JPH08252925A - Liquid supply needle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a liquid supply needle high in reliability capable of preventing the leakage of ink from an insertion part and a needle mark. CONSTITUTION: An ink supply needle 20 is constituted of a cylindrical needle main body 21 having a hollow space 23 formed thereto, the cone-shaped closed part 22 formed to the tip part of the needle main body 21 and having a tip 24 of which the angle is 90 deg. or less and a pair of the holes 25 communicating with the space 23 formed to the inclined surface of the closed part 22. When the ink supply needle 20 is thrust in the rubber cap 6 of an ink tank, the cap 6 is cut by the tip 24 and forcibly expanded by the inclined surface of the closed part 22 to form the holes 25 piercing the cap. As a result, the holes 25 are uniformly contracted to be certainly closed to obtain cut-off effect. As a result, the leakage of ink from the insertion part and needle mark of the ink supply needle 20 can be simply prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid supply needle such as an ink supply needle used in an ink supply system of an ink jet recording apparatus or an injection needle used by being inserted into a medical syringe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid supply needle used in an ink jet recording apparatus, which is a conventional example, will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 is a principle view of an ink supply system in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, FIG. 8 is a plan view of a main part of an ink supply needle used in the ink supply system, and FIG. 9 is a front view of a main part of the ink supply needle. Reference numeral 10 is a side view of a main part of the ink supply needle.

The structure of the ink supply system will be described with reference to FIG. 7. Reference numeral 1 denotes a recording head, and the recording head 1 has a liquid-filled container, that is, ink 3 in an ink tank 2.
Ink supply tube 4 for supplying ink to the recording head 1
One end of is attached.

The ink tank 2 is formed with an opening at the top, and a rubber cap 6 is provided at the opening to seal the inside of the ink tank 2. Then, the ink tank 2 is removably attached to an inkjet recording device (not shown), but at that time, it is attached in a state of being pushed down sideways with the opening positioned laterally.

A rear end of a liquid supply needle (hereinafter referred to as an ink supply needle) 5 is attached to the other free end of the ink supply tube 4, and the tip of the ink supply needle 5 is an ink. It is inserted into the ink tank 2 so as to penetrate the cap 6 of the ink tank 2 and attached to the ink tank 2. The free end portion of the penetrating ink supply needle 5 is inserted into the cap 6 until it reaches the ink 3 in the ink tank 2 sufficiently, so that the ink 3 in the ink tank 2 attached to the ink jet recording apparatus is replaced by the ink supply needle 5. It is supplied to the recording head 1 without leaking from the gap between the cap 6 and the cap 6.

The ink supply needle 5 to be inserted into the cap 6 is a main body made of a cylindrical metal material having a hollow space for forming a liquid supply passage (hereinafter referred to as an ink supply hole) 9 in its inner diameter portion. And an end portion including an elliptical cut surface 8 formed by cutting the cylindrical body in an oblique direction and an ink supply hole 9 exposed on the cut surface 8. Further, the edge 11 at the tip of the cutting surface 8 is polished so as to form a hypotenuse of an isosceles triangle which forms the apex angle of the tip 10, thereby forming a sharp blade.

When the cap 6 is pierced by the ink supply needle 5 having the above-described structure, the cap 6 is cut by the tip 10 of the cut surface 8 and the edge 11 of the cut surface 8.
While the ink is being cut out, a hole is formed in the cap 6 while being pushed and spread by the side surface of the tip portion, and the hole is radially cut off by the ink supply hole 9 exposed in the cutting portion 8. The hole of the cap 6 will be formed.

[0008]

However, according to this structure, the peripheral portion of the hole formed in the cap 6 by the ink supply needle 5 has the edge portion 11 of the cut surface 8 and the ink supply hole 9 of the cut surface 8. By forming a cutting part consisting of notches and cuts in the radial direction of the hole by
Since the pressure of the ink supply needle 5 applied to the circumferential portion of the hole becomes uneven, the contracting force of the hole in the center direction of the hole becomes uneven. As a result, the ink 3 leaked out from the insertion portion of the ink supply needle inserted into the ink tank 2 attached to the ink jet recording apparatus in a state of being pushed sideways, or was laid sideways with the ink supply needle 5 removed. There have been many problems that the ink 3 leaks from the traces of the needles of the ink supply needles 5 of the ink tank 2.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable liquid supply needle that prevents ink leakage with a simple structure.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, the liquid supply needle of the present invention closes the space at the tip of a cylindrical needle body having a hollow space formed in its inner diameter. A conical closed part is provided, and a hole communicating with the space is provided on the inclined surface of the closed part.

[0011]

With this construction, a conical closed portion is formed at the tip of the needle body, and a hole communicating with the hollow space of the needle body is formed in the inclined surface of the closed portion. Therefore, when inserting and closing the closing portion into the rubber cap that seals the opening of the liquid-filled container, the tip 24 of the closing portion 22 forms a hole at one point while closing the circumference of the hole. A uniform pressure is applied by the inclined surface of the forming portion 22 to spread it, whereby a hole penetrating the cap 6 is formed in a state where the hole is enlarged to the size of the needle body 21.

