JPH11198392A - Ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an ink drop from scattering to other part at the time of loading or unloading a recording head and an ink supply means. SOLUTION: An ink jet recorder comprises an ink jet recording head and a coupling means, e.g. an ink supply needle 15, to be coupled with an external ink supply means, e.g. an ink cartridge, while communicating with the ink jet recording head. A cartridge holder 10 secured with the ink supply needle 15 has trenches 20-22 for holding ink by capillarily and ink leaking from the ink cartridge, or the like, is held in the trenches 20-22 by capillarity and prevented from moving to other part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink-jet recording method in which an ink-jet recording head, which receives ink via an ink tank and a connector, is reciprocated to eject ink droplets and form dots on a recording medium. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet type recording apparatus, since it is necessary to supply ink from the outside, an ink supply needle serving as a connector is provided on a carriage on which a recording head is mounted, and an ink supply port of an ink cartridge is connected to the ink supply needle. It is configured so that ink can be replenished by insertion.

However, when the cartridge is attached or detached, the ink leaking from the ink supply port diffuses to other places due to surface tension, which deteriorates a flexible cable for supplying a signal to a recording head and an electronic component constituting a drive circuit. There is.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing the diffusion of ink leaking from a connector and ensuring reliability. It is to provide.

[0005]

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention comprises an ink jet recording head and a connecting means which communicates with the ink jet recording head and connects to an external ink supply means. In the ink jet recording apparatus, a groove for holding the ink by capillary force is formed in the fixing member of the connection means.

[0006]

The ink leaked from the connecting means is held by the capillary force of the groove, and is prevented from moving to other places.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. A recording head 1 for ejecting ink droplets in response to a print signal is mounted on a carriage 3 together with an ink cartridge 2 and is driven by a carriage drive motor 4. It reciprocates in the width direction of the recording paper 5 to eject ink droplets from the nozzle openings, and receives supply of ink from the ink cartridge 2 via connection means described later.

In the non-printing area, a capping device 6 for sealing the recording head 1 to prevent drying of the nozzle openings, supplying a negative pressure when ink is filled after replacing the ink cartridge 2, A cleaning member 7 is provided.

FIG. 2 shows a flow path for connecting the recording head 1 and the ink cartridge 2 described above. In the upper area of a cartridge holder 10 provided on the carriage 3, a cartridge accommodating chamber 11 is provided. At the lower part, a head holder 12 for fixing the recording head 1 is formed.

A first ink supply path 13 for supplying ink to the recording head 1 is formed on the outer and lower surfaces of the head holder 12, and an ink supply port 14 of the ink cartridge 1 serving as an ink supply means is formed on the upper surface. An ink supply needle 15 serving as connection means is implanted.

On the other hand, the ink cartridge 2 has the above-described ink supply port 14 through which an ink supply needle 15 can be inserted, and a packing 16 for maintaining a liquid-tight state with the ink supply needle 15 on its inner peripheral surface. Is provided.

By adopting such a configuration, the ink can be supplied to the recording head through the ink supply needle 15 by attaching and detaching the ink cartridge 2 to and from the cartridge holder 10 as shown in FIG. But,
At the time of attachment / detachment, particularly when the ink cartridge 2 is removed from the holder 10, ink may drop from the ink supply port 14 onto the bottom surface 17, the wall surface 18, or the like of the cartridge holder 10.

FIGS. 4A to 4C show an embodiment of a cartridge holder for coping with such a problem. In FIG. 4A, an ink droplet is held by a capillary force. In FIG. 4 (b), a plurality of narrow grooves 20 are formed in the long side direction so as to be capable of forming a plurality of narrow grooves 20 parallel to the short side direction. In (), the narrow grooves 21 are formed in a lattice shape.

According to these embodiments, the ink dropped from the ink supply port 14 of the ink cartridge 2 is held by the capillary force of the narrow grooves 20, 21 and 22 and is prevented from flowing out to the outside. Can be prevented from flowing out to the electronic circuit components located in the vicinity of.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a plurality of grooves 23 are formed so as to surround the periphery of an ink supply needle 15 into which ink droplets drop relatively frequently. Is formed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, by forming a concave portion 24 near the outer periphery of the bottom surface of the cartridge holder, the ink leaked from the cartridge holder 10 to the outside is retained by the capillary force of the concave portion 24 and outwardly. Spreading can be prevented.

In the case where the ink supply needle has a very high liquid tightness with the cartridge holder and the ink in the cartridge holder does not leak to the outside, as shown in FIG. The concave portion 25 may be formed inside the upper edge portion, and the ink dropped near the wall surface of the holder 10 may be held by the concave portion 25.

In the above-described embodiment, the recording apparatus of the type in which the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage has been described. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, the ink cartridge 30 is housed in the box side, In an ink jet recording apparatus of a type in which ink is supplied to a recording head 33 of a carriage 32 by an ink supply tube 31, a groove 35 is formed near a connector 34 connecting the recording head 33 and the ink supply tube 31. Accordingly, it is useful to prevent the drop of ink generated when the ink supply tube 31 is attached or detached from being absorbed by the groove 35 and prevent the ink from being enlarged.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus comprising an ink jet recording head and a connecting means communicating with the ink jet recording head and connecting to an external ink supply means. Since the groove for holding the ink by the capillary force is formed in the fixing member of the connecting means, the ink leaking from the connecting means is held by the capillary force of the groove to prevent the ink from moving to another place and to be located near the recording head. It is possible to prevent deterioration and damage of the arranged electronic components.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional structure centered on an ink supply needle communicating with a recording head.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an ink cartridge and a cartridge holder.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing the bottom structure of the same ink cartridge holder. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view showing another embodiment of the ink cartridge according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another embodiment of the ink cartridge according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a view showing another embodiment of the ink cartridge according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording head 2 Ink cartridge 3 Carriage 10 Cartridge holder 14 Ink supply port 15 Ink supply needle 20-23 Groove 24, 25 Recess

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink jet recording head; and a connecting means communicating with the ink jet recording head and connecting to an external ink supply means. An ink jet recording apparatus in which grooves to be held are formed. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said grooves are formed so as to surround said connecting means. 3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of grooves are formed in different directions. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grooves are formed in a lattice. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said groove is formed concentrically so as to surround said connecting means. 6. An ink jet recording head, and a cartridge holder provided with an ink supply needle for holding the ink jet recording head and connecting the recording head to the ink cartridge via an ink supply port of the ink cartridge. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a cartridge holder having a groove for holding ink by capillary force. 7. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of the grooves are formed so as to surround the ink supply needle. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of grooves are formed in different directions. 9. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the grooves are formed in a lattice. 10. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the groove is formed concentrically so as to surround the ink supply needle. 11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a concave portion for holding the ink by capillary force is formed inside the upper peripheral edge of the ink cartridge. 12. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a concave portion for holding ink by capillary force is formed near an outer bottom surface of said ink cartridge.