JPH023319A - Ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lessen remarkably the quantity of ink at the time when the residual quantity of ink is detected, by fixing a pair of electrodes on an end face member of an ink supply needle and an ink bag which are fitted to a recording apparatus, and by forming them of conductors whose force ends are bent toward the ink supply needle. CONSTITUTION:An ink bag 2 having an end face member 1 is housed inside a cartridge case 5 constructed of a plastic rectangular vessel or the like. When an ink cartridge is set on an ink jet recording apparatus, an ink supply needle 6 provided in the recording apparatus pierces a stopper member 4. Electrodes 9 are fixed in a bent state so that the fore ends thereof are located close to the ink supply needle 6 having pierced, a space to serve as an ink reservoir is always secured between the electrodes 9 and the ink supply needle 6, and thus an operation of detecting a residual quantity that the electrodes are put in continuity when ink is present, and put in non-continuity when the level of ink becomes lower than one electrode is conducted without fail.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink cartridge used as an ink supply source for an inkjet recording device.

[Conventional technology]

Recording devices such as printers and facsimiles can be classified into thermal types, wire dot types, inkjet types, etc. depending on the recording method.

Among these, the inkjet method (inkjet recording device) supplies ink to a recording head having a fine orifice, and forms flying ink droplets by driving the orifice based on print data. It is configured to form a dot pattern by attaching it to a sheet such as paper or a thin plastic plate.

Usually, a replaceable ink cartridge is used as an ink supply source for such an inkjet recording apparatus.

This ink cartridge is one type of ink cartridge, in which the ink storage part is formed of a flexible ink bag, an end member having an ink outlet part is attached to the ink bag in a sealed state, and the ink cartridge is placed inside the ink bag. A device is used that is configured to detect the amount of ink remaining based on the electrical resistance value between a pair of exposed electrodes.

In this case, the remaining amount of ink is detected using the conductivity of the ink, and when there is sufficient ink, conduction is maintained between the pair of electrodes via the ink, and when the remaining amount of ink becomes low, Ink shortage can be detected every time the liquid level in the ink bag drops and a space is created between the pair of electrodes, resulting in a non-conducting state.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional ink cartridge.
5 is a perspective view of the end member of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the end member of FIG. 5 as viewed from inside.

In FIG. 4, an end face member 13 made of an insulating material such as plastic is sealed and fixed by welding or the like to an example of a flexible ink bag 14 formed by joining sheets together.

The ink bag 14 having the end member 13 is housed in a cartridge case 25.

4 to 6, an ink lead-out portion 15 is formed in the end member 13, and a plug member 17 made of a rubber-like elastic material is tightly fitted into the hole 16 of the lead-out portion 15. A cap 1 for preventing the plug member 17 from being removed is provided on the outer peripheral surface 19.
8 are fitted in a tight state.

When the ink cartridge is installed in the ink jet recording device, the ink supply needle 20 (FIG. 4) provided in the ink jet recording device pierces the plug member 17 and reaches the inside of the end face portion 13, draining the ink in the ink bag 14. It will be ready to be taken out.

An electrode 23 passing through the end member 13 is fixed above the hole 16 of the end member 13 .

Further, ink bags 14 are provided on both sides of the ink outlet portion 15.
A pair of ribs 21.21 projecting inward are formed, and a cover protrusion 22 is formed on one side between the pair of ribs 21.21.

The sealed ink bag 14 contains ink and a certain amount of air, and when the ink bag 14 collapses as the ink is consumed, the ink level drops.

In this case, the pair of ribs 21.21 and the cover protrusion 22 are formed in the area near the ink outlet portion 15 and the electrode 23 of the ink bag 14, so that the ink bag 14 can be crushed until both sides come into close contact. is blocked, and a space that becomes an ink reservoir is formed in between.

When a voltage is applied between the electrode 23 and the ink supply needle 20, which constitute a pair of electrodes, when there is sufficient ink remaining, the electrodes become electrically connected via the ink in the ink reservoir.
When the remaining amount of ink decreases and the liquid level falls below the electrode 23, there is no conduction between the electrode 23 and the ink supply needle 20.
It is possible to detect whether the amount of ink remaining is low.

