inner needle-like projection 706 and the ink introduction path 7 inside.
The ink is supplied to the ink jet main body 702 through the ink supply path 710 in the head case.

Here, the outer periphery of the needle-like projection 706 and the ink filter cartridge 707 detachably attached thereto are provided.
An O-ring 745 is inserted between the inner ring and the inner circumference.
Therefore, the space between them is maintained in a liquid-tight state. Therefore, the ink supplied through the ink filter 751 toward the ink inlet 736 at the tip of the needle-like projection 706 may leak from between the outer peripheral surface of the needle-like projection 706 and the inner peripheral surface of the filter case 741. There is no.

(Tape cartridge and its mounting part)
In addition, the tape cartridge 3 of this example and its mounting portion 4
Will be described. FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional configuration of the tape cartridge 3. The tape cartridge 3 of the present embodiment has a rectangular parallelepiped cartridge case 31,
In this internal space 32, a tape roll 33 around which the tape-shaped recording medium T is wound is disposed at the center. The middle part in the vertical direction of the front wall 34 of the cartridge case 31 is just the ink jet head 7 in the mounted state.
Of the ink nozzle. The front wall portion 34A functions as a guide member (hereinafter, simply referred to as "paper guide") for defining a printing position of the inkjet head 7, and the tape-shaped recording medium T is transported along the surface. Above and below the front wall portion 34A, an upper guide wall 35 and a lower guide wall 36 are formed integrally with the cartridge case 31 at a fixed distance from the surface thereof. Are formed. An opening 35A between the upper and lower guide walls 35, 36 is a printing opening for passing ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head 7 to the recording medium T side.

An outlet 37 for feeding the tape-shaped recording medium T is formed below the front wall 34. A pair of left and right tape pressing rollers 38 are disposed inside the feeding port 37. These rollers 3
8 is pressed toward the feeding port 37 by a leaf spring 41 attached to the inside of the case 31. The rollers 38 are supported by the case 31 in a state where the rollers 38 can be pushed inward from the feeding port 37 by a fixed distance against the spring force of the leaf spring 41. In the initial state, the leading end of the tape-shaped recording medium T is held between the edge of the feeding port 37 and the outer peripheral surface of the roller 38 by a spring force.

On the other hand, an ink collection window 42 is opened on the left and right sides of the case front wall portion 34A functioning as a paper guide. A case inner wall 43 is provided inside the case front wall portion 34A.
Thus, a waste ink collecting section 44 is defined, and an ink absorbing material 45 is filled therein. Part of the ink absorbing material 45 is exposed from the pair of collecting windows 42 toward the ink jet head.

Here, the ink jet printer 1 of this embodiment
Is a tape-shaped recording medium T similar to that described in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-256868 filed by the present applicant.
The printing width Tp can be set over a width wider than the width Tw, and solid printing can be performed over the printing width Tp. When such solid printing is performed, printing at a portion deviating from the left and right edges of the tape-shaped recording medium T is performed as follows.
In this case, the printing is "overprinting", and the ink droplets ejected from the inkjet head 7 at that point go directly to the front wall portion 34A of the tape cartridge 3. However, in the front wall portion 34A of the tape cartridge 3 of the present example, the ink collection windows 42 are opened at the left and right positions corresponding to the positions where the overflow printing is performed as described above. Therefore, the ink droplets ejected during the overflow printing pass through these ink collection windows 42 and strike the ink absorbing material 45 of the ink collection section 44 in the cartridge case, where they are absorbed and held. Therefore, even if the overprinting is performed, there is no adverse effect such as each part of the tape cartridge mounting section 4 being stained by the ink droplets. Further, it is not necessary to provide a separate collecting unit in the printer body for collecting such ink droplets.

Next, in the tape cartridge 3 of the present embodiment, the following configuration is adopted so that the feeding and transporting operations of the tape-shaped recording medium T can always be performed in an appropriate state. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, wrap-in prevention guide plates 46 are respectively attached to the outside of the pressing rollers 38 arranged on the left and right of the tape feed-out port 37. The entanglement prevention guide plate 46 is a thin plate made of plastic, the upper end side of which is fixed to the lower end surface of the front wall portion 34A, and is directed downward with the space between the upper edge of the feeding port 37 and the pressing roller 38 closed. Extending.
The lower end is curved toward the inside of the cartridge case so as not to obstruct the tape-shaped recording medium T fed from the feeding port 37.

