KR20040066389A - Carriage for ink cartridge of ink-jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ink cartridge carriage of an ink jet printer is provided to improve convenience of use for the ink jet printer by ejecting the ink cartridge carriage through a simple locking release operation. CONSTITUTION: An ink cartridge carriage(130) of an ink jet printer includes a carriage body(131), a latch(132), a latch elastic member(133) and a locking unit(200). The carriage body(131) is formed with a mounting section for receiving an ink cartridge(110) and moves along a guide rail. The latch(132) is rotatably installed on the carriage body(131) in order to open/close an opening section of the carriage body(131). A plunger(135) is installed on the latch(132) by interposing a compression spring(136). The latch elastic member(133) urges the latch(132) in order to bias the latch(132).

Description

Carriage for ink cartridge of inkjet printer {CARRIAGE FOR INK CARTRIDGE OF INK-JET PRINTER}

The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly, to an ink cartridge carriage of an inkjet printer having an improved open structure of a latch to facilitate attachment and detachment of an ink cartridge.

In general, an inkjet printer is an apparatus for printing a predetermined image by ejecting droplets of printing ink onto a desired position on a recording sheet.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a carriage for an ink cartridge of a general ink jet printer, wherein reference numeral 10 denotes a carriage, 13 a guide rod, 15 a snap hook, and 20 a locking lever.

The carriage 10 accommodates the ink cartridge 14 inside the carriage body 11 and reciprocates along the guide rod 13. In addition, the ink cartridge 14 is fixed by the hook coupling of the snap hook 15 and the locking lever 20.

The carriage body 11 includes an axial support portion 11a to which the locking lever 20 is hinged, and an opening 11b to facilitate taking out of the ink cartridge 14.

The locking lever 20 includes a rotation shaft 21, a cover plate 22, and a knob 23, and is fixed to the carriage body 11 by the snap hook 15.

The rotating shaft 21 includes a shaft support portion 11a of the carriage body 11, and the locking lever 20 is pivoted about the rotating shaft 21.

The cover plate 22 defines an outer circumferential surface of the locking lever 20 and includes a protrusion 26 near the center of the body. The protrusion 26 serves to press the ink cartridge 14 on its upper surface in a locked state.

In addition, an opening or a window 24 is formed in the cover plate 22, and a pole head 15b to be described later provided in the snap hook 15 at the time when the pivoting movement of the locking lever 20 is completed to the locking position. ) Is sized to allow insertion.

The snap hook 15 is provided including a cantilever 15a and a pole head 15b.

The cantilever 15a is deformed when the locking lever 20 comes to the locked position and is formed to snap back to a non-stressed state.

The pawl head 15b is passed through the window 24 to be locked by a predetermined snap 23.

A predetermined sliding inclined surface 25 is formed in the snap 23 to smoothly lock the pawl head 15b of the snap hook 15.

To take out the ink cartridge 14 from the carriage 10 configured as described above, first push the cantilever 15a in the A direction. Then, the pawl head 15b is out of the window 24, and the locking lever 20 is rotated at a predetermined angle by the repulsive force of the pressing force to release the locking. Thereafter, the user may manually open the locking lever 20 and then replace the ink cartridge.

However, according to the locking device including the locking lever 20 as described above, since the elastic body such as the snap hook 15 is used, the locking of the ink cartridge 14 is deformed or reduced in elasticity by many repeated operations. It may become unstable and the locking may be released by external shock.

In addition, when the user removes the ink cartridge 14, after the user presses the snap hook 15, it is inconvenient to manually rotate the locking lever 20 and then take out the ink cartridge 14 vertically. have. Therefore, there is a need for an ink cartridge locking device with improved locking reliability and user convenience.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a structure that is different from the ink cartridge locking method of a conventional carriage to secure locking reliability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a carriage for an ink cartridge that can take out the ink cartridge together only by the unlocking operation, thereby increasing user convenience when replacing the ink cartridge.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a carriage for a conventional ink cartridge,

2 is a perspective view showing a carriage for an ink cartridge according to the present invention;

3 is a side view of FIG.

4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the latch of the carriage for the ink cartridge according to the present invention is opened;

5 is a front view showing and extracting the main portion of FIG.

6 is a side view of FIG. 4, and

7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the latch of the carriage for the ink cartridge according to the present invention is locked.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

110; ink cartridge 111; catching part

120; guide rail 130; carriage

131; carriage body 132; latch

133; latch elastic member 134; mounting portion

200; locking unit 210; hook member

211; lift 220; release handle

221; release handle elastic member 230; locking jaw

An ink cartridge carriage of an inkjet printer according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a carriage main body having a mounting portion for storing the ink cartridge, a latch rotatably installed on the carriage body to open and close the mounting portion, the latch A carriage for an ink cartridge of an inkjet printer, comprising: a latch elastic member for elastically biasing a door in an open direction; and a locking unit for locking the latch in a closed state, wherein the locking unit is configured to release the latch when unlocking the carriage body. Rotating with and characterized in that pull out the ink cartridge mounted on the mounting portion.

