U.S. patent number RE36,279 [Application Number 08/832,187] was granted by the patent office on 1999-08-24 for ink jet apparatus and ink jet cartridge therefor.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Canon Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Toshihiko Ujita.
United States Patent |
RE36,279 |
Ujita |
August 24, 1999 |
Ink jet apparatus and ink jet cartridge therefor
Abstract
An ink cartridge detachably mountable to an ink jet recording
apparatus, the ink cartridge containing ink to be supplied to a
recording head includes an ink container for containing the ink;
and an adaptor having a receptor for detachably receiving the ink
container and an information medium for storing information
relating to the ink, the information being transmitted to the ink
jet recording apparatus when the ink cartridge is mounted
therein.
Inventors: |
Ujita; Toshihiko (Yamato,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo,
JP)
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Family
ID: |
27457708 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/832,187 |
Filed: |
April 8, 1997 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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635569 |
Apr 22, 1996 |
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288262 |
Aug 11, 1994 |
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Reissue of: |
646286 |
Jan 28, 1991 |
05138344 |
Aug 11, 1992 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Feb 2, 1990 [JP] |
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2-022175 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
347/86;
347/14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B41J
2/17503 (20130101); B41J 2/17546 (20130101); B41J
2/1752 (20130101); B41J 2/17513 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B41J
2/175 (20060101); B41J 002/175 () |
Field of
Search: |
;347/36,49,85-87 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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3238063 |
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Apr 1984 |
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DE |
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3405164 |
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Aug 1985 |
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DE |
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54-6847 |
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May 1979 |
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JP |
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54-56847 |
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May 1979 |
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JP |
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60-1260 |
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Sep 1983 |
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JP |
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59-123670 |
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Jul 1984 |
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JP |
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59-138461 |
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Aug 1984 |
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JP |
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59-38461 |
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Aug 1984 |
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JP |
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59-215870 |
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Dec 1984 |
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JP |
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0215870 |
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Dec 1984 |
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JP |
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60-71260 |
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Apr 1985 |
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JP |
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60-192637 |
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Oct 1985 |
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JP |
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0192637 |
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Oct 1985 |
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JP |
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62-184856 |
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Aug 1987 |
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JP |
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2001911 |
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Jan 1978 |
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GB |
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Other References
Rezanka, et al., "Cap for Disposable Ink Jet Printhead Cartridge",
Xerox Disclosure Journal, vol. 12, No. 1, Jan./Feb. 1987, pp.
19-20..
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Primary Examiner: Hartary; Joseph W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper &
Scinto
Parent Case Text
.Iadd.This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
08/635,569, filed Apr. 22, 1996, now abandoned, which is a
continuation of application Ser. No. 08/288,262, filed Aug. 11,
1994, now abandoned, which is a reissue application of U.S. Pat.
No. 5,138,344..Iaddend.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An ink cartridge detachably mountable to an ink jet recording
apparatus, said ink cartridge containing ink to be supplied to a
recording head, comprising:
an ink cassette for containing said ink, said ink cassette being
provided with a portion for preventing erroneous mounting; and
an .[.adaptor.]. .Iadd.adapter .Iaddend.having a receptor for
detachably receiving said ink cassette and an information medium
for storing information relating to said ink, said information
being transmitted to said ink jet recording apparatus when said ink
cartridge is mounted therein, said receptor having a portion
corresponding to said portion for preventing erroneous
mounting.
2. .[.An apparatus.]. .Iadd.A cartridge .Iaddend.according to claim
1, wherein said ink cassette has an integral ink absorbing material
for accommodating residual ink ejected to maintain and recover ink
ejection from said recording head, said absorbing material being
mounted to said adapter together with said ink cassette.
3. .[.An apparatus.]. .Iadd.A cartridge .Iaddend.according to claim
2, wherein said adapter has a partition member between said ink
cassette and a portion for accommodating said ink absorbing
material.
4. .[.An apparatus.]. .Iadd.A cartridge .Iaddend.according to claim
1, wherein a side wall of said cassette is provided with a grip
projection for facilitating mounting and dismounting thereof
relative to said ink cartridge, and wherein the projection also
functions as a guiding rail for mounting of said ink cartridge.
