JPH1058696A - Ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance moldability and mountability of a color ink cartridge. SOLUTION: The interval of ink supply ports 10a-e projecting from the bottom face of ink containing chambers 2a-e is equalized regardless of the width thereof in order to facilitate the arrangement of ink supply needles and the mounting of an ink cartridge. Furthermore, a seal rubber to be fitted in the ink supply port is made to flex easily so that the ink supply port is communicated surely with the ink supply needle regardless of positional shift of some degree.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge used for a color ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer of the type which performs recording and writing using yellow, magenta and cyan inks, in particular, a color ink jet printer, an ink cartridge having a required number of ink storage compartments is used.

[0003] In this type of ink cartridge, the width of each ink storage chamber is indispensable from the viewpoint of providing a plurality of ink storage chambers in a limited frame and the use amount of each ink being different. Therefore, the width of the ink supply port is small, and the ink supply ports provided in these are small and the intervals are not uniform.

[0004] Therefore, this type of ink cartridge has a problem that it cannot store sufficient ink. In addition, a carriage for mounting this type of ink cartridge has a problem in that each of the ink cartridges is provided with an ink supply port in accordance with the interval. In addition to the inconvenience of assembling such that the position of the ink supply needle must be determined, the seal attached to the ink supply port does not have much radial allowance, so that the There is a problem that the ink supply needle may be broken even by a great displacement.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new ink cartridge that can store as much ink as possible and that can use the stored ink as efficiently as possible.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is as follows.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new ink cartridge which can uniquely determine an interval between ink supply needles provided on a carriage.

Still another object is to provide a new ink cartridge which does not break the ink supply needle even if the ink supply needle is slightly displaced at the time of mounting.

[0008]

That is, according to the present invention, as an ink cartridge for achieving the above object, there is provided an ink cartridge in which at least one ink storage chamber having a different width is partitioned by a partition. On the bottom surface of the cartridge body, ink supply ports communicating with the respective ink storage chambers are provided at equal intervals,
Also, on the inner surface of the lid covering the opening of the main body, a plurality of reinforcing lateral ribs having a portion near the ink supply port higher than other portions are provided in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage chamber and correspond to each ink storage chamber. A cylindrical fitting portion for fitting an elastic seal member fitted on the inner surface of the ink supply port of each of the plurality of ink storage chambers to the inner surface; A thin cylindrical flexible portion extending inward from the inner surface of the outer portion substantially in parallel with the inner surface, and a close fitting portion of an ink supply needle bulging at the inner end of the flexible portion. It was done.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIGS. 1 to 7 show one embodiment of the present invention. In order to further improve the gradation, among the yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, magenta and cyan inks having strong color tones are used. Shows an embodiment of an ink cartridge formed so as to be able to store two types of inks of different shades, that is, five types of inks as a whole.

In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an ink cartridge body formed of a polypropylene material and formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape so as to be able to store as much ink as possible in a limited volume without a protruding portion on the surface. In the main body 1, ink storage chambers 2b to 2e for storing two kinds of magenta and cyan inks of different shades and an ink storage chamber 2a for storing yellow ink having a width wider than these are respectively provided via partition walls 3 #. Is formed.

The outer wall 4 of the ink cartridge body 1
Is formed to be thicker than the partition wall 3, and the opening edge 5 at the upper end is further expanded outward in a sprinkle-like shape to form a thicker wall, thereby giving the main body 1 sufficient rigidity.
At the corner of the outer wall 4, a ridge 6 た that integrally serves as positioning for a cartridge holder (not shown) and maintaining its shape is integrally formed.

One end of each of the bottom surfaces 8 of the ink storage chambers 2a to 2e has a cylindrical ink supply port 10 which is connected to each other.
The ink supply ports 10a to 10e are formed so as to protrude. The outer circumference of the ink supply ports 10a to 10e is surrounded by a strip-shaped common frame 12, and is connected to the frame 12 by a rib 11.

The both ends of the frame 12 are inside the outer wall 4 and protrude from the ink supply ports 10a and 10e at both ends, so that both ends of the tape 15 do not protrude from the outer wall 4 to form one sheet. A tape 15 is provided so that all the ink supply ports 10a to 10e can be sealed at the same time, and a notch 13 for removing air is provided on the top ridge of the frame 12. When applying the tape, the inside air is allowed to once flow into an air escape portion 14 formed inside the frame 12 and then escaped from the notch 13 provided at the upper edge of the frame 12 to securely adhere the tape 15. Have been able to.

