KR19990050758A - Ink Level Detection Device and Ink Tank in Color Inkjet Printers - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention introduces the concept of a float switch using a conductive float to check whether the ink tank can be replaced correctly for each ink of the inkjet printer, and to check whether the ink is installed in the ink tank, and to check the remaining ink in the ink tank. Residual amount detection device, the technical means of the ink is suspended by the ink remaining therein, the ink is configured to contact the electrode provided on the bottom surface of the housing of the ink tank when the ink is extracted to form a current conduction path between the electrodes A tank, an ink tank seating member in which an electrode is formed to supply a current of a predetermined magnitude to the electrode when the ink tank is correctly seated, and a first resistor having the following configuration, i.e., a predetermined positive voltage applied to one end; One end is connected to the other end of the first resistor, and the first resistor A second resistor for conducting a voltage applied to the other end to a ground terminal connected to the other end of the input terminal, and a state of a voltage divided by the first resistor and the second resistor; and a resistance value of the first resistor and the second resistor. And a microcomputer to determine that the ink is not water short when the voltage value set by the input is input, and to warn the user when the potential of the low state is input, the warning message is sent to the ink remaining amount detecting device of the color ink jet printer. Is achieved.

Description

Ink Level Detection Device and Ink Tank in Color Inkjet Printers

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink tank of an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to an ink level detection device in a color ink jet printer. In particular, the ink tank can be exchanged for each ink of an ink jet printer by introducing the concept of a float switch using a conductive float. The present invention relates to a device for detecting the remaining amount of ink in a color inkjet printer for checking whether the correct mounting has been made and for checking the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank.

In general, an inkjet printer is a non-impact printing device, in which ink is granulated and sprayed onto a sheet of paper from a nozzle to print. At this time, the printing ink is charged through the charging device and then deflected through the vertical / horizontal electrodes to reproduce letters and the like on the paper.

Referring to FIG. 1 attached to the schematic configuration of the inkjet printer as described above, the ink stored in the ink tank 1 is pumped from the ink tank 1 through the pump 2. Subsequently, the ink pumped by the pump 2 is discharged in a fog shape by ultrasonic waves generated in the ultrasonic wave generation circuit 3 and pumping pressure of the pump 2, and is discharged from the acceleration voltage unit 4. By the generated voltage is charged through the acceleration electrode takes the form of a thin beam.

At this time, the output data from the character pattern generation circuit 5 determines the degree of deflection of the ink in the form of a beam through the acceleration electrodes in the X / Y deflection circuits 6A and 6B, and accordingly the beam The ink of the shape is deflected by the deflection electrode and colored on the recording paper.

Therefore, in the above-described inkjet printer, normal operation cannot be performed when the ink remaining in the ink tank becomes dehydrated, but in general color inkjet printers, ink for a specific color may be frequently depleted depending on the office or work environment. Since the ink used in each ink jet printer or the shape of the ink tank is different, a phenomenon in which the printer cannot be normally used in a short time when the ink corresponding to a specific color is prepared without preparing in advance occurs frequently.

Therefore, in recent years, as described above, a technique for warning the user by detecting in advance the occurrence of the water shortage of the ink has been proposed. Among them, as shown in FIG. 2 to which a representative technique is attached, detection of reflected light using a photo transistor It is a method of detecting the full water level and low water level according to whether or not.

Referring to the configuration of the ink remaining amount detection device shown in FIG. 2, reflectors 7A and 7B are placed near the full water level and near the low water level of the ink 1A on the outer side of the ink tank 1 in which the ink 1A is stored. Equipped. Subsequently, when the ink tank 1 configured as described above is seated in the printer, the seating member may be disposed at the reflecting mirrors 7A and 7B at positions opposite to the reflecting mirrors 7A and 7B provided in the ink tank 1. Light emitting diodes 8A and 8B are provided to irradiate a specific optical signal, and phototransistors are turned on and energized by light reflected by a corresponding reflector to generate light from the light emitting diodes 8A and 8B. (9) is provided.

