Liquid replenishment system

Abstract

The present invention provides a liquid replenishment system comprising: a liquid storage tank for storing liquid internally; a liquid replenishment bottle for replenishing liquid into the liquid storage tank; and a liquid replenishment section disposed at a connection portion between the liquid replenishment bottle and the liquid storage tank when liquid replenishment is performed from the liquid replenishment bottle to the liquid storage tank, wherein the liquid replenishment bottle has a plurality of through flow paths at its head end, and the liquid replenishment section is positioned such that at least one of the plurality of through flow paths is lower than the other through flow paths when the liquid replenishment is performed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid replenishment system comprising a liquid storage tank for storing liquid internally, and a liquid replenishment bottle for replenishing liquid into the liquid storage tank. Background Technology

[0002] In an inkjet printer, which is an example of an image forming apparatus for forming an image on an object such as a sheet, a liquid replenishment system is known, which includes an ink reservoir for storing ink inside and an ink replenishment bottle for replenishing ink into the ink reservoir (for example, see Patent Document 1).

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-24852 Summary of the Invention

[0004] A known method for replenishing ink from an ink refill bottle to an ink storage tank is a gas-liquid exchange method. In this method, ink is replenished from the ink refill bottle to the ink storage tank using a nozzle having an ink flow path for ink flow and an air flow path for air flow.

[0005] The user inserts the nozzle at the head of the ink refill bottle into the ink refill port of the ink storage tank. In this process, ink in the refill bottle flows through the ink flow path and exits into the ink storage tank. Simultaneously, air in the ink storage tank flows through the air flow path and exits into the refill bottle. Thus, the ink flow in the ink flow path and the air flow in the air flow path occur simultaneously, thereby replenishing the ink from the refill bottle to the ink storage tank through gas-liquid exchange.

[0006] In order to facilitate gas-liquid exchange, the ink refill bottle is positioned at an angle relative to the ink storage tank, with the airflow path for air supply located on the upper side and the ink flow path for ink supply located on the lower side in the direction of gravity.

[0007] Therefore, when refilling ink, if the ink refill bottle inserted into the ink refill port of the ink reservoir rotates circumferentially around the refill port, the airflow path for air supply cannot be maintained on the upper side and the inkflow path for ink supply on the lower side, thus potentially hindering proper gas-liquid exchange. If proper gas-liquid exchange is not achieved, the ink refilling rate from the refill bottle to the ink reservoir may decrease, or the refilling process may stop midway.

[0008] The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a liquid replenishment system that can maintain a good state of gas-liquid exchange when replenishing liquid from a liquid replenishment bottle to a liquid storage tank.

[0009] The liquid replenishment system of the present invention comprises: a liquid storage tank for storing liquid internally; a liquid replenishment bottle for replenishing liquid into the liquid storage tank; and a liquid replenishment section disposed at a connection portion between the liquid replenishment bottle and the liquid storage tank when liquid replenishment is performed from the liquid replenishment bottle to the liquid storage tank. The liquid replenishment bottle has a plurality of through-flow paths at its head end, and the liquid replenishment section is positioned such that at least one of the plurality of through-flow paths is lower than the other through-flow paths during liquid replenishment.

[0010] According to the liquid replenishment system of the present invention, when replenishing liquid from a liquid replenishment bottle to a liquid storage tank, at least one of the plurality of through-flow paths provided by the liquid replenishment bottle is positioned lower than the other through-flow paths. With this structure, liquid can reliably flow through the through-flow path lower than the other through-flow paths, while air can reliably flow through the other through-flow paths higher than this through-flow path. In this way, a state of good gas-liquid exchange can be reliably maintained. Attached Figure Description

[0011] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the ink replenishment system 1 according to the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the shape of the bottle nozzle and ink injection section according to the present invention.

[0013] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the shape of the bottle nozzle and ink injection portion according to a variation of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the support portion according to a variation of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the wall portion according to a variation of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the liquid replenishment system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1The ink refill system 1 shown is an example of a liquid refill system. This ink refill system 1 includes an ink storage tank 2 and an ink refill bottle 3. The ink storage tank 2 is an example of a liquid storage tank used to store ink within it. The ink is an example of a liquid. The ink storage tank 2 is installed in a liquid-consuming device (not shown) such as an inkjet printer and is used to store the liquid consumed by the inkjet printer (cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, black ink, etc.). The ink refill bottle 3 is an example of a liquid refill bottle used to refill ink into the ink storage tank 2.

[0017] The ink refill system 1 also includes an ink refill unit 4. The ink refill unit 4 is an example of a liquid refill unit. This ink refill unit 4 is located at the connection point between the ink refill bottle 3 and the ink storage tank 4 when ink is being refilled from the ink refill bottle 3 into the ink storage tank 2. This ink refill is an example of a liquid refill.

