US 12,752,540 B2Granted

Ink refill container

AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation

InventorsTadashi Watanabe, Tadahiro Mizutani, Yoshihiro Koizumi, Yuta Koike

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Abstract

An ink refill container for refilling a printer with ink, includes: a container body; an ink-outlet forming portion including a tubular portion and a valve located in an ink outlet; and a cap configured to be detachably attached to the ink-outlet forming portion. The cap includes an inner top-surface portion. The inner top-surface portion includes a center protrusion configured to push the valve to open the valve, an annular protrusion configured to be in contact with the tubular portion to seal the tubular portion, and at least one of an annular peripheral wall portion and a plurality of ribs. A gap between the center protrusion and the peripheral wall portion or each of gaps between the ribs has a shape of a recess. The recess has a bottom on the inner top-surface portion side and an opening open toward the ink-outlet forming portion and is configured to hold ink.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An ink refill container for refilling a printer with ink, comprising:

a container body configured to store ink;
an ink-outlet forming portion connected to the container body and including a tubular portion having an ink outlet that enables the ink to flow out and a valve located at the ink outlet;
and
a cap configured to be detachably attached to the ink-outlet forming portion, wherein
the cap includes an inner top-surface portion configured to face the ink outlet in an attached state in which the cap is attached to the ink-outlet forming portion,
when a direction parallel to a center axis of the ink refill container in the attached state is defined as an axial direction, the inner top-surface portion includes
a center protrusion protruding from the inner top-surface portion toward the ink-outlet forming portion in the axial direction and configured to push the valve to open the valve in the attached state,
an annular protrusion located outside the center protrusion in radial directions with respect to the center protrusion, the annular protrusion, in the attached state, protruding from the inner top-surface portion toward the ink-outlet forming portion in the axial direction and including a cap-side sealing portion configured to be in contact with the tubular portion to seal the tubular portion, and
at least one of an annular peripheral wall portion and a plurality of ribs, the peripheral wall portion being located between the center protrusion and the annular protrusion in the radial directions and having a height lower than a distal end of the center protrusion, the plurality of ribs being located between the center protrusion and the cap-side sealing portion in the radial directions and having a height lower than the distal end of the center protrusion, and
a gap between the center protrusion and the peripheral wall portion or each of gaps between the ribs has a shape of a recess, and the recess has a bottom on the inner top-surface portion side and an opening open toward the ink-outlet forming portion and is configured to hold the ink.

7 more elements

An ink refill container for refilling a printer with ink, comprising:

a container body configured to store ink;
an ink-outlet forming portion connected to the container body and including a tubular portion having an ink outlet that enables the ink to flow out and a valve located at the ink outlet;
and
a cap configured to be detachably attached to the ink-outlet forming portion, wherein
the cap includes an inner top-surface portion configured to face the ink outlet in an attached state in which the cap is attached to the ink-outlet forming portion,
when a direction parallel to a center axis of the ink refill container in the attached state is defined as an axial direction, the inner top-surface portion includes
a center protrusion configured to push the valve to open the valve in the attached state and
a large diameter portion located on the inner top-surface portion side relative to a distal end portion of the center protrusion in the axial direction and having an outer circumferential shape larger than the center protrusion,
the valve includes
a valve member,
a sealing member configured to be in contact with the valve member in a valve closed state of the valve, and
a spring member configured to urge the valve member toward the sealing member in the valve closed state,
the sealing member includes
a cylindrical portion extending in the axial direction and
an elastic membrane portion extending from an inner circumferential wall of the cylindrical portion toward the center axis, having a through hole at center corresponding to the center axis, and separated by slits extending from the through hole toward the inner circumferential wall in radial directions,
the center protrusion in the attached state extends through the through hole and pushes the valve member to put the valve in a valve open state, and
a distal end of the large diameter portion in the attached state is in contact with at least part of the elastic membrane portion.

14 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.