Replenishing ink cartridge

A replenishing ink cartridge capable of quickly replenishing a printing cartridge with an ink is provided. The replenishing ink cartridge includes the printing cartridge and a replenishing cartridge for replenishing the printing cartridge with the ink. An ink absorber made of a porous body or fiber bundle is stored in an ink storage chamber of a case of the printing cartridge. An ink supply nozzle to be inserted in the ink absorber is arranged in an ink storage portion of the replenishing cartridge, and a substantially funnel-shaped press member which is to come into contact with the surface of the ink absorber is fitted and mounted on the distal end portion of the ink supply nozzle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
(1) Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a replenishing ink cartridge capable of 
quickly replenishing an ink-jet printing ink cartridge (to be referred to 
as a printing cartridge hereinafter) with an ink. 
(2) Description of the Prior Art 
Conventionally, when replenishing a printing cartridge, having an ink 
absorber made of a porous body or fiber bundle stored in an ink storage 
chamber, with an ink, for example, the ink is directly dropped to the ink 
absorber through a dropping pipet, or the ink is injected into the ink 
absorber through a replenishing ink cartridge. The replenishing ink 
cartridge is constituted by a syringe and an injection needle mounted on 
the distal end portion of the syringe. 
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Hei 7 No. 1744, Hei 8 No. 67012, and 
Hei 9 Nos. 131886 and 39263 disclose ink cartridges of this type. 
Conventionally, ink replenishment to a printing cartridge is performed in 
the above manner and accordingly has problems as follows. First, when ink 
replenishment is performed by dropping an ink with a dropping pipet, if a 
large amount of ink is dropped at once or the ink is injected 
continuously, the ink may overflow before it is absorbed by the ink 
absorber. Therefore, in replenishment, the ink must be intermittently 
dropped little by little, requiring a long period of time until completion 
of the replenishment. 
When the ink is injected by using a replenishing ink cartridge, it is done 
by deeply inserting an injection needle into the ink absorber. The 
injection needle must be formed such that it can be easily pierced into 
the ink absorber, i.e., it must be formed to have a small outer diameter 
and a sharp distal end. If the replenishing ink cartridge is erroneously 
used, it may damage an user or an article. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problems 
described above, and has as its object to provide a replenishing ink 
cartridge capable of safely performing ink replenishment within a short 
period of time. 
According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, 
in a structure for replenishing a printing cartridge with an ink by a 
replenishing cartridge, an ink absorber made of a porous body or fiber 
bundle is stored in an ink storage chamber of the printing cartridge, an 
ink supply nozzle to be inserted in the ink absorber is arranged in an ink 
wrapping body of the replenishing cartridge, and a substantially 
funnel-shaped press member which is to come into contact with the ink 
absorber is arranged at a distal end portion of the ink supply nozzle. 
According to the present invention, when the replenishing cartridge is set 
in the printing cartridge to cause the press member of the ink supply 
nozzle to come into contact with the ink absorber, and the replenishing 
cartridge is positioned above, the ink passes through the ink supply 
nozzle from the ink wrapping body and continuously flows into the ink 
storage chamber of the printing cartridge. Since the press member 
surrounds the distal end portion of the ink supply nozzle to protect it, 
the operator will not get hurt or various types of articles will not be 
damaged by the distal end portion of the ink supply nozzle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from 
the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying 
drawings. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings are employed 
merely for the sake of explanation and do not limit the scope of the 
present invention at all. 
As shown in FIG. 1, a replenishing ink cartridge according to the present 
invention has a replenishing cartridge 5 for replenishing a printing 
cartridge 1 with an ink 8. A press member 11 is disposed in the 
replenishing cartridge 5. 
An ink absorber 3 is stored in an ink storage chamber 2 in the case of the 
printing cartridge 1. An atmosphere communicating hole 4 is formed in a 
lid in the upper portion of the printing cartridge 1. The atmosphere 
communicating hole 4 enables communication of outer air to flow into the 
ink storage chamber 2. 
