Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-03
2004-02-24
Vo, Anh T. N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C347S037000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06695436
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-24163, filed May 3, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet printer, and more particularly, to an apparatus to remove an ink cartridge from the ink-jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in
FIG. 1
, an ink-jet printer generally comprises a carriage
20
for carrying an ink cartridge
10
mounted thereon along a predetermined guide rail (not illustrated). The ink cartridge
10
has an ink vessel
11
for storing ink, an ink cartridge head
13
for controlling an ink nozzle (not shown) disposed at a lower side of the ink vessel
11
, and a latch lid
15
for mounting the ink cartridge
10
to the carriage
20
.
The carriage
20
comprises a supporting frame
21
mounted to a main frame (not illustrated) and moved along the guide rail, a receptacle
22
disposed at the supporting frame
21
for serving as a sub-guide when the ink cartridge
10
is mounted, and latching means for securing the ink cartridge
10
to the receptacle
22
by latching the receptacle
22
to the latch lid
15
. The latching means comprises a spring
23
, and a latch
24
disposed at one side of the supporting frame
21
and corresponding to the latch lid
15
, which is elastically pressed by the spring
23
. Also, a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC)
25
and an elastic element
26
are provided between the supporting frame
21
and the receptacle
22
. The FPC
25
supplies power to the ink cartridge head
13
and the elastic element
26
for increasing a contact force between a dimple
25
a
provided on the FPC
25
and the ink cartridge head
13
.
In order to mount the ink cartridge
10
to the carriage
20
, the ink cartridge
10
is inserted into the receptacle
22
. Next, an upper end of the ink cartridge
10
is forcibly pushed toward the carriage
20
. Then, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a sloping surface of the latch lid
15
raises the latch
24
while sliding over a sloping surface of the latch
24
. At the same time, the latch lid
15
moves forward in the direction indicated by the arrow labeled “A”. If the latch lid
15
is completely moved in the “A” direction, the ink cartridge
10
is in close contact with one sidewall of the receptacle
22
, and also the latch
24
descends due to a recovery force of the spring
23
, thereby preventing the latch lid
15
from moving in the direction indicated by the arrow labeled “B”.
The ink cartridge
10
is removed from the carriage
20
in reverse order to the order by which the ink cartridge
10
is mounted to the carriage
20
. That is, the upper end of the ink cartridge
10
is pulled forcibly in the “B” direction, and thus the latch lid
15
is removed from the one sidewall of the receptacle
22
while lifting up the latch
24
, so that the ink cartridge
10
is removed from the carriage
20
.
However, when the ink cartridge
10
is mounted in the way as described above, the spring
23
must have a predetermined force for increasing the contact force between the dimple
25
a
and the ink cartridge head
13
. Accordingly, it is difficult for a user to overcome the force of the spring
23
and replace the ink cartridge
10
. Also, it is not clear how to handle the ink cartridge
10
during mounting and removal. Thus, when an unskilled user handles the ink cartridge
10
, there may be damage to the ink cartridge head
13
or the dimple
25
a.
Furthermore, in order to remove the ink cartridge
10
from the carriage
20
, the user needs sufficient space to hold the ink cartridge
10
and pull out the ink cartridge
10
. However, this space may be so small that the user must use his/her fingertips or fingernails. Thus, fingernails may be broken, injured, or may contact components of the ink cartridge
10
, thereby causing damage.
Furthermore, it is difficult for the user to ascertain with the naked eye whether the ink cartridge
10
is mounted accurately. Thus, the ink cartridge
10
might be mounted inaccurately, unbeknownst to the user. If the ink cartridge
10
is mounted inaccurately, the contact force between the dimple
25
a
and the ink cartridge head
13
becomes weak, and thus the ink nozzle cannot be properly controlled and printing quality deteriorates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus to remove an ink cartridge of an ink-jet printer in which the ink cartridge is mounted and removed with little effort from a user.
Additional objects and 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.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an apparatus to remove an ink cartridge of an ink-jet printer, the apparatus includes a carriage having a supporting frame movably supported by a guide rail, and a receptacle connected to the supporting frame, an ink cartridge removable from the receptacle, the ink cartridge having a latching protrusion formed at an upper end thereof, a latching unit disposed at the supporting frame, being compressible and de-compressible. In a compressed state, the latching unit latches the latching protrusion of the ink cartridge mounted in the receptacle, and in a de-compressed state, the latching unit is released from the latching protrusion. The apparatus further includes a moving unit having a joint portion to pivot at a predetermined angle, the moving unit pivotally disposed at the supporting frame, to pivot in a first direction to mount the ink cartridge from a temporary mounting position in the receptacle and to compress the latching unit. The joint portion is fixedly positioned in a bent state due to a recovery force of the compressed latching unit, the moving unit to pivot in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, to permit the latching unit to recover its original form.
The latching unit includes a spring, a latch member connected to a first end of the spring, the latch member having a sloping side corresponding to the latching protrusion, and a contact member connected to a second end of the spring, opposite to the first end of the spring, the contact member having a guide recess formed at an upper end thereof to guide the contact member to contact the moving unit.
Also, the moving unit includes a moving lever, a first end of which is pivotally disposed at the supporting frame, the moving lever to pivot downward to compress the latching unit, a handle lever disposed at a second end, opposite the first end of the moving lever, and to pivot at a predetermined angle, the handle lever first pivoting on the moving lever and then pivoting together with the moving lever. The moving unit further includes a lever spring disposed at a lower end of the handle lever, the lever spring pressing an upper portion of the ink cartridge from the temporary mounting position in the receptacle to contact the supporting frame during the pivoting movement of the handle lever.
At least one of respective hinge connecting portions of the moving lever and the handle lever defines a jaw to restrict an angle of relative pivotal movement of the moving lever and the handle lever. The lever spring is a plate spring made of a metallic material or is made of an engineering plastic material or is a coil spring. The apparatus further includes a position protrusion formed at the moving unit to contact the latching unit during the pivoting of the moving unit, the position protrusion being disposed farther away from the supporting frame than a hinge point on the supporting frame of the moving unit.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5629725 (1997-05-01), Buican
patent: 5696541 (1997-12-01), Akahane et al.
patent: 6059396 (2000-05-01), Choi
patent: 6065826 (2000-05-01), Robinson et al.
patent: 6502917 (2003-01-01), Shinada et al.
Byun Chang-soo
Jang Deok-hwan
Lee Yong-hyun
Park Heon-soo
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
Staas & Halsey , LLP
Vo Anh T. N.
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