JPS61188154A - Ink feeder in ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a nozzle from allowing air inflow, by a method wherein a slider means is held and fixed on the transport position by a tank cap rotationally positioned. CONSTITUTION:When a printer is packaged for transport, an actuator provided on the printer body side is moved downward to engage with a gate arm 21. The movement is transmitted to a gate arm 22 through a pin 22a, thus closing a gate valve 19. In this condition, a key slider 5 is traveled to the transport position 28 marked on the surface of a tank cap 13 against the force of a spring 18. After the tank cap 13 is opened, a transport cap 31 is inserted into a supply port 12 to close an ink tank 11. As a result, outflow of the ink in transport is prevented. Inflow of air to a nozzle 26c and outflow of the ink therefrom are, of course, prevented in the transport by a method wherein a printing head capping device separately provided on the body side covers the front surface of the nozzle 26c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to an ink supply device that is advantageous for use in an ink supply system that supplies ink to nozzles in an inkjet printer that prints by ejecting ink from a nozzle.

<Prior art> Conventionally, an ink supply device for an inkjet printer has an ink tank attached to a carriage equipped with a print head that ejects ink, and uses capillary action to supply ink from the ink tank to the nozzles of the print head. Proposed. In this conventional device, an ink supply port for replenishing ink from an ink cartridge is provided on the top surface of the ink tank, and a transportation cap is swept into the ink supply port to prevent ink from flowing out during transportation. It had stopped. Therefore, when the device is used after unpacking it during transportation, the transportation cap may sometimes be forgotten. When the device is used with this transport cap attached, when a print command is sent, ink is ejected from the print head nozzle, and the ink volume decreases due to the rise of the gate valve, resulting in negative pressure inside the ink tank. As a result, there is a possibility that air may be mixed into the nozzle.

In particular, color printers usually use four types of ink colors and have four ink supply ports, so it is easy to forget to remove the transportation cap.

<Object of the Invention> The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and even if a printing command is issued by mistake while the printer is being transported, the ink jetting operation of the nozzle is prohibited and the ink is sent to the nozzle. To provide an ink supply device which can prevent air from entering the ink supply device, and which can easily check whether there is an error in the procedures such as opening and sealing the ink supply port during packaging and unpacking during transportation. It is.

<Example> The present invention will be described below along with examples.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an ink supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention when it is in use, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a top view when it is being transported, and FIG. FIG.

1 and 2, an ink supply port 12 is provided on the top surface of the ink tank 11, and an ink supply port 1 is provided in the normal use state.
Tank cap 13 covering 2, the tank cap 13
A shaft 16 for supporting the rotationally to the left up to a predetermined angle.
A shaft angle 17 and a key slider 15 that rotates on the same axis as the shaft 16 are provided. The key slider 15 is always urged in the direction of arrow A by a spring 18, and corresponds to the position of the "print" 27 displayed on the surface of the tank cap 13.

Further, in this state, the rear end of the key slider 15 is engaged with the gate arm 23, and movement to the "transport" position 28 displayed on the surface of the tank cap 13 is restricted.

The key slider 15 can be moved to the "transport" position 28 when the gate valve 19 (described later) is lowered and the gate arm 23 is also at the lowered position.

The tank cap 13 covers the ink supply port 12 and prevents the ink in the ink tank 11 from evaporating and dust from entering the ink tank 11 . Further, the air hole 13b provided on the top surface of the tank cap 13 is for making the inside of the ink tank atmospheric pressure.

On the other hand, a plate-shaped protrusion 13a is provided at one end of the tank cap 13 in the approximate center, and a groove 15a is provided at the lower right side of the key slider 15, so that "printing" 2
In the key slider 15 at position 7, the protrusion 13a of the tank cap engages with the groove 15a of the key slider, so that the tank cap 13 and the key slider 15 rotate simultaneously. Therefore, the tank cap 13 can be rotated to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, and in this open state, ink can be replenished from the ink cartridge to the ink tank 11.

When the key slider 15 is in the "Print" position 27, the ink in the ink tank 11 is supplied to the nozzle part 26c of the print head 26 through the opening 24, which is opened and closed by the gate valve 19, and the ink supply pipe 25. The nozzle is ready to eject ink. In other words, in the printing state, the gate valve 19 is maintained at an upper position with the opening 24 open.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 above, the print head 26 is connected to the base 1.
6a, an ink introduction path 26b communicating with the ink tank 11 via the ink supply pipe 25, and this ink introduction path 26.
It is composed of a nozzle 26c communicating with the pressure chamber 26c, a pressure chamber 26d communicating with the nozzle 26c, and a piezoelectric element 26e, which is a vibrator, formed on the back surface of the pressure chamber 26d.

Further, a gate spring 29 is interposed in the upwardly projecting end portion of the gate valve 19, and the gate valve 19 is always positioned upwardly (a position where the opening 24 is opened) by the spring 29. The upper end portion of the gate valve 19 is provided with a gate arm 22 and gate arms 21 and 23 connected to both sides of the arm 22 by pins 22a.

