JP3224971B2 - ink cartridge - 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 cartridge connected to a printing apparatus such as an ink-jet printer for supplying ink, and more particularly, to an ink cartridge in which an ink supply port and an air communication port are sealed before use. Related ink cartridges.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, as this type of ink cartridge, a holding member for absorbing and holding ink, a housing for accommodating the holding member, and an ink formed on the housing and absorbed and held by the holding member have been used. An ink supply port for supplying to the printing apparatus, an air communication port formed in the housing, for supplying air to the holding member, and a sealing material for sealing the ink supply port and the air communication port. Are known. In this type of ink cartridge, the ink supply port and the atmosphere communication port are sealed with individual seal materials.

In this type of ink cartridge,
Vacuum packaging is performed, and when air enters a holding member such as urethane foam from the ink supply port side at the time of opening,
The air enters the ink jet nozzles of the recording head of the printing apparatus and causes printing failure. If the air communication port is opened first to return the inside of the ink cartridge to the atmospheric pressure, even if the ink supply port is opened thereafter, there is little air intrusion from the ink supply port. Therefore, a precautionary note is written in the instruction manual to remove the seal material from the seal member on the air communication port side.

[0004]

However, if the instruction manual or the like is not sufficiently read, the seal material may be removed from the ink supply port side. Then, as described above, air enters the holding member from the ink supply port side, and the efficiency of supplying ink to the printing apparatus is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent an ink cartridge having an air communication port and an ink supply port from being unsealed by a seal material from the ink supply port side.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a holding member for absorbing and holding ink, a housing for accommodating the holding member, and a housing for accommodating the holding member. An ink supply port formed on the body, for supplying the printing device with ink absorbed and held by the holding member,
An ink cartridge formed in the housing and provided with an air communication port for supplying air to the holding member, and a sealing material sealing the ink supply port and the air communication port; At least once, and
A series of strip-like member one end portion is laminated on the other end surface, each sealing member is provided on the belt-shaped member is <br/> above the other end or al on Kikatamitai periphery along a path disposed to one end above me along, Oyo said ink supply port
And the air communication port is sequentially arranged, and the vicinity of the one end is laminated on the surface of the other end so as to be peelable.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge according to the first aspect, wherein each of the sealing members is constituted by a part of the band-shaped member. The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the band-shaped member is welded to the housing at the other end, a sealing portion of the ink supply port, and a sealing portion of the air communication port. The gist of the present invention is an ink cartridge according to claim 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge according to the third aspect, wherein the other end of the band-shaped member is disposed on a surface of the ink supply port. The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the band-shaped member is provided at the tip near the one end with a portion that is not laminated on the other end. The gist is an ink cartridge.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the belt-like member extends at least one time around the outer periphery of the housing, and the vicinity of one end is laminated on the surface of the other end. The vicinity of the one end is laminated on the surface of the portion so as to be peelable. Therefore, when removing the belt-shaped member, the
The strip-shaped member is gradually peeled off along a path where the strip-shaped member is provided from the one end to the other end along the outer periphery of the housing. Here, the sealing material along the path provided on the belt-shaped member, and the belt-shaped member is disposed to an end of the one I along the end portion or al on Kikatamitai outer circumference of the other
Te, the ink supply port and the atmosphere communication port are sequentially arranged. Therefore, when peeling off the strip, the air communication port,
The sealing with the sealing material is released in the order of the ink supply ports. In addition, since the vicinity of both ends of the band-shaped member is laminated on each other,
The strip is rarely peeled in the opposite direction.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the sealing with the sealing material from being released from the ink supply port side. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily prevent air from entering the holding member from the ink supply port side and causing printing defects. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, each of the sealing members is constituted by a part of the band-shaped member. For this reason, it is not necessary to newly provide a sealing material separately from the belt-shaped member. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, there is an effect that the configuration can be further simplified, and the production cost can be further reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the band-shaped member includes the other end, a sealing portion of the ink supply port, and a sealing portion of the air communication port. And is welded to the housing. That is, in the present invention, the sealing material can be configured by a simple operation such as welding the band-shaped member to the housing. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the invention, there is an effect that the configuration can be further simplified, and the production cost can be further reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the third aspect, the other end of the band-shaped member is disposed on a surface of the ink supply port. For this reason, since the other end and the sealing portion of the ink supply port are disposed at substantially the same position, the number of positions where welding work is performed can be reduced as compared with the case where both are separated. . Therefore, in addition to the effect of the third aspect of the invention, there is an effect that the configuration can be further simplified, and the production cost can be further reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of any one of the first to fourth aspects, the belt-shaped member has a portion which is not laminated on the other end at the tip near the one end. It is characterized by having. For this reason, the operation of removing the belt-shaped member can be easily performed by peeling the belt-shaped member while holding the above-mentioned non-laminated portion. Therefore,
According to the present invention, in addition to the effects of the invention described in any one of the first to fourth aspects, there is an effect that the work of removing the band-shaped member and the sealing material can be further facilitated.