The replenishing cartridge 5 has an ink storage portion 7 for storing the 
ink 8. An ink supply nozzle 6 is vertically mounted on the lower portion 
of the ink storage portion 7 to be inserted in it. In this embodiment, 
since the ink storage portion 7 is made of a flexible bag, as the ink 8 
flows out, its volume changes to change its shape, so that its internal 
pressure is constantly equal to that of the atmosphere. However, even if 
the ink storage portion 7 is made of a non-flexible material to have a 
non-deformable structure, as far as an atmosphere communicating hole 4 is 
formed in part of the ink storage portion 7 and the internal pressure of 
the ink storage portion 7 does not vary in accordance with the outflow of 
the ink 8, it can replace the flexible bag described above. As the ink 
storage portion 7 whose internal pressure varies, a syringe can be used. 
A communicating channel 9 is vertically formed in the ink supply nozzle 6. 
The ink 8 stored in the ink storage portion 7 passes through the 
communicating channel 9 and is discharged to the outside of the 
replenishing cartridge 5 through a distal end opening portion 10 of the 
ink supply nozzle 6. The funnel-shaped press member 11 is fitted and 
mounted on the distal end opening portion 10 of the ink supply nozzle 6. 
Although not shown, an opening/closing plug or the like may be disposed 
midway along the communicating channel 9 to prevent unnecessary outflow of 
the ink 8. With this arrangement, the ink 8 can be caused to flow out from 
the distal end opening portion 10 of the ink supply nozzle 6 only for 
replenishment, and the ink 8 does not flow while in storage or 
transportation. 
In the above arrangement, to replenish the printing cartridge 1 with the 
ink 8, first, the replenishing cartridge 5 is set on the printing 
cartridge 1, the ink supply nozzle 6 is pierced into the atmosphere 
communicating hole 4, and the press member 11 of the distal end opening 
portion 10 of the ink supply nozzle 6 is brought into contact with the 
surface of the ink absorber 3 which is in contact with the atmosphere 
communicating hole 4. Thereafter, while maintaining this state, the 
printing cartridge 1 is positioned below and the replenishing cartridge 5 
is positioned above. Then, the ink 8 passes through the communicating 
channel 9 of the ink supply nozzle 6 from the ink storage portion 7 with 
its own weight and drops into the ink storage chamber 2 of the printing 
cartridge 1. 
During the above replenishing operation, as the press member 11 is fitted 
and mounted on the distal end opening portion 10 of the ink supply nozzle 
6, problems such as soiling the surrounding things, taking a long period 
of time for the replenishing operation, and hindering the replenishing 
operation are solved effectively. More specifically, if the press member 
11 is not fitted and mounted on the ink supply nozzle 6, a small area 
around the distal end opening portion 10 comes into contact with the 
surface of the ink absorber 3 (see FIG. 2). Since the ink absorber 3 is 
made of a porous body or fiber bundle having a large number of unevenness 
on its surface, a gap is formed between the ink absorber 3 and the distal 
end opening portion 10. As a result, the ink 8 flows out through the gap. 
If the outflow rate is higher than the absorbing rate of the ink absorber 
3, the ink 8 stays in the upper part of the ink absorber 3 and passes 
through the atmosphere communicating hole 4 to flow out to the outside of 
the printing cartridge 1, soiling the surrounding things with the ink 8. 
In view of the above problem, if the distal end opening portion 10 is 
inserted further deeply to compress the ink absorber 3, then the 
unevenness on the surface of the ink absorber 3 may be squeezed to a 
negligible degree. In this case, however, the porosity of only part of the 
ink absorber 3 which is in contact with the distal end opening portion 10 
decreases sharply, and the absorbing rate of the ink 8 decreases 
accordingly. As a result, a time required until completion of the 
replenishment prolongs greatly. 
In view of the above problem, if the outer diameter of the ink supply 
nozzle 6 is increased to increase the area of the distal end opening 
portion 10, the gap formed between the surface of the ink absorber 3 and 
the distal end opening portion 10 decreases. In this case, however, the 
gap between the atmosphere communicating hole 4 and the ink supply nozzle 
6 also decreases, and outflow of the internal air from the printing 
cartridge 1 to the outer atmosphere is interfered with. When the ink 8 
flows into the ink storage chamber 2, the internal pressure of the ink 
storage chamber 2 increases, and inflow of the ink 8 to the ink absorber 3 
is interfered with. Depending on the composition of the ink absorber 3, 
although the gap may decrease, the gap cannot sometimes be eliminated by 
only contact between the ink absorber 3 and the distal end opening portion 
10. 
