JP2000289219A - Ink absorber, ink tank using the ink absorber - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an ink absorber made of a fiber material having excellent ink supply performance and improved detachability of an ink tank from a head. SOLUTION: An ink absorber 24 is housed in a negative pressure generating member housing chamber 22A and holds ink. The ink absorber 24 has an outer surface equivalent to or corresponding to the inner surface shape of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A. It is configured by cutting the position 103a with respect to the ink supply port 28 and the opposing surface 103b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink absorber used in an ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by discharging ink, and an ink tank using the ink absorber.
Specifically, it relates to the field of ink jet recording in which a fiber material is applied to an ink absorber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink tank used for ink-jet recording is used to adjust the pressure of ink stored in the ink tank from the viewpoint of improving ink supply to an ink-jet recording head. Generally, a configuration is provided. This pressure is called negative pressure because the pressure at the discharge port is made negative with respect to the atmospheric pressure.

[0003] One of the easiest methods for generating a negative pressure is to provide an ink absorber in an ink tank,
A method utilizing the capillary force of this absorber is exemplified. In particular, a foam such as a urethane sponge is used as an ink absorber from the viewpoint that a porous structure having a single porosity excellent in ink holding ability is easily formed.

[0004]

However, a foam such as a urethane sponge has a state in which each foam cell is individually isolated via a membrane in an as-produced state.
In order to use it as an ink absorber, a film removal treatment is required. In addition, depending on the ink used, eluates may be generated depending on the chemical stability of the foam itself, and the ink used may be limited.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an ink absorber made of a fiber material has recently been used. In particular, by providing an ink absorber made of a fiber material whose surface is formed by heat and having an outer surface equivalent to or corresponding to the shape of the inner surface of the housing, it has become possible to cope with an ink tank having a more complicated shape.

[0006] Even in the case of an ink absorber made of a fibrous material whose surface is thermoformed as described above, when the ink absorber is loaded in the ink tank, the inner wall on the ink tank side and the side surface of the ink absorber are formed. If an air layer is formed at the interface of the closely contacted portions, the air communication port and the ink flow path may be communicated by the air, and there is a problem that ink supply failure occurs.

Further, in an ink tank that is detachable from the ink jet recording head, it is necessary to consider the detaching force of the ink jet recording head, and the elastic force of the ink absorber affects the detaching force of the head. In particular, in the case of an ink tank having a plurality of ink supply ports, the detachable force of the head is usually increased, and as a result, not only the operability is deteriorated, but also the device is sometimes damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an ink absorber for holding ink to be supplied to an ink jet head is made of a fiber material. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink absorber having improved detachability of an ink tank.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention comprises a supply port for accommodating ink therein, a supply port for leading the ink to the outside, and an atmosphere communication section communicating with the atmosphere. In the ink absorber, which is housed inside the housing of the ink tank and has at least a surface formed of a fibrous material formed by heat, a surface corresponding to the supply port on the inner surface of the ink tank is a cut surface.

In the ink absorber, the surface of the inner surface of the ink tank that contacts the rib is an uncut thermoformed surface, or the surface of the ink tank corresponding to the air communication portion is not cut. It is preferably a surface.

Further, the present invention can store ink inside,
An ink absorber that is housed inside a housing of an ink tank having a supply port for leading the ink to the outside and an air communication portion that communicates with the atmosphere, and at least a surface of which is made of a fibrous material formed by heat, A surface corresponding to a maximum area surface of the inner surface of the ink tank is a cut surface.

The ink tank accommodating the ink absorber communicates with a negative pressure generating member accommodating chamber accommodating the ink absorber therein through a communication passage with the negative pressure generating member accommodating chamber. A liquid storage chamber for storing ink to be supplied to the negative pressure generating member storage chamber which is substantially sealed except for a communication portion,
A partition member having the communication path and partitioning the negative pressure generating member storage chamber and the liquid storage chamber.

In this case, it is preferable that a surface of the ink absorber corresponding to the partition member is a cut surface.

Further, according to the present invention, ink can be stored inside,
An ink absorber that is housed inside a housing of an ink tank having a supply port for leading the ink to the outside and an air communication portion that communicates with the atmosphere, and at least a surface of which is made of a fibrous material formed by heat, The two opposing surfaces of the ink absorber are cut surfaces.

