The present invention relates to an ink cartridge which supplies ink at an appropriate negative pressure to a recording head which ejects ink droplets in response to print signals applied thereto.
The ink jet recording device is usually constructed such that an ink jet recording head for ejecting ink droplets in response to print signals is mounted on a carriage which is reciprocatively moved in the width direction of a recording sheet, and ink is supplied from an ink tank, located outside, to the recording head. In the recording device of the small type, an ink storage container, such as an ink tank, is detachably attached to the carriage to secure easy handling.
In general, the ink storage container contains a porous member in order to prevent ink from leaking out of the recording head. The porous member is impregnated with ink, whereby the ink is held by a capillary force.
Improvement of print quality and printing speed is demanded in the market. Thus, there is a tendency that the number of nozzle openings of the recording head is increased, and an amount of ink consumed per unit time is increased.
To meet this tendency, it is necessary to increase the amount of ink stored in the ink storage container. As a result, the volume of the porous member is increased. However, in view of holding ink by the capillary force of the porous member, a height, or a water head, is limited in increase, and consequently, the bottom area need to be increased. This results in the increase of the carriage size, and thus the recording device.
There is an approach in which the ink holding capability. is increased by using a porous member small in average pore diameter. However, this approach increases fluid resistance against the ink flow, causing difficulty not only in stably supplying ink correspondingly to the amount of ink consumed by the recording head, but also in reliably supplying, to the recording head, ink in a region distanced from an ink supply port. As a result, the ink contained in the ink container is not consumed completely and left therein as waste ink.
To solve the problem, such an ink storage container is proposed, as disclosed in JP-A-8-174860, that an ink storage chamber is located in the upper part, and a normally closed membrane (film) valve is provided between the ink storage chamber and the ink supply port so that the valve is opened by a negative pressure caused with the ink consumption by the recording head.
Since the membrane valve can prevent the leakage of ink, the amount of stored ink can be increased. However, a pressure corresponding to the ink amount acts on the membrane valve since the ink storage chamber is located in the upper part. Therefore, to increase the amount of the stored ink without increasing the bottom area, the negative pressure for opening the membrane valve must be increased. As a result, the print quality is degraded at a time point that the remaining ink amount is small, that is, the water head pressure of the ink is decreased below a predetermined level. On the other hand, if the print quality must be ensured, the remaining ink amount is increased.
Further, if printing is continued while disregarding the print quality in order to decrease the waste ink, an excess negative pressure required to open the membrane valve acts on the recording head to destroy the meniscuses at the nozzles of the recording head, making the printing impossible.
The present invention was made in view of the above noted circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge, which can reduce a water head pressure of ink acting on a membrane valve to be as small as possible without increasing the bottom area of a container storing ink.
A further advantage of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge, which can increase the effectively usable ink storage amount without degrading the print quality.
Still another advantage of the present invention is to provide ink cartridges, which can be mainly constructed using common parts to thereby readily change an ink storage amount.
The present invention provides, for example, an ink cartridge for an ink jet recording device having a recording head, comprising: a container including: a lower section ink chamber; an upper section ink chamber; an ink supply port for supplying ink to the recording head; an ink suction passage connecting the lower section ink chamber to the upper section ink chamber; an ink flow passage connecting the upper section ink chamber to the ink supply port; and an air communication portion communicating the lower section ink chamber with the atmosphere; and a negative pressure generating mechanism stored in the container, and disposed in the ink flow passage, for example, midway of same.
Ink is sucked up from the lower section ink chamber to the upper section ink chamber, and then supplied via the negative pressure generating mechanism to the recording head. Therefore, it is possible to reduce pressure variation applied to the negative pressure generating mechanism due to ink amount within the ink cartridge in association with ink consumption.
The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese patent application Nos.:
2000-321207 (filed on Oct. 20, 2000);
2000-320319 (filed on Oct. 20, 2000);
2001-033075 (filed on Feb. 9, 2001);
2001-147418 (filed on May 17, 2001);
2001-148296 (filed on May 17, 2001):
2001-149315 (filed on May 18, 2001);
2001-149787 (filed on May 18, 2001);
2001-220340 (filed on Jul. 19, 2001);
2001-148297 (filed on May 17, 2001);
2001-033074 (filed on Feb. 9, 2001); and
2001-316455 (filed on Oct. 15, 2001),
which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
a and 22B are perspective views showing an external appearance of surface and reverse sides of an ink cartridge, which constitutes a third embodiment.
