This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-027907, filed on Feb. 7, 2007 and No. 2007-338151, filed on Dec. 27, 2007, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fluid container containing fluid, a method for recycling a used fluid container by refilling the container with fluid, a method for piercing a cover film of a fluid container, a piercing jig used in the method, and an apparatus for manufacturing a fluid container.
2. Related Art
An ink cartridge removably mounted in an inkjet printer (hereinafter, referred to as a printer), which is a type of fluid ejection apparatus, for example, is known as a fluid container containing fluid. The ink cartridge includes a container body having a substantially flat box-like shape. An ink chamber is defined in the container body and contains ink as the fluid. An ink inlet hole is formed in a lower surface of the container body. Ink is initially introduced into the ink chamber through the ink inlet hole. A film is applied to the lower surface of the container body to cover the ink inlet hole, thus suppressing leakage of the ink through the ink inlet hole.
As the printer consumes the ink in the ink cartridge mounted in the printer, the ink in the ink chamber decreases and is eventually used up. The used ink cartridge is replaced by a new ink cartridge. Even after the ink cartridge is removed from the printer, the container body of the ink cartridge is still usable for repeated cycles. Japanese Utility Model No. 3118670 discloses a technique by which a used ink cartridge is recycled as a reusable ink cartridge by refilling the container body with ink. This addresses to efficient use of resources and preservation of environments.
The aforementioned document describes a piercing jig having a disk-like seating portion that sits on a portion encompassing an ink inlet hole, a sharp-pointed rod portion extending from the center of the lower surface of the seating portion opposed to the ink inlet hole, and a cutting portion having a plurality of blades, which are arranged on the lower surface of the seating portion and around the rod portion while being mutually spaced. To refill a used ink cartridge with ink, an opening is formed in a film covering the ink inlet hole using the piercing jig.
Specifically, the rod portion of the jig is passed through the film and into the ink inlet hole and the seating portion of the jig is brought into contact with the portion encompassing the ink inlet hole. In this state, the jig is rotated about the axis of the rod portion. This causes the blades of the cutting portion, which is held in a state pressed against the portion encompassing the ink inlet hole, to cut the film along the circumference of the ink inlet hole. Afterwards, a syringe, for example, is passed through the ink inlet hole via the opening thus formed in the film to refill the container body with the ink.
However, the jig of this technique may generate fragments of the film when cutting it. The fragments then may fall into the ink inlet hole. If the fragments enter the ink cartridge along with ink refill, the fragments may clog an ink passage or the like in the ink cartridge.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to form an opening in a cover film of a used fluid container without generating fragments of the cover film.
To achieve the foregoing objective and in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a piercing method for forming an opening in a cover film welded or bonded to a fluid container in such a manner as to cover a hole formed in the fluid container is provided. The method includes: forming a cut in the cover film in such a manner as to provide a cut piece supported in a cantilever manner in a covering area of the cover film that covers the hole; and forming the opening in the cover film by causing the cut piece to hang down in the hole.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a piercing method for forming an opening in a cover film welded or bonded to a fluid container in such a manner as to cover a hole formed in the fluid container is provided. The method includes: preparing a cutting member having a blade body; and forming the opening in the cover film by passing the cutting member through the cover film to form a cut in the cover film by means of the blade body, wherein the blade body is shaped in such a manner as to form the cut shaped substantially identical with a cross section of the blade body in a direction perpendicular to a penetrating direction when the cutting member penetrates the cover film.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, a piercing jig for forming an opening in a cover film welded or bonded to a fluid container in such a manner as to cover a hole formed in the fluid container is provided. The piercing jig includes a blade body having a distal end that enters a covering area of the cover film that covers the hole when the opening is formed in the cover film. The distal end of the blade body has a conical shape.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, a piercing jig for forming an opening in a cover film welded or bonded to a fluid container in such a manner as to cover a hole formed in the fluid container is provided. The piercing jig includes a blade body having a distal end that enters a covering area of the cover film that covers the hole when the opening is formed in the cover film. The distal end of the blade body includes a blade portion that forms a cut in the cover film in such a manner as to form a cut piece supported in a cantilever manner in the cover film.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, a piercing jig for forming an opening in a cover film welded or bonded to a fluid container in such a manner as to cover a hole formed in the fluid container is provided. The piercing jig includes a blade body having a distal end that enters a covering area of the cover film that covers the hole when the opening is formed in the cover film. The distal end of the blade body includes at least three blade portions extending radially from a single point.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the present invention, a method for recycling a used fluid container is provided. The fluid container has a hole through which a fluid is introduced and a cover film welded or bonded to the fluid container in such a manner as to cover the hole. The method includes: piercing the cover film by sticking a blade body having a conical distal end into a covering area of the cover film covering the hole from the distal end of the blade body; refilling the fluid container with the fluid through the opening in the cover film; and sealing the opening using a sealing member.
