JP3582597B2 - ink cartridge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink cartridge suitable for an ink jet printer in which an ink jet recording head and an ink cartridge are mounted on a carriage, and ink is supplied by replacing the cartridge.

  In the case of an ink jet printer in which an ink container is mounted on a carriage equipped with an ink jet recording head, in order to prevent fluctuations in water head pressure caused by ink sway due to movement of the carriage and printing defects due to foaming. The ink container is divided into two regions as described in European Patent Publication No. 581531, and a porous body is stored on the recording head side, and ink is stored in the other region. Has been proposed.

With such a structure, ink is supplied to the recording head through the porous body, so that inconvenience caused by the ink swing can be prevented as much as possible.
However, since the joining between the recording head and the porous body is performed by pressing a projection communicating with the recording head into a through hole formed in the side of the container, the piezoelectric vibrator is used as an actuator for ink ejection. There is a problem that the method cannot be applied to a recording head that refuses to mix air bubbles into the pressure generating chamber, such as an ink jet recording head to be used.

  In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to use an O-ring A which elastically contacts the peripheral surface of the ink supply needle of the recording head as shown in FIG. Not only causes a load on the recording head and the carriage, but also because each O-ring has its outer periphery supported by the cartridge body B, if there is an error in the position of the recording head with respect to the ink supply needle, mounting is not possible. This becomes extremely difficult, and in particular, there is a problem that mounting may not be possible with a cartridge in which three color tanks C, D, and E are integrated as shown in FIG.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to enable mounting with a light mounting force and a large margin, and to achieve a high print head with a small dead space as much as possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink cartridge for an ink jet printer that can maintain airtightness and reliably prevent air bubbles from being mixed into a recording head.

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, in an ink cartridge having an ink supply port which communicates with a recording head and engages with an ink supply needle having a tapered portion at the tip , A packing member having a tapered portion is provided, and the tapered portion of the packing member is provided in the ink supply port in a direction in which a side into which the ink supply needle is inserted is tapered.

When Lee ink supply needle is inserted into the ink supply port, the tip of the ink supply needle is in contact with the tapered portion of the packing member can be secured airtightness, also by the action of negative pressure to the recording head in deep penetration condition Even when the ink is forcibly discharged, the tapered portion of the packing member is easily deformed toward the ink supply needle due to the differential pressure, thereby exhibiting a high sealing property.

Therefore, the details of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiment.
1 (a) and 1 (b) show an embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body container, as shown in FIG. 4, 5 and 6, each of which has a foam chamber 11 containing a porous body 20 suitable for absorbing ink by the partitions 10, 10 and 10; Are separated into an ink chamber 12 for storing the ink.

  The volume of the porous body 20 is selected to be larger than the volume of the foam chamber 11, and is compressed and accommodated in the foam chamber 11.

  The volume ratio of the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 is selected so that the amount of ink stored in the foam chamber 11 is increased by about 20 to 30%.

  By setting the ink amount in the foam chamber 11 side to be larger than the ink amount in the ink chamber 12 in this manner, when three colors of ink are provided in one cartridge, the ink amounts of the respective colors may be unbalanced. This makes it difficult to visually recognize the variation in the liquid level of the ink chamber, which eliminates unnecessary concerns of the consumer regarding the remaining amount of ink.In addition, when the cartridge is discarded, the ink is absorbed by the porous body. Therefore, it is possible to protect the environment by preventing the outflow.

  At the lower end of each foam chamber 11, there are provided ink supply ports 13, 13, 13 for engaging with the ink supply needle 50 of the recording head, and the upper end of the container body 1 is located at a position facing the foam chamber 11. It is sealed with a lid 16 having a pair of ink inlets 14 and 15.

  Protrusions 16a and 16b are formed in the region of the back surface of the lid 16 located in the foam chamber 11 so as to surround the ink inlets 14 and 15, and the porous body 20 is supplied by these protrusions 16a and 16b. It is pressed against the bottom surface where the mouth 13 is formed.

  Of the protrusions 16a and 16b, the protrusion 16a facing the ink supply port 13 is formed to be longer than the protrusion 16b remote from the ink supply port 13 so as to be positioned longer. The vicinity of the port 13 is compressed at the highest pressure.

  At the bottom of each foam chamber 11, a convex portion 22 for compressing the porous body 20 in cooperation with the lid 16 is formed, and a concave portion 23 forming an empty room having a certain opening area at the upper end thereof. A through hole 24 is provided, one end of which communicates with the other, and the other end of which communicates with a packing, which will be described later.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a packing member, which is formed of an elastic material such as rubber provided at the lower end of the ink supply port 13 and is configured as a funnel-shaped packing that expands upward. The lower end is formed as a thicker cylindrical portion 31 as compared with the other portions, and the peripheral upper end 33 of the tapered portion 32 abuts the step 13a of the ink supply port 13, and the boundary with the tapered portion 32 is further reduced. It is configured as a thin connecting portion 34.

