JPH0725025A - Ink jet cartridge preservation and regeneration box - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce in size a printer by providing means for refilling ink in an ink jet cartridge having ink supply and discharge ports contained in containing means through the supply port while pressure-reducing through the discharge port. CONSTITUTION:Refill ink RI is stored at an upper side of a piston 4. In this case, when a piston rod 4a is lifted, a lower side space of the piston 4 of a cylinder 3 becomes negative pressure, and residual ink or air is fed from an ink discharge port N of a cartridge IJC to the negative pressure space. Simultaneously, the ink RI stored in an upper side space of the piston 4 is supplied into the cartridge IJC through a supply pipe 5. The cartridge IJC can be used for a normal ink jet recording as a regenerating cartridge containing a predetermined amount of ink.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet cartridge storage / reproduction box in an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink from a recording means to a non-recording material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, even when a printer as an ink jet recording apparatus is not used, a cartridge mounted in the printer is left mounted in a head carrier.

However, the above-mentioned conventional technique has the following drawbacks.

(1) The ink tank in the cartridge must be made large, and if it is made large, the device becomes large in size,
Since the load on the carrier increases, carrier controllability deteriorates and power consumption increases.

(2) The cartridge recovery device generally includes cleaning of the cartridge face surface, ink suction pumping for nozzle clogging recovery, and preliminary ink ejection. Among them, the automatic pumping mechanism is complicated and unreliable. Further, the device for storing the sucked waste ink is large and the device becomes large.

(3) When the ink in the cartridge is used up, the head portion can be used, but the entire cartridge becomes unusable, and the cartridge must be replaced with a new one, which increases the running cost.

In connection with the above-mentioned drawback (3), there is a method of injecting ink into the cartridge for reproduction, but such a method is generally difficult to operate and stains due to leaked ink or head failure due to improper ink injection. There was a problem such as.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above technical problems and to provide a small cartridge storing / reproducing box capable of storing / reproducing an ink jet cartridge.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a means for accommodating at least one ink jet cartridge having an ink supply port and an ink ejection port, and the accommodating means. And a means for refilling the inside of the ink jet cartridge through the ink supply port while reducing the pressure inside the ink jet cartridge accommodated by the ink ejection port.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a waste ink tank having a volume larger than that of the printer main body is removed, a pumping function is provided, a waste ink tank is also built in, and an ink refill function is provided. In addition to reducing power consumption and running cost, it is possible to reduce the size of the apparatus and prevent contamination due to refilling of inappropriate ink, ink leakage during refilling, and the like.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the structure of an ink jet cartridge IJC to which the present invention is applied will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The cartridge IJC has a substantially hexahedral housing H.
And an ink tank (not shown) provided in the housing H for storing ink for printing, and an inkjet recording head (not shown) for receiving ink from the ink tank for printing. There is. In FIG. 1, S is an ink supply port for supplying ink into the ink tank. This ink supply port S
At the time of product shipment, a cap having a small-diameter opening is inserted into this to be an atmosphere communication port. Here, the ink supply port S in the following description of the embodiment indicates either the opening used for actual ink supply to the ink tank or the atmosphere communication port. Further, in FIG. 1, N is
It is an ink ejection port of an inkjet recording head. Here, the ink ejection port N in the following description of the embodiment is
Basically, an ink ejection port surface including the entire ink ejection ports provided in the inkjet recording head is shown. The cartridge IJC to which the present invention is applicable includes
The ink tank and the ink jet recording head may be detachably separable or may be a non-separable integral type.

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a first embodiment of a storage / reproduction box of an ink jet cartridge of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 2 is a hexahedral housing forming the outer shell of the storage / reproduction box. Housing 1 of this embodiment
Is divided into two parts, a reproduction part and a storage part.

