KR20140118320A

KR20140118320A - Ink refill device of ink cartridge

Info

Publication number: KR20140118320A
Application number: KR1020130033969A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 허철
Original assignee: 허철
Priority date: 2013-03-28
Filing date: 2013-03-28
Publication date: 2014-10-08

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge filling apparatus used for filling ink in an ink cartridge used in a printer, in which a tank in which a filling ink is contained and a cartridge which is a filling object are mounted on a mounting table, So that the ink contained in the tank is automatically supplied to the cartridge through the tube by the atmospheric pressure difference so that the tank is elastically fixed with the elastic means The ink is supplied to the cartridge while the water level is kept constant by allowing the water to rise and fall according to the remaining amount of the ink in the tank. By positioning the level of the tank corresponding to the level of the ink to be filled in the cartridge, Charge ink So that the cartridge can be easily filled with ink.

Description

Ink refill device of ink cartridge < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge filling apparatus used for filling ink in an ink cartridge used in a printer, and an operator automatically adjusts the injection amount when the ink is charged without manually adjusting the injection amount of the ink.

In general, an ink cartridge used in a printer is discarded after being used once, or reused by charging ink. Conventionally, most of the ink cartridges are used after the ink has been exhausted, but in this case, the maintenance cost of the printer is increased The problem is that the cartridge is not reused and resources are wasted, and in recent years, there is a tendency to recharge the ink in the cartridge.

An ink reservoir is formed in the casing and an ink inlet for supplying ink to the head of the printer and an ink inlet for injecting ink are formed at one end of the ink reservoir. They are formed separately or integrally with each other depending on the type of printer manufacturer.

In order to recharge the ink cartridge by filling it with ink, an operator manually inserts the injection mechanism into the ink cartridge and manually injects the ink into the ink cartridge. Alternatively, the tank in which the ink is stored is connected to the ink cartridge by a hose, Various types of ink filling methods have been proposed and used.

However, the problem with this is that since the charging method is manual, the injection amount is not easy to adjust, so there is a problem that the ink charging operation is difficult. Since the ink may be discolored when the cartridge storing the ink is filled with light, For this reason, since the operator can not know the degree of filling of the ink, it is difficult to adjust the amount of ink to be injected, which may result in overcharging.

In particular, when the filling operation is performed by hand, there is a difference in the injection pressure, which causes bubbles to be generated inside the ink cartridge, resulting in failure to print properly.

When the ink is overcharged through the air outlet, the overflowed ink flows out. When the ink flows out of the cartridge, the charging efficiency is lowered However, since there is a problem that the operator's hands and clothes are smudged, the operator needs to perform post-operation such as wiping the cartridge case, which is very inconvenient to use, and the appearance becomes dirty, .

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0083509 (Aug. 26, 2005) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0524645 (October 21, 2005) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0880048 (Jan. 15, 2009)

Therefore, in the present invention, when the ink is injected into the ink cartridge to charge the ink, it is not necessary for the operator to manually open and close the ink cartridge, so that the ink is automatically injected and the injection amount is adjusted by the atmospheric pressure difference So that the ink to be injected can be easily performed while the ink to be filled does not overflow and is injected in a proper amount.

In addition, when the cartridge is filled with ink, the structure of starting and stopping the injection of ink is started or blocked by detachment and attachment of the cartridge, so that the operation of ink injection is controlled by detachment and attachment of the cartridge, So that the ink is simply charged.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a tank for receiving ink is mounted on a holding frame of a mounting table so as to perform a lifting operation and a cradle is formed on one side of the storage frame, The ink contained in the tank is automatically supplied to the cartridge by the pressure of the inside of the tank and the pressure difference inside the cartridge due to the lifting operation of the tank.

At this time, the tank is mounted on the receiving frame by the elastic element, so that the raising and lowering operation is automatically performed in accordance with the amount of ink stored in the tank, so that the level of the ink supplied to the cartridge is equal to the level of the ink contained in the tank The injection of ink is automatically stopped so that the ink can be charged in a constant amount.

Further, a valve is mounted on a path of a tube connecting the tank and the cartridge, and the switch is mounted on a cradle for mounting the cartridge so that the valve can be opened and closed by the switch, So that the ink supply passage is automatically opened or closed by the mounting of the cartridge.

