JPH09174870A - Ink-replenishment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent ink from leaking and staining the periphery of an ink replenishment hole. SOLUTION: An ink cartridge 3 having an ink replenishment hole 1 and an air vent hole 2 is accommodated and fixed in a cartridge holder 4 in the apparatus. The ink is replenished through the ink replenishment hole 1 to the ink cartridge 3. When the ink is replenished to the ink cartridge 3, an ink leak prevention confirmation member 5 is detachably fitted at the air vent hole 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink replenishing device for replenishing an empty ink cartridge with ink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink cartridge used in an ink jet printer has been replaced with a new ink cartridge when the ink filled therein has been used up. This ink cartridge is provided with an expensive print head assembly that ejects ink in accordance with print information.

For this reason, if an ink cartridge that has been emptied after being used once is replaced with a new ink cartridge, the cost will increase. Therefore, in the related art, an attempt has been made to refill an empty ink cartridge with ink and reuse the ink cartridge.

As one of the methods, for example, the following method is adopted. First, an ink replenishment hole is opened in the ink cartridge that is empty of ink by using a drill or the like. Then, the ink is injected from the ink replenishing hole into the cartridge main body using an injecting container filled with the replenishing ink. After that, when the ink is replenished again, the ink replenishment hole is plugged to close it.

[0005]

However, when ink is replenished in an ink cartridge that is difficult to see inside, it cannot be confirmed how much ink is filled in the ink cartridge. Therefore, there is a problem that the ink overflows from the ink refill hole and the peripheral portion of the ink refill hole is contaminated with the overflowed ink.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink replenishing device capable of preventing ink overflow and preventing stains around the ink replenishing hole due to ink.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an ink cartridge having an ink replenishment hole and an air vent hole is housed and fixed in a cartridge holder, and ink is supplied to the ink cartridge through the ink replenishment hole. An ink replenishing device configured to replenish, wherein an ink overflow preventing confirmation member is detachably fitted in the air vent hole when ink is replenished in the ink cartridge. Thus, the above-mentioned object is achieved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the confirmation member for preventing ink overflow is provided in a transparent or translucent tube with a porous material of a color different from that of the ink to be replenished. It was configured to be filled with quality material,
An ink replenishing device is provided.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the cartridge holder comprises a top plate portion, a bottom plate portion, both side plate portions and a back plate portion, and the top plate portion has A nozzle insertion hole for exposing the ink replenishment hole to the outside, and a retaining prevention protrusion engaging with a side wall surface of a cutout portion provided in the ink cartridge, and the bottom plate portion, Provided is an ink replenishing device in which a height position restricting member that supports a bottom surface of the ink cartridge is provided, and a width position restricting member that restricts a position in the width direction of the ink cartridge is provided on both side plate portions. It is a thing.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an ink replenishing device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the ink replenishing device of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ink replenishing device of the present embodiment with an ink cartridge housed and fixed in a cartridge holder, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which ink is replenished in the ink cartridge, FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an ink overflow preventing confirmation member,
FIG. 5 shows a cartridge holder, (a) is a side view, (b) is a front view, and (c) is a sectional view.

In the ink replenishing device of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an ink cartridge 3 having an ink replenishing hole 1 and an air vent hole 2 is provided in a cartridge holder 4.
An ink replenishing device that is housed and fixed in the ink cartridge 3 to replenish the ink from the ink replenishing hole 1 to prevent ink overflow in the air vent hole 2 when replenishing the ink in the ink cartridge 3. Confirmation member 5
It is a detachable insert.

The ink replenishing device of this embodiment will be described in more detail. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cartridge holder 4 in the ink replenishing device of the present embodiment accommodates and fixes the ink cartridge 3 therein with the upper surface 3a having the ink replenishing hole 1 facing upward. , And is formed as a housing having a substantially U-shaped side surface on which a cartridge insertion / removal opening 6 for inserting / removing the ink cartridge 3 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge holder 4 comprises a bottom plate portion 7, a top plate portion 8, both side plate portions 9 and 9, and a back plate portion 10. The bottom plate portion 7 is larger than the top plate portion 8 so that the ink cartridge 3 can be stably held. The bottom plate 7 has the ink cartridge 3
A pair of height position regulating members 1 that contact the bottom surface 3b of the ink cartridge 3 and regulate the position of the ink cartridge 3 in the height direction.
1, 11 are provided.

