Liquid cartridge

The present invention relates to a liquid cartridge that stores a liquid such as ink and supplies it to a liquid injection device. In particular, the present invention relates to an ink cartridge suitable for an inkjet recording device, and more specifically, an ink cartridge for transmitting and receiving information on ink contained in a container to and from the recording device side by wireless communication.

As seen in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, an ink cartridge has been proposed in which information on the contained ink is transmitted to a recording device by wireless communication.

On the other hand, in a recording device in which an ink cartridge is detachably mounted on a carriage provided with a recording head, the ink cartridge reciprocates during the recording operation, but the wireless output is limited from the viewpoint of electromagnetic radiation. Ensuring reliable communication is a major practical problem. In order to solve such a problem, in Patent Document 3, the wireless power radiated from the recording device is received, converted into the operating power to operate the liquid level sensor and the memory, and the information is converted into the wireless signal. Although the ink cartridge to be transmitted to the recording device by the link means is described, the specific structure is unknown.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-1991</text></patcit><patcit num="2"><text>US Patent Application Gazette US2002 / 0030710A1</text></patcit><patcit num="3"><text>U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,527</text></patcit>

<p> The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid cartridge capable of reliable communication with a wireless output as small as possible.</p>

<p> In order to solve such a problem, the invention of claim 1 is a container having a liquid supply port that can engage with a flow path communicating with a recording head, and a storage unit that stores information about the liquid contained in the container. A storage device having an antenna portion in which at least a rectangular conductive pattern is formed on a wall facing the wall on which the liquid supply port is formed is provided, and information on the storage portion can be stored.<u style="single">Said</u>Wirelessly communicate with the recording device<u style="single">In the liquid cartridge, a recess deeper than the thickness of the antenna portion is formed in the region where the antenna portion is arranged, the antenna portion is housed in the recess, and the opening of the recess has an adhesive layer on the back surface. The protective cover material to be provided is attached and sealed in a state where the adhesive layer and the antenna portion are prevented from coming into contact with each other.</u>There is.</p><p> The invention of claim 2 is composed of a bottomed box-shaped container body in which the container is provided with the liquid supply port, and a lid for sealing an opening of the container body, and the antenna portion is the container. It is provided so as to occupy at least 70% of the area of one wall surface of the main body.</p><p> The invention of claim 3 is configured such that the antenna portion forms a conductive pattern forming an antenna on a substrate.</p><p> The invention of claim 4 is configured by forming a conductive pattern constituting an antenna on a substrate and mounting the storage unit.</p><p> The invention of claim 5 is configured by forming a conductive pattern constituting an antenna on a substrate, and mounting the storage unit and a detection device for detecting the amount of the liquid.</p><p> In the invention of claim 6, an enormous portion is formed at one end of the substrate, and the detection device is mounted on the expansive portion.</p><p> In the invention of claim 7, the container is formed so as to have a different width depending on the type of the liquid, and an antenna portion having the same specifications is provided on the wall surface of the container which becomes an upper portion when the container is mounted. ..</p><p> Claim<u style="single">8</u>In the present invention, the antenna portion is formed on a rectangular substrate from a conductive layer having a rectangular shape and a spiral circular pattern at least once.</p><p> Claim<u style="single">9</u>In the present invention, a lever for supporting the mounting operation is provided.</p>

<p> According to the invention of claim 1, since the antenna portion is exposed from the opening of the carriage, reliable communication can be performed with as little transmission power as possible regardless of the material constituting the carriage.<u style="single">In addition, it is possible to prevent damage to the antenna portion due to rubbing against other members caused by product transportation or the like.</u><u style="single">Further, even if the concave portion is sealed with a protective cover such as an adhesive tape, the adhesive does not adhere to the antenna portion, and recycling becomes easy.</u><u style="single">Further, it is possible to prevent the antenna portion from being damaged due to rubbing against other members caused by product transportation or the like.</u></p><p> According to the second aspect of the present invention, an antenna portion having sufficient communication capability necessary for communication with the recording device can be formed on the flat wall surface of the container body.</p><p> According to the inventions of claims 3 to 5, by forming the adhesive layer on the substrate, it can be easily fixed to the liquid cartridge, and the storage unit and the device for detecting the amount of liquid can be attached to the liquid cartridge. Can be implemented.</p><p> According to the invention of claim 6, by bending the substrate, the detection device can be attached to the surface other than the surface where the antenna portion is provided by sticking the substrate.</p><p> According to the invention of claim 7, it can be applied to a container having a different amount of liquid depending on the antenna portion having the same specifications.</p><p> Claim<u style="single">8</u>According to the present invention, it is possible to easily form an antenna matching the radio frequency in the plane direction in a narrow region of the container exposed to the outside at the time of mounting.</p><p> Claim<u style="single">9</u>According to the invention of the above, it is possible to prevent the antenna member from being touched by human hands when the cartridge is mounted.</p>