In contrast to this, if the press member 11 is fitted and mounted on the 
ink supply nozzle 6, when the ink supply nozzle 6 is inserted until its 
distal end opening portion 10 comes into contact with the ink absorber 3, 
the distal end edge portion of the press member 11 is inserted further 
deeply into the ink absorber 3. The porosity of a contact portion 11a 
which is in contact with the press member 11 decreases, and the press 
member 11 comes into contact with the ink absorber 3 through the contact 
portion 11a on its inner surface having a large area. As the contact 
portion 11a holds part of the ink absorber 3, the gap formed between the 
surface of the ink absorber 3 and the distal end opening portion 10 is 
eliminated (regarding this, see FIG. 3). Since an extra pressure does not 
act on the ink absorber 3 at a portion which is in contact with the distal 
end portion of the ink supply nozzle 6, a decrease in supply speed of the 
ink 8 can be prevented effectively. 
If the opening angle of the funnel-shaped inner surface of the press member 
11 is excessively large, the surface area decreases while the outer radius 
remains the same; if it is excessively small, the ink absorber 3 and the 
inner surface of the press member 11 do not come into contact with each 
other, and the effect described above cannot be expected. Accordingly, the 
opening angle of the funnel-shaped inner surface of the press member 11 
preferably falls within a range of 20.degree. to 90.degree.. 
FIGS. 4 to 8 show the second embodiment of the present invention. In the 
replenishing ink cartridge of this embodiment, a tool set 18, an adapter 
28, and a replenishing cartridge 5A are accommodated together in a 
wrapping case 12, and a printing cartridge 1A is replenished with an ink 8 
by using them. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the wrapping case 12 has an inner box 13 storing 
the tool set 18, the adapter 28, and the replenishing cartridge 5A, and an 
outer box 14 having two open side surfaces. The inner box 13 is removably 
fitted in the outer box 14. The inner box 13 has a foldable structure. 
Outer flaps are openably/closably arranged on the upper and lower portions 
of the rear surface plate of the inner box 13, and inner flaps are 
openably arranged on the upper and lower portions of the two side plates 
of the inner box 13. A square window 15 for supporting the printing 
cartridge 1A is formed at substantially the central portion of the surface 
of the inner box 13. Plate-like flaps 16 are openably arranged on the 
upper and lower end edge portions of the window 15. A hanging plate 17 
extends upward from the upper portion of the rear surface plate of the 
outer box 14, and a hanging hole 17a is formed at substantially the 
central portion of the hanging plate 17. 
The tool set 18 has a cap 19 made of a synthetic resin, and a tool jig 20 
detachably fitted in the cap 19, as shown in FIG. 7. The cap 19 is formed 
basically cylindrically. One open end face of the cap 19 has a large 
diameter, and the other open end face thereof is substantially 
hemispherically arcuated to have a small diameter. The tool jig 20 has a 
distal end portion 21, a central portion 22 constituted by a plurality of 
circular disks, a proximal end portion 23, and a round rod-like connecting 
rod 24 for connecting the distal end portion 21, the central portion 22, 
and the proximal end portion 23. The distal end portion 21, the central 
portion 22, the proximal end portion 23, and the connecting rod 24 are 
integrally molded of various types of synthetic resins. 
The distal end portion 21 is constituted by a pair of stacked circular 
disks. A support tip 25 is molded to project from the non-central portion 
of the surface of the circular disk at the front-most end of the distal 
end portion 21. An extracting pin 26 is mounted and supported on the 
support tip 25 by insertion. The proximal end portion 23 is constituted by 
a pair of stacked circular disks. An exchange cap 27 is pluckably 
supported at the central portion of the surface at the end-most end of the 
circular disk of the proximal end portion 23 through a thin liner. An 
atmosphere introduction groove 27a is formed in the exchange cap 27 to 
extend from the central portion outward in the radial direction. 
