Patent Grant
11318749
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2019-234109, filed Dec. 25, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to an ink cartridge, a printer in which an ink cartridge is mounted, and a method for mounting an ink cartridge.
As an ink cartridge that is mounted in a printer and supplies ink to the printer, as described in JP-A-2019-73014, there is known an ink cartridge that is not simply pushed into a mounting portion of a printer when being mounted in the printer, but is further rotated to be mounted. The purpose of rotating the ink cartridge is to separate an action of bringing pad electrodes provided on an ink cartridge side into contact with electrical coupling portions on a printer side from an insertion action of mounting the ink cartridge in the printer. It has been pointed out that, when attempting to complete the mounting and electrical coupling of the ink cartridge just by pushing the ink cartridge, in a case in which the force for pushing the ink cartridge is too strong, there may be a problem in electrical contact.
However, in the ink cartridge having such a structure, after pushing the ink cartridge into the printer, the user has to rotate the ink cartridge further, which causes various problems. First, the user is required to perform the two different actions when mounting the ink cartridge, which is not convenient for mounting the ink cartridge. In addition, as it is not clear how much to rotate the ink cartridge, it is conceivable that the electrical coupling may not be made or may be insufficient due to insufficient rotation. Further, when a used ink cartridge is removed and replaced, the used ink cartridge needs to be rotated in the opposite direction before being pulled out, but the printer or the ink cartridge may be damaged by pulling the ink cartridge with excessive force without noticing that the rotation action is required.
The present disclosure can be achieved as the following aspects or applications.
A first aspect of the present disclosure is an aspect as an ink cartridge which is mounted in a printer. The ink cartridge includes a cartridge body configured to contain ink to be supplied to the printer, including a guide portion having a shape that fits into a cartridge receiving section provided on a printer side, and configured to be linearly inserted to a first position in which the ink cartridge is in a mounted state in the cartridge receiving section, an electronic component mounting section configured to mount an electronic component, and configured to move with respect to the cartridge body in a second direction different from a first direction that is a direction in which the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge receiving section, a holding portion configured to hold the electronic component mounting section at an initial position in which the electronic component mounting section is in a predetermined positional relationship with the cartridge body when the cartridge body is not inserted into the cartridge receiving section, and a moving portion, by the cartridge body being inserted in the first direction from a second position before the first position in the cartridge receiving section of the printer, configured to move the electronic component mounting section in the second direction from the initial position to couple the electronic component to electrical coupling portions provided on the printer side.
A second aspect is an aspect as a printer including a printer body and an ink cartridge which is mounted in the printer body. The printer body of the printer includes a cartridge receiving section for receiving the ink cartridge, an engaging portion formed on an inner surface of the cartridge receiving section, electrical coupling portions provided on the inner surface of the cartridge receiving section, and an electronic circuit coupled to the electrical coupling portions. On the other hand, the ink cartridge may include a cartridge body configured to contain ink to be supplied to the printer body, including a guide portion having a shape that fits into the cartridge receiving section of the printer body, and configured to be linearly inserted to a first position in which the ink cartridge is in a mounted state in the cartridge receiving section, an electronic component mounting section configured to mount an electronic component, and configured to move with respect to the cartridge body in a second direction different from a first direction that is a direction in which the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge receiving section, a holding portion configured to hold the electronic component mounting section at an initial position in which the electronic component mounting section is in a predetermined positional relationship with the cartridge body when the cartridge body is not inserted into the cartridge receiving section, an engaged portion provided on an outer periphery of the cartridge body, and configured to move the electronic component mounting section in the second direction from the initial position by engaging with the engaging portion of the printer body and by the cartridge body being inserted in the first direction from a second position before the first position in the cartridge receiving section of the printer body, and coupling bodies configured to couple the electronic component to the electronic circuit of the printer body by coupling to the electrical coupling portions of the printer body with the movement of the electronic component mounting section in the second direction.
