JPH09150528A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce cost and facilitate the positioning of an ink supply part to a head, by reducing the number of parts necessary for supplying the ink from an ink container. SOLUTION: A joint 15 having a pipe connection (upper cylindrical part 152 in the figure) onto which an ink supply pipe 19 to supply ink from an ink container is inserted, is provided in an ink supply part of an ink jet recording head (ink supply hole 14 in the figure). in order to facilitate the positioning of the joint 15, the joint 15 is given a lower cylindrical part 153 which is inserted into the ink supply hole 14. Furthermore it is effective to cut off the head of the lower cylindrical part diagonally to ensure the ink supply.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for supplying ink from an ink container to an inkjet recording head in an inkjet recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ink jet recording apparatus has a structure shown in FIG. 7 in order to supply ink from an ink container to an ink jet recording head. That is, the ink jet recording head 30 is disposed in the ink supply unit of the ink jet recording head 30 and is made of an adhesive.
Head-side joint 20 which is adhesively fixed to the tube-side joint 22 and a tube-side joint 22 having a cylindrical portion into which an ink supply tube 23 is inserted.
Are connected by an O-ring 21 for connecting the head-side joint 20 and the pipe-side joint 22.

[0003]

As described above, according to the prior art, the head side joint 20 and the tube side joint are used to connect the ink container and the ink jet recording head.
22 and O-ring 21 are required, and an O-ring having a large number of parts and excellent in ink corrosion resistance is required. An object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts to reduce the cost, facilitate the positioning, and secure the ink supply.

[0004]

In order to solve this problem, according to the present invention, an integral joint having a connecting portion for connecting an ink supply pipe to an ink supplying portion of an ink jet recording head is provided, The ink supply pipe is directly inserted into this connecting portion. By doing so, only two types of joints in the prior art are required, and an O-ring having excellent ink corrosion resistance is not necessary.

Further, the joint has a structure having a plate-shaped portion having a hole in the center and tubular portions at the upper and lower portions thereof, and an ink supply pipe is connected to the upper tubular portion and the lower tubular portion is connected. Is inserted into the ink supply unit of the inkjet recording head. By inserting the lower tubular portion into the ink supply portion, positioning becomes easy. Furthermore, the tip of the lower tubular portion of the joint inserted into the ink supply portion of the inkjet recording head is cut diagonally. Due to this oblique cutting, the tip of the lower tubular portion is blocked by the bottom surface of the groove of the flow path substrate to increase the fluid resistance, and the ink supply is not deteriorated, and the ink supply can be ensured. it can.

[0006]

According to the present invention, an integral joint having a pipe connecting portion for connecting an ink supply pipe is provided in an ink supplying portion of an ink jet recording head, and the ink is supplied to the pipe connecting portion of this joint. The tube is inserted to connect the ink container to the inkjet recording head.

An example will be described below.

[0008]

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main portion of a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan and sectional views of an ink jet recording head. The ink supply portion (ink supply hole 14 in the figure) of the ink jet recording head is opened at the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, that is, in the vibration plate 8 of the ink reservoir 7. A lower cylindrical portion 153 of a joint 15 of a polyetherimide resin injection-molded product is inserted into the ink supply hole 14, and an opposing portion of the disc portion 151 and the diaphragm 8 is made of an epoxy adhesive (not shown). ) Is airtightly bonded and fixed. The ink supply pipe 19 is inserted in the upper cylindrical portion 152 of the joint 15.

By inserting the lower cylindrical portion 153 into the ink supply hole 14, the joint 15 can be aligned and the alignment becomes very easy.

[0010]

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the essential portions of a second embodiment according to the present invention. Also in this case, the ink supply hole 14 has the first
This is the same as the embodiment. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the tip end of the lower cylindrical portion 163 of the joint 16 is obliquely cut.

By cutting the tip of the lower cylindrical portion 163 obliquely, the tip of the lower cylindrical portion 163 approaches or contacts the bottom surface of the groove even when the depth of the groove of the flow path substrate 1 is shallow. Thus, the fluid resistance from the joint 16 to the ink reservoir 7 of the flow path substrate 1 becomes larger than the limit, and it is possible to prevent the ink supply from being hindered.

