JPS60151056A - Ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use recording liquid such as ink in an ink containing bag without waste by inclining the bag so that the ink lead is disposed at the lowest position of the bag. CONSTITUTION:A mounting base 28 is formed to have the prescribed inclining angle. Accordingly, an ink containing bag 22 in an ink cartridge housing mounted on the base 28 is led from a stylus tube 25 in the inclined and held state. Since the bag 22 is inclined and held, the ink is, even if the remainder of the ink is small, is stored around a coupling member 23. Thus, the ink is stably supplied continuously from the tube 25 through an ink supply tube 26 to a recording head, and the ink is not retained in the bag 22.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to Inkji L? 8.) Recording devices, especially on-dead type inkjet that ejects ink droplets only when necessary for printing.8. The present invention relates to an ink cartridge used in a digital recording device.

[Prior art]

An inkjet recording device records characters, figures, etc. on recording paper by ejecting small droplets of ink from a narrow nozzle. In this case, high quality character 1
In order to draw figures, etc., fine ink droplets of equal diameter must be ejected regularly and intermittently. In order to make the ink droplets fly smoothly and to stably draw characters, figures, etc. on the recording paper, the properties of the ink itself must be sufficiently uniform and stable. However, at the same time, it is necessary to sufficiently prevent air bubbles from being mixed into the ink.

A sealed ink cartridge is used as an ink supply device in an inkjet recording apparatus in order to keep the ink in a stable state without exposing it to outside air. In this ink cartridge, ink is filled in a highly airtight bag or container to prevent air from entering. The ink cartridge is removably attached to the cartridge receiver so that new ink can be replenished by replacing the ink cartridge.

Among the above-mentioned ink cartridges, in a conventional sealed type ink cartridge that supplies ink using hydrostatic pressure, the entire bag containing the ink is made of a flexible membrane. In an ink storage bag using such a flexible film, the flexible film mass deforms irregularly, making it impossible to use up the entire amount of ink in the ink storage bag, and unused ink is left in the bag. This has the drawback of being wasted because it remains, which is a practical problem.

FIG. 1 shows an example of such a conventionally used ink cartridge. The ink cartridge is the container body 1.
A flexible ink storage bag 3 is housed in the container body 1 and stores ink 2 therein, and an external ink container 8 inserted into the ink storage bag 3 stores ink. The ink guide unit 4 is configured to guide ink to a do (not shown) for recording in a dot recording apparatus. By inserting the ink outlet tube 5 connected to the ink supply tube 6 connected to the recording head into the ink outlet section 4, the ink 2 in the ink storage bag 3 is transferred to the ink outlet tube 5 and the ink supply tube 6. It is supplied to the record via .

Furthermore, the ink storage bag 3 has a sealed structure that prevents air from entering inside. Therefore, as the ink is used, the ink storage bag 3Fi@IIC shrinks, and residual ink 1 is formed in several places as shown in Figure 2, making it difficult to use these residual inks. It became uneconomical.

Ink cartridges disclosed in q#'57-12683 and JP-A-57-18266 are known as proposals for improving these problems.

This is an ink cart 11 having a flat ink storage bag 13 for storing ink. When the ink storage bag 13 is inserted into the ink storage bag 13 and communicated with the ink outlet part 14, a portion located inside the ink storage bag 13 has a distribution of 1/2 on its circumferential surface. Vibrator 1 with a large number of possible holes 11
2.

However, in the case where the porous vibrator 12 is inserted into the ink storage bag 13 in this way, the ink outlet section 1
Although the ink storage bag 13 close to the ink storage bag 13 is no longer in close contact with the ink storage bag 13 near the ink storage bag 4, as shown in FIG. .

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink cartridge that can wastefully use recording liquid such as ink in an ink storage bag.

[Structure of the invention]

To achieve this object, the present invention provides an ink cartridge for an inkjet recording device, which has a flexible ink storage bag for storing ink therein, and an ink outlet for leading out ink from the ink bag. , the ink storage bag is tilted so that the ink outlet portion is at the lowest position of the ink storage bag.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an ink cartridge, an ink cartridge, and an ink supply device according to the present invention. B is a casing that forms the outer shell of the ink cartridge, and has an opening 21& in a part thereof. opening 2
1a Li The inside of the casing 21 of the ink cartridge is made to circulate to the atmosphere, and the ink inside the flexible ink storage bag n is kept in the atmosphere. The flexible ink storage bag n is made of a lanate film made of polyvinylidene chloride coated on one or both sides with polyethylene, or a film made of vapor-deposited aluminum or electrified aluminum foil. A thin film is selected from a material that has a low barrier property, is stable enough to avoid chemical changes with the ink, and has good flexibility. A flexible bag-like ink storage bag n is obtained by folding and overlapping such thin films, and bonding two or four sides, which are the surrounding opening sides, by heat fusion and equal pressure to form a flat shape. Form.

A connecting member n made of resin such as polyethylene or metal such as stainless steel or brass is attached to a part of the lower surface of the ink storage bag ρ to the ink container n by heat fusion or locking means such as screws. The screws are fixed and form an ink outlet section.

An elastic material such as butyl rubber, butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, silicone rubber, acrylic rubber, etc. is press-fitted or fitted into the inside of the coupling member n. In this way, the opening of the ink storage bag 4 is hermetically sealed by the connecting member and the elastic member, so that outside air does not enter into the ink stored in the ink storage bag n.