A third aspect is an aspect as a method for mounting, in a printer, an ink cartridge including a cartridge body containing ink and an electronic component mounting section on which an electronic component is mounted. This mounting method includes holding the electronic component mounting section at an initial position that is a predetermined position to the cartridge body in a state in which the cartridge body is not inserted in a cartridge receiving section provided on a printer side, linearly inserting, in the cartridge receiving section of the printer, the cartridge body including a guide portion having a shape that fits into the cartridge receiving section along a first direction, which is an insertion direction of the cartridge body into the cartridge receiving section, to a second position before a first position in which the cartridge body is in a mounted state in the cartridge receiving section, and moving the electronic component mounting section from the initial position in a second direction different from the first direction to couple the electronic component to electrical coupling portions provided on the printer side, by linearly inserting the cartridge body from the second position to the first position along the first direction.
1. Configuration of Printer and Ink Cartridge Receiving Section
When the ink cartridge 50 is inserted into the receiving section 55 and pushed all the way in, an ink supply needle 32 provided on a printer 20 side is inserted into an opening at the tip of the ink cartridge 50, and the ink contained in the ink cartridge 50 can be supplied to the printer 20 side. In this state, that is, when the ink cartridge 50 is correctly received by the receiving section 55, a cover 27 provided on a front surface of the printer body 25 can be closed. When the insertion of the ink cartridge 50 is insufficient, the cover 27 cannot be closed. The printer 20 monitors the opening and closing of the cover 27 by a sensor (not illustrated) and does not perform printing when the cover 27 is not normally closed. Therefore, the printer 20 is not used without the ink cartridge 50 being correctly received.
Inside the printer 20, in addition to the receiving section 55 that receives the ink cartridge 50 described above, a print execution unit 30 that performs printing on the paper sheet PP by using an ink head 31, a control unit 100 that controls the entirety of the printer 20, and the like are provided. The print execution unit 30 includes a mechanism for reciprocating the ink head 31 in a main scanning direction relative to the paper sheet PP, a mechanism for transporting the paper sheet PP in a sub scanning direction, a mechanism for sucking the ink from the ink cartridge 50, and a driver for driving the ink head 31 to cause the ink head 31 to eject ink droplets of the color ink onto the paper sheet PP. The configuration of the print execution unit 30 is well known, and therefore, a description thereof will be omitted.
The control unit 100 includes a display panel 33 that displays various kinds of information, an electronic control unit (also referred to as an ECU) 35 that performs control necessary for the printer, a communication unit 37 that communicates with a network NW, and the like. The ECU 35 includes a well-known CPU and memory, as well as a PIO for exchanging data with the outside. The CPU executes various programs stored in the memory, thereby implementing a function of exchanging printing instructions and data for printing with a computer or the like via the network NW by the communication unit 37, a function of allowing various settings for printing using the display panel 33, a function of exchanging information with the ink cartridge 50, a function of transmitting dot data for determining the on/off of dots to the print execution unit 30 to cause the print execution unit 30 to perform printing, and the like.
The function of exchanging information with the ink cartridge 50 out of the functions implemented by the control unit 100 is performed as follows. The ink cartridge 50 is mounted with a memory 80 for storing information in a non-volatile manner. The memory 80 is a flash ROM, and input/output of data is performed by serial communication. The memory 80 is provided with a line for transmitting electric power and a line for transferring data in and out by serial communication. In
The ink cartridge 50 which is received in the receiving section 55 of the printer 20 contains liquid ink. When the ink supply needle 32 is inserted into the opening of the ink cartridge 50, the ink contained in the ink cartridge 50 can be supplied to the printer body 25 side. This is because a valve mechanism 60 provided inside the ink cartridge 50 is brought into an opening state by the ink supply needle 32. This mechanism will be described next.