As a result, in the circumferential portion of the hole formed in the cap by the closing portion, a cutting portion formed by cutting or cutting off the hole in the radial direction is not formed, and the circumferential portion of the hole is formed. Since the pressure of the liquid supply needle 5 applied to the liquid becomes uniform, the holes can be uniformly contracted and the closing effect can be easily obtained, and the insertion of the liquid supply needle inserted into the liquid-containing container It is possible to easily prevent the liquid from leaking from the portion and the needle trace of the liquid supply needle formed on the liquid-filled container.

[0013]

EXAMPLE An example of the liquid supply needle of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Incidentally, in the figure, the same parts as those of the conventional one are designated by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS.

1 to 3, reference numeral 20 denotes an ink supply needle made of a stainless material, and the ink supply needle 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes a cylindrical needle body 21 having a hollow space 23 serving as a liquid supply passage in its inner diameter portion, and a sharp tip 24 formed at the tip portion of the needle body 21 and having a tip angle θ of 90 degrees or less.
It is composed of a closed portion 22 having a cone shape.

Numeral 25 is a closing part 2 so as to communicate with the space 23.
2 is a substantially triangular hole located at a position opposite to each other on the inclined surface, and the apex side is located at the tip 24 side of the closing portion 22, and the liquid passing through this hole 25 is Space 2
It is guided to the rear end portion of the ink supply needle via the No. 3. In the present embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the hole 25 is such that, in the thickness direction of the closed portion 22, the inclined surface side of the closed portion 22 has a large diameter and the space 23 side has a small diameter. Part 22
The cap 6 that moves relatively along the inclined surface is not scraped.

The operation when the ink supply needle constructed as described above is used will be described with reference to FIGS. The ink supply needle 20 attached to the recording head 1 via the ink supply tube 4 connected to the rear end is
When the sharp tip 24 is brought into contact with the rubber cap 6 of the ink tank 2 (shown in FIG. 4) and inserted, the closing portion 22
A hole is formed at one point by the tip 24 of the, and the circumferential portion of the hole enters while being pressed and spread (shown in FIG. 5) by the uniform pressure by the inclined surface of the closing portion 22, and finally, The cap 6 is penetrated (shown in FIG. 6) with the hole enlarged to the size of the needle body 21.

In the circumferential portion of the hole which becomes the trace of the needle formed in the cap 6, a cutting portion formed by cutting or cutting in the radial direction as in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 is a closed portion. Since it is not formed by the above, the cross-sectional shape of the hole is uniformly contracted, and the blocking effect for surely closing the hole can be easily obtained. As a result, due to the blocking effect of the hole, the ink supply needle 20 inserted into the ink tank 2 is inserted, and the ink supply needle 20 formed in the ink tank 2 is removed, and the ink 3 is discharged through the hole. It will be easy to prevent leakage.

In this embodiment, the ink supply needle 20 made of stainless steel is used. However, a material having a rigidity capable of penetrating the rubber cap 6 such as copper, aluminum alloy or polymer resin may be used. Good.

[0019]

As described above, the liquid supply needle of the present invention is
At the tip of a cylindrical needle body having a hollow space formed in the inner diameter, a conical closed portion is provided which closes the space and has a tip angle of 90 degrees or less. Since the hole that communicates with the space is provided on the inclined surface of the closing portion, when the closing portion is inserted into the rubber cap that seals the opening of the liquid-filled container and the pen is penetrated, A state in which the hole is enlarged to the size of the needle main body 21 by forming a hole at one point by the tip 24 and pressing and expanding the circumferential portion of the hole under uniform pressure by the inclined surface of the closing portion 22. Thus, a hole penetrating the cap 6 will be formed.

As a result, unlike the conventional liquid supply needle, the edge of the cut surface and the cut portion due to the radial cut or cut-off of the hole due to the ink supply hole do not occur, so that the closed portion causes the cap to be closed. The formed holes have a cross-sectional shape that uniformly contracts to easily obtain the blocking effect of closing the holes.

Therefore, due to the blocking effect of the hole, the liquid is prevented from leaking from the insertion portion of the liquid supply needle inserted into the liquid containing container and the trace of the needle formed by pulling out the liquid supply needle formed in the liquid containing container. It will be easy to do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an ink supply needle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway front view of the ink supply needle.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the same ink supply needle.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view showing a process in the use state of the ink supply needle.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view showing another process in the use state of the ink supply needle.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view showing another process in the use state of the ink supply needle.

FIG. 7 is a principle diagram of an ink supply system in a conventional inkjet recording apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a main part of a conventional ink supply needle.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the main part of the same ink supply needle.

FIG. 10 is a sectional side view of a main part of the ink supply needle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Ink Supply Needle 21 Needle Main Body 22 Closed Part 23 Space 24 Tip 25 Hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A conical closed part for closing the space is provided at the tip of a cylindrical needle body having a hollow space formed in the inner diameter part thereof, and an inclined surface of the closed part is provided. A liquid supply needle having a hole communicating with the space.