[0012]

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the essential parts of a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the joint does not have a lower cylindrical portion for positioning. The joint 17 of the injection molded product made of polyetherimide resin is airtightly adhered and fixed with an epoxy adhesive as in the first embodiment.

Although the structure of the joint is simplified, the positioning accuracy is deteriorated. Therefore, the ink supply hole should be enlarged correspondingly.

[0014]

[Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the essential parts of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the first to third embodiments, the ink supply hole 14 is provided on the surface of the vibration plate 8. In this embodiment, the ink supply hole 14 is provided at the end of the ink jet recording head.
Is provided.

The fitting portion of the joint 18 covers the ink supply hole 14 at the end of the ink jet recording head.
183 is fitted and is airtightly adhered and fixed in the peripheral portion of the ink supply hole 14 with an adhesive (not shown).
The upper part of the joint 18 has an upper cylindrical part 182,
The ink supply pipe 19 is inserted here. In the first to third embodiments, the example in which the ink supply hole 14 is provided on the surface of the vibration plate 8 has been described, but the ink supply hole 14 may be provided in the flow path substrate 1.

Further, although the portion into which the ink supply pipe 19 is inserted has been described as the upper cylindrical portion, it may have a cylindrical shape of any shape other than the cylindrical shape, and in the first and second embodiments, the ink supply is performed. Although the portion to be inserted into the hole 14 has been described as the lower cylindrical portion, similarly, it may have a tubular shape of any shape other than the cylindrical shape. Furthermore, although the joint has been described as an injection-molded article made of polyetherimide resin, it may be made of other resin or metal, such as stainless steel, which satisfies necessary characteristics such as ink corrosion resistance.

[0017]

According to the present invention, an integral joint having a pipe connecting portion for connecting the ink supply pipe is arranged in the ink supply portion of the ink jet recording head, and the ink supply pipe is directly connected to the pipe connecting portion. By adopting the structure of being inserted, only two types of joints in the prior art are required, and an O-ring having excellent ink corrosion resistance is also unnecessary.

Further, the joint has a structure having a plate-shaped portion having a hole in the center and tubular portions at the upper and lower portions thereof, and an ink supply pipe is connected to the upper tubular portion and the lower tubular portion is connected. The positioning is made very easy by inserting into the ink supply section of the inkjet recording head. Further, the tip of the lower tubular portion of the joint inserted into the ink supply portion of the ink jet recording head is obliquely cut so that the tip of the lower tubular portion is blocked by the bottom surface of the groove of the flow path substrate. The fluid resistance is prevented from increasing and the ink supply is prevented from deteriorating, thus ensuring the ink supply.

In this way, the problems of reducing the number of parts, reducing the cost, facilitating the positioning, and securing the supply of ink are achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the essential parts of a first embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the essential parts of a third embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an ink jet recording head (flow path substrate) according to first to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an ink jet recording head according to first to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the essential parts of a fourth embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a connection between an ink container and an inkjet recording head according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Channel Board 4 Ink Pressurization Chamber 7 Ink Reservoir 8 Vibration Plate 9 Piezoelectric Element 11 Ink Channel 14 Ink Supply Hole 15, 16, 17, 18 Joint 151, 161, 171 Circular Plate 152, 162, 172, 182 Top Cylindrical part 153, 163 Lower cylindrical part 183 Fitting part 19,23 Ink supply pipe 20 Head side joint 21 O-ring 22 Tube side joint 30 Inkjet recording head

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet comprising a flow path substrate in which all or part of an ink passage from an ink supply port to an ink nozzle is formed in a groove state, and a vibrating plate joined to the groove side. In an inkjet recording apparatus having a recording head, an ink container, and an ink supply pipe for supplying the ink of the ink container to the inkjet recording head, a pipe for directly connecting the ink supply pipe to the ink supply unit of the inkjet recording head An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein an integral joint having a connecting portion is provided, and an ink supply pipe is inserted into the pipe connecting portion. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the joint has a plate-like portion having a hole in the center and tubular portions at upper and lower portions thereof, and the upper tubular portion of the joint has a tubular portion. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein an ink supply pipe is connected, and a lower cylindrical portion is inserted into an ink supply portion of an ink jet recording head. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the tip of the lower cylindrical portion of the joint inserted into the ink supply portion of the ink jet recording head is obliquely cut. .