The locking unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the locking step formed on the side wall of the carriage body; A hook member hinged to the latch, the hook member being selectively caught by the latching jaw and caught by the ink cartridge upon release; And a release handle for releasing the locking of the hooking jaw of the hook member.

In addition, the hook member is hooked to the engaging jaw, it is preferable to have a lifting projection to hook up to the ink cartridge when lifting up the ink cartridge.

In addition, the hook member is preferably provided with a pair to face each other with the ink cartridge therebetween.

The release handle may be installed coaxially with the hook member on the latch, or may be installed in different axes.

The locking unit may further include a release handle elastic member installed between the release handle and the hook member to elastically press the hook member to closely contact the latching jaw.

In addition, each of the hook member and the locking jaw is preferably formed with a sliding inclined surface in the direction in which the hook member locks the latch in a closed state.

The inclined surface of the hook member may further include a sliding inclined surface in a direction in which the hook member locks the latch in a closed state.

Hereinafter, an ink cartridge carriage of an ink jet printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 and 3 are views showing the carriage for the ink cartridge according to the present invention, reference numeral 110 is an ink cartridge, reference numeral 120 is a guide rail, reference numeral 130 is a carriage.

The carriage 130 includes a carriage body 131, a latch 132, a latch elastic member 133, and a locking unit 200.

The carriage body 131 is provided with a mounting portion 134 for accommodating the ink cartridge 110, and reciprocates along the guide rail 120.

The latch 132 is rotatably installed in the carriage main body 131 to open and close the opening of the main body through which the ink cartridge 110 enters and exits.

On the other hand, a surface of the latch 132 facing the ink cartridge 110 is provided with a plunger 135 under the intervening of the compression spring 136, the plunger 135 is the latch 132 is When locked, the ink cartridge 110 is compressed using the elastic force of the compression spring 136 to fix the head of the ink cartridge 110 mounted on the carriage 132 so as not to swing.

The latch elastic member 133 elastically biases the latch 132 in the opening direction. The latch member 133 may be easily opened by the elastic member 133.

The locking unit 200 locks the latch 132 in a closed state, and includes a hook member 210, a release handle 220, and a locking step 230.

The hook member 210 is rotatably installed on the latch 132, and a lifting protrusion 211 is formed on a surface of the hook member 210 facing the ink cartridge 110.

The lifting projection 211 (refer to FIG. 4) is a latching portion provided with the lifting projection 211 provided at an upper end of the ink cartridge 110 when the latch 132 is opened by the operation of the release knob 220. Hook 111). Thus, the ink cartridge 110 is lifted by the lifting projection 211 is separated from the carriage body 131.

The hook member 210 is preferably provided to face each other with the ink cartridge 110 therebetween, which is the lifting projection 211 gripping the catching portion 111 at both sides at the same time, the take-out operation This is to prevent the ink cartridge 110 from being twisted.

The release handle 220 is to rotate the hook member 210 in the release direction, preferably in the same axis of rotation as the hook member 210 to the latch 132, the hook member 210 is installed It is better to be hinged at the same time. In this case, the hook member 210 is rotated by an operation of pulling the release knob 220 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 4 to release the latch from the latching jaw 230.

On the other hand, the release handle 220 may be further provided with a release handle elastic member 221 so that the hook member 210 is in close contact with the engaging jaw 230, the release handle including the elastic member 221 The release handle 220 may improve the user's convenience because when the user's action is stopped, the release handle 220 automatically returns to the initial position.

The locking jaw 230 is formed on the side wall surface of the carriage body 131 so that the hook member 210 can be locked.

Preferably, each of the hook member 210 and the latching jaw 230 is preferably formed with a sliding inclined surface in the direction in which the hook member 210 locks the latch 132 in a closed state.

In addition, the lifting projection 211 of the hook member 210 may be further formed with a sliding inclined surface in the direction in which the hook member 210 locks the latch 132 in a closed state.

This allows the hook member 210 to be easily seated on the latching jaw 230 in the direction in which the latch 132 is locked, without the user applying a large force, and in the direction in which the latch 132 is opened. This is to keep the locked state if the release handle 220 is not operated.

Hereinafter, the ink cartridge removal operation of the ink cartridge carriage of the inkjet printer according to the present invention will be described with the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ink cartridge 110 is mounted on the mounting portion 134 provided in the carriage body 131 in the ink cartridge carriage 130 of the inkjet printer. ) Is fixed by the locking unit 200.

If the ink cartridge 110 is exhausted and needs to be replaced, the user grips the latch 132 with a thumb and pulls the release knob 220 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 3 using the index finger or the middle finger. give.

When the release handle 220 is pulled out, the release handle 220 locks the hook member 210 assembled together with the hinge portion of the latch 132, that is, in a clockwise direction of FIG. 3. Rotate

Therefore, when the hook member 210 seated on the locking jaw 230 is rotated clockwise, the locked state of the latch 132 is released. As shown in FIG. 5, the latch ( 132 receives a rotational force in the open direction by the elastic restoring force of the latch elastic member 133 and the compression spring 136.