[0014]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of the ink jet printer 1 in which the ink cartridges 50, 60, 70, 80 to which the present invention is applied are mounted.
As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet printer 1 has a recording mechanism 30 capable of ejecting four colors of ink in the main body case 2.
And a carriage mechanism 2 that reciprocates the recording mechanism 30
0 and a transport mechanism 10 for transporting a recording medium such as recording paper P.

The transport mechanism 10 includes a roller 11 extending parallel to the reciprocating direction of the recording mechanism 30.
The recording paper P is conveyed in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the recording mechanism 30 by rotating the roller 11 by a driving source (not shown) meshing with the gear 12 connected to the recording medium 30. Carriage mechanism 20
A carriage 21 on which a recording mechanism 30 is mounted is slidably supported by guide rods 22 and 23 extending in parallel with the roller 11, and a pulley 2 driven by a motor 26 is provided.
The carriage 21 is reciprocated in parallel with the recording paper P together with the recording mechanism 30 by a belt 27 stretched between the driven paper 5 and the driven pulley 24.

As shown in FIG. 3, the recording mechanism 30 includes a four-color ink ejecting mechanism 33, 34, 35, 36 and a four-color ink cartridge 50 for storing ink to be supplied to the ink ejecting mechanisms 33 to 36. , 60, 70, 80, the respective ink ejecting mechanisms 33 to 36, and the respective ink cartridges 5
And a head holder 31 that supports 0 to 80.
The head holder 31 is mounted on the carriage 21 (FIG. 2), and is formed in a box shape with the surface opposite to the recording paper P opened. The head holder 31 has a partition wall 32 for partitioning the inside into four parts. The partition wall 32 is a cartridge accommodating portion 31a in which the black ink cartridge 50 is mounted, and a cartridge in which the cyan ink cartridge 60 is mounted. A housing 31b, a cartridge housing 31c for mounting the magenta ink cartridge 70, and a cartridge housing 31d for mounting the yellow ink cartridge 80 are formed.

Subsequently, the four color ink cartridges 50 to
The configuration and operation of 80 and the ink ejection mechanisms 33 to 36 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the black ink cartridge 50 and the black ink ejecting mechanism 33 will be described as examples.
The same applies to the ink cartridges 60 to 80 and the ink ejection mechanisms 34 to 36 of other colors.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ink cartridge 50 includes an ink container 52 made of a porous material such as urethane foam which absorbs and retains ink of each color in a hollow housing 51. An ink supply port 53 is formed through one side wall 51. In addition, the ink ejection mechanism 33
Is a recording head 37 having a number of ink jet nozzles,
A connecting cylinder 38 having a passage 38a for supplying ink to the recording head 37, and a sealing member 3 for sealing between the periphery of the connecting cylinder 38 and the ink cartridge 50
9 is provided. The connecting cylindrical portion 38 is a wall 31f on the recording paper P side in the cartridge accommodating portion 31a of the head holder 31.
, And the recording head 37 is arranged to face the recording paper P. The end of the connecting cylindrical portion 38 opposite to the recording head 37 projects into the cartridge accommodating portion 31a, and the above-mentioned seal member 39 is fitted on the outer periphery of the projecting portion. The opening of the passage 38 a formed in the connecting cylinder 38 on the cartridge housing 31 a side is covered with the filter 40.

