JP3714372B2 - ink cartridge - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge used in an ink jet recording apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a printer of a type that performs recording and writing using liquid ink, particularly an ink jet printer, an ink cartridge as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 5-270001 and 7-125238 by the present applicant is used. Used.
[0003]
This type of ink cartridge is usually formed of polystyrene having an appropriate shape retaining property, and is filled with ink under reduced pressure. However, since polystyrene easily permeates water vapor, the ink cartridge is used. If the ink is stored for a long period of time, the viscosity of the ink increases due to the evaporation of water, causing problems such as poor ejection from the nozzles and loss of reliability. When ink having a low surface tension is used for ejection, bubbles are generated when the ink is filled or a film is stuck under reduced pressure, and ink is ejected from the ink cartridge.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide sufficient rigidity even when a soft synthetic resin material such as polypropylene that does not easily transmit water vapor but has poor shape retention is used. It is another object of the present invention to provide a new ink cartridge.
[0005]
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new ink cartridge in which ink is not ejected by bubbles generated when ink is filled.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the present invention is an ink cartridge for solving such a problem. The invention of claim 1 includes an ink cartridge main body provided with an ink supply port for supplying ink to the recording head, and the ink cartridge main body. And an ink cartridge that seals the opening of the ink cartridge main body to form an ink storage chamber for containing the foam, and presses the foam against the inner surface of the lid; and A plurality of first protrusions parallel to each other extending in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage chamber are formed, and at least one through hole is formed between the plurality of first protrusions .
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, an ink cartridge main body provided with an ink supply port for supplying ink to a recording head, a foam accommodated in the ink cartridge main body, and an opening of the ink cartridge main body are sealed. In an ink cartridge comprising a lid that forms an ink containing chamber for containing the foam, an ink filling cylinder is formed on the inner surface of the lid, the foam is pressed so as to abut against the ink filling cylinder , and Two protrusions extending in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage chamber are formed in parallel to each other .
These foams formed in parallel can push the foam into the back side of the lid to prevent the through hole from being blocked by the foam, thereby preventing the ejection of ink during ink filling .
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, examples of the present invention will be described below.
1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention.
[0009]
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a substantially rectangular ink cartridge main body formed of polypropylene as a raw material. Among the peripheral walls of the main body 1, the longitudinal end walls 2, 2 are made thicker than those of the width side walls 3. In addition, the opening edge 4 at the upper end bulges outward to form a thick wall, thereby giving it sufficient rigidity, and the corners of these end walls 2 and side walls 3 The ridges 6, which serve as both positioning to a cartridge holder (not shown) and self-retaining are integrally formed to project.
[0010]
On the other hand, the bottom surface 8 of the ink cartridge main body 1 is formed with a cylindrical ink supply port 10 as shown in FIG. 2A on one side thereof. In particular, in this embodiment, As shown in FIG. 2B, the ink supply port 10 is formed so as to surround the inner cylindrical portion 11 so that the outer side becomes the rectangular tube portion 12, and when the ink supply port 10 is sealed, a press or the like is used. While eliminating the need to cut the corners of the film, the gap 13 between the cylindrical portion 11 and the rectangular tube portion 12 is used as an air escape portion when sticking the film, and further, there are several on the top edge of the rectangular tube portion 12. By providing such a notch 14, the inside air can be escaped from here to the outside when the film is stuck.
[0011]
The ink supply port 10 has a plurality of positioning protrusions 10a or recesses integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof in the cartridge mounting direction so as to be compatible with a plurality of types of printers. By bringing some of the protrusions 10a or the recesses into contact with the corresponding contact portions of the recording head, the axis of the ink supply port 10 can be positioned correctly in accordance with the ink supply needle. It is configured.
[0012]
An engagement recess 15 extending in the width direction of the cartridge body 1 is formed on the bottom surface 8 of the ink cartridge body 1 so as to be adjacent to the ink supply port 10, and the recess 15 is provided on a lifter provided in the cartridge holder. By engaging with the support a, it is possible to prevent erroneous mounting on the cartridge, and by providing the recess 15, the inwardly projecting step 16 becomes a portion where the foam 18 does not contact, and the ink that is not absorbed by the foam 18 In this way, the ink can be used up to the last drop of ink, and a decompression space during decompression packing with an aluminum pack can be secured.
