US20060144908A1 - Envelope for recovering a recording liquid cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

An envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge is disclosed. The envelope comprises an inner layer made of material capable of absorbing recording liquid; and an outer layer made of water resistant material. Alternatively, the envelope comprises an inner layer made of material capable of absorbing recording liquid; a middle layer made of water resistant material; and an outer layer made of writable material.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD
• The present invention generally relates to an envelope for recovering a recording liquid cartridge which is used in an image printing device such as an ink jet recording device.
BACKGROUND ART
• An ink jet recording device using ink as the recording liquid is employed as an image forming device in printers, facsimiles, copying machines and their hybrid machines. In these ink jet recording devices, it is common to replace an ink cartridge, which is a recording liquid cartridge for supplying ink to a recording head.
• In the past, after such ink cartridge replacement, used ink cartridges were thrown away by users. Recently, however, because of requirements for efficient resource usage and environmental preservation, used cartridges have been recovered by ink cartridge suppliers.
• Patent Reference #1 below discloses a method for recovering used recording liquid cartridges, in which a recovering box is used for recycling. In this method, however, it is inconvenient in that users must go to where a recovering box is placed.
• Patent Reference #2 below discloses another method for recovering used recording liquid cartridges, in which transportation such as mailing is employed for recovering such cartridges. In this method, a name and address of destination and other information are written on an outer surface of an ink cartridge. After replacement, users can seal the ink inlet and outlet of a used cartridge and mail it to the cartridge supplier.
• In this method, however, it is troublesome for users to seal the ink inlet and outlet of used cartridges. And users may get ink on their hands. If the user's sealing is incomplete, highly transmittable ink for such ink jet recording devices may leak out and make a mess of other transported goods.
• Patent Reference #1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Open Publication 2003-182804
• Patent Reference #2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 5-30106
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
• It is a general object of the present invention to provide an envelope for recovering such a recording liquid cartridge, which can be easily used and can prevent ink leakage.
• Features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent from the description and the accompanying drawings, or may be learned by practice of the invention according to the teachings provided in the description. Objects as well as other features and advantages of the present invention will be realized and attained by the envelope particularly pointed out in the specification in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention.
• To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides as follows.
• An envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge according to the present invention that solves the above problems comprises an inner layer made of material capable of absorbing recording liquid; and an outer layer made of water resistant material.
• According to this envelope, even if recording liquid leaks from the cartridge put into the envelope, the liquid can be absorbed by the inner layer to prevent from leaking outside of the envelope. It is easy for users to mail used cartridges, and the recording liquid of used cartridges does not make a mess of other transported goods.
• Another envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge according to the present invention comprises an inner layer made of material capable of absorbing recording liquid; a middle layer made of water resistant material; and an outer layer made of writable material.
• According to this envelope, besides the above advantages, users can write a name and address of destination.
• Further, an envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge according to the present invention comprises a main body of the envelope; and a foldable sealing portion capable of sealing an opening of the envelope by folding at a reference line; wherein a portion of the main body is extended over the reference line at both sides of the sealing potion.
• According to this envelope, it is possible to prevent liquid from leaking out at a potential opening due to capillary phenomenon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an envelope for recovering a recording liquid cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structural example of the envelope.
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another structural example of the envelope.
• FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the envelope.
• FIG. 5 is a plan view of the envelope.
• FIG. 6 is a plan view of the major portion of the sealed envelope.
• FIG. 7 is a plan view of the major portion of a comparison sample sealed envelope.
• FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an example of an ink cartridge.
• FIG. 9 shows an example of an ink bag.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
• In the following, embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an envelope for recovering a recording liquid cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for illustrating a structural example of the envelope.FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for illustrating another structural example of the envelope.FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the envelope.FIG. 5 is a plan view of the envelope.