The present invention will be described in detail by way of example with reference to preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The differential pressure valve storage chamber 4 and the filter chamber 5 are partitioned one from the other by a wall 6 located at a substantially central portion in the thickness direction of the container body 1. The wall 6 is formed with a protruded valve seat 6a on the differential pressure valve chamber (4) side, and with through-holes 6b (see also
The upper and lower section chambers are communicated with an upper section region opening 5a of the filter chamber 5 via a circuitous flow passage (in more detail, a passage turning on and along a vertical plane) defined by vertically extending walls 11a, 11b and horizontally extending walls 11c, 11d located at one side of the container body 1 (see
The differential pressure valve storage chamber 4, connected via the through holes 6b to the filter chamber 5, is communicated with an ink supply port 14 via a flow passage 13 formed to be separated from the first ink chamber 3. That is, a part of the outer periphery of the differential pressure valve storage chamber 4 is communicated via the flow passage 13, including an opening 13a, a through hole 13b and an opening 13c, with the ink supply port 14. The first and second upper section ink storage portions 15 and 16 are located opposite from each other with respect to the differential pressure valve storage chamber 4 and the filter chamber 5. Air bubbles raised and conveyed along with ink from the first ink chamber 3 are trapped by these upper section ink storage portions 15 and 16.
As shown in
The capillary 22 is formed by sealing a circuitous groove, formed in the differential pressure valve storage chamber side surface of the container body 1, with an air impermeable film 37 (
The air chamber 21 is communicated with the first ink chamber 3 via the cylindrical portion 25 that is located to be substantially opposite to the ink supply port 14. An opening 28 is located above the cylindrical portion 25 (see
With this arrangement, an operation rod R of a recording device, which advances when the ink cartridge 1 is mounted to the recording device, elastically deforms the air impermeable seal 29 to put the valve member 27 into a valve-open state, whereby the first ink chamber 3 is brought into communication with the air chamber 21.
As shown in
With reference to
With reference to
To finish the ink cartridge thus constructed, the ink injection ports 32 and 33 are connected to an ink injection device to fill the ink cartridge with ink in a state that the ink supply port 14 is sealed with a film breakable by insertion of the ink supply needle, and after the filling of ink, these ink injection ports 32 and 33 are sealed by the plug(s) or air impermeable film(s).
In this embodiment, in a state where the ink cartridge is not mounted to a recording device, the valve 27b of the valve member 27 sealingly closes a first ink chamber side opening portion of the cylindrical member 25 by the urging force of the spring 26, and thus the first ink chamber 3 is isolated from the atmosphere. Consequently, evaporation and leakage of ink can be eliminated.
On the other hand, when the ink cartridge is mounted to the cartridge holder 50, the front surface side three surfaces of the ink cartridge and recessed portion thereof are respectively guided by the walls 52, 53 and 54 and the protruded portion 55, so that the ink cartridge is positioned at a predetermined location as shown in
Under this condition, as the ink is consumed by the recording head so that a negative pressure acts on the ink supply port 14, the membrane valve 40 receives a differential pressure to be separated from the valve seat 6a against the urging force of the coiled spring 42. Ink in the first ink chamber 3 passes through the filter 18, flows into the differential pressure valve storage chamber 4 through the through-holes 6b, passes through the through-hole 40b of the membrane valve 40, and then flows through the flow passage 13 into the ink supply port 14.
The ink flow from the first ink chamber 3 to the filter chamber 5 will be discussed in more detail. When the negative pressure acts on the filter chamber 5 due to the flow-out of ink from the ink supply port 14, as shown in
Here, since both flow-in and flow-out of ink are conducted at the bottom portion of the upper section ink storage portion 16, it is possible to make constant pressure (a water head pressure) acting on the differential pressure valve during the time period in which ink is consumed in the upper section ink storage chamber 16. That is, it is possible to reduce the variation of the water head pressure.
In this manner, during ink consumption, ink in the first ink chamber 3 located at the lower section is sucked up to the upper section filter chamber 5, and then supplied via the differential pressure valve mechanism to the ink supply port 14. Therefore, ink pressure acting on the back surface of the membrane valve 40 is not so influenced by pressure variation stemming from the motion of ink stored in the first ink chamber 3, and thus an optimal negative pressure can be maintained to supply ink to the recording head.
If the ink cartridge is detached because ink is completely consumed or the ink kind is to be changed, the valve member 27 is closed because of the absence of the support by the operation rod provided on the recording device, and the membrane valve 40 is elastically contacted with the valve seat 6a by the urging force of the coil spring 42. Therefore, leakage of ink from the ink supply port 14 is prevented.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the differential pressure valve mechanism serving as the negative pressure generating means (the negative pressure generating mechanism) is stored in the second ink chamber 8 located in the upper section. However, the present invention should not be restricted thereto or thereby. That is, the differential pressure valve mechanism may be located at any portion of the passage connecting the second ink chamber 8 to the ink supply port 14. It is apparent that, regardless of the storage position of the differential pressure valve mechanism, the differential pressure valve mechanism can apply a negative pressure to ink stored in the upper section ink chamber 8 to supply the ink to the ink supply port 14.
In the first embodiment, a case that an identification block is mounted to (or the protrusion 31 is provided at) the recessed portion of the ink cartridge to prevent erroneous mounting of the ink cartridge, has been described. However, the present invention should not be restricted thereto or thereby. In a case where such erroneous mounting is not conceivable, for example, in a case of a cartridge (a black ink cartridge) different in outer configuration from other cartridges (yellow ink cartridge, cyan ink cartridge, and magenta ink cartridge) used together, such an identification block or protrusion can be dispensed with.