5. .[.An apparatus.]. .Iadd.A cartridge .Iaddend.according to claim
1, wherein the information medium bears information relating to a
driving condition of said recording head.
6. An ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said adapter has
a guiding portion at each side for guiding said ink cartridge when
said cartridge is mounted to said ink jet apparatus.
7. An ink jet apparatus, comprising:
an ink supply system for supplying ink from an ink cartridge
containing said ink to be supplied to a recording head;
wherein said ink cartridge comprises an ink cassette for containing
said ink, said ink cassette being provided with a portion for
preventing erroneous mounting; and an adapter having a receptor for
detachably receiving said ink cassette and an information medium
for storing information relating to said ink, said information
being transmitted to said ink jet recording apparatus when said ink
cartridge is mounted therein, said receptor having a portion
corresponding to said portion for preventing erroneous
mounting;
a recovery system for maintaining and recovering ink ejection from
said recording head;
a receptor to which said ink cartridge is detachably mountable;
wherein said receptor is provided with a contact for electrically
contacting said information medium to read said information,
wherein said ink cartridge is detachably mountable to said ink jet
apparatus.
8. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising drive
control means for driving the recording head in accordance with the
information read.
9. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said ink cartridge
receptor is provided with a guiding member contactable with a
projection formed on a side wall of a cassette including the ink
container and an ink absorbing material, the projection being
effective to facilitate mounting and dismounting of the cassette
relative to the ink cartridge and also effective to limit an
insertion position relative to said ink jet recording
apparatus.
10. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording head
is provided with an electrothermal transducer for producing thermal
energy to produce a bubble to eject the ink.
11. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said ink cassette
has an integral ink absorbing material for accommodating residual
ink ejected to maintain and recover ink ejection from said
recording head, said absorbing material being mounted to said
adapter together with said ink cassette.
12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said adapter has a
partition member between said ink cassette and a portion for
accommodating said ink absorbing material.
13. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said ink cartridge
is electrically connected with pins to permit information
transmission.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART
The present invention relates to an ink jet apparatus and an ink
jet cartridge usable for an office recorder such as copying
machine, facsimile machine, word-processor and various printers and
a dyeing machine wherein a desired image is formed on a material by
ejection of ink, more particularly to an ink jet apparatus having a
cartridge mounting portion for detachably accepting an ink jet
cartridge for supplying the ink to a recording head, and to an ink
jet cartridge therefor.
The ink jet recording apparatus is advantageous in that the noise
during the recording operation is so small that it can be
neglected, and in that the recording can be effected on plain
printer, and therefore, various type are put into practice,
recently. Among various types of ink jet recording process, a
so-called bubble-jet recording method is particularly advantageous
because it uses thermal energy as the energy for ejecting the ink.
More particularly, the ink supplied with the thermal energy is
subjected to the state change with the result of abrupt volume
change (film boiling), by which the ink is ejected through an
ejection outlet (discharging opening) at an end of the recording
head to produce a flying droplet of the ink. The droplet is
deposited on the recording material disposed faced to the head, so
that a desired image can be formed.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of such a recording head. In these
Figures, reference numeral 101 designates an ink passage
communicating with an ink ejection outlet 102; 103, a heat acting
portion at which the thermal energy is supplied to the ink in the
ink passage 101; 104, an electrothermal transducer formed at the
heat acting portion 103; 105, an electrode for supplying the
electric energy to the electrothermal transducer 104; 106, a heat
generating resistor; 107, a protection layer for protecting the
heat generating resistor layer 106 and the electrode 105 from the
ink or from the cavitation. The protection layer 107 is also
effective to prevent the electric leakage, the thermal oxidation,
the corrosion by the cavitation resulting from the bubbles.