In this ink absorber, the cut surface is preferably parallel to the fiber direction.

The present invention also provides an ink tank containing the above-described various ink absorbers therein.

(Function) According to the present invention, by using an ink absorber having a cut surface, the hardness of the fiber absorber becomes softer than that of the thermoformed surface, and the deformability and elasticity of the ink absorber itself are improved. Therefore, the adhesion to the inner wall of the ink tank is improved. Therefore, it is possible to prevent ink shortage and ink leakage due to the air path. Further, the displacement of the ink absorber can be prevented. In addition, in the ink tank that is detachable from the ink jet recording head, the contact force with the ink jet recording head can be reduced.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing an ink cartridge provided with an ink tank according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state when the ink absorber in the embodiment is cut.

The ink cartridge 1 includes an ink jet head 21 for discharging ink, and an ink tank 20 detachable from the ink jet head 21. The ink jet head 21 is connected to the ink tank 20 via an ink supply pipe 23, and ink is supplied to the ink jet head 21 through the ink supply pipe 23. In the ink tank 20, a negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A is formed inside a concave container forming a housing together with the lid member 25,
It is partitioned by a partition 26 into a substantially sealed liquid storage chamber 22B for storing liquid ink. The negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22 </ b> A and the liquid storage chamber 22 </ b> B communicate with each other via a communication path 27 formed in the partition 26. The negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A communicates with the atmosphere via an air communication port (not shown) at the upper part, and has an ink supply port 28 at the lower part.

An ink absorber 24 is housed in the negative pressure generating member housing chamber 22A and holds ink. The ink absorber 24 has an outer surface which is equivalent to or corresponds to the inner surface shape of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A. Sometimes, it is configured to be cut at a position where it contacts the inner wall surface of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A.

The ink absorber 24 of the block-shaped ink absorber 101 whose surface is thermoformed to a size larger than the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A is used as the ink absorber 24.
The position 103a and the opposite surface 103b with respect to the 0 ink supply port 28 are formed by a cut surface, and the cut surface has a softer fiber absorber than the thermoformed surface.
As a result, the force with which the ink supply pipe 23 of the ink jet head 21 contacts the ink absorber 24 during mounting is reduced. Further, the adhesion between the ink supply surface of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A and the ink absorber 24 is improved, and the air path (ink exhaustion due to bubbles) is prevented.

The position 104a of the ink absorber 101 with respect to the partition wall 26 between the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A and the liquid storage chamber 22B and the surface 104b facing the partition wall 26 are formed by cut surfaces, so that the liquid storage chamber 22B is formed. Ink is prevented from leaking.

Further, a surface 102 of the ink absorber 101 corresponding to the maximum area surface of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A.
By forming a and 103b with cut surfaces, deformability and elasticity are imparted to the ink absorber 24, and adhesion to the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22A is improved. If the cut surface is parallel to the fiber direction, the elasticity is further increased, which is more preferable. Therefore, the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 2
Since there is no gap between the inner wall surface of 2A and the ink absorber 24, it is possible to prevent the ink from running out and the ink absorber 24 from shifting.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing an ink cartridge provided with an ink tank according to the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a state when an ink absorber is cut off according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The ink cartridge 2 includes an ink jet head 31 for discharging yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) inks, respectively, and an ink tank 30 detachable from the ink jet head 31. The ink jet head 31 is connected to the ink tank 30 via ink supply pipes 33a, 33b, 33c, and each ink is supplied to the ink jet head 31 through the corresponding ink supply pipe. In the ink tank 30, the interior of the concave container 32 that forms the housing together with the lid member 37 is partitioned into three chambers by two partition members 32a and 32b, and the ink absorbers 34, 35, and 36 are housed therein, respectively. And the Y, M, and C inks are held. Each chamber is provided with an atmosphere communication portion (not shown), and the inside of the housing communicates with the atmosphere. Also, a part of the room shape is provided with a rib (not shown) from the viewpoint of ink leakage.

The ink absorbers 34, 35, and 3 housed in a region (hereinafter, referred to as a negative pressure generating member housing chamber) surrounded by the housing of the ink tank 30 and the partition member.
6 hold ink. As in the first embodiment, these ink absorbers 34, 35, and 36 have outer surfaces that are equal to or correspond to the inner surface shape of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber. As shown in FIG. 4, the molded product is cut at a position where the molded product comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber during storage.