In accordance with a seventh aspect of the present invention, a method for recycling a used fluid container is provided. The fluid container has a hole through which a fluid is introduced and a cover film welded or bonded to the fluid container in such a manner as to cover the hole. The method includes: forming a cut in the cover film in such a manner as to provide a cut piece supported in a cantilever manner in a covering area of the cover film that covers the hole; forming an opening in the cover film by causing the cut piece to hang down in the hole; refilling the fluid container with the fluid through the opening in the cover film; and sealing the opening using a sealing member.
In accordance with an eighth aspect of the present invention, a method for recycling a used fluid container is provided. The fluid container has a hole through which a fluid is introduced and a cover film welded or bonded to the fluid container in such a manner as to cover the hole. The method includes: preparing a cutting member having a blade body; piercing the cover film by passing the cutting member through the cover film to form a cut in the cover film by means of the blade body, wherein the blade body is shaped in such a manner as to form the cut shaped substantially identical with a cross section of the blade body in a direction perpendicular to a penetrating direction when the cutting member penetrates the cover film; refilling the fluid container with the fluid through the opening; and sealing the opening by a sealing member.
In accordance with a ninth aspect of the present invention, a fluid container recycled by the method according to the sixth aspect of the present invention is provided.
In accordance with a tenth aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for manufacturing a reusable fluid container by refilling a used fluid container with a fluid is provided. The fluid container includes a hole through which the fluid is introduced and a cover film welded or bonded to the fluid container in such a manner as to cover the hole. The apparatus includes a cutting member, a filling device, and sealing device. The cutting member has a blade body, and is passed through the cover film to form a cut in the cover film by means of the blade body, thereby forming an opening in the cover film. The blade body is shaped in such a manner as to form the cut substantially identical with a cross section of the blade body in a direction perpendicular to a penetrating direction when the cutting member penetrates the cover film. The filling device fills the fluid container with the fluid through the opening. The sealing device seals the opening using a sealing member.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
The features of the present invention that are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description of the presently preferred embodiments together with the accompanying drawings in which:
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
With reference to
As shown in
As illustrated in
A rib 28 defines an upper ink chamber 29 and a lower ink chamber 30 in the container body 12. The first ink inlet hole 21 communicates with the upper ink chamber 29 and the lower ink chamber 30 through a narrow passage 21a and a narrow ink inlet port 21b, which are formed in the container body 12. The second ink inlet hole 22 communicates directly with the lower ink chamber 30. In initial filling of the ink chambers 29, 30, ink is introduced through the ink inlet holes 21, 22. After such initial filling, the first and second ink inlet holes 21, 22 are sealed by a cover film 31 along with the opening 20. The cover film 31 is formed by a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) based film or a nylon (NY) based film exhibiting improved heat resistance.