Since the entanglement preventing plate 46 is arranged to partially close the upper edge of the feeding port 37 and the pressing roller 38 at the left and right positions, the tape-shaped recording medium T Can be prevented from being caught in the cartridge case again.

Further, in the tape cartridge 3 of this embodiment, a guide auxiliary plate 4 is provided inside a lower guide wall 36 formed in a lower portion of the front wall portion 34A functioning as a paper guide.
7 is attached. The guide auxiliary plate 47 has a lower end that extends in a direction away from the wall 34A, and gradually approaches the front wall 34A toward the upper end.
By arranging such a guide auxiliary plate 47, the tape-shaped recording medium T unwound from the tape cartridge 3 can be used.
Is reliably guided to the printing position.

Next, the mounting section 4 on the printer main body side to which the tape cartridge 3 having the above configuration is mounted will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, at least two positioning pins 400 are attached to the lower side of the front wall of the mounting section 4 so as to define the mounting position of the tape cartridge 3. Above these pins 400, a feed roller 61 is arranged. This feed roller 61 is
It is rotatably bridged between the left and right side walls 22 and 23. The position of the feed roller in the front-rear direction is determined by the pressing roller 3 when the tape cartridge 3 is mounted.
The roller 38 is set so as to be pressed slightly inward of the cartridge against the spring force against the outer peripheral surface of the cartridge 8. With this setting, a state is formed in which the leading end of the tape-shaped recording medium T is sandwiched between the pushing roller 38 and the feed roller 61 when the tape cartridge is mounted. When the feed roller 51 is rotated in the transport direction in this state, the transport of the tape-shaped recording medium T is started.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The transport mechanism for the tape-shaped recording medium of the present example includes a paper feed motor 62 attached to the left side wall 23 of the drive mechanism unit, and a reduction gear train 63 that transmits the output to the feed roller 61. . The reduction gear train 63 is connected to the left side wall 23.
Are rotatably supported on the outer surfaces thereof. The tape-shaped recording medium T conveyed by the feed roller 61 is conveyed upward along the paper guide defined by the front wall portion 34A of the tape cartridge 3, and the front wall portion 34A
At the middle printing position, printing is performed by the inkjet head 7. The portion of the tape-shaped recording medium T after printing is transported along a transport path between the front wall portion 34A and the upper guide wall 35, and is defined by a pair of guide plates 54 and 55 extending obliquely rearward from the upper end thereof. The main body case is discharged from the opened tape discharge port 101b by the discharge roller 56 through the transport path.

Although not shown in the figure, a cutting mechanism for cutting the tape-shaped recording medium T after printing at a position at the end of printing is arranged on the transport path downstream of the printing position. When one printing operation is completed, the tape-shaped recording medium T is cut and discharged to the outside. on the other hand,
The cut tape-shaped recording medium T is fed by a feed roller 51.
As a result, the sheet is conveyed backward until its leading end returns to the position of the tape pressing roller 38, and waits for the start of the next printing operation at that position.

(Effects) As described above, in the ink jet printer 1 of the present embodiment, the needle-like projections 706 constituting the ink introduction portion of the ink jet head 7 are provided.
To the ink filter cartridge 70
7 is adopted. Therefore, when the ink filter 751 covering the opening at the tip of the ink filter cartridge 707 is clogged, the ink filter cartridge 707 may be replaced. According to this configuration, when clogging occurs in the ink filter as in the related art, it is not necessary to replace the inkjet head 7 as a whole. Therefore,
In addition to being economical, the recovery operation may be an extremely simple operation of simply removing the ink filter cartridge and inserting a new one, and the operation is unnecessary since the ink jet head itself is not removed from the carriage 9.

(Other Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of an ink filter cartridge 707 detachably attached to the needle-like projection 706 constituting the ink introduction portion of the ink jet head 7 described above. is there. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to the ink jet head and the ink filter cartridge of the above embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The ink filter cartridge 760 of this embodiment
Also includes a filter case 761 and an ink filter 762 attached to the opening so as to cover the opening on the distal end side of the filter case. However, in this example, the filter case 761 is made of a material having elasticity suitable for press-fitting to the outer periphery of the needle-shaped projection 706 and a material suitable for welding the stainless steel ink filter 762. Has formed. In this example, an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer having a hardness of about 80 to 90 is used as such a material.

In the filter case 761, the cross-sectional dimension of the inner peripheral surface of the filter case
The inner peripheral surface on the opening side on the original end side is tapered so as to correspond to the outer shape on the original end side of the needle-like projection 706.

