Patent Application
20100212167
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plotter and, more particularly, to a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply, where the manufacturing cost of the plotter can be reduced, ink can be resupplied to the plotter conveniently, and the residual amount of the ink can be monitored easily.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional plotter comprises a pen housing and a pen. The pen housing is movably connected to a guiding track of the plotter and the pen is detachably connected with the pen housing. The pen can be moved to print a material by moving the pen housing.
Besides, ink is supplied by means of a pneumatic type ink-supply set. The pneumatic type ink-supply set includes an ink-container and a pneumatic type ink-pump. By means of an air cylinder and a pneumatic duct, the pneumatic type ink pump is used to draw out ink from the ink-container into the pen via a connecting tube that is in connection with the pen. Therefore, the conventional plotter has following disadvantages.
First, it is difficult for users to monitor the residual amount of the ink in the ink-container synchronically and consequently fail to resupply ink in time because the ink-container is not connected directly to the pen housing.
Second, the ink has to be supplied to the pen by means of pneumatic ink pump and the use of this extra device will increase the manufacturing cost.
Third, the pneumatic duct has to be arranged in cooperation with the guiding track and consequently the movement of the pen housing on the track will be influenced. Therefore, the operation efficiency of the plotter will be adversely affected.
Forth, when an ink-supply container needs to be replaced, it is a difficult task for general users to replace the old ink-supply container with a new one. If users fail to successively connect the newly replaced ink-supply container with the pneumatic ink pump, the efficiency of ink supply will be reduced and the operation of the plotter will be impaired.
In order to solve these problems mentioned above to provide a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply, by which the manufacturing cost is lowered, the ink thereof can be resupplied conveniently, and the residual amount of the ink thereof can be monitored, inventor had the motive to study and develop the present invention after hard research.
An object of the present invention is to provide a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply where an ink-supply container is directly connected to a pen housing of the pen set, and consequently users can operate the plotter and monitor the residual amount of the ink simultaneously.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply where the ink-supply container is directly connected to the pen housing of the pen set and ink is directly supplied to a pen, and consequently the manufacturing cost is reduced.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a plotter having a pen set with a simple structure ink-supply and consequently users can replace the original ink-supply container with a new one easily.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply, where the ink-supply container is provided with a spring and a piston and consequently ink can be filled into the pen more smoothly.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply and the pen set of the plotter comprises a pen housing, a pen, and an ink-supply container. The pen housing is movably connected to the plotter and is provided with a fixing frame. The pen is detachably connected to the pen housing. The ink-supply container for loading ink is placed in the fixing frame of the pen housing and is in connection with the pen via a connecting tube for supplying ink to the pen.
Preferably, the ink-supply container is provided with a spring and a piston therein.
The following detailed description, given by way of examples and not intended to limit the invention solely to the embodiments described herein, will best be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The pen housing 10 is movably connected to a guiding track 2 of the plotter and is provided with a fixing frame 12. Users can proceed with a printing procedure by moving the pen housing 10 along the guiding track 2.
The pen 20 is detachably connected to the pen housing 10. The ink-supply container 30 used for loading ink is placed in the fixing frame 12 of the pen housing 10 and is in connection with the pen 20 via a connecting tube 40 for supplying ink to the pen 20.
The fixing frame 12 includes a vertical plate 122 and two horizontal plates 126 that extend from one side of the vertical plate 122 horizontally. Each horizontal plate 126 has a hole 128. The holes 128 of the horizontal plates 126 correspond to each other for locating the ink-supply container 30. The two holes 128 can be of the same size or of different sizes. In this embodiment, the two holes 128 are of the same size.
Besides, the fixing frame 12 has a connecting plate 124 that extends from the vertical plate 122. The connecting plate 124 is connected to a fixing plate 102 of the pen housing 10 for fixing the fixing frame 12 to the pen housing 10. In this embodiment, the connecting plate 124 is fixed to the fixing plate 102 of the pen housing 10 via screws 3.
Moreover, in this embodiment, the ink-supply container 30 is provided with four protruded blocks 36 that are disposed on its external peripheral surface and spaced equidistantly with one another. When the ink-supply container 30 is put into the fixing frame 12, the ink-supply container 30 will be stopped within the fixing frame 12 by means of the four protruded blocks 36.
Thereby, the present invention has following advantages:
As disclosed in the above description and attached drawings, the present invention can provide a plotter having a pen set with ink-supply, where the plotter is of lower manufacturing cost, the ink thereof can be resupplied conveniently, and the residual amount of the ink thereof can be monitored. It is novel and can be put into industrial use.
It should be understood that different modifications and variations could be made from the disclosures of the present invention by the people familiar in the art, deemed without departing the spirit of the present invention.