When the ink cartridge 11 is secured to the cartridge holder of the printer, an ink supply needle (not shown) provided in the cartridge holder is inserted into the ink supply port 23. With reference to
As illustrated in
After the ink cartridge 11 is mounted in the cartridge holder of the printer, the printer consumes the ink until the ink is used up. At this stage, the used ink cartridge 11 is removed from the cartridge holder and replaced by a new ink cartridge 11. The used ink cartridge 11 is then refilled with ink and recycled as a reusable ink cartridge without being discarded. This contributes to efficient use of resources and preservation of environments.
In refilling of the used ink cartridge 11, an opening 61 through which ink is introduced is formed in the cover film 31 using a piercing jig 40. The piercing jig 40 will hereafter be explained with reference to
As shown in
A pair of opposing inner surfaces 45 of the left and right legs 44 function as guide portions that are slidable on the left and right surfaces of the ink cartridge 11. A tapered surface 45a extends from the rear end of each of the inner surfaces 45 and inclines outwardly toward the distal end of the inner surface 45. A groove 45b is formed in the inner surface 45 of the left leg 44, as viewed in
With reference to
As illustrated in
As shown in
Thus, if the bolts 49 are rotated with the bolts 50 maintained spaced from the corresponding blocks 48, the blocks 48 are moved in the cutouts 47 in the up-and-down direction. For example, if the bolts 49 are rotated clockwise as viewed in
With reference to
As shown in
An external thread portion 58 is formed at the distal portion of each of the bolts 56 and threaded with an internal thread bore 59 formed in the proximal portion of the blade body 54 received in the corresponding circular bore 53. The distal surface of each of the pressing screws 57 is pressed against a side surface of the blade body 54 in the corresponding one of the circular bores 53. This restricts rotation of the blade body 54. Thus, by rotating the blade bodies 54 integrally with the corresponding bolts 56 while the blade bodies 54 are threaded with the bolts 56 with the pressing screws 57 maintained separate from the side surfaces of the blade bodies 54, the angular positions of the blade portions 55 are changed in the rotational direction of each blade body 54 about the axis of the blade body 54.
If the bolts 56 are rotated in a retreat direction while the pressing screws 57 are pressed against the side surfaces of the blade bodies 54 to restrict rotation of the blade bodies 54, solely the bolts 56 are retracted. The heads of the bolts 56 are thus exposed from the base body 41. If, in this state, the pressing screws 57 are spaced from the side surfaces of the blade bodies 54, each of the bolts 56 and the associated one of the blade bodies 54, which are integrated through engagement between the external thread portion 58 and the internal thread bore 59, are lowered by the distance corresponding to the amount by which the head of the bolt 56 has been raised. This changes the projection amount of each blade body 54 from the lower surface of the base body 41. Then, in this state, by rotating each pressing screw 57 in a fastening direction to press the pressing screw 57 against the side surface of the corresponding blade body 54, rotation and movement in the up-and-down direction (the axial direction) of the blade body 54 is restricted.
A method for forming openings in the cover film 31 of the used ink cartridge 11, which seals the ink inlet holes 21, 22 and the opening 20, will hereafter be explained with reference to
To form openings in the cover film 31, the used ink cartridge 11 is placed with the lower surface of the ink cartridge 11 facing upward, with reference to
Subsequently, with the pressing screws 57 loosened and spaced from the side surfaces of the corresponding blade bodies 54, the bolts 56 are rotated to adjust the angular position of each blade body 54 in the rotational direction. Further, with the bolts 50 loosened and spaced from the corresponding blocks 48, the two bolts 49 are rotated to adjust the positions of the blocks 48 in the corresponding cutouts 47. Specifically, the rotational angular position of each blade body 54 and the position of each block 48 are adjusted in advance to ensure that the angular positions of the blade portions 55 of the blade body 54 coincide with desirable positions in cutting of the cover film 31 and prevent the blade portions 55 from entering the ink inlet holes 21, 22 by an excessive amount when the piercing jig 40 is brought close to the ink cartridge 11 and the blade portions 55 of the two blade bodies 54 penetrate the cover film 31. As has been described, the amount by which the blade bodies 54 project into the corresponding ink inlet holes 21, 22 may be adjusted by rotating the bolts 56 and the pressing screws 57 alternately to change the projecting amounts of the blade bodies 54 from the lower surface of the base body 41.