The ink bag 14 has excellent gas barrier properties, chemical resistance, and flexibility, and has, for example, a three-layer structure of polyethylene, aluminum, and nylon from the inside. Made of polyethylene that can be easily welded to the inner surface.

When the ink bag 14 is housed in the cartridge case 25, the flange portion 24 of the end member 13 abuts against the inner surface of the cartridge case 25, and functions to position the ink bag 14 with respect to the cartridge 25.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the above-mentioned conventional ink cartridge, since the vertical distance between the electrode 23 and the ink supply needle 20 constituting the pair of electrodes is large, the liquid level drops to the electrode 20 as the ink is consumed.
Even when the temperature drops further and becomes non-conductive, a considerable amount of ink remains in a part of the ink pool formed by the pair of ribs 21.21 and the cover protrusion 22 and inside the ink outlet portion 15, causing the ink to become non-conductive. It was uneconomical because the detectable remaining amount was large.

Further, an ink lead-out portion 15 formed on the end member 13 protrudes from the flange portion 24, and the end member 13
Polyethylene, which is the material of the ink bag, has a low gas barrier property, so when it is placed in a high temperature environment, air may enter the ink bag 14 from the ink outlet part 15, making the remaining ink level detection unstable. There was also.

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome these conventional problems! To provide an ink cartridge which can reduce the detectable remaining amount of ink and can reduce the intrusion of air into an ink bag to almost zero.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an end face member having an ink outlet portion that is sealed in a flexible ink bag, and a pair of electrodes exposed inside the ink bag. In an ink cartridge of the type that detects the amount of ink remaining based on an electrical resistance value between the pair of electrodes, the pair of electrodes are provided on an ink supply needle provided in a recording device and the end face member, and the tip thereof is bent toward the ink supply needle. The present invention provides an ink cartridge configured with a conductive material.

Further, in the above configuration, the present invention achieves the above object by sandwiching a plug member made of a rubber-like elastic material into which an ink supply needle is pierced between the ink outlet portion of the end face member and the inner surface of the cartridge case. To provide an ink cartridge 1-ridge which has a simple structure and is airtight.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, the amount of remaining ink at the time when the ink is consumed and a pair of electrodes for detecting the remaining amount of ink become non-conductive, and the remaining amount of ink can be set to a very small value. This effectively prevents air from entering the bag from outside, making it possible to stably detect the remaining amount.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the end member in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a view of the end member in FIG. 2 from the ink bag side. FIG.

In FIG. 1, an end face member 1 made of an insulating material such as plastic is attached in a sealed state by welding to an example of a flexible ink bag 2 formed by joining a sheet I. An ink supply through hole is formed in the end member 1 and includes an ink outlet 7 on the inside and an ink outlet 3 on the outside.

The outer ink outlet 3 is provided with a plug member 4 made of a rubber-like elastic material.
are closely fitted, and an electrode 9 is embedded and fixed to the upper side of the ink outlet 3 of the end face member 3.

The ink bag 2 having the end face member 1 as described above is housed inside a cartridge case 5 made of a rectangular plastic container or the like.

In this case, the end member 1 has a structure in which an ink take-out portion is projected on the inner and outer surfaces of the flange portion 8, and is positioned by abutting against the inner surface or the protrusion of the cartridge case 5. The ink bag 1 is being positioned.

The plug 4 fitted into the ink outlet 3 is held under pressure between the end member 1 and the inner surface of the cartridge case 5, as shown in FIG.

Further, the cartridge case 5 is formed with an opening for drawing out the outer end of the electrode 9 and an opening for taking out ink from the center of the plug member 4.

When the ink cartridge is installed in an inkjet recording device, the ink supply needle 6 provided in the recording device pierces the plug member 4, passes through this, and its tip ends in the ink bag 2 on the side of the ink outlet 7. The ink is exposed to the ink inside, and the ink can be removed.

The ink outlet portion 7 is a hole formed from the flange portion 8 to the portion where the ink bag 2 is welded.