The first valve body 63, the second valve body 64, and the spring 67 are housed in a flow path 61a formed in the valve mechanism case 61, and the first valve body 63 and the second valve body 64 are disposed so as to be biased in opposite directions from each other by the spring 67. The flow path 61a for housing the first valve body 63, the spring 67, and the second valve body 64 is formed along an axis AX of the ink supply needle 32 which is inserted into the opening. The first valve body 63, the second valve body 64, and the spring 67 are disposed substantially concentric with the axis AX. When the ink cartridge 50 is stored alone, the first valve body 63 is biased by the spring 67 and abuts the seal member 62 to maintain a valve closed state. On the other hand, the second valve body 64 is also biased by the spring 67 but a biased direction thereof is opposite to a biased direction of the first valve body 63, and is pressed against an end surface 61b formed by the ink supply path 65, thereby maintaining the closed state. In each of the first valve body 63 and the second valve body 64, a shaft body that is smaller than an inner diameter of the spring 67 is formed on a side on which the spring 67 is mounted, for positioning of the spring 67. End portions of the spring 67 are loosely fitted to the shaft bodies of the first valve body 63 and the second valve body 64.
In
2. Configuration and Movement of Electronic Component Mounting Section
As illustrated by a phantom line in
The opening 42 has an oval shape when viewed in section that intersects the axis AX, a minor axis thereof is slightly larger than an outer diameter of the valve mechanism case 61, and a major axis thereof is about two times the outer diameter of the valve mechanism case 61. A leaf spring 41 is disposed below the valve mechanism case 61 in the opening 42. The leaf spring 41 serves as a holding portion that holds the electronic component mounting section 40 at a predetermined position. That is, the leaf spring 41 is disposed between a lower side of the valve mechanism case 61 and a lower end in a longitudinal direction of the opening 42 of the electronic component mounting section 40 in a slightly compressed state, and holds the electronic component mounting section 40 in a state concentric with the axis AX. Note that, since both ends of the leaf spring 41 are respectively fixed to the valve mechanism case 61 and the electronic component mounting section 40, the movement of the electronic component mounting section 40 in the axis AX direction is also restricted.
At the initial position, the center of the electronic component mounting section 40 coincides with the center of the ink cartridge 50. In this state, the coupling protrusion 70 provided on an outer periphery of the electronic component mounting section 40 protrudes outside the outer periphery of the ink cartridge 50. Since the receiving section 55 includes a recess corresponding to the coupling protrusion 70 at an inlet portion thereof (see
A plurality of pogo pins 71 and 72 as coupling bodies are provided on a surface of the coupling protrusion 70. The lines drawn out from the memory 80 are coupled to the pogo pins 71 and 72. The pogo pins 71 and 72, which are couplings for electrical coupling, are pins that have springs inside and are retractable in an axial direction of the pins. The pogo pins 71 and 72 of the coupling protrusion 70 are finally coupled to electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90.
The electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90 correspond to electrical coupling portions. The electrodes 91 and 92 are electrode plates of which surfaces are gold-plated, and are provided at positions where tips of the pogo pins 71 and 72 of the coupling protrusion 70 disposed above the electronic component mounting section 40 come into contact therewith, respectively, when the electronic component mounting section 40 is moved. In
The mounting of the ink cartridge 50 of the present embodiment will be described.