Further, as shown in
Further, as shown in
In addition, the lower section ink chamber (i.e. the first ink chamber 3 in this first embodiment) serves as a buffer chamber. That is, during the use of the ink cartridge, even if air bubbles trapped in the upper section ink storage portion (i.e. the second ink chamber 8 in this embodiment) are expanded due to temperature change, ink in the upper section ink storage portion is returned through the ink suction passage (the flow passage A in this embodiment) into the lower section ink storage portion(the first ink chamber 3 in this embodiment) communicated with the atmosphere without being forced into the differential pressure valve storage chamber. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the leakage of the ink from the ink supply port. The ink returned to the lower section ink storage portion is again sucked up by the ink suction passage into the upper section ink storage portion as ink is consumed by the recording head, and therefore ink in the ink cartridge can be consumed efficiently.
The lower section contains a first ink chamber 71 serving as a lower section ink chamber. The upper section is defined by a frame 74, with the wall 70 as its bottom, thereby forming an upper section ink chamber. The frame 74 is spaced apart from a wall 72 of the container body 62 so as to form an air communicating passage 73. The inner space of the frame 74 is divided, by a vertical wall 75 with a communication port 75a formed in the bottom thereof, into space sections. One of the space sections is used as a second ink chamber 76, while the other is used as a third ink chamber 77.
A suction passage 78 is formed in the second ink chamber (76) side. The suction passage 78 communicatively connects the second ink chamber 76 to a bottom surface 62a of the container body 62 (i.e. to a bottom region of the first ink chamber 71). A cross sectional area of the suction passage 78 is selected so as to deal with such an amount of ink as to be consumed by the recording head. As shown in
A wall 79 is formed at a lower portion of the suction passage 78. The wall 79 includes communication ports 79a and 79b formed therein. An ink injection hole 80 for injecting ink into the container body 62 from an exterior is formed at a part facing the suction passage 78, and an ink injection hole 81 is communicated with the first ink chamber for injecting ink. The suction passage 78 is constructed such that a recessed part 78c (
The third ink chamber 77 is defined by walls 82 and 84, which are spaced from an upper surface 74a of the frame 74 by a predetermined gap. A fourth ink chamber 83 is defined by walls 86, 84 and 87. A filter chamber 94 for storing a filter 115 is defined by the wall 84 continuous to the wail 82. A wall 85 defines a differential pressure valve storing chamber 93 (
The partitioning wall 86 having a communication port 86a is provided at the lower portion of the wall 84 so that the communication port 86a is located between the wall 84 and the wall 70. The partitioning wall 87 having a communication port 87a at its lower portion is also provided so that an ink passage 88 is formed between the partitioning wall 87 and the frame 74. The upper part of the ink passage 88 is communicated with a surface side of the ink cartridge 61 through a through hole 89. In
The through hole 89, as shown in
A lower part of the differential pressure valve storing chamber 93 and the ink supply port 64, as shown in
A narrow groove 96, a wide groove 97 and a recess 98 are formed in the surface of the container body 2. The narrow groove 96 meanders so as to provide the largest possible flow resistance. The wide groove 97 is disposed around the narrow groove 96. The recess 98 is rectangular in shape, and disposed in an area opposite the second ink chamber 76. A frame 99 and ribs 100 are formed in the recess 98 to be slightly lowered from an open end of the recess 98. A part of the open end of the recess 98 is communicated with one end 96a of the narrow groove 96. The other end 96b of the narrow groove 96 is opened to the atmosphere.
An air permeable film having an ink repellent property and an air permeability is bonded to the frame 99 and ribs 100, thereby defining an air communication chamber. A through hole 101 is formed at the bottom of the recess 98, and communicated with a slender region 103 (
A window 68a is formed and opened at the cartridge insertion leading end of the valve storage chamber 68, i.e. the lower end of the valve storage chamber 68 in the embodiment shown in
In the figure, reference numeral 115 represents a filter provided in the filter chamber 94, and 116 and 117 are air impermeable films bonded onto the surface side and the opened surface side of the container body 62. The air impermeable film 116 is bonded to the wall 70, the frame 74, and the walls 75, 82, 84, 86, 67, 90 and 102 (
In this structure, ink having passed through the filter 115 passes through the ink passing ports 85a, and is blocked by the membrane valve 112. When, in this state, a pressure at the ink supply port 64 is lowered, the membrane valve 112 moves apart from a valve seat 85b against an urging force of the spring 110, so that the ink passes through the through hole 111 and flows to the ink supply port 64 via the passage formed by the recess 95.
When an ink pressure at the ink supply port 64 is increased to a predetermined value, the membrane valve 112 is brought into resilient (elastic) contact with the valve seat 85b by the urging force of the spring 110. As a result, the ink flow is interrupted. By repeating this operation, ink is discharged to the ink supply port 64 while maintaining a constant negative pressure.
