JPH06106729A - Ink supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To prevent the surroundings from becoming dirty due to the overflow of the ink that is overfilled in the ink tank from the ink cartridge. [Structure] An ink cartridge 24 is constructed by providing a slidable piston 34 in a cylinder 37 filled with ink, and ink in the cylinder is ejected from an ejection port 29 formed in a protruding portion provided at the tip. An ink storage portion 26 including a porous ink absorbing member 27 is provided around the discharge port 29 of the cartridge 24.
Since the ejection port 29 is inserted into the replenishing port 30 of the ink tank 7, the absorbing member 27 contacts the air hole 32 of the ink tank 7 in the replenishing state, and the ink overflowing from the air hole 32 is absorbed and collected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink replenishing device for replenishing an ink tank for supplying ink to a recording head portion in an ink jet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers have an ink supply section composed of an ink tank for supplying ink to a recording head section having nozzles for ejecting ink. The ink is consumed by recording, the ink in the ink tank decreases, and it is necessary to replenish the ink tank.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ink tank has a supply port 45 for supplying ink to the recording head, and a replenishment port 44 for replenishing ink is formed above the ink tank 47. The replenishment port 44 is usually sealed with a plug (not shown) made of rubber or the like.

Although not shown, the ink tank 47 is mounted above the carriage, and the ink is connected to the nozzle of the recording head inside the ink path through the supply port 45.

As described above, in the ink jet replenishment type ink jet printer, for example, the remaining amount of ink is judged and ink is replenished from the outside when the inside of the ink tank 47 becomes empty.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ink replenishing structure for the ink tank is a cylinder type ink cartridge 41.
The ink filled in the inside is supplied through the supply port 44 of the ink tank. The ink cartridge 41 has a piston 50 slidably provided in the cylinder, and the knob 4
By pushing the piston through 0, the piston 50
Ink in the cylinder is ejected from the ejection port 43 provided on the opposite side. The ejection port 43 is formed in a shape to be inserted into the replenishment port 44 of the ink tank 47, and is provided around the ejection port 43 for the purpose of preventing ink leakage when being inserted into the replenishment port 44 and ejecting ink. A concave portion 52 formed in a shape that fits into a convex portion 51 formed around the supply port 44 is formed.

With the above configuration, the ink cartridge 41 in which the supply port 44 of the ink tank 47 is filled with ink.
The discharge port 43 of is inserted. In this state, the cartridge 41
By depressing the knob 40 downward, the ink 42 in the ink cartridge 41 is filled in the ink tank 47 through the ejection port 43. Reference numeral 46 formed in the ink tank 47 is an air hole for venting air when replenishing the ink.

[0008]

As described above, in the conventional ink replenishment type ink jet printer, when ink is replenished before the ink tank 47 becomes empty,
Overfilling of the ink tank 47 occurs. At this time, the ink overflows from the air holes for bleeding air. Therefore, the user pays attention to the ink supply amount to prevent ink overflow. However, inadvertent stains caused by ink overflow were unavoidable.

In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink replenishing device for an ink jet printer which does not cause ink overflow when replenishing the ink in the ink tank 47.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink cartridge of an ink jet printer of the present invention is provided with an absorbing member made of a porous material for absorbing ink around the cartridge in an ink tank. It is characterized in that it is provided so as to correspond to an air hole for venting air.

[0011]

According to the ink replenishing device of the ink jet printer having the above-mentioned structure, the ink cartridge is provided with the absorbing member made of the porous body for absorbing the ink.
When the ink is replenished, the absorbing member corresponds to the air hole of the ink tank. Therefore, the ink that overflows from the air holes when the ink is overfilled in the tank is absorbed by the absorbing member.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent stains on the periphery due to ink overflow.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an ink replenishing cartridge and an ink tank of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carriage part on which a recording head of an ink jet printer having the ink tank of the present invention is mounted. Figure 3
4 and FIG. 4 are an external perspective view and a top view showing the outline of the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

The ink jet printer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The carriage 1 is slidably mounted on a slide shaft 3 extending left and right of the printer body 2. A timing belt 4 is fixed to the carriage 1. The timing belt 4 is
It is driven by the carriage moving motor 10 via the pulley 21. As a result, the carriage 1 moves left and right on the slide shaft 3 according to the movement of the timing belt 4.

As described above, the ink tank 7 for supplying the ink to the recording head having the nozzles is mounted on the carriage 1 together with the recording head 11, and the recording head 11 travels along the slide shaft 3. Then, each nozzle of the recording head 11 ejects an appropriate amount of ink.

Recording paper is fed to the front surface of the ink jetted by the traveling of the head 11. The platen 39 provided to face the recording head 11 and the pressure roller 6 in pressure contact with the platen 39 feeds a required amount of recording paper. Therefore, the desired recording is performed by ejecting and adhering the ink onto the recording sheet while the recording head is running.

On the other hand, the carriage 1 has a home position at a position in FIG. 4 which is out of the recording area facing the recording paper, and is held at that position when not recording. At that position, a maintenance unit 5 that maintains the nozzles of the recording head 11 is provided.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing details of the maintenance section.
The recording head maintenance unit 5 includes the recording head 11 of the carriage 1.
It has a cap 12 for covering. The cap 12 is fixed to the upper free end of a cap arm 13 having a substantially U-shape in the vertical plane. A cam 14 rotatable within a horizontal axis is in contact with the vertical portion of the cap arm 13.
The cap arm 13 is configured to reciprocate and translate in the front-rear direction L of the printer body 2 according to the rotation of the cam 14. The cam 14 includes a motor gear 15 and a reduction gear 1.
It is driven by a motor 17 via 6. The cam 14 is provided with a protrusion 19. Cap arm 13,
The motor gear 15, the reduction gear 16 and the motor 17 constitute the moving means according to the printer of the invention.

