JP3202702B2 - Ink cartridge holding structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink-jet recording apparatus applied to, for example, a printer or a facsimile, and has a mounting structure for detachably holding an ink cartridge containing ink on a head holder having a recording head body. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ink jet recording apparatus for recording characters and images on a recording medium by using a recording head which discharges ink from a plurality of nozzles. In such an ink jet recording apparatus, a recording head facing a recording medium is provided on a head holder, and the head holder is mounted on a carriage and scanned in a direction orthogonal to a transport direction of the recording medium.

An ink cartridge containing ink is detachably mounted on the head holder, and an ink flow path for supplying ink from an ink supply port of the ink cartridge to the recording head is provided. An example of such an ink jet type recording apparatus, in which an ink cartridge is attached to a head holder of a downward discharge type that discharges ink from a recording head in a vertical direction and records on a recording medium conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction. Is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, a connecting cylinder portion 102 is provided at the bottom of a box-shaped head holder 101 having an upper opening.
A filter 103 is provided in the opening of the connecting cylinder 102,
The connecting cylinder portion 102 and the recording head 104 are connected to the ink flow path 1.
05. On the other hand, the ink cartridge 111 contains an ink absorber 112 such as a urethane resin that has absorbed ink, and an ink supply port 113 into which the above-described connecting cylinder 102 can be inserted is provided at the bottom. Further, a protrusion 111a is provided on the outer side of the side wall of the ink cartridge 111, and an elastic piece 111b that can be elastically deformed is provided on the opposing surface thereof, and a claw portion 111c is formed on the elastic piece 111b. The head holder 1
The opening 101 corresponding to the protrusion 111a
a is formed, and the elastic pieces 111
An opening 101b corresponding to the claw 111c of b is formed.

Here, the elastic piece 1 of the ink cartridge 111 is kept in a state where the projection 111a is engaged with the opening 101a.
When the end formed with 11b enters the head holder 101, the ink cartridge 111 is inserted into the head holder 101 while the elastic piece 111b is elastically deformed, and the claw 111c of the elastic piece 111b is
1 is engaged with the opening 101b. As a result, the ink cartridge 111 is held by the head holder 101 in a state where the ink supply port 113 at the bottom thereof is fitted to the connecting cylinder 102.

[0005]

The above-described structure has a problem in that the mounting and removing operations of the ink cartridge 111 are complicated. In addition, since the connecting cylinder portion 102 is inserted obliquely with respect to the ink supply port 113, the ink supply port 113 has to be formed relatively large, which causes a problem of causing ink leakage and the like.

On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows an example in which an ink cartridge is inserted vertically. In this type, the head holder 121 has a lid member 122 that can be opened and closed.
Is provided. Then, the ink cartridge 131
Is inserted into the head holder 121, and the engagement protrusion 122a at the tip of the cover member 122 is engaged with the engagement recess 122b formed in the head holder main body, thereby holding the ink cartridge 131. At this time, the ink supply port 132 of the ink cartridge 131 and the ink communication portion 123 at the bottom of the head holder 121 are connected.

However, in this case, there is a problem that the cover member 122 must be opened and closed when the ink cartridge 131 is attached and detached, so that extra work is required. In addition, when the ink cartridge 131 is attached and detached, an upper space is required to completely open the lid member 122. In a miniaturized ink jet recording apparatus, a space for opening the lid member 122 is required. There is a problem that it is difficult to secure.

FIG. 9 shows an ink cartridge that can be relatively easily attached and detached. In this type, the ink cartridge 1
An elastic piece 142 is provided on each of the opposing side walls 41, and a claw 142 a is provided outside the elastic piece 142. In addition, guide protrusions 143 are provided on the other opposite side wall so as to extend in the vertical direction. Note that an ink supply port 144 is formed at the bottom of the ink cartridge 141, and an ink absorber 145 that absorbs and holds ink is accommodated inside the ink supply port 144.