After the adjustment, the piercing jig 40 is brought closer to the ink cartridge 11. This causes the inner surfaces 45 of the legs 44 of the piercing jig 40 to slide on the left surface and the right surface of the ink cartridge 11 and the inner surfaces 46 of the joint plates 43 to slide on the front surface and the rear surface of the ink cartridge 11. Further, the inner surface of the left cutout 47 slides on the guide walls 23a of the ink supply port 23 of the ink cartridge 11 to adjust the movement direction of the cutout 47 with respect to the ink supply port 23.
Immediately before the two blocks 48 contact the lower surface of the ink cartridge 11 facing upward and the distal end of the ink supply port 23, the blade portions 55 of the two blade bodies 54 penetrate the covering areas of the cover film 31 that covers the ink inlet holes 21, 22. This causes the blade portions 55 to form cross-shaped cuts in the cover film 31. Each of the cuts extends radially from the point corresponding to the center of the corresponding one of the ink inlet holes 21, 22. That is, each blade body 54 of the piercing jig 40, or a cutting member, forms a cut (in the illustrated embodiment, a cross-shaped cut) extending in directions perpendicular to the penetrating direction of the piercing jig 40 in the cover film 31 when the piercing jig 40 penetrates the cover film 31. The cross-shaped cuts are thus formed in the cover film 31 in correspondence with the shapes of the blade bodies 54.
Each of the cross-shaped cuts forms four cut pieces 60 that are identically shaped and supported in a cantilever manner. The cut pieces 60 thus hang down in the corresponding ink inlet hole 21, 22 separately from one another in radial directions. As a result, with reference to
Afterwards, an ink introduction nozzle N serving as a filling device shown in
Next, a method for sealing the two openings 61 in the cover film 31 using the laminated film 70 will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
With the first film 71 maintained in contact with the cover film 31 in such a manner as to cover the ink inlet holes 21, 22 and the corresponding openings 61, the laminated film 70 is placed on the container body 12. The first film 71 is thus opposed to the container body 12 while maintained in contact with the cover film 31. At this position, the first film 71 is heated to be welded to the cover film 31. Since the second film 72 is arranged at an outer side, the second film 72, which has the improved heat resistance, maintains sealing by the laminated film 70.
As the first film 71, a polyolefin (PO) based film or an ester based film or an easy peel open (EPO) film may be employed. If the EPO film is used, the laminated film 70 is bonded to the cover film 31 through welding of the EPO film. Afterward, the EPO film may be easily peeled off the cover film 31 to expose the openings 61 when necessary.
The second film 72 is formed by a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) based film that does not melt at the temperature at which the polyolefin (PO) based film melts, and exhibits enhanced heat resistance compared to the PO based film. The thickness of the first film 71, which is layered with the second film 72, is set to 20 to 60 μm, and, preferably, to 40 μm. By setting the thickness of the first film 71 to 20 μm or greater, formation of a gap between the second film 72 and the cover film 31 is prevented even if the bonding surface of the second film 72 with respect to the first film 71 is uneven. By setting the thickness of the first film 71 to 60 μm or less, the thickness of the first film 71 is prevented from becoming excessively great, which increases the cost and decreases heat conductivity of the first film 71 when the first film 71 is heated.
After the laminated film 70 is placed on the cover film 31, a heater 73 serving as a sealing device is lowered toward the laminated film 70 from above the laminated film 70 as shown in
Thus, as illustrated in
By melting the first film 71 through heating by the heater 73, the laminated film 70 is firmly welded on the cover film 31. The laminated film 70 thus covers the openings 61 formed in the cover film 31 to seal the openings 61. Afterward, the heater 73 is raised from the position (the contact position) represented by the solid lines in
The illustrated embodiment has the following advantages.