[0018] The ink storage container 2 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped-shaped container body 5. The container body 5 constitutes the outer shell of the ink storage container 2. An ink chamber 6 for storing ink is provided inside the container body 5. The ink storage container 2 has an ink injection section 7 for injecting ink into the ink chamber 6. This ink injection section 7 is an example of a liquid injection section. An inclined wall 8 is provided on the upper part of the front portion of the container body 5. The ink injection section 7 is provided on the inclined wall 8. It should be noted that the ink injection section 7 may also be provided on a wall other than the inclined wall 8 of the container body 5.

[0019] The ink refill bottle 3 has a bottle body 9 in the shape of a generally cylindrical container for holding ink. A nozzle 10 is provided at the head end of the bottle body 9. The nozzle 10 has two through flow paths 10A and 10B that pass through the nozzle 10 in the axial direction.

[0020] During the aforementioned ink replenishment, with the bottle nozzle 10 inserted into the ink injection section 7 to form the ink replenishment section 4, by maintaining one of the two through-flow paths 10A and 10B in the direction of gravity—for example, through-flow path 10B being on the upper side and the other through-flow path 10A being on the lower side—ink in the bottle body 9 flows from the bottle body 9 to the can body 5 in through-flow path 10A, and air in the can body 5 flows from the can body 5 to the bottle body 9 in through-flow path 10B. Thus, the ink flow via through-flow path 10A and the air flow via through-flow path 10B occur simultaneously, thereby replenishing ink from the ink replenishment bottle 3 to the ink storage tank 2 through gas-liquid exchange.

[0021] To ensure efficient gas-liquid exchange, with the ink refill bottle 3 tilted relative to the ink storage tank 2, one of the two through flow paths 10A and 10B is positioned above and the other below in the direction of gravity. The following is a detailed description of the state in which efficient gas-liquid exchange is maintained in the ink refill system 1 according to the present invention.

[0022] like Figure 2 As shown, the ink injection section 7 of the ink reservoir 2 is elliptical in cross-section when cut along a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the nozzle 10 is inserted. In this case, the ink injection section 7 is elliptical with a longitudinal dimension D1 greater than a transverse dimension D2. The nozzle 10 of the ink refill bottle 3 is also elliptical in cross-section when cut along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction. In the nozzle 10, two through flow paths 10A and 10B are arranged at predetermined intervals along the major axis of the ellipse.

[0023] According to the ink replenishment system 1 illustrated above, when the nozzle portion 10 is inserted into the ink injection portion 7 to form the ink replenishment portion 4, the nozzle portion 10 is inserted into the ink injection portion 7 such that its ellipse matches the ellipse of the ink injection portion 7. Therefore, in the ink replenishment portion 4, one of the through flow paths 10A and 10B arranged along the long axis of the nozzle portion 10 is located on the upper side and the other is located on the lower side, that is, a state in which one through flow path is lower than the other through flow path can be formed.

[0024] As described above, the ink replenishment system 1 is positioned such that, during ink replenishment from the ink replenishment bottle 3 to the ink storage tank 2, one of the through-flow paths 10A and 10B is lower than the other. According to this configuration, ink can reliably flow through the lower of the through-flow paths 10A and 10B, and air can reliably flow through the higher of the other through-flow paths 10A and 10B. In this way, a reliable and efficient gas-liquid exchange can be maintained.

[0025] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and extensions can be made without departing from its spirit.

[0026] For example, the nozzle portion 10 may also be configured to have three or more through flow paths. The ink injection portion 7 and the nozzle portion 10 may be configured such that, when ink is replenished, at least one of the through flow paths is positioned lower than the other through flow paths.

[0027] Furthermore, the shapes of the ink injection section 7 and the nozzle section 10 can also have the following characteristics: Figure 3The shape formed by combining two circles is what is known as a gourd shape, etc. Furthermore, it is not limited to a gourd shape; it is acceptable as long as the shape of the ink injection section 7 and the shape of the nozzle section 10 are shapes other than circles, so that they cannot rotate relative to each other.

[0028] In addition, such as Figure 4 As shown, the ink reservoir 2 may also include a support portion 11, which supports the nozzle portion 10 inserted into the ink inlet 7 during ink refilling. In this case, the support portion 11 is composed of a plurality of wall portions 12 extending downward from the upper surface of the ink chamber 6. The lengths of the plurality of wall portions 12 are different from each other, with the wall portion 12 closest to the front of the ink inlet 7 being the shortest, and the wall portions 12 gradually becoming longer towards the rear. Furthermore, the support portion 11 forms an arc-shaped guide surface 13 by making the lengths of the plurality of wall portions 12 different from each other. The guide surface 13 is an example of a guide portion.