As shown in FIG. 8, the adapter 28 is formed into a square lid by using 
various types of synthetic resins. A plurality of overflow through holes 
29 are formed on the surface of the adapter 28 near its one side portion. 
A pair of guide walls 30 each having a substantially semiarcuated section 
are molded on the square region, partitioned by the plurality of overflow 
through holes 29, to stand upright at a gap from each other. The pair of 
guide walls 30 partition a substantially cylindrical fitting region 31. A 
communicating needle 32 is vertically supported at the central portion of 
the fitting region 31 by insertion, and the lower portion of the 
communication needle 32, which is covered, communicates with a first ink 
supply nozzle 33 (regarding this, see FIG. 5). 
As shown in FIG. 5, the upper portion of the first ink supply nozzle 33 is 
integrally molded vertically on the lower surface of the adapter 28, and 
the skirt-like press member 11 is fitted and mounted on the lower distal 
end portion of the first ink supply nozzle 33. As shown in FIG.8, a 
cylindrical sponge 35 of a protection cap 34 is fitted on the fitting 
region 31 when the sponge 35 is not in use. The sponge 35 protects the 
distal end of the communication needle 32. A substantially plate-like 
sponge 36 is adhered to the lower surface of the adapter 28 to cover the 
plurality of overflow through holes 29 and their peripheral portions. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the replenishing cartridge 5A has a square 
laminated pack 37 storing an ink 8. A second ink supply nozzle 38 is 
adhered to the center of the lower portion of the pack 37 through a 
mounting plate 39. Thin elongated plate ribs 40 for pack reinforcement 
extend upward from the two sides of the upper portion of the second ink 
supply nozzle 38. A substantially cylindrical fitting connector 41 is 
fitted and mounted on the lower portion of the second ink supply nozzle 38 
through a cylindrical rubber member 42. The lower portion of the second 
ink supply nozzle 38 is detachably fitted on the communication needle 32 
at the fitting region 31 through the fitting connector 41. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the printing cartridge 1A has a vertically 
elongated, hollow printing case 1a made of various types of synthetic 
resins, and an ink absorber 3 is stored in an ink storage chamber 2 in the 
case 1a. A cylindrical portion 43 is integrally molded on the surface of 
the case la near its one side portion to extend downward. This cylindrical 
portion 43 is pressed against the surface of the ink absorber 3. A plug 44 
having the same size as the exchange cap 27 is fitted in the 
large-diameter upper opening portion of the cylindrical portion 43, and 
the small-diameter lower opening portion thereof is utilized as an 
atmosphere communicating hole 4. A small-diameter cylindrical portion 45 
which is to be embedded in the ink absorber 3 is integrally molded on the 
outer peripheral edge of the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 43 
to extend downward. The small-diameter cylindrical portion 45 is loosely 
fitted on the press member 11 to guide and protect it. Other portions are 
identical to those in the first embodiment, and a detailed description 
thereof will thus be omitted. 
With the above arrangement, to replenish the printing cartridge 1A with the 
ink 8, first, the inner box 13 is removed from the outer box 14, and the 
inner box 13 is opened to extract the tool set 18, the adapter 28, and the 
replenishing cartridge 5A from it. After the tool set 18, the adapter 28, 
and the replenishing cartridge 5A are extracted, the pair of flaps 16 of 
the inner box 13 are pushed in to open the window 15. The lower portion of 
the printing cartridge 1A is vertically inserted in the window 15 to 
stabilize the posture of the printing cartridge 1A. 
The tool jig 20 is removed from the cap 19 of the tool set 18, and the plug 
44 on the surface of the printing cartridge 1A is removed with the 
extracting pin 26 to open the atmosphere communicating hole 4. The adapter 
28 is placed on the upper portion of the printing cartridge 1A to insert 
the first ink supply nozzle 33 in the atmosphere communicating hole 4, and 
the distal end edge portion of the press member 11 is deeply inserted in 
the ink absorber 3 to be pressed against it. When the atmosphere 
communicating hole 4 and first ink supply nozzle 33 are caused to 
communicate with each other in this manner, the protection cap 34 is 
removed from the adapter 28, the fitting connector 41 is fitted between 
the pair of guide walls 30, and the lower portion of the second ink supply 
nozzle 38 is fitted on the communication needle 32, thereby completing 
preparation for the replenishing operation. 