In the reproducing section of the housing 1, there are provided means for accommodating and holding and fixing the ink jet cartridge IJC in the housing 1, and ink refill means 2 for refilling the inside of the cartridge IJC fixed by this means. It is arranged. Cartridge I of this embodiment
The JC holding means is roughly configured by a supply pipe and a cap, which will be described later, which supports the ink supply port S and the ink ejection port N of the cartridge IJC. The ink refill means 2 is a compression pump in this embodiment. This pump has a substantially cylindrical cylinder 3 that stores ink for refilling, a piston 4 that is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 3, and a refill ink supply pipe 5 that is provided on the upper side of the cylinder 3. The cylinder 3 is roughly configured by a discharge port cap 6 for closing the ink discharge port N, which is formed by bending the lower part of the cylinder 3 to the side. In this embodiment, the refill ink RI is stored above the piston 4.
Here, when the piston rod 4a is pulled up, the space below the piston 4 in the cylinder 3 becomes negative pressure, and the residual ink or air flows into the negative pressure space from the ink discharge port N of the cartridge IJC. At the same time, the refill ink RI stored in the space above the piston 4 is supplied into the cartridge IJC through the supply pipe 5,
It is absorbed and held by the porous body. By such an operation, the cartridge IJC can be used for normal inkjet recording as a reproduction cartridge containing a predetermined amount of ink.

Further, in the storage portion of the housing 1, a means for accommodating and holding and fixing the cartridge IJC in the housing 1 and an ink discharge port N of the cartridge IJC fixed by this means are provided in the same manner as the reproducing portion. Forced ink ejecting means for forcibly ejecting ink is provided. Here, the forced ink ejection means will be described.
This means is a suction pump. As shown in FIG. 2, this pump includes an ejection port cap 7 that closes the ink ejection port N,
A substantially cylindrical cylinder 8 that communicates with the cap 7 and receives the ink forcibly ejected from the ink ejection port N
And a piston 9 slidingly contacting the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 8,
A stopper 10 provided on the inner surface of the cylinder 8 near the portion communicating with the ink discharge port cap 7 for limiting the stroke of the piston 9, and a space provided between the stopper 10 and the upper end of the cylinder 8. Waste ink absorber 1
1 and 1. An air hole 12 is formed at the upper end of the cylinder 8 to prevent the space above the piston 9 from becoming negative pressure when the piston 9 is pulled up. Further, the piston 9 is provided with a check valve 13 which is opened when the piston rod 9a is pushed down and closed when the piston rod 9a is pulled up. In this embodiment, the cylinder 8 is not provided with a supply pipe to the ink supply port of the cartridge IJC. Here, when the piston rod 9a is pulled up to the position of the stopper 10, the space between the piston 9 and the ink discharge port cap 7 becomes negative pressure, and the ink is forcibly discharged from the ink discharge port N.
Next, when the piston rod 9a is pushed down to the lower end portion of the cylinder 8, the check valve 13 is opened and the ink that is forcibly discharged moves to the upper portion of the cylinder 8 and is absorbed by the waste ink absorber 11. Such operation is performed by the ink ejection port N.
The clogging of the cartridge IJC can be reliably eliminated by repeating the predetermined number of times according to the degree of clogging of the cartridge IJC. Further, since the ink ejection port cap 7 can prevent inconveniences such as drying of the ink ejection port N, the cartridge IJC can be stored for a long period of time in this state.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing a second embodiment of a storage / reproduction box of an ink jet cartridge of the present invention. The feature of this embodiment is that, unlike the first embodiment, only one means for storing the cartridge IJC is provided, and this one cartridge storage means is shared by the cartridge storage section and the reproduction section. is there. Cylinder 1 of this embodiment
4 is a cylindrical portion 14 for storing the refill ink RI
a, a supply pipe 14b for supplying the refill ink RI to the ink supply port S of the cartridge IJC formed on the side surface of the cylindrical portion 14a, and a lower side surface of the cylindrical portion 14a extending laterally. Cartridge IJ
Ink ejection port cap 14c for closing the C ink ejection port N
And a cartridge support arm 14d for supporting the bottom of the cartridge IJC, which is formed by laterally extending the upper end of the cylindrical portion 14a. A communication passage 14e is formed between the cylindrical portion 14a and the ink ejection port cap 14c. In the cylindrical portion 14a of the cylinder 14 as described above, the piston 15 is disposed in a state of slidingly contacting the inner surface thereof. The refill ink RI is stored in the space A above the piston 15 inside the cylindrical portion 14a. Space B below the piston 15 contains air at atmospheric pressure. Here, the ink ejection port N of the cartridge IJC is covered with the ink supply port cap 14c, and the supply pipe 14b is inserted into the ink supply port S. further,
The cartridge support arm 14d allows the cartridge IJC
It supports one wall surface and one side edge. When the piston rod 15a is pulled up after holding the cartridge IJC in this way, the space B is expanded to a negative pressure, and the ink in the cartridge IJC is forcibly ejected from the ink ejection port N to eject the ejected ink through the communication passage 14e. Store in space B through. At the same time, the space A is compressed and the refilled ink RI pressurized is filled into the ink tank in the cartridge IJC through the ink supply pipe 14b. In this embodiment, since the ink refilling and the forced ink ejection can be performed at the same time, the ink in the cartridge IJC is not emptied even if the ink forced ejection is repeatedly performed, and the ink is overfilled. Inconvenience of ink overflow does not occur.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a third embodiment of a storage / reproduction box of an ink jet cartridge of the present invention. The feature of this embodiment is that the inserting direction of the piston 15 in the second embodiment is opposite to the cylindrical portion 14a of the cylinder 14. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the piston rod 15a is pushed against the cylindrical portion 14a, the space A is compressed and the ink is refilled, and at the same time, the space B is expanded and the ink is forcibly ejected from the ejection port N. Done. Also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain substantially the same effect as that of the second embodiment.