In such a recording head, when the electrothermal transducer 104 is
supplied with the electric energy, the ink at the heat acting
portion 103 receives the thermal energy (ink droplet forming
energy) and is subjected to an abrupt volume increase (state
change), more particularly, the ink at the heat acting portion 103
is instantaneously evaporated, thus producing a bubble. By the
development of the bubble, the ink existing between the heat acting
portion 103 and the ink ejection outlet 102 is ejected as a droplet
of the ink. During the repetitive production and dissipation of the
bubble, the ink is subjected to the high temperature, and
therefore, ink material which is thermally instable is easily
chemically changed. If this occurs, an insoluble material is
precipitated, which may lead to the ink ejection failure of the
recording head. In order to effect a recording operation in a long
term at a high recording speed using such a recording head, it is
very important to improve the stability of the ink, and the optimum
driving conditions are selected to meet the property of the ink in
the recording head.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the change with time of the surface
temperature T of the heat acting surface 108 and the volume V of
the produced bubble when the electrothermal transducer 104 of the
recording head having the structure described above is supplied
with the electric signal having the pulse-wave form as indicated by
a reference character P. Assuming that electric signal P is
supplied to the electrothermal transducer 104, the electric signal
P being in the form of a pulse rising at time t.sub.0 and time
t.sub.f, then the surface temperature T of the heat acting surface
108 reaches its maximum temperature Tp at the time t.sub.f. If the
maximum temperature Tp is higher than a boiling point Tb of the ink
in contact with the heat acting surface 108, the bubble is formed
at time t.sub.b0 when T=Tb, at the heat acting portion 103 filled
with the ink. With the elapse of time, the volume of the bubble
increases, and the volume reaches its maximum volume V.sub.p at the
time t.sub.p.
When the electric signal P is shut off at the time t.sub.f, the
surface temperature T starts to decrease, and the volume V of the
bubble also decreases. In order to stably eject the droplet of the
ink in the ink jet recording apparatus, the ink jet recording
apparatus has a programmed hardware or software to control the film
boiling drive conditions such as the voltage, pulsewidth or
frequency of the electric energy supplied to the electrothermal
transducer and the control of a preliminary ejection for the
practically stabilized recording operation, in accordance with the
properties of the ink used in the ink jet recording apparatus.
Therefore, if an ink material which is for another type of
apparatus is used, the proper recording operation is not effected.
In consideration of this, the configuration of the ink cartridge is
so selected that it can be used only with the proper recording
apparatus.
In the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, however, the ink
can not be freely selected, and therefore, it is difficult to use
the ink not proper for the ink jet recording apparatus. Even if
better ink is developed in the feature, it is still not usable
because the program in the apparatus is not always proper. In order
to solve such problems, some proposals have been made. For example,
there is a proposal that the user sets the hardware or the software
in accordance with the material of the ink. This is good in that
the control parameters of the ink jet recording apparatus can be
finely selected in accordance with the material of the ink.
However, there are a great number of parameters to be selected, and
therefore, the selecting operation is cumbersome, in addition, if
the setting is erroneous, the proper printing is not effected, or
the recording head experiences the overload. Therefore, the
reliability is not sufficient.
In another proposal, the ink cartridge is provided with information
medium (a resistor element, magnetic medium, bar-code, IC or ROM,
for example) bearing information relating to the control parameters
for the ink jet recording apparatus, so that the ink jet recording
apparatus can automatically select the proper parameters in
accordance with the information. According to this proposal, the
information peculiar to the ink contained in the ink cartridge is
assuredly transmitted to the main assembly of the recording
apparatus, and the proper recording operation is guaranteed, and
therefore, it is very good. However, it requires that a relatively
expensive information medium such as a semiconductor memory means
be provided for each of the cartridges, resulting in the increase
of the cost of the ink cartridge. Furthermore, in order to permit
the information to be read from the information medium into the ink
jet recording head, a number of connections (for example, ROM)
which are required to be correctly connected with the corresponding
electrodes in the main assembly. Therefore, the mechanical accuracy
has to be enhanced in the relative positional relations between the
main assembly of the apparatus and the ink jet cartridge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to
provide an improved structure for the transmission of the
information from the ink cartridge to the main assembly of the
recording apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet
recording apparatus and an ink jet cartridge wherein the control
parameters of the ink jet recording apparatus can be correctly and
easily changed in accordance with the material of the ink
contained.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ink
jet recording apparatus and an ink cartridge structure wherein the
high quality recording operation is possible with an increased
reliability.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided
an ink cartridge detachably mountable to an ink jet recording
apparatus, said ink cartridge containing ink to be supplied to a
recording head, comprising: an ink container for containing the
ink; and an adapter having a receptor for detachably receiving said
ink container and an information medium for storing information
relating to the ink, the information being transmitted to said ink
jet recording apparatus when said ink cartridge is mounted
therein.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an ink jet apparatus, comprising: an ink supply system for
supplying ink from an ink cartridge containing the ink to be
supplied to a recording head to the recording head; a recovery
system for maintaining and recovering ink ejection from the
recording head; a receptor to which the ink jet cartridge is
detachably mountable; wherein said receptor is provided with a
contact for electric contact with an information medium of the ink
cartridge to read the information, wherein the ink cartridge
comprises an ink container containing the ink and an adapter having
a receptor for the ink container and the information medium bearing
the information relating to the ink.