When the carriage 1 reaches the maintenance position, the motor 17 rotates, and the motor gear 15 and the reduction gear 16
The cam 14 is rotated in the direction of arrow M via. Cam 14
The rotation of the cap arm 13 pushes the cap arm 13 forward, and the cap 12 is engaged with the nozzle head 11. The protrusion 19 is
The cap 12 is attached to the cam 14 so as to turn on the switch 20 at the angle of the cam 14 when the cap 12 engages with the nozzle head 11.
It is configured to be stopped by the N signal. The engagement of the cap 12 with the nozzle 11 is released by reversing the motor 15 for a predetermined time interval.

In the ink jet printer having the above construction, ink is consumed by recording, and the ink in the ink tank gradually decreases.

Ink is supplied to the ink tank 7 of the ink jet printer. An ink supply cartridge according to the present invention for that purpose is shown in FIG.

The cartridge 24 is a cylindrical cylinder 3
The inside of the cylinder 7 is filled with the ink 25, and the inside of the cylinder 37 has a slidable piston 34. The piston 34 integrally forms the knob 23, and ejects the ink in the cylinder 37 from the ejection port 29. The ejection port 29 is formed in a protruding portion at the tip of the cylinder 37, and the protruding portion is formed so as to be inserted into the replenishing port 30 formed in the ink tank 7.

Around the discharge port 29, a cylindrical convex portion 36 formed around the supply port 30 of the ink tank 7.
Is formed, and a cylindrical concave portion 35 that fits in is formed.

Further, in the outer peripheral circle of the concave portion 35 around the ejection port 29, the accommodating portion 26 formed in a circular concave shape is formed integrally with the cylinder 37 so that the opening surface thereof faces the ink tank 7. Has been done. An absorber 27 made of a porous body that absorbs ink is accommodated in the storage portion 26. The absorber 27 is provided so as to correspond to the air vent 32 formed in the ink tank 7 for removing air. Further, an air hole 28 for venting air is formed in a part of the storage portion 26.

In the above construction, the ink in the ink tank 24 is reduced and the ink in the ink cartridge 24 is replenished in the ink tank 7. Therefore, the ejection port 29 of the ink cartridge 24 is inserted into the supply port 30 of the ink tank 7. As a result, the concave portion 35 on the ink cartridge 24 side becomes the convex portion 36 on the ink tank side.
The ink is prevented from overflowing from the replenishment port 30 when the ink is replenished with the absorber 2 and the absorber 2 in the storage portion 26 is prevented.
7 closely contacts the air holes 32 of the ink tank 7. In this state, the ink 25 in the ink cartridge 24 is
By depressing 3 downward, the ink is replenished into the ink tank 7 through the ejection port 29. Further, the air in the ink tank 7 at the time of replenishing the ink is supplied from the air hole 32 to the absorbing member 27.
And an air hole 28 provided in the ink containing portion 26 via
Pass through to the outside.

Therefore, when the ink in the ink tank is full, the ink overflows through the air holes 32. In this case, since the ink absorbing member 27 is in close contact with the air hole 32, the overflowing ink is absorbed by the absorbing member 27. The ink absorbable amount of the ink absorbing member 27 is set to be larger than the ink amount in the ink cartridge 24. That is, the amount of ink that the absorbing member 27 can absorb is the volume a in the cartridge 24, the volume b in the ink storage portion 26,
When the volume c when the ink absorbing member 27 is compressed is set,
It is set to satisfy the following formula.

Ink absorbable amount (bc) ≥a By setting in this way, when the ink in the ink tank 7 is accidentally full, the cartridge 2 is refilled even if the ink is replenished.
The same amount of ink as the ink in 4 is completely absorbed by the absorbing member 27, and it does not overflow.

The ejection port 29 of the ink cartridge 24 is sealed with a stopper made of rubber or the like, and is removed at the time of refilling. Further, the supply port 30 of the ink tank 7 is also sealed with a stopper made of rubber or the like.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the ink absorbing member of the porous body is provided in the ink cartridge so as to correspond to the air holes on the ink tank side, the overfilled ink can be stored in the ink tank. Since the ink can be absorbed and collected without overflowing, it is possible to prevent surrounding stains due to ink overflow due to carelessness during use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ink replenishing cartridge and an ink tank portion in which ink is replenished in an inkjet printer according to the present invention. (A) Before replenishment (B) During replenishment

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carriage unit of the inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an entire inkjet printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of an inkjet printer according to the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing a detailed structure of a holding unit of the inkjet printer in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional example of an ink replenishing cartridge of an ink jet printer and an ink tank portion in which ink is replenished. (A) Before replenishment (B) During replenishment

[Explanation of symbols]

 26 Ink Storage Section 27 Ink Absorbing Member 28 Air Hole 29 Discharge Port 30 Replenishment Port 32 Air Hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ink replenishing device for replenishing ink to an ink tank for supplying ink to a recording head section, wherein a part of a cartridge in which ink for replenishing the ink in the ink tank is filled with a porous body absorbs ink. An ink replenishing device, characterized in that a body is provided and the ink absorber is made to correspond to an air hole formed in the ink tank.