JP2019166842A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink tank capable of visually recognizing an ink color and an ink remaining amount from outside with a simple configuration, and an ink jet recording apparatus provided with the ink tank. SOLUTION: An ink tank fixed to the apparatus main body having a recording head for discharging ink, a storage chamber for storing ink supplied to the recording head, and an injection section for injecting the ink into the storage chamber. The ink tank is an ink jet recording apparatus having an outer wall of a storage chamber and having a visible surface from which ink stored in the storage chamber can be visually recognized from the outside. It has a first area in which an uneven portion capable of holding the stored ink is formed, and a second area in which the uneven portion is not formed. They are provided side by side. [Selection diagram] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to a recording head.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an ink tank (ink cartridge) including an ink storage chamber that stores ink, an air release channel that communicates the ink storage chamber with the outside, and an air chamber that is provided in the middle of the air release channel. ) Is disclosed. The ink tank as described above is formed to be transparent or translucent, and the user can visually check the ink color and the ink remaining amount in the ink containing chamber from the outside.

JP 2007-253328 A

  However, in the ink tank described in Patent Document 1, even if the ink tank is formed to be transparent or translucent, for example, in the case of ink having low light transmittance, the user identifies the ink color from the outside. There is a risk that it will not be possible. Therefore, it is possible to take measures such as sticking a sticker to the outer wall surface of the ink tank and displaying each ink color so that the user can identify the ink color, but this increases the manufacturing cost. There is a risk that.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank in which the ink color and the ink remaining amount can be visually recognized from the outside with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a recording head for discharging ink, a storage chamber for storing ink supplied to the recording head, and an injection for injecting ink into the storage chamber. And an ink tank fixed to the apparatus main body, and the ink tank has a visual recognition surface that constitutes an outer wall of the storage chamber and allows the ink stored in the storage chamber to be viewed from the outside. In the inkjet recording apparatus, a first area in which an uneven portion capable of holding the ink stored in the storage chamber is formed inside the viewing surface, and a second area in which the uneven portion is not formed The first region and the second region are provided side by side in a direction intersecting the direction of gravity.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus including an ink tank that can visually recognize the ink color and the remaining amount of ink from the outside with a simple configuration.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment. 1 is a block diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the ink supply system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the ink tank which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram explaining the visual recognition surface of the ink tank which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram explaining the visual recognition surface of the ink tank which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram explaining the visual recognition surface of the ink tank which concerns on other embodiment.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an ink jet recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The ink jet recording apparatus 11 is detachably mounted on the carriage 12 and stores a recording head 13 that ejects ink, an ink supply path 14 for supplying ink to the recording head 13, and ink supplied to the recording head 13. And an ink tank 15. The inkjet recording apparatus 11 includes a feeding roller (not shown) that feeds a sheet (recording medium), a transport roller 16 that transports the recording medium, and a discharge roller (not shown) that discharges the recording medium. . In addition, the ink jet recording apparatus 11 includes an ink suction mechanism 52 that sucks ink from the ink discharge port 31 of the recording head 13 with a tube and a pump by bringing a cap into contact with the recording head 13 in order to restore the discharge performance of the recording head 13. Have.

