JPH11320907A - Ink feed container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent scattering of an ink gathering at a gap between a tape seal attached to an ink outlet port of an ink container and a foam member in a diaphragm chamber of the ink container when the tape seal is to be removed. SOLUTION: A detachable plug is molded in an outlet port of an ink container. The plug occupies a gap, thereby preventing the ink from gathering during the transportation. In this case, the plug 70 is a membrane of polypropylene formed in the ink outlet port 40. The plug 70 has a projecting tub 72 to let the plug take out from the outlet port.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink recording apparatus, and more particularly to an improved ink supply of the type supplying ink to a printhead from an ink impregnated foam member contained in a compartment of an ink supply container. It concerns a container.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An ink jet recording apparatus includes one or more printheads that eject ink on a recording medium, such as paper, in a controlled pattern of closely spaced dots. Multiple printheads are used to create a color image. Each printhead is supplied with a different color of ink from a corresponding ink container. The thermal ink jet printing mechanism uses a thermal energy generated selectively by a resistor arranged near a nozzle at the end of an ink-filled capillary ink path to instantaneously evaporate the ink according to demand. Generates bubbles. Each bubble ejects an ink droplet and flies it toward the recording medium. The printing mechanism is generally built into a carriage type printer. Carriage type printers generally include a relatively small printhead having ink paths and nozzles. The printhead is typically hermetically mounted to the ink supply. The combined printhead and ink container form a carriage assembly. The carriage assembly reciprocates to print information of one print width at a time on a stationary recording medium, such as paper. After printing one print width, the paper is stepped a distance equal to the print width height so that the next print width is adjacent to the previous print width. The above procedure is repeated until the entire page has been printed.

[0003] A preferred ink container configuration has two compartments in the housing. The first compartment contains liquid ink entering through the ink inlet port. The ink in the first compartment is in fluid communication with the second compartment containing the ink absorbing member (generally foam or felt), so that the ink absorbing member is filled with ink. Thereafter, ink is drawn by capillary action from the outlet port of the second compartment through the manifold to the printhead. After each ink is ejected from the printhead nozzles, the manifold replenishes the ink path of the printhead. Ink containers having an ink retaining foam member therein are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,185,614 and 5,486,855.

[0004]

When the ink container is first filled with ink, the ink outlet port and the inlet port must be sealed so that the ink does not drip from the ink outlet port and the inlet port. The conventional method of sealing a container is to attach a tape seal to a port by a hot stamping method. The tape is removed when connecting the ink container to the printhead. Conventional sealing methods are less reliable because when removing the tape, there is a tendency for unwanted ink leakage at the exit port. This leakage of ink occurs due to the presence of air pockets between the tape seal and the foam member in the compartment. The air pocket has a thickness approximately equal to the thickness or depth of the outlet port. The depth of the outlet port is a function of the wall thickness of the container in which the outlet port is made. Opening the outlet port to connect the ink container to the manifold can cause ink collected in the air pockets to splatter during transport.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problem of ink leakage from the outlet port prior to mounting the ink container is solved by molding a removable stopper into the outlet port of the ink container. The stopper occupies the "air pocket" space described above. In a preferred embodiment, the stopper is a membrane of polypropylene molded into the ink outlet port. The tap has a protruding tab to pull the tap from the outlet port. After withdrawing the stopper, the ink container is fluidly connected to the printhead manifold.

More specifically, the present invention has an ink inlet port for ink filling, a first compartment containing ink, and an ink outlet port, and is fluidly connected to the first compartment. And an ink supply container having a second compartment containing an ink absorbing member. The ink container further has a removable stopper inserted into the ink outlet port.

[0007]

1 to 4 show a conventional mechanism. First, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional full-color ink jet printer 6, in which an ink container containing a foam member of a general type can be incorporated. The printer 6 has an ink jet cartridge 8 including removable ink containers 10, 12, 14, 16 fluidly connected to a partitioned printhead 18. The cartridge 8 is mounted on a carriage 19 supported on a rail 20. The cartridge rail 20 is supported by the frame 22 of the printer 6. Each ink container has a separable housing containing black or color ink to be supplied to printhead 18 through an ink manifold. The print head is connected to the printer 6 through an electric cable (not shown).
Ink drops are selectively ejected under the control of electrical signals received from a controller (not shown).