(1) The openings 61 formed in the cover film 31 using the piercing jig 40 are provided by the cut pieces 60, which are formed by the cross-shaped cuts in the cover film 31 and are supported in a cantilever manner. The cut pieces 60 hang down in the ink inlet holes 21, 22, thus preventing generating fragments of the cover film 31. This also prevents ink refill, which is introduced through the openings 61, from containing fragments. Clogging of a passage (which is, for example, the narrow passage 21a or the narrow ink inlet port 21b) of the recycled ink cartridge 11 is thus suppressed. As a result, the ink cartridge 11 is effectively recycled.
(2) Using the piercing jig 40, the openings 61 are formed in the covering areas of the cover film 31 with respect to the ink inlet holes 21, 22. Each of the openings 61 has the center corresponding to the center of the corresponding one of the ink inlet holes 21, 22. This facilitates introduction of the ink refill trough the openings 61.
(3) Using the piercing jig 40, the four uniform-sized cut pieces 60 are provided in the covering area of the cover film 31 with respect to each ink inlet hole 21, 22 and extend radially from the center of the covering area. The cut pieces 60 hang down in the corresponding ink inlet hole 21, 22 to provide the opening 61 with a desirable shape. This facilitates insertion of the ink introduction nozzles into the openings 61. Supply of ink refill is thus easily carried out.
(4) When the openings 61 are formed in the cover film 31 by cutting the cover film 31 by the piercing jig 40, the portions of the cover film 31 around the ink inlet holes 21, 22 of the container body 12 are prevented from being damaged. This also suppresses fragmentation of the cover film 31, which may cause clogging of the ink passage or the like. Further, the cut pieces 60, which are formed by the piercing jig 40, are prevented from hanging down in the ink inlet holes 21, 22 by excessive amounts. This prevents blockage of, for example, the narrow passage 21a or the narrow ink inlet port 21b of the first ink inlet hole 21 by the cut pieces 60. The supply of the ink refill is thus effectively performed.
(5) The blade portions 55 formed at the distal portion of each blade body 54 of the piercing jig 40 are each shaped to extend toward the proximal end of the blade body 54 as the blade portions 55 radially separate from a point on the axis of the blade body 54. The crossing point of the blade portions 55 thus becomes sharp and causes the distal end of each blade body 54 to penetrate the cover film 31 sharply in piercing. Thus, by forming cuts in the cover film 31 while preventing fragments of the cover film 31 being generated, the piercing jig 40 forms the openings 61 with the desirable shapes. As a result, the openings 61 are easily formed in the cover film 31 without rotating the blade bodies 54.
(6) In piercing, the container body 12 contacts the blocks 48, each of which functions as the restricting portion, thus restricting excessive proceeding of the blade portions 55 of the blade bodies 54 into the ink inlet holes 21, 22 of the container body 12. This prevents the container body 12 from being damaged the blade portions 55 that proceed into the ink inlet holes 21, 22 by excessive amounts. Also, the openings 61 formed in each piercing operation are uniformly sized.
(7) The positions of the blocks 48 functioning as the movable members in the corresponding cutouts 47 are changed by rotating the bolts 49, 50. This adjusts the penetrating amount of each blade portion 55 of the blade bodies 54 with respect to the cover film 31, changing the size of each opening 61 that is to be provided. Further, if the bolts 50 are prevented from being rotated, uniformly sized openings 61 are provided constantly.
(8) By loosening the pressing screws 57 serving as the adjustment mechanisms to adjust the angular positions of the corresponding blade bodies 54 in the rotational directions, the extending directions of the cuts formed by the blade portions 55 are changed. In this manner, the positions at which the cut pieces 60 hang down in the ink inlet holes 21, 22 are adjusted. In other words, the positions at which the cut pieces 60 hang down are adjusted in correspondence with the positions of the passage 21a or the ink inlet port 21b of the ink inlet hole 21.