The ink supply ports 38a, 38b and 3 of the ink tank 30 of the block-shaped ink absorber 110 whose surface is thermoformed to a size larger than the negative pressure generating member storage chamber.
By forming the positions 111a, 111b and 112a, 112b orthogonal to the forming surface of 8c on the cut surface, the ink absorbers 34, 35, and 36 are given deformability and elasticity. This reduces the force with which the ink supply pipes 33a, 33b, and 33c of the ink jet head 31 abut on the ink absorbers 34, 35, and 36 at the time of mounting, so that the mounting force of the head 31 can be reduced.

Further, the surface in contact with the inner rib of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber is preferably a thermoformed surface (not cut) so that the inner rib can be prevented from being buried.

Further, the thermoformed surface (uncut) of the ink absorber at the position corresponding to the lid member provided with the atmosphere communication portion and the position corresponding to the ink supply port is more capillary than the cut surface. Power is high and ink retention is improved. Therefore, ink leakage can be prevented.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the deformability and elasticity can be improved by cutting a part or the whole of the portion of the ink absorber whose surface is formed by heat in contact with the inner wall surface of the ink tank. As a result, the adhesion to the inner wall surface of the ink tank becomes higher, so that the ink can be prevented from running out and the ink leaking due to bubbles. Therefore, it is possible to provide an ink tank with high ink supply performance and high reliability. In addition, since the contact force with the ink jet recording head is reduced, an unreasonable load is not applied when the ink tank is mounted on the head, so that there is an effect that there is no possibility of damaging the recording apparatus main body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating an ink cartridge provided with an ink tank according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state when the ink absorber is cut according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating an ink cartridge provided with an ink tank according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state when an ink absorber is cut according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 Ink cartridge 20, 30 Ink tank 21, 31 Ink jet head 22A Negative pressure generating member storage chamber 22B Liquid storage chamber 23, 33a, 33b, 33c Ink supply pipe 24, 34, 35, 36 Ink absorber 25, 37 Lid Member 26 Partition wall 27 Communication path 28, 38a, 38b, 38c Ink supply port 32 Recessed container 32a, 32b Partition member 101, 110 Block-shaped ink absorber whose surface is thermoformed

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shuzo Iwanaga 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Eiichiro Shimizu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hajime Yamamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Jun Ninan 3-30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. Reference) 2C056 EA26 KC12 KC13 KC16 KC22

Claims (9)

[Claims] An ink tank is provided inside a housing of an ink tank having a supply port through which ink can be stored, and a supply port for leading the ink to the outside, and an air communication portion communicating with the atmosphere. An ink absorber made of a formed fiber material, wherein a surface corresponding to the supply port on the inner surface of the ink tank is a cut surface. 2. The ink absorber according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the inner surface of the ink tank that contacts the rib is an uncut thermoformed surface. 3. The ink absorber according to claim 1, wherein a surface corresponding to the air communication portion of the ink tank is an uncut thermoformed surface. 4. An ink tank, which is capable of containing ink therein and is provided inside a housing of an ink tank having a supply port for leading the ink to the outside and an atmosphere communicating portion communicating with the atmosphere, and at least the surface is heated by heat. An ink absorber made of a molded fiber material, wherein a surface corresponding to a maximum area surface of the inner surface of the ink tank is a cut surface. 5. The ink tank communicates with a negative pressure generating member storage chamber, in which the ink absorber is stored, through a communication passage with the negative pressure generating member storage chamber, except for the communication part. A liquid storage chamber that is substantially sealed and stores ink to be supplied to the negative pressure generating member storage chamber, and a partition member that has the communication path and partitions the negative pressure generating member storage chamber and the liquid storage chamber. The ink absorber according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The ink absorber according to claim 5, wherein a surface corresponding to the partition member is a cut surface. 7. An ink tank, which is capable of containing ink therein and has a supply port for leading out the ink to the outside and an atmosphere communication portion communicating with the atmosphere, is housed inside a housing of the ink tank, and at least the surface is heated by heat. An ink absorber comprising a molded fiber material, wherein two opposing surfaces of the ink absorber are cut surfaces. 8. The ink absorber according to claim 7, wherein the cut surface is parallel to a fiber direction. 9. An ink tank containing the ink absorber according to claim 1 therein.