When the ink cartridge 50 is mounted in the cartridge accommodating portion 31a, as shown in FIG. 5, the connecting cylindrical portion 38 is fitted into the ink supply port 53 of the ink cartridge 50 to enter the ink cartridge 50, and the passage 38a
Is pressed against the ink container 52. Further, the ink supply port 53 of the ink cartridge 50 is
To prevent the ink from leaking out. In this state, the ink in the ink container 52 is
0 through the passage 38a of the connecting cylinder 38 and the recording head 3
7 and is ejected onto the recording paper P from a predetermined ink ejection nozzle according to the control signal. Note that, on the side surface of the housing 51 opposite to the ink supply port 53,
An air communication port 55 having a small diameter is formed to penetrate therethrough, from which air is supplied into the housing 51. Therefore, the ink is supplied to the recording head 37 smoothly.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the ink cartridge 50 before starting use. As shown in FIG. 1, before starting use of the ink cartridge 50,
Around the casing 51, a sealing tape 61 is attached to the casing 51.
Is attached around one end, and one end 61b of the seal tape 61 is attached.
Are laminated on the surface of the other end 61a. At this time, the direction from the other end 61a to the one end 61b of the seal tape 61 is arranged so as to coincide with the direction from the ink supply port 53 to the atmosphere communication port 55. That is, the sealing tape 6
The other end 61 a of the first housing 5 is provided on the side of the housing 5 on which the air communication port 55 is provided.
On one side surface, the seal tape 61 is disposed at a position that does not cover the atmosphere communication port 55, and further extends in a direction that does not cover the atmosphere communication port 55, and the lower surface of the housing 51 → the surface of the ink supply port 53 → the ink supply. The housing 51 provided with the opening 53
Side → case 51 top → surface of air communication port 55 and case 51
And the other end 61b of the seal tape 61 is
a on the surface. In this lamination, an adhesive is applied to the back surface of the seal tape 61 on the housing 51 side as necessary.

One end 61b of the sealing tape 61 is
Further, a free end 61c that is not laminated on the housing 51 nor on the surface of the seal tape 61 is provided. Further, the seal tape 61 is heat-welded to the housing 51 at three locations near the other end 61a, around the ink supply port 53, and around the atmosphere communication port 55 (this portion is referred to as a welded portion 63).

In the ink cartridge 50 configured as described above, the sealing tape 61 is welded to the housing 51 at the welding portion 63 around the ink supply port 53 and the welding portion 63 around the atmosphere communication port 55. Seal tape 61 seals the ink supply port 53 and the atmosphere communication port 55 as a sealing material. In the ink cartridge 50, the interior of the housing 51 is evacuated when the ink supply port 53 and the air communication port 55 are sealed.

The other end 61a of the seal tape 61 is welded to the housing 51 at the welding portion 63, and one end 61b is laminated on the surface. One end 61b may be fixed on the other end 61a with an adhesive, or may be thermally welded. When the ink cartridge 50 is used, the sealing tape 61 is peeled off by pulling the free end 61c. With the above configuration, the sealing tape 61 is provided with the air communication port 55 surface → the housing 51 upper surface → the ink supply port 53. The casing 51 is peeled off in this order: the side surface of the housing 51 on the side, the surface of the ink supply port 53, the bottom surface of the housing 51, and the side surface of the housing 51 on which the air communication port 55 is provided. Therefore, the sealing is released in the order of the atmosphere communication port 55 and the ink supply port 53, and the inside of the housing 51 is returned to the atmospheric pressure from the atmosphere communication port 55 side. Therefore, even if the ink supply port 53 is opened, the air rarely flows into the ink container 52 from the ink supply port 53. As a result, the air is less likely to enter the recording head 37, and the printing failure is reduced.