[0013]
On the other hand, reference numeral 20 in the figure denotes a lid that seals the opening of the ink cartridge main body 1, and the inner surface of the lid 20 is pressed against the foam 18 accommodated therein as shown in FIG. The two rows of vertical ribs 21, 21 are formed so as to protrude with a distance so that the lid 20 can be slightly slid in the longitudinal direction. By making the portion closer to the mouth 10 higher than the other portions, the foam 18 in this portion is more strongly compressed, and the strong capillary action obtained by reducing the pores causes the ink in the foam 18 to be transferred to the ink supply port 10. Further, a large number of horizontal ribs 22 are arranged in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and one end thereof is alternately separated from the vertical rib 21 inside the vertical ribs 21, 21. By standing, the flow path is formed in a zigzag shape, and the ink bubbles generated when the pressure is reduced are separated into ink and air in the process of leading to the air vent hole 31 through a long path, and only the air is discharged to the outside. Is configured to do.
[0014]
On the other hand, on the outer side of the vertical rib 21, as shown in FIG. 3, several reinforcing ribs 23 that contact the inner side surface of the opening edge 4 of the cartridge main body 1 and suppress inward bending of this portion. Projecting in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the outside of the reinforcing rib 23 is welded to a welding scissor 5 protruding from the top surface of the opening edge 4 as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. The surface 24 is formed, and the outer side thereof reaches the outer peripheral protruding edge 26 via a narrow groove 25 for receiving a chip at the time of welding.
[0015]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, an ink filling hole 30 and an air vent hole 31 are formed through the top surface of the lid body 20 at a portion near the center and the ink supply port 10. The start end portion communicates with the air vent hole 31 and the end portion forms a labyrinth groove 32 that forms a through hole portion 33 to the film 35, and the end of the film 35 is peeled off when the ink cartridge is used. When the inside of the cartridge body 2 is opened to the atmosphere through the snake groove 32, the long snake groove 32 prevents the ink inside from evaporating.
[0016]
In the embodiment configured as described above, when the lid body 20 is placed on the thick opening edge 4 so as to cover the opening of the cartridge body 1 and is slid in the longitudinal direction, the opening edge 4 of the cartridge body 1 is The welding rib 5 and the welding surface 24 on the inner surface of the lid 20 are welded to each other without being deformed by the reinforcing rib 23 projecting on the outside of the vertical rib 21, and the cracks generated therebetween are covered with the lid. 20 is accommodated in a narrow groove 25 on the inner surface, and the two are integrated, leaving a gap δ of about 0.2 mm, for example.
[0017]
Therefore, next, ink having a small surface tension is injected into the main body 1 from the ink filling hole 30 provided in the lid 20, and then the ink cartridge is tilted and held by about 30 ° so that the air vent hole 31 is on the top. However, when the film 35 is adhered to the upper surface of the lid 20 while reducing the pressure, the bubbles generated in the foam 18 are separated from the ink while passing through the long zigzag flow path formed by the lateral ribs 22. Only air flows out from the air vent hole 31 to the upper surface of the lid body 1, and further flows out from here through the snake groove 32 to the through hole portion 33 in contact with the film 35.
[0018]
On the other hand, FIGS. 7 to 10 show a second embodiment of the present invention configured as an ink cartridge for a color printer.
[0019]
This ink cartridge includes three ink tanks 41c, 41m, and 41y that separately store cyan, magenta, and yellow inks through partition walls 43 and 43, and a single lid 50 that covers the upper opening ends of these ink tanks. It is configured.
[0020]
At one end of the bottom surface 48 of these ink tanks 41c, 41m, and 41y, cylindrical ink supply ports 51c, 51m, and 51y are formed so as to protrude, and these ink supply ports 51c, 51m, and 51y are ribs 55, In addition, the outer periphery is surrounded by a common frame 52 whose planar shape forms a strip shape.
[0021]
Thereby, each ink supply port 51c, 51m, 51y can be sealed simultaneously using the elongate tape 56, and the air at the time of sealing is the air escape part 53 formed in these circumference | surroundings. Then, the tape 56 can be securely adhered by being released from the notch 54 provided at the upper edge of the frame 52.
[0022]
Reference numeral 65 in the drawing is a common recess provided in the bottom surface 48 so as to cross each ink tank 41c, 41m, 41y, and this portion is a portion that is locked to a part of the cartridge holder, The portion that does not contact the foam 18 is used to reduce the ink that is not absorbed by the foam 18 and to secure a space during decompression packing with an aluminum pack.
