JPH0523953B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink container installed in an ink jet recording apparatus.

In conventional inkjet recording devices, especially inkjet type printers, cartridge type ink containers are often used because of the ease of replenishing ink. When using this cartridge-type ink container, the advantages include that ink can be refilled by simply replacing the container, there is no need to judge the amount to refill, and there is almost no ink contamination when refilling. There is.

On the other hand, when using this cartridge-type container, it is necessary to connect it to a supply path for supplying the ink in the container to the inkjet head (...generally, this is done using a needle). However, there is a problem in that ink tends to leak from the joint, especially when the entire recording apparatus is carried around or accidentally overturned, or when the joint is released.

Furthermore, unless a cartridge-type ink container is properly positioned and loaded into the loading section of the recording device, the insertion position of the ink ejecting needle may shift, and there is a risk that reliable ink supply may not be achieved.

The present invention was proposed in order to improve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an ink container that can ensure a reliable insertion state of an ink lead-out needle and achieve a good ink supply state without ink leakage. The purpose is to provide.

The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above-mentioned object, and includes: an ink container for storing ink; an ink outlet member for leading out the ink in the ink container to the outside of the ink container; An elastic member having rubber elasticity that is inserted into the outer end of the lead-out member and into which an ink lead-out needle can be inserted, and a rigid member having an opening in which the elastic member is embedded and holds the elastic member by applying a tightening force thereto. a rigid member, the rigid member has an opening end face located closer to the front side than the end face of the elastic member with respect to the insertion direction of the ink guide needle, and the end face of the elastic member and the opening It is characterized by having an inwardly projecting portion in the area between the end face and the end face.

Since the elastic coupling member is held by the ring made of a rigid member in this manner, the inserted needle-like channel (ink lead-out needle) is subjected to a tightening force, thereby suppressing ink leakage. In addition, the protruding portion provided on the inner surface of the ring functions as a guide for guiding the needle-like conduit to the connecting member, so that good connection of the needle-like conduit can be achieved without causing problems in communication of the needle-like conduit. Ru.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIGS. 1a and 1b are reference views showing a schematic configuration for explaining the ink container of the present invention. FIG. 1a is a plan view of the ink container, and FIG. 1b is a partially broken view of the ink container. FIG. Here, the reference numeral 10 is a two-layered polymer film, for example, one film formed by coating nylon on a polyethylene film, which is folded and overlapped, and the surrounding three sides (10x.10y.10z) It is a bag-shaped container formed by joining together by heat welding or the like. 1 side 10x out of 3 joint surfaces
An ink discharge tube 11 for guiding the ink inside the container 10 to the outside is inserted into the joint surface of the container 10. Reference numeral 12 is a stepped cylindrical joining member made of a molded product of an elastic body such as rubber, and there is a space 1 in the large diameter portion 15.
4 is provided, and a small hole 16 communicating from this cavity 14 to the end surface of the small diameter portion 13 is bored. One end of the ink outlet tube 11 inserted into the bag-like container 10 is inserted into the cavity 14 through the small hole 16 and fixed. And joining member 1
The outer end 17 of 2 seals the ink inside the container 10.

A metal rigid ring 18 is provided around the outer end 17, and the elastic portion 19 is slightly compressed by the ring 18.

By the way, as mentioned above, the connecting member 12 is a molded product made of an elastic body such as rubber, but in the present invention, it is determined by its compression set [...JIS,
K6301-1975] is 10% (70±
It is particularly effective to use a rubber having a temperature of 1° C./22 hours or less. Rubbers that can be used here include silicone rubber, urethane rubber, chlorinated polyethylene, epichlorohydrin rubber, nitrile rubber (NBR), isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, fluorine rubber, and the like. Among these, silicone rubber has a high elastic restoring force, has excellent density of holes punctured by needles, etc., which will be detailed later, and has excellent sealability of punched holes, and is also excellent in resistance to ink solvents. This is the best option because there are

In an embodiment of the invention, Toray silicone
The best results were obtained using SH841U (product name: silicone rubber).