A cartridge-identifying block 135, as shown in more detail in
A recess 128 for fixing the cartridge identifying block for judgment as to whether the ink cartridge is compatible with a recording device is formed in the insertion side from the arm 126, i.e. a lower side in this embodiment. The identification block 135 shown in
The cartridge-identifying block 135 includes guide grooves 136, 137 and 140 (
In
With this construction, when the ink cartridge 61 is inserted into the cartridge holder having the valve operating rod that erects on the lower surface thereof, the valve operating rod comes in contact with the slanted arm 126 of the cartridge-identifying block 135. As the insertion of the ink cartridge 61 progresses, the pressing member 121 is moved toward the valve member 125. As a result, the valve member 125 is moved apart from the through hole 120, so that the first ink chamber is opened to the air via the through hole 106, groove 105, through hole 104, region 103, through hole 101 and the air permeable film.
When the ink cartridge 61 is pulled out of the cartridge holder, the arm 126 loses its support by the valve operating rod. As a result, the spring 122 causes the valve member 125 to close the through hole 120 to interrupt the communication between the first ink chamber 71 and the air.
In a state that all the parts including the valves are assembled into the container body 62, the air impermeable film 117 (
The air impermeable film 116 (
Consequently, the regions defined by the walls 70, 74, 75, 82, 84, 86, 87, 90 and 102 are sealed so as to communicate with one another, only through the suction passage 78 and the communication ports 75a, 86a and 87a.
Then, the opening side of the valve storage chamber 68 is also sealed with the air impermeable film 116′ (
By adopting such a structure that the ink storage regions are sealed with the film 116, the container body 62 can be formed using a simple process, i.e., injection molding of high polymer, to have a plurality of partitioned ink storage chambers and regions, and further a movement of ink caused by the reciprocal motion of the carriage can be absorbed through a deformation of the film 116.
Subsequently, using the ink injection holes 80 and 81, air is discharged from the cartridge, and then sufficiently degassed ink is injected into the cartridge. After the ink injection is completed, the ink injection holes 80 and 81 are sealed with a film(s) or a plug member(s). In this state, the spaces ranging from the first to fourth ink chambers is 71, 76, 77, 83, suction passage 78, filter chamber 94, differential pressure valve storage chamber 93, recessed portion 95 to the ink supply port 104 are filled with the ink.
The lower ink storage region, i.e., the first ink chamber 71, is sealed with the container body 62 and the cover member 63. The upper ink storage regions, i.e., the second ink chamber 76, third ink chamber 77, fourth ink chamber 83 and filter chamber 94 in the second embodiment, are defined by the film 116 located between the container body 62 and the cover member 63. In this case, a space 150 (
In the thus constructed ink cartridge, the ink is stored therein while being isolated from the air by the valve and the like. Accordingly, in case that degassed ink is stored, the degassed rate of ink is fully maintained.
When the ink cartridge 61 is loaded into the cartridge holder, the ink supply port 64 advances until it receives the ink supply needle if the cartridge is compatible with the cartridge holder. The through hole 120 is opened by the valve operating rod as already stated, the first ink chamber 71 (the ink storage regions) are communicated with the air, and the valve member of the ink supply port 64 is also opened with the ink supply needle.
When the ink cartridge is not compatible with the cartridge holder, the insertion of the ink cartridge is inhibited before the ink supply port 64 reaches the ink supply needle, at least before the valve member in the ink supply port is opened by the ink supply needle. The valve member 125 keeps the sealing state of the ink cartridge to prevent an unnecessary replacement of the air within the ink storage regions, to thereby prevent the ink solvent from evaporating.
When the ink cartridge is normally loaded into the cartridge holder and the ink is consumed by the ink jet recording head, a pressure at the ink supply port 64 drops below a predetermined pressure value. Accordingly, the membrane valve 112 is opened as stated above. When the pressure at the ink supply port 64 rises more than a predetermined value, the membrane valve 112 is closed. Ink that is kept at a predetermined negative pressure flows into the recording head (
As the consumption of the ink by the recording head progresses, the ink in the first ink chamber 71 flows into the second ink chamber 76 via the suction passage 78. Air bubbles, which have flowed, together with the ink, into the second ink chamber 76, rise by a buoyant force, so that only the ink flows into the third ink chamber 77 via the lower communication port 75a.
The ink in the fourth ink chamber 83, having passed through the communication port 86a of the partitioning wall 86 defining the filter chamber 94, rises through the ink passage 88 and flows into the upper part of the filter chamber 94, from the region 91. The ink having passed through the filter 115 flows into the differential pressure valve storage chamber 93 through the through holes 85a, and as mentioned above, flows into the ink supply port 64 under a predetermined negative pressure through the opening and closing operations of the membrane valve 112.
The first ink chamber 71 is communicated with the air through the through hole 127, and is kept at atmospheric pressure. The second ink chamber 76 is communicated with the third ink chamber 77 through only the communication port 75a. Therefore, an amount of ink, which corresponds to an ink amount reduced through the ink consumption by the recording head, flows from the first ink chamber 71 to the second ink chamber 76.
