HK1058171A - Ink cartridge for ink-jet printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Ink box on ink-jet printing device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an ink cartridge detachably mounted on a carriage connected to a print head that ejects ink droplets.

Background

A conventional ink cartridge mounted on a carriage associated with a printhead for ejecting ink drops generally comprises: a container having, on one side wall, an ink supply portion into which a printing device supplies ink needles, and on the other side wall, an opening sealed with a lid, for example, as disclosed in japanese laid-open unexamined patent application No. hei.8-132635. The container contains a porous body made of a polymeric resin filled with ink.

Meanwhile, with regard to an ink cartridge mounted on a printing apparatus, here, a printing apparatus capable of color printing, the same container is divided into a plurality of chambers by one or more partition plates, and a porous body filled with ink is placed in each chamber, and an ink supply portion is provided in each chamber. In order to mount the ink cartridge having the above-described plurality of ink supply portions on the holder, the same number of ink supply needles are mounted on the holder, and since a film for sealing the openings of the plurality of ink supply portions is required to be pierced by each ink supply needle, a large pushing force is required from the user at the time of mounting. Therefore, the printing apparatus is intended to be designed with a control lever that is movable in a pivotal direction and one end of which is connected to the cartridge bay, so that the ink cartridge can be easily mounted to the cartridge bay by simply operating the control lever.

However, although the ink cartridge can be mounted with a small pushing force, misalignment of the ink cartridge with respect to the holder may be caused due to rough mounting. Further, since the bottom of the ink cartridge is pushed with a large force, the bottom is combined with the ink supply needle, and in case that the ink cartridge is installed in a wrong direction, there is a problem that the ink supply needle is broken.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, in view of the above-mentioned problems with the conventional cartridge holder, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a cartridge holder having the ability to mount one or more ink supply needles connected to a printhead only in place for an ink jet printing apparatus.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge having a capability of preventing, in an ink jet printing apparatus, an ink supply needle of the printing apparatus from being broken due to improper mounting.

The above and other objects can be accomplished by an ink cartridge prepared in accordance with the present invention, comprising an ink container for containing ink, an ink supply portion formed on the ink container for containing an ink supply needle connected to a printhead connected to a carriage, and one or more recess portions for containing a projection portion projecting from the carriage of a printing apparatus, the recess portions facing the projection portion. The projection is near the ink supply needle, and the cartridge projection is inserted into the recess of the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is mounted in the normal, correct orientation. The height of the protrusion is designed to be higher than the height of the ink supply needle.

When the ink cartridge is properly mounted to the cartridge holder of the printing apparatus, the projection of the holder is first inserted into the recess of the ink cartridge, and then pressure is applied to the holder to insert the ink supply needle into the ink supply portion of the ink cartridge. On the other hand, however, if the ink cartridge is mounted in an incorrect orientation, the projection first comes into contact with the pillar of the bottom of the ink cartridge, so that the ink cartridge cannot be mounted on the bracket.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an ink jet printer;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an ink cartridge and an ink cartridge holder mounted to the ink cartridge according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the ink cartridge and the cartridge bay shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the rear side of the ink cartridge bay of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5a is a top view showing the cartridge holder in a state where the printing head and the sealing plate are separated;

FIG. 5b is a top view of the seal plate;

FIGS. 6a to 6c are perspective views of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively, showing the top surface structure of the cover after the film is removed, in an embodiment of a color ink cartridge, the structure is located at the ink supply portion and the top surface structure of the cover is bonded with the film, respectively;

FIGS. 7a to 7c are perspective views of an ink cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention, respectively, showing the top surface structure of the cover after the film is removed, in one embodiment of the black ink cartridge, the structure is located at the ink supply portion and the top surface structure of the cover is bonded with the film, respectively;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the lid structures of the color ink cartridge and the black ink cartridge, respectively;

FIGS. 9a and 9b are sectional views of the ink cartridge holder with the ink cartridge, respectively showing the state after the ink cartridge is mounted and the process of mounting the black ink cartridge to a proper position;