• Theenvelope1 is for recovering anink cartridge101 that is a used recording liquid cartridge. As shown inFIG. 2, theenvelope1 has a two-layer structure comprising aninner layer11 and anouter layer12. Theinner layer11 is made of material capable of absorbing ink, for example thin paper. Theouter layer12 is made of water resistant material, for example PE. Theinner layer11 and theouter layer12 are heat sealed.
• Due to this two-layer structure, even if ink is leaked out from the usedink cartridge101 put into theenvelope1, theinner layer11 keeps the leaked ink and the water resistance of theouter layer12 does not allow the ink to transmit to the outside. Therefore, the envelope does not make a mess of others with the leaked ink while transporting. Even if theenvelope1 is exposed to rain, the water resistance of theouter layer12 prevents theenvelope1 from ripping or breaking. Heat sealing theinner layer11 and theouter layer12 to achieve integration prevents theinner layer11 from weakening even when theinner layer11 absorbs the ink.
• As shown inFIG. 3, theenvelope1 may have a three-layer structure having aninner layer21, amiddle layer22 and anouter layer23. Theinner layer21 is made of material capable of absorbing ink, for example thin paper. Themiddle layer22 is made of water resistant material, for example PE. Theinner layer21 and themiddle layer22 are heat sealed. Theouter layer23 is made of material allowing writing thereon, for example, craft paper, and is stuck to themiddle layer22.
• In this three-layer structure, themiddle layer22 functions in the same manner as the above mentionedouter layer12 resulting in the same effect as in the two layer structure. Besides, information such as sender's name and address can be written on an outer surface of theouter layer23.
• As shown inFIGS. 4 and 5, theenvelope1 has a sealingslip3 at a sealing portion. The sealingslip3 can be valley-folded at a foldingreference line4, to seal anopening2aof amain body2 of theenvelope1. At each end of thesealing slip3, aportion5 of themain body2 of theenvelope1 is formed continuously over thefolding reference line4, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 5. That is, theportion5 of themain body2 of theenvelope1 is extended over the valley-folding reference line4 and is folded at the valley-foldingline4, to the perpendicular direction. A paste face is formed or a double stick tape is fixed on the sealingslip3 to adhere to themain body2 of theenvelope1.
• As shown inFIG. 6, after valley-folding the sealingslip3 at thefolding reference line4, theportion5 of themain body2 of theenvelope1 is folded over or laid over at both sides of the sealingslip3, and therefore theopening2ais not exposed at anend2bof themain body2 of theenvelope1. Accordingly, the ink leaked out from theink cartridge101 put into theenvelope1 cannot leak to the outside of theenvelope1.
• In general, liquid such as ink penetrates small cross-sectional places well due to the capillary phenomenon. As shown inFIG. 7, if there is noportion5 of themain body2 of theenvelope1 at each end of the sealingslip3, after folding the sealingslip3 at thefolding reference line4, there remains an opening or gap at A portion at each end between the sealingslip3 and themain body2 of theenvelope1. This opening or gap portion allows ink to easily penetrate better than other portions, and therefore even a small amount of ink can be leaked out. In order to avoid such leakage, theportion5 of themain body2 of theenvelope1 is extended.
• Similarly, at a bottom portion of theenvelope1, a portion9 (seeFIG. 5) of themain body2 of theenvelope1 is extended over afolding reference line8 at each end of a sealingslip7. The sealingslip7 is to be valley-folded along thefolding reference line8 to seal theenvelope1. In this way, it is possible to prevent the ink leaked out from theink cartridge101 put into theenvelope1 from leaking to the outside due to the capillary phenomenon.
• Next, with reference toFIGS. 8 and 9, one example of such anink cartridge101 is explained, which is suitable for recovering by using theenvelope1.
• Theink cartridge101 shown inFIG. 8 comprises anink bag102 to be filled with ink, and ahousing103 to contain theink bag102. Thehousing103 comprises afirst housing part111, asecond housing part112 and athird housing part113. Thefirst housing part111 and thesecond housing part112 form a protection cover having a thin box figure to protect the sides of theink bag102.
• Theink bag102 comprises a rectangular-shapedflexible bag body121 made of aluminum laminated films, and aplastic holding member122 fixed or sealed to one longer side of thebag body121. Theplastic holding member122 is provided with anink outlet123 for supplying ink within thebag body121 to an image printing device. Theink outlet123 is sealed by a self-sealable member, made of such as butyl rubber resilient material.
• In this way, since theink cartridge101 is formed by the box-like housing103 and theink bag102 is contained in and protected by thehousing103, it is easy to put theink cartridge101 in theenvelope1.
• Further, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but various variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
• The present application is based on Japanese Priority Application No. JPA 2003-381624 filed on Nov. 11, 2003, with the Japanese Patent Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Claims (3)

1. An envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge, comprising:

an inner layer made of material capable of absorbing recording liquid; and

an outer layer made of water resistant material.

2. An envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge, comprising:

an inner layer made of material capable of absorbing recording liquid;

a middle layer made of water resistant material; and

an outer layer made of writable material.

3. An envelope for recovering a used recording liquid cartridge, comprising:

a main body of the envelope; and

a foldable sealing portion capable of sealing an opening of the envelope by folding at a reference line;

wherein a portion of the main body is extended over the reference lines at both sides of the sealing potion.

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