On the other hand, the ink cartridge of the ink supply device is equipped with the ink cartridge and the housing 21 at a predetermined position.

a needle-like tube 5 that passes through the elastic body part KVi and allows the ink in the ink storage bag n to be drawn out;
an ink supply pipe connected to the needle tube 5;
An ink outlet receptacle is provided, which includes a spring-loaded holding member for holding the ink. Also,
The mount row is formed to have a predetermined inclination angle (θ). Therefore, the ink cartridge installed on the mounting base and the ink storage bag n in the cartridge case are held tilted and the ink is drawn out from the needle-like tube δ.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which ink is consumed in the ink cartridge according to this embodiment. Since the ink storage bag n is held at an angle, even when the remaining amount of ink is low, the ink remains around the coupling member device, so that the ink supply tube section is not connected to the needle tube 5. Ink is stably and continuously supplied to the recording medium through the recording medium, and ink does not remain scattered in the ink storage bag n.

Furthermore, if a photodetector such as a photo ink cartridge is installed near the sloping bottom of the ink storage bag ρ near the top of the coupling member device of the ink cartridge housing 21, the remaining amount of ink can be accurately detected. This is effective because it can be used as an alarm. FIG. 6 shows an outline of the AA cross-sectional view of the ink cartridge shown in FIG. 4, and is an example of the remaining amount detecting device as described above.
(b) is a light receiving element, and these are arranged near the lead-out portions on both sides of the housing 21, respectively. When the ink is sufficiently contained in the ink storage bag n, the light emitting element 29
The light from (a) is blocked by the ink storage bag and does not reach the light receiving element 29(b), but when there is a shortage of ink, this light reaches the light receiving element and a signal is issued to warn of the ink shortage.

Incidentally, when the ink storage bag 4 near the connecting member n is inclined in advance so that it is at the bottom position as in this embodiment,
Ink cart y1. The inclination angle θ is determined so that fluctuations in the hydrostatic pressure of the ink within the ink container remain within a predetermined range until the ink is consumed after the cartridge is attached. That is, it is determined within a range that does not affect the pressure characteristics within the recording medium. This is K, so let's record it.

The ink cartridge and cartridge must be installed so as to prevent air from being sucked in or leaking from the nozzle surface of the nozzle, and to maintain variations in the speed and diameter of ink droplets ejected from the nozzle within a certain value.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention. In the figures, the same reference numerals are given to the same structural parts as in the above embodiment. Inside the housing 31 of the ink cartridge, a sloped plate is fixedly installed to tilt the flexible ink storage bag, and the connecting member & elastic body are arranged so as to be at the lowest position. There is. In this case, the ink cartridge is placed horizontally on the mounting base of the ink supply device.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention. This is done by lifting one end (tail) 42a of the flexible ink storage bag 42, which is located farthest from the connecting member using the inclined plate, onto the upper inner surface of the cartridge case 41, and using adhesive or hot water. The ink storage bag 42 is adhered by melting or the like, and the ink storage bag 42 is inclined so that the connecting member is at the lowest position.

In the ink cartridges shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, most of the ink in the ink storage bag is drawn out and supplied to the recording medium without remaining. In these embodiments as well, the remaining ink level display warning can be effectively provided by arranging the photodetector 4 near the connecting part.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, the inclination angle of the ink storage bag may be gradually and automatically changed as ink is consumed, and the connecting member is located near the bottom surface of the ink storage bag. It may protrude forward.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, a flexible flat ink storage bag is housed in a housing case, and the ink storage bag is tilted so that the ink outlet end is at the lowest position of the ink storage bag. The ink cartridge is suitable for supplying ink extracted from the ink storage bag using hydrostatic pressure, which reduces the pressure difference caused by fluctuations in the ink water level, and allows the remaining amount of ink to be extremely small. As a result, almost the entire amount of ink in the ink storage bag can be poured into the ink outlet and sent to the inkjet recording device for recording.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional ink cartridge, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 when the ink is consumed, and FIG. 3 is another conventional ink cartridge. FIG.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) There is a flexible ink storage bag inside for storing ink.1. ．． An ink cartridge for an inkjet recording apparatus having an ink lead-out part for drawing out ink from an lfi ink storage bag, characterized in that the ink storage bag is inclined so that the ink lead-out part is at the lowest position of the ink storage bag. Ink cartridge, di. (2) The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge is replaceable. Ji. (3) The ink cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an ink outlet portion is provided near the lowest position in the longitudinal direction of the ink storage bag. (4) The mounting surface of the ink storage bag is formed with a uniform slope so that the part of the ink storage bag that is farthest from the ink lead-out part is higher than the ink lead-out part. The ink cartridge according to any one of Item 3. (5) The ink according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the inner surface of the housing of the ink cartridge #, on which the ink storage bag is placed, is an inclined surface. Cartoli, Ji. (6) A patent claim in which the ink storage bag is fixed to a part of the inner surface of the casing of the ink cartridge that is farthest from the ink outlet part of the ink storage bag, and when the core part is lifted, the ink storage bag is tilted by ζ. The ink cartridge according to any one of items 1 to 5 above. , , (7) Ink remaining amount detection means is installed in a part of the casing of the ink cartridge and in the vicinity of the ink lead-out portion at the lowest position of the ink storage bag. The ink cartridge according to any one of items 6 to 6. (8) Any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the ink cartridge has an opening in a part of its casing, and the ink inside the ink storage bag is subjected to hydrostatic pressure during recording. The ink cartridge described in. Ji.