The print head 18 includes ink containers 10 and 1
It has a plurality of ink paths which carry ink from 2, 14, 16 to corresponding ink ejection orifices or nozzles 24 (FIG. 2). When printing, the carriage 19 reciprocates back and forth along the rail 20 in the direction of arrow 21. Its full width traversal constitutes a scan path. The actual print area is included in the scan path. As the carriage 19 reciprocates back and forth along the scan path and passes over a recording medium 34 (eg, a sheet of paper or transparency), ink drops from selected ones of a plurality of nozzles of the printhead 18. Is sprayed toward a sheet of paper. Generally, the recording medium 24 remains stationary during each pass of the carriage 19. At the end of each pass, the recording medium 24 is stepped in the direction of arrow 26. For a more detailed description of the operation of the printer 6 and details of the printhead structure, see U.S. Pat.
See U.S. Patent No. 3,491, and U.S. Patent Reissue 32,572.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ink container 10 having the outlet port 40 and the air inlet 32. The manifold 42 shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 3 includes a plate member 44 having ink tubes 46A to 46D. Ink tube 46
The end of A is the ink-filled foam member 4 in the ink container 10.
8 (means not shown). Multiple through holes 5
Another foam member 50 having 2A-52D (FIG. 3) is slip fitted into the ink tubes 46A-46D of the manifold 42. When the manifold 42 is in the use position shown in FIG. 2, the foam member 50 is compressed by the manifold 42 against the cover 49 of the ink container 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, each ink container represented by the container 10 has two compartments. Ink container 1
If zero, the first compartment 60 contains ink therein.
Ink is supplied from an ink inlet 61. Second compartment 62
Contains an open-cell foam member 48 therein. Ink travels from compartment 60 through interior port 68 and contacts foam member 48 to fill foam member 48 with ink.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show the printer in the operation mode after the ink containers 10 to 16 are attached to and connected to the cartridge 8. Before installation, the containers 10-1
6 was filled with ink and sealed to prevent ink from leaking from port 40 during transportation. FIG. 4 is a side view of the conventional ink container 10 before being fluidly connected to the manifold 42. Sealing tape or foil 60 was applied to port 40 to prevent ink leakage. The foam member 48 is supported by the inner surface of the cover 49. As a result, a gap 41 having a dimension d equal to the thickness of the cover remains.
Since the gap 41 is filled with ink during transportation, some ink may spill out when the tape 60 is removed.

FIG. 5 shows an ink container 10 'made in accordance with the present invention. Container 10 'is as previously described, except for the sealing of port 40. In order to prevent ink from leaking from the port 40, a stopper 70 is inserted into the port 40.
(In the preferred embodiment, a polypropylene membrane). For this reason, a molding process was used in which the stopper 70 was brought into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the port 40 and hermetically sealed so that the stopper could be separated. Pulling the tab 72 formed on the outer portion of the stopper 70 removes the stopper 70. It will be appreciated that the stopcock 70 of thickness d occupies the void present in the conventional ink container (FIG. 4), thereby preventing ink from collecting in the void. Thus, no ink will spill out when the plug is removed. afterwards,
The ink container can be attached to the printing mechanism shown in FIGS.

In the preferred embodiment, the stopper 70 is
9 is made as part of a molding process to make a container 10 'containing the same. As part of the same molding process, the ink inlet 6
A second stopper 74 (FIG. 4) that seals 1 can be made. The stopper will replace the conventional tape seal and increase the economics of the container structure. The plug 74 does not need to be removed after filling with ink, so tabs may not be necessary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional full-color inkjet printer using the improved ink supply container of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one of the ink containers shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a manifold to which the ink container of FIG. 1 is connected.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the ink container of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the ink container of the present invention having the port sealing stopper of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 6 full-color thermal inkjet printer 8 inkjet cartridge 10, 12, 14, 16 ink container 10 'ink container of the present invention 18 print head 19 carriage 20 rail 21 moving direction 22 frame 24 sheet of paper 26 paper feeding direction 32 air inlet 40 outlet port 41 Air gap 42 Manifold 44 Plate member 46A-46D Ink tube 48 Foam member 49 Cover 50 Another foam member 52A-52D Through hole 60 First compartment 61 Ink inlet 62 Second compartment 63 Sealing tape 70 Plug 72 Tab 74 Second Stopper

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Vladimir M. Kuptic, New York, USA 14534 Pittsford Charmwood Road 38

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first compartment for holding liquid ink, an ink inlet port provided in the first compartment for introducing ink into the first compartment, and a fluid connection to the first compartment. And a second compartment connected to the ink container, wherein the second compartment contains an ink absorbing member and is provided with an ink outlet port. An ink supply container having a detachable stopper attached. 2. The ink supply container according to claim 1, wherein said removable stopper is a separable molded polypropylene film in said outlet port. 3. The ink supply container according to claim 1, wherein the ink container has a cover, the outlet port is formed in the cover, and the thickness of the cover is d. An ink supply container, wherein the thickness of the removable stopper is d. 4. The ink supply container according to claim 1, wherein said ink container further comprises an additional removable stopper irremovably inserted into said inlet port.