JPS6032671A - ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an ink container from damaging by interposing fixedly a bonding margin of the periphery of an ink container between an upper case and a lower case. CONSTITUTION:The bonding margins 14 of a flat-bag shaped flexible ink bag 12a are bonded to each other via an adhesive, a positioning hole 15 is engaged with the projection 16 of a lower case 17, the projection 16 is engaged with the recess of an upper case 18, and the upper and lower cases are clamped with screws. The margins 14 are held fixedly by the upper and lower cases, the container 12 itself is held by the container supports 19, 20 of the upper and lower cases so that the bonding margins are not damaged to eliminate the leakage of the ink.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an ink cartridge used in a recording device such as an inkjet printer.

(Prior art) An electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element is used as a pressurizing means.
A pressure pulse control type inkjet printer is known in which a pulse voltage is applied to the inkjet printer to eject ink to record dots. This method is also known as the negative pressure type, in which the ink jet nozzle is installed at a position higher than the ink level in the ink container, and a negative pressure corresponding to this water level difference is applied to the ink surface at the orifice surface of the nozzle. Give it to me,
The name comes from the continuous supply of ink to the nozzle using capillary action. In this type of inkjet printer, the ink supply power is small, so if even the slightest bubble is generated in the ink, there is a risk that the ink will not be ejected.

Therefore, the ink containers shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) are used. This is shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 54-151035 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-44663. The flexible flat bag-shaped ink container 1 is formed by folding a multilayer laminate film and sealing it with an adhesive at the joining margin. Reference numeral 2 denotes an ink outlet tube that draws out the ink inside. The laminate film of this ink container 1 consists of three layers, and each layer has its own function. That is, the outer layer 6 is made of a polymer film such as nylon, and has the function of maintaining the mechanical strength of the bag, and prevents ink from leaking to the outside due to dropping, vibration, etc. The intermediate layer 4 is an aluminum thin film layer, which completely blocks the internal ink from the outside air to prevent the constituent components of the ink from evaporating, and also blocks external ultraviolet rays and light to prevent its deterioration. The inner layer 5 is made of a polymer film such as polyethylene, and eliminates the risk of deteriorating the ink, and also prevents the nylon layer and aluminum layer from being deteriorated by the ink. In addition to the above six layers, a welding polymer layer and an adhesive layer for welding each other are provided.

For ease of handling, the ink container 1 is housed in a case 6 as shown in FIG. 2, and is made into a cartridge. The tip of the ink outlet tube 2 is sealed with a blind rubber stopper 7 fixed to the case 6, and is connected to a connecting needle on the printer side through the rubber stopper 7 to supply ink to the nozzle. 8
is an opening provided in the case. Here, ink container 1
If it is simply housed in the case 6, it will be easily damaged by shocks such as dropping, and there is a risk of ink leakage.

For example, the impact caused by a fall can reach 20 G or more, and when an ink container contains 20 to 50 cc of ink, an internal load of 6 to 9 or more is applied to the ink container, albeit momentarily. For this purpose, ink container 1
firmly adhere to the inner wall of the case 6 with double-sided adhesive tape 9,
Also, cushioning materials 10 are provided at various locations. However, these methods were not necessarily effective, had a large number of parts, and were troublesome to assemble.

(Objective) An object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge which has a simple structure, can reliably prevent damage to the ink container, and therefore does not record ink leakage.

(Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows an ink cartridge 11 which is an embodiment of the present invention.
shows. The ink cartridge 11 uses a flat, flexible ink bag 12 as shown in FIG. The ink bag 12 is made of a pair of laminate films in which a thin aluminum film layer is laminated with a polymer film as described above, and the tube 13
The surrounding joint margins 14 except for the edges are sealed together by adhesive. Nine positioning holes 15 are provided at the four corners of the joint 14 of the ink container 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the ink container 12 is in abutting relationship with a rigid lower case 17 having projections 16 integrally provided at the four corners that fit into the holes 15. Although not shown, the joining margin 14 is clamped and fixed by an upper case 18 which is also rigid and has a recess into which the projection 16 fits. Note that the upper case and lower case are tightened and fixed with screws. In addition, container support portions 19 and 20 each having a concave surface approximately equal to the outer shape of the ink container 12 are formed in the upper case 18 and the lower case 17. Further, the upper and lower cases 18 and 17 are each formed with four parts 22 and 23 into which a blind rubber stopper 21 that seals the tip of the ink outlet tube 13 is fitted and fixed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the joining margin 14 around the ink container 12 is clamped and fixed between the upper case 18 and the lower case 17, so that no matter how much the ink container shakes due to vibration, the joining will be maintained. It will not tear and ink will leak. In addition, a positioning hole 15 is formed in the joint 14 of the ink container 12, making positioning with respect to the case extremely easy, and since it is locked by the protrusion 16, the ink container is effectively prevented from breaking. . Further, since the wall surface of the ink container 12 is fully supported by the support portions 19.20 of the upper and lower cases 18.17, damage to the ink container 12 due to impact can be more effectively prevented. Further, by adopting the above configuration, double-sided adhesive tape and buffer material can be omitted, making it possible to reduce costs.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and for example, the positioning hole 15 provided at the joint of the ink container is not necessarily necessary, and the same applies to the protrusion 16 provided on the lower case. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to various recording devices such as plotters and recorders in addition to inkjet printers.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink cartridge with a simple structure that reliably prevents damage to the ink container and is less likely to cause ink leakage.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 and @ indicate a conventional bag-shaped ink container, respectively, a perspective view and a cross-sectional view. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional ink cartridge, and Figure 3 is a cross-section of an ink cartridge that is an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a plan view of the bag-shaped ink container used in the ink cartridge of this embodiment, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the lower case, 12...bag-shaped ink container, 14 fist...joint, 15
...Fist positioning hole, 16...Protrusion, 17...Lower case, 18.e.Upper case, 19.20...Support part 4s 363

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An ink cartridge characterized in that a joining margin around a flexible bag-shaped ink container is clamped and fixed by first and second cases. (2) The ink cartridge according to claim 1, characterized in that a positioning hole is provided at a joint around the ink container, and is fitted into a projection provided on the first case. (3) The ink cartridge according to claim 2, wherein surfaces of the first and second cases that face each other have a curved shape that is substantially the same as that of the ink container.