JP2019005909A - Manufacturing method of recycled ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a recycled ink cartridge having high production efficiency, in which ink is reinjected into an ink bag and an ink amount detecting unit at the same time in one step. SOLUTION: A step of inserting an ink injection tube connected to an ink tank in which ink is stored into a discharge port, a step of adjusting flow path resistance in a discharge flow path and a branch flow path, and an ink by a tube pump. The process of injecting ink from the tank to the ejection port is performed in sequence, the flow path resistance is adjusted by pressing the valve member with the ink injection tube, and the pressure to inject ink is the ink injection from the start of ink injection. Ink at constant pressure and in one step until completion. [Selection diagram] Fig. 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a regenerated ink cartridge that re-injects ink into a used ink cartridge mounted on an ink jet printer, and more specifically, an ink pack that can be filled with ink is accommodated and the amount of ink can be detected. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a regenerated ink cartridge in which ink is re-injected into an ink cartridge.

  An ink jet printer, which is an example of a printing apparatus, normally feeds ink stored in an ink cartridge mounted on an ink cartridge mounting portion in the apparatus to a recording head from an ink discharge port. Images and characters are recorded by ejecting and applying ink to the recording medium.

  There are types of ink cartridges that are equipped with a detection unit for detecting the amount of ink in the ink cartridge in the vicinity of the discharge port for discharging ink, and can detect the remaining amount of ink. A manufacturing method for injecting ink into the inside is known.

JP 2011-11507 A

  However, in the above patent document, it is necessary to change the degree of compression of the compression coil spring and change the ink injection pressure to the liquid detection flow path and the liquid storage part one by one, and fill the ink in two stages. There was a problem that efficiency became worse.

  Therefore, it is necessary to improve the production efficiency of ink injection, and as a result of extensive research, the present invention has been completed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a remanufactured ink cartridge with good production efficiency, in which ink is simultaneously reinjected into an ink bag and an ink amount detection unit in one stage.

  This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

  That is, the first invention of the present invention is an ink bag for storing ink, an opening provided in the ink bag, an ejection port for ejecting ink in the ink bag, the opening and the ejection. A discharge channel connecting the outlet, a branch channel branched from the discharge channel, one connected to the opening side of the discharge channel and the other connected to the discharge port side of the discharge channel An ink amount detection unit provided in the middle of the branch flow path, and in the discharge flow path, a seal member that is in close contact with an outer peripheral surface of an ink supply needle of a printer; A valve member capable of closing the discharge flow path, and a spring member that is in contact with the opening side of the discharge flow path and that biases the valve member toward the seal member. The greater the compression, the greater the flow resistance in the discharge flow path. In addition, the flow path resistance in the branch flow path decreases, and the smaller the compression of the spring member, the smaller the flow path resistance in the discharge flow path and the greater the flow path resistance in the branch flow path. A method of manufacturing a remanufactured ink cartridge for reinjecting ink into a nozzle, the step of inserting an ink injection tube connected to an ink tank storing ink into the discharge port, and the inside of the discharge channel and the branch channel The step of adjusting the flow path resistance and the step of injecting ink from the ink tank to the discharge port by a tube pump are sequentially performed, and the step of adjusting the flow path resistance includes the ink injection In the step of injecting the ink, the tube is adjusted by pressing the valve member. Is a manufacturing method of reproducing the ink cartridge, characterized by injecting at constant a pressure and one step up.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the ink cartridge according to the first aspect is arranged such that the branch flow path is located below the discharge flow path and ink is injected. This is a method for manufacturing a recycled ink cartridge.

A method for manufacturing a recycled ink cartridge according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an ink bag for storing ink, an opening provided in the ink bag, an ejection port for ejecting ink in the ink bag, and an opening. A discharge channel that connects the discharge channel, a branch channel that branches from the discharge channel, one connected to the opening side of the discharge channel, and the other connected to the discharge port side of the discharge channel, and a branch flow An ink amount detector provided in the middle of the path, and a seal member that is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink supply needle of the printer, and a seal member that is in contact with the seal member and can close the discharge path A valve member and a spring member, one of which is in contact with the opening side of the discharge flow channel and the other is urged the valve member toward the seal member, and the greater the compression of the spring member, the higher the flow resistance in the discharge flow channel. As the flow rate increases, the flow resistance in the branch flow path decreases, A method for manufacturing a remanufactured ink cartridge that reinjects ink into an ink cartridge in which the flow path resistance in the discharge flow path decreases and the flow path resistance in the branch flow path increases as the compression of the pulling member decreases. A step of inserting an ink injection pipe connected to the stored ink tank into the discharge port, a step of adjusting the flow resistance in the discharge flow channel and the branch flow channel, and ink from the ink tank to the discharge port by a tube pump. And the step of adjusting the flow path resistance is adjusted by pressing the valve member with the valve member, and in the step of injecting the ink, the pressure for injecting the ink is In this manufacturing method, the ink is injected at a constant pressure from the start of ink injection to the completion of ink injection in one step. Since the present invention is the manufacturing method described above, it is possible to simultaneously inject ink into the discharge flow path and the branch flow path, so that the production efficiency of ink injection can be improved. Further, since the ink injection pressure is constant and in one stage, it is not necessary to control the ink injection pressure, and therefore the ink injection equipment can be simplified.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a regenerated ink cartridge, wherein the ink cartridge according to the first aspect of the present invention is arranged such that the branch flow path is below the discharge flow path, and ink is injected. Done. Since the present invention is the manufacturing method described above, gravity is applied to the branch channel side, so that the channel resistance of the branch channel is reduced and the channel resistance can be easily adjusted.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of an ink cartridge used in the method for producing a recycled ink cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state where an ink injection tube is inserted into the ink cartridge of FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing a recycled ink cartridge according to the present invention.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and can be appropriately selected.

  As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, an ink bag 10 for storing ink, an opening 11 provided in the ink bag 10, and an ejection port 12 for ejecting ink in the ink bag 10. And a discharge flow path 13 that connects the opening 11 and the discharge port 12, a branch from the discharge flow path 13, one connected to the opening 11 side of the discharge flow path 13, and the other to the discharge port 12 side of the discharge flow path 13. And an ink amount detector 15 provided in the middle of the branch flow path 14, and the discharge flow path 13 has an outer periphery of an ink supply needle 100 of a printer (not shown). A seal member 16 that is in close contact with the surface, a valve member 17 that can contact the seal member 16 and close the discharge flow path 13, and one that contacts the opening 11 side of the discharge flow path 13 and the other that seals the valve member 17. A spring member 18 biasing toward the 16 side. As the compression of the ring member 18 increases, the flow resistance in the discharge flow path 13 increases and the flow resistance in the branch flow path 14 decreases. As the compression of the spring member 18 decreases, the flow path in the discharge flow path 13 decreases. In this manufacturing method, the ink is reinjected into the ink cartridge 1 in which the resistance decreases and the flow resistance in the branch flow path 14 increases. Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing a regenerated ink cartridge for reinjecting ink into the ink cartridge 1 will be described.

  In the used ink cartridge 1, ink or air remains in the ink bag 10, so that a desired color may not be obtained even if new ink is injected, and it is necessary to draw out the ink and air. . Specifically, a suction pump (not shown) for sucking ink and air is connected to the discharge port 12, and the ink and air are extracted by the suction pump (step S1).

  Next, an ink injection tube 220, which is the tip of an ink tube (not shown) connected to an ink tank (not shown), is inserted into the ejection port 12 (step S2). At this time, the tip of the ink injection tube 220 comes into contact with the valve member 17, and the seal member 16 comes into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink injection tube 220. When the ink injection tube 220 pushes the valve member 17, the valve member 17. The spring member 18 in contact with the pressure is compressed to increase the flow resistance in the discharge flow path 13 and to decrease the flow resistance in the branch flow path 14.

  When the degree of insertion of the ink injection tube 220 is adjusted, the channel resistance in the ejection channel 13 and the channel resistance in the branch channel 14 can be adjusted to a close value (step S3). This adjustment is performed by changing the degree of insertion of the ink injection tube 220 and performing several test ink injections. The position of the ink injection tube 220 at which ink can be simultaneously injected into the discharge flow channel 13 and the branch flow channel 14 is determined. It becomes possible by checking. This confirmation may be performed while reinjecting ink, or may be performed in advance before reinjecting ink. By inserting the ink injection tube 220 to the confirmed position, the flow channel resistance in the discharge flow channel 13 and the flow channel resistance in the branch flow channel 14 become close to each other.

  Then, by a tube pump (not shown), the pressure is constant from the start of ink injection to the completion of ink injection, and in one step from the ink injection tube 220 through the discharge flow path 13 and the branch flow path 14 in the ink bag 10. Ink is injected into the head (step S4). Through the above steps, ink is filled into the ink amount detection unit 15 disposed in the ink bag 10 and in the middle of the branch flow path 14. According to this step, since ink can be injected into the ejection flow path and the branch flow path at the same time, the production efficiency of ink injection can be improved. In addition, since the ink injection pressure is constant and in one stage, there is no need to control the ink injection pressure, so the step of changing the ink injection pressure can be omitted, and the ink injection equipment can be simplified. It can be suppressed that the ink does not flow to either the ejection flow path or the branch flow path due to the fluctuation of the flow path resistance.

  The ink cartridge 1 is arranged such that when the branch channel 14 has a larger channel resistance than the ejection channel 13, the ink cartridge 1 is arranged so that the branch channel 14 is located below the ejection channel 13. It is desirable. With this arrangement, gravity is applied to the branch flow path 14 side, the flow path resistance of the branch flow path 14 is reduced and approaches the flow path resistance of the discharge flow path 13, so that the flow path resistance can be easily adjusted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink cartridge 10 ... Ink bag 11 ... Opening 12 ... Ejection port 13 ... Ejection flow path 14 ... Branch flow path 15 ... Ink quantity detection part 16 ... Seal member 17 ... Valve member 18 ... Spring member 100 ... Ink supply needle 220 ... Ink injection tube

Claims (2)

An ink bag for storing ink, an opening provided in the ink bag, an ejection port for ejecting ink in the ink bag, an ejection flow path connecting the opening and the ejection port, A branched flow path branched from the discharge flow path, one connected to the opening side of the discharge flow path and the other connected to the discharge port side of the discharge flow path, and ink provided in the middle of the branch flow path A volume detection unit,
In the discharge flow path, a seal member that is in close contact with an outer peripheral surface of an ink supply needle of a printer, a valve member that is in contact with the seal member and can close the discharge flow path, and one of the discharge flow paths A spring member abutting on the opening side and biasing the valve member toward the seal member side on the other side,
The greater the compression of the spring member, the greater the flow resistance in the discharge flow path and the smaller the flow resistance in the branch flow path, and the smaller the compression of the spring member, the flow path in the discharge flow path. A method of manufacturing a regenerated ink cartridge that re-injects ink into an ink cartridge in which resistance decreases and flow path resistance in the branch flow path increases.
Inserting an ink injection tube connected to an ink tank storing ink into the ejection port;
Adjusting the flow resistance in the discharge flow path and the branch flow path;
Injecting ink from the ink tank to the discharge port by a tube pump;
Are manufactured sequentially,
The step of adjusting the flow path resistance is adjusted by the ink injection pipe pressing the valve member,
In the ink injection step, the pressure for ink injection is a constant pressure from the start of ink injection to the completion of ink injection, and the ink is injected in one step. 2. The method of manufacturing a regenerated ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge is disposed such that the branch flow path is located below the discharge flow path, and ink is injected.

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