  As a result, the ink supply port 13 is securely held by the tubular portion 31 and the upper end 33 of the peripheral edge is prevented from moving upward by the step 13a. Will be fixed. Further, since the tapered portion 32 for securing the airtightness with the ink supply needle is fixed to the ink supply port 13 by the thin connecting portion 34, the taper portion 32 can be moved to some extent without deformation, so that the ink supply needle The airtightness with the ink supply needle can be secured while absorbing the relative displacement with respect to the ink supply needle 50.

  The partition 10, which divides the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12, forms a continuous long hole from the bottom of the container 1 to a certain height and is provided with a communication hole 19 for gas-liquid separation. The porous body 20 is housed in the foam chamber 11 in a state in which a part thereof is in contact with the hole 19 and is pressed to some extent by the communication hole 19.

  On the other hand, a black ink cartridge which is manufactured to be relatively smaller than a color ink cartridge, but has a larger volume of the ink chamber 12 than colored ink, has an ink chamber 12 and a foam chamber 11 as shown in FIG. A partition wall 17 extending from the bottom surface to the vicinity of the upper portion is formed between the partition 10 to be partitioned and the side wall 1a of the container body 1, and the ink chamber 11 is divided into two chambers 12a and 12b, which are used for ink injection described later. It is configured to prevent deformation of the entire container due to negative pressure or external pressure during use, thereby preventing leakage of ink. The divided rooms 12a and 12b are connected to each other by the foam chamber 11 through the communication holes 19 of the partition 10, but communication holes may be provided below the partition wall 17.

  Also, when mounted on the carriage, a plurality of ribs 18 extending upward and downward are formed on the inner surface of the wall at a position that is easy to see from the outside, in this embodiment, the side wall 1a, so that ink can quickly descend from the wall surface 1a. At the same time, the contrast is increased so that the remaining amount of ink can be easily detected. Reference numeral 19a in the figure indicates a groove portion described later formed on the surface of the partition 10 on the foam chamber 11 side.

  FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the lid 16 described above. Reference numerals 14 and 15 in the figure denote holes for ink injection, which are formed in a region where the porous body is accommodated. The hole 14 is connected to the atmosphere communication ports 41, 41, 41 via meandering grooves 40, 40, 40.

  These grooves 40, 40, 40 form a capillary tube when a seal 42 covering the ink injection holes 14, 15 and the air communication port 41 is attached at the stage when the ink injection operation described later is completed. It has become. The seal 42 has a tongue piece 45 that partially projects from the lid 16 via a constricted portion 43 provided on the way to the atmosphere communication port 41. When the tongue piece 45 is peeled off from the lid 16 with such a configuration, only the tongue piece 45 can be easily separated from the constricted portion 43, and only the atmosphere communication port 41 can be exposed.

  The seal 42 has a pattern such as a character or an illustration printed on the surface of a main body 44 that constantly seals the grooves 40, 40, 40, and a tongue piece 45 connected to the main body 44 via a constricted portion 43. Are printed in different colors and patterns.

  For example, the main body 44 has a background color of blue and characters and illustrations are printed in black, while the tongue piece 45 has a high contrast color with respect to the background color of the main body 44, such as yellow or red. Characters and illustrations are printed on the ground color, mainly black and blue. By making the color and the pattern of the main body 44 and the tongue piece 45 clearly different from each other, it is possible to urge the user to peel off the tongue piece 45.

  In the cartridge configured as described above, the ink supply port is sealed with the film 46, and the injection needle is inserted into the ink injection ports 14 and 15 in an airtight manner. Close the injection needle.

  When the exhaust unit is operated in this state, the pressure in the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 is reduced. At the stage when the pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure, the evacuation operation is stopped, and the other injection needle is connected to the measuring tube, so that the ink contained in the measuring tube is temporarily absorbed by the porous body 20 and then the communication hole 19 is connected. Flows into the ink chamber 12 via

  At the stage when the specified amount of ink has flowed in through the measuring tube, a seal 42 is attached to the surface of the lid 16 to seal the injection ports 14, 15 and the meandering groove 40, and the communication port 41 under reduced pressure. Thereby, the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 are maintained in a reduced pressure state.

