Ink cartridge and recording apparatus

• US 7,686,441 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2008
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Shinada, Satoshi, Sakai, Yasuto, Hashii, Kazuhiro, Aoki, Kazuaki, Harada, Kazumasa
• Primary Examiner(s): Stephens; Juanita D
• Application Number:
  US12/258,960
• Publication Number:
  US 20090066768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• Field of Search: 347/49, 347/50, 347 84- 87
• US Class Current: 347/86
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17503 Ink cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1752 Mounting within the printer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17526 Electrical contacts to the cartridge
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1753 Details of contacts on the cartridge, e.g. protection of contacts
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17546 electronically
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1755 mechanically
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17553 Outer structure

Abstract

The ink cartridge includes an ink supply port formed at a position, offset to one side, of a wall configuring an ink container body; a positioning projecting portion, formed on one wall out of two opposing walls adjacent the wall, whose upper surface and side portion are regulated in position when the cartridge has been mounted on a recording apparatus; a lever, formed on the other wall out of the two walls, maintaining a normal hinged-open state and having a projection that is forcibly displaced outward when the cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus; and electrodes that are connected to a memory unit storing information on the ink in an ink container and formed on the positioning projecting portion.

Claims

1. An ink cartridge adapted to be mounted on a recording apparatus including a cartridge storage portion which has an ink supply needle for supplying ink to a recording head and a rib for regulating a position in a widthwise direction of the ink cartridge, comprising:

a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall intersecting the bottom wall, and a second side wall intersecting the bottom wall and facing the first side wall;

an ink supply port engageable with the ink supply needle and disposed on the bottom wall at an offset position closer to the first side wall than the second side wall;

a projecting portion disposed on the second side wall and located closer to the bottom wall than to the top wall, the projecting portion having two side portions which are adapted to be regulated by the rib in the widthwise direction and a top surface which is parallel to a loading direction that the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge storage portion, the projecting portion formed at a position offset to one side of the ink cartridge in the widthwise direction;

a circuit board fixed on the top surface;

a plurality of electrodes formed on the circuit board; and

a memory unit connected to at least some of the plurality of electrodes and mounted on the circuit board.

2. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a third side wall intersecting the top wall, the bottom wall, the first side wall, and the second side wall, and a fourth side wall facing the third wall, wherein one of the two side portions of the projecting portion is substantially flush with the fourth side wall.

3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrodes make electrical contacts with a plurality of contacts of the recording apparatus in an upper row and lower row, and one of the electrodes which makes the electrical contact at a center of the upper row is located on a line obtained by projecting a central axis of the ink supply port onto a surface where the electrodes are formed.

4. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a guide projecting portion extending in the loading direction of the ink cartridge and which is located on the first side wall.

5. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a retaining member provided on the first side wall and having an engaging portion that is engageable with and disengageable from an engaging portion of the cartridge storage portion.

6. The ink cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the retaining member is a lever having a projection that biases an upper portion of the lever outward when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus.

7. The ink cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the projection is provided on two sides of the lever.

8. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising an erroneous insertion preventive identification piece, wherein the identification piece and the projecting portion are formed as an integral block and the integral block is fixed to the second side wall by a fixing member.

9. The ink cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a recessed portion formed in the third side wall adjacent to the second side wall.

10. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising:

a cartridge storage portion having an ink supply needle for supplying ink to a recording head;

an ink cartridge inserted into the cartridge storage portion; and

a rib provided in the cartridge storage portion for regulating a position in a widthwise direction of the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge including;

a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall intersecting the bottom wall, a second side wall intersecting the bottom wall and facing the first side wall, a third side wall intersecting the top wall, the bottom wall, the first side wall, and the second side wall, and a fourth side wall facing the third wall;

an ink supply port engageable with the ink supply needle and disposed on the bottom wall at an offset position closer to the first side wall than the second side wall;

a projecting portion disposed on the second side wall and located closer to the bottom wall than to the top wall, the projecting portion having two side portions which are regulated by the rib in the widthwise direction and a top surface which is parallel a loading direction that the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge storage portion;

a circuit board fixed on the top surface;

a plurality of electrodes formed on the circuit board; and

a memory unit connected to at least some of the plurality of electrodes and mounted on the circuit board,

wherein a width of the projecting portion is narrower than a width of the second side wall, and the rib is inserted in a space between the projecting portion and the third side wall.

11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of the ink cartridges are inserted into the cartridge storage portion, and one of the two side portions of the projecting portion of each of the plurality of ink cartridges is substantially flush with the fourth side wall.

12. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a plurality of contacts provided in the cartridge storage portion, wherein the plurality of electrodes of the ink cartridge make electrical contacts with the plurality of contacts in an upper row and lower row, and one of the electrodes which makes the electrical contact at a center of the upper row is located on a line obtained by projecting a central axis of the ink supply port onto a surface where the electrodes are formed.

13. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a mounting lever, and a lever receptacle portion provided on the ink cartridge and pressed toward the bottom wall by the mounting lever, wherein the plurality of electrodes of the ink cartridge contact to the plurality of contacts when the mounting lever is closed to a predetermined position.

14. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a groove provided in the cartridge storage portion, a guide projecting portion extending in the loading direction of the ink cartridge and located on the first side wall of the ink cartridge, wherein the groove receives and engages the guide projecting portion of the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge storage portion.

15. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the ink cartridge further comprises a retaining member provided on the first side wall and having an engaging portion that is engageable with and disengageable from an engaging portion of the cartridge storage portion.

16. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the retaining member is a lever having a projection that biases an upper portion of the lever outward when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus.

17. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the projection is provided on two sides of the lever.

18. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the ink cartridge further comprises an erroneous insertion preventive identification piece, the identification piece and the projecting portion are formed as an integral block, and the integral block is fixed to the second side wall of the ink cartridge by a fixing member.

19. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 17, wherein the ink cartridge further comprises a recessed portion formed in the third side wall adjacent to the second side wall, and the recessed portion and the rib cooperates to control the rotation of the ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is inserted into or removed from the cartridge storage portion.