JP3551617B2 - Ink cartridge for inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge of an inkjet printer for printing by ejecting droplets of ink onto a recording medium such as recording paper, about the ink cartridge comprising in particular filled with ink occlusion member (e.g. porous member).
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In general, there is known an ink jet printer in which ink droplets are jetted through nozzle holes of a print head and recorded on a recording medium such as recording paper, in which an ink cartridge for supplying ink to a print head is replaceable. Further, as an ink cartridge used in such an ink jet printer, an ink storage member in which ink is stored in a cartridge main body is housed, and an ink supply pipe section on a print head side is inserted into and connected to an ink supply hole of the cartridge main body. There is known a device that can supply ink.
[0003]
In such an ink cartridge, in order to maintain the internal space at atmospheric pressure and to smoothly supply ink from the ink storage member to the print head through the ink supply hole, an air communication hole is provided separately from the ink supply hole. Is provided. In order to prevent the ink from leaking or evaporating at the time of transportation or the like, and to easily open the ink cartridge and take out the ink cartridge at the time of use, first, the ink supply hole of the ink cartridge is provided with the ink supply hole of the ink cartridge. The atmosphere communication hole is sealed with a sealing material, and then it is packed with a packing material.
[0004]
By the way, when sealing is performed with such a sealing material, as shown in FIG. 6, when ink e from the ink storage member d adheres to the inner surface side of the sealing material c that seals the ink supply hole b of the ink cartridge a. There is.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when the ink e adheres to the inner surface side of the seal material c as described above, when the ink cartridge a is used, the seal material c provided for the ink supply hole b of the ink cartridge a is used. However, there is a problem that the ink is scattered when peeling off, and the surroundings are soiled.
[0006]
By the way, as described in JP-A-6-320749, the tank opening of the ink tank is sealed with a crushable sealing member made of a non-ink-permeable material, while the end of the ink supply pipe of the inkjet head is sealed. Around the area, there are provided a plurality of protrusions that break the sealing member when the ink supply pipe is pressed against the sealing member at the tank opening when the ink tank is installed, and the sealing member corresponding to the tank opening is not broken. Although it has been proposed that at least the dimension between the pair of projections is set larger than the dimension between the other projections so as to be broken into fragments while leaving the part, since such a thing requires a considerable force to break through the projections, At this time, if ink adheres to the back surface of the sealing member, the ink may be scattered. Also, when piercing, there is a possibility that debris may come out.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing, it is an object to provide a ink cartridge of an inkjet printer ink is prevented from adhering to the sealing material.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
[0009]
[0010]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge body having an ink supply hole and filled with an ink occluding member, and a releasably attached to the outer wall surface side of the ink supply hole of the cartridge body so as to close the ink supply hole. An ink cartridge of an inkjet printer which is used by being attached to a head unit having a print head, wherein the seal member is formed of a member having water repellency on a side closing the ink supply hole. The cartridge body has a configuration in which a similar water-repellent treatment is performed on an outer wall surface of a peripheral portion of the ink supply hole, and the seal member is thermally fused to the cartridge body.
[0011]
According to the present invention, the sealing material is the side that closes the ink supply hole since they are constituted by members having water repellency, adhesion of ink to the sealing material is prevented. Therefore, the ink does not scatter around when the seal material is peeled off. Further, the cartridge body subjected to the same water-repellent treatment and the sealing material are heat-sealed.
[0012]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge body having an ink supply hole and filled with an ink occluding member, and a releasably attached to an outer wall surface side of the ink supply hole of the cartridge body so as to close the ink supply hole. An ink cartridge of an ink jet printer which is used by being mounted on a head unit having a print head, wherein the seal material is subjected to a water-repellent treatment on a side which closes the ink supply hole. The cartridge body has the same water-repellent treatment applied to the outer wall surface of the peripheral portion of the ink supply hole, and the sealant is thermally fused to the cartridge body.
[0013]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the seal member is subjected to the water repellent treatment on the side that closes the ink supply hole, and the same water repellent treatment is performed on the outer wall surface of the peripheral portion of the ink supply hole of the cartridge body. Is applied, the sealing material can be thermally fused to the cartridge body. Further, when the sealing material is peeled off, the ink does not scatter around.
