JP3899580B2 - Ink cartridge for inkjet printer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge that is detachably attached to a carriage in an ink jet printer, particularly an ink jet printer that forms an image on a recording medium by moving a carriage having a recording head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the periphery of a carriage of an ink jet printer in which the recording head moves to form an image. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which an ink cartridge (hereinafter also simply referred to as a cartridge) 32 is installed in the carriage 34. The carriage 34 is movable along a guide rail 36 that extends in a direction perpendicular to the drawing, and ejects ink droplets from a recording head 38 fixed to the carriage 34 to thereby record a recording medium (not shown). In addition, images such as characters and figures are formed. The cartridge 32 is filled with ink to be supplied to the recording head 38. The cover 40 is for protecting the joint portion between the cartridge 32 and the recording head 38 from dust.
[0003]
A cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the recording head 38 is shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, a joint 42 is provided on the front surface (left side in this figure) of the cartridge 32, and this is in close contact with a rubber seal material 44 provided on the head holder 43 side to form an ink supply path. Ink is sent to the recording head 38.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, it may be inconvenient if bubbles 46 occur in the ink in the cartridge 32. That is, when vibration or the like is applied to the cartridge 32, the bubbles 46 are made finer, and when the fine bubbles are drawn into the head, the ejection becomes unstable or becomes non-ejected.
[0005]
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it prevents a bubble generated in ink in a cartridge from being finely crushed.
[0006]
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention]
An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer according to claim 1 of the present invention, which has been made in order to solve such a problem, is an ink cartridge configured to be detachable from a carriage of an ink jet printer, and supplies ink to a recording head. an ink supply port communicates with the ink supply port, and an ink chamber containing ink is formed adjacent to the ink chamber volume than said ink chamber comprising an ink absorber impregnated with ink A large ink storage chamber, a flow path that connects the ink storage chamber and the ink chamber at a lower position when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage, and a hole that applies atmospheric pressure to the ink storage chamber. When the ink cartridge in the ink chamber is mounted on the carriage. A bubble storage section is formed in the upper position to hold bubbles generated in the ink, and the bubble storage section is positioned above the surface positioned above when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage. It is characterized by comprising a space formed by a plurality of protrusions protruding into the ink chamber from the surface downward.
[0008]
According to such a cartridge, the bubbles mixed in the ink chamber move upward by buoyancy and are collected in the bubble storage section. And even if vibration is applied to the bubbles that have reached the bubble reservoir, the movement of the bubbles is hindered by a plurality of protrusions that protrude downward from the upper surface into the ink chamber and subdivide the bubble reservoir. Air bubbles can be prevented from being crushed finely. Furthermore, since the ink chamber is narrower than the total volume of the cartridge, bubbles are not easily generated.
[0009]
An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer according to claim 2 of the present invention is an ink cartridge configured to be detachable from a carriage of the ink jet printer, and an ink supply port for supplying ink to a recording head; An ink chamber that communicates with an ink supply port and contains ink; an ink storage chamber that is formed adjacent to the ink chamber and includes an ink absorber impregnated with ink; the ink storage chamber; and the ink chamber; An ink cartridge having a flow path communicating at a lower position when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage, and a hole for applying an atmospheric pressure to the ink storage chamber, the ink cartridge in the ink chamber A bubble storage that keeps bubbles generated in the ink in a position above when the is mounted on the carriage And the bubble storage portion is directed downward from the upper surface and the side surface of the ink chamber when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage, and from the upper surface. And a space formed by a protrusion protruding into the ink chamber.
[0010]
According to such a cartridge, the bubbles mixed in the ink chamber move upward by buoyancy and are collected in the bubble storage section. Even if vibrations are applied to the bubbles that have reached the bubble reservoir, the movement of the bubbles is hindered by protrusions that project downward from the upper surface into the ink chamber and subdivide the bubble reservoir. It can prevent being crushed finely.
[0011]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cartridge according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the cartridge includes a container portion having an open upper surface and a lid portion constituting the surface, and the protrusion is formed on the lid portion. Is formed integrally.
[0012]
Therefore, according to the cartridge of the third aspect, since the container portion and the lid portion are divided and the projection is provided on the lid portion, the projection can be easily formed.
[0013]
[0014]
[0015]
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the cartridge 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
First, FIG. 1 shows an ink cartridge 2, FIG. 1 (a) is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the ink cartridge 2, and FIG. 1 (b) is a plan view below the lid portion 6 of the cartridge. 1 (c) is an AA arrow view of FIG. 1 (a). In the ink jet printer using the ink cartridge 2, the ink cartridge 2 is installed with the lid portion 6 facing upward as shown in FIG.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 1A, the ink cartridge 2 is mainly composed of a container portion 4 having an open upper surface and a lid portion 6 covering the upper surface. The interior is divided into two by a partition 8, and an ink storage chamber 10 and an ink chamber 12 having a large volume are formed. The ink storage chamber 10 is filled with a porous ink absorber impregnated with ink, and the ink chamber 12 is filled with only ink. The ink storage chamber 10 and the ink chamber 12 are connected by a flow path 14 at the lower end of the partition 8, and ink in the ink storage chamber 10 is supplied from the flow path 14 to the ink chamber 12. The ink in the ink chamber 12 is supplied from the supply port 16 to the recording head. A joint 18 provided around the supply port 16 is a portion engaged with a seal material 44 (FIG. 4) provided on the recording head side, and a filter 20 provided to cover the supply port 16 is a foreign matter other than ink. The small holes 30 provided at the rear end of the container portion 4 are for causing atmospheric pressure to act on the ink storage chamber 10.
[0018]
A rib 22 corresponding to the protrusion of the present invention protrudes from a portion of the lid portion 6 positioned above the ink chamber 12. The rib 22 is positioned substantially at the center in the front-rear direction of the ink chamber 12, thereby forming spaces 24 a and 24 b above the ink chamber 12. The bubbles generated in the ink chamber 12 move upward by buoyancy and reach the space 24a (or space 24b). Once the bubbles reach the space 24a, they do not descend again and drift in the ink. Therefore, even when the ink cartridge 2 is moved at a high speed together with a carriage (not shown), the bubbles are not finely decomposed and do not drift through the ink chamber 12 and are drawn into the recording head from the supply port 16.
[0019]
Further, the lid portion 6 on which the rib 22 is formed is separated from the container portion 4 and has a very simple structure as shown in FIG. Can be formed easily even if formed at a small interval, and the other container portion 4 can be formed easily.
[0020]
The inside of the cartridge 2 is divided into an ink chamber 12 and an ink storage chamber 10, and the ink in the ink storage chamber 10 is impregnated in the ink absorber, so that the ink undulates in the ink storage chamber 10. There will be no air bubbles. Since the ink chamber 12 is narrower than the total volume of the cartridge 2, bubbles are not easily generated.
[0021]
As mentioned above, although one embodiment to which the present invention is applied has been described, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can be implemented in various modes.
For example, in this embodiment, in order to form the spaces 24a and 24b, the ribs 22 having a shape as shown in FIG. 1C are formed, but other shapes may be used. An example of this is shown in FIG. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are provided with prismatic projections instead of the ribs 22, and FIGS. 2 (c) and 2 (d) are projections having a cylindrical shape instead of a prismatic shape. 2 (e) and FIG. 2 (f) show a hollow cylindrical shape having a space, that is, a slit-like groove inside, and FIG. 2 (g) and FIG. It is smaller than the one shown in FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the structure corresponding to what was shown in FIG.
[0022]
2A and 2B, the upper portion of the ink chamber 12 is subdivided more than that shown in FIG. 1, and the space becomes smaller. Therefore, it is effective for capturing finer bubbles.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D, the side surface of the cylinder 22 is smooth, so that once caught, the bubbles are not easily ruptured even when subjected to lateral vibration.
[0023]
As shown in FIGS. 2E and 2F, the upper portion of the ink chamber 12 is further subdivided as compared with those in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and is captured in a space in the cylinder. As for what was done, it hardly leaves | separates and it can prevent that a bubble is drawn in to a recording head.
[0024]
2 (g) and FIG. 2 (h), the space becomes larger than those shown in FIG. 2 (a) to FIG. 2 (f). However, the acceleration applied to the ink during the operation of the ink jet printer is mainly in the lateral direction (the direction perpendicular to the drawing in FIG. 1), and since the interval between the ribs 22 is narrow in this direction, the bubbles are held. The ability is higher than that shown in FIG.
[0025]
Also, other shapes may be used. For example, the protrusions shown in FIGS. 2 (c) and 2 (d) may be conical, and also shown in FIGS. 2 (e) and 2 (f). The hollow cylindrical protrusion may have no slit-like groove. The ink cartridge can achieve the same effect because the ribs 22 and the protrusions are located upward even when the supply port 16 is used not only horizontally but also obliquely downward.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink cartridge 2 to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the shape of a protrusion formed on the lid portion 6 of the cartridge 2;
3 is a side view showing a state in which a cartridge 32 is fitted in a carriage 34. FIG.
4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a cartridge 32 and a recording head 38. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Ink cartridge 4 ... Container part 6 ... Lid part 10 ... Ink storage chamber 12 ... Ink chamber 22 ... Rib (bubble storage part) 24a, 24b ... Space