In this case, the light emitting diodes 8A and 8B and the photo transistor 9 are respectively connected to a microcomputer (not shown), and the light emitting diodes 8A and 8B are respectively emitted by a driving voltage provided from the microcomputer. In operation, the photo transistor 9 transmits a voltage signal applied to the collector terminal to the micom side during a turn-on operation. The reflecting mirrors 7A and 7B are made of glass.

Therefore, briefly referring to the operation of the conventional ink remaining amount detection device configured as described above, when the ink tank 1 is seated, the microcomputer senses this through the sensing means (switch) and then the driving voltage to the first light emitting diode 8A. Walk. As a result, the first light emitting diode 8A emits light, and the light generated by the first light emitting diode 8A is irradiated to the first reflecting mirror 7A. At this time, when the ink 1A stored in the ink tank 1 corresponds to the full water level, the first reflector 7A reflects the light irradiated, and the photo transistor 9 is turned on accordingly.

When the photo transistor 9 is turned on, the energization voltage of the photo transistor 9 is applied to the micom side, and the micom detects the full water level state based on this.

On the other hand, in the same manner as described above, the method of detecting a low water state is applied by applying a driving voltage to the second light emitting diode 8B on the micom side by detecting whether the on / off operation of the photo transistor 9 is determined. If the water reaches the low water level, the phototransistor 7B has no ink so that the light emitted from the second LED 8B is transmitted as it is, and thus cannot be reflected. (9) will remain off.

Accordingly, the microcomputer warns the user of the photo transistor 9 when it is determined that the photo transistor 9 remains in the off state even with respect to the light emission operation of the second light emitting diode 8B. It will warn you of the low water condition of each ink according to yellow.

However, in the conventional ink remaining amount detection device operating as described above, a reflecting mirror made of glass must be attached to the periphery of the ink tank, and the production cost is increased due to the use of a sensor made of photo transistors.

In addition, the reflectance of the light irradiated from the light emitting diode is different depending on the surface state of the reflector, so that the light sensing of the photo transistor may not be accurately performed, which may cause a malfunction.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to introduce the concept of a float switch using a conductive floating body to check whether the correct mounting was made when the ink tank can be replaced for each ink of the inkjet printer and the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank An ink remaining amount detection device in a color inkjet printer for inspecting the present invention is provided.

In addition, an additional object to achieve the object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide an ink tank having an electrode hole in the form of a float switch and an electrode for supplying power to the electrode hole.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of an inkjet printer.

2 is a block diagram of a conventional ink remaining amount detection device

Figure 3 is an illustration of the configuration of the ink tank and the mounting member according to the present invention

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ in FIG. 3.

5 is a circuit diagram of an ink remaining amount detection device using an ink tank according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10a: ink tank housing 13: float

12: guide tube 15a: electrode

14 inlet 11a: guide concave-convex member

11b: guide groove 15b: electrode

R1, R2: resistance

A feature of the present invention for achieving the above object is an ink tank for storing printing ink for use in an ink jet printer, which has a specific shape and is surrounded by a conductive material on its exterior and floating on the surface of the ink. And a guide means for forming a tube on one side of the inner surface of the ink tank housing and allowing the float to exist within the tube to define a floating path of the float, and the ink tank occupied by the guide means. It includes an electrode formed for the electrical connection to the outside in a predetermined region of the lower region of the interior of the housing of the.

An additional feature of the present invention for achieving the above object is that the lower portion of the tube forming the guide means is formed with an inlet for allowing ink to flow into the interior of the tube.

An additional feature of the present invention for achieving the above object is that the shape of the float is spherical.