Therefore, the details of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated examples. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an inkjet recording device suitable for using the ink cartridge of the present invention, and a carriage 2 provided with an inkjet recording head 1 on the lower surface thereof records on the upper surface thereof. A black ink cartridge 3 that supplies ink to the head 1 and a plurality of color ink cartridges 4 are detachably attached.

Next, an embodiment of the above-mentioned ink cartridge shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) will be described by taking an example of the color ink cartridge 4. The black ink cartridge 3 has the same structure as the color ink cartridge 4 except that the thickness is different. The color ink cartridge 4 has a substantially rectangular shape that opens on one side, and has a flat container body 5 formed on a slope whose upper wall surface 5a has the ink supply port 7 side as a high place, and an opening of the container body 5. A container for containing ink is configured by a lid 6 for sealing the portion.

The container is provided on at least one wall surface that intersects the wall surface on which the ink supply port 7 is formed, and in this embodiment, on the wall surface that faces the two levers 20 and 21 that assist in removing the ink cartridge from the recording device. Has been done.

A storage device provided with an antenna unit 10 is provided on the upper surface 5a of the container body 5 to receive a carrier wave for electric power with and from the recording device 30 for information described later, and to send and receive information.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the antenna portion 10 is formed on the upper surface 5a (the wall on which the ink supply port 7 is formed), which is the upper surface of the container body 5 constituting the ink cartridge in the mounted state. It is formed on the opposite surface). The antenna portion 10 is slightly narrower than the upper surface 5a, that is, has a width W that does not protrude toward the lid side, and has a strip-shaped electrically insulating film 11 that covers the longitudinal direction of the upper surface 5a as a base, and an adhesive layer 12 on the back surface. Further, the surface is formed by a conductive layer 13 having a rectangular shape and a spiral circular pattern at least once. Thereby, an antenna matching the radio frequency can be easily formed in a narrow region of the container body exposed to the outside at the time of mounting, in the surface direction of the upper surface 5a in this embodiment. Further, if necessary, a protective film 14 is formed on the surface of the conductive layer 13. Of the lead wires 13a and 13b of the conductive layer 13 of the spiral circular pattern, the lead wire 13a straddling the circular pattern portion is connected to the IC 15 mounted on the substrate via an insulating layer.

An IC 15 having a semiconductor storage element such as an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), which is a storage unit, is located in a region where the conductive layer 13 of the spiral circulation pattern of the antenna unit 10 configured in this way is not formed. It is mounted and connected to the conductive layer 13 of the antenna unit 10 to form a storage device (non-contact IC tag). This storage device is attached to the upper surface 5a of the container body 5 via the adhesive layer 12. The antenna portion 10, particularly the conductive layer 13 which is rectangular and has at least one spiral circular pattern, is configured to occupy at least 70% of the area of the sticking surface of the container and is efficient in transmitting and receiving radio signals. Its size is selected to obtain sufficient adhesive strength.

According to this embodiment, when mounted on the carriage 2, the antenna portion 10 is exposed from the opening of the carriage 2 as shown in FIG. 4, so even if the carriage is made of a conductive material. By arranging the antenna on the recording device side on the upper lid 9 (Fig. 1) of the case that constitutes the recording device without being shielded, reliable communication is possible with as little transmission power as possible.

Further, in this cartridge, since the levers 20 and 21 formed on the container body 5 are gripped and removed, a human hand accidentally touches the antenna portion 10 and an external force in the peeling direction acts on the antenna portion 10. There is nothing to do. Furthermore, since the antenna portion 10 is arranged on the upper surface of the cartridge (the surface facing the surface on which the ink supply port 7 is formed) 5a, accidents such as a short circuit due to ink leaking from the ink supply port 7 are prevented. can do.