Claims (3)

An ink cartridge configured to be detachable from a carriage of an ink jet printer, an ink supply port for supplying ink to a recording head, an ink chamber communicating with the ink supply port and containing ink, and the ink An ink storage chamber formed adjacent to the chamber and having an ink absorber impregnated with ink and having a larger volume than the ink chamber; the ink storage chamber and the ink chamber; and the ink cartridge mounted on the carriage An ink cartridge having a flow path that communicates at a position that is at a lower position and a hole that causes atmospheric pressure to act on the ink storage chamber, wherein the ink chamber has an upper position when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage. Form a bubble reservoir that holds the bubbles generated in the ink at the position
The bubble storage portion is a space formed by a surface positioned above when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage, and a plurality of protrusions protruding into the ink chamber downward from the surface positioned above the ink cartridge. An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer, comprising: An ink cartridge configured to be detachable from a carriage of an ink jet printer, an ink supply port for supplying ink to a recording head, an ink chamber communicating with the ink supply port and containing ink, and the ink An ink storage chamber formed adjacent to the chamber and provided with an ink absorber impregnated with ink, and the ink storage chamber and the ink chamber communicated at a position below when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage. In an ink cartridge comprising a flow path to perform and a hole for applying an atmospheric pressure to the ink storage chamber,
Forming a bubble storage section for holding bubbles generated in the ink at a position above the ink chamber when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage;
The bubble storage portion includes a surface of the ink chamber that is positioned upward and a side surface of the ink chamber when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage, and a downward direction from the surface positioned above the ink chamber. An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer, characterized by comprising a space formed by a protrusion protruding on the surface.   3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge is formed of a container portion having an open upper surface and a lid portion constituting the surface, and the protrusion is integrally formed on the lid portion. .

Images