[0014]
[0015]
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
FIG. 1 shows a state where the ink cartridge is mounted on the head unit, and FIG. 2 shows a state before the ink cartridge is mounted. In this example, since four types of inks are used, four types of ink cartridges 1A to 1D corresponding to each type of ink are provided.
[0018]
Each of the ink cartridges 1A to 1D basically has the same structure, and includes a cartridge main body 8 in which the ink occluding member 2 is filled, and the cartridge main body 8 is filled with the ink occluding member 2. It has a box-shaped case body 3 having a possible opening and a lid 4 for closing the opening of the case body 3. In each of the case bodies 3 of the ink cartridges 1A to 1D, an ink supply hole 5 (see FIG. 3) for supplying ink to the print head 11, and an atmosphere communication hole 6 for smoothly supplying the ink are provided. Is provided.
[0019]
After the ink is filled in the ink cartridge 1 on the outer wall surface side of the ink supply hole 5 and the air communication hole 6 of the case body 3 of each of the ink cartridges 1A to 1D, the reason for preventing evaporation of the ink is given. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the sealing material 7 is adhered so as to close them, and the inside of the ink cartridges 1A to 1D is shut off from the outside. Therefore, when the ink cartridge is used, it is necessary to peel off the sealing material 7 to expose the ink supply hole 5.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 4, the sealing member 7 is subjected to a water-repellent treatment on at least the side where the ink supply hole 5 is closed, except for a portion 7a attached to the case body 3. 7b and 7c are formed to prevent ink from adhering to the back surface side of the sealing material 7 corresponding to the ink supply hole 5. It is sufficient that only the portion corresponding to the ink supply hole 5 has been subjected to the water-repellent treatment. Therefore, the water-repellent treatment portion 7c may be omitted and only the water-repellent treatment portion 7b may be formed. The material of the sealing material 7 to be subjected to the water-repellent treatment is not particularly limited.
[0021]
The ink cartridges 1A to 1D are designed to be mounted on a head unit 12 having a print head 11. In the head unit 12, an ink supply pipe 15 having an ink flow path 15 a is inserted into a vertical wall portion 14 on one side of the substrate portion 13. The print head 11 includes an actuator that causes the ink supplied from the ink supply pipe 15 to fly from the nozzle holes on the front surface.
[0022]
In addition, when the ink supply pipe 15 has a cylindrical seal rubber 16 externally fitted to a portion inside the vertical wall portion 14 through a concave portion, and the ink cartridges 1A to 1D are mounted on the head unit 12, The seal rubber 16 secures the sealing property with the ink cartridge 1.
[0023]
According to the above-described configuration, the surplus ink that oozes out of the ink occluding member 2 and exists in the ink supply hole 5 by the water repellent processing portion 7 b of the seal material 7 is formed by the water repellent effect of the seal material 7. 7 is prevented. Therefore, when the seal material 7 is peeled from the case body 3 of the cartridge body 8 in order to use the ink cartridges 1A to 1D, the ink itself does not adhere to the seal material 7, and the ink scatters around. Nothing. Further, since the water repellent treatment is not applied to the sealing portion 7a (the heat-sealing portion) of the sealing material 7 to the case body 3, the sticking property (the heat-sealing property) between them is impaired. Nor.
[0024]
By the way, the ink cartridges 1 </ b> A to 1 </ b> D perform a water-repellent treatment on the sealing member 7 except for the sticking portion 7 a, and then attach the sealing member 7 to the case body 3 in a releasable manner. Although it can be easily manufactured, in addition to the above, the seal member 7 is subjected to a water-repellent treatment at least on a side of the seal member 7 which closes the ink supply hole 5, while the outer periphery of the ink supply hole 5 in the case body 3 is removed. The same water-repellent treatment may be applied to the wall surface side, and then the sealing material 7 may be releasably attached to the case body 3. In this case, the seal member 7 is subjected to a water-repellent treatment at least on the side of the seal member 7 which closes the ink supply hole 5, and the outer wall surface of the peripheral portion of the ink supply hole 5 of the cartridge body 8 (case body 3) is provided. On the other hand, since the same water-repellent treatment is performed, heat fusion can be used, and the seal member 7 can be easily and releasably attached to the case body 3.