When the ink cartridge 50 is further inserted from a state in which the ink cartridge 50 is inserted into the receiving section 55, and the tip end of the electronic component mounting section 40 of the ink cartridge 50 contacts the guide protrusion 29, with the movement of the ink cartridge 50 in a first direction FW, which is a direction toward the ink supply needle 32, the electronic component mounting section 40 moves along a slope of the guide protrusion 29 in a second direction different from the first direction FW, that is, in an upward direction UP. With the movement in the second direction UP, a distance between the lower end of the opening 42 of the electronic component mounting section 40 and the lower side of the valve mechanism case 61 of the valve mechanism 60 is reduced, and the leaf spring 41 housed therein is compressed. When the ink cartridge 50 is inserted toward the ink supply needle 32 side, that is, in the first direction FW illustrated in
This state is illustrated in
According to the first embodiment described above, only by linearly inserting the ink cartridge 50 into the receiving section 55 along the first direction FW, the supply of ink to the ink supply needle 32 and the electrical coupling to the memory 80, which is an electronic component mounted on the electronic component mounting section 40, can be completed. Therefore, it is not necessary to rotate the ink cartridge 50 after the ink cartridge 50 is linearly pushed into the receiving section 55. For this reason, the ink cartridge 50 is easily mounted, and an error such as insufficient electrical coupling is unlikely to occur. Further, the ink cartridge 50 can be removed by simply pulling out the ink cartridge 50 as it is. Therefore, unlike an ink cartridge that is pulled out after being rotated, there is less risk of accidentally damaging the ink cartridge 50 when trying to pull out the ink cartridge 50 without rotating.
Further, in the ink cartridge 50, since the electronic component mounting section 40 is held at the initial position by the leaf spring 41 in the ink cartridge 50 alone, it is not necessary to adjust the position of the electronic component mounting section 40 to the initial position when the ink cartridge 50 is mounted in the receiving section 55. Also, the problem that the position of the electronic component mounting section 40 is shifted and the ink cartridge 50 cannot be inserted into the receiving section 55 does not occur. Further, in the ink cartridge 50 of the first embodiment, the pogo pins 71 and 72 are used at the electrical coupling portions of the coupling protrusion 70. Therefore, when the pogo pins 71 and 72 abut the electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90, the pogo pins 71 and 72 are retracted, so that it is possible to easily assure clearances therebetween.
In the embodiment described above, the coupling protrusion 70 and the pogo pins 71 and 72 thereof are provided at the upper end of the electronic component mounting section 40, but the coupling protrusion 70 may be provided at a side portion of the electronic component mounting section 40. In this case, the electrode holder 90 may be provided at a position corresponding to the coupling protrusion 70 when the electronic component mounting section 40 is moved in the second direction, and the pogo pins 71 and 72 may be slid in a lateral direction to come into contact with the electrodes 91 and 92. The pogo pins 71 and 72 may be provided on an upper surface of the coupling protrusion 70 protruding toward the side of the electronic component mounting section 40, and the electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90 may be provided so as to be separated in the second direction when viewed from the coupling protrusion 70, similar to the first embodiment described above.
In the first embodiment, as illustrated in
Next, a second embodiment will be described. As illustrated in
In the second embodiment, an electrode holder 90A that makes electrical coupling by contacting the pogo pins 71 and 72 of the coupling protrusion 70 is not located in the upper part along the axis BX in the up-down direction, and is disposed at a position rotated by about 60 degrees from the axis BX. Further, a helical spring 41A is provided between an outer periphery of the valve mechanism 60 and the electronic component mounting section 40A. For the helical spring 41A, a state illustrated in the uppermost part of
The uppermost part of
When the electronic component mounting section 40A is rotationally moved in the second direction RT with the movement of the ink cartridge 50A in the first direction FW in this way, the coupling protrusion 70 approaches the electrode holder 90A accordingly. In a state in which the electronic component mounting section 40A is rotated by 60 degrees (the bottom part of
As illustrated in
According to the ink cartridge 50A of the second embodiment described above, the effect similar to that of the first embodiment is obtained, and the second direction RT is the rotation direction about the axis AX, so that the pogo pins 71 and 72 of the coupling protrusion 70 and the electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90A are brought into contact with each other in a sliding direction. Thus, even when the rotational movement of the coupling protrusion 70 varies, it is unlikely that the pogo pins 71 and 72 of the coupling protrusion 70 strongly hit the electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90A and are damaged, or that, conversely, the pogo pins 71 and 72 of the coupling protrusion 70 do not reach the electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90A, and the electrical coupling cannot be established.