  When the tongue piece 45 of the lid 16 is peeled off at the time of using the cartridge thus configured, the tongue piece 45 is separated from the main body 44 with the constricted portion 43 as a boundary. Thereby, the ink injection port 14 communicates with the atmosphere communication port 41 through the groove 40. In the use state, each of the foam chambers 4, 5, and 6 communicates with the atmosphere via the meandering long groove 40, so that evaporation of ink can be prevented while ensuring air permeability.

  In this state, when the ink supply port 13 of the ink cartridge is positioned and pushed into the ink supply needle 50 of the recording head, as shown in FIG. It penetrates and contacts the hole of the packing member 30. Since the packing member 30 is expanded upward, the packing member 30 penetrates the packing member 30 while being elastically deformed by being elastically pressed by the tapered portion 51 of the ink supply needle 50.

  If the ink supply needle 50 is used in a state of being inserted into the packing member 30, even if there is a slight displacement in the horizontal direction between the ink supply needle of the recording head and the center of the packing, the ink supply As long as the tip of the needle engages with the hole of the packing member 30, the tapered portion 32 follows the ink supply needle 50 due to the elasticity of the connection portion 34, so that the ink supply port 13 and the ink supply needle 50 are securely sealed. Can be stopped.

  When the recording head is filled with ink immediately after the ink cartridge is mounted, or when a negative pressure is applied to the recording head to force the ink to flow from the cartridge into the recording head, such as during an ink ejection capability recovery operation. Since a large negative pressure acts on the cartridge side, the tapered portion 32 of the packing member 30 separating the cartridge from the atmosphere is deformed toward the ink cartridge.

  As a result, the tapered portion 32 of the packing member 30 is resiliently pressed by the ink supply needle 50 due to the pressure difference, and the sealing performance is further enhanced.

  Further, as long as the tapered portion 51 of the ink supply needle 50 elastically contacts the tapered portion 32 of the packing member 30 as shown in FIG. Since the downward elastic force is accumulated, airtightness with the ink supply needle 50 can be ensured.

  According to such a usage form, the tip of the ink supply needle 50 is directly sealed, so that the dead space is extremely small and the injection of air due to the piston effect due to the pushing can be prevented.

  In this state, when a negative pressure is applied from the nozzle opening side of the recording head, the ink absorbed in the porous body 20 flows into the recording head from the through hole 24 through the through holes 51 of the ink supply needle. .

  When a predetermined amount of ink is consumed and the amount of ink in the porous body 20 decreases and the liquid level drops, the pressure in the ink chamber 12 overcomes the ink holding force of the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19. Bubbles enter the ink chamber 12 from the communication hole 19. As a result, the pressure in the ink chamber 12 increases, and the ink flows into the foam chamber 11.

  The ink flowing into the foam chamber 11 is absorbed by the porous body 20 and slightly raises the ink level in the foam chamber 11, so that the ink holding power of the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19 and the pressure of the ink chamber 12 are balanced. At this point, the flow of ink from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11 stops.

  FIG. 6 shows this process. In the figure, the symbol F indicates the head pressure of the porous body 20 in the foam chamber 11, and the symbol G indicates the amount of ink in the ink chamber 12, which is apparent from FIG. When the ink initially filled in the porous body 20 is consumed up to a certain amount w1, the head pressure of the porous body 20 is maintained at a predetermined value, and the pressure of the ink chamber 12 is maintained at the ink in the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19. When the force is reduced to a level that overcomes the force, the ink gradually flows from the ink chamber 12 into the foam chamber 11 in a stepwise manner until the ink holding force of the porous body 20 near the communication hole 19 restores the pressure and balance of the ink chamber 12. .

  As a result, although the amount of ink in the ink chamber 12 gradually decreases, the head pressure of the porous body 20 is maintained substantially constant, and ink can be supplied to the recording head with a constant pressure difference.

  When the ink is consumed up to the predetermined amount w2 by the recording head, the ink in the ink chamber 12 runs out, but the porous body 20 is equivalent to the ink being still intermittently supplied from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11. Ink remains.

  Therefore, printing can be further performed with the amount of ink absorbed by the porous body 20. If the specified amount w3 of the ink is consumed, the supply of the ink from the porous body 20 becomes impossible.

  Then, a certain amount of ink ΔT can be supplied to the recording head from the time when all the ink in the ink chamber 12 is absorbed by the porous body 20 until printing becomes impossible. Indicates the near end of the ink in the entire cartridge. If a new cartridge is prepared at this stage, the ink can be supplied promptly.

  By the way, as described above, the ink cartridge of the present invention needs to maintain the inside at a negative pressure even during printing. 11 is an extremely important factor. Therefore, next, a structure for managing the supply of ink from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11 will be described.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a step portion 60 having an elevated ink chamber side is formed at the boundary between the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12, and a groove 61 connecting the two chambers is formed below the step portion 60.

