JPH11170567A - Ink cartridge and ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent erroneous loading of an ink cartridge at the time of replacement by making a plurality of grooves, depending on the color of ink, in one side wall face of a cartridge body in the loading direction to an ink jet recorder. SOLUTION: An ink cartridge being loaded to a carriage unit contains an ink absorber in the cartridge body. Ribs 71 corresponding, in the number and the position, to the color of ink contained in the cartridge are made in the outer wall face of the body of an ink cartridge 7y, 7m, 7c, 7k for each color. More specifically, one rib 71 is made in the ink cartridge 7k of black, two ribs 71 are made in the ink cartridge 7y, 7m, 7c of color ink and black ink is discriminated from color ink. With regard to the ink cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c, discrimination is made among yellow, magenta and cyan by differentiating the position for forming two ribs 71 among respective colors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an ink cartridge used for an ink jet recording apparatus and the like and an ink jet recording apparatus capable of detachably mounting the ink cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, as an ink jet recording apparatus used for a printer, a facsimile, a copying apparatus, etc., a recording head and an ink cartridge (also referred to as an ink tank) for supplying ink to the recording head are mounted on a carriage. There is known a serial scan type in which recording is performed while moving in the main scanning direction. As an inkjet recording apparatus, there are three colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), or four colors obtained by adding black (Bk) to the three colors, and further, light magenta (M) and light 2. Description of the Related Art A color ink jet printing apparatus that prints a color image using six colors of ink including two colors of cyan (C) has been frequently used.

As described above, in a color ink jet recording apparatus using a plurality of color inks, for example, when a cyan ink ink cartridge is mounted where a yellow ink cartridge is mounted, the color of a recorded image is reproduced. In addition to the loss of color, there is a problem in that color mixing of ink occurs near the ink supply port, and it is necessary to perform unnecessary printing until the color mixing stops.

Therefore, conventionally, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-155129 has been proposed.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-260, an ink cartridge is provided with a protrusion for preventing erroneous mounting on the bottom side of the ink cartridge (the same surface as the ink supply port), and a recess in which the protrusion fits is formed on the ink jet recording apparatus main body side. There has been proposed an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording apparatus in which the formation positions of the erroneous mounting prevention protrusion and the concave portion are changed according to the color of the ink.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional ink cartridge and ink jet recording apparatus, since the projection is provided on the bottom surface of the ink cartridge, if the ink cartridge is not inserted all the way, it is erroneous. If the user does not notice that the ink cartridge is inserted all the way, the ink supply needle on the ink cartridge and the ink supply port of the ink jet recording apparatus main body come into contact, and color mixing occurs near the ink supply port.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to prevent erroneous mounting of an ink cartridge at the time of replacement.

[0007]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein one or more convex portions or grooves are provided on one side wall surface of the cartridge body in accordance with the color of the ink. The shape was formed in the mounting direction to the ink jet recording apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ink cartridge according to the first aspect, the height of the convex portion or the groove portion of the cartridge body in the height direction is set below the convex portion or the groove portion. The configuration was made longer than the length in the height direction from the tip to the ink supply port.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which a plurality of ink cartridges can be detachably mounted. One or more grooves or protrusions into which the one or more protrusions or grooves formed in the mounting direction fit on one side wall surface are formed in the mounting direction.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the cartridge holding portion for mounting the black ink cartridge and the cartridge holding portion for mounting the color ink cartridge are convex. The number of parts or grooves is different.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording apparatus according to the fourth aspect, wherein each of the cartridge holding portions for mounting the ink cartridges for the respective color inks has a different formation position of the convex portion or the groove portion. And

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a main part of a mechanism part of a serial type ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink cartridge to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a main part of the recording apparatus.

The mechanism of the ink jet recording apparatus is as follows.
The main support guide rod 3 and the sub support guide rod 4 are laid horizontally between the side plates 1 and 2 in a substantially horizontal positional relationship, and the carriage unit 5 is main-scanned by the main support guide rod 3 and the sub support guide rod 4. It is slidably supported in the direction. The carriage unit 5 has four heads 6 that respectively discharge yellow (Y) ink, magenta (M) ink, cyan (C) ink, and black (Bk) ink, and discharge surfaces (nozzle surfaces) 6 a thereof. Four ink cartridges 7 which are mounted downward and are provided on the upper side of the head 6 of the carriage unit 5 are ink supply bodies of respective colors for supplying ink to the four heads 6 respectively.
y, 7m, 7c, and 7k are interchangeably mounted.

The carriage unit 5 is connected to a timing belt 11 stretched between a driving pulley (drive timing pulley) 9 rotated by a main scanning motor 8 and a driven pulley (idler pulley) 10 to perform main scanning. By controlling the drive of the motor 8, the carriage 5, that is, the four heads 6, is moved in the main scanning direction.

Further, sub-frames 13 and 14 are erected on a bottom plate 12 connecting the side plates 1 and 2 to each other.
A transport roller 15 for feeding a sheet 16 in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction is rotatably held between the rollers 3 and 14. The sub-scanning motor 17 is provided on the side of the sub-frame 14.
And the rotation of the sub-scanning motor 17 is
5, a gear 18 fixed to the rotation shaft of the sub-scanning motor 17 and a gear 19 fixed to the shaft of the transport roller 15.
And

Further, between the side plate 1 and the subframe 12, a reliability maintenance / recovery mechanism (hereinafter, referred to as "subsystem") 21 of the head 6 is disposed. The subsystem 21 holds four cap means 22 for capping the ejection surface of each head 6 with a holder 23.
3 is held by a link member 24 so as to be swingable, and the carriage unit 5 abuts on an engaging portion 25 provided on the holder 23 by movement of the carriage unit 5 in the main scanning direction. 23 is lifted up and the ink jet head 6 is
Of the carriage unit 5 is capped.
Moves to the printing area side, so that the carriage unit 5
The cap 23 is moved away from the ejection surface 6a of the ink jet head 6 by lifting down the holder 23 according to the movement of the ink jet head 6.

The cap means 22 is connected to a suction pump 27 via a suction tube 26, forms an air opening port, and communicates with the atmosphere via an air opening tube and an air opening valve. Further, the suction pump 27 discharges the sucked waste liquid to a waste liquid storage tank (not shown) via a drain tube or the like.

Further, on the side of the holder 23, a wiper blade 28, which is a wiping means made of an elastic member such as a fiber member, a foam member or rubber, for wiping the ejection surface 6a of the ink jet head 6, is provided with a blade arm 29.
The blade arm 29 is pivotally supported so as to be pivotable, and is pivoted by rotation of a cam which is rotated by a driving means (not shown).

Next, details of the carriage unit 5 in the ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the carriage unit 5
Heads 6 and ink cartridges 7 (reference numeral “7”)
Has a carriage main body 31 for mounting any one of the symbols “7y, 7m, 7c, 7k”, and the carriage main body 31 is provided with the main support guide rods 3 arranged in parallel as described above. And a supporting guide rod 4 so as to slide and swing. Cylindrical bearing members 32 are mounted on both sides of the carriage main body 31 through which the main support guide rod 3 is inserted in the main scanning direction, and precise positioning is performed by the bearing members 32.

On the carriage main body 31, four heads (head units) 6 are fixed via an adhesive by using two L-shaped brackets 33, which are intermediate members, at the front and rear, respectively. And a driver board 34 constituting a circuit for driving each head 6, and a cartridge for forming a cover of the driver board 34 and holding a plurality of ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c, 7k at intervals. A holder 35 and four cartridge levers 36 for holding the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c, 7k are mounted. The driver board 34 is connected with a flat cable 37 connected to a control board of the apparatus main body.