According to an aspect of the present invention, only an ink
cassette is taken out of the ink cartridge after the ink is used
up, and is exchanged with a fresh one, leaving an adapter having
the information medium bearing the information representative of
the property of the ink in the ink cassette. Therefore, the adapter
can be continued to be used.
The ink cassette and the adapter so related, that only the proper
ink cassette can be set in the adapter. Therefore, the information
relating to the ink is correctly and assuredly transmitted to the
recording apparatus. Therefore, even if the ink cartridge in which
the ink cassette is exchanged, the recording head can be property
driven in accordance with the property of the ink in the exchanged
ink cassette.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the
following description of the preferred embodiments of the present
invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A and 1B are a sectional view of a recording head of a
bubble jet type.
FIG. 2 is a graph of changes with time of the surface temperature
of the heat acting surface and a volume of a produced bubble when a
pulse electric signal is supplied to an electrothermal transducer
of the recording head.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example of an ink jet recording
apparatus to which the present invention is applicable.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an example of an ink cassette and
adapter structure according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates the mounting of the ink jet cartridge having the
ink cassette and the adapter into the ink jet recording
apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an electric circuit in the apparatus
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of sequential operations after the main
switch is actuated and until the recording operation is
effected.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an ink cartridge according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments of the
present invention will be described in detail.
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown an example of an ink jet
recording apparatus to which the present invention is applicable.
It comprises a recording head 1 carried on a carriage 2. The
carriage 2 is driven by an unshown carriage driving motor through a
timing belt stretched in conjunction with an idler pulley not
shown. The carriage 2 reciprocates along a guide shaft 3 by
rotation of the motor in the opposite directions. To the recording
head 1, the ink is supplied from the ink cartridge 4 through an
unshown ink tube, and during the movement of the carriage 2 from
the left to the right, the ink is ejected to a recording material 5
in the form of a recording sheet, for example, which is fed to be
faced to the ink jet ejection outlet (not shown). During the
relative movement between the scanning recording head and the
recording material, a desired image is formed.
The apparatus further comprises a fixed platen 6 in the form of a
plate for supporting the recording sheet 5 in faced relation with
the recording head 1 with a predetermined clearance therebetween, a
feeding roller 7 for feeding the recording sheet 5, a pinch roller
8 in press-contact with the feeding roller 7 to nip the recording
sheet 5 therebetween, a pinch roller holder 9 for applying the
urging force to the pinch roller 7. The holder 7 is made of
stainless steel plate or the like, and the resilient force deflects
the pinch roller 7 toward the feeding roller 7. Upper and lower
guides 10 and 11 are effective to retain the recording sheet 5
which is manually fed, for example and to feed it to between the
feeding roller 7 and the pinch roller 8.
The recording sheet 5 supplied by the feeding roller 7 and the
pinch roller 8 is nipped between a discharging roller 12 and a spur
not shown press-contacted thereto after it is subjected to the
recording operation by the recording head 1. In the left part of
FIG. 3, there is shown a hollow needle 20 with which the ink
cartridge 4 is pierced when the ink cartridge 4 is inserted through
the cartridge inlet 21 along the cartridge guide 22. Through the
hollow needle 20 and an unshown tube, the ink is supplied to the
recording head 1.
A recovery means 23 effects cleaning, capping and recovery
operations when the recording head 1 is moved to an initial
position (non-recording position) during interruption or rest
period of the recording head 1.
Referring to FIG. 4, the description will be made as to the
structure of the ink cartridge 4. The ink cartridge 4 comprises an
ink container for containing the ink used for the recording and
having an ink absorbing material 28 for retaining the ejected ink,
an ink cassette 25, and an adapter 26 to which the ink cassette 25
is detachably mounted. The ink cassette 25 has an ink bag 27 for
containing the ink to be supplied to the recording head and an ink
absorbing material 28 for retaining residual ink which has been
ejected by idle ejection (preliminary ejection) due to the recovery
operation for maintaining and recovering the correct ink ejection
through the recording head. The outer casing of the ink cassette 25
is made of molded plastic material into an outer size or an outer
configuration adapted to the size and the configuration of the ink
cassette receptor 26A of the adapter 26. The outer casing of the
ink cassette 25 may be made of metal or hard paper, if it is to
properly retain the content.
In this embodiment, a recess 29 is formed at a predetermined
position in an outer surface of the ink cassette 25.
Correspondingly, the internal surface of the ink cassette receptor
26A of the adapter 26 is formed into a projection fitting the
configuration of the recess 29. Therefore, only when the size and
the configuration of the recess 29 and the projection are met, the
ink cassette 25 can be mounted to the adapter 26. The adapter 26 is
made of plastic mold or metal with high precision. As shown in the
Figure, the ink cassette 25 can be fitted in the direction of the
arrow into the ink cassette receptor.
The flexible ink bag 27 accommodated in the ink cassette 25 is
connected through a tube or the like with a capping member 31 made
of elastic material such as silicone rubber which can be pierced
with the hollow needle 20 for the supply of the ink upon the
mounting of the ink cartridge 4 on the recording apparatus. An
information medium 32 is supported on that side of the adapter 26
which is for the connection with the apparatus. The recording
medium is capable of electrically or electronically storing the
information. It may be in the form of a ROM, an electrically
erasable ROM, a resistor, a capacitor, a battery, a battery
backed-up RAM, logic circuit or the like.
The information medium may store physical memory, for example, by
providing a particular configuration to the adapter 26, by
different optical reflecting or transparent properties, by magnetic
recording. In these cases, the ink jet recording apparatus is
provided with an information reading means corresponding
thereto.
The information medium 32 bears information necessary for the
control for the main assembly of the ink jet recording apparatus in
accordance with the material of the ink accommodated in the ink
cassette 25. Designated by a reference 32A is a contact of the
information medium 32 to establish the electric connection between
the information medium 32 and the main assembly of the ink jet
recording apparatus. The contact 32A has contact elements disposed
at a high density, and therefore, it can be accommodated in a small
area. A rail 33 is formed at each side of the adapter 26. When the
ink cartridge 4 is inserted through the insertion inlet 21 along
the cartridge guide 22, the rails 33 are engaged with unshown
guiding grooves, by which the ink cartridge 4 is correctly
positioned, and in addition, the correct relative position between
the information medium and the leading means is assured.
In addition, in this embodiment, the capping member 31 of the ink
cassette 25 which is connected with the supplying hollow needle 20
is in the form of a projection, and when the ink cassette 25 is
mounted in the adapter 26, the wall surface 25A of the portion
constitutes a side wall of the adapter.
Adjacent the capping member 31, there is an opening 44 to accept a
residual ink tube 42 of the apparatus for the ink absorbing
material 28 for absorbing the residual ink. The opening 44 is
overlapped with a residual ink recepting opening 43 of the adapter
26 when the ink cassette 25 is mounted in the adapter 26.
The opening 44 may be formed so as to be larger than the opening
43, as shown in FIG. 4. It may have the same size and configuration
as the opening 43, if it can properly receive the residual ink.
A fixed or replaceable absorbing material may be provided at the
regions adjacent the front surface 25b of the ink cassette 25 and
the inside surface 26b of the adapter 26 for receiving the residual
ink, in order to prevent the leakage of the residual ink.
In addition, the opening 44 may be provided with a film or a
sheet-like covering member which may be broken by a tube 42 when
the ink cartridge is mounted to the assembly. By doing so, the
residual ink may be discharged. The covering member may be provided
with a slit at a position where the tube is inserted. The provision
of the covering member is effective to prevent the scattering of
the residual ink when the residual ink flows and the falling of the
residual ink from the residual ink absorbing material upon the
exchange of the ink cassette after the use-up thereof.
In the ink cartridge 4 described in the foregoing, the fitting
between the recess 29 of the ink cassette and the projection 30 of
the adapter 26 is predetermined in accordance with the material of
the ink contained in the ink cassette 25. The information medium 32
of the adapter 26 bears information for the controlling operation
of the main assembly of the recording apparatus suitable for the
material of the ink contained in the ink cassette 25. Therefore,
the ink cassette 25 of one kind is usable only with the adapter 26
having the information medium 32 corresponding to the control
information suitable for the material of the ink contained in the
cassette.
By using the two part structure including the ink cassette
containing the ink and the adapter for accommodating the cassette,
the operator is required only to set a fresh ink cassette into the
adapter after the ink is used up. The adapter is reusable so that
the running cost can be reduced. Since the information medium for
transmitting the information is not exchanged, therefore, the
accuracy in the connection with the main assembly can be
sufficiently maintained.
FIG. 5 shows the state wherein the ink cartridge 4 including the
ink cassette 25 and the adapter 26 is mounted in the ink cartridge
receptor of the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 4. Here, the
precise engagement is established between the rails 33 of the
adapter 26 and the guides 41 in the cartridge inserting inlet 21 of
the ink jet recording apparatus, and when the ink cartridge 4 is
inserted in the direction of the arrow, the capping member 31 is
pierced with the hollow ink needle 20 disposed at the receptor 40
of the ink jet recording apparatus, so that the ink in the ink bag
27 can be supplied to the ink jet recording apparatus.
The ink forcedly ejected from the ink jet recording head 1 by the
ink refilling operation, flows through a tube 42 of the main
assembly of the recording apparatus and is absorbed by the residual
ink absorbing material 28 through the openings 43 and 44. When the
ink cartridge 4 is completely mounted in the cartridge receptor 40,
the electric connection is established between the contacts 32A and
the corresponding connecting pins 45 electrically connected with
the controller of the ink jet recording apparatus, which will be
described hereinafter, so that the controlling information stored
in the information medium 32 can be accessed by the CPU of the main
assembly of the ink jet recording apparatus.
The ink cassette 25 is provided with serrations 25C and 25D for
facilitating mounting and dismounting thereof relative to the
adapter 26 in addition to the recess 29 for the engagement with the
adapter 26. The serrations 25C and 25D are provided at the
respective sides of the ink cassette 25. The serrations 25C and
25D, in this embodiment, also function to confine the engaging
relation with the adapter 26. They are engaged with engaging
portions 26D which is in the form of a cut-away portions at a side
of the adapter 26.
The serrations 25D may have recess and projections which are the
same as those of the rails 33 to constitute a part of the rail 33
used when the mounting or dismounting.
The serrations 25D may be projected from the side surface of the
adapter 26 when the ink cassette 25 is mounted in the adapter 26.
If this is done the serrations 25D is abutted to a guide 41 of the
main assembly of the recording apparatus, so that they function as
an insertion position limiting member of the entire ink cartridge
4.
When this structure is used, it may be made peculiar to the ink
cassette so the positional relation between the hollow needle 20
and the ink bag can be assured. Therefore, in the case of color
recording, the insertion length of the hollow needle 20 into the
ink bag and the length relation between the guide 41 and the
stopper 25D, can be made peculiar to the individual color ink, by
which the erroneous insertion can be prevented, or the hollow
needle is prevented, upon erroneous insertion, from reaching the
ink bag.
FIG. 6 shows the control system of the ink jet recording apparatus
in connection with the ink cartridge 4. A central processing unit
(CPU) 50, and memory in the form of ROM or RAM 51 are provided.
When the main switch of the recording apparatus is actuated with
the connection therebetween established, the data in the
information medium 32 are read through an interface 52 into the
memory 51 in accordance with the steps which will be described
hereinafter. The recording apparatus comprises a controller 53,
input and output controller 54, a head driver 55, a peripheral
programmable interface (PPI) for a host computer, a data bus 57 and
an address bus 58.