The height position regulating members 11, 11 are shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, it is formed on the inner surface of the bottom plate portion 7 as a substantially rectangular plate member extending from the insertion opening side to the back plate portion 10. These height position regulating members 11, 11
Are provided in parallel with each other with a predetermined interval, and the upper end edges 11a and 11a thereof support the bottom surface 3b of the ink cartridge 3. Further, inclined surfaces 11b, 11b for smoothly storing the ink cartridge 3 in the cartridge holder 4 are provided on the inlet side of the upper edge portions 11a, 11a of the height position restricting members 11, 11.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom plate portion 7 is made of sponge or the like so that the ink does not leak from the print head 12 when the ink cartridge 3 is filled with replenishing ink. Such an absorbent member 13 is provided. The absorbent member 13 is provided at a position corresponding to the print head 12 and in front of the position restricting members 11, 11. When the ink cartridge 3 is housed in the cartridge holder 4, the print head 12 is slightly recessed into the absorbent member 13, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the top plate portion 8 prevents the ink cartridge 3 from coming out of the cartridge holder 4 when the ink cartridge 3 is housed in the cartridge holder 4. The retaining prevention member 14 is provided for the purpose. The retaining member 14 is formed in a cantilever shape by providing a pair of slits 15 and 15 extending from one side edge of the top plate 8 to the center position.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink cartridge 3 is provided at the tip of the stopper member 14 as shown in FIG.
Engage with the side wall surface 16a of the cutout portion 16 provided in
A retaining prevention protrusion 17 is provided to prevent the ink cartridge 3 from coming out of the cartridge holder 4.

The retaining prevention projection 17 is provided so as to project inward of the cartridge holder 4, and when the ink cartridge 3 is housed in the cartridge holder 4, the protrusion 17 is engaged with the side wall surface 16a and the cartridge holder. The ink cartridge 3 is prevented from coming off from the cartridge 4. Further, the height of the protrusion 17 for preventing the detachment is set so that the ink cartridge
In the middle of inserting the
The height of 4 is such that it is slightly elastically displaced upward.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the top plate portion 8 has an ink replenishing container mounting portion 18 for mounting an ink replenishing container, which will be described later, when refilling the ink.
Is provided. The ink replenishing container mounting portion 18 holds the ink replenishing container vertically by fitting the nozzle base end portion of the ink replenishing container, and is formed as a cylindrical body.

Then, the ink replenishing container mounting portion 18
A nozzle insertion hole 19 into which the base end of the nozzle of the ink replenishing container is fitted is provided at the center of the nozzle. When the nozzle base end portion of the ink replenishing container is fitted in the nozzle insertion hole 19, the tip end portion of the nozzle faces the ink containing portion through the ink replenishing hole 1 of the ink cartridge 3. Has been done. In this state, the nozzle portion of the ink replenishing container closes the ink replenishing hole 1 without any gap.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the side plate portions 9 and 9 are largely notched at both side plate portions in order to facilitate the taking in and out of the ink cartridge 3 from the cartridge holder 4. There is. The side plate portions 9, 9 include
Width position restricting members 20 and 21 for restricting the position of the ink cartridge 3 in the width direction are provided in contact with both side surfaces 3c and 3d of the ink cartridge 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, the width position restricting members 20 and 21 are ribs that are convex toward the inner side in which the ink cartridge 3 is housed.
It is projected on the inner surface of. These width position regulating members 20,
The pair of ink cartridges 21 are provided at the positions near the upper end and the lower end of the ink cartridge 3 so as to face each other along the insertion direction from the inlet side to the back plate portion 10.

When the ink cartridge 3 is housed in the cartridge holder 4, both side plate portions 9, 9 of the width position restricting members 20, 21 are elastically displaced so that the side plate portions 9, 9 bulge slightly outward. The height is considered to be high. That is, the width position regulating member 2
When the ink cartridge 3 is housed in the cartridge holder 4, the width position regulating members 2 and
The height of the ink cartridge 3 is set such that the ink cartridge 3 is elastically urged and held by 0, 21.