The electrode 9 is connected to the pierced ink supply needle 6.
They are fixed with their tips bent close together. In the illustrated example, the electrode 9 is bent downward into an L-shape so that its tip is close to the tip of the ink supply needle 6 on the lower side.

A single gap 10 is formed on the inner surface of the end member 1 and projects into the ink bag 2 so as to cover a portion of the electrode 9.

The ink lead-out portion 7 formed on the inner surface of the end member 1
The portion 11 of the outer peripheral surface exposed to ink and the ribs 10 prevent the ink bag 2 from collapsing into a large size with both sides of the ink bag in close contact with each other even when the ink is consumed. Therefore, a space is always secured between the electrode 9 and the ink supply needle 6, which constitute a pair of electrodes for detecting the remaining amount, and when ink is present, conduction is established between the electrodes and the ink liquid It is configured to reliably perform the remaining amount detection function, which becomes non-conductive when the surface is lower than one electrode.

In this way, as shown in Fig. 1, a pair of electrodes are exposed in the sealed ink bag 2 containing ink and a certain amount (a small amount) of air, and a voltage is applied between these electrodes to remove the remaining ink. The ink cartridge is equipped with a remaining amount detection means that outputs an on/off signal depending on the amount of ink.

According to the embodiment described above, the upper electrode 9 is bent and the exposed part of the electrode 9 is brought close to the ink supply needle (conductor forming the mating electrode) 6, so that the ink liquid level is higher than that of the electrode. 9, the amount of ink remaining when the electrode is covered with air in the ink bag 2 can be set to a very small amount, and the space in the ink outlet section 7 can also be made small. Since the gap between 9 and 6 becomes non-conductive, the amount of ink remaining at the time of detection can be reduced to a very small amount, making it possible to improve economical efficiency.

In addition, since the ink lead-out portion 7 is a hole formed from the flange portion 8 of the end face portion 1 to the portion where the ink bag 2 is welded, the opening portion 3 of the flange portion 8 has a gas barrier property. The ink outlet portion 7 is covered with the ink bag 2 by being sealed with the rubber stopper 4 and the end face 1 itself is also welded to the ink bag 2 which has gas barrier properties.
It was possible to construct a sealed ink bag 2 that can effectively prevent air from entering from the outside even in a high-temperature environment.

Furthermore, the plug member 4 is connected to the end member 1 and the cartridge case 5.
Since the ink cartridge is held in pressure contact with the metal cap 18 (Fig. 5), it is possible to omit the need for a means to prevent the stopper member 4 from being pulled out. We were able to simplify the structure as well as the shape.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the following explanation, according to the present invention, a pair of electrodes is fixed to the ink supply needle attached to the recording device and the end surface of the ink bag, and the tip thereof is bent toward the ink supply needle. It is economical in that almost the entire amount of ink in the ink bag can be used for recording by reducing the amount of ink when detecting that the amount of ink remaining is low. In addition, since it is possible to effectively stop outside air from entering the ink bag, residual ink can always be detected stably.Furthermore, it is possible to detect the presence of ink in a stable manner at all times. An ink cartridge that can reduce costs by omitting the above members can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of an ink cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an end member in FIG. 1,
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the end member in Fig. 2 as seen from the ink bag side, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional ink force h'J nozzle;
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the end face part I2 in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the end face member of FIG. 5 as viewed from the ink bag side. 1 ---- One end member, 2 ---- Ink bag, 3 Ink outlet, 4 - Plug member, 5 - Cartridge case, 6 ------- - Ink supply needle, ink lead-out section, 9--------- electrode.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A type in which an end member having an ink outlet is attached to a flexible ink bag in a sealed state, and the remaining amount of ink is detected by the electrical resistance value between a pair of electrodes exposed inside the ink bag. In the ink cartridge, the pair of electrodes include:
An ink cartridge comprising an ink supply needle provided in a recording device and a conductor provided on the end face member and having a tip bent toward the ink supply needle. (2) The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a plug member made of a rubber-like elastic material into which an ink supply needle is pierced is sandwiched between the ink outlet portion of the end face member and the inner surface of the cartridge case.