FIG. 2 shows, for reference, an example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the ink container shown in FIG. Carriage 21 is movably mounted along shaft 22 and moves reciprocally therealong under the control of a carriage drive motor (not shown). One end of a flexible ink supply path 23 is connected to the opposite end of the recording head 20 from the nozzle 20A. The other end of the flexible ink supply path 23 is attached to one end of a joint 25 fixed to the base 24 of the ink jet recording apparatus. A needle-like conduit 26 is attached to the other end of the joint 25, and both conduits 23 and 26 are communicated through a passage 27 provided inside the joint 25.

Here, the flat bag-shaped ink container shown in FIG. 1a and FIG.
6 to force the needle conduit 26 through the coupling member 12, thereby mounting the container 10 in an inkjet recording device. Nozzle 20 of recording head 20
When ink is ejected from A onto printing paper (not shown) to print numbers, characters, etc., the ink is transferred from the ink container 10 to the recording head 20 via the supply path 23 due to the surface tension of the nozzle 20A of the recording head 20. is supplied. In the present invention, since the container 10 is formed into a flat shape, even if the ink in the container 10 decreases, there is little change in the ink water level, and the ink supply capacity to the recording head 20 is almost constant, so that it is stable from beginning to end. Ink can now be supplied. Furthermore, in the present invention, when the ink container 10 is attached to the inkjet recording device, it is only necessary to insert the needle-like conduit 26 into the connecting member 12 made of an elastic body, which not only simplifies the operation of replacing the container, but also There is no need to contaminate the surrounding area with ink.

FIG. 3 shows an ink cassette 33 which is a reference example of a cassette-type ink container in which the bag-shaped ink container 10 shown in FIGS. FIG. And, in Fig. 4, A- of this Fig. 3 is shown.
The A-line cut surface is shown. In the figure, the coupling member 12 connected to the outlet pipe 11 of the bag-like container 10 is connected to an upper housing 31A and a lower housing 3 of a housing 31 that is divided into two vertically.
Opening 31 formed in one outer wall forming the same plane of 1B
p, and the end surface of the outer end 17 of the coupling member 12 is made to protrude from the above-mentioned one outer wall and is clamped. Here, reference numeral 32 is a vent hole for constantly communicating the inside of the housing 31 with the atmosphere. The ink cassette 33 constructed in this manner can be installed in an inkjet recording apparatus substantially similar to that shown in FIG.

Furthermore, in this ink cassette 33, as shown in FIG. Even when external pressure is applied,
This does not fall off the outer wall of the casing 31, and the connection operation with a needle-like conduit (not shown) can be easily performed here.

Furthermore, since the part 10a of the bag-like container 10 is bonded and fixed to the wall surface of the housing 31, the bag-like container 10 is attached to the housing 31 while the ink cassette 33 is being handled.
There is no possibility that the ink may move inside the ink outlet pipe 11 and fall off, causing ink leakage.

As described above, in this example, the bag-like container 10 made of a flexible material is housed in the rigid housing 31 to form the ink cassette 33, so that when the container 10 is attached to the inkjet recording apparatus,
There is no need to directly touch the flexible bag-like container 10,
Since the loading operation can be carried out by holding the rigid ink cassette 33, handling becomes even easier.

FIGS. 5a and 5b show details of the connecting portion when the ink cassette 33 is installed in the inkjet recording apparatus. Here, 34 is a joint fixed to the base of the inkjet recording apparatus, and a needle-like conduit 35 is inserted through the center thereof. A supply path 36 for supplying recording liquid to the recording head is connected to one end (the right end in FIG. 5) of the needle-like conduit 35. When the coupling member 12 of an ink cassette (not shown) is brought into pressure contact with the side end surface of the joint 34, the needle-like conduit 35 is inserted into the coupling member 12 and penetrates into the cavity 14 thereof. As a result, the bag-like container (not shown) in the ink cassette and the supply path 36 are connected to the outlet pipe 11.
This allows ink to be supplied to the recording head from within the bag-like container.

In addition, in FIGS. 5a and 5b, the connection state is shown without the ring 18, but as shown in the reference example of FIGS. 1 and 4, the ring 18 is placed around the rubber.
By enclosing the ink, the needle-like conduit 35 penetrating into the coupling member 12 is subjected to a tightening force and comes into complete contact with the coupling member 12, so there is no room for ink leakage even if some vibration is applied. After the needle-like conduit 35 is removed, the piercing hole remaining in the coupling member 12 is immediately closed, and no ink leaks out.
Even more effective.