In the above embodiment, the color ink cartridge 4 has been described as an example, but since the black ink cartridge 3 is wider than the color ink cartridge 4, the same antenna portion 10 is used as shown in FIG. It can be provided and can be applied to containers in which the amount of ink differs depending on the antenna portion having the same specifications.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a system that executes communication with a recording device. When the carriage 2 moves to a predetermined position, a control unit (not shown) of the recording device 30 detects this and an antenna unit 31. Output the carrier wave from. The carrier wave received by the antenna unit 10 of the ink cartridge 4 passes through the demultiplexing unit and is input only to the power generation unit 41 to be converted into DC power to become operating power, which charges a power storage unit (not shown).

When the time required to charge the power storage unit has elapsed, the recording device stops transmitting the carrier wave. When the control unit 42 and the sensor 18 receive power from the power storage unit, the ink amount detection unit 43 calculates the remaining amount of ink based on the signal from the sensor 18, and the ink amount detection unit 43 is stored in the storage unit (EEPROM) 8. Information on the ink is read out. This information is transmitted from the antenna unit 10 to the recording device 30 as a high-frequency signal by the high-frequency transmission / reception unit 44. Hereinafter, by repeating the above operation at a predetermined cycle, the ink cartridge 4 and the recording device 30 can communicate with each other.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the storage device provided with the antenna portion 10, in which a huge portion 11a is formed at one end of the electrically insulating film 11 and the liquid level sensor 18 is fixed to the huge portion 11a. It was done. In the figure, the same members as those in the previous embodiment or the corresponding members are designated by the same reference numerals. According to these examples, the liquid level sensor 18 can be attached by attaching the storage device to the container constituting the ink cartridge, and the liquid level sensor 18 is mounted on the huge portion 11a. By bending this region, the liquid level sensor 18 can be arranged in a region of the wall surface different from the wall surface to which the antenna portion 10 of the storage device is fixed.

Although the antenna portion 10 is exposed in the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the protective cover material 16 having the adhesive coated on the surface of the antenna portion 10 is applied to at least the antenna portion 10. When the antenna portion 10 is attached so as to cover the surface surface, preferably the side surface as shown in the drawing, it is possible to prevent the antenna portion 10 from being damaged due to rubbing against other members caused by product transportation or the like.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, a recess 17 capable of accommodating the antenna portion 10 is formed on one surface of the container body 5 constituting the ink cartridge 4, for example, the upper surface 5a, and the antenna portion is formed in the recess 17. 10 may be accommodated. In this case, it is preferable that the recess is a recess that can accommodate the IC 15 mounted on the antenna portion 10.

According to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the upper surface of the antenna portion 10 is located lower than the surface of the container body 5, or rubbing can be reliably prevented. For certainty, the opening of the recess 17 may be sealed with the protective cover material 16 if necessary. Further, as shown in FIG. 8 (c), when the depth d2 of the recess 17 is made larger than the thickness d1 of the antenna portion 10, contact with the adhesive layer of the protective cover material 16 made of adhesive tape or the like is prevented. Therefore, reuse can be facilitated.

<figref num="1">It is a figure which shows one Example of the recording apparatus which uses the ink cartridge of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">FIGS. (A) and (B) are perspective views showing the front and back structures of the ink cartridge of the present invention, respectively.</figref><figref num="3">FIGS. (A) and (B) are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of an antenna attached to the same ink cartridge, respectively.</figref><figref num="4">It is a perspective view which shows the state which the ink cartridge is attached to the carriage.</figref><figref num="5">It is a block diagram which shows the system which performs the communication with the recording apparatus main body by the ink cartridge as above.</figref><figref num="6">It is a top view which shows the other Example of the antenna part applicable to the ink cartridge of this invention.</figref><figref num="7">It is a perspective view which shows the other embodiment of the ink cartridge of this invention.</figref><figref num="8">FIGS. (A) to (C) are a perspective view showing another embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention, and a cross-sectional structure at the antenna portion, respectively.</figref>

Code description

3, 4 Ink cartridge 5 Container body 6 Lid 7 Ink supply port 8 Storage means 10 Antenna part 16 Protective cover material 17 Recesses 20, 21 Lever