JP3580047B2 - Ink cartridge for recording device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention belongs to the technical field of a cartridge provided with an electrode capable of detecting the remaining amount of ink in a cartridge for supplying ink to a recording device such as an ink jet printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-277558 (known example A) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-270001 (known in the art) have provided an electrode for electrically detecting the remaining amount of ink contained in this kind of cartridge. The invention of Example b) has been proposed, and in the known example a, one electrode is inserted into the porous material, and the other electrode is inserted into the ink reservoir in a liquid-tight manner by interposing a rubber stopper. It is arranged so as to protrude and detects a change in the resistance value between the electrodes due to the ink to detect the remaining amount of the ink (ink end, ink near end). One of the electrodes is provided at the bottom of the container, and the other electrode is provided in a protruding manner in the ink supply port in a cantilever manner. It is.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Even in each of the known examples a and b, detection of an ink end or the like can be effectively achieved. However, there are various points expected to be improved as described below.
[0004]
That is, in order to improve the detection accuracy of this type of ink end or the like, for example, even if the remaining amount of ink in the cartridge is very small, the ink in the foam is gravity or It is necessary to be smoothly transferred in the direction of the electrode by the capillary force and to make constant contact with the electrode. Further, it is also desirable that the contact area between the electrode and the ink is large, and that the ink is And excellent wetting performance.
[0005]
A first problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a highly reliable ink cartridge in which the contact between ink and electrodes is strengthened and the detection accuracy of ink end and the like is improved.
[0006]
A second object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge in which the contact area between an ink and an electrode is enlarged to improve the detection accuracy.
[0007]
A third object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge in which the detection accuracy is improved by positively biasing the ink toward the electrode.
[0008]
A fourth problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge which is excellent in the property that the ink wets the electrode.
[0009]
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge having a simple structure and a small number of failures.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The technical contents of the present invention as means for responding to the above-mentioned problem are as follows.
[0011]
(1) In a cartridge for a recording apparatus equipped with a foam for holding ink and provided with a pair of electrodes for detecting a residual state of ink, the cartridge is laid on the surface of the electrode laid on the bottom of an ink container. And an ink cartridge formed with an uneven portion having an acute cross-sectional shape that comes into contact with the ink.
[0012]
(2) The ink cartridge according to the above (1), wherein the uneven portion has a screw-like shape in the longitudinal direction of the electrode.
[0013]
(3) The ink cartridge according to (1), wherein the uneven portion has a saw-tooth shape in a longitudinal direction of the electrode.
[0014]
(4) The ink cartridge according to (1), wherein the uneven portion has a shape of a narrow groove along the longitudinal direction of the electrode.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0018]
(Embodiment 1)
The cartridge 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes three ink containers 11 that can individually store inks of three colors, such as yellow, magenta, and cyan, respectively. Since the technical contents are common, one of the ink containers 11 will be exemplarily described as described below.
[0019]
A foam 12 for holding ink is provided inside the ink container 11, and a filter 14 is provided at the top of an ink supply unit 13 projecting inward. A pair of electrodes to be detected is provided, and the long first electrode 15 has its inner end extending to near the center of the ink container 11 so as to sufficiently contact the foam 12. The base is penetrated through the side wall 11A of the ink container 11 and the outer end is exposed outside the ink container 11, and the short second electrode 16 adjacent to the pair is connected to the base. Like the first electrode 15, it penetrates through the side wall 11A of the ink container 11, and its inner end is inserted into the ink supply section 13. The outer side exposed from the side wall 11A of both electrodes 15, 16 is provided. At the end is a hand that detects the remaining amount of ink. The detector 110 of 100 is obtained by elastic contact.
[0020]
Therefore, when the cartridge 1 is loaded so as to face the ink head of the printer (not shown), the first and second electrodes 15 and 16 are energized from the detector 110 by the detection circuit means 100 on the printer side, and the ink container 11 is turned on. The detection circuit 100 is configured to detect a state in which the ink is electrically conducted by the ink held in the foam 12 in the inside, and the electric resistance value during that time varies according to the change in the remaining amount of the ink.
[0021]
Therefore, the electric resistance between the first and second electrodes 15 and 16 is increased as the amount of ink in the foam 12 is reduced by use, whereby the near end of the ink and the ink end can be accurately adjusted. There is nothing different from a conventional cartridge in that it can be grasped.
[0022]
A characteristic configuration of this embodiment is that the first and second electrodes 15 and 16 are formed with thread-like concave and convex portions 15a and 16a in an intermediate region excluding both ends thereof as shown in FIGS. .
[0023]