(9) The inner surfaces 45 of the legs 44 and the inner surfaces 46 of the joint plates 43 of the piercing jig 40 function as guide portions that adjust the penetrating direction of each blade body 54 with respect to the cover film 31 along a direction perpendicular to the cover film 31. Thus, the blade portions 55 of each blade body 54 are guided constantly to the same positions in the covering area of the cover film 31 with respect to the corresponding ink inlet hole 21, 22. As a result, the openings 61 provided in each piercing operation are located at the constant positions.
(10) To seal the openings 61 in the cover film 31, the first film 71 of the laminated film 70 is molten through heating and thus welded on the cover film 31. Further, since the second film 72 is heat resistant, the laminated film 70 ensures improved sealing performance. This provides the ink cartridge 11 with the enhanced sealing performance.
(11) If the first film 71 is formed by the easy peel open film, the laminated film 70 may be removed from the cover film 31 when necessary even after the laminated film 70 is welded on the cover film 31.
(12) The thickness of the first film 71 is 20 to 60 μm. Thus, in melting of the first film 71 through heating by the heater 73, formation of a gap between the second film 72 and the cover film 31 is prevented even if the bonding surface of the second film 72 with respect to the first film 71 is slightly uneven. Further, the cost for the laminated film 70 is prevented from increasing.
(13) The first film 71 is reliably welded on the cover film 31 at the annular areas around the circumferences of the ink inlet holes 21, 22 through heating. The laminated film 70 thus exerts improved sealing performance.
(14) The first film 71 is heated both at the annular areas around the circumferences of the ink inlet holes 21, 22 and the covered areas of the ink inlet holes 21, 22, which are the interiors of the annular areas. This suppresses variation of strength in different areas and provides uniform sealing performance.
The illustrated embodiment may be modified in the following forms.
The present invention may be embodied by a manufacturing apparatus having a piercing mechanism configured equivalently with the piercing jig 40 of the illustrated embodiment. For example, the body of the apparatus is capable of holding the ink cartridge 11 with the surface of the ink cartridge 11 with which the cover film 31 is bonded facing upward. The piercing mechanism, or a cutting member, is provided in the body of the apparatus in a manner movable in the up-and-down direction. By lowering the piercing mechanism, blade bodies of the piercing mechanism are caused to penetrate the cover film 31 at positions at which openings are to be formed, thus forming a cut. It is further preferred that the manufacturing apparatus include an ink introduction nozzle through which the ink cartridge 11 is refilled with ink after the openings are formed, and a sealing mechanism that seals the openings for refilling using a film serving as a sealing member.
Using the manufacturing apparatus, the openings 61, through which the ink is introduced, are formed in the cover film 31, which seals the ink inlet holes 21, 22 and the opening 20. After the ink refill is poured through the openings 61, the openings 61 are sealed by the film serving as the sealing member. This easily provides an ink cartridge 11 filled with the ink without fragments of the cover film 31. Particularly, in the piercing step, generation of fragments of the cover film 31, which becomes waste material when scattered, is suppressed. This reduces the load regarding handling of the waste material and prevents contamination of environments by the waste material.
As illustrated in
The blade portions 55 of each blade body 54, which extend radially, may be spaced not at equal angular intervals but at unequal angular intervals about the axis of the blade body 54.
Alternatively, the blade portions 55 of each blade body 54 may extend radially on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the blade body 54 at the distal end of the blade body 54.
The inner surfaces 45 of the legs 44 and the inner surfaces 46 of the joint plates 43 of the piercing jig 40 do not necessarily have to slide on the corresponding side surfaces of the ink cartridge 11 in piercing. That is, the piercing jig 40 does not necessarily have to guide the ink cartridge 11.
The blade bodies 54 may be fixed to the base body 41 so that the angular positions of the blade bodies 54 in the rotational direction cannot be changed.