On the other hand, an opening 153 with which the claw 142a can be engaged is formed inside the opposing side walls of the head holder 151. A guide groove 154 into which the guide protrusion 143 is fitted is formed inside the other opposing side wall so that the posture of the ink cartridge 141 inserted into the head holder 151 is held straight. At the bottom of the head holder 151, a connecting cylinder 155 connected to the ink supply port 144 of the ink cartridge 141 is provided. The connecting cylinder 155 communicates with the recording head 157 via the ink flow path 156. I have.

In this mounting structure, the ink cartridge 141 can be mounted and removed with a single touch. However, since the ink cartridge 141 must be lifted upward while the upper end of the elastic piece 142 is being pinched, the ink cartridge 141 needs to be lifted upward. There is a problem that work is not easy. Further, the elastic piece 14 of the held ink cartridge 141 is
Since the upper end of the second piece 2 projects upward from the head holder 151, there is also a problem that the engagement between the claw 142a of the elastic piece 142 and the opening 153 is easily released at any time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an ink cartridge mounting structure capable of easily mounting and removing an ink cartridge to and from a head holder and securely holding the ink cartridge. Make it an issue.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge containing ink and having an ink supply port at a bottom portion, wherein the ink cartridge having an ink supply opening at an upper portion and an ink supply portion at a bottom portion is provided. In an ink cartridge holding structure for detachably holding a connecting portion that fits with a mouth on a head holder that protrudes, a first locking portion provided on opposite side walls of the ink cartridge; An elastic piece provided in the head holder so as to face a side wall of the ink cartridge provided with a locking portion, wherein the elastic piece elastically lowers the ink cartridge into the head holder. An ink cartridge holding structure comprising a second locking portion that allows deformation while being inserted and engages with the first locking portion when insertion is completed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the engagement between the first locking portion and the second locking portion is as follows.
The ink cartridge holding structure is characterized in that the ink cartridge can be disengaged by raising the ink cartridge with a predetermined force or more. A third aspect of the present invention is the ink cartridge holding structure according to the first or second aspect, wherein the elastic piece is provided inside a side wall of the head holder.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the elastic piece is obtained by fixing a separate member to the main body of the head holder. In the structure. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the elastic piece
An ink cartridge holding structure is provided integrally with the main body of the head holder.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the third to fifth aspects, a cutout portion is formed on a side wall of the head holder to avoid interference with the elastically deformed elastic piece. The ink cartridge holding structure. With this structure of the present invention, when the ink cartridge is inserted into the head holder, the elastic piece provided on the head holder is simply inserted while being elastically deformed. The ink cartridge is securely held by the head holder by engagement with the second locking portion provided on the piece. Further, the head cartridge can be easily removed from the head holder simply by pulling out the ink cartridge with a predetermined force.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments of the present invention. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross section of an ink cartridge holding structure according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a box-shaped head holder 10 having an open top is formed of, for example, plastic, and its bottom is provided with, for example, black (B), yellow (Y), and magenta (M). ) And cyan (C) ink. Inside the connecting portion 11, the ink flow path 11 is provided.
a is formed, and the upper end thereof is closed by the filter 12. The ink flow path 11a in the connection portion 11 is connected to a recording head 14 fixed to the side of the head holder 10 via an ink flow path (not shown) in a flow path substrate 13 provided below the head holder 10. Have been. The recording head 14 includes, for example, a piezoelectric ceramic element (not shown), and ejects ink from a nozzle opened downward by driving the piezoelectric ceramic element.

In the head holder 10, a pair of elastic pieces 15 are erected near the side walls 10a on both sides in the longitudinal direction. In the present embodiment, the elastic piece 15 is made of a metal plate, the base end of which is fixed to the bottom wall 10b of the head holder 10, and the distal end of which is elastically deformable in the thickness direction. In the vicinity of the distal end of the elastic piece 15, a pair of locking portions 16 which are concave portions formed by inclined surfaces are formed.

On the other hand, the ink cartridge 20 has an external dimension that can be built into the head holder 10, and an ink supply port 21 that fits into the connecting portion 11 is provided on the bottom wall thereof. An ink absorber 22 such as a foamed polyurethane resin for absorbing and holding is stored. Further, on the outer side of both longitudinal side walls of the ink cartridge 20, there are provided locking portions 23 which are a pair of protrusions which can be engaged with the locking portions 16 of the elastic pieces 15. The upper and lower surfaces of the locking portion 23 are also surfaces inclined from a direction perpendicular to the side wall.