Therefore, since the ink is injected by the pressure difference, the ink can be injected automatically, and only a predetermined amount can be injected. Therefore, even when a plurality of cartridges are repeatedly charged, the same amount of ink It is possible to maintain the uniformity of the quality of the ink, and the capacity of the cartridge is not exceeded during the ink charging process.

In addition, since the injection start and the injection blocking of the ink are controlled by detachment and attachment of the cartridge, the use is very simple and the workability is good, so that a plurality of cartridges can be filled up by one operator, It is possible to perform mass work and shorten the working time.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of an ink cartridge filling apparatus of the present invention
Fig. 2 is an external perspective view of the ink cartridge filling apparatus of the present invention in a state in which the cartridge is mounted. Fig.
3 is an external perspective view of the ink cartridge charging apparatus of the present invention.
4 is an exploded perspective view of the ink cartridge charging apparatus of the present invention.
Figs. 5A to 5E are diagrams showing an operation structure of the ink cartridge charging apparatus of the present invention
6 is a bottom perspective view showing a valve structure of the ink cartridge filling apparatus of the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional view showing the valve operating structure of Fig. 6
8 is a bottom perspective view showing a structure according to another embodiment of the valve of the present invention.
9 is a cross-sectional view showing the valve operating structure of Fig. 8

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

1 to 4, the present invention is characterized in that a tank 100, in which a filling ink is received, and a cartridge 200, which is a filling object, are mounted on a mounting table 10, The tank 100 and the cartridge 200 are mounted on the mounting frame 20 formed on the mounting table 10 so that the ink stored in the tank 100 is automatically filled in the cartridge 200. [ The tank 100 and the cartridge 200 are connected to each other by the tube 50 so that the supply passage is formed while the water level of the ink contained in the tank 100 reaches the cartridge 200. [ The ink contained in the tank 100 is discharged from the cartridge 100 through the tube 50 due to the atmospheric pressure difference between the atmospheric pressure inside the tank 100 and the atmospheric pressure inside the cartridge 200, 200).

At this time, the cartridge 200 can be connected to the supply passage between the tank 100 and the cartridge 200 while the ink injection port 210 is engaged with the connector 31 formed in the cradle 30, If the engaging means 32 is formed to prevent the cartridge 200 from being disengaged arbitrarily in the state where the cartridge 200 is mounted, the cartridge 200 can be stably stuck, 210 can be stably injected.

The tank 100 can be moved upward and downward by the elastic elements 21 formed on the receiving frame 20 while the tank 100 is mounted on the receiving frame 20, When the weight of the tank 100 is lowered, the tank 100 floats to the upper side and the water level can be kept constant.

That is, when the ink contained in the tank 100 starts to be charged into the cartridge 200, the ink level in the tank 100 gradually decreases. The lowered water level rises up the position of the tank, The ink contained in the tank 100 is supplied to the cartridge 200 and is discharged to the outside of the tank 100 as shown in Figures 5A to 5E, When the weight is reduced, the position of the tank 100 is gradually increased by the elastic element 21, so that the ink can be continuously supplied to the cartridge 200.

At this time, the water level of the ink contained in the tank 100 can be adjusted by adjusting the modulus of elasticity of the elastic element 21, most preferably, the ink level of the tank 100 is adjusted to the ink level of the cartridge 200 That is, when the ink level of the tank 100 is equal to the ink level of the cartridge 200, the atmospheric pressure in the tank 100 and the atmospheric pressure in the tank 100 become equal to each other, The supply of the ink is stopped as the atmospheric pressure inside the cartridge 200 becomes equal.

Accordingly, the operator can automatically charge the ink by a set height without the need to separately manipulate the amount of ink to be injected, so that it can be charged in a fixed amount. In addition, even when one of the cartridges 200 is filled with ink, will be.

At this time, if the flat area of the tank 100 is formed to be wide, a larger amount of ink can be accommodated, but most preferably, the width of the mounting table 10 is not too wide, It is desirable to arrange a plurality of cartridges 200 in the same manner so that a plurality of cartridges 200 can be operated at the same time. When the flat area of the tank 100 is changed, It is preferable to maintain constant water level with respect to the cartridge 200 even if the amount of ink is increased or decreased regardless of the amount of ink contained in the tank 100 by adjusting the elastic modulus of the ink.

The upward and downward movements of the tank 100 can be adjusted by forming the outer diameter of the tank 100 and the inner diameter of the receiving frame 20 in the same state in the state of being inserted into the receiving frame 20, It is preferable that the tank 100 is connected to the rail structure in a state where it is inserted into the receiving frame 20 so that left and right flows do not occur when the tank 100 is lifted up and down.