Further, on the inlet side of the upper edge portions of the width position regulating members 20 and 21, the inclined surface 2 for smoothly storing the ink cartridge 3 in the cartridge holder 4 is provided.
0a and 21a are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the back plate portion 10 is in contact with one side surface 3e on the insertion side of the ink cartridge 3 to regulate the insertion position of the ink cartridge 3. When the ink cartridge 3 is in contact with the back plate portion 10, the ink replenishing hole 1 provided in the ink cartridge 3 faces the nozzle inserting hole 19 of the ink replenishing container mounting portion 18, and the nozzle inserting hole 19 is inserted. It is adapted to face outward from the use hole 19.

On the other hand, the ink overflow prevention confirmation member 5 functions as an ink overflow prevention checker for preventing ink overflow, and when the ink cartridge 3 is refilled with ink, the ink overflow prevention checker 5 is added to the ink cartridge 3. The air vent hole 2 is provided so as to be detachably fitted.

The checking member 5 for preventing ink overflow is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a transparent or semi-transparent tube 22 contains a porous member 23 of a color different from that of the ink with which the ink cartridge 3 is filled.

The tube 22 is formed as a cylindrical body made of a transparent or semi-transparent flexible resin so that the porous member 23 housed inside can be easily visually identified from the outside. There is. The tube 22 is
The diameter is such that it can be fitted into the air vent hole 2 provided in the ink cartridge 3.

The porous member 23 absorbs the ink overflowing from the air vent hole 2 when the ink is replenished in the ink cartridge 3, and the overflow of the ink is judged by the color change which is caused by absorbing the ink. It serves to inform. For this reason, it is preferable to use, for the porous member 23, an absorber capable of sufficiently absorbing the ink and having a color different from the color of the ink to be replenished. For example, in the porous member 23, black,
White paper, fibers, sponge, etc. that are different from the printing colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, etc. are used.

A method of refilling an empty ink cartridge 3 with ink using the cartridge holder 4 configured as described above will be described.

First, the empty ink cartridge 3
In addition, an ink replenishing hole 1 for replenishing the ink is formed on the upper surface 3a of the ink cartridge 3 by using, for example, a drill. The ink refill hole 1 is formed at a position opposite to the nozzle insertion hole 19 provided in the cartridge holder 3.

Next, the upper surface 3 of the ink cartridge 3
The air vent hole formed as a small circular hole provided in advance on the back surface 3f close to a is made large enough to fit the ink overflow preventing confirmation member 5 using a drill or the like. Then, one end of the ink overflow prevention checking member 5 is detachably inserted into the enlarged air vent hole 2.

Next, the ink cartridge 3 is housed in the cartridge holder 4 with the upper surface 3a having the ink replenishing hole 1 facing upward. Then, the outer surface of the top plate portion 8 of the ink cartridge 3 comes into contact with the retainer prevention projection 17 provided at the tip of the retainer prevention member 14.

When the ink cartridge 3 is further inserted into the cartridge holder 4 from this state, the height direction is regulated by the retaining prevention projections 17 and the height position regulating members 11, 11, and both side plates are formed. Part 9, 9
The ink cartridge 3 is inserted inward of the cartridge holder 4 while the width direction is restricted by the width position restricting members 20 and 21 provided on the.

The one side surface 3e on the insertion side of the ink cartridge 3 is the back plate portion 10 of the cartridge holder 4.
The ink cartridge 3 is inserted into the cartridge holder 4 until it comes into contact with. Then, as shown in FIG.
The retaining prevention protrusion 17 engages with the side wall surface 16a of the cutout portion 16 provided in the ink cartridge 3. As a result, the ink cartridge 3 does not come out of the cartridge holder 4. The ink replenishing hole 1 is provided at a position facing the nozzle inserting hole 19 of the ink replenishing container mounting portion 18, and faces the outside through the nozzle inserting hole 19.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, ink is replenished in the ink cartridge 3 using an ink replenishing container 24 filled with replenishing ink. That is, the nozzle (not shown) of the ink replenishing container 24 is inserted into the ink replenishing hole 1 of the ink cartridge 3 so as to face the nozzle insertion hole 19 of the cartridge holder 4. Then, the nozzle tip of the ink replenishing container 24 faces the ink containing portion through the ink replenishing hole 1 of the ink cartridge 3. In this state, the ink replenishing hole 1 is brought into close contact with the nozzle so that ink leakage does not occur.