When the filter case 761 having this configuration is pressed into the outer periphery of the needle-like projection 706 from the opening at the base end side, the filter case 761 is attached in a liquid-tight state to the outer periphery of the needle-like projection 706 due to the elastic characteristics of the filter case itself. . Therefore, in the case of the ink filter cartridge 760 of this example, it is not necessary to form a liquid-tight state using an O-ring as in the case of the ink filter cartridge 707 described above.

When a nonwoven fabric mesh filter, a synthetic fiber mesh filter, or the like is used instead of a stainless steel mesh filter as the ink filter, the material of the filter case 761 may be press-fitted into a needle-like projection. What has elastic characteristics suitable for the above may be used.

On the other hand, the above description is an example in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet printer for printing on a tape-shaped recording medium fed from a tape cartridge. However, the invention is equally applicable to other inkjet printers. For example, the present invention can be applied to an ink jet printer provided with a detachable mounting portion for storing a large number of cut sheets such as postcards in a stacked state as a recording medium cartridge.

On the other hand, ink jet printers to which the present invention can be applied include cyan,
The present invention can be applied to a case in which a color printing is not performed by mounting three color ink tanks of magenta and yellow. For example, the present invention can be applied to an ink jet printer using only black ink, and can also be applied to an ink jet printer capable of mounting ink tanks of four or more colors.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an ink jet printer in which an ink tank is detachably mounted, an ink for introducing ink supplied from the mounted ink tank into an ink jet head is provided. Replace the ink filter attached to the introduction section with
It is detachable from the ink introduction section. Therefore, when clogging occurs in the ink filter, only the ink filter needs to be removed from the ink introduction portion formed in the inkjet head and replaced with a new ink filter. For this reason, it is more economical than replacing the entire ink jet head when the ink filter is clogged as in the related art. Further, since only the ink filter needs to be replaced, the replacement operation can be performed extremely simply and in a short time as compared with the case where the ink jet head is replaced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an inkjet printer to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a drive mechanism unit built in the printer of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing only an inkjet head mounted on the printer of FIG. 1 and a detachable ink cartridge connected thereto.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a state in which an ink cartridge is connected to an ink jet head mounted on the printer of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the inkjet head of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing another example of the ink filter cartridge detachably attached to the ink jet head.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing a tape cartridge of the printer of FIG. 1 and a mounting portion thereof, FIG. 7A is a schematic sectional view, and FIG. 7B is an explanatory diagram showing a front wall thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer 101 ... Main body casing 2 ... Drive mechanism unit 3 ... Tape cartridge 7 ... Inkjet head 701 ... Head case 702 ... Head main body 706 ... Needle-like projection (Ink introduction unit) 707: Ink filter cartridge 710: Ink supply path 735: Ink introduction path 736: Ink introduction port 741: Filter case 742: Ink filter 745: O Ring 760: Ink filter cartridge 761: Filter case 762: Ink filter T: Tape-shaped recording medium

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-238909 (JP, A) JP-A-1-133747 (JP, A) JP-A-4-212864 (JP, A) JP-A-4-214 257452 (JP, A) JP-A-6-143604 (JP, A) JP-A-4-10057 (JP, Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F41J 2/175

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A head body connected to an ink nozzle.
An ink jet head with a
Linked to the ink introduction section and detachably joined to the ink introduction section
And an ink cartridge having an ink supply port to be formed.
In the inkjet printer having a, in the ink inlet portion, an ink filter facing the ink supply port is detachably attached to the inside of the ink tank and impregnated with ink follower
Contact the ink supply port and the ink supply port.
Cylindrical felt fill that can be moved in the axial direction of the feed port
Motor is provided, while joining the ink supply port to the ink inlet portion
The ink filter abuts the felt filter
An ink jet printer wherein the ink is slightly pushed into the ink tank . 2. The ink introduction section includes a substantially cylindrical needle-like projection having an ink introduction passage formed therein, and the ink filter includes a cylindrical filter case that detachably covers the needle-like projection. 2. The filter body according to claim 1, further comprising: a filter body attached to a tip of the filter case, wherein the ink supply port is joined to the needle-like protrusion with the ink filter interposed therebetween. 3. Inkjet printer . 3. The ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein an O-ring is interposed between an outer peripheral surface of the needle-like projection and an inner peripheral surface of the filter case.
Ta . 4. The filter case is made of a resin,
3. The ink-jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the needle-shaped protrusion is detachably and liquid-tightly press-fitted.
Ta . 5. The ink jet printer according to claim 4, wherein the filter case is a molded product of an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer.