Abstract:
An ink supplying apparatus of an image forming device including an ink discharging unit to discharge ink of an ink cartridge, a needle connected to the ink discharging unit to form an ink supplying passage, a blocking unit to block the needle from being exposed to the outside, and a sealing member to seal the ink discharging unit and the blocking unit. Accordingly, the apparatus can not only block the needle from being exposed to the outside, but can also prevent an ink leakage, thereby facilitating a safer use of the image forming device to safely use.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 2006-57073, filed Jun. 23, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    Aspects of the present invention generally relate to an image forming device, and more particularly, to an ink supplying apparatus that ejects ink to form an image, and an image forming device having the ink supplying apparatus. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Generally, an image forming device (such as an inkjet printer) is provided with a print head to eject ink to form a desired image, and an ink supplying apparatus to supply the ink to the print head.  FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view schematically exemplifying an ink supplying apparatus of a general image forming device. 
         [0006]    As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the ink supplying apparatus of the general image forming device includes an ink chamber  10  and a needle assembly  20  combined with the ink chamber  10  to form an ink supplying passage to a print head (not illustrated). The ink chamber  10  has at least one ink discharging unit  11 . The needle assembly  20  has at least one needle  21  that can connect to the ink discharging unit  11 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , each of the three needles  21  is provided with an ink supplying hole  21   a  and the needle  21  has a pointed end. 
         [0007]    When the ink chamber  10  is combined with the needle assembly  20 , the pointed end of the needle  21  connects to the ink discharging unit  11  of the ink chamber  10 , thus penetrating the ink discharging unit  11 . Accordingly, ink in the ink chamber  10  flows into the needle  21  through the ink supplying hole  21  a so that the ink can be supplied to the print head and ejected onto a print medium, such as paper. 
         [0008]    However, the ink supplying apparatus of the conventional image forming device as described above is provided so that when the ink chamber  10  and the needle assembly  20  are separated from each other, the needle  21  of the needle assembly  20  is exposed to the outside. Accordingly, the conventional ink supplying apparatus may present a problem in that ink leaks through the ink supplying hole  21  a of the needle  21  and foreign substances flow into the needle  21  through the ink supplying hole  21   a.    
         [0009]    Also, when replacing the ink chamber  10 , the ink chamber  10  may be damaged by the needle  21  so that the ink is leaks and/or external air is taken in. This problem particularly occurs when the needle  21  is inserted into the ink chamber  10  and the needle assembly  20  is not correctly connected to the ink chamber  10 . 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    Aspects of the present invention address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention provide an ink supplying apparatus and an image forming device having the same, which can block an ink leakage and an inflow of external foreign substances, thus allowing the image forming device to be safely and efficiently used. 
         [0011]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink supplying apparatus including an ink discharging unit to discharge ink of an ink cartridge, a needle connected to the ink discharging unit to form an ink supplying passage, a blocking unit to block the needle from being exposed to the outside, and a sealing member to seal between the ink discharging unit and the blocking unit. 
         [0012]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the blocking unit may be movable up and down around the needle, so that the blocking unit blocks the needle separated from the ink discharging unit from being exposed to the outside. 
         [0013]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the blocking unit may be configured so that it is pressed in one direction by the ink discharging unit when the ink discharging unit and the needle are connected to each other. 
         [0014]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the blocking unit may include a blocking member to contain the needle therein, and a guide to guide a movement of the blocking member. 
         [0015]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the guide may include a blocking member holder to support the blocking member, an elastic member to elastically urge the blocking member holder in the other direction, and a housing to support the blocking member, the blocking member holder and the elastic member and to restrict a movement range of the blocking member holder. 
         [0016]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the ink discharging unit may have a cap provided thereon. 
         [0017]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the cap may include an inserting member through which the needle is penetratingly inserted, and an inserting member holder to support the inserting member. 
