KR200172311Y1 - Ink cartridge position sensing unit for ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

end. The technical field to which the invention described in the claims belongs.

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge position sensing device of an inkjet printer.

I. The technical problem the invention is trying to solve

The present invention provides an ink cartridge position sensing device that reduces manufacturing costs and improves assembly.

All. The gist of the solution of the invention.

An apparatus for detecting an ink cartridge position in a inkjet printer including at least one ink cartridge detachable from a carriage, the apparatus comprising: a port reflector sensor (2) located behind the carriage; And a paper strip in which a plurality of black and white portions 4a are printed in the longitudinal direction on the main body frame facing the sensor.

la. Important uses of the devise.

Inkjet printer.

Description

Ink cartridge position sensing device of inkjet printer {INK CARTRIDGE POSITION SENSING UNIT FOR INK JET PRINTER}

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge applied to a one- or two-color inkjet printer, and more particularly, to a position sensing device installed on a rear card of the ink cartridge.

Inkjet printers are typically one of the representative computer peripherals for outputting computer data. It is used as the most economical computer peripheral because it is easy to replace the ink cartridge which is a disposable consumable, it is inexpensive, and is advantageous in miniaturization. The ink cartridge, which is a disposable consumable and detachable from the carriage, is filled with ink, the print head is installed, and ink is transferred to the paper through the nozzle hole using pressure and heat. The printing process is performed by spraying.

1 is an external perspective view showing a rear side of an ink cartridge mounted on a carriage and moving about a shaft according to a conventional embodiment. In the conventional inkjet printer, when the sheets are sequentially transferred from the automatic sheet feeder one by one, the sheet passes the ink cartridge 10 and the printing process proceeds. The ink ejected from the head is printed on the sheet, and the printed sheet is discharged to the sheet by the discharge roller and star wheel. At this time, the sensor 30 is installed at the rear of the carriage 20 in which the ink cartridge 10 is attached and detached, and when the carriage 20 reciprocates about the shaft 22, the home position or other positions are sensed to perform an accurate printing process. .

The sensor 30 is a photo interrup sensor, and is a component that performs a sensing operation by sending and receiving light in pairs with a light receiving unit and a light emitting unit called a conventional photo coupler. Since a stream bar encoder 40 is installed between the light receiving unit and the light emitting unit of the porter interrupt sensor 10, the sensor 30 detects the position of the ink cartridge 10 by counting the hole 41 of the encoder 40. This stream bar encoder 40 is installed by an encoder spring (plate spring) of the main frame, which is not shown in the figure. Accordingly, the porter interrupt sensor 30 is mounted on the carriage 40 and moved to perform position sensing or position control along the stream bar encoder.

However, the photo interrupt sensor and the stream bar encoder installed in the sensor for the ink cartridge position detection or position control are very expensive. The material of a conventional stream encoder bar is metal. The inkjet printer, which is the most economical computer output device, acts as a major factor to increase the manufacturing cost, thereby degrading the competitiveness of the product.

In addition, the assembly process requires precise installation of the stream bar encoder in the sensor, which acts as a factor of lowering productivity.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention to provide an ink cartridge position detection device provided with a port reflector sensor for the position detection or position control of the ink cartridge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a position detection apparatus of an ink cartridge, which reduces the cost of a product.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a position detection device of an ink cartridge in which a black paper strip is formed in interaction with the port reflector sensor instead of the stream bar encoder.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge position sensing device with a simple assembly process.

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an apparatus for detecting an ink cartridge position with a sensor in an inkjet printer comprising at least one ink cartridge detachable from a carriage,

A port reflector sensor (2) positioned behind the carriage; And

The black and white portions 4a are printed on the main body frame facing the port reflector sensor and include a paper strip formed in a plurality of longitudinal directions.

1 is an external perspective view showing a rear of a carriage in which an ink cartridge is mounted according to a conventional embodiment.

Figure 2 is an external perspective view showing the rear of the carriage with the ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention

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

2: Photo Reflective Sensor 4: Paper strip

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the most preferred embodiment of the present invention. First, in describing each of the drawings, only the same components have the same reference numerals as much as possible even if shown on different drawings. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the rear of the carriage in which the ink cartridge position detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed. Referring to the figure, the figure shows the carriage 20 of the ink cartridge 10 applied to a two-color inkjet printer. There are two ink cartridges 10 mounted on the carriage. Two ink cartridges are mounted on the carriage 20, and a guide 26 is formed on the upper portion of the carriage 20 to prevent forward and backward tilting when the carriage 20 moves about the shaft 22, and the shaft 22 is installed on the lower portion of the carriage. This induces a linear movement of the carriage. Sensing means for detecting the ink cartridge position is installed at the rear of the carriage 20, and a flexible printed circuit 24 for connecting the print head installed at the lower end of the ink cartridge to the main printed circuit board of the main body is installed.

In this case, the sensing means is a card 3 is provided with an optical sensor 2, the optical sensor 2 is most preferably a photo reflector sensor (photo reflector sensor). In addition, a black paper strip 4 is installed to interact with the sensor 2, and the paper strip 4 is printed with a long white 4a in the vertical direction. That is, in the present invention, the hole of the conventional stream bar encoder is printed in white 4a. Thus, it is similar to the shape of a conventional stream bar encoder. In order to reduce the manufacturing cost, the paper strip 4 of the present invention is made of paper, and a plurality of white parts are formed in black color. The sensor 2 detects the position by counting the white portion 4a while facing the paper. For example, it may detect that it is in the print area on the paper, it may detect that it is in the home position, or it may detect that the print head is in the capping device.

According to the configuration as described above, the photo reflector sensor 2 detects the position of the ink cartridge while counting the white portion of the paper formed in the black color. When the left and right carriages of the carriage move together to detect the position. At this time, the paper strip is installed on the main frame (not shown in the figure) of the main body. The paper strip 4 is most preferably attached to the frame of the body facing the sensor 2 using an adhesive.

When the black part of the paper strip 4 touches the black part of the paper strip, the black absorbs light and does not reflect the light. When the sensor touches the white part 4a of the paper strip 4, the white light reflects the light, so that the sensor detects the light. As a pulse is generated, position control is performed using this pulse.

On the other hand, in the detailed description of the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

As described above, the present invention saves cost (encoder cost), installability (encoder assembly work), and improves product competitiveness in installing a sensing device for detecting the position of an ink cartridge in an inkjet printer. To achieve the effect of improving.

Claims (1)

An apparatus for detecting an ink cartridge position by including a sensor in an inkjet printer including at least one ink cartridge detachable from a carriage, the apparatus comprising: A port reflector sensor (2) positioned behind the carriage; And The white portion of the paper strip 4 is counted, including a paper strip 4 having a plurality of black and white portions 4a printed on the body frame facing the port reflector sensor 2 in a lengthwise direction. An ink cartridge position sensing device of an inkjet printer that detects a position of an ink cartridge.