Even if the ink of the first ink chamber 71 flows back and reaches the recess 98, the air permeable and ink repellent film provided in the recess 98 maintains the communication with the atmosphere while preventing ink leakage therefrom. With this feature, the ink cartridge is free from such an unwanted situation that the ink that has flowed into the narrow groove 96 is solidified there to close the air communication passage. Subsequently, in a state that the ink is present in the first ink chamber 71, a negative pressure acting on the ink supply port 64 is gradually increased in accordance with an ink level H in the first ink chamber 71.
Thus, the ink in the bottom area of the first ink chamber located at a lower part is sucked up to an area near the bottom of the upper ink chamber, more exactly the second ink chamber 76. Consequently, the water head pressure in the ink chambers 76, 77 and 83 located in the upper section is substantially constant.
That is, the change of the water head pressure, caused by a 20 height of the ink cartridge, is limited only to the change of the water head pressure H of the first ink chamber 71 located in the lower section, and the thus limited change directly acts on the membrane valve 112.
Therefore, a pressing force to keep the membrane valve 112 in a closed state can be set in accordance with the change of the water head pressure H of the first ink chamber 71. Accordingly, even if the amount of stored ink is increased without increasing the bottom area, that is, the height of the container body 62 is increased, the cartridge is capable of supplying the ink without applying an excessive negative pressure to the recording head and the negative pressure generating mechanism. As a result, the ink stored in the ink cartridge can effectively be utilized while keeping high print quality.
When the ink in the first ink chamber 71 is sucked through the suction passage 78 to the second ink chamber 76, and consumed completely (FIG. 19II) the ink suction port 78a of the suction passage 78 holds ink by its capillary force (i.e. the force of meniscus formed at the ink suction port 78a). Accordingly, no ink flows from the second ink chamber 76 to the first ink chamber 71. Further, even if the cartridge is pulled out in a state that no ink is left in the first ink chamber 71, ink in the upper ink storage regions can be prevented from flowing into the first ink chamber 71.
When the ink is consumed by the recording head and a negative pressure acts on the second ink chamber 76, then the ink intermittently flows from the second ink chamber 76 into the third ink chamber 77 via the communication port 75a, while sucking air from the first ink chamber 71 opened to the air. A constant pressure acts on the membrane valve 112 serving as the negative pressure generating mechanism regardless of ink level in the second ink chamber 76, third ink chamber 77 and fourth ink chamber 83 while ink in the second ink chamber 76, third ink chamber 77 and fourth ink chamber 83 is consumed. Accordingly, the ink in the ink cartridge can effectively be supplied to the recording head without degrading the print quality.
When no ink is left in the second ink chamber 76 (FIG. 19III), the ink left in the third ink chamber 77 is supplied through the communication port 86a to the recording head. When the ink in the third ink chamber 77 is consumed completely, the ink in the fourth ink chamber 83 is then consumed (FIG. 19IV). In addition, each of the communication ports 75a, 86a and 88a has such a size as to be capable of forming a meniscus to hold ink at the communication port 75a, 86a, 88a during the ink consumption process as illustrated.
Even if the ink in one of the regions partitioned by the partitioning wall 86 is lowered down to the communication port 86a (FIG. 19IV), and further the ink of the fourth ink chamber 83 is consumed (
As described above, the ink storage region in the upper section is partitioned into a plurality of regions by the walls 75 and 86 to define a plurality of the ink chambers 76, 77 and 83 in the upper section, and those chambers are communicated with one another at least at the bottom regions. This arrangement can maintain the water head pressure acting on the membrane valve 112 within a substantially constant range regardless of decrease of ink in the ink chambers 76, 77 and 83. In the process ranging from the FIGS. 19II to 19IV, that is, in a state that the ink in the first ink chamber 71 is used up and the ink in the second to fourth chambers 76, 77 and 83 is supplied to the recording head, a variation of the negative pressure at the ink supply port 64 is greatly suppressed in comparison with a state that the ink is left in the first ink chamber 71.
In addition, the lower section ink chamber (i.e. the first ink chamber 71 in this embodiment) serves as a buffer chamber. That is, during the use of the ink cartridge, even if air bubbles trapped in the upper section ink storage portion (i.e. the second to the fourth ink chambers 76, 77, 78 in this embodiment) are expanded due to temperature change, ink in the upper section ink storage portion is returned through the ink suction passage (the flow passage 78 in this embodiment) into the lower section ink storage portion (the first ink chamber 71 in this embodiment) communicated with the atmosphere without being forced into the differential pressure valve storage chamber. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the leakage of the ink from the ink supply port. The ink returned to the lower section ink storage portion is again sucked up by the ink suction passage into the upper section ink storage portion as ink is consumed by the recording head, and therefore ink in the ink cartridge can be consumed efficiently.
More specifically, during ink consumption process in the second and subsequent ink chambers, even if the air layer formed in the upper portion of, for example, the second ink chamber is expanded due to increase of the ambient temperature to cause reverse ink flow into the first ink chamber, the ink of the reverse flow is trapped by the first ink chamber. Further, the ink of the reverse flow, trapped by the first ink chamber, can be sucked up again into the second ink chamber, and thus consumed.
