JP4492782B2 - Ink cartridge and ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink cartridge containing recording ink and an ink jet recording apparatus to which the ink cartridge is mounted in a replaceable manner.

  In an inkjet recording apparatus that records characters and images on a recording medium such as paper by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles provided in the recording head, a head holder is provided on a carriage that is movable in the main scanning direction, A head unit having a mechanism for ejecting ink to a recording medium and an ink cartridge for storing ink supplied to the head unit are mounted on the head holder.

  Since the ink cartridge is generally removed from the head holder and replaced when the ink is consumed, a technique for making the ink cartridge detachable from the head unit by latch means in order to facilitate the replacement work. It has been known. Conventionally, the latch means has been formed by resin molding integrally with a container body for containing ink. However, a material excellent in sealing and durability with respect to the stored ink is appropriate for the ink container body. On the other hand, a material excellent in elasticity is appropriate for the latch means, and different materials are suitable for the ink container and the latch means. In addition, since the latch means must be formed in a shape that exerts an elastic force, there is a disadvantage in forming this shape integrally with the container body.

Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which a container body and a latch unit of an ink cartridge are separately manufactured with materials suitable for each, and a latch unit is attached to the side surface of the container body later. In Patent Document 1, the latch means is formed in an elongated shape having a handle portion at the upper end portion and a mounting portion at the lower end portion, and the mounting portion is provided on the latch housing portion provided on the side surface of the container body from below. Inserted to prevent upward movement. Between the mounting portion and the side surface of the container body, a male / female fitting portion having a shape that facilitates insertion of the latch means into the latch storage portion and prevents downward movement is provided. Therefore, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, the latch means is fixed once inserted into the latch housing portion of the container body, and it is difficult to remove the latch means.
Japanese Patent No. 3340120 (see FIG. 23)

  In Patent Document 1, although the container body and the latch means are formed separately, once the latch means is inserted into the latch housing, it is difficult to remove it. Therefore, after the latch means is attached to the container body and the ink is accommodated in the container body, if the failure of the latch means is found, it is not easy to replace the latch means, so the entire ink cartridge is determined to be unusable. There is a problem in that the yield in manufacturing decreases. Therefore, there has been a demand for a structure of a latch means that can be easily attached to and detached from the container body and that can reliably attach the ink cartridge to the head holder.

  There has also been a demand for a compact configuration of the occupied space required for mounting the ink cartridge in order to reduce the size of the entire inkjet recording apparatus.

  The present invention eliminates such problems, and is an ink cartridge that is replaceably mounted on the head holder by the latch means. The latch means can be easily replaced even after the ink is stored, and the overall configuration is compact. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink cartridge that can be used and an ink jet recording apparatus including the ink cartridge.

In order to achieve the above object, an ink cartridge according to a first aspect of the present invention is an ink cartridge in which ink is accommodated in a container body having a lid and is replaceably mounted on a head holder having a recording head. The head holder includes a bottom plate in which a communication hole connected to the recording head is formed, and a side plate erected from the bottom plate, and the container body supplies ink to a lower surface opposite to the lid body. When the ink cartridge is mounted on the head holder, the ink supply port is connected to the communication hole, and a latch lever that engages with the head holder is integrated with the lid. provided, the lid, the being detachably attached to the container body, the lid body is suspended from the end opposite to the latch lever, said container body and engaging The latch lever is configured to engage with the container body, a base end portion integrally formed with the lid body, a tip end portion, and the base end A substantially U-shaped portion that is elastically deformable provided between the portion and the distal end portion, the substantially U-shaped portion hanging from the lid body along the side surface of the container body, and a lower end thereof From the side surface of the container body, and a portion that rises at an interval. The rising portion includes a second engagement portion that engages with the side plate of the head holder, and the hanging portion includes the container. A third engagement portion that engages with the body, and when the latch lever is deformed so that the second engagement portion is detached from the side plate, the first engagement portion and the third engagement portion are It is configured not to be detached from the container body .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ink cartridge according to the first aspect, an inner lid body is provided on the container body side of the lid body, and the container body is sealed with the inner lid body. It is what.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the lid body is detachably attached to the container body, when a defect is found in the latch lever formed integrally with the lid body, the lid body It is only necessary to replace the latch lever, and it is not necessary to make the entire ink cartridge unusable as in the prior art. Therefore, the manufacturing yield can be improved and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Further, since the attachment of the latch lever to the container body is completed simply by attaching the lid body to the container body, the operation of attaching the latch lever can be made extremely easy.