FIGS. 10a and 10b are sectional views of the cartridge holder with the ink cartridge, showing the case where the film of the ink cartridge is not peeled off after the ink cartridge is mounted and the case where the above-mentioned black ink cartridge is mounted in the reverse direction, respectively;

FIGS. 11a to 11c illustrate other methods of adhering a sealing film for sealing a lid according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of forming a connecting channel inside a cover according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing another example of a mechanism for mounting the ink cartridge;

FIGS. 14a and 14b show a perspective view and a top view, respectively, of another embodiment of an ink cartridge;

FIGS. 15a and 15b show perspective and bottom views, respectively, of yet another embodiment of an ink cartridge;

FIGS. 16a and 16b are a top view showing a structure of a color ink cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention in which a recess portion is arranged and a top view showing a structure of a projection portion corresponding to the recess portion in the vicinity of a supply needle, respectively;

FIGS. 17a and 17b are a top view showing a structure of a color ink cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention in which a recess portion is arranged and a top view showing a structure of a projection portion corresponding to the recess portion in the vicinity of a supply needle, respectively;

FIGS. 18a and 18b, FIGS. 19a and 19b, FIGS. 20a and 20b, and FIGS. 21a and 21b respectively show a top view of a black ink cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention in which a recess portion structure is disposed and a top view of a projection portion structure corresponding to the recess portion in the vicinity of a supply ink needle;

FIGS. 22a to 22c are perspective views showing another example of the ink cartridge;

FIGS. 23a and 23b are a top view and a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A, respectively, showing a state where an ink cartridge is separated from a cover in another embodiment;

FIGS. 24a to 21C are an enlarged top view and a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B, C-C, respectively, showing the vicinity of an ink supply portion of an ink cartridge in another embodiment;

FIG. 25a is a sectional view of the ink cartridge container filled with the ink, and FIG. 25b is a sectional view taken along line E-E in FIG. 25 a;

FIG. 26 is a top view of a lid configuration for use with the ink cartridge shown in FIGS. 25a and 25b, with the film peeled;

FIG. 27 shows a perspective view of the rear portion of the cover of FIG. 26;

FIGS. 28a to 28d show the structure of the top surface of the ink cartridge, the cross-sectional structure along the lines A-A and B-B, and the structure of the rear part of the cover, respectively;

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of another type of ink cartridge that can be used with the present invention;

FIG. 30 is another embodiment of a slot formed in a cover;

FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of the ink cartridge packaged in a vacuum state; and

FIG. 32 shows a perspective view of an ink cartridge and two separate sealing membranes arranged in accordance with the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a printing mechanism corresponding to an embodiment of a printing apparatus for printing using ink cartridges according to the present invention, in which a cartridge holder 6, which is provided with movable levers 4 and 5 and respectively holds a black ink cartridge and a color ink cartridge, is mounted to a carriage 3, the carriage 3 is connected to a drive motor 2 via a timing belt 1, and a print head 23, which is replenished with ink from each ink cartridge, is provided below the carriage 3.

Fig. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of a cartridge holder mounted on the above-described carriage, in this embodiment, with a color cartridge container 7 and a black cartridge container 8. In the case where each of the ink cartridges is normally mounted, the ink supply needles 10 and 11 respectively connected to the print head 23 are arranged at positions opposite to the ink supply portions of the respective ink cartridges.

Rectangular recessed portions 21 and 22 are formed so that they surround their ink supply needles 10 and 11, respectively. In the vicinity of the ink supply needle 10, each tip of the protruding portions 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 is slightly higher than the ink supply needle 10, and the protruding portions 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are formed approximately along the side wall of the recessed portion 21 at four corners of the area of the ink supply needle 10, so that the bottom of the ink cartridge can be horizontally supported.

Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the ink supply needle 11, each tip of the first and second projecting portions 18 and 19 is slightly higher than the ink supply needle 11, so that the ink supply needle 11 is between the projecting portions and, at the center thereof, a third projecting portion 20 is formed. The second projection 19 is wide in length so that the bottom thereof can be horizontally supported when the ink cartridge is mounted in the wrong orientation.

Fig. 4 and 5 show the rear structure of the cartridge holder, and a raised channel forming portion 26 defining recessed areas 21, 22 and connecting channels 24 and 25 for connecting the ink supply needles 10, 11 and the print head 23, the upper surface of which is sealed with a sealing plate 27, and the print head 23 is fixed to the surface of the sealing plate 27 in a superposed manner.

In the channel forming portion 26, caulking flanges 26a are formed together with the connecting channels by injection molding, in addition to the linking channels 24, 25 as shown in fig. 5. Through holes 28 and 29, which are connected to the print head and the caulking hole 28a, respectively, are also formed in the sealing plate 27, and both are fixed together in a loose seal by caulking. The print head 23 is mounted on a sealing plate with its ink inlets connected to through holes 28 and 29 of the sealing plate, respectively.

Fig. 6(a) to 6(c) are perspective views showing an example of the color ink cartridge. The color ink cartridge is composed of a container 32 in which ink supply needles 10 of a printing apparatus are inserted to form ink supply portions 30, the opening surfaces thereof are sealed with caps 31, and a porous body filled with ink is placed.

An ink inlet 33 and air communicating portions 34 are formed on the surface of the cover 31, and each air communicating portion 34 is connected to one end of a thin and meandering groove 36 sealed by a sealing film 35. The slot 36 produces capillary action. The other end of the narrow groove 36 is connected to an air communication port 39 formed in the recessed portion 38. As shown in fig. 8, a recessed portion 38 is formed at the other end of the slot 36, and a through hole is formed through a connecting (or passage) passage 37 and extends substantially horizontally to the inside of the thickness of the cover 31. According to the arrangement, the channel 37 is designed to be inclined with respect to the air connection port 39 formed in the recess 38, so that no air connection channel portion, including the slot 36, the channel 37 and the recess 38, passes through the inside of the cartridge cover 31.

As shown in fig. 6(c), the sealing film 35 has a size equal to or slightly smaller than that defined by the rectangular recessed portion 231 formed in the edge of the cover 31. Due to such a design, the sealing film 35 can hardly be peeled off when the user touches the ink cartridge while mounting the printer.

A concave portion 40 for fitting with the projection of the lever 4 is formed on the center line of the cover 31, and a concave portion 41 for mounting the negative pressure plate is formed in the remaining portion. The recess 38 is completely sealed by a film 42, one end 42a of which extends outside the lid and can be torn off, the recesses 40 and 41 are partially sealed by the same film 42, and openings 40a and 41a, respectively, for connection to the air are partially formed.

Meanwhile, the projection 48, which is in contact with the inner wall of the recess 21 of the cartridge holder 6, has a projection shape to be inserted into and slightly projected from the bottom 43, and the ink supply portions 30 respectively fitted to the ink supply needles 10 are provided to the projection 48. Recessed portions 44 to 47, which are fitted to the projecting portions 12 to 16, are formed on one side of the cartridge holder 6 so that the ink supply portions 30 are located on the diagonal lines of an imaginary quadrangle.

As shown in FIG. 7, the black ink cartridge is constituted by a container 52 having an ink supply portion 50 at one side thereof into which an ink supply needle 10 of the printing apparatus is inserted, an open face thereof being sealed with a cap 51, and a porous body filled with ink being placed in the black ink cartridge.

An ink inlet 53 and an air communicating portion 54 are formed on the surface of the cover 51, and the air communicating portion 54 is connected to a slit 56 sealed with a film 55 and forms a capillary tube. The other end of the slot is connected to an opening 59 having a recessed portion 58, and a through hole is formed through the connecting passage 57 on one side of the other end and extends approximately horizontally to the inside of the cover 51 as shown in fig. 8. Each of the through holes forming the above-mentioned connecting channels 37 and 57, respectively, is inclined so that each side of the recessed portions 38 and 58 is slightly higher, so that the pin can be pulled out in the injection molding.

A concave portion 60 for fixing the protruding portion of the control lever 5 is formed on the center line of the cover 51, and a concave portion 61 for securing a negative pressure space is formed in the remaining portion.

The recess 58 is completely sealed by a membrane 62, one end 62a of which extends beyond the edge of the lid 51 and can be torn off in use, and the recess 60 is partially sealed by the same membrane 62, the portion 60a of which is connected to the atmosphere. The recessed portion 61 is connected to the recessed portion 60 through a recessed portion 61 a.

As described above, even if the ink cartridge is vacuum-packed, the packing is formed by the film 42 or 62 by sealing the concave portion 41 or 60, which is in contact with the air through the film 42 or 62, and the decompression of the space can be prevented by packing the block. Specifically, when the ink cartridge is put into a flexible package 180 such as an aluminum foil package or a vinyl package and packed in a vacuum state, as shown in fig. 31, air is transferred between the ink chamber 137 and the recess 145 on the cap of the ink cartridge. That is, gas contained in the ink or gas generated when the ink is dissolved enters the concave portion 145. Thus, even if the ink cartridge is left in the warehouse for a long period of time, air bubbles are not generated in the ink.

Meanwhile, at the rear corresponding to the cover 51, a protruding portion 67 having a shape approximately equal to the inner wall of the recessed portion 22 of the cartridge holder 6 and slightly protruding from the bottom 63 is formed, and the ink supply portion 50 fitted to the ink supply needle 11 is provided to the protruding portion 67. Recessed portions 64 and 65, which are fitted to the protruding portions 18, 19 and 20 on the side of the holder 6, are formed on the front and rear sides of the ink supply portion 50 in such a manner that the ink supply portion is located between the recessed portions.

Next, the description of the insertion process of the above ink cartridge will be simplified by an example of a black ink cartridge.

During dispensing, when the ink cartridge K is removed from the package under negative pressure, the film 62 capable of being peeled off is removed, the air connection port 59 is communicated with air, and the recess 60 is also exposed. If the black ink cartridge K is mounted in the proper orientation of the cartridge holder 6, the recessed portions 64 and 65 on the bottom 63 are opposed to the protruding portions 18 to 20 of the holder 6, as shown in FIG. 9 a.

When the lever 5 connected to the holder 6 is operated in this state, the protruding portion 5a of the lever 5 fits into the recessed portion 60 of the cover 51 and presses down the ink cartridge K. During the pressing down, the protruding portions 18, 19 and 20 of the holder 6 are inserted into the recessed portions 64 and 65 of the ink cartridge K, respectively, and the ink cartridge K is guided to the normal position by the inclined surface 18a and the tapered portion 20a of the end thereof.

As shown in fig. 9b, when the ink cartridge K is pressed down, the ink supply needle 11 pierces the film 66 sealing the ink supply portion 50 and is inserted into the ink supply portion 50, the lever 5 is moved up to the normal position, and the fixing portion 5b is fixed to the hook 3a of the holder 3. When the convex portion 67 of the ink supply portion 50 is fitted into and fastened to the concave portion 22 of the cartridge holder 6, rattling of the printing apparatus due to vibration and other causes in a state where the ink cartridge K is mounted in the normal position is prevented.

As shown in fig. 10a, when the protruding portion 5a of the lever 5 enters the film 62 and is lifted, in the case where the film 62 is peeled off and left, even if the ink cartridge K is mounted in a proper state, the fixing portion 5b cannot reach the hook 3a of the bracket 3, and the lever 5 cannot be fixed to the bracket 3. If the user notices this, he or she will tear off the remaining film 62 and reinstall the ink cartridge K. Therefore, a failure in ink supply during printing due to the user forgetting to tear the film 62 can be prevented in advance.

Meanwhile, if the black ink cartridge K is mounted in an incorrect manner, as shown in fig. 10b, the bottom 63 is opposed to the wide protrusion portion 19, and its supporting point is higher than the end of the ink supply needle 11 in an approximately horizontal position. Even if the control lever 5 is in such a position, the ink cartridge K cannot be lowered due to the protruding portion 19 in order to prevent the ink supply needle 11 from being broken. In the case of the color ink cartridge, printing in a state where the film 42 is not torn off can also be avoided by a similar action, and if the color ink cartridge is mounted in the wrong orientation, since the projection 12 first comes into contact with the bottom 43, the continued lowering of the bottom is prevented, thereby preventing damage to the ink supply needle.

In the above embodiment, the films 35 and 55 which form the capillary together with the fine groove and the films 42 and 62 which are torn off due to contact with air are stuck with the covers 31 and 51, respectively, however, the same effect is produced even if the entire film 70 in the area 70a where the capillary is formed and the area 70b for exposure are connected by the narrow tearable portion 70c as shown in fig. 11a, and the film 71 where the capillary is formed and the film 72 where the film 71 overlaps in the portion 71a are stuck, respectively. Further, if the second film 71' is pasted as shown in fig. 11c so that the surface of the lid is covered at least in the area 70a where the capillary is formed, the ink can be prevented from being evaporated.

According to another arrangement of the present invention, as shown in fig. 32, the first sealing film 76 covers the meandering fine groove on the cover 31 of the ink cartridge 132, while the second sealing film 77 covers not only the air communication hole 39 but also the entire surface of the cover 31 on the first sealing film 76. The second sealing film 76 can be torn off when the ink cartridge is in use. First sealing film 76 and second sealing film 77 may have different colors or be made of different materials from each other. This arrangement has the advantage that the user can easily identify what sealing film is torn off.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the connecting passages 37 and 57 are respectively formed as a through hole which is somewhat inclined but extends approximately in the horizontal direction, however, even if one end of the fine groove 36 constituting the capillary pierces the cover 31 to form a meandering fine groove 74, so that the fine groove 36 is connected to the concave portion 38 to the air, and the fine groove 74 is covered with the sealing film 75, the same effect can be produced as shown in fig. 12. According to the present embodiment, when the through-holes of the connecting passages 37 and 57 are formed, the operation of inserting/extracting the pins required in the injection molding process is not required, and the process of manufacturing the cap can be simplified.

As shown in fig. 13, in the above embodiment, the recess 65 fitted with the projection 19 is combined with the recess fitted with the projection 20, the ink cartridge K is mounted on/removed from the holder or the cartridge holder 6 by mechanical means, the elevating mechanism 176 is connected to the lever 105 by the operating lever 175, and the elevating mechanism 176 is raised and lowered along the guide groove 177 by the operation of the lever 105, whereby the ink cartridge is mounted on the cartridge holder 6 or removed from the cartridge holder 6. During operation, the protruding portion 19 comes into contact with or disengages from the recessed portion 65a of the ink cartridge, so that the ink cartridge can be accurately positioned as described above. However, in the case where the ink cartridge is mounted or dismounted by the lever without the elevating mechanism 176, even if the recessed portions 64 and 65 are formed as shown in fig. 14 so that the convex portion 67 of the ink supplying portion 50 is located between the recessed portions 64, 65, the recessed portion 73 is formed separately at a position opposite to the convex portion 20 of the cartridge holder, and the similar effect can be obtained.

For a color ink cartridge to be mated with a black ink cartridge, it is preferable to form the ink supply portion 30 along one side wall of the convex portion 48 and the concave portion 68 on one side of the ink cartridge, so that it is possible to leave as long a time interval as possible, as shown in fig. 15a and 15b, and the concave portion 69 is formed on the other side of the convex portion 48 so that the concave portion 69 is opposed to the concave portion 68.

As described above, if the relationship between the other members and the concave portions is not required, as shown in fig. 16a, the concave portions 68 and 69 are located at opposite points of the convex portion 48 so that they are close to the side wall of the convex portion 48 in the color ink cartridge, and the convex portions 12 'and 15' may be formed on the color ink cartridge housing chamber 7 of the holder 6 so that the convex portions correspond to the concave portions 68 and 69, respectively. If desired, the concave portion 69 'may also be formed in the center of the side wall of the convex portion 48 without the concave portion, as shown in FIG. 17a, i.e., where the ink supply portion 30 coexists with the concave portion 69' near the side wall of the convex portion 48.

The convex portions 12 "corresponding to the concave portions 69' are naturally formed corresponding to the ink cartridge described above. Therefore, by disposing the convex portions 12, 12 ', and 15' in the vicinity of the ink supply needle 10, it is possible to more securely prevent the incorrect insertion of the ink cartridge.

The above-described embodiments relating to the color ink cartridge, however, as the color ink cartridge to be mated with the black ink cartridge, it is preferable to employ the embodiments shown in fig. 18a to 21 b.

That is, in the embodiment shown in fig. 18a, the concave portions 64 and 65 are located at opposite points of the convex portion 67 such that they are close to the side walls of the convex portion 67, as shown in fig. 18b, while the convex portions 18 'and 19' are formed in the ink cartridge chamber 8 of the holder 6 corresponding to these concave portions 64 and 65, as shown in fig. 19a, a pair of adjacent concave portions 64 and a pair of adjacent concave portions 65 are located at opposite points, as shown in fig. 19b, and the adjacently formed convex portions 18 'and the adjacently formed convex portions 19' correspond to the concave portions 64 and 65 in the ink cartridge chamber 8 of the holder 6, respectively. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 20a, concave portions 64 and 65 can also be made in a hook shape so that they surround the corners of convex portion 67, and convex portions 18 'and 19' can also be made in a hook shape as shown in FIG. 20 b.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 21a, the concave portions may also be formed on the center line of the ink supply portion 66 so that they surround the four sides of the convex portion 67, and correspondingly, the convex portions 18 'and 19' may also be arranged on the center line of the ink supply portion 11 in the ink cartridge chamber 8.

If necessary, color printing is generally performed with at least three color inks of cyan, magenta and yellow and four color inks including black to promote printing quality, cyan and magenta can be classified into two systems of black type and bright type, one color cartridge can be divided into 5 ink chambers, and each chamber can be filled with cyan, magenta and yellow inks belonging to black type and cyan and magenta inks belonging to bright type.

Since the consumption of each color ink is different during color printing, the capacity of each ink chamber 81 to 85 of the ink cartridge 80 is as shown in fig. 22 a. More specifically, the widths w1 to w5 of each ink chamber are each different to determine the consumption speed of the entire ink cartridge. Meanwhile, in consideration of printing or other factors, each of the print heads that supply ink from each chamber is arranged at a fixed pitch, and therefore, the arrangement pitch of the ink supply needles integral with each print head is also fixed.

Therefore, if the ink supply portions 86 to 90 respectively connected to the ink chambers 81 to 85 of the ink cartridge 80 are formed on the center lines c1 to c5 of each chamber, there is caused a problem that misalignment occurs between each ink supply needle and each ink supply portion of the ink cartridge, resulting in the failure of the mounting of the ink cartridge and the breakage of the ink supply needle.

Fig. 22a shows an example of an ink cartridge that solves these problems, although the ink output portions 86 to 90 of the ink chambers 81 to 85 are arranged on the center lines c1 to c5 of the ink chambers 81 to 85, the ink supply portions 91 to 95 are arranged at the ink supply needle arrangement pitch S, and the ink output portion and the ink supply portion are connected through the crank-shaped passages 96 to 100, respectively. According to the present embodiment, the ink consumption rate of each ink chamber of the ink cartridge can be adjusted so that the ink consumption rates are substantially equal, and further, the mounting and dismounting to and from the ink supply needle can be made smooth and easy.

In the above-described embodiment, the ink consumption speeds in the ink cartridge are substantially equal, however, if the ink consumption speeds are not uniform, the ink supply portions 91 to 95 are arranged according to the arrangement pitch of the ink supply needles to form the ink chambers 81 'to 85', so that the centers of each are located on the center line of the ink supply portions 91 to 95, and the gap generated between the ink cartridge and the cartridge holder 6 can be adjusted by the side projections 101 and 102 (see fig. 22(b)), and also can be adjusted by adjusting the thickness of at least one side wall 103 of the ink cartridge (see fig. 22 (c)).

If each of the ink chambers 81 to 85 is narrow as described above, it is difficult to discharge ink from the porous body filled with ink and loaded in each of the ink chambers 81 to 85 corresponding to each of the ink supply portions 91 to 95, as compared with the ink cartridge having a wide ink chamber.

In order to solve the above problem, it is preferable that a wide inclined portion 106 is provided on a side wall of the ink chamber of the ink supplying portion 93, the inclined portion being provided on a projection 105 extending toward the ink chamber 83, the projection 105 being adhered with a filter 104, as shown in fig. 23 (b). If desired, the inclined portion 106 may be arcuate so that bubbles may be more effectively directed toward the ink supply portion.

Further, when the elongated projections 108 are formed on the recesses 107 between the projections and the filter 104 as shown in fig. 24, in this case, the projections 105 are relatively narrow as shown in fig. 3, the filter can be prevented from being folded by the pressure of the porous object stored in the ink chamber 83, and the ink can smoothly flow to the ink supply portion 92 by the capillary pressure generated by the fine grooves on the projections 108.

As shown in fig. 25a, a porous body 109 filled with ink is initially housed in each of the ink chambers 81 to 85 (ink chamber 82 in fig. 25 a) of the ink cartridge, so that the porous body is in contact with the filter 104 and sealed with a cover 110 as shown in fig. 25 b.

As described above, in the ink cartridge 80 having a plurality of ink chambers, it is difficult to form the meandering fine grooves having a large flow resistance, which act as capillary tubes, in the cover 110. That is, in order to increase the flow resistance, only the cross-sectional size of the fine groove can be reduced, however, there is a problem that clogging is caused by dirt or other causes and ink supply is not possible at the time of printing. Therefore, if the required cross-sectional dimension is small to some extent, the required flow resistance is ensured by the length of the slot.

Fig. 26 and 27 show an embodiment of the cover of the ink cartridge, which is designed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has air communicating portions 111 and 111 ', an ink inlet 112, and a slit 113, each of which is connected to the air communicating portions 111 and 111', so that they can be connected to each ink chamber. As shown in fig. 27, vertical ribs 117 are on the inner surface of the cap 110. When the cover 110 is coupled to the cartridge body, the two ends of the vertical rib 117 guide the cartridge cover 110 toward the cartridge body. Because the upward and outward angles of the vertical rib 117 are inclined with a certain angle of inclination, the cover 110 can be smoothly combined with the ink cartridge body under the guidance of the rib 117 having a certain angle of inclination.

The fine groove 113 is formed in a region without the air communicating portion 111 or 111 ' opposite to each ink chamber and no ink inlet 112 exists in the above-described capillary forming region, and therefore, the fine groove meanders many times, and the fine groove is connected to the openings 114 and 114 ' for connecting air through the connecting regions 113 and 113 ' having a similar structure to the connecting passage 74 in fig. 12, respectively.

As is apparent from the above description, the region F formed by the slits 113 and 113 'is sealed by the film that cannot be torn off by the user, and the region G of the openings 114 and 114' connected to the air is sealed by the film that can be torn off by the user. A plurality of concave portions 115 for securing a space are formed at one side having the openings 114 and 114' connected to the air, and if necessary, a concave portion 116 for fixing the protruding portion 5a of the control lever 5 shown in fig. 9 may be formed.

If the cap is injection molded, so-called shrinkage is easily caused in the fine groove forming region. Meanwhile, with the ink cartridge, as shown in fig. 28b, the porous body 121 filled with ink is placed in the ink chamber 120 so that the porous body is in contact with the filter 123 of the ink supply portion 122. In this case, a fine space 126 is secured by a rib 125 at the rear of the cover 124 to prevent ink leakage due to rapid change in temperature.

Therefore, it is preferable to form the rib 125 so that the rib is opposed to the narrow grooves 129 connected to the air communicating portion 127 and the openings of the air 128 to the cover 124, respectively. Numeral 131 indicates a recessed portion for mounting the protruding portion 5a of the control lever 5 shown in fig. 9.