Accordingly, the latch 132 in which the locking is released is maximally opened by the user as illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, and the exhausted ink cartridge 110 may be taken out in the direction of the arrow.

In addition, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the lifting projection 211 is protruding on the facing surface of the ink cartridge 110 of the locking member 210, the lifting projection 211 is a user As the latch 132 is opened by the rotation, the latch 132 rotates together with the latch 132.

Preferably, the ink cartridge 110 is preferably formed with a catching portion 111 along its outer circumferential surface. In this case, the lifting projection 211 rotates together with the hooking portion 111 to rotate the ink cartridge. 110 is taken out from the mounting part 134. The locking portion 111 is preferably formed along the outer circumferential surface of the upper surface of the ink cartridge 110, which maximizes the moment force exerted by the lifting projections 211, so that the user with a small force This is to allow the cartridge 110 to be taken out.

In addition, since the locking portion 111 may be replaced with the uneven portion provided on the outer circumferential surface of the general ink cartridge 110, it is also possible to use the conventional ink cartridge 110 as it is useful.

Therefore, when the user rotates the latch 132 at a predetermined angle to open the opening of the carriage body 131, the ink cartridge 110 is mounted by the lifting protrusion 211 to the mounting portion of the carriage 130. 134) and easily removed.

On the other hand, when the consumed ink cartridge 110 is removed, a new ink cartridge 110 filled with ink may be mounted on the carriage 130.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the ink cartridge 110 is first inserted into the mounting part 134 inside the carriage 130.

Then, when the latch 132 is rotated in the locking direction and the upper part is pressed using a finger or the like in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 7, the hook member 210 is placed on the contact surface with the locking step 230. While sliding along the formed sliding guide, the locking is coupled to the engaging jaw 230 is made.

At this time, since the lifting projection 211 formed on the surface facing the ink cartridge 110 of the hook member 210 also includes a sliding guide having a predetermined slope, along the outer circumferential surface of the ink cartridge 110 The hook member 210 is coupled to the locking step 230 by sliding the formed locking portion 111.

In addition, since the plunger 135 provided in the latch 132 elastically pressurizes the ink cartridge 110, the ink cartridge 110 is firmly fixed to the mounting portion 134 provided in the carriage 130.

According to the ink cartridge carriage of the ink jet printer according to the present invention as described above, the locking member is different from the ink cartridge of the conventional carriage, such that the hook member not only locks the latch, but also lifts the ink cartridge when the latch is opened. Providing a to maintain the stability of the locking, as well as to improve the user convenience.

While the invention has been shown and described in connection with preferred embodiments for illustrating the principles of the invention, the invention is not limited to the construction and operation as shown and described. That is, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will appreciate that many changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, all such suitable changes and modifications and equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

An ink cartridge of an inkjet printer comprising a carriage body having a mounting portion for storing ink cartridges, a latch rotatably mounted to the carriage body to open and close the mounting portion, and a latch elastic member for elastically biasing the latch in an open direction. In the carriage for The locking unit locks the latch in a closed state, and rotates with the latch when unlocking the carriage main body while the ink cartridge carriage of the ink jet printer, characterized in that to pull out the ink cartridge mounted on the mounting portion. . The method of claim 1, wherein the locking unit, A latching jaw formed on the side wall of the carriage body; A hook member hinged to the latch, the hook member being selectively caught by the latching jaw and caught by the ink cartridge upon release; And An ink cartridge carriage of an ink jet printer, comprising: a release handle for releasing a latch on the locking jaw of the hook member. The method of claim 2, wherein the hook member, The ink cartridge carriage of the inkjet printer, characterized in that the hook is coupled to the locking jaw, and has a lifting projection hooked on the ink cartridge when the disengagement to raise the ink cartridge. According to claim 2 or 3, The hook member, An ink cartridge carriage of an ink jet printer, characterized in that provided to face each other with the ink cartridge therebetween. The method of claim 2, wherein the release handle, An ink cartridge carriage of an ink jet printer, characterized in that the latch is installed coaxially with the hook member. The method of claim 2, wherein the release handle, The carriage for an ink cartridge of an inkjet printer, characterized in that the latch is installed in a different axis from the hook member. According to claim 5 or 6, The locking unit, The cartridge for the ink cartridge of the inkjet printer, characterized in that it further comprises a release handle elastic member is installed between the release handle and the hook member to elastically press the hook member in close contact with the locking step. The method of claim 2, Each of the hook member and the latching jaw is an ink cartridge carriage of the ink jet printer, characterized in that the inclined surface is formed in the sliding direction in which the hook member locks the latch in a closed state. The method of claim 3, wherein The lifting projection of the hook member is an ink cartridge carriage of the ink jet printer, characterized in that the inclined surface is further sliding in the direction in which the hook member locks the latch in a closed state.