In the second embodiment described above, the second direction is the rotational direction about the axis AX, and the pogo pins 71 and 72 on the coupling protrusion 70 that rotates are configured to laterally slide and contact the electrodes 91 and 92. However, the pogo pins 71 and 72 and the electrodes 91 and 92 may be designed so that the pogo pins 71 and 72 are provided on a left side surface of the coupling protrusion 70, and that, when the coupling protrusion 70 is rotated, the pogo pins 71 and 72 on the side surface of the rotated coupling protrusion 70 abut the electrodes 91 and 92, as in the first embodiment.
In each of the embodiments described above, the memory that stores information about the ink cartridge is used as the electronic component, but an electronic component other than the memory may be used. For example, it is possible to employ, as the electronic circuit, a sensor for detecting the amount of ink remaining in the ink cartridge, an IC for communication with the printer body, an RFID that combines the memory function and the function to authenticate the ink cartridge and the like, and further, an electronic circuit that returns a specific response in accordance with an electric signal from the printer body side, and the like.
In the embodiments described above, the electrical coupling is made by the pogo pins 71 and 72 serving as the coupling bodies and the electrodes 91 and 92 serving as the electrical coupling portions. However, the electrical contacts may not be movable contacts such as the pogo pins 71 and 72, but may be fixed contacts. In this case, the clearance may be secured by providing the electrodes 91 and 92 of the electrode holder 90 obliquely to the movement of the electronic component mounting section 40 in the second direction. Alternatively, an RFID or the like may be used to achieve non-contact electrical coupling with an electronic component.
The first direction and the second direction in the electronic component mounting section are the axis AX direction and an up-down direction orthogonal to this axis in the first embodiment, and the axis AX direction and the rotation direction about this axis in the second embodiment, but the first direction and the second direction may be a combination of other directions. For example, the axis AX direction and a right-left direction orthogonal to this axis may be used. In this case, when a guide protrusion is provided, the second direction can be an up-down direction or right-left direction that is not orthogonal to the axis AX. In addition, the first direction and the second direction may be the axis AX direction and a rotation direction about another axis parallel to the axis AX. In any case, it is sufficient that both of the directions be different from each other.
Although some embodiments have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, and may be implemented in various aspects. For example, as an ink cartridge mounted in a printer, the following aspects are also possible. The ink cartridge includes a cartridge body configured to contain ink to be supplied to the printer, including a guide portion having a shape that fits into a cartridge receiving section provided on a printer side, and configured to be linearly inserted to a first position in which the ink cartridge is in a mounted state in the cartridge receiving section, an electronic component mounting section configured to mount an electronic component, and configured to move with respect to the cartridge body in a second direction different from a first direction that is a direction in which the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge receiving section, a holding portion configured to hold the electronic component mounting section at an initial position in which the electronic component mounting section is in a predetermined positional relationship with the cartridge body when the cartridge body is not inserted into the cartridge receiving section, and a moving portion, by the cartridge body being inserted in the first direction from a second position before the first position in the cartridge receiving section of the printer, configured to move the electronic component mounting section in the second direction from the initial position to couple the electronic component to electrical coupling portions provided on the printer side.
According to the ink cartridge of this aspect, only by linearly inserting the cartridge body in the first direction from the second position before the first position in which the cartridge body is in the mounted state, the electronic component mounting section is moved in the second direction from the initial position so that the electronic component mounted on the electronic component mounting section can be coupled to the electrical coupling portions provided on the printer side. Therefore, the ink cartridge can be mounted and the electronic component can be electrically coupled only by linearly inserting the ink cartridge body into the receiving section. Such an ink cartridge may contain liquid ink, or powder ink such as toner.
In such an ink cartridge, the electronic component mounting section may be configured to move with respect to the cartridge body in the second direction from the initial position, and the moving portion may be a guide protrusion provided on an inner surface of the cartridge receiving section of the printer and configured to move the electronic component mounting section in the second direction from the initial position when the electronic component mounting section rides on the guide protrusion. In this configuration, the moving portion can be easily achieved.