Next, FIG.
The description will be made with reference to the following. Here, FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the ink cartridge before being loaded into the recording apparatus, FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the ink cartridge with the cap member removed in the state of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the ink cartridge. 6 is a front sectional view of the ink cartridge, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the ink cartridge, and FIG. 8 is a side view of the ink cartridge.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ink cartridge 7 contains an ink absorber 42 in which ink of a required color is absorbed in a cartridge main body 41. The cartridge body 41 is formed by bonding or welding an upper lid member 44 to an upper opening of a case 43 having a wide opening at an upper portion, and is made of, for example, a resin molded product. The ink absorber 42 is made of a porous material such as a urethane foam body, and absorbs ink after being compressed and inserted into the cartridge main body 41.

An ink supply port 45 for supplying ink to the recording head 6 is formed at the bottom of the case 43 of the cartridge body 41, and a seal ring 46 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the ink supply port 45. An air opening 47 is formed in the upper lid member 44. A plurality of grooves 48 are formed in an annular shape around the air opening 47 as shown in FIGS. The grooves 48 communicate with each other and communicate with the air opening 47.

In the cartridge main body 41, before the cartridge is loaded, the ink supply port 45 is closed, and the case 43 is pressed by the pressure on the wide side wall at the time of handling the cartridge at the time of loading or transportation, or at the time of vacuum packaging. A cap member 50 is attached to prevent the internal ink from leaking due to compression deformation. The cap member 50 includes a cap portion 51 for closing the ink supply port 45 and a wide reinforcing rising portion 52 having substantially the same height as the side wall surface of the case 43.
And an engaging portion 5 of the case 43 for locking to the case 43.
4 are integrally formed with the engaging portion 53 by resin molding. The rising portion 5 of the cap member 50
2, the wide side wall surface of the case 43 has a double structure and is reinforced, so that deformation can be prevented even when a force is applied to the case 43 from the lateral direction.

The upper lid member 4 of the cartridge body 41
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the like, the atmosphere opening port 47 formed in FIG. 4 is sealed by attaching a film-shaped sealing member 55 having an oxygen permeability of 100 ml / m ² or more to the upper lid member 44. The sealing member 55 is sized to seal the plurality of grooves 48 formed around the opening 47 together with the atmosphere opening port 47.

By sealing the air opening 47 with the sealing member 55 having an oxygen transmission rate of 100 ml / m ² or more, the ink cartridge 7 can be sealed with a packaging member such as an air-impermeable aluminum laminate film. Packaging under reduced pressure makes it possible to use the ink absorber 42
Even when the gas is dissolved in the ink due to the atmosphere in the space A (see FIG. 6) generated between the cartridge body 41 and the cartridge body 41, the air in the ink can be removed through the cartridge member 41 with a high degree of vacuum through the seal member 55. The ink is discharged to the space between the outer packaging member and the ink, and the degree of deaeration of the ink is improved.

In this case, if the oxygen permeability of the seal member 55 is less than 100 ml / m ² , it takes too much time to discharge the air from the ink, so that the oxygen permeability is 100 ml / m 2.
It is preferably at least ² , and if the oxygen permeability is too high, bubbles may be generated from the ink. Therefore, the oxygen permeability is preferably 20,000 ml / m ² or less, more preferably 500 ml / m ² to 500 ml / m ² . 10,000ml
/ M ² .

Next, the relationship between the ink cartridge 7 and the holding member on the carriage 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 is a perspective explanatory view for explaining the arrangement when the four ink cartridges 7 are loaded into the carriage unit 5, FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view of a cartridge holder 35 of the carriage unit 5, and FIG. It is a schematic plan view.

In this ink jet recording apparatus,
As shown in FIG. 9, the four color ink cartridges 7y, 7
m, 7c, and 7k are arranged and loaded into the cartridge holder 35 of the carriage unit 5. The cap member 50 and the seal member 55 of each ink cartridge 7 described above.
Is attached to the cartridge holder 35 in a detached state.

The cartridge holder 35 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, each of the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7
The loading portions 35y, 35m, 35c, and 35k, which are box-shaped cartridge holding portions to which the components c and 7k are mounted, are formed by an outer wall portion and a partition wall 35d. Each partition wall 35d is formed thin so as to make the carriage main body 31 as small as possible. The width (main scanning direction width) of the black ink cartridge 7k and the color ink ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c is different. That is, since the used amount of black ink in the ink is relatively large, the capacity of the ink cartridge 7k is made larger than that of the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c.
The width of the loading section 35k in the main scanning direction is wider than that of 5c in the main scanning direction.