[0029] According to the above structure, when replenishing ink, the nozzle 10 inserted into the ink injection section 7 can be stably supported by the support 11. Therefore, ink replenishment from the ink replenishment bottle 3 to the ink storage tank 2 can be carried out stably. Furthermore, the support 11 can be used with the nozzle 10 side lower and the bottle body 9 side upper. Therefore, a larger ink level difference, i.e., the height of the ink level from the tip of the nozzle 10 to the ink level in the bottle body 9, can be ensured. Thus, ink replenishment from the ink replenishment bottle 3 to the ink storage tank 2 can be carried out more quickly.

[0030] Furthermore, when the nozzle 10 is pulled out of the ink injection section 7, it can be guided along the guide surface 13. At this time, as... Figure 4 As shown by arrow A, the nozzle 10 is guided in an arc-shaped trajectory, causing its tip to change from a downward-pointing state to an upward-pointing state. Therefore, even if ink remains at the tip of the nozzle 10, ink dripping from the tip of the nozzle 10 can be prevented.

[0031] It should be noted that, as Figure 5 As shown, the head ends of the plurality of wall portions 12 can also be configured as arc-shaped notches along the shape of the bottle mouth portion 10. In addition, the support portion 11 can also be configured to form a continuous arc-shaped guide surface 13 instead of being composed of a discontinuous guide surface 13 formed by the plurality of wall portions 12.

[0032] In the above embodiments, ink was described as an example of a liquid, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, instead of ink, examples of liquids may include a pretreatment liquid that is sprayed onto the sheet before ink during printing, or water sprayed near the nozzle of the inkjet printer head to prevent the nozzle of the inkjet printer head from drying out.

[0033] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0034] 1: Ink Refill System

[0035] 2: Ink storage tank

[0036] 3: Ink refill bottle

[0037] 4: Ink Refill Section

[0038] 7: Ink Injection Section

[0039] 10: Bottle mouth

[0040] 10A, 10B: Through-flow path

[0041] 11: Support section

[0042] 13: Guiding surface

Claims

1. A fluid replenishment system, comprising: Liquid storage tanks are used to store liquids internally. A liquid replenishment bottle for replenishing liquid into the liquid storage tank; and A liquid replenishment unit is provided at the connection point between the liquid replenishment bottle and the liquid storage tank when liquid is replenished from the liquid replenishment bottle to the liquid storage tank. The liquid replenishment bottle has multiple through flow paths at its head end. The liquid replenishment unit is positioned such that, during liquid replenishment, at least one of the plurality of through-flow paths is lower than the other through-flow paths. The liquid replenishment unit includes: A nozzle portion, disposed at the head end of the liquid replenishment bottle, the nozzle portion having the plurality of through flow paths; and The liquid injection unit is used to insert the nozzle into the liquid injection unit during liquid replenishment. The nozzle portion and the liquid injection portion have a shape that allows at least one of the plurality of through-flow paths to be positioned lower than the other through-flow paths when the liquid is replenished.

2. The liquid replenishment system of claim 1, wherein, The nozzle portion and the liquid injection portion are formed such that the cross-section of the section perpendicular to the direction in which the nozzle portion is inserted into the liquid injection portion is elliptical.

3. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The nozzle and the liquid injection section are formed in a gourd shape when cut along a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the nozzle is inserted into the liquid injection section.

4. The liquid replenishment system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The liquid storage tank has sloping walls. The liquid injection section is located on the inclined wall.

5. The liquid replenishment system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The liquid storage tank has a support portion that supports the nozzle portion inserted into the liquid injection portion when the liquid is replenished.

6. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The support portion includes a guide portion that guides the nozzle portion, which is pulled out from the liquid injection portion, in an arc-shaped trajectory.

7. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The support portion is composed of multiple wall portions. The guide portion is composed of a plurality of wall portions having different lengths from each other.

8. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The shape of the head ends of the plurality of wall portions is formed along the side surface of the bottle mouth portion that faces the head ends of the plurality of wall portions.

9. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The multiple through-flow paths include liquid flow paths for liquid flow and air flow paths for air flow. During the liquid replenishment, the liquid flow path is located on the lower side and the air flow path is located on the upper side in the direction of gravity.

10. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The nozzle and the liquid injection portion have a shape that prevents them from rotating relative to each other when the liquid is replenished.

11. The liquid replenishment system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The nozzle portion and the liquid injection portion are formed such that the cross-section taken along a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the nozzle portion is inserted into the liquid injection portion is not circular.

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