JPH06328716A - Ink cartridge and ink jet printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the clogging of an ink emitting orifice due to drying caused when an ink cartridge is not mounted on an ink jet printer or when power failure occurs after the ink cartridge is mounted. CONSTITUTION:The shutter 1 fitted with a cup 11 and slidable along the front of a printing head 3 and the spring for pushing the shutter 1 to the front of the printing head 3 are provided to an ink cartridge. A plunger mechanism 6 is provided to the carrier 6 of an ink jet printer and engaged with the shutter 1 of the mounted ink cartridge by a pin 7. When a printer main body receives printing data, the plunger mechanism 6 is driven by a control circuit to open the shutter 1. At the time of power failure, the shutter 1 is closed by the return spring of the plunger mechanism 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink cartridge and an ink jet printer, and more particularly to an ink cartridge in which a print head and an ink tank which are attached to a serial type ink jet printer are integrated and an ink jet printer to which the ink cartridge is attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ink cartridges and ink jet printers of this kind have been constructed so as not to cause clogging of ink ejection holes due to drying of ink in a print head and dropout of dots due to dust. According to this configuration, the ink cartridge is composed of the print head 30 and the ink tank 20 as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 3, and the ink cartridge itself has a mechanism for preventing the ink in the print head 30 from drying. Not not. On the other hand, as shown in the partial configuration diagram of the main body of the inkjet printer in FIG. 4, a cap mechanism 10 for sealing the ink discharge hole at the tip of the print head 30 and the ink discharge at the print standby position called the home position of the inkjet printer. A cleaning blade 70 for cleaning the holes is provided to return the print head 30 to the home position after cleaning with the cleaning blade 70 when the printing operation is stopped, for example, when the power is turned off or print data is not sent for a long time. The ink discharge holes of 30 are shielded from the outside air by the cap mechanism 10.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional ink cartridge and ink jet printer can be removed when it is necessary to temporarily remove the attached ink cartridge due to maintenance inside the printer or change of the printing color. In addition, since the ink cartridge that is not mounted does not have a cap mechanism, there is a problem in that the ink ejection holes of the print head continue to be in contact with the outside air, and the ink dries and causes clogging. In addition, since the cap is not capped until it moves to the home position, for example, when the power supply is stopped due to an unexpected power failure or when a paper jam occurs, the ink ejection holes of the print head are not cleaned until the recovery, and the ink There is a problem that the ink is dried and clogged because the dust and the dust keep contacting with the outside air. Furthermore, there is a problem that the contact member (hereinafter referred to as a cap) in the cap mechanism, which is in contact with the ink ejection holes of the print head, deteriorates in adhesion due to aging or chemical change due to long-term contact with ink.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ink cartridge and an ink jet printer of the present invention are an ink cartridge in which a print head and an ink tank mounted on a serial type ink jet printer are integrated, and a front face of an ink ejection hole of the print head. A shutter having an ink discharge hole cap on the inner surface and a spring for pushing the shutter toward the front surface of the ink discharge hole, or the shutter of the inkjet cartridge In an inkjet printer having a cleaning blade for cleaning the ink ejection holes and mounting the ink cartridge of these configurations on a carrier, a plunger that engages with the shutter of the ink cartridge and the plunger is returned. And a control mechanism that drives the plunger mechanism and slides the shutter from the front of the ink ejection hole when the inkjet printer receives print data. It