According to the present invention, only push down the ink cartridge to the head holder, and a substantially U-shaped portion is compressed, the second engagement portion engages a latch lever, very easily install the ink cartridge it can. Further, in addition to this engagement, the ink cartridge is held so as to stretch in the head holder by the elastic force of the substantially U-shaped portion, so that the ink cartridge is reliably prevented from coming off from the head holder.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the container body is sealed with the inner lid body, it is possible to prevent ink from spilling or contamination from being mixed into the ink when replacing the lid body having the latch lever.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the substantially U-shaped portion, which is a portion that exerts an elastic force in the latch lever, is disposed on the side surface side of the container body, and does not protrude above the lid body. Can be configured.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the head holder as viewed from the lower surface side, and FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where the ink cartridge of the first embodiment is mounted on the head holder. 4 is a side view of the ink cartridge separated from the upper lid, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ink cartridge, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the operation of mounting the ink cartridge on the head holder, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of the ink cartridge according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ink jet recording apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes, for example, an ink cartridge 61 filled with four color inks of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, and a sheet (recording medium). ) A printer head 63 for printing on 62, a carriage 64 on which the ink cartridge 61 and the printer head 63 are mounted, and the carriage 64 orthogonal to the transport direction (sub-scanning direction, Y direction shown) of the paper 62. A driving unit 65 that reciprocates in the direction (main scanning direction, illustrated as the X direction), a platen roller 66 that extends in the reciprocating direction of the carriage 64 and that is disposed to face the printer head 63, and a purge device 67. Yes.

  The drive unit 65 is disposed at the lower end portion of the carriage 64 and extends parallel to the platen roller 66, the guide plate 72 is disposed at the upper end portion of the carriage 64 and extends parallel to the carriage shaft 71, and the carriage shaft 71. And the guide plate 72, and two pulleys 73 and 74 disposed at both ends of the carriage shaft 71, and a timing belt 75 wound around the pulleys 73 and 74.

  The carriage 64 joined to the timing belt 75 is supported by the carriage shaft 71 and the guide plate 72 and can reciprocate linearly by the driving force from one pulley 73 that rotates in accordance with the driving of the motor 76.

  A sheet 62 conveyed in the Y direction (sub-scanning direction) from a sheet feeding unit (not shown) is introduced between the platen roller 66 and the printer head 63 and is ejected by ink discharged from the printer head 63 as will be described later. Predetermined printing is performed, and then the paper is discharged.

  The purge device 67 is provided on the side of the platen roller 66 and is disposed so as to face the printer head 63 when the printer head 63 is in the reset position. The purge device 67 includes a purge cap 81 that abuts against an opening surface of the nozzles 11a of the printer head 63, which will be described later, a pump 82 and a cam 83, and an ink reservoir 84. Yes. When the printer head 63 is at the reset position, the defective ink containing bubbles and the like accumulated inside the printer head 63 is sucked by the pump 82 by driving the cam 83 so that the printer head 63 is recovered. Yes. The sucked defective ink is stored in the ink storage section 84.

  A wiper member 86 is disposed adjacent to the purge device 67 at a position on the platen roller 66 side in the purge device 67. The wiper member 86 is formed in a spatula shape, and wipes the nozzle surface of the printer head 63 as the carriage 64 moves. When the nozzle surface is wiped, the wiper member 86 protrudes upward, and when the nozzle surface is not wiped, it retracts downward.

  The cap 85 covers the plurality of nozzles 11a of the printer head 63 mounted on the carriage 64 that is returned to the reset position when printing is completed in order to prevent ink from drying.

  As shown in FIG. 2 which is a perspective view seen from the lower surface side, the printer head 63 has two head units arranged in parallel on the lower surface side (upper surface side in FIG. 2) of the bottom plate 5 of the head holder 1. (Corresponding to the head) 6, 6 and a protective cover 44 covering these. The protective cover 44 has a box shape, and opening windows 44a and 44a are provided in the lower plate 44b so that the rows of the nozzles 11a on the surface of each head unit 6 are exposed. It is fixed to the holder 1.