Ink flowing out from the communication port 75a flows along the slope 70a as shown by an arrow F1 to cause a vortex flow behind the slope 70a as shown by an arrow F2. Therefore, in case of pigment ink in which coloring components or the like are likely to be concentrated at a lower portion in comparison to dye ink, such concentration or precipitation can be eliminated.
When the ink cartridge 61, mounted to the carriage of the recording device, receives acceleration/deceleration caused by the reciprocating motion of the carriage, the slope 70b causes an ascending flow indicated by F3 in
The retaining member 165 located closer to the ink supply port 164 has a rotation fulcrum 165a located slightly above the leading end side of the retaining member 165 in the insertion direction, i.e. the lower end of the retaining member 165 in this embodiment, so that the upper portion of the retaining member 165 can be opened outwardly about the fulcrum 165a. The opposite retaining member 166 is designed to assist the holding of the ink cartridge in cooperation with the retaining member 165.
Each of these retaining members 165 and 166 has a width corresponding to a width of an insertion port provided to a carriage so that a side surface of the retaining member 165, 166 can serve as a guide member for restricting a widthwise position of the ink cartridge.
A memory device 167 is provided below the retaining member 165 located closer to the ink supply port. The memory device 167 includes a board, a plurality of electrodes 167a formed on one surface of the board, and a semiconductor memory element formed on the other surface of the board. A valve chamber 168 is formed below the other retaining member 166.
A slit portion 169 is formed in the vicinity of the ink supply port 164 and in a central region side of the container. The slit portion 169 extends in the insertion/removal direction of the ink cartridge, and at least the leading end side thereof is open. The slit portion 169 has such a length and a width as to restrict the opening surface of the ink supply port to be perpendicular to an ink supply needle of the carriage at least before the leading end of the ink supply port 164 reaches the ink supply needle.
On the other hand, the carriage 260 to which the ink cartridge is to be mounted has a recording head 261 provided to the bottom surface thereof, and an ink supply needle 262 communicated with the recording head 261, as shown in
By adopting this structure, as shown in
The ink cartridge 161 is further pushed in against the urging force of the spring 263, and the protrusion 165b of the retaining member 165 falls into and engages with the recessed portion 267 by the entire elasticity of the retaining member 165. Therefore, a clear click feeling is transmitted to a finger holding the retaining member 165, and a user can judge that the ink cartridge 161 is surely mounted to the carriage 260.
In the mounted state of the ink cartridge 161, the surface of the memory device 167 where the electrodes 167a are provided is pressurized onto the electrodes 266 of the carriage 260 by the urging force (the force indicated by an arrow K in the drawing) of the spring 263 while the position of the surface in the insertion/removal direction is restricted by the protrusion 165b of the retaining member 165. Therefore, the reliable contact can be maintained regardless of vibrations caused during printing.
In case where the ink cartridge 161 is to be detached from the carriage 260 for exchange or the like, the retaining member 165 is elastically pressed toward the container body (162) side so that the retaining member 165 is rotated about the rotational fulcrum 165a located slightly above the lower end thereof, whereby the protrusion 165b of the retaining member 165 is disengaged from the recessed portion 267. Under this condition, the ink cartridge 161 is guided by the guide piece 264 and moved parallel to the ink supply needle 262 due to the urging force of the spring 263. Therefore, the ink cartridge can be detached from the carriage without causing a bending force or the like on the ink supply needle 264.
The lower section region contains a first ink chamber 171. The upper section region is partitioned by a frame 174 with the wall 170 serving as a bottom surface. The frame 174 is spaced at a predetermined space or distance from a wall 172 of the container body 162 to define an air communication passage 173. The interior of the frame 174 is divided by a vertical wall 175 having a communication port 175a at its bottom portion so that one side region serves as a second ink chamber 176, and the other side region serves as a third ink chamber 177.
In a region toward one end of the first ink chamber 171, there is formed a suction passage 178 for connecting the second ink chamber 176 to a bottom surface 162a of the container body 162 (i.e. to a bottom portion of the first ink chamber 171). The suction passage 178 has such a cross-sectional area as to handle the ink amount consumed by a recording head. The lower end of the suction passage 178 is formed into a suction port 178a that is opened to the first ink chamber 171 and that can hold ink by capillary force. The upper end of the suction passage 178 is formed into outflow port 178bthat is opened to be communicated with a bottom portion of the second ink chamber 176.
A wall 179 having communication ports 179a and 179b is formed in the vicinity of the suction port 178a of the suction passage 178. As shown in
The third ink chamber 177 is defined by forming walls 182, 184 and 186 (
The partitioning wall 186 having a communication port 186a (
As shown in
As shown in
A narrow groove 196, a wide groove 197, and a rectangular recessed portion 198 are formed in the surface of the container body 162 as shown in
A through hole 198c is formed in the bottom surface of the recessed portion 198 as shown in
As shown in
By adopting this flow passage structure, it is possible to prevent the flow of ink from the first ink chamber 171 into the valve storage chamber 168 and the evaporation of ink stored in the first ink chamber 171, while keeping the communication of the first ink chamber 171 with the atmosphere.