  Next, the operation at the time of image recording of the inkjet recording apparatus 11 according to the present embodiment will be described. The recording media loaded on the feeding tray or cassette are separated one by one by the feeding roller and fed to the conveying roller 16. The fed recording medium is abutted against the conveying roller 16 whose front end is stopped or reversed, thereby correcting the skew (skew correction operation). Thereafter, the recording medium is conveyed to a position facing the recording head 13 by the conveying roller 16. The recording head 13 is detachably mounted on the carriage 12, and the carriage 12 is supported so as to be movable in a direction (second direction) intersecting the recording medium conveyance direction (first direction). The recording head 13 ejects ink while moving in the second direction together with the carriage 12 to the recording medium conveyed to a position facing the recording head 13 to form an image for one band on the recording medium. The recording medium on which an image for one band is formed is intermittently conveyed by a predetermined conveyance amount in order to form an image for the next one band. By alternately repeating the image forming operation and the intermittent conveyance operation, an image is formed on the entire recording medium. The recording medium on which the image is formed is discharged to a discharge tray by a discharge roller.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 201 denotes an MPU that controls the operation of each unit, data processing, and the like. A ROM 202 stores programs and data executed by the MPU 201. Reference numeral 203 denotes a RAM that temporarily stores processing data executed by the MPU 201 and data received from the host computer 214. The recording head 13 is controlled by the recording head driver 207. The carriage 12 is driven by a carriage motor 204. The carriage motor 204 is controlled by a carriage motor driver 208. The feed roller, the transport roller 16 and the discharge roller are driven by the transport motor 205. The carry motor 205 is controlled by the carry motor driver 209. The host computer 214 has a printer driver 2141 for processing recording information such as a recorded image and image quality and communicating with an ink jet recording apparatus when a user instructs execution of a recording operation. The MPU 201 exchanges recorded images and the like with the host computer 214 via the I / F unit 213.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an ink supply system of the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the ink jet recording apparatus 11, the ink tank 15 is provided on the front surface of the apparatus main body. The ink tank 15 is provided for each corresponding ink color. In this embodiment, there are provided four ink tanks: a black ink tank 151, a cyan ink tank 152, a magenta ink tank 153, and a yellow ink tank 154. The black ink tank 151 is disposed on the left side of the front surface of the apparatus main body. The cyan ink tank 152, the magenta ink tank 153, and the yellow ink tank 154 are arranged on the right side of the front surface of the apparatus main body. Each ink tank 15 is provided with a tube (first tube) constituting an ink supply path 14 for supplying ink to the recording head 13. Further, each ink tank 15 is provided with a tube (second tube) constituting an atmosphere communication path for communicating the inside with the atmosphere. The tube is made of a flexible material such as an elastomer.

  An ink injection port (injection unit) 21 for injecting ink is provided in the upper part of the ink tank 15. A tank cap 22 for sealing the ink injection port 21 is attached to the ink injection port 21. The user can inject ink into the ink tank 15 from the ink injection port 21 by removing the tank cap 22. Further, the ink tank 15 is provided with a viewing surface 30 formed to be transparent or translucent for the user to visually recognize the ink from the outside of the apparatus main body. From the viewing surface 30, the user can visually recognize the ink color and the remaining amount of ink in each ink tank 15 from the outside in a state where the ink tank 15 is provided in the apparatus main body.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an ink tank according to the present embodiment. The configuration of the ink tank 15 according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 23 denotes an ink storage chamber. The ink storage chamber 23 is a space for storing ink supplied to the recording head 13 therein. The ink in the ink storage chamber 23 is replenished by injecting ink from the ink injection port 21. Reference numeral 24 denotes an ink supply unit. A tube (first tube) for communicating with the recording head 13 is connected to the ink supply unit 24. The ink stored in the ink storage chamber 23 is supplied from the ink supply unit 24 to the recording head 13 through the tube. Reference numeral 25 denotes an air communication part. A tube (second tube) communicating with the atmosphere is connected to the atmosphere communication unit 25. The atmosphere communication unit 25 allows the ink storage chamber 23 to communicate with the atmosphere via the air chamber 28, and external air can be taken into the ink storage chamber 23 as the ink in the ink storage chamber 23 is consumed. Reference numeral 30 denotes a viewing surface. The viewing surface 30 is provided with a first area (ink holding area) 26 and a second area (ink non-holding area) 27. The first region 26 can hold a small amount of ink on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 when the ink is stored in the ink storage chamber 23 and then the ink is consumed by a recording operation or the like and the ink level drops. Is provided. The second region 27 is provided so that the surface is smooth and highly transparent, so that even if the ink in the ink storage chamber 23 is consumed and the ink liquid level falls, the ink hardly remains on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30. . That is, the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 is provided so that the amount of ink that can be held per unit area in the first region 26 is larger than that in the second region 27. If ink having low light transmittance (cyan, magenta, black, etc.) is stored in the ink tank 15, it becomes difficult for the user to identify the ink color in the ink tank 15. Further, when the ink tank 15 is installed in the ink jet recording apparatus 11, the light transmittance to the inside of the ink tank 15 is lowered, and the user becomes more difficult to identify the ink color in each ink tank. If the ink tanks of the respective colors are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other, there is a possibility that the respective ink colors having reduced light transmittance may be identified as similar colors. As a result, the user may accidentally replenish ink tanks with different ink colors when the ink remaining amount is low. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the first region 26 and the second region 27 are provided on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 so that the ink color in each ink tank can be visually identified in the first region 26 and the second region In 27, the ink remaining amount in each ink tank can be recognized.