  In the first embodiment, the head holder 1 is an injection-molded product of a synthetic resin material such as polyethylene or polypropylene, and is formed in a substantially box shape with an open upper surface as shown in FIG. The inside of the substantially box-like shape is a mounting portion 3 to which an ink cartridge 61 as an ink supply source can be detachably attached from above, and the bottom plate 5 has a communication hole for communicating the lower surface with the mounting portion 3. 4, a packing member 94 made of a substantially cylindrical elastic body protrudes up and down the communication hole 4 and is fixedly inserted into the inner diameter portion of the communication hole 4. Further, the left and right side plates 1a and 1b in FIG. 3 of the head holder 1 are fitted at positions corresponding to these so that the engaging protrusions 50e and 95b respectively provided on the left and right side surfaces of the ink cartridge 61 are fitted. Engagement receiving portions 1c and 1d are formed. Further, for positioning the ink cartridge 61 in the mounting portion 3 of the head holder 1, the upper surface of the bottom plate 5 is adjacent to the convex portion 3 a fitted in the concave portion 52 b provided on the lower surface of each ink cartridge 61. A partition plate 3b for partitioning the ink cartridges 61 mounted in a protruding manner is provided.

  In this embodiment, four independent ink cartridges 61 for each of the four different colors are described as being mounted side by side on the head holder 1. For example, three colors of yellow, cyan, and magenta are respectively provided. Two ink cartridges 61 and a black ink cartridge 61 in which three accommodated container bodies are combined into one may be attached to the head holder 1.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ink cartridge 61 is disposed on the case 50, the upper lid 51 (corresponding to the lid of the claims) disposed on the upper surface of the case 50, and the lower surface side of the case 50. A lower lid body 52 and an inner lid body 53 disposed between the upper lid body 51 and the case 50 are provided. The case 50, the lower lid body 52, and the inner lid body 53 are formed of a resin material having excellent airtightness and durability against ink, and the upper lid body 51 is formed of a resin material that easily exhibits elasticity. In this embodiment, a state in which the lower lid 52 is fixed to the case 50 is referred to as a container body 7 (corresponding to a container body in claims).

  The case 50 includes a pair of opposed first side walls (left and right side walls in FIGS. 4 and 5) 50a and 50b, and a pair of second side walls 50c and 50d orthogonal to the first side walls 50a and 50b (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 show one second side wall 50c, and FIG. 5 shows the other second side wall 50d). ing.

  The inner lid 53 is formed in a flat plate shape that is substantially rectangular in plan view. The lower lid body 52 has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and includes an edge portion 52c that extends vertically upward from four sides of the lower lid body 52, and a partition wall 52a that extends vertically upward from the upper surface of the lower lid body 52. ing. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the inner lid body 53 and the lower lid body 52 are thermally welded to the case 50 so as to cover both the upper and lower open surfaces. The lower surface of the inner lid 53 is fixed to the upper end portions of the first and second wall surfaces 50a to 50d. At this time, the hook-shaped portion extends from the upper end portions of the first side walls 50a and 50b to the left and right outer sides. 53a and 53b are protruded and fixed. On the other hand, the edge 52c of the lower lid 52 is fixed to the lower ends of the first and second side walls 50a to 50d of the case 50, and the partition wall 52a is a bottom partition wall 56 of the case 50 which will be described later. Fixed by heat welding.

  Further, in the container body 7, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the engagement protrusion 50 e that engages with the engagement receiving portion 1 c of the head holder 1 described above is provided outside the first side wall 50 a of the case 50. It protrudes outward from the side of the side. In this embodiment, the edge 52c of the lower lid body 52 is bent outward in an L shape to form an engagement protrusion 50e.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the upper lid 51 is opposed to the flat portion 51 a that contacts the upper surface of the inner lid 53, the latch lever 95 that is integrally extended from one end of the flat portion 51 a, and the one end. And a bent portion 51b that is integrally bent downward from the other end of the flat portion 51a. The latch lever 95 is molded together with the upper lid 51 from a resin material that easily exhibits elasticity.