When attaching such an ink cartridge 20 to the head holder 10, the ink cartridge 2
0 is inserted straight from the upper opening of the head holder 10, the distal end of the elastic piece 15 abuts on the locking portion 23 and is pushed out on both sides, and at the time when the locking portion 23 is engaged with the locking portion 16. Return to the original state. In this state, the connecting portion 11 of the head holder 10 is completely inserted into the ink supply port 21 of the ink cartridge 20, and in this state, the elastic piece 15
Is stably held by the engagement between the locking portion 16 and the locking portion 23.

When the ink cartridge 20 is removed from the head holder 10 and the ink cartridge 20 is pulled straight out with a predetermined force or more, the engagement between the locking portions 16 and 23 of the elastic piece 15 is released. It can be removed with a single touch. Such a head holder 10 and the cartridge 20 are used, for example, mounted on a carriage of an ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of this use mode.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 31 is mounted on a pair of guide rails 32a and 32b so as to be movable in the axial direction. The carriage 31 is provided at one end of the guide rail 32 and is connected to a carriage drive motor 33. Pulley 3
4a and a pulley 34b provided on the other end side, and are conveyed via a timing belt 35. On both sides of the carriage 31 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, a pair of transport rollers 36 and 37 are provided along guide rails 32a and 32b, respectively. These transport rollers 36 and 37 transport the recording medium S below the carriage 31 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the carriage 31.

The above-mentioned head holder 10 is mounted on the carriage 31, and the above-mentioned ink cartridge 20 can be detachably attached to the head holder 10. According to such an ink jet type recording apparatus, while the recording medium S is being fed, the carriage 31 is scanned in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction, so that the recording head can record characters and images on the recording medium S. it can.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross section of an ink cartridge holding structure according to Embodiment 2. As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the elastic piece 15A of the head holder 10A is provided with a locking portion 16A serving as a projection, and the side wall of the ink cartridge 20A is a concave portion engageable with the locking portion 16A. Embodiment 1 is characterized in that a stopper 23A is provided.
And different. Other components are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus members having the same operation are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

When such an ink cartridge 20A is mounted on the head holder 10A, when the ink cartridge 20A is inserted straight from the upper opening of the head holder 10A, the locking portion 16A of the elastic piece 15A comes into contact with the side wall of the ink cartridge 20A. And is returned to the original state when the locking portion 23A is engaged with the locking portion 16A. In this state, the ink cartridge 20A
Connecting portion 11 of head holder 10A to ink supply port 21 of
Is completely inserted, and this state is stably held by the engagement between the locking portion 16A of the elastic piece 15A and the locking portion 23A.

(Embodiment 3) In the above-described embodiment, the elastic piece is provided separately from the main body of the head holder. However, it is needless to say that the elastic piece may be integrally formed of, for example, plastics. Also, in any case
I can have you, between the side wall and the elastic piece of the head holder, it is necessary space for deformation of the elastic piece, in order to reduce the overall size of the holder, because of the deformation of the elastic piece to the side wall May be formed.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of a head holder according to an embodiment in which such a notch is formed in a side wall. As shown in FIG. 4, the head holder 10B has an elastic piece 15B erected near the side wall 10a, and a cutout 17 for avoiding interference with the elastically deformed elastic piece 15B is provided on the side wall 10a. Is provided.

An ink cartridge 20 similar to that of the first embodiment can be removably attached to such a head holder 10B, and the elastic piece 15B can be deformed via the notch 17 at the time of attachment and detachment. With such a configuration, it is not necessary to provide a space for deforming the elastic pieces 15B inside the main body of the head holder 10B, and the size of the entire ink cartridge can be reduced.