The leading end of the valve storage chamber 168 in the cartridge insertion direction, i.e. the lower portion of the valve chamber 168 in this embodiment, is opened by a window 168a as shown in
Under this condition, as shown in
on the other hand, in the surface side of the container body 162, as shown in
The air impermeable film 221 easily deformable by the operation rod is bonded to a region opposed to the recessed portion 203 of the valve storage chamber 168, and further the identification piece 230 is mounted and fixed to the surface side of the valve storage chamber 168 by pawls 230a, 230b.
A valve member 250 opened by the insertion of the ink supply needle (
In this arrangement, ink which has passed through the filter 215 (
When the ink pressure in the ink supply port 164 is increased to a predetermined valve, the membrane valve 212 is elastically contacted with the valve seat 194b by the urging force of the spring 210, and thus the flow of ink is inhibited. By repeating this operation, ink is discharged to the ink supply port 164 while maintaining a constant negative pressure.
The identification block 230 (
The arm 234 has a fulcrum 234a about which the arm 234 is rotatable to be located slightly inwardly. The cartridge removing side, i.e. the upper portion side in this embodiment, of the arm 234 extends obliquely into an advancing path of an operation rod 273 (
By this arrangement, it is possible to make the position of the arm 239 constant, while preventing erroneous mounting of an ink cartridge such that positions of the protruded portions 231a, 232a, 233a and positions of the leading ends of the identification pieces 270, 271, 272 are set in accordance with a kind of ink in the cartridge. The protruded portions 231a, 232a, 233a may be arranged in such a three-dimensional manner that the positions of these protruded portions are varied not only in the cartridge insertion/removal direction but also in the cartridge thickness direction. This makes it possible to identify a large number of ink kinds or types without increasing an area where the identification region is formed.
This identification block 230 is used by the recording device to identify ink kind based on the positions of the protruded portions. To ease the identification of ink kind by a user or during assembly, the identification block may have the same or similar color as ink, or may be provided with a mark indicative of ink kind.
When the ink cartridge is mounted to the holder and the arm 234 is pressed by the operation rod 273, the valve member 225 is moved to establish a valve open state. Consequently, the upper ends of the first ink chamber 171 at both sides thereof are opened to the atmosphere via: the air communication passage formed by the through hole 203a opened in the vicinity of the second ink chamber 176 and the film 221; the flow passage 205 defined by the vertically extending wall 204, which may be spaced at a constant distance from the frame 174, and the cover member 163; the flow passage 206; and the air communication passage 173.
That is, the valve chamber 168 is communicated via the through hole 201a with the groove 201 of the container body 162, and is further communicated via the other end through hole 200, the region 199a covered by the film, and the through hole 198c with the bottom surface of the recessed portion 198. The recessed portion 198 is communicated via the air permeable film 258 with the one end 196a of the narrow groove 196 forming the capillary of the container body, thereby being opened to the atmosphere.
There may be an ink cartridge that is mounted to the same recording device as other ink cartridges are mounted and that stores ink, out of which the rate of consumption is larger than for ink in the other ink cartridges. For example, an ink cartridge storing black ink is such an ink cartridge. Such an ink cartridge is preferably designed to have a larger ink storing capacity as shown in
The cartridge is constructed such that the configuration of the opened surface of the container body 162′ is the same but only a depth W2 is large. By simply varying the depth W2 of the container body 162′, the ink amount that can be stored in the container body 162′ can be increased.
The distance from the surface of the container body 162′ to the arrangement center of the ink supply port 164′ and the memory device 167′ is set to be a constant value W1 which is equal to that of the other ink cartridge. In addition, the identification block 230′ is mounted to the surface side of the container body 162′, and thus the identification block 230′ is disposed at the same position as that of the other ink cartridge. Note that, in order to surely apply the pressing force to the ink supply port 164′ when the ink cartridge is mounted, the retaining member 165′ is located at an offset position toward the surface side of the container body 162′ similarly to the ink supply port 164′. In addition, the retaining member 166′ does not have such an offset arrangement as shown, for example, in
Even if the thickness W2 of the container body 162′ is larger, it is sufficient that a cross-sectional area of an ink flow passage for inducing ink from the fourth ink chamber 183∝ (
The wall 184′ defining the flow passage behind the differential pressure valve storage chamber 193′ has a height J from the surface of the container body 162′, which is smaller than the width W2 of the container body 162′, as shown in
In this arrangement, ink is sucked up from the through hole 207a at the bottom of the fourth ink chamber 183′ to upwardly flow in the ink flow passage defined by the recessed portion 207 and the film 255′, flows out from the through hole 207b at the upper end of the recessed portion 207 and passes through the filer 215′ to flow out to the surface side of the container body 162′. In addition, the through hole 207b and the through hole 189′ are communicated with each other via the recessed portion 189a′ (
Subsequently, the ink passes through the tear-drop-shaped recess 190b′ (
Subsequently, similarly to the aforementioned embodiment, the ink flows into the ink supply port 164′ by opening and closing the membrane valve 212′ in accordance with a negative pressure in the ink supply port 164′.