  The latch lever 95 includes a base end portion 95a continuous to the flat portion 51a, a tip end portion 95c, and a substantially U-shaped portion 95d that is elastically deformable provided between the base end portion 95a and the tip end portion 95c. Have. An engagement protrusion 95b (corresponding to an engagement portion in claims) that engages with the engagement receiving portion 1d of the head holder 1 described above is provided on the outer surface of the tip portion 95c. The tip 95c of the latch lever 95 is formed with a fine concavo-convex surface in consideration of the ease of picking by the operator.

  The latch lever 95 has a shape that can sufficiently exert an elastic force with the head holder 1 in a state in which the upper lid 51 is attached to the case 50, but reduces the portion protruding above the upper lid 51 as much as possible. The overall configuration is compact. Specifically, the substantially U-shaped portion 95d of the latch lever 95 includes a portion that hangs down from the upper lid 51 along the side surface of the case 50 (the outer surface of the first wall surface 50b) and the lower end of the portion. It has a side surface of the case 50 (an outer surface of the first wall surface 50b) and a portion that rises at an interval.

  Further, the inner surface of the bent portion 51b of the upper lid body 51 and the inner surface of the base end portion 95a of the latch lever 95 are recessedly formed so as to be fitted to the flange portions 53a and 53b of the inner lid body 53. Receiving portions 51c and 95e are respectively formed. The fitting receiving portions 51c and 95e and the hook-like portions 53a and 53b are detachably fitted, and the upper lid 51 is attached in close contact so as to cover the inner lid 53 from the upper surface side when attached. Since the inner lid 53 is fixed to the case 50 by heat welding as described above, the upper lid 51 that is detachably attached to the inner lid 53 is detachable from the container body 7 including the case 50. Will be attached.

  The upper lid 51 having the latch lever 95 is colored corresponding to the ink color accommodated in the ink cartridge 61 to which the upper lid 51 is attached. That is, corresponding to the ink colors of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, the upper lid 51 having the latch lever 95 is prepared in advance in four colors, and the upper cover 51 is prepared according to the ink colors accommodated in the case 50. Selected and installed. The coloring does not necessarily have to be the same color as the ink, but may be a similar color that can distinguish each color.

  The case 50 will be described in further detail. As shown in FIG. 5, the case 50 includes partition walls 54 and 55 extending substantially parallel to the inside of the first side walls 50 a and 50 b, a bottom partition wall 56 connected to the lower ends of the partition walls 54 and 55, In addition, a partition wall 52 a extending from the lower lid body 52 to the bottom partition wall 56 is partitioned. The partition walls 54 and 55, the bottom partition wall 56, and the partition wall 52a extend in the direction of bridging between the second side walls 50c and 50d. In the case 50, a first chamber 57 having an upper surface opened at the upper end of the case 50 is formed at a position surrounded by the partition walls 54 and 55, the bottom partition wall 56, and the second side walls 50c and 50d. A porous material 58 such as polyurethane foam for absorbing and storing ink is stored in one chamber 57. One of the first side walls 50a, the partition wall 54, the bottom partition wall 56, the second side walls 50c and 50d, the partition wall 52a, and the lower lid body 52 are surrounded by the second side wall 50a. A chamber 59 is formed. An atmosphere communication path 90 is formed in a place surrounded by the other first side wall 50 b, the partition wall 55, the second side walls 50 c and 50 d, the partition wall 52 a, and the lower lid body 52. .

  The inner lid 53 is thermally welded to the upper ends of the partition walls 54 and 55 in addition to the first and second side walls 50a to 50d when the inner lid 53 is fixed to the case 50. The upper ends of the two chambers 59 and the atmosphere communication passage 90 are respectively covered and made independent. When the lower lid 52 is fixed to the case 50, the edge 52 c is thermally welded to the lower ends of the first and second side walls 50 a to 50 d, and the partition wall 52 a is the end of the bottom surface of the bottom partition wall 56. Therefore, the second chamber 59 and the lower end of the atmospheric communication passage 90 are covered and made independent. Accordingly, the second chamber 59 is formed in a substantially L shape in a side view with its lower end bent along the lower surface of the bottom partition wall 56, and the atmosphere communication path 90 extends vertically along the partition wall 55. It is formed in a substantially linear shape (see FIG. 5).