The ink supply ports 10a to 10e
As shown in FIG.
The ink supply port 10a provided in the wide yellow ink accommodating chamber 2a is biased inward, so that the ink supply needle on the recording head projecting from a carriage (not shown) is formed. Ink supply port 10
It can be provided uniquely according to the interval P of a to e.

FIG. 4 shows each ink supply port 10a.
The enlarged view of the seal rubber 16 to be fitted to
The outer side of the sealing rubber 16 forms a cylindrical fitting portion 16a frictionally fitted to the inner surface of the ink supply port 10, and the guide slope 16b extends from the inner surface on the opening end side of the cylindrical fitting portion 16a.
The flexing portion 16c extending inward through is formed as a thin cylindrical portion substantially parallel to the cylindrical fitting portion 16a and having a slight gap c therebetween so as to be able to flex in the radial direction. The ring-shaped close fitting portion 1 is formed at the inner end of the flexible portion 16c and closely joined to the ink supply needle on the recording head side.
6d is formed to bulge inward through the guide slope 16e.

On the other hand, a common engaging recess 17 extending in the width direction is formed on the bottom surface 8 of the ink cartridge body 1 along each of the ink supply ports 10a to 10e. The recess 17 is provided in the cartridge holder. By engaging the lifter with the supporting rod A, erroneous mounting on the cartridge is prevented, and by providing the concave portion 17, the step 18 formed inward is made into a portion where the form 19 does not contact, and is absorbed by the foam 19. The configuration is such that the amount of unreacted ink is reduced so that up to the last drop can be used, and that a reduced pressure space can be ensured when the reduced pressure is packed by the aluminum pack.

On the other hand, reference numeral 20 in the figure denotes a lid for sealing the opening of the ink cartridge main body 1.
0, as shown in FIG.
Two rows of vertical ribs 21, 21 for pressing the foam 19 accommodated in a to e are provided at intervals for each of the ink storage chambers 10a to 10e, and the lid 20 can be slightly slid in the longitudinal direction. It is formed to have a protruding length.

These vertical ribs 21, 21 are formed by forming the portion near the ink supply port 10 higher than the other portions, and compressing the foam 19 in this portion more strongly to reduce the pores. Form 1 due to strong capillary action
The ink uniformly absorbed in the ink supply chamber 9 is collected at a portion of the ink supply port 10 as the ink is reduced, and the ink storage chambers 10a to 10e are provided outside the vertical ribs 21 and 21. Several reinforcing horizontal ribs 22 are formed in contact with the inner surfaces of the partitioning wall 3 and the outer wall 4 of the cartridge body 1 for suppressing the inward bending of the partition wall 3 and the outer wall 4 of the cartridge body 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the reinforcing horizontal ribs 22 provided on the outermost vertical ribs 21 are provided.
The outside of a and 22e forms a welding surface 23 that fuses with a welding sill 5a (FIG. 6 (a)) protruding from the top surface of the outer wall 4, and the outside further has a thin space for receiving a fluff during welding. Groove 24
And reaches the outer peripheral edge 25.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, an ink filling hole 30 corresponding to each of the ink storage chambers 10a to 10e is provided on the upper surface of the lid 20 at a central portion thereof and a portion near the ink supply port 10. 6A and 6B, the ink filling hole 30 is formed as a cylindrical wall 31 which does not reach the height of the vertical rib 21 on the inner surface of the lid 20 as shown in FIGS. It is configured to protrude and shield a part of a passage 26 formed between the vertical ribs 21, 21.

A serpentine groove 33 is formed on the upper surface of the lid 20 to communicate with the air vent hole 32 at the start end and extend to the through holes 34a to 34e provided at the other end of the upper surface of the lid 20. When the ink cartridge is used, the other half of the film 35 covering the upper part of the film 35 is peeled off, and the ink storage chambers 10 a to 10 e are formed through the serpentine groove 33. When the inside of e is opened to the atmosphere, the long serpentine groove 33 is formed so as to prevent the ink inside from evaporating.

The through holes 34a to 34e at the ends of the serpentine grooves 33 are integrated into one place, and one of the through holes 34a to 34e, in this embodiment, the through hole 34c is formed. The film 35 can be easily peeled by arranging it in a triangular shape so as to be a vertex projecting in the peeling direction.

Furthermore, when the film 35 is welded by the heater chip, the serpentine groove 33 is clogged at the overlapped portion or is crushed by strong contact with the partition wall 3 or the outer wall 4. In order to prevent this, the cross-section of the serpentine groove 33 is configured to prevent clogging and crushing during welding by a two-step groove of a wide groove and a deep groove.