The piercing jig 40 does not necessarily have to include the cutouts 47 or the blocks 48. In piercing, the lower surface of the base body 41 may either directly contact or be maintained spaced from a portion of the container body 12 of the ink cartridge 11.
Each blade body 54 may be formed by a blade body having a conical distal end. In this case, the openings 61 are formed by passing the blade body through the cover film 31 from the distal end of the blade body. Specifically, the piercing jig 40 may be a piercing jig having a blade body shaped like a punch. For example, the piercing jig 40 may be conical or shaped like a pyramid. Also in this case, the openings 61 are formed in the cover film 31 without generating fragments of the cover film 31.
Each blade body 54 of the piercing jig 40 may be configured in any suitable manner as long as the blade body 54 provides the cut pieces 60 that are supported in a cantilever manner by penetrating the cover film 31 by the distal end of the blade body 54. For example, the blade body 54 may have a blade portion that is formed at the distal end of the blade body 54 and provides a U-shaped, C-shaped, or H-shaped cut in the cover film 31. Each opening 61 is thus shaped and sized in correspondence with the cut pieces provided by the blade portion. Specifically, if each blade body 54 of the piercing jig 40, or the cutting member of the cover film 31, is shaped in such a manner as to form a cut shaped substantially identical with a cross section formed by the blade body 54 in a direction perpendicular to the penetrating direction when the piercing jig 40 penetrates the cover film 31, a cut formed in the cover film 31 is shaped in correspondence with the blade body 54. Also in this case, the openings 61 are formed without generating fragments of the cover film 31.
Alternatively, to form the openings 61 by forming the cut pieces 60 in the cover film 31, the cover film 31 may be cut along the outline of the cut pieces 60 using a blade body such as a cutter knife.
The heater 73, which heats the laminated film 70 while pressing the laminated film 70 against the cover film 31, may be shaped in any suitable form as long as the heater 73 is capable of heating the laminated film 70 and melting the first film 71.
The heater 73 may heat solely the annular areas of the laminated film 70 around the circumferences of the two ink inlet holes 21, 22. In this case, the first film 71 is molten only at the annular areas.
The thickness of the first film 71 of the laminated film 70 may be set to a value other than 40 μm as long as the value falls in the range of 20 to 60 μm.
The first film 71 of the laminated film 70 may be a urethane based film or a bonding film with an adhesive property.
The laminated-film 70 may have a three-layer structure including an additional film arranged between the first film 71 and the second film 72. That is, the laminated film 70 may be configured in any suitable manner as long as the outermost layer that contacts the cover film 31 is the first film 71 and the opposing outermost layer is the second film 72.
In the illustrated embodiment, the openings 61, which are formed in the cover film 31 of the used ink cartridge 11 to be refilled with the ink, are formed as openings to be sealed. However, the ink inlet holes 21, 22, for example, of the ink cartridge 11 that has been refilled with the ink may be formed as openings that are to be sealed. In this case, the ink inlet holes 21, 22 are sealed by the laminated film 70.
The sealing member that seals the openings 61, which are formed in the cover film 31 of the used ink cartridge 11 to be refilled with the ink, does not necessarily have to be the laminated film 70 that is heated to be welded on the cover film 31. That is, the sealing member may be a sealing stopper made of various materials including silicone rubber.
In the illustrated embodiment, the fluid container is embodied by the ink cartridge 11. However, the fluid container may be a fluid container that contains fluid other than ink (such as liquid, liquefied material containing particles of functional material that are dispersed in or mixed with liquid, or flowable material such as gel, or a solid that is flowable and ejectable as fluid). The “fluid” herein does not include fluid formed solely by gas. The “fluid” includes, for example, liquid (including inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquefied resin, and liquefied metal (molten metal)), liquefied materials, flowable materials, and powder particulates.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-027907 | Feb 2007 | JP | national |
2007-338151 | Dec 2007 | JP | national |