  A communication hole 91 that connects the first chamber 57 and the second chamber 59 is formed in the bottom partition wall 56. The first chamber 57 and the second chamber 59 contain ink, and both chambers form an ink chamber. The volume of the first chamber 57 is larger than the volume of the second chamber 59. It's big enough. As will be described later, the second chamber 59 serves as a passage for ink filling, and also serves as a relay chamber for supplying ink from the first chamber 57 to the head unit 6. The atmosphere communication passage 90 and the first chamber 57 are communicated with each other by a small-diameter passage 90a provided at the upper end portion of the partition wall 55, and the atmosphere communication passage 90 is used when the ink in the first chamber 57 is consumed. In addition, the atmosphere is supplied to the first chamber 57 (see FIG. 5). As described above, the case 50 has increased strength because both sides of the case 50 have a substantially double wall structure in which the partition walls 54 and 55 are provided substantially parallel to the side walls 50a and 50b. In addition, the case 50 having such a shape can be easily resin-molded by a mold that is separated vertically.

  In the inner lid 53, an ink filling port (not shown) is formed at a position corresponding to the second chamber 59, and for decompressing the inside of the case at a position corresponding to the first chamber 57 at the time of ink filling. A decompression port (not shown) is formed. The ink filling port and the pressure reducing port are closed by thermal welding or the like of a sealing material (not shown) after ink filling.

  The lower lid 52 is formed with an ink supply port 92 for supplying ink from the second chamber 59 to the head unit 6 at a position corresponding to the second chamber 59, and communicates with the lower end of the atmosphere communication path 90. An air communication hole 93 is formed at the position. Around the ink supply port 92 on the lower surface of the lower lid 52, a ring-shaped groove 92 a is formed in a recessed manner with a space from the ink supply port 92.

  The ink supply port 92 and the air communication hole 93 described above are sealed by thermal welding of a single sealing material 97 formed in a strip shape before ink filling into the container body 7 (see FIG. 4). . The seal material 97 is peeled off immediately before the ink cartridge 61 is mounted on the head holder 1, and the end of the seal material 97 on the atmosphere communication hole 93 side protrudes from the end on the lower surface side of the container body 7. It is a free end 97a.

  Next, the head unit 6 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the head unit 6 includes a plurality of metal plate laminated type cavity units 10, a plate type piezoelectric actuator 20 bonded and laminated to the cavity unit 10, and an upper surface thereof. It is comprised by the flexible flat cable 40 laminated and joined for the electrical connection with an external apparatus.

  An ink supply port 19 a provided in the uppermost layer of the cavity unit 10 is exposed on the back surface (upper surface in FIG. 7) side of the head unit 6. A filter 29 for removing dust in the ink supplied from the ink cartridge 61 is fixed to the upper surface of the ink supply port 19a with an adhesive. A sleeve member 96 is erected at each ink supply port 19a via a filter 29, and is firmly bonded and fixed with an epoxy resin or the like. The sleeve member 96 is inserted and fixed from the lower end side to the internal passage 94a of the packing member 94 attached to the communication hole 4 of the head holder 1 when the head unit 6 is fixed to the head holder 1 ( 2 and 3).

  The piezoelectric actuator 20 has a structure in which a plurality of piezoelectric sheets are laminated. As described in JP-A-4-341851, the lowermost piezoelectric sheet among the piezoelectric sheets and the odd-numbered number counted upward from the piezoelectric sheet. On the upper surface (wide surface) of the piezoelectric sheet, narrow individual electrodes (not shown) are formed for each of the pressure chambers 16 in the cavity unit 10. A common electrode (not shown) common to the plurality of pressure chambers 16 is formed on the upper surface (wide surface) of the even-numbered piezoelectric sheets from the bottom. On the top surface of the topmost topsheet, as shown in FIG. 7, along the edge of the long side, a surface electrode 30 electrically connected to each of the individual electrodes, and the common A surface electrode 31 electrically connected to the electrode is provided.