  Next, the first area 26 and the second area 27 of the ink tank 15 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the viewing surface of the ink tank according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5A is a front view when the ink tank 15 is viewed from the viewing surface 30 side. FIG. 5B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the first region 26 in the AA cross section, which is a cross section in the direction of gravity, in the ink tank 15 of FIG. FIG. 5C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the periphery of the first region 26 in the BB cross section, which is a cross section in the ink liquid surface direction, in the ink tank 15 of FIG. 5A.

  The first region 26 shown in FIG. 5A is formed on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 of the ink tank 15. The first region 26 is provided on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 along a direction (gravity direction) in which the liquid level descends as the ink is consumed. The outer wall of the viewing surface 30 has a first index mark 40 indicating that the ink of the first ink amount is stored in the ink tank 15 and a second ink amount smaller than the first ink amount. A second index mark 41 indicating that ink is stored is provided. The first index mark 40 is provided above the first area 26, and the second index mark 41 is provided below the first area 26. The first index mark 40 and the second index mark 41 are arranged at positions overlapping the first region 26 in the direction perpendicular to the viewing surface 30. As a result, the light transmission at the position where these two indicator marks are provided is reduced, and the user can easily recognize the two indicator marks visually.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the first region 26 is subjected to embossing to form fine uneven portions 44 on the surface. The first region 26 can hold the ink by the surface tension in the concavo-convex portion 44 on the surface by the embossing process. As described above, the first region 26 is configured to be able to hold a small amount of ink by applying a texture to the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 of the ink tank 15. In the present embodiment, the height of the concavo-convex portion 44 (texture height) in the texturing is about 20 μm. The embossed height may be appropriately changed depending on the type of ink such as pigment or dye. That is, the surface roughness of the first region 26 on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 due to the embossing process may be varied according to the type of ink stored in the ink tank 15.

  On the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 of the ink tank 15, as shown in FIG. 5C, a step is formed between the first region 26 where the embossing is performed and the second region 27 where the embossing is not performed. And the first region and the second region are formed on different planes. Thus, by forming the first region 26 and the second region 27 on different planes, the boundary between the first region 26 and the second region 27 can be clearly identified.