In FIG. 3, this point is exemplarily shown for the second electrode 16, and an intermediate region is not shown for the first electrode 15, but a similar thread-shaped uneven portion 15 a is formed. Therefore, the second electrode 16 will be representatively described below.
[0024]
That is, the ink in the ink cartridge 1 comes into direct contact with the second electrode 16 because the foam 12 is in contact with the second electrode 16, and the ink end and the like are detected as described above. As described above, since the second electrode 16 is provided with the thread-shaped uneven portion 16a, the foam 12 itself comes into contact with the electrode 16 over a wider area as compared with a conventional product having a linear and flat surface, and ink The detection accuracy of the end and the like is improved.
[0025]
Further, the following phenomena can be seen when observing the flow direction of the ink in FIG.
[0026]
That is, the sharp protrusion (P) of the thread-shaped uneven portion 16a of the second electrode 16 has its tip penetrated so as to pierce the foam 12, and as a result, the periphery of the sharp protrusion (P) In addition, in the concave portion (Q) between the convex portions (P), the foam 12 is compressed to a large extent to form a region (Z) in which the capillary force is strengthened. As a result, the ink is forcibly moved in the direction of the second electrode 16, the ink is effectively contacted with the second electrode 16, the resistance between the two electrodes 15 and 16 is accurately grasped, and the ink is stably moved. It can detect an ink end or the like.
[0027]
In addition, since the concave portion (Q) has a stronger capillary force, the ink is forcibly attached to the electrode 16, and the wettability of the ink with respect to the electrode is stably obtained.
[0028]
Therefore, there is no needless trouble that the cartridge 1 in which the ink remains is replaced by a new one by mistake, and the waste of the ink is eliminated, so that more high-quality printing can be performed.
[0029]
(Embodiment 2)
The feature of this embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is that the first and second electrodes 15A and 16A are formed with saw-toothed irregularities 15Ab and 16Ab along the longitudinal direction. Is common to that of the first embodiment, and there is no particular difference in the operation and effect thereof, so the description thereof is omitted.
[0030]
(Embodiment 3)
The feature of the structure of the first and second electrodes 15B and 16B shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is that the narrow groove-shaped uneven portions 15Ba and 16Ba are formed along the longitudinal direction. Are common to those of the other embodiments described above, and therefore description thereof is omitted.
[0031]
(Embodiment 4)
The structural feature of the first and second electrodes 15C and 16C shown in FIG. 9 is that rough surface irregularities 15Ca and 16Ca are formed in the intermediate region. The description is omitted because it is common to that of the embodiment.
[0032]
In Embodiments 2 to 4 described above, the first electrodes 15A to 15C are shown in parentheses and are not shown in the drawings, but all have the same irregularities 15Aa to 15Ca as the second electrodes 16A to 16C. Needless to say,
[0033]
In each of the first to fourth embodiments, the concavo-convex portions 15a, 15Aa-16, 16Aa-16Ca common to both the first and second electrodes 15, 15A-15C, 16, 16A-16C are formed. Although the configuration has been described, it has been sufficiently verified that depending on the wetting performance of the ink, merely providing the uneven portion on only one of the electrodes does not hinder the improvement of the detection accuracy of the ink end or the like. .
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
The effects of the present invention described above are as follows.
[0035]
{Circle around (1)} The contact area between the ink and the electrode is enlarged, and the detection accuracy of ink end and the like is improved.
[0036]
{Circle around (2)} The foam is locally compressed to transfer ink having good capillary force in the direction of the electrodes to improve the detection accuracy of the ink end and the like.
[0037]
{Circle around (3)} The ink is excellent in terms of wettability with respect to the electrode, and the detection accuracy of ink end and the like can be greatly improved.
[0038]
{Circle around (4)} The structure is simple, and the ink end and the like can be effectively detected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink cartridge according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a main part of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the electrode according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view when using FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a side view of an electrode pin according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a side view of an electrode pin according to the third embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side view of an electrode pin according to the fourth embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Cartridge 11 Ink container 12 Form 13 Ink supply unit 15, 15A to 15C First electrode 16, 16A to 16C Second electrode 15a, 16a Screw-shaped uneven portion 15Aa, 16Aa Serrated uneven portion 15Ba, 16Ba Narrow groove Irregularities 15Ca, 16Ca Rough irregularities

Claims (4)

And interior forms for the ink retaining, in carts Riddji for a recording apparatus having a pairwise electrodes for detecting the remaining state of the ink, the surface of the electrode which is disposed by lying on the bottom of the ink container, the ink An ink cartridge formed with an uneven portion having a sharp cross section in contact with the ink cartridge. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion has a shape that exhibits a screw shape in a longitudinal direction of the electrode. 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the uneven portion has a saw-tooth shape in a longitudinal direction of the electrode. 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the concave and convex portions have a shape of a narrow groove along a longitudinal direction of the electrode.

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