  The plate-type piezoelectric actuator 20 is laminated and fixed to the cavity unit 10 such that each individual electrode in the piezoelectric actuator 20 corresponds to each pressure chamber 16 in the cavity unit 10. Further, when the flexible flat cable 40 is pressed against the upper surface of the piezoelectric actuator 20, various wiring patterns (not shown) in the flexible flat cable 40 become the surface electrodes 30, 31. Electrically joined to the

  In the ink jet recording apparatus 100 configured as described above, first, with the porous material 58 inserted into the first chamber 57 of the case 50 in the ink cartridge 61, as shown in FIG. The body 53 and the lower lid body 54 are respectively fixed by thermal welding, and a sealing material 97 is thermally welded to the outside of the lower lid body 52 so as to cover the ink supply port 92 and the air communication hole 93. In this state, air in the first chamber 57 is sucked from a decompression port (not shown) provided in the inner lid 53, and the first chamber 57 and the second chamber 59 are decompressed. Next, ink is filled from an ink filling port (not shown) provided in the inner lid 53, and the ink passes through the second chamber 59 and the communication hole 91 from the ink filling port (not shown). The porous material 58 in the chamber 57 is filled. After the completion of filling, a sealing material (not shown) is stuck on the upper surface side of the ink filling port and the pressure reducing port (not shown), and these are closed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the fitting receiving portion 51 c of the upper lid 51 is put on the flange-shaped portion 53 a of the inner lid 53, and the fitting receiving portion 51 b of the upper lid 51 is further fitted on the flange-shaped portion 53 b of the inner lid 53. The upper lid 51 is attached to the upper surface of the inner lid 53 by covering the portion 95e. Since the upper lid 51 is formed of a resin that easily exhibits elasticity as described above, the attaching / detaching operation with respect to the inner lid 53 can be easily performed. As a result, the upper lid 51 is attached to the case 50 (container body 7) to which the inner lid 53 is already fixed, and the ink cartridge 61 is completed.

  Next, when the ink cartridge 61 is mounted on the head holder 1, the sealing material 97 that has blocked the ink supply port 92 and the air communication hole 93 on the lower surface of the ink cartridge 61 is peeled off. Since the seal member 97 is provided with a free end 97a on the atmosphere communication hole 93 side, the operator is encouraged to hold the free end 97a and peel it off. Further, since the ink supply port 92 and the atmosphere communication hole 93 are closed by the single seal material 97, if the seal material 97 is peeled off from the free end 97a side, the atmosphere communication hole 93 and the ink are inevitably formed. The supply ports 92 are opened to the atmosphere in this order. Since the inside of the ink cartridge 61 is depressurized when the ink is filled, if air is taken in from the ink supply port 92 side first, an air layer is formed in the vicinity of the ink supply port 92, and the ink is discharged. Adversely affect. For this reason, as described above, such a trouble can be prevented by configuring so as to be opened first from the atmosphere communication hole 93 side.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the ink cartridge 61 from which the seal material 97 has been peeled is inserted into the mounting portion 3 of the head holder 1 with the first side wall 50 a side of the case 50 facing obliquely downward, so that the first The engagement protrusion 50e provided on the side wall 50a side of the head holder 1 is inserted into the engagement receiving portion 1c of the head holder 1. Then, the ink cartridge 61 is pushed downward while the convex portion 3 a protruding from the bottom plate 5 of the head holder 1 is fitted into the concave portion 52 b provided on the lower surface of the ink cartridge 61. At this time, as the first side wall 50b approaches the side plate 1b of the head holder 1, a substantially U-shaped portion 95d is sandwiched therebetween, and the substantially U-shaped portion 95d is elastically deformed so as to be compressed. Then, when the entire ink cartridge 61 is completely dropped into the mounting portion 3 of the head holder 1, the engagement protrusion 95b is provided on the side plate 1b of the head holder 1 by the elastic recovery of the substantially U-shaped portion 95d itself. It is fitted in the engagement receiving portion 1d.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the engagement protrusions 50 e and 95 b are engaged with the engagement receiving portions 1 c and 1 d of the head holder 1, respectively, and the latch lever 95 is held so as to be stretched in the head holder 1. Therefore, the ink cartridge 61 is reliably prevented from coming out upward.