Next, the container body of the ink replenishing container 24 is squeezed (external pressure is applied to the container to eject the ink inside the container from the nozzle), and the ink filled in the container body is filled with the ink containing portion. To fill. The filling of the ink is performed by the porous member 2 of the confirmation member 5 for preventing ink overflow.
It ends when the color of 3 changes.

In this way, if the ink replenishment is completed when the color of the porous member 23 changes, the change of the color of the porous member 23 becomes an ink overflow check signal and the ink replenisher completes the ink replenishment. This informs that the ink is in the state, and the ink overflow can be surely prevented before the ink overflows from the ink refill hole 1. Therefore,
Even when the ink is replenished to the opaque ink cartridge 3 whose inside is difficult to see, it is possible to prevent the ink from overflowing, and anyone can easily replenish the ink.

After that, the ink cartridge 3 is removed from the cartridge holder 4, and the ink overflow preventing confirmation member 5 is removed from the air vent hole 2. At this time, even if the ink oozes out from the air vent hole 2, the removed ink overflow preventing confirmation member 5 can wipe off the ink that oozes around the air vent hole 2. Finally, a sealing plug (not shown) is sealed in the ink overflow prevention confirmation member 5 and the ink refill hole 1.

As described above, according to the ink replenishing device of this embodiment, when the ink is replenished in the ink cartridge 3, the ink bleeding hole 2 provided in the ink cartridge 3 is prevented from overflowing the ink, which functions as an ink overflow preventing checker. Since the usage confirmation member 5 is detachably fitted, it is possible to easily visually recognize the overflow of ink and to stop the ink injection before the ink overflows. Further, since the color of the porous member 23 is different from the color of the ink replenished in the ink cartridge 3, it can be determined at a glance that the porous member 23 has absorbed the ink.

The ink replenishing device of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a transparent or semitransparent tube is used as the ink overflow prevention confirmation member 5, but the invention is not limited to this.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the ink cartridge for a single color is used, but the overflow of ink can be similarly prevented by using the ink cartridge for a color.

[0042]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ink replenishing device of the present invention, when the ink is replenished in the ink cartridge, the ink overflow preventing confirmation member is provided in the air vent hole provided in the ink cartridge. Since it is detachably inserted, the ink overflow prevention confirmation member functions as an ink overflow check signal, and the ink injection can be stopped before the ink overflows. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent stains around the ink replenishment hole due to the ink, and anyone can easily carry out the ink refilling work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an ink replenishing device.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a state where an ink cartridge is housed and fixed in a cartridge holder.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which ink is replenished in the ink cartridge.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an ink overflow prevention confirmation member.

5A and 5B are views showing a cartridge holder, in which FIG. 5A is a side view, FIG. 5B is a front view, and FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ink Replenishing Hole 2 Air Venting Hole 3 Ink Cartridge 4 Cartridge Holder 5 Ink Overflow Prevention Confirmation Member 7 Bottom Plate 8 Top Plate 9 Side Plate 11 Height Position Restricting Member 20, 21 Width Position Restricting Member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ink replenishing device in which an ink cartridge having an ink replenishing hole and an air bleeding hole is housed and fixed in a cartridge holder, and ink is replenished to the ink cartridge through the ink replenishing hole. An ink replenishing device, wherein an ink overflow preventing confirmation member is detachably fitted into the air vent hole when replenishing ink to the ink cartridge. 2. The ink overflow prevention confirmation member is characterized in that a transparent or translucent tube is filled with a porous member of a color different from that of the ink to be replenished. The ink replenishing device according to claim 1. 3. The cartridge holder comprises a top plate portion, a bottom plate portion, both side plate portions and a back plate portion, and a nozzle insertion hole for exposing the ink replenishment hole to the outside in the top plate portion. A protrusion for preventing slippage that engages with a side wall surface of the cutout portion provided in the ink cartridge, and a height position regulating member that supports the bottom surface of the ink cartridge is provided in the bottom plate portion. The ink replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the both side plates are provided with a width position restricting member that restricts a position of the ink cartridge in the width direction.