In the embodiment constructed as above, a cover 20 is placed on the cartridge body 1 so as to cover the opening.
And slide in the longitudinal direction, the partition walls 3 and the outer walls 4
The welding ribs 5a protruding from the end surface of the outer wall 4 and the welding surface 23 on the inner surface of the lid 20 are slid by the reinforcing ribs 22 protruding outside the vertical ribs 21 without being deformed. The welds are integrally welded by dynamic resistance, and the fluff generated in this process is housed in the narrow groove 24 on the inner surface of the lid 20, and the two are combined and integrated with a gap of about 0.2 mm therebetween.

Therefore, next, ink having a small surface tension is injected into the main body 1 through the ink filling hole 30 provided in the lid 20, and then the ink cartridge is tilted by about 30 ° so that the air vent hole 32 faces upward. The film 35 is adhered to the upper surface of the lid 20 while depressurizing while holding.

As a result, the bubbles generated in the foam 19 in each of the ink storage chambers 10a to 10e cause the ink filling holes 30 projecting so as to block the passage 26 between the vertical ribs 21 and 21.
The air is separated into air and ink during the passage while avoiding the cylindrical wall 31, and only the air passes from the air vent hole 32 to the lid 20.
From the upper surface of the film 35 and further flows through the serpentine groove 33 into the through holes 34a to 34e in contact with the film 35.
Finally, a part of the film 35 is peeled off from the upper surface of the lid 20 to expose the through holes 34a to 34e, so that the insides of the respective ink storage chambers 10a to 10e are communicated with the atmosphere to be ready for use.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to an example of an ink cartridge molded from polypropylene, the material is not limited to moisture-impermeable soft synthetic resin materials such as high-density polyethylene. It can also be formed from a resin material.

As described above, according to the present invention, the intervals between the ink supply ports provided on the bottom surfaces of the ink storage chambers are equalized regardless of the width of the ink storage chambers. It is possible to uniquely determine the arrangement interval and the holding interval of the seal fitted to the ink supply port in accordance with the interval of the ink supply port, thereby greatly improving the assemblability and assembling accuracy thereof. it can.

Further, the shape of the seal member to be fitted into the ink supply port is changed along the cylindrical fitting section between the cylindrical fitting portion with the ink supply port and the close fitting portion with the ink supply needle. This seal member fits into this kind of ink supply port, which must be formed to have a very small diameter because it is formed as a thin cylindrical portion extending toward the outer side and a tapered guide surface is provided on the inner surface of the outer end. Despite this, it is possible to provide sufficient radial deformation allowance, and it absorbs the necessary positional deviation between the cartridge and the ink supply needle that occurs during installation, preventing the ink supply needle from breaking. In addition, they can be inserted smoothly to ensure reliable communication.

Further, a high vertical rib is provided on the inner surface of the lid on the ink supply port side, and the foam in this portion is compressed to reduce the diameter of the bubbles to increase the capillary force, thereby increasing the capillary force. In addition to using the ink in the ink storage chamber as much as possible and using these vertical ribs, by providing horizontal ribs on these surfaces to suppress deformation of the partition walls and outer walls, sliding resistance welding is performed. In this case, the deformation of the ink cartridge which occurs at the time can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the entirety of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the ink cartridge in a sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the same ink cartridge in cross section.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a seal rubber.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the ink cartridge.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are views showing an inner surface and a side surface of a lid.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the upper cover.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink cartridge main body 2a-e Ink accommodating chamber 3 Partition wall 4 Outer side wall 10a-e Ink supply port 16 Seal rubber 20 Lid 21 Vertical rib 22 Reinforcement horizontal rib 30 Ink filling hole 32 Air vent hole 33 Serpentine groove

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of ink storage chambers each having a different width are separated by a partition wall. An ink cartridge characterized by being equalized. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of ink storage chambers defined by said partition has a cylindrical fitting portion fitted to an inner surface of said ink supply port and an inner surface of an outer end of said fitting portion. An elastic seal member comprising a thin cylindrical flexible portion extending inward substantially in parallel with the fitting portion and a close fitting portion of an ink supply needle bulging at the inner end of the flexible portion is attached. An ink cartridge characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The ink cartridge according to claim 2, wherein a tapered guide surface for guiding the ink supply needle is provided on an inner surface of an outer end of the bending portion. 4. The ink cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the close fitting portion is formed to bulge through an inner surface of an inner end of the bending portion via a tapered guide surface for guiding the ink supply needle. . 5. A plurality of ink cartridges each having a plurality of ink storage chambers partitioned by partition walls, wherein a portion near an ink supply port is higher than other portions on an inner surface of a lid covering an opening thereof. An ink cartridge characterized in that the reinforcing horizontal ribs are provided upright in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage chambers and at portions corresponding to the respective ink storage chambers.