Referring to FIG. 7, the description will be made as to the control
steps until the start of the recording operation when the ink
cartridge 4 is mounted.
Upon the actuation of the main switch, the discrimination is made
as to whether or not the ink cartridge is mounted, at step S1. If
not, a warning is produced at step S2. If it is mounted, the
operation proceeds to step S3 wherein the data is read from the ROM
of the memory 51. The discrimination is made as to whether or not
there is data, at step S4. If not, step S5 is executed by which a
warning lamp is actuated. If so, the operation proceeds to step S6
wherein the driving parameters stored in the information medium 32
are transferred to the RAM of the memory 51. Then, on the basis of
the data transferred, the recording head is preliminary heated in
accordance with the conditions set in accordance with the driving
parameters, at step S7. The discrimination is made at step S8
whether or not the recording operation is possible. If so, the
sequential operation for the recording operation is effected at
step S9.
FIG. 8 shows a structure of an ink cartridge 34 according to
another embodiment of the present invention. It comprises an ink
cassette 35, an adapter 36 and an ink cassette 35 which has only an
ink absorbing material 28 and an ink bag 27. They are accommodated
in the order named. When the ink absorbing material 28 and the ink
cassette 35 are accommodated in the receptor 36A, they can be
accepted only when the recess 29 of the ink cassette 35 is matched
with the engaging projection 36 of the receptor 36A. When a top
cover 37 of the adapter is closed, an ink cartridge 34 in the form
of a unit is established. The top cover 37 is cut into a
configuration matching the configuration of the capping member 31
of the bag 27. If the configurations do not match, the top cover 37
can not be closed. If this is done, the erroneous insertion of the
ink cassette 35 can be further prevented.
In this embodiment, the information medium 32 of the adapter 36
bears controlling information corresponding to the material of the
ink in the ink cassette 35, similarly to the foregoing
embodiment.
According to this embodiment, the ink cassette 35 and the residual
ink absorbing material 28 can be separately exchanged, and
therefore, either of them can be exchanged when it becomes out of
use. In any embodiments, the information medium 32 is provided. The
adapter which is relatively more expensive than the ink cassette
can be continued to be used even if the ink cassette is exchanged
for replenishing the ink. Therefore, the running cost of the
recording apparatus can be reduced.
In addition, the information medium is not exchanged even if the
ink is used up, and therefore the connection with the main assembly
is maintained correct.
The residual ink absorbing material 28 is sealed to prevent the
leakage of the ink to the outside of the adapter 36 constituting
the ink cartridge 34.
The outer periphery of the ink absorbing material 28 may be covered
with a film or sheet material to provide the sealing. If this is
done, the operator's hand will not be contaminated upon exchange of
the absorbing material 28. Alternatively or in addition, the
adapter may be provided with a partition member for isolating the
ink cassette 35 and the residual ink absorbing material 28. By
doing so, the sealing can be assured, and the ink cassette 35 may
be prevented from being contaminated with the residual ink.
The present invention is particularly suitably usable in a bubble
jet recording head and recording apparatus developed by Canon
Kabushiki Kaisha, Japan. This is because, the high density of the
picture element, and the high resolution of the recording are
possible.
The typical structure and the operational principle are preferably
the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat Nos. 4,723,129 and 4,740,796. The
principle is applicable to a so-called on-demand type recording
system and a continuous type recording system particularly however,
it is suitable for the on-demand type because the principle is such
that at least one driving signal is applied to an electrothermal
transducer disposed on a liquid (ink) retaining sheet or liquid
passage, the driving signal being enough to provide such a quick
temperature rise beyond a departure from nucleation boiling point,
by which the thermal energy is provide by the electrothermal
transducer to produce film boiling on the heating portion of the
recording head, whereby a bubble can be formed in the liquid (ink)
corresponding to each of the driving signals. By the development
and collapse of the bubble, the liquid (ink) is ejected through an
ejection outlet to produce at least one droplet. The driving signal
is preferably in the form of a pulse, because the development and
collapse of the bubble can be effected instantaneously, and
therefore, the liquid (ink) is ejected with quick response. The
driving signal in the form of the pulse is preferably such as
disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262. In addition,
the temperature increasing rate of the heating surface is
preferably such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,124.