  According to this embodiment, the porous body 20 in contact with the communication hole 19 is reliably received by the stepped portion 60, the compression ratio in the vicinity thereof is increased, and the ink chamber 12 and the foam chamber 11 through the communication hole 19 are connected. Not only can a pressure difference be reliably ensured, but also when the ink in the ink chamber 12 is low, the ink in the ink chamber 12 can be collected by the groove 61 and absorbed by the porous body 20. Therefore, the ink in the ink chamber can be supplied to the recording head without waste.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the bottom of the ink chamber 12 is higher than the foam chamber 11 side to form a step 62, and the step 62 receives the lower part of the porous body 20 to form a porous layer near the communication hole 19. The compression ratio of the body 20 is increased, and an inclination 63 from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11 is provided as needed.

  According to this embodiment, the ink in the ink chamber 11 can be biased toward the communication hole 19 and collected. As a result, the ink in the ink chamber 12 is reliably supplied to the recording head regardless of the inclination of the carriage. be able to.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the above-described thin groove portion 19a (FIG. 2, FIG. 2) is provided on the foam chamber side so as to communicate with the upper part of the communication hole 19 of the partition partitioning the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12. 3), and a penetrating portion 19b is formed at the lower end of the groove portion 19a in order to further secure an air passage from the ink chamber 12 to the foam chamber 11.

  According to this embodiment, the upper part of the porous body 20 is communicated with the communication hole 19 through the space formed by the narrow groove 19a.

  As a result, since the communication hole 19 is connected to the upper portion of the porous body 20 having a relatively small capillary force via the thin groove 19a, the ink can be replaced with air smoothly, and the ink chamber 12 can be replaced. Can be reliably flowed into the foam chamber 11 to prevent an ink supply error.

  FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 65 denotes a horseshoe-shaped projection provided at the bottom of the foam chamber 12, which secures a space near the communication hole 19. In addition, the ink in the ink chamber 12 is made to flow into the foam chamber 11 easily.

  In the above-described embodiment, the foam chamber 11 and the ink chamber 12 are divided by one partition 10. However, in the case of a single-color ink cartridge, FIGS. As shown in FIG. 11B, an ink chamber 71 is formed so as to surround two or three sides of the foam chamber 70, and at least the walls 72, 72, 72 that partition the foam chamber 70 and the ink chamber 71 are formed. By forming the communication hole 73 in one, not only a large amount of ink can be stored compared to the volume of the entire ink cartridge, but also the presence or absence of ink can be confirmed from a wide angle. Note that reference numeral 74 in the figure denotes an ink supply port.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views each showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a color ink cartridge. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the ink container body of the ink cartridge. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink container body of the black ink cartridge. FIGS. 4A and 4B are top views showing the structure of the lid body on the foam chamber side, in which FIG. 4A shows a state where a seal is not adhered, and FIG. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing a state where the ink cartridge is mounted on a recording head. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a relationship among an ink consumption amount, a water head pressure, and an ink amount in an ink chamber. FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment showing a structure of a boundary area between a foam chamber and an ink chamber. FIG. 9 is a view showing another embodiment of the structure of the boundary area between the foam chamber and the ink chamber. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing a vertical cross section and a cross sectional structure taken along line AA of another embodiment of the structure near the boundary between the foam chamber and the ink chamber, respectively. (A) and (b) are a longitudinal sectional view and a transverse sectional view showing another embodiment of the structure near the boundary between the foam chamber and the ink chamber, respectively. FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views showing another embodiment of the ink cartridge. FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams each showing an example of a conventional ink cartridge.

Explanation of reference numerals

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cartridge main body 2, 3 Partition plate 10 Middle partition 11 Foam chamber 12 Ink chamber 13 Ink supply port 14, 15 Hole for ink injection 16 Lid 17 Partition wall 18 Rib 19 Communication hole 19a Groove 20 Porous body 22 Porous body compression Convex portion 23 concave portion 24 through hole 25 filter 30 packing 31 cylindrical portion 32 tapered portion 40 groove 41 atmosphere communication port 42 seal 50 ink supply needle 51 tapered portion

Claims (3)

In an ink cartridge having an ink supply port communicating with a recording head and engaging with an ink supply needle having a tapered portion at a tip, a packing member having a tapered portion is provided at the ink supply port, and An ink cartridge in which a tapered portion is provided in the ink supply port so that a side into which the ink supply needle is inserted is tapered.   The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink supply port is divided into a plurality of rooms by a partition wall, and the ink supply ports communicate with each of the rooms. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein an upper end of a peripheral edge of the tapered portion of the packing member is fixed so as to contact a step portion of the ink supply port.

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