Then, each of the ink cartridges 7y, 7
On one of the narrow outer wall surfaces (one side wall surface) of the cartridge main body 41 of m, 7c, and 7k, the number and position of the ribs 71, which are convex portions, according to the color of the ink housed therein are raised. (The direction in which the ink cartridge is mounted).

That is, one rib 71 is formed on the ink cartridge 7k for black ink, and two ribs 71 are formed on the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c for color ink. Is used to distinguish black ink from color ink. Further, with respect to the color ink cartridges 7y, 7m, and 7c, yellow, magenta, and cyan are distinguished by changing the formation positions of the two ribs 71 for each color. Further, the front side and the rear side of the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c, 7k are distinguished by the presence or absence of the rib 71.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, the length L2 of each of the ribs 71 of the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c, and 7k in the height direction is determined by the distance between the tip of the rib 71 and the ink supply port 4.
Longer than the length L1 in the height direction up to 5 (L2> L1)
Has formed.

On the other hand, the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7
In the cartridge holder 35 of the carriage unit 5 for loading the ink cartridges 7c, 7k, the ribs 7 of the corresponding ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c, 7k are provided on the side walls of the loading sections 35y, 35m, 35c, 35K of the ink cartridges of the respective colors.
A predetermined number and positions of the groove portions 72 into which 1 can be inserted are formed in the mounting direction of the ink cartridge. The groove-shaped portion 72 of the cartridge holder 35 is set to a position where the rib 71 of the ink cartridge 7 fits in when the ink cartridge 7 is correctly mounted.

With such a configuration, the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c, and 7k can be identified in the front-rear direction by the presence or absence of the rib 71, and can be forcibly inserted into the cartridge holder 35 by mistake. Can be prevented. Then, the ink cartridge 7k for black ink is replaced with the ink cartridges 7y and 7 for color ink.
Since the width is wider than m and 7c, it is prevented that the ink cartridges 7y, 7m and 7c for color ink are erroneously loaded into the portions where they are mounted.

The color ink cartridges 7y, 7m, and 7c are different from the black ink cartridge 7k in the number and positions of the ribs 71, and thus are erroneously loaded in the black ink cartridge loading section 35k. Is prevented. Further, the formation positions of the two ribs 71 are different between the ink cartridges 7y, 7m, 7c for color ink, and the formation positions of the groove portions 72 on the holder 35 side are also different correspondingly. The cartridge loading section 35y,
It is possible to prevent the ink cartridges of other colors from being erroneously attached to the 35m and 35c.

Further, the ink cartridges 7y, 7m,
The length of the rib 71c, 7k is longer than the length L1 in the height direction from the tip of the rib 71 to the ink supply port 45 (L
2> L1), the ink supply port 45 of the ink cartridge 7 is prevented from contacting the ink supply port 73 of the holder 35 even when the ink cartridge is forcibly mounted in the wrong place. Color mixing can be prevented.

Next, a configuration for improving the operability of attaching and detaching the ink cartridge 7 to and from the carriage 5 will be briefly described. Four color ink cartridges 7k, 7y, 7m, 7c
On the upper lid member 44, a projection 81 having an upwardly projecting shape for catching a finger is formed, and a recess 82 is formed corresponding to the projection 81. Further, the projecting portion 81 is formed with a step-shaped non-slip portion 81a on the inclined surface on the concave portion 82 side.

Therefore, when mounting the ink cartridge 7 in the cartridge holder 35 of the carriage unit 5 and removing the ink cartridge 7 from the cartridge holder 35, as shown in FIG.
The ink cartridge 7 can be easily attached and detached because the finger F can be hung and held between the cartridge 1 and the end portion B of the cartridge main body 41. In particular, by arranging a plurality of ink cartridges 7 in the main scanning direction and mounting them at narrow intervals in a box-shaped cartridge holder as in this ink jet recording apparatus, the ink cartridges can be stably mounted and held.

