JPS59192574A - Ink cartridge for on-demand type ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent air from resolution into an ink bag, by maintaining the interior of an ink cartridge in a vacuum during preservation of the ink cartridge before use. CONSTITUTION:A casing body 11 of the ink cartridge is constituted of, for example, a plastic, in which the ink bag 14 is contained in the condition of being communicated with a metallic mouthpiece 12 for supplying an ink, thereafter the casing body 11 is hermetically sealed at a sealing part 41, and air in the interior of the casing body 11 is discharged by suction through an air-passing hole. Thereafter, the hole is sealed up by a hermetically sealing thin film member 42 such as an aluminum foil to prevent air from penetrating into the interior of the casing body 11. In use, namely, when supplying the ink, the thin film member 42 is pierced through by a needle 22 for opening to the atmosphere which is provided separately from an ink-supplying needle 21, thereby opening the interior of the casing body 11 to the atmosphere through, for example, a hole provided in the needle 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ink cartridge for on-demand type inkjet printers.

Figure 1 is a side sectional view showing an example of an ink cartridge commonly used in ink-on-demand type inkjet printers. At the ink cartridge fixing part on the carriage, the ink cartridge unit 10 includes an ink cartridge housing 11, an ink supply mouthpiece 12 attached to the ink cartridge housing, and an ink supply mouthpiece 12 housed in the ink cartridge housing 11 and connected to the ink supply. Usage cap 12
The ink cartridge fixing part 20 includes an ink bag 14 communicated with the ink bag 14 via a tube 13, a sealing member 15 made of rubber, for example, for sealing the ink supply mouthpiece 12, a pressing plate 16, a handle 17, etc. An ink supply needle 21 is provided for supplying ink to the inkjet head. During use, the ink cartridge section 10 is inserted into the ink supply needle 21 from the six directions of the arrows, and the ink in the ink bag 14 is supplied to the inkjet head through the ink supply needle 21. The press plate 16 is pressed to forcibly initially fill the inkjet head with the ink in the ink bag 14 or to discharge air bubbles. The ink cartridge housing 11 and the pressing plate 16 are provided with openings +1a and +6a, respectively, through which the amount of ink remaining in the ink bag is detected. Note that gas barrier properties can be improved by using, for example, a three-layer film of polyethylene/vinylidene chloride/polyethylene having a sandwich structure with vinylidene chloride sandwiched therebetween as the ink bag. The ink cartridge has a flat structure, and therefore the head height between the cartridge and the inkjet head is always kept approximately constant, and therefore, the ink supply pressure is kept approximately constant, so that the ink jetting state is stable. It has the advantage of being

In addition, the above ink cartridge has an ink bag 14)
The structure is such that the ink bag is compressed by pressing at atmospheric pressure and the ink is supplied to the inkjet head by capillary force, so the openings 1], a, and 1.6a are required, and therefore, the openings 1], a, and 1.6a are required. During long-term storage, air is dissolved into the ink in the ink bag through the ink bag, forming air bubbles. If these air bubbles are trapped, for example, in the ink supply needle 21, it becomes impossible to supply ink to the inkjet head, resulting in a situation where printing becomes impossible. In order to avoid such drawbacks, various proposals have been made in the past. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink cartridge section 10 is installed at an angle, and the air bubbles 18 in the ink bag 14 are floated.
This prevents the air bubbles from going to the ink supply side. Furthermore, as another example, proposals have been made to immerse a gas absorbent (material) in the ink or to surround the ink bag, but the former has problems with liquid contact, and the latter has problems with the ink bag. There is a problem with the rigidity, that is, the shrinkability of the ink bag as the ink is consumed. There have also been proposals to pack the ink cartridges into bags in several stages, but there is nothing that can be done to prevent air from remaining between the ink cartridge housing and the ink bags.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ink for an on-demand inkjet printer, which eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and easily and reliably prevents air from being incorporated into the ink during storage in the ink cartridge. The purpose is to provide cartridges.

Preparation The configuration of the present invention will be described below based on one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and in the figure, parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1. .

Therefore, in the present invention, the ink cartridge housing 1
1 is made of, for example, plastic, and after storing the ink bag 14 in communication with the ink supply cap 12 as described above, it is welded and sealed at the welding part 41, and then the internal air is released through the ventilation hole. After that, the air hole is sealed with a sealing thin film member 42 such as aluminum foil to prevent air from entering the ink cartridge housing 11.

Note that during use, that is, when supplying ink, the ink supply needle 2
An air release needle 22 provided separately from the air release needle 22 pierces the sealing thin film member 42, and the inside of the ink cartridge housing is opened to the atmosphere through, for example, a hole 22a provided in the air release needle 22.

Effect (2) According to the present invention, since the inside of the ink cartridge is kept in a vacuum when the ink cartridge is stored before use, it is possible to prevent air from entering the ink bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional ink cartridge, FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of the use of a conventional ink cartridge 1-ridge, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional ink cartridge. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Ink cartridge housing, 12... Ink supply cap, 14... Ink bag, 15... Sealing member, 21... Ink supply needle, 22... Atmospheric release needle, 42
...Thin film member for sealing. 71 Figure 10 Figure 2 Figure 3 17-

Claims (1)

[Claims] An ink cartridge housing, an ink supply mouthpiece attached to the ink cartridge, an ink bag housed in the ink cartridge housing and communicating with the ink supply mouthpiece, and the ink supply mouthpiece are sealed. and a sealing thin film member that seals the ventilation holes provided in the ink car 1 to cartridge housing, and after the air inside the ink cartridge housing is sucked and discharged through the ventilation hole. An ink cartridge for an on-demand inkjet printer, characterized in that the ventilation hole is sealed by the sealing thin film member.