[0025]
Further, a sealing material 7 is releasably attached so as to close the ink supply hole 5, and a portion corresponding to the ink supply hole 5 of the seal material 7 is subjected to water repellent treatment from the inner surface side of the case body 3, Then, after the case body 3 is filled with the ink occluding member 2 and the opening of the case body 3 is closed by the lid body 4, the sealing material 7 is subjected to a water-repellent treatment and then adhered. As described above, the ink cartridges 1A to 1D described above can be easily manufactured without considering the positional relationship between the seal member 7 and the case body 3 (the cartridge body 8).
[0026]
In this case, in particular, as shown in FIG. 5, if the ink supply holes 5 are formed in the plate-shaped lid 4A that closes the opening of the box-shaped case body 3A, the water repellency to the sealing material 7 can be obtained. Processing becomes easier. Note that FIG. 5 shows a state in which the ink injection needle 9 is inserted into the cut-ridge main body 8A through the air communication hole 6 in a vacuum, and the ink is injected and stored in the ink storage member 2.
[0027]
In the above-described embodiment, a water repellent treatment is performed on the seal material 7, but instead, a seal material having a water repellent member on at least the side that closes the ink supply hole 5 is used. The same operation and effect can be obtained. As the member having water repellency, for example, water-resistant and chemical-resistant resins such as fluorine, polytetrafluoroethylene, and polypropylene can be used. Since these are thermoplastic resins, they are thermally fused to the cartridge body. It is possible.
[0028]
Further, in order to further enhance the heat-sealing property, at least the side of the seal material that closes the ink supply hole is formed of a water-repellent member, while the outer periphery of the peripheral portion of the ink supply hole in the case body. A similar water-repellent treatment may be applied to the wall surface side, and then the sealing material may be heat-sealed (sticked) to the case body so as to be peelable.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
[0030]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, as described above, since the seal member is formed of a member having water repellency at least on the side that closes the ink supply hole, it is possible to prevent ink from adhering to the seal member. Thus, when the sealing material is peeled off, the ink can be prevented from scattering around. In addition, the cartridge body and the sealing material that have been subjected to the same water-repellent treatment can be releasably attached by heat fusion.
[0031]
According to the invention of claim 2 , as described above, the seal member is subjected to the water repellent treatment on the side that closes the ink supply hole, and the same repellent treatment is applied to the outer wall surface of the peripheral portion of the ink supply hole in the cartridge body. since subjected to a hydrothermal treatment, the sealing material can and detachably attached to Turkey by thermal fusion to the cartridge body. Further, when the sealing material is peeled off, the ink does not scatter around.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the ink cartridge according to the present invention is mounted on a head unit.
FIG. 2
FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a water-repellent treatment for a sealing material.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method of injecting ink into an ink cartridge.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
1A to 1D Ink cartridge 2 Ink occluding member 3, 3A Case body 4, 4A Lid 5 Ink supply hole 7 Sealing material 7b Water repellent treatment section 8, 8A Cartridge main body 12 Head unit

Claims (2)

A cartridge main body having an ink supply hole and filled with an ink occluding member, and a sealing material peelably attached to the outer wall surface side of the ink supply hole of the cartridge main body so as to close the ink supply hole. In an ink cartridge of an ink jet printer used by being mounted on a head unit having a print head,
The sealing material is formed of a member having water repellency on a side that closes the ink supply hole, and the cartridge body is subjected to a similar water repellent treatment on an outer wall surface of a peripheral portion of the ink supply hole. An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer, wherein the seal member is thermally fused to the cartridge body. A cartridge main body having an ink supply hole and filled with an ink occluding member, and a sealing material peelably attached to the outer wall surface side of the ink supply hole of the cartridge main body so as to close the ink supply hole. In an ink cartridge of an ink jet printer used by being mounted on a head unit having a print head,
The sealing material is subjected to a water-repellent treatment on a side that closes the ink supply hole, and the cartridge body is subjected to a similar water-repellent treatment on an outer wall surface of a peripheral portion of the ink supply hole, An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer, wherein a sealing material is thermally fused to the cartridge body.

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