In the above-described embodiment, the porous body filled with ink is placed in the entire ink chamber, however, even if the present invention is applied to an ink cartridge, here, as shown in fig. 29, one ink chamber is divided into two ink chambers 134 and 135 by a partition plate 133, there is a connecting portion 132 at the bottom of the partition plate 133, the porous body 137 filled with ink is placed on one side of an ink supplying portion 136, and the ink 138 is placed in the other chamber 135, similar effects can be produced.

Also, in the above embodiment, the meandering fine groove generating the capillary action is connected to the air connection opening through the pipe-like connection passage in the cover, however, even if the fine groove 141 connected to each of the plural ink chamber air connection parts 140 is made to be bent, the fine groove is opposed to the above ink chamber in the central area where the air connection part 140 and the ink inlet 142 are formed, is connected to each of the individual parts on the side of the other end, and is connected to the air connection opening 144 sealed with the tearable film in the narrow area 143, respectively, and the depressed part 145 securing the decompression space can be made to be large in size as shown in fig. 30.

Claims (19)

1. An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer, comprising:

a housing having side walls and an opening, said housing containing ink, the top wall of said housing being a lid covering said housing opening;

at least one ink chamber defined by said housing and said cover;

an ink supply portion formed on one side wall of said housing;

at least one recess forming a space on an outer surface of said cover, the pressure in said space being below atmospheric pressure after the cartridge is packaged;

wherein the recessed portion is isolated from an interior of the ink chamber and exposed to an exterior of the ink chamber.

2. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a sealing member, wherein said recess portion is covered with said sealing member adhered to an outer surface of a side wall of said housing.

3. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 2, wherein a part of said sealing member is movable, and said recess portion is provided below the movable portion of said sealing member.

4. The ink cartridge according to claim 3, wherein: the recess is located in a portion of the cap that is separate from the ink supply portion.

5. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet printer comprises: a support; the ink cartridge mounted on the holder and the recess portion is disposed on a portion of the cover; the cover may engage with a portion of the bracket when the ink cartridge is mounted to the bracket.

6. The ink container as claimed in claim 5, wherein said ink jet printer further comprises a mounting lever disposed above said carriage; wherein said member of said bracket includes a projecting member projecting from said mounting lever.

7. The ink cartridge according to claim 2, wherein: a plurality of said depressions are formed in an outer surface of said cover.

8. The ink cartridge of claim 1 further comprising a serpentine slot in a surface of the lid defining said recess.

9. An ink container as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an air communication hole in said cover for connecting the interior of the ink container to the atmosphere, said air communication hole being located in the vicinity of said recess.

10. An ink cartridge for an ink jet printer having a cartridge bay, comprising:

a housing having a side wall and an opening;

a cover covering the opening of the housing;

an ink supply hole formed on a side wall of the housing; and

at least one engaging recess formed in the cover, the engaging recess being engageable with a protruding member of the printer when the cartridge is properly mounted on the printer, and the engaging recess being at least partially covered by a film that is movable from the cartridge to create an air communication opening to atmosphere.

11. The ink cartridge according to claim 10, wherein: a recess portion is formed on an outer surface of the cap, and the recess portion communicates with the air outlet portion and is spaced apart from the fitting recess.

12. The ink cartridge according to claim 11, characterized by further comprising: a porous member disposed in an ink chamber defined by the housing and the cover, the porous member being filled with ink and cooperating with the ink supply portion.

13. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said film includes a sealing member fixed to an outer surface of said cover, a part of said sealing member being movable.

14. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said cover has a central section, and said engagement recess portion is provided on said central section of said cover.

15. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said fitting recess has a sufficient volume to receive gas discharged from said ink cartridge in a degassing state when said ink cartridge is sealed in a sealing member.

16. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said engaging recess engages with said projection member from a holder of said printer to which said ink cartridge is mounted.

17. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said fitting recess is completely covered with said film.

18. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said ink cartridge includes a lever, and said projection member includes a projection formed on said lever.

19. The ink cartridge as claimed in claim 10, wherein said recess includes a first portion for receiving a projection member of said printer and a second portion formed continuously with said first portion.