Another feature of the present invention for achieving the above object is to form a tube on one side of the inner surface of the housing of the ink tank and to position a floating body surrounded by a conductive material in a specific shape inside the tube. Ink jetting the ink tank for detecting the remaining amount of ink, characterized in that the electrode for the electrical connection to the outside is formed in a predetermined region of the guide means and the lower region inside the housing of the ink tank occupied by the guide means. A seating member for seating on a printer, the seating surface having the same shape and area corresponding to the lower area of the ink tank housing is provided, the fastening means for fixing the ink tank housing around the seating surface And the ink tank housing is seated on the seating surface through the fastening means. If the complex is in close contact with the electrode that is provided on the ink tank housing is having on the electrode is formed to supply a current having a predetermined size.

Another feature of the present invention for achieving the above object is to float by the ink remaining inside the ink tank and in close contact with the electrode provided on the bottom surface of the housing of the ink tank when the ink is extracted to form a current conduction path between the electrodes An ink tank configured to make; An ink jet printer having an ink tank seating member in which an electrode bar is formed to supply a predetermined amount of current to the electrode when the ink tank is correctly seated, the ink jet printer comprising: a first resistor having a predetermined positive voltage applied to one end; And a second resistor having one end connected to the other end of the first resistor and conducting a voltage applied to the other end of the first resistor to a ground terminal connected to the other end of the input terminal. The first resistor and the second resistor When the voltage value set by the resistance value of the first resistor and the second resistor is input, it is determined that the ink is not water shortage, and when the potential of the low state is input, the microcomputer To include it.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is an exemplary configuration diagram of an ink tank and a seating member according to the present invention, and includes an ink tank housing 10a for storing ink, a spherical or specific shape floating body surrounded by a conductive material, and an ink A float 13 floating on the surface of the water, and a pipe is formed on one side of the inner surface of the ink tank housing 10a, and the float 13 is placed inside the pipe to provide a float path of the float 13. A guide tube 12 for defining the electrode and an electrode 15a for electrical connection to the outside are formed in a predetermined region of a lower region inside the ink tank housing 10a occupied by the guide tube 12. It is.

In addition, an inlet 14 is formed in the lower portion of the guide tube 12 to allow ink to flow into the guide tube 12.

In addition, a guide concave-convex member 11a is formed on the opposite surface of the outer side surface of the ink tank housing 10a to allow the ink tank housing 10a to be seated on the ink jet printer.

Looking at the configuration of the mounting portion in which the ink tank is configured as described above, the mounting surface (not given reference number) having the same shape and area corresponding to the lower area of the ink tank housing (10a) is provided, the seating A guide groove 11b is formed around the surface to correspond to the guide uneven member 11a, and the guide uneven member 11a is formed in the guide groove 11b. Is inserted, an electrode rod 15b is formed to supply current to the electrode 15a.

Referring to Figure 4 attached to the internal configuration of the ink tank in the configuration of the ink tank and the seating member according to the present invention configured as described above, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional example of A-A 'in Figure 3 As a figure, the float 13 is positioned inside the guide tube 12 and floats on the water surface of the ink filled in the ink tank housing 10a.

At this time, the float 13 performs vertical vertical movement only according to the ink level by the guide tube 12, and comes into contact with the electrode 15a provided at the lower part when the ink is collected.

Accordingly, referring to FIG. 5, the configuration of the ink tank according to the present invention constituted as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and a circuit for detecting the ink drainage state using the mounting member according to the present invention are as follows. same.

FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration diagram of an ink remaining amount detection device using an ink tank according to the present invention, and includes a first resistor R1 having a predetermined positive voltage Vcc applied to one end and a second end of the first resistor R1. It is composed of a second resistor (R2) is connected to one end is connected to the ground terminal connected to the other end of the input terminal and the other end of the first resistor (R1), the first resistor (R1) and the second The voltage divided by the resistor R2 is transferred to an internal microcomputer (not shown) of the ink jet printer.

In addition, the connection node of the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2 is connected to one end of the electrode 15b, and the other end of the electrode 15b is connected to the fold.

The operation of the ink remaining amount detection device in the color inkjet printer configured as described above is as follows.