When the stopper is formed within the range of the lifting and lowering operation of the tank 100 in the interior of the receiving frame 20, the range in which the tank 100 is lifted and lowered, that is, It can be prevented.

When the valve 40 is mounted on the mounting path of the tube 50 connecting the tank 100 and the cartridge 200, the valve 40 is mounted only in the state where the cartridge 200 is mounted on the cradle 30, It is preferable that the valve 40 be capable of controlling the operation of the valve so as to be opened or closed by detachment and attachment of the cartridge 200. In this case,

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the cradle 30 is detachably attached to and detached from the cartridge 200 by the engaging means 32, When the switch 42 formed on the control unit 41 is exposed to the upper side of the cradle 30 while the control unit 41 for the cartridge 200 is mounted on the switch 42, The shut-off bar 43 is formed in the control unit 41 and the shut-off bar 43 is lifted and lowered upwardly and downwardly while the tube 50 is being lifted and lowered, It is preferable that the cutoff bar 43 press the tube 50 by pressing the switch 42 so that the supply path is blocked.

6 and 7, when the spring 44 is mounted on the lower side of the control unit 41 to have a restoring force, the ink supply passage is opened and closed according to whether the cartridge 200 is mounted or not So that the charging of the ink can be automatically started or stopped without the need for the operator to manually open and close the supply passage.

8 and 9, when the elastic piece 45 bent at one end of the control unit 41 is extended, the control unit 41 moves upward and downward by the self- The elastic piece 45 does not need to be inserted into the end cap 46 which is assembled to prevent the control unit 41 from being disengaged, 46a are formed so that the elastic piece 45 is engaged with the inner groove 46a so as not to arbitrarily flow.

At this time, when the elastic piece 45 is formed integrally with the control unit 41, a hinge shaft (not shown) is formed at the bent portion and the hinge shaft is axially coupled to the lower end of the cradle 30, So that the lifting and lowering operation can be performed stably.

Further, the elevating operation of the control unit 41 may be performed by using a torsion spring to have a restoring force, or by a structure having various elastic restoring forces, which are well known in the art. It is not.

10: Mounting base
20: Retaining frame 21: Elastic element
30: fasteners 31: connectors
32:
40: valve 41: control unit
42: switch 43: shut-off bar
50: tube

Claims

A tank 100 in which a storage frame 20 and a cradle 30 are formed on a mounting table 10 for storing a filling ink and a cartridge 200 as an object for filling ink are mounted on a receiving frame 20, The tank 100 and the cartridge 200 are connected to each other by a tube 50 so that the water level of the tank 100 and the cartridge 200 are set to be different from each other while forming a flow path Wherein the ink accommodated in the tank (100) is automatically injected into the cartridge (200) by an atmospheric pressure difference.

2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the tank (100) is mounted on the receiving frame (20) so as to be slidable upward and downward so that the tank (100) Wherein the ink in the tank (100) is automatically charged into the cartridge (200) by an atmospheric pressure difference according to a level of the ink in the tank (200).

The tank (100) according to claim 2, wherein the tank (100) is mounted with a resilient force to the upper side by an elastic element (21) formed in the receiving frame (20) and is lifted upward as the amount of ink contained in the tank And the water level is adjusted.

4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the elastic modulus of the elastic element (21) has elasticity corresponding to the weight of the ink stored in the tank (100) Of the ink cartridge.

The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a valve (40) is mounted on a mounting path of the tube (20) connecting the tank (100) and the cartridge (200) Closing operation of the ink supply passage is performed by controlling the operation of the valve while being opened or closed.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the cradle (30) is operated up and down to control the operation of the valve (40) in the cradle (30) The control unit 41 is mounted and the switch 42 of the control unit 41 is exposed upward to open and close the supply passage while depressing or releasing the switch 42 by detaching and attaching the cartridge 200 Wherein the ink supply passage is automatically opened and closed according to whether the cartridge (200) is mounted or not.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the valve (40) is provided with a shutoff bar (43) in the control unit (41), the control unit (41) So that the bar (43) is raised and lowered upwardly and downwardly.

The valve according to claim 6, wherein the valve (40) is formed with a blocking bar (43) in the control unit (41), and the control unit (41) is provided with a resilient restoring force , The switch (42) and the shut-off bar (43) are raised and lowered up and down.