In addition, 14 is a rubber packing arranged around the ink supply port 12, 20 is an electrode that detects the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank 11, and 30 is a rubber packing that is appropriately closed when the ink supply port 12 is closed with the tank cap 13. This is a spring that energizes the tank cap 13 to close it.

On the other hand, when the printer is packed for transportation, the third
3 and 4. To explain these FIGS. 3 and 4, it is first necessary to close the ink communication between the ink tank 11 and the ink supply pipe 25.
In order to close the gate valve 19 downward, a downwardly moving actuator (not shown) provided on the printer body side is engaged with the gate arm 21, and a signal is transmitted to the gate arm 22 via the pin 22a. This allows the gate valve 19 to be closed. At this time, the gate arm 23 also moves downward. In this state, the key slider 15 is moved to the "transport" position 28 displayed on the surface of the tank cap 13 against the bias of the spring 18, and the tank cap 13 is opened to remove the transport cap 31 from the ink tank. Insert the ink tank 11 into the supply port 12.
to prevent ink from leaking during transportation. Of course, during this transportation, the front surface of the nozzle 26c is covered by a print head capping device (not shown) separately provided on the main body side, to prevent air from entering the nozzle and ink from flowing out from the nozzle.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, because the tank cap 13 is lifted up without being completely closed due to the size of the transport cap 31, the center portion 15c of the key slider 15 is attached to the protruding portion 13a of the tank cap 13 with the spring 18 attached. The key slider 15 is thus held in the "transport" position 28. In this state, the protrusion 17a provided on the lower right portion of the shaft angle 17 and the protrusion 15b of the key slider 15 engage with each other, thereby restricting the rotation of the key slider 15 in the counterclockwise direction and preventing the clock from rotating. Rotation in this direction is regulated by the center portion 17b of the shaft angle, and as a result, the key slider 1
5 on the shaft 16 is restricted.

Therefore, the gate arm 23 is attached to one end 1 of the key slider 15.
5d restricts the upward movement, and the gate arm 2
2 will also be regulated, so gate valve 19
is held in a closed state in close contact with the opening 24. As a result, the ink communication between the ink tank 11 and the ink supply pipe 25 is cut off, and the continuity between the electrode 20 for detecting the amount of ink in the ink tank 11 and the base portion 26a of the print head is cut off. As a result of
(The amount of ink is detected based on whether or not there is continuity between This prevents air from entering the nozzle.

In addition, simply open the tank cap 13 and remove the transport cap 31.
When the key slider 15 is attached to the ink supply port 12, the key slider 15 cannot be moved to the "transport" position 28. If so, the key slider 15 is normally pulled by the spring 18 to the "Print" 27 position, in which the key slider 15 and tank cap 15 are engaged and rotate together, and the transport cap holds the key slider 15 in position. 15 is raised at a predetermined angle, and the protrusion 15b of the key slider 15 is aligned with the protrusion 17a of the shaft angle.
I can't move because I run into restrictions. Therefore, if the ink tank is transported, unpacked, and printed as it is, the ink jet from the nozzle will create a negative pressure inside the ink tank, resulting in problems such as the possibility of air getting into the nozzle. To prevent this, be sure to
After moving the key slider to the "Transportation" position 28, it is possible to confirm that the ink and tank are sealed.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the present invention, if an error is made in the operating procedure when packaging an inkjet printer for transportation and when unpacking for reuse, it can be easily corrected. It is possible to confirm this, and also to prevent air from entering the nozzle even if you forget to remove the transport cap and print when reusing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing the ink supply device during use of the inkjet printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a top view showing the ink supply device during transportation. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 3. 11: Ink tank, 12: Ink supply port, 13: Tank cap, 15: Key slider, 16: Shaft, 1
7: Shaft angle, 19: Gate valve, 21 to 23: Gate arm, 25: Ink supply pipe, 26: Print head.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an inkjet printer, an ink supply device that includes an ink tank attached to a carriage equipped with a print head that ejects ink, and that supplies ink from the ink tank to the nozzles of the print head by capillary action. , an ink supply port for replenishing ink from an ink cartridge to an ink tank; a rotatably supported tank cap for covering the ink supply port; and an ink supply port that is inserted into the ink supply port during transportation of the printer. , a transport cap that seals the opening; a gate valve that opens and closes an ink passage that guides ink in the tank to a nozzle of the print head; and a gate valve that is engaged with one end of the gate valve and that opens and closes an ink passage that leads the ink in the tank to the nozzle of the print head; and a slider means that is movable between a transportation position in which the ink passage is locked in a closed state and a printing position in which the engagement is released, and the transportation cap is inserted into the ink supply port during the transportation. An ink supply device for an inkjet printer, characterized in that the tank cap is rotated upward by a predetermined amount, and the slider means is locked and held at a transportation position by the rotated tank cap.