The structure of the recording head may be as shown in U.S. Pat.
Nos. 4,558,333 and 4,459,600 wherein the heating portion is
disposed at a bent portion in addition to the structure of the
combination of the ejection outlet, liquid passage and the
electrothermal transducer as disclosed in the above-mentioned
patents. In addition, the present invention is applicable to the
structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application
Publication No. 123670/1984 wherein a common slit is used as the
ejection outlet for plural electrothermal transducers, and to the
structure disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.
138461/1984 wherein an opening for absorbing pressure wave of the
thermal energy is formed corresponding to the ejecting portion.
This is because, the present invention is effective to perform the
recording operation with certainty and at high efficiency
irrespective of the type of the recording head.
The present invention is effectively applicable to a so-called
full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the
maximum recording width. Such a recording head may comprise a
single recording head and a plural recording head combined to cover
the entire width.
In addition, the present invention is applicable to a serial type
recording head wherein the recording head is fixed on the main
assembly, to a replaceable chip type recording head which is
connected electrically with the main apparatus and can be supplied
with the ink by being mounted in the main assembly, or to a
cartridge type recording head having an integral ink container.
The provision of the recovery means and the auxiliary means for the
preliminary operation are preferable, because they can further
stabilize the effect of the present invention. As for such means,
there are capping means for the recording head, cleaning means
therefore, pressing or sucking means, preliminary heating means by
the ejection electrothermal transducer or by a combination of the
ejection electrothermal transducer and additional heating element
and means for preliminary ejection not for the recording operation,
which can stabilize the recording operation.
As regards the kinds of the recording head mountable, it may be a
single corresponding to a single color ink, or may be plural
corresponding to the plurality of ink materials having different
recording color or density. The present invention is effectively
applicable to an apparatus having at least one of a monochromatic
mode mainly with black and a multi-color with different color ink
materials and a full-color mode by the mixture of the colors which
may be an integrally formed recording unit or a combination of
plural recording heads.
Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiment, the ink has been liquid.
It may be, however, an ink material solidified at the room
temperature or below and liquefied at the room temperature. Since
in the ink jet recording system, the ink is controlled within the
temperature not less than 30.degree. C. and not more than
70.degree. C. to stabilize the viscosity of the ink to provide the
stabilized ejection, in usual recording apparatus of this type, the
ink is such that it is liquid within the temperature range when the
recording signal is applied. In addition, the temperature rise due
to the thermal energy is positively prevented by consuming it for
the state change of the ink from the solid state to the liquid
state, or the ink material is solidified when it is left is used to
prevent the evaporation of the ink. In either of the cases, the
application of the recording signal producing thermal energy, the
ink may be liquefied, and the liquefied ink may be ejected. The ink
may start to be solidified at the time when it reaches the
recording material. The present invention is applicable to such an
ink material as is liquefied by the application of the thermal
energy. Such an ink material may be retained as a liquid or solid
material on through holes or recesses formed in a porous sheet as
disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 56847/1979
and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 71260/1985. The sheet
is faced to the electrothermal transducers. The most effective one
for the ink materials described above is the film boiling
system.
The ink jet recording apparatus may be used as an output terminal
of an information processing apparatus such as computer or the
like, a copying apparatus combined with an image reader or the
like, or a facsimile machine having information sending and
receiving functions.
As described in the foregoing, according to the present invention,
the ink jet recording apparatus can be provided which can effect
assuredly its recording operation in accordance with the nature of
the ink used. After the ink is used up, the information
transmitting medium can be reused since only the ink cassette is
exchanged. Therefore, the running cost is reduced, and the
information transmitting medium is maintained at a correct
position.
If the ink cartridge has two portions including the ink cassette
containing the ink used for the recording and an adapter provided
with medium bearing the information relating to the ink, the
adapter is capable of detachably accepting the ink cassette. When
the ink is used up, only the ink cassette is attended to, so that
the running cost is reduced, and the contact between the
information medium and the main assembly of the recording apparatus
can be assuredly maintained with high precision.
While the invention has been described with reference to the
structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set
forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications
or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or
the scope of the following claims.
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