In the case where the ink remains in the ink tank housing 10a in a state where water is not low, the float 13 inside the guide tube 12 does not contact the lower electrode 15a because it floats on the surface of the ink. Therefore, the conduction path of electric current is not formed in the electrode rod 15b which is in close contact with the electrode 15a.

Therefore, the voltage applied to the first resistor R1 is conducted to ground through the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2, and thus the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2 are connected to ground. The connection node receives a voltage according to Equation 1 below.

Therefore, when a microcomputer receives a voltage applied to a connection node between the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2, it is assumed that the resistance values of the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2 are the same. Will take the voltage.

Therefore, when a specific voltage corresponding to the resistance value of the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2 is input in the micom, it is determined that ink remains in the ink tank.

However, when the ink in the ink tank housing 10a is close to the low water, and the float 13 inside the guide tube 12 comes into contact with the lower electrode 15a, the electrode 15a and The conduction path of an electric current is formed between the electrode rod 15b which is in intimate contact through the electrode 15a and the float 13.

Therefore, the voltage applied to the first resistor R1 flows directly to ground without passing through the second resistor R2, so that the ground potential is applied to the connection node between the first resistor R1 and the second resistor R2. The low potential is applied to the micom side.

As described above, the microcomputer that has received the low potential determines that the ink remaining in the ink tank is almost at a low level and warns the user of this.

When the ink remaining amount detecting device and the ink tank in the color ink jet printer according to the present invention operating as described above are provided, the reflectance of the light irradiated from the light emitting diode according to the surface state of the reflector in the ink remaining amount detecting device using a conventional reflector is There is an effect that the light detection of the Dharger photo transistor may not be made accurately, which may cause a malfunction, and solve the problems of additional matters.

Claims (5)

An ink tank for storing printing ink used in an ink jet printer, A float floating in the water surface of the ink in a specific shape and surrounded by a conductive material; Guide means forming a tube on one side of an inner surface of the ink tank housing and allowing the floating body to exist within the tube to define a floating path of the floating body; And an electrode formed for electrical connection with the outside in a predetermined area of the lower area inside the housing of the ink tank occupied by the guide means. The method of claim 1, Ink tank for detecting the remaining amount of ink, characterized in that the inlet is formed in the lower portion of the tube forming the guide means for the ink can be flowed into the inside of the tube. The method of claim 1, The ink tank for detecting the remaining amount of ink, characterized in that the shape of the floating body is spherical. A pipe is formed on one side of the inner surface of the housing of the ink tank, and the guide means for positioning a floating body surrounded by a conductive material in a specific shape inside the tube and the housing of the ink tank occupied by the guide means. In the seating member for mounting the ink tank for the ink level printer to the ink jet printer, characterized in that the electrode for the electrical connection to the outside is formed in a predetermined region of the lower region of the inside of the, A seating surface having the same shape and area corresponding to a lower area of the ink tank housing is provided, and a fastening means for fixing the ink tank housing is provided around the seating surface. When the ink tank housing is seated and adhered to a seating surface, an electrode rod is formed to be in close contact with an electrode provided in the ink tank housing to supply a current having a predetermined size. absence. An ink tank which is suspended by the remaining ink in the ink tank and is in close contact with an electrode provided on the bottom surface of the housing of the ink tank when the ink is collected, so as to form a current conduction path between the electrodes; An ink jet printer having an ink tank mounting member having an electrode rod for supplying a current having a predetermined size to the electrode when the ink tank is correctly seated. A first resistor in which a predetermined positive voltage is applied to one end; One end is connected to the other end of the first resistor and consists of a second resistor for conducting the voltage applied to the other end of the first resistor to the ground terminal connected to the other end of the input terminal, When the voltage value divided by the first resistor and the second resistor is input, but the voltage value set by the resistance value of the first resistor and the second resistor is input, it is determined that the ink is not short and the potential of the low state is input. The ink remaining amount detection device in a color inkjet printer, characterized in that it comprises a micom to warn the user when it is determined that the state of water.