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
1A is a perspective view of an ink cartridge, and FIG. 1B is a partial side view of the ink cartridge of FIG. 1A mounted on an inkjet printer. The ink cartridge shown in FIG. 1A has an ink tank 2, a print head 3, and a cap mechanism. The cap mechanism is composed of a shutter 1 having a cap 11 on the inner surface and a cleaning blade 12 on the side surface, and a spring 4. . When the ink cartridge is not installed in the ink jet printer, the shutter 1 has the spring 4
The cover 11 covers the front surface of the print head 3 and the cap 11 provided on the inner surface shields the ink ejection holes 31 from the outside air. When the ink cartridge of FIG. 1A is mounted on the inkjet printer, the plunger 61 of the plunger mechanism 6 provided on the carrier 5 and the shutter 1 of the ink cartridge mounted on the carrier 5 are mounted as shown in FIG. 1B. And 7 are engaged by the pin 7. Although not shown, the ink cartridge is also electrically connected to the printer body.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of the cap mechanism shown in FIG. 2A and 2B are a top view and a front view immediately after the ink cartridge is mounted in the printer main body and when the print data is not received. The plunger mechanism 6 is provided with a drive output from the control circuit 8. However, the plunger 61 is in the return state by the return spring 62. Therefore, the shutter 1 engaged by the pin 7 is also on the front surface of the print head 3, and the ink ejection hole 31 is still capped. 2 (c) and 2 (d) are a top view and a front view when the printer main body receives the print data, and the drive output is given from the control circuit 8 to the plunger mechanism 6, and the plunger 6, the pin 7, and the shutter are shown. 1 moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the cleaning blade 1
The ink ejection hole 31 cleaned by 2 appears.
When the power supply is stopped, the plunger 61 is returned to the state shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B by the return spring 62. When the adhesiveness between the cap 11 and the ink ejection hole 31 deteriorates during long-term use, the ink cartridge is converted.

In the above embodiment, one ink cartridge is attached to the printer, but a plurality of monochrome and color ink cartridges are attached to the printer, and the cap mechanism is operated independently. I don't care.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ink cartridge has the print head, the ink tank, and the cap mechanism for blocking the ejection hole of the print head from the outside air when the printer is not mounted. Even when it is not attached, the clogging of the print head is eliminated, and there is an effect of preventing missing dots.

Further, when the ink jet printer equipped with this cartridge receives the print data, the cap mechanism of the ink cartridge is operated, and the ejection hole of the print head is cleaned by the attached cleaning blade to bring the ejection hole of the print head into contact with the outside air. Or when the power supply is stopped, restore the ink cartridge cap mechanism,
By blocking the discharge holes of the print head from the outside air, the discharge holes of the print head are in contact with the outside air only during printing operation, so the clogging of the print head does not occur even after mounting on the inkjet printer, and the effect of preventing dot omission There is.

Further, since the home position cap mechanism and the cleaning blade are not required in the main body of the ink jet printer, especially when a plurality of ink cartridges are mounted, the place and mechanism not required for printing can be simplified. There is also the effect of being.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are configuration diagrams of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an ink cartridge, and FIG. 1B is a partial side view of the ink cartridge of FIG. Is.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the cap mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional ink cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a part of a configuration of a conventional inkjet printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Shutter 2,20 Ink Tank 3,30 Print Head 4 Spring 5 Carrier 6 Plunger Mechanism 7 Pin 8 Control Circuit 10 Cap Mechanism 11 Cap 31 Ink Discharge Hole 61 Plunger 62 Return Spring

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ink cartridge in which a print head and an ink tank which are mounted on a serial type ink jet printer are integrated, and a front surface of an ink ejection hole of the print head and a position deviated from the front surface are slid to form an ink on the inner surface. An ink cartridge comprising: a shutter having a discharge hole cap; and a spring for pushing the shutter toward the front surface of the ink discharge hole. 2. An ink jet printer in which the ink cartridge according to claim 1 is mounted on a carrier, and a plunger mechanism provided on the carrier has a plunger that engages with the shutter of the ink cartridge and a return spring that returns the plunger. An inkjet printer which drives the plunger mechanism when the inkjet printer receives print data, and slides the shutter from the front surface of the ink ejection hole. 3. An ink cartridge, wherein the shutter according to claim 1 comprises a cleaning blade for cleaning an ink ejection hole. 4. An ink jet printer according to claim 2, wherein the ink cartridge according to claim 1 is the ink cartridge according to claim 3.