[0019]

As described above, the following effects can be obtained by preparing the cartridge recycle box.

(1) Since the cartridge can be easily reproduced, the ink tank portion can be downsized, the printer device can be downsized, and the carrier load can be reduced.
There are effects such as high printing accuracy and reduced power consumption due to improved carrier controllability.

(2) Since it is not necessary to dispose a large-sized waste ink storage device in the printer device, it is possible to make the device compact and lightweight by the volume thereof.

(3) Since head clogging and the like can be recovered in the cartridge recycle box and ink refilling can be performed, each device becomes unnecessary by preparing the cartridge recycle box.

(4) Since the cartridge can be regenerated only by replenishing the ink, the life of the cartridge can be used up to the life of the head, and the running cost can be reduced.

(5) Since the pumping device can be removed from the printer device, the printer can be made small, lightweight and inexpensive, and pumping can be reliably performed manually, so that the cartridge recovery effect is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an inkjet cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of a storage / reproduction box of the ink jet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the storage / recycle box of the ink jet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the storage / recycle box of the ink jet cartridge of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 IJC Inkjet cartridge H Housing S Ink supply port N Ink discharge port 1 Housing 2 Increfill means 3 Cylinder 4 Piston 4a Piston rod 5 Refill ink supply pipe 6 Discharge port cap 7 Discharge port cap 8 Cylinder 9 Piston 9a Piston rod 10 Stopper 11 Disused Ink absorber 12 Air hole 13 Check valve 14 Cylinder 14a Cylindrical part 14b Supply pipe 14c Discharge port cap 14d Cartridge support arm 14e Communication passage 15 Piston 15a Piston rod

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Tsuyoshi Kawai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Hideaki Kawakami 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. Within the corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for accommodating at least one ink jet cartridge having an ink supply port and an ink ejection port, and reducing the pressure inside the ink jet cartridge accommodated by the accommodating means via the ink ejection port. And a means for refilling the inside of the inkjet cartridge with ink via the ink supply port. 2. A means for accommodating at least one ink jet cartridge having an ink supply port and an ink ejection port, and ink remaining inside the ink jet cartridge accommodated by the accommodating means via the ink ejection port. And a means for forcibly ejecting the ink-jet cartridge. 3. A means for accommodating at least one ink jet cartridge having an ink supply port and an ink ejection port, and reducing the pressure inside the ink jet cartridge accommodated by the accommodating means via the ink ejection port. Means for refilling the interior of the inkjet cartridge with ink via the ink supply port;
And a means for forcibly ejecting ink remaining inside the inkjet cartridge accommodated by the accommodating means through the ink ejection port.