[0023]
On the other hand, on the inner surface of the lid 50, as shown in FIG. 9, several vertical ribs 61 are formed in the longitudinal direction so as to press the foam for each ink tank 41c, 41m, 41y. These ribs 61 are formed so that the portions near the ink supply ports 51c, 51m, and 51y are formed high so that the foam in these portions is further pressed and deformed. , The two vertical ribs 61, 61 located on the inner side are abutted against the ink filling cylinder 70, thereby closing the flow path 67 formed between them and removing the air provided near the ink supply port 51. It is configured so that bubbles do not flow directly into the hole 71.
[0024]
Reference numeral 74 in the figure denotes a shape-retaining rib projecting outside the outermost vertical ribs 61, 61 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. These shape-retaining ribs 74 are provided at the ink tanks 41c, 41y at both ends. In this way, the outer wall 42 of the cartridge is prevented from being deformed inward during vibration welding.
[0025]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, snake grooves 72c, 72m, 72y whose one ends communicate with the air vent holes 71c, 71m, 71y are recessed on the upper surface of the lid 50 in a labyrinth shape. The ends of the serpentine grooves 72c, 72m, 72y are gathered at one place, and one of these vent holes 73c, 73m, 73y, in this embodiment, the vent hole provided at the end of the magenta serpentine groove 72m. By forming 73 m so as to protrude in the peeling direction of the film 75, the film 75 is easily peeled off.
[0026]
The shape of these snake grooves 72 is the same regardless of whether the lid 50 of the cartridge for monochrome, color, or cartridge with different ink capacities is used. The snake grooves 72 are configured to cover the snake grooves 72, and when the film 75 is welded by the heater chip, the overlap portions 76 clog the snake grooves 77, or In order to prevent clogging of the snake groove 77 due to strong contact with the partition wall 43 and the outer wall 42 of the ink cartridge, the width and depth of the groove 77 of these portions 78 are increased, that is, the portion 76, By increasing the cross-sectional area of 78, it is configured to prevent clogging during welding.
[0027]
Although the present invention has been described with reference to an example of an ink cartridge molded from polypropylene as a material, other ink cartridges molded from a moisture-impermeable soft synthetic resin material such as high-density polyethylene are also used. The present invention can be applied.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are bottom views showing the respective embodiments of the cartridge. FIG.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are views showing an inner surface of the upper lid and a cross section thereof.
FIG. 4 is a top view of the same lid.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main parts of the cartridge and the lid body.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the entire cartridge of the above.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention configured as an ink cartridge for a color printer.
FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the cartridge.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are views showing an inner surface and a cross section of the upper lid body, respectively.
FIG. 10 is a top view of the same lid.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink cartridge 4 Thick opening edge 6 Ridge 12 Square frame 15 Engagement recessed part 20 Lid 21 Vertical rib 23 Shape retention rib 30 Ink filling hole 31 Air vent hole 32 Snake groove

Claims (8)

An ink cartridge main body provided with an ink supply port for supplying ink to the recording head; a foam accommodated in the ink cartridge main body; and an ink accommodating chamber for accommodating the foam by sealing an opening of the ink cartridge main body. In an ink cartridge comprising a lid to be formed,
On the inner surface of the lid, a plurality of first ridges that press the foam and extend in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage chamber and that are parallel to each other are formed, and between the plurality of first ridges. An ink cartridge having at least one through hole . The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a cylindrical portion having one end extending to the foam is formed in one of the through holes . The ink cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the through hole functions as an ink filling hole or an air vent hole . The outer surface of the cover, the ink cartridge according to claim 1, labyrinth groove communicating with the through-hole is recessed. A plurality of second ridges are formed in which only one end is alternately connected to each of the first ridges so as to divide a region where the first ridges face each other in a zigzag shape or a maze shape. the ink cartridge according to claim 1, there. The ink cartridge according to claim 5 , wherein a tip of the second protrusion on the ink storage chamber side is formed in contact with the foam . An ink cartridge main body provided with an ink supply port for supplying ink to the recording head; a foam accommodated in the ink cartridge main body; and an ink accommodating chamber for accommodating the foam by sealing an opening of the ink cartridge main body. In an ink cartridge comprising a lid to be formed,
An ink filling cylinder is formed on the inner surface of the lid, and the foam is pressed so as to abut against the ink filling cylinder, and two protrusions parallel to each other extending in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage chamber are formed. ink cartridge. The ink cartridge according to claim 7 , wherein the protrusion is formed such that a region facing the ink supply port is higher than other portions .

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