Since the other end 61a of the seal tape 61 from the atmosphere communication port 55 is below the one end 61b, the other end 61a
a from the ink supply port 5
3. It is possible to prevent the sealing from being released in the order of the atmosphere communication port 55. Further, in the ink cartridge 50, the sealing tape 61 is welded around the ink supply port 53 and the atmosphere communication port 55 to seal them, so that the sealing can be performed by a very simple operation. it can. Therefore, the configuration can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, since the end of one end 61b of the seal tape 61 is a free end 61c, the seal tape 61 can be easily peeled off by holding this part.

In the above embodiment, the ink container 52 is used as the holding member, the seal tape 61 is used as the band-shaped member, and the portion of the seal tape 61 that seals the ink supply port 53 and the air communication port 55 is used as the seal material. , Respectively. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the sealing tape 61 is sealed by welding around the ink supply port 53 and the air communication port 55, but the sealing is performed by bonding the sealing tape 61 with an adhesive. May be performed.

Further, they may be sealed with a plug (sealing material) which fits tightly into the ink supply port 53 and the like. In this case, if the plug is fixed to the sealing tape 61, Sealing can be released in the order of the air communication port 55 and the ink supply port 53. In this case, although the sealing performance can be improved and the width of the seal tape 61 can be reduced, the configuration is complicated as compared with the above embodiment.

Further, as in the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, a seal tape 71 may be laminated around the casing 51 as follows. That is, in the present embodiment,
One end 71 a of the seal tape 71 is laminated on the surface of the ink supply port 53, and further, the lower surface of the housing 51 → the side surface of the housing 51 on the side provided with the air communication port 55 → the surface of the air communication port 55 → the housing 5
1 upper surface → the side of the housing 51 on the side where the ink supply port 53 is provided →
One end 71a of the sealing tape 71 is sequentially laminated on the surface, and the other end 71b is further a free end 71c. Also,
The seal tape 71 is heat-welded to the housing 51 at a welding portion 73 around the ink supply port 53 and the atmosphere communication port 55. In the present embodiment, the number of welding portions 73 can be reduced to two. For this reason, the structure can be further simplified and the manufacturing cost can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a configuration of an ink cartridge to which the present invention has been applied before starting use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a configuration of an ink jet printer to which the ink cartridge is mounted.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a configuration of a recording mechanism of the inkjet printer.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a state where an ink cartridge of the recording mechanism is mounted.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a state where the ink cartridge of the recording mechanism is mounted.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a configuration of an ink cartridge according to a second embodiment before use is started.

[Explanation of symbols]

50, 60, 70, 80 ... Ink cartridge
51: Housing 52: Ink container 53: Ink supply port 55
... Atmosphere communication ports 61,71 ... Seal tape 63,73 ... Welded part

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A holding member that absorbs and holds ink, a housing that houses the holding member, and an ink supply that is formed in the housing and that supplies the ink absorbed and held by the holding member to a printing apparatus. An ink communication port formed in the housing, the air communication port for supplying air to the holding member, and a sealing material for sealing the ink supply port and the air communication port; at least around the housing periphery and a series of strips of the one end portion is laminated on the other end surface, each sealing member is provided, it said belt-shaped member is above the other end or al is disposed on the upper Kikatamitai periphery to the one end I along
The ink supply port and the air communication port are sequentially disposed along a path to be cut, and the vicinity of the one end is releasably laminated on the surface of the other end. cartridge. 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein each of the sealing members is constituted by a part of the band-shaped member. 3. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the band-shaped member is welded to the housing at the other end, a sealing portion of the ink supply port, and a sealing portion of the air communication port. Item 3. An ink cartridge according to Item 2. 4. The ink cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the other end of the band-shaped member is provided on a surface of the ink supply port. 5. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the band-shaped member has a portion near the one end that is not laminated on the other end.