In such an ink cartridge, the electronic component mounting section may be configured to rotate with respect to the cartridge body in the second direction from the initial position with the first direction as an axial direction of a rotation axis, and the moving portion may include an engaged portion that engages with an engaging portion provided along the second direction on an inner surface of the cartridge receiving section of the printer, and may rotationally move the electronic component mounting section in the second direction from the initial position by the cartridge body being inserted in the first direction from the second position. In this configuration, the movement in the second direction can be the rotational movement.
In such an ink cartridge, the holding portion may be an elastic body configured to bias the electronic component mounting section toward the initial position. In this configuration, the electronic component mounting section can be easily held.
As another aspect, an aspect as a printer including a printer body and an ink cartridge which is mounted in the printer body is also possible. The printer body of the printer may include a cartridge receiving section for receiving the ink cartridge, an engaging portion formed on an inner surface of the cartridge receiving section, electrical coupling portions provided on the inner surface of the cartridge receiving section, and an electronic circuit coupled to the electrical coupling portions. On the other hand, the ink cartridge may include a cartridge body configured to contain ink to be supplied to the printer body, including a guide portion having a shape that fits into the cartridge receiving section of the printer body, and configured to be linearly inserted to a first position in which the ink cartridge is in a mounted state in the cartridge receiving section, an electronic component mounting section configured to mount an electronic component, and configured to move with respect to the cartridge body in a second direction different from a first direction that is a direction in which the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge receiving section, a holding portion configured to hold the electronic component mounting section at an initial position in which the electronic component mounting section is in a predetermined positional relationship with the cartridge body when the cartridge body is not inserted into the cartridge receiving section, an engaged portion provided on an outer periphery of the cartridge body, and configured to move the electronic component mounting section in the second direction from the initial position by engaging with the engaging portion of the printer body and by the cartridge body being inserted in the first direction from a second position before the first position in the cartridge receiving section of the printer body, and coupling bodies configured to couple the electronic component to the electronic circuit of the printer body by coupling to the electrical coupling portions of the printer body with the movement of the electronic component mounting section in the second direction.
In this configuration, in the printer, the electronic component mounting section can be moved in the second direction and the electrical coupling can be completed only by the ink cartridge linearly being inserted into the printer body. Therefore, the ink cartridge can be easily mounted in the printer.
Further, there may be an aspect as a method for mounting, in a printer, an ink cartridge including a cartridge body containing ink and an electronic component mounting section on which an electronic component is mounted. This mounting method includes holding the electronic component mounting section at an initial position that is a predetermined position to the cartridge body in a state in which the cartridge body is not inserted in a cartridge receiving section provided on a printer side, linearly inserting, in the cartridge receiving section of the printer, the cartridge body including a guide portion having a shape that fits into the cartridge receiving section along a first direction, which is an insertion direction of the cartridge body into the cartridge receiving section, to a second position before a first position in which the cartridge body is in a mounted state in the cartridge receiving section, and moving the electronic component mounting section from the initial position in a second direction different from the first direction to couple the electronic component to electrical coupling portions provided on the printer side, by linearly inserting the cartridge body from the second position to the first position along the first direction.
By this method, the ink cartridge is easily mounted in the printer body with the electrical coupling of the electronic component mounting section.
Although the various embodiments and aspects have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above and the like, and can be implemented with various configurations within the scope that does not depart from the gist of the present disclosure. For example, the technical features of the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each aspect described in the section of Summary can be appropriately replaced or combined in order to solve some or all of the problems described above or to achieve some or all of the effects described above. Further, the technical features that are not described as essential in this specification can be deleted as appropriate. For example, a part of the configuration achieved by hardware in the embodiments described above can be achieved by software.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2019-234109 | Dec 2019 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20200282729 | Inoue et al. | Sep 2020 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-073014 | May 2019 | JP |
| WO-2019074132 | Apr 2019 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210197575 A1 | Jul 2021 | US |