(Embodiment 4) In the above-described embodiment, the elastic piece is provided inside the side wall of the head holder. However, when the elastic piece is integrally formed with the main body of the head holder, a part of the side wall is formed of the elastic piece. It may be. FIG. 5 shows this embodiment in which a part of the side wall is an elastic piece.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the head holder 10C, in which a part of the side wall 10a is formed as an elastic piece 15C, and both are separated by a notch 10c. As shown in FIG. 5B, the head holder 10C has
An ink cartridge 20 similar to that of the first embodiment can be detachably attached, and the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.
Further, in the case of this configuration, it is not necessary to provide a space for deforming the elastic piece 15C inside the main body of the head holder 10C as in the third embodiment, and the size of the entire ink cartridge can be reduced. This has the effect.

(Embodiment 5) In the above embodiment, the elastic pieces are provided one by one near the side walls on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the head holder. Of course, the position and number of the elastic pieces are not particularly limited. . It may be provided near the side walls on both sides in the width direction other than the above-mentioned opposed side walls, or may be provided on both sides. When the elastic pieces are provided on the relatively wide side walls on both sides in the width direction, the elastic pieces may be provided one by one at the center or two at a time. Moreover, you may provide one by one in the position which opposes along a diagonal line.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration of a head holder according to an embodiment in which one elastic piece is provided at each of opposing positions along the diagonal of both side walls in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the head holder 10D is provided with elastic pieces 15D near the diagonal ends of the side walls 10d on both sides in the width direction. Notches 18 are formed in the side walls 10a on both sides in the longitudinal direction for holding the ink cartridges.

Although the ink cartridge detachably held by the head holder 10D having such a configuration is not shown in the drawing, the ink cartridge has a locking portion that engages with the locking portion 16 of the elastic piece 15D, and has a diagonal line. Locking part 16 of elastic piece 15D of
And is stably held by engagement with a locking portion of an ink cartridge (not shown). At this time, the ink cartridge is urged in the direction of rotation about the vertical axis by the elastic force of the elastic piece 15D and pressed against the opposing side wall, so that there is an effect that rattling in the rotation direction is eliminated.

A notch for letting off the elastic piece 15D may be provided on the side wall 10d. In addition, a notch similar to the notch 18 for facilitating gripping of the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is removed may be provided on both side walls in the width direction in the above-described embodiment.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ink cartridge can be detachably held in the head holder with one touch, and the held ink cartridge is stably held. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an ink cartridge holding structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of a usage mode of a head holder according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an ink cartridge holding structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view illustrating an ink cartridge holding structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view and a sectional view showing an ink cartridge holding structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an ink cartridge holding structure according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an ink cartridge holding structure according to the related art.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of an ink cartridge holding structure according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view and a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of an ink cartridge holding structure according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 10A to 10D Head holder 11 Connecting portion 12 Filter 13 Flow path substrate 14 Recording head 15, 15A to 15D Elastic piece 16 Locking portion 20, 20A Ink cartridge

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] An ink cartridge containing ink and having an ink supply port at the bottom is mounted on a scanning carriage.
An ink cartridge holding structure that is removably held on a head holder that is mountable on the head and has a connection portion that fits with the ink supply port at the bottom and that is open at the top and protrudes from the bottom. A first locking portion provided on a side wall, and an elastic piece provided in the head holder so as to face a side wall of the ink cartridge provided with the first locking portion, The elastic piece has a second locking portion that allows the ink cartridge to be inserted into the head holder while being elastically deformed, and that engages with the first locking portion when the insertion is completed. An ink cartridge holding structure, characterized in that: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the engagement between the first locking portion and the second locking portion is disengageable by pulling out the ink cartridge with a predetermined force or more. Characteristic ink cartridge holding structure. 3. The ink cartridge holding structure according to claim 1, wherein the elastic piece is provided inside a side wall of the head holder. 4. The ink cartridge holding structure according to claim 1, wherein the elastic piece is formed by fixing another member to the main body of the head holder. 5. The ink cartridge holding structure according to claim 1, wherein the elastic piece is provided integrally with a main body of the head holder. 6. The ink cartridge according to claim 3, wherein a cut-out portion is formed in a side wall of the head holder to avoid interference with the elastic piece that has been elastically deformed. Retention structure.