If the flow passage from the fourth ink chamber 183′ to the differential pressure valve storage chamber 193′ is constructed as mentioned above, a dead space can be reduced and ink can be effectively used in comparison to case where the wall 184′ is simply formed to have the same height as that of the container body 162′.
In the illustrated example, since the height of the wall 184′ defining the flow passage behind the differential pressure valve storage chamber is lower than the height of the frame 174′ and wall 170′ defining the upper section ink storage chambers, the third and fourth ink storage chambers 177′ and 183′ substantially form a single ink storage chamber in the thickness direction of the container body.
The ink cartridge thus constructed is finished as a commercial product by overlapping and bonding a decorative film 257, 257′ onto the film 255, 255′ bonded to the surface of the container body 162, 162′ as shown in
This decorative film 257, 257′ is preferably formed with a tab 257a, 257a′ corresponding in position to the ink injection ports 180, 181, 180′, 181′ so that ink injection ports 180, 181, 180′, 181′ can be sealed by the tab 257a, 257a′.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the second ink chamber 176, 176′ and the third ink chamber 177, 177′ are communicated with each other only through the recessed portion 175a, 175a′ formed in the lower portion of the wall 175, 175′ so that function of an air bubble trap chamber is added to the second ink chamber 176, 176′ (see
In the aforementioned embodiment, the differential pressure valve storage chamber is disposed in the upper section ink storage chamber in view of convenience of the layout. The similar effect can be obtained even if the differential pressure valve storage chamber is disposed in the lower section ink storage chamber, or disposed to extend across the upper and lower section ink storage chambers. In this case, the flow passages are arranged to communicate ink in the upper section ink storage chamber with the inflow side of the membrane valve, and to communicate the outflow side of the membrane valve with the ink supply port.
Further, in the aforementioned embodiment, the filter 215, 215′ of porous material is installed in the through hole 189 in the vicinity of the differential pressure valve storage chamber. The similar effect can be obtained even if a plate-like mesh filter 273 is provided in a stretched manner to cover the through holes 194a of the wall 194 of the differential pressure valve storage chamber 193 (see
Selected one, or both of the filter types made of the porous material and the plate-like filter may be used depending on a kind of ink to be stored in the ink cartridge.
In this embodiment, three ink storage chambers are formed in the upper section, but even if a single ink storage chamber is formed in the upper section, it is possible to obtain the effect of reducing the variation of the water head pressure acting on the membrane valve as mentioned above. By forming two or more ink storage chambers, and by communicating these ink storage chambers one another at the bottom portion(s), a space created in each ink storage chamber as a consequence of ink consumption can be allowed to function as an air bubble trap space, thereby eliminating entry of the air bubbles into the negative pressure generating mechanism as much as possible. That is, the lowering of print quality can be avoided.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the ink supply port is formed in the bottom surface of the cartridge, but the similar effect can be obtained even if the ink supply port is formed in the side surface. In case where this arrangement is adopted, a member operated in conjunction with the ink cartridge insertion process is modified and oriented to match with the insertion direction. This is a matter of design modification.
As the film having air impermeability and ink impermeability properties discussed above (for example, the film 37, 255, etc.), a film made of PP (polypropylene), a mixture of PP and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or a mixture of PP and PE (polyethylene) is preferably used in case the container body is made of PP, since the film made of such material provides excellent adhesion to the container body made of PP. The film may have a laminate structure of layers, each made of any of the above-listed material, because an adhesive layer interposed between the layers of the above-listed material can further enhance the air impermeability property. In addition, one or more layer(s) of PET may be laminated on an exposed side (i.e. a side not bonded to the container body) of the film.
As the film having air permeability and ink impermeability properties discussed above (for example, the film 24a, 258, etc.), a film having a laminate structure in which a layer of a non-woven fabric sheet, made, for example, of PE is laminated on a layer that is made of Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene)or fluorine-group material, that has ink repellent function and that has fine pores, is preferably used.
As described above, according to the present invention, since ink in the upper section is supplied via the negative pressure generating means to the recording head, the pressure variation stemming from the change in ink amount can be positively prevented.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2000-320319 | Oct 2000 | JP | national |
2000-321207 | Oct 2000 | JP | national |
2001-033074 | Feb 2001 | JP | national |
2001-033075 | Feb 2001 | JP | national |
2001-147418 | May 2001 | JP | national |
2001-148296 | May 2001 | JP | national |
2001-148297 | May 2001 | JP | national |
2001-149315 | May 2001 | JP | national |
2001-149787 | May 2001 | JP | national |
2001-220340 | Jul 2001 | JP | national |
2001-316455 | Oct 2001 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/761,809, filed Jun. 12, 2007, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/360,713, filed Feb. 22, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,866, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/826,918, filed Apr. 16, 2004, now abandoned, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/045,703, filed Oct. 19, 2001, now abandoned.
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Child | 11956712 | US | |
Parent | 11360713 | Feb 2006 | US |
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