  In addition to the engagement between the engagement protrusions 50e and 95b and the engagement receiving portions 1c and 1b, the fitting between the concave portion 52b of the ink cartridge 61 and the convex portion 3a of the head unit 1 or the partition plate 3b. Since this also acts as a positioning, the ink cartridge 61 is securely mounted at a predetermined position of the head unit 1. As a result, the upper end portion of the packing member 94 attached to the bottom plate 5 of the head holder 1 is securely fitted into the groove portion 92 a provided on the lower surface of the ink cartridge 61, and the ink supply port 92 is connected to the inner diameter of the packing member 94. It is connected to the upper end side of the part 94a. Since the sleeve member 96 of the head unit 6 is inserted and fixed in advance on the lower end side of the inner diameter portion 94a of the packing member 94, the ink of the ink cartridge 61 can be supplied to the head unit 6. When the above-described procedure is repeated and all the four color ink cartridges 61 are attached to the head holder 1, the ink cartridges 61 are respectively inserted into the four ink supply ports 19 a of the two head units 6 via the sleeve members 96. Connected. Then, the color ink is sucked into the head unit 6 by the purge device 67 (see FIG. 1).

  Then, by applying a voltage between any individual electrode among the individual electrodes in the piezoelectric actuator 20 and the common electrode, the piezoelectric sheet is laminated on the portion corresponding to the individual electrode to which the voltage is applied. A distortion in the direction occurs, and the internal volume of the pressure chamber 16 corresponding to each individual electrode is reduced by this distortion, so that the ink in the pressure chamber 16 is ejected from the nozzle 11a in the form of droplets. Predetermined printing becomes possible.

  When the ink cartridge 61 needs to be replaced due to ink consumption or the like, the ink cartridge 61 is removed by the reverse procedure of the mounting operation described above. That is, the front end portion 95c of the latch lever 95 is brought close to the first side wall 50b side of the case 50, is elastically deformed so as to compress the substantially U-shaped portion 95d, and the engaging protrusion 95b is detached from the engaging receiving portion 1b. Then, the first side wall 50 b side of the case 50 is lifted obliquely, and the ink cartridge 61 is removed from the head holder 1 and replaced with a new ink cartridge 61.

  If a failure of the latch lever 95 is found after the upper lid 51 is attached to the inner lid 53 (container body 7), the tip 95c of the latch lever 95 is connected to the first portion of the case 50. Pulling away from the side wall 50 b side releases the fitting between the fitting receiving portion 95 e and the hook-like portion 53 b of the inner lid 53. Next, the upper lid body 51 is pulled up as it is, the fitting between the fitting receiving portion 51c and the hook-like portion 53a is released, and the upper lid body 51 is completely removed from the inner lid body 53 (container body 7). Then, the upper lid 51 having the non-defective latch lever 95 is newly attached to the inner lid 53.

  Thus, in the present invention, the latch lever 95 for attaching the ink cartridge 61 to the head holder 1 in a replaceable manner is formed integrally with the upper lid body 51 of the ink cartridge 61, and the upper lid body 51 is attached to the ink cartridge 61. The case 50 is configured to be detachable. Therefore, even if a malfunction is found in the latch lever 95 or damage occurs, it is only necessary to replace the latch lever 95 together with the upper lid 51. Therefore, it is not necessary to make the entire ink cartridge 61 filled with ink defective due to the defect of the latch lever 95, and the yield of the ink cartridge 61 can be greatly improved.

  Although the latch lever 95 is attached to the upper lid 51, the latch lever 95 is formed so as to hang from the one end of the upper lid 51 along the side surface of the case 50, so that the latch lever 95 is located above the upper lid 51. The ink cartridge 61 can be made compact as a whole with almost no protrusion. As a result, the overall size of the inkjet recording apparatus 100 can be reduced.

  Further, since the latch lever 95 is molded separately from the case 50 (container body 7), the latch lever 95 can be molded with any material and shape that easily exerts an elastic force.