         [0018]    According to an aspect of the present invention, the sealing member may include an annular ring member projected from the cap or the blocking unit. 
         [0019]    According to another aspect of the present invention,, the sealing member may include at least one first sealing member provided on the blocking unit, and at least one second sealing member provided on the cap. 
         [0020]    According to another aspect of the present invention, the first and the second sealing members may include a groove and a protrusion, which are positioned opposite to each other, respectively. 
         [0021]    According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming device including a replaceable ink cartridge having a cap, a needle combined with the ink cartridge penetrating the cap so that the needle forms an ink supplying passage, a print head to eject ink supplied from the needle onto a print medium, a blocking unit to block the needle from being exposed to the outside when the needle is not combined with the ink cartridge, and a sealing member to seal between the cap and the blocking unit. 
         [0022]    Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0023]    These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
           [0024]      FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view schematically exemplifying an ink supplying apparatus of a conventional image forming device; 
           [0025]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are a front view and a side elevation view exemplifying a needle of the ink supplying apparatus of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0026]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view schematically exemplifying an ink supplying apparatus of an image forming device according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view exemplifying the ink supplying apparatus of  FIG. 3  in which an ink cartridge and a needle are combined with each other; 
           [0028]      FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view exemplifying an example of a blocking member of the ink supplying apparatus in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0029]      FIGS. 6 and 7  are views schematically exemplifying examples of a sealing member of the ink supplying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0030]    Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
         [0031]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , an image forming device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an ink cartridge  110 , a needle  120 , a print head (not illustrated), a blocking unit  140 , and a sealing member  150 . The image forming device may be, for example, a printer, a fax machine, or a multifunction peripheral. 
         [0032]    The ink cartridge  110  contains ink therein, and is replaceable with a new cartridge  110  when the ink is used up. To realize printing images of various colors, the ink cartridge  110  may be embodied in a plurality of ink cartridges, which are not illustrated. The ink cartridge  110  includes an ink discharging unit  110   a  on which a cap  111  is provided thereon. The cap  111  includes an inserting member  112  through which the needle  120  is penetratingly inserted, and an inserting member holder  113  to support the inserting member  112 . 
         [0033]    The inserting member  112  is formed of a material (such as but not limited to rubber) through which the needle  120  can penetrate. When the needle  120  is not inserted into the inserting member  112 , the inserting member  112  blocks the ink in the ink cartridge  110  from being leaked to the outside. 
         [0034]    The inserting member holder  113  functions to fix the inserting member  112  to the ink discharging unit  110   a  of the ink cartridge  110 , so that the inserting member  112  is not distorted or displaced due to the insertion of the needle  120 . 
         [0035]    The ink discharging unit  110   a  is included in an ink supplying apparatus of the image forming device, together with the needle  120 , the blocking unit  140 , and the sealing member  150 , which will be described in detail below. 
         [0036]    The needle  120  connects to the ink cartridge  110  by penetrating the inserting member  112  of the cap  111  so that it forms an ink supplying passage  122 . The needle  120  has a pointed end, as illustrated in the drawings. Also the needle  120  includes an ink supplying hole  121 , which is inserted into the ink cartridge  110  to take in the ink. Accordingly, when the pointed end of the needle  120  is inserted into the ink cartridge  110 , penetrating the inserting member  112 , the ink in the ink cartridge  110  flows into the needle  120  through the ink supplying hole  121  so that it can be supplied to the print head and ejected onto a print medium, such as paper. 
         [0037]    The print head, which is not illustrated, ejects the ink supplied through the needle  120  onto the print medium to form a desired image thereon. Since image forming operations and principles of the print head are the same as those of the conventional print head known in the art, detailed descriptions and illustrations thereof will be omitted for clarity and conciseness. 
         [0038]    The blocking unit  140  blocks the needle  120  (more particularly, the ink supplying hole  121 ) from being exposed to the outside when the needle  120  is not connected to the ink cartridge  110 . The blocking unit  140  may be movable, in an up and down direction, around the needle  120  when the needle  120  is separated from the ink discharging unit  110   a . It is understood that the blocking unit  140  is movable in a direction parallel to the direction that the needle  120  connects to the ink cartridge  110 , which is not necessarily an up and down direction. To be more specific, the blocking unit  140  is pressed and lowered in a connecting direction (a direction of arrow A illustrated in the drawings) by a pressing force of the ink discharging unit  110   a  when the ink discharging unit  110   a  and the needle  120  are connected to each other. The blocking unit  140  is raised and returned to an original position when the pressing force of the ink discharging unit  110   a  is removed. For this, the blocking unit  140  includes a blocking member  141  and a guide  142 . 
         [0039]    The blocking member  141  surrounds the needle  120  to block the ink supplying hole  121  from being exposed to the outside, and has a receiving hole  141   a  formed located approximately in a center thereof to accommodate the needle  120 . The receiving hole  141   a  is provided along a direction that the needle  120  is inserted into the inserting member  112  so that it does not obstruct an inserting force of the needle  120 . When the blocking member  141  is pressed in the connecting direction (the direction of arrow A) by the cap  111  of the ink discharging unit  110   a , the needle  120  located in the receiving hole  141   a  penetrates the inserting member  112  while escaping from the blocking member  141 . 
         [0040]    The blocking member  141  may be formed of an elastic material, such as a rubber, like the inserting member  112 , so that the blocking member  141  and the needle  120  are maintained in close contact with each other. Also, a plurality of supporting protrusions  141   b  may be provided on an outer circumferential surface of the blocking member  141 , thus compensating for a deformation of the blocking member  141  due to material characteristics. While described as being made of an elastic material, it is understood that the member  141  can be made movable by a combination of nonelastic and biasing mechanisms, such as a spring attached to a plate. 
         [0041]    The guide  142  guides a movement of the blocking member  141 , and includes a blocking member holder  143 , an elastic member  144 , and a housing  145 . The blocking member holder  143  supports the blocking member  141 , which moves up and down, according to an aspect, and guides a position movement of the blocking member  141 . 
         [0042]    The elastic member  144  elastically pressures the blocking member holder  143  in the other direction, that is, an opposite direction to the connecting direction (the direction of arrow A) that the blocking member  141  is pressed by the ink discharging unit  110   a . Accordingly, after the ink discharging unit  110   a  and the needle  120  are combined with each other as the blocking member  141  is pressed in the connecting direction (the direction of arrow A) by the ink cartridge  110 , when the combination between the ink discharging unit  110   a  and the needle  120  is released, the blocking member  141  is returned to the original position by the elastic member  144 . Thus, when the ink discharging unit  110   a  and the needle  120  are combined with each other, or released or separated from each other, the ink supplying hole  121  of the needle  120  is surrounded by the blocking member  141  so that it is not exposed to the outside. The elastic member  144  may be made of a general compression coil spring. 
         [0043]    The housing  145  supports the blocking member  141 , the blocking member holder  143 , and the elastic member  144 . Also, the housing  145  may include a guide hole  145   a , which restricts a moving range of the blocking member holder  143  by the combination between the ink cartridge  110  and the needle  120 . A guide protrusion  143   a , which is inserted into the guide hole  145 , is projected corresponding to the guide hole  145   a  from the blocking member holder  143 . 
         [0044]    The sealing member  150  prevents the ink from being leaked at a contact point between the cap  111  of the ink discharging unit  110   a  and the blocking unit  140 , and is formed of an annular ring member projected from the inserting member holder  113 . Here, the installed position of the sealing member  150  is not limited to only the inserting member holder  113 . For instance, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the sealing member  150  can be formed to project from the blocking member  141  rather than the inserting member holder  113 . Also, the sealing member  150  can be modified in other configurations, according to other aspects of the present invention. For example, the sealing member  150  can be made of a first sealing member  251  and a second sealing members  252  formed at portions of the blocking member  141  and the inserting member  112 , which are positioned opposite to each other, respectively, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . However, it is understood that the first sealing member  251  may be provided on the inserting member  112  and the second sealing member  252  may be provided on the blocking member  141 . 
         [0045]    In this case, the first sealing members  251  may be formed of a triangle-shaped groove, and the second sealing member  252  may be formed of a triangle-shaped protrusion, which is inserted into the triangle-shaped groove. To prevent the blocking member  141  and the cap  111  from coming in surface contact with each other, thus improving a sealing efficiency, the triangle-shaped groove of the first sealing members  251  may be formed smaller than the triangle-shaped protrusion of the second sealing member  252 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 7  illustrates another example of the sealing member  150 . In this case, the sealing member  150  is made of a first sealing member  351 , which is a triangle-shaped groove formed on the blocking member  141 , and a second sealing members  352 , which is a quadrangle-shaped protrusion inserted into the triangle-shaped groove. 
         [0047]    The sealing member  150 , as described above, is not limited to the illustrated examples, but can be modified in other various technical constructions. For instance, a first and a second sealing members (not illustrated) of the sealing member  150  can be formed to project from the blocking member  141  and the inserting member  112 , respectively, or a sealing member (not illustrated) can be formed on the blocking member holder  143  and/or the inserting member holder  113 . At this time, a shape of the sealing member also can be configured to have other shapes other than the triangle and the quadrangle illustrated, such as a circle. 
         [0048]    Hereinafter, an ink supplying operation of the image forming device having the ink supplying apparatus constructed as described above will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , when the needle  120  is inserted into the ink cartridge  110  in the connecting direction (a direction of arrow A), the blocking unit  140  is pressed and moved in the direction of arrow A by the ink discharging unit  110   a  of the ink cartridge  110 . It is understood that to connect the needle  120  and the ink cartridge  110 , the needle  120  may move toward the ink cartridge  110  in a direction opposite the direction of arrow A and/or the ink cartridge  110  may move toward the needle  120  in the direction of arrow A. At this time, the guide protrusion  143   a  of the blocking member holder  143  is guided along the guide hole  145   a  of the housing  145 , and the elastic member  144  is compressed by a pressing force of the ink discharging unit  110   a.    
         [0049]    As the blocking unit  140  is pressed in the direction of arrow A, as described above, the needle  120  located in the receiving hole  141  a of the blocking member  141  gradually escapes from the blocking member  141 , and, at the same time, inserts into the inserting member  112  by penetrating the inserting member  112 . Accordingly, the needle  120  is not exposed to the outside, but inserted into the ink cartridge  110 . As a result, the ink is supplied to the print head. 
         [0050]    At this time, even though the supplied ink may leak between the inserting member  112  and the needle  120 , it does not leak through to the outside since the sealing member  150  is disposed between the ink cartridge  110  and the blocking unit  140 . 
         [0051]    As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to aspects of the present invention, the ink supplying apparatus and the image forming apparatus having the same includes the blocking unit  140  to block the needle  120  , which is combined with the ink cartridge  110  to form the ink supplying passage  122 , from being exposed to the outside. Accordingly, the ink supplying apparatus and the image forming apparatus having the same, according to aspects of the present invention, can address the problems, such as ink leakage and inflow of external foreign substances, which arise as a result of the exposure of the needle to the outside. 
         [0052]    Also, according to aspects of the present invention, the ink supplying apparatus, and the image forming apparatus having the same, includes the sealing member  150  to seal the ink cartridge and the blocking unit. Accordingly, the ink supplying apparatus and the image forming apparatus having the same, according to aspects of the present invention, can prevent ink leakage even though the ink cartridge and the print head are not correctly installed and/or connected to each other. Thus, product quality can be improved. 
         [0053]    Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.