Here, FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of the structure of the coupling member 12 in the ink container of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of an ink supply coupling part to which a ring 18 according to the present invention is attached. In FIG. 6, a ring 18 made of a rigid material and having an opening that applies a tightening force to and holds the outer end 17 of the coupling member 12 made of an elastic body has an open end surface at the outer end. It is located on the nearer side than the end face of the ring 17 with respect to the insertion direction of the needle-like conduit 35 for leading out the ink, and is further directed inward in the area between the end face of the outer end 17 and the open end face of the ring 18. It once has an overhanging inner surface 18x.

This inner surface 18x functions as a needle receiving guide so that the needle-like conduit 35 inserted into the coupling member 12 is inserted with precision.
The needle-like conduit 35 is positioned so as to pierce the opening 18p at the joint with the outer end 17. By configuring the coupling member 12 in this manner, it is almost impossible for the needle-like conduit 35 to become diagonally punctured or otherwise cause problems in communication with the ink container.

As explained above, according to the ink container of the present invention, since the bag-like container is formed flat and is arranged parallel to the bottom surface of the inkjet recording device, there is almost no pressure on the ink taken out from the bag-like container. There is no pressure applied near the recording head. Therefore, printing defects such as unnecessary ink leakage and splash from the nozzle do not occur.
Moreover, even if the ink in the bag-shaped container decreases, unlike conventional vertical containers, the ink supply capacity remains unchanged, so there is no need for a special pump or pressure regulating valve, allowing for smaller equipment. This is a great contribution. In addition, the container can be attached extremely easily and reliably by simply connecting the connecting member and the joint portion, which have a simple structure.

Further, in the present invention, if the bag-like container is accommodated in a housing to form an ink cassette, the ink container can be easily handled, and such an ink cassette may have an extremely simple structure. It can be easily and reliably attached to and removed from the road, and there is no risk of ink leakage during attachment and detachment.

Furthermore, since the ink container of the present invention is sealed by a connecting member made of an elastic material with a small compression set, there is no ink leakage at all, and the hole for a needle or the like in the connecting member is well closed. Even when replacing the ink container, no ink contamination occurs.

Further, since the connecting member is surrounded by a rigid ring and tightened, when a needle-like conduit is connected to this, ink can be reliably delivered without falling off.

In addition, the protrusion provided on the inner surface of the ring (rigid member) functions as a guide to guide the needle-shaped channel (ink lead-out needle) to the coupling member, and allows good communication between the needle-shaped channel and the connecting member. A needle conduit connection is achieved.

Various effects can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1a is a plan view showing an example of the ink container of the present invention, FIG. 1b is a partially cutaway side view thereof, and FIG. 2 is an inkjet recording apparatus using the ink container shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the ink cassette containing the bag-like containers shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, and FIG. 4 is a view taken along line A-A in FIG. Cutaway view, Figures 5a and 5
FIG. b is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the coupling part of the ink container of the present invention, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams each showing a modified example of the coupling member according to the ink container of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a bag-shaped container, 11 is an ink outlet tube, 12 is a coupling member, 13 is a small diameter part, 14 is a cavity, 15 is a large diameter part, 16 is a small hole, 17 is an outer end, 18 is a ring, 19 is an elastic body part, 20 is a recording head, 20A is a nozzle, 21 is a carriage,
22 is a shaft, 23 and 36 are supply channels, 24 is a base, 25 and 34 are joints, 26 and 35 are needle pipes, 27 is a passage, 31 is a housing, 31A is an upper housing, and 31B is a lower housing. body, 32 is a ventilation hole, 33 is an ink cassette, 18x is a side, 18p is an opening, 3
1p is an opening, and 31R is an annular recess.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ink container for storing ink, an ink leading member for leading the ink in the ink container to the outside of the ink container, and an ink leading member inserted into an outer end of the ink leading member. An elastic member having rubber elasticity into which an ink guide needle can be inserted; and a rigid member having rigidity and having an opening in which the elastic member is embedded and holds the elastic member by applying a tightening force to the rigid member. The member has an open end face located closer to the user than the end face of the elastic member with respect to the insertion direction of the ink guide needle, and a member that faces inward in a region between the end face of the elastic member and the open end face. An ink container characterized by having a projecting portion.