When the second ink supply nozzle 38 and the communication needle 32 
communicate with each other, the ink 8 in the replenishing cartridge 5A 
sequentially passes through the second ink supply nozzle 38, the 
communication needle 32, and the first ink supply nozzle 33 from the pack 
37 by its own weight and flows into the ink storage chamber 2 of the 
printing cartridge 1A. When replenishment of the ink 8 is completed in 
this manner, the adapter 28 may be removed from the printing cartridge 1A, 
the exchange cap 27 may be plucked off the proximal end portion 23 of the 
tool jig 20, and the upper opening portion of the cylindrical portion 43 
of the printing cartridge 1A may be sealed. 
In the above manner, the ink 8 can be continuously supplied at once with a 
simple arrangement, so that replenishment can be completed within a short 
period of time. Since the communication needle 32 is covered with the 
sponge 35 of the protection cap 34 when it is not in use, it will not 
damage the operator or other articles. Since the posture of the printing 
cartridge 1A is stabilized by utilizing the inner box 13 as the base, the 
printing cartridge 1A will not fall or become unstable at all, thereby 
achieving a smooth, effective operation. 
Since the extracting pin 26 is protected with the cap 19 when it is not in 
use, the extracting pin 26 will not damage the operator or various types 
of articles at all in the same manner as described above, which is very 
safe. During the replenishing operation, since the ink 8 is replenished in 
a closed space, it will not soil the surrounding things. Even if the ink 8 
should overflow, the sponge 36 absorbs the ink 8 and the ink 8 overflows 
from the plurality of overflow through holes 29, so that the ink 8 will 
not soil at all the upper portion of the printing cartridge 1A or portions 
other than the surface of the adapter 28. When replenishment of the ink 8 
is ended, the plate ribs 40 in the pack 37 prevent the pack 37 from 
falling down or flexing. Inconveniences such as removal of the adapter 28 
will not occur at all along with deformation of the pack 37. 
This embodiment shows a prismatic bottomed ink storage chamber 2. However, 
the present invention is not limited to this, and an ink storage chamber 2 
having another shape, e.g., a cylindrical bottomed ink storage chamber 2, 
may also be employed instead. The size, arrangement, material, and the 
like of the replenishing cartridges 5 and 5A can be changed as required as 
far as no problems occur in storing the ink 8. For example, the 
replenishing cartridges 5 and 5A may be flexible containers instead of 
bags. 
The ink supply nozzle 6 and the first and second ink supply nozzles 33 and 
38 can be formed at least partly long or semi-transparent. The press 
member 11 may be integrally molded with the ink supply nozzle 6 or first 
ink supply nozzle 33, or may be attached to it as a separate component. 
Phenolic resin or the like may be used as required in place of the sponge 
35 or 36. Other articles, e.g., a gauze, a sponge, or a cloth that are 
similar may also be stored in the inner box 13. One or a plurality of 
through holes may be formed in the exchange cap 27 as required to 
introduce the atmosphere into the printing cartridge 1 or 1A, as a matter 
of course. 
As has been described above, according to the present invention, when 
replenishing the printing cartridge, having the ink absorber made of the 
porous body or fiber bundle stored in the ink storage chamber, with the 
ink, the cumbersome operation of replenishing the ink little by little, 
while making sure that the ink will not overflow, can be avoided. Once the 
replenishing cartridge is set to the printing cartridge, no trouble occurs 
even if the printing cartridge is left until replenishment is complete. 
Since replenishment is performed by merely causing the press member to 
come into contact with the ink absorber, the function of the ink absorber 
will not be impaired. Since ink replenishment is performed within a closed 
space, the ink will not soil the surrounding things, thus achieving 
cleanliness.