  Further, the latch lever 95 and the upper lid 51 are colored in advance corresponding to the ink color of the ink cartridge 61. For this reason, conventionally, a display member (such as a seal) corresponding to the ink color is prepared, and this display member is attached to the upper surface or side surface of the ink cartridge 61. However, this display member and application work are not required. . In addition, when the conventional display member is contaminated with ink, the display cannot be identified depending on the attachment position. However, since the entire upper lid 51 having the latch lever 95 is colored, it can be identified even if it is contaminated with ink. It will not be impossible. The upper lid 51 having the latch lever 95 is attached after the case 50 is filled with ink. In other words, since the upper lid 51 is not yet attached at the time of ink filling, there is no fear that the upper lid 51 having the latch lever 95 is contaminated with ink at the time of filling.

  In addition, the latch lever 95 may have a structure in which the base end portion 195a is integrally attached to the upper surface side of the upper lid 51 as in the latch lever 195 shown in FIG. Also in this case, the substantially U-shaped portion 195d has a portion that hangs down along the side surface of the case 50 (the outer surface of the first wall surface 50b) and the side surface of the case 50 from the lower end of the portion (the first wall surface 50b). The outer surface of the ink cartridge 61 is spaced apart from the outer surface, and the protrusion of the ink cartridge 61 is reduced.

  In addition, when the ink cartridge 61 has a configuration in which three container bodies 7 each containing, for example, three colors of yellow, cyan, and magenta are combined into one, A structure in which one upper lid body 51 having a latch lever 95 formed so as to cover the whole may be mounted.

1 is a perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. It is the perspective view which looked at the head holder from the lower surface side. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a state in which the ink cartridge according to the first embodiment is mounted on a head holder. FIG. 4 is a side view of a state where an upper lid is separated from an ink cartridge. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of mounting the ink cartridge to the head holder. It is a perspective view of each component of a head unit. It is a side view of the ink cartridge of the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head holder 1a, 1b Side plate 1c, 1d Engagement receiving part 3 Mounting part 3a Protruding part 3b Partition plate 4 Communication hole 5 Bottom plate 6 Head unit 7 Container body 10 Cavity unit 19a Ink supply port 20 Piezoelectric actuator 29 Filter 40 Flexible flat Cable 44 Protective cover 50 Cases 50a, 50b First side wall 50c, 50d Second side wall 50e Engaging projection 51 Upper lid 51a Flat part 51b Bending part 51c Fitting receiving part 52 Lower lid 52a Partition wall 52b Concave part 52c Edge 53 Inner lid 53a, 53b Gutter 54, 55 Partition wall 56 Bottom partition wall 57 First chamber 58 Porous material 59 Second chamber 61 Ink cartridge 63 Printer head 64 Carriage 90 Air communication passage 91 Communication hole 92 Ink supply port 93 Air communication hole 94 Packing member 94a Inner diameter portion 95 Lever 95a proximal end 95b engaging projection 95c tip 95d substantially U-shaped portion 95e fitted section 96 sleeve member 100 ink jet recording apparatus

Claims (2)

In an ink cartridge in which ink is stored in a container body provided with a lid and is replaceably attached to a head holder provided with a recording head.
The head holder has a bottom plate in which a communication hole connected to the recording head is formed, and a side plate standing from the bottom plate,
The container body has an ink supply port formed on a lower surface opposite to the lid, and when the ink cartridge is mounted on the head holder, the ink supply port is connected to the communication hole,
A latch lever that engages with the head holder is provided integrally with the lid,
The lid is configured to be detachable from the container body ,
The lid body includes a first engagement portion that hangs down from an end opposite to the latch lever and engages the container body,
The latch lever is
Constructed to engage with the container body, a base end portion formed integrally with the lid body, a tip end portion, and elastically deformable provided between the base end portion and the tip end portion A substantially U-shaped part,
The substantially U-shaped part is:
It consists of a part that hangs down from the lid body along the side surface of the container body, and a part that rises at a distance from the side surface of the container body from its lower end,
The rising portion includes a second engaging portion that engages with the side plate of the head holder, and the hanging portion includes a third engaging portion that engages with the container body,
The latch lever is configured so that the first engaging portion and the third engaging portion are not detached from the container body when the second engaging portion is deformed so as to be detached from the side plate. An ink cartridge characterized by. The ink cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein an inner lid body is provided on the container body side of the lid body, and the container body is sealed with the inner lid body .

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