[0040]

As described above, according to the ink cartridge of the first aspect, one or a plurality of convex portions or groove portions are formed on one side wall surface of the cartridge body according to the color of the ink. Since it is formed in the direction of mounting to the recording device, it is possible to prevent the ink cartridge of the wrong color from being installed when replacing the ink cartridge, and to prevent color mixing near the ink supply port even if it is forcibly pushed. It will be possible to do it.

According to the ink cartridge of the second aspect,
2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the length in the height direction of the convex portion or the groove portion of the cartridge body is the length in the height direction from the lower end of the convex portion or the groove portion to the ink supply port. Since the length of the ink cartridge is set to be longer than that, it is possible to prevent color mixing near the ink supply port when an ink cartridge of an incorrect color is forcibly pushed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, one or a plurality of protrusions formed in the mounting direction on one side wall surface of the ink cartridge are provided on the side wall surface of each cartridge holding portion for mounting the plurality of ink cartridges. Since one or more grooves or protrusions into which the grooves or grooves fit are formed in the mounting direction, it is possible to prevent the ink cartridge of the wrong color of ink from being mounted, and to force the ink cartridge. In such a case, color mixing near the ink supply port can be prevented.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 4, in the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 3,
Since the number of convex portions or groove portions is different between the cartridge holding portion for mounting the ink cartridge for black ink and the cartridge holding portion for mounting the ink cartridge for color ink, the ink cartridge of the wrong color ink may be used. It is possible to prevent the ink from being attached, and to prevent the color mixture near the ink supply port even when it is forcibly pushed.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 5, in the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 4,
Each cartridge holding portion for mounting the ink cartridge for each color ink is configured to have a different formation position of the convex portion or the groove portion, so that it is possible to prevent the mounting of the ink cartridge of the wrong color ink, and forcibly. Even in the case of being pushed, color mixing near the ink supply port can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a main part of a mechanism part of a serial type ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a main part of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of an ink cartridge before being loaded into a recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the ink cartridge with the cap member removed in the state of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the ink cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of the ink cartridge.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the ink cartridge.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the ink cartridge.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory perspective view illustrating a state where the carriage unit is loaded.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the carriage unit is loaded into the holder.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory plan view of the holder.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an ink cartridge attaching / detaching operation;

[Explanation of symbols]

5 carriage, 6 head, 7, 7y, 7m, 7c,
7k: ink cartridge, 35: cartridge holder, 41: cartridge body, 42: ink absorber, 4
3 ... case, 44 ... upper lid member, 45 ... ink supply port, 4
7 ... air opening port, 48 ... groove, 50 ... cap member, 55
... Seal member, 71 ... Rib, 72 ... Recess, 81 ... Protrusion, 82 ... Recess.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An ink cartridge detachably mounted to an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein one or more convex portions or groove portions are provided on one side wall surface of the cartridge main body in accordance with the color of ink. An ink cartridge characterized by being formed in a mounting direction to the ink cartridge. 2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a length of the projecting portion or the groove portion of the cartridge body in a height direction is set from an lower end of the projecting portion or the groove portion to an ink supply port. An ink cartridge characterized by being longer than the length in the height direction. 3. An ink jet recording apparatus in which a plurality of ink cartridges can be detachably mounted, wherein a side wall surface of each cartridge holding portion for mounting the plurality of ink cartridges is provided on one side wall surface of the ink cartridge in a mounting direction. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein one or more grooves or protrusions into which one or more protrusions or grooves formed are fitted are formed in the mounting direction. 4. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cartridge holding portion for mounting the black ink cartridge and the cartridge holding portion for mounting the color ink ink cartridge have the convex portion or the groove portion. An ink jet recording apparatus having a different number. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each cartridge holding portion for mounting each ink cartridge for color ink has a different formation position of said convex portion or groove portion. apparatus.