  Next, the effect | action and the effect which the 1st area | region 26 and the 2nd area | region 27 which were provided in the visual recognition surface 30 of the ink tank 15 which concern on this embodiment provide are demonstrated. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a viewing surface in a state where ink is stored in the ink tank according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6A is a front view of the ink tank 15 according to this embodiment when viewed from the viewing surface 30 side in a state where the first ink amount of ink is stored in the ink storage chamber 23. is there. FIG. 6B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the first region 26 in the cross section CC, which is a cross section in the direction of gravity, in the ink tank 15 of FIG. 6C is a front view when the ink tank 15 is viewed from the viewing surface 30 side in a state where the ink in the ink storage chamber 23 is consumed and the liquid level of the ink is lowered from the state of FIG. FIG. FIG. 6D is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the first region 26 in the DD cross section that is the cross section in the gravity direction in the ink tank 15 of FIG. 6C.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, in a state where the ink is stored up to the position of the first index mark 40 in the ink storage chamber 23, as shown in FIG. The light transmittance into the ink tank 15 is lowered by the stored ink. On the other hand, when the ink is consumed from the state of FIG. 6A and the liquid level of the ink is lowered to the position of the liquid level 45 as shown in FIG. 6C, the liquid level is lowered. In 46, the concavo-convex portion 44 of the first region 26 holds ink. In this region 46, as shown in FIG. 6D, since the amount of ink inside is small, the light transmittance into the ink tank 15 is high. Therefore, the user can easily identify the ink color of the ink stored in the ink tank 15 by observing a small amount of ink held on the inner wall of the viewing surface 30 in the region 46 where the light transmittance is increased. can do. Further, by visually observing the liquid level 45 from the second region 27, it is possible to recognize the remaining amount of ink stored in the ink tank 15.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to realize an ink tank in which the ink color and the remaining amount of ink can be visually recognized from the outside with a simple configuration.

(Other embodiments)
In addition to the above-described embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the embossed portion 44 may be formed so that the embossed portion 44 has a textured height that increases from the bottom to the top along the direction of gravity. That is, in the first region 26, the surface roughness due to the embossing process at the upper position may be made larger than the surface roughness due to the embossing process at the position below the position. By doing so, the first region 26 can hold a larger amount of ink in the upper portion than in the lower portion. As a result, even if the ink held in the first region 26 drops in the direction of gravity after a lapse of time, a large amount of ink is held in the upper portion, so that it is held in the first region 26. The amount of ink to be kept can be kept uniform to some extent.

  The embossed height may be appropriately changed depending on the density of the ink color stored in the ink tank 15. For example, the wrinkle height may be lowered for dark ink such as cyan, magenta, and black, and the wrinkle height may be increased for light ink such as yellow. That is, the surface roughness of the first region 26 due to the embossing process may be varied according to the ink color stored in the ink tank 15. In this way, by adjusting the light transmittance into the ink tank according to the ink color stored in the ink tank 15, it is possible to appropriately improve the discrimination of the ink color corresponding to each ink color.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention has been described using an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink tank, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to an ink cartridge (ink tank) that can be attached to and detached from the carriage included in the ink jet recording apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Inkjet recording device 12 Carriage 13 Recording head 15 Ink tank 21 Ink inlet 23 Ink storage chamber 26 1st area | region 27 2nd area | region 30 Viewing surface 44 Uneven part

Claims (16)

A recording head for ejecting ink;
A storage chamber for storing ink to be supplied to the recording head, and an injection tank for injecting ink into the storage chamber, and an ink tank fixed to the apparatus body,
The ink tank is an ink jet recording apparatus that has a viewing surface that constitutes an outer wall of the storage chamber and allows the ink stored in the storage chamber to be viewed from the outside.
On the inner side of the viewing surface, there is a first region in which a concavo-convex portion capable of holding the ink stored in the storage chamber is formed, and a second region in which the concavo-convex portion is not formed, 1. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first area and the second area are provided side by side in a direction intersecting with the direction of gravity.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second area is provided on the left and right of the first area in the width direction of the ink tank.   3. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amount of ink that can be held per unit area in the first region is larger than the amount of ink that can be held per unit area in the second region.   The said visual recognition surface has a 1st parameter | index mark and a 2nd parameter | index mark provided in the downward direction in the direction of gravity from the said 1st parameter | index mark, The any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. An ink jet recording apparatus according to 1.   The ink tank includes a first ink tank for containing a first color ink, and a second ink tank for containing a second color ink different from the first color, 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first ink tank and the second ink tank are arranged at positions adjacent to each other. 6. Conveying means for conveying a recording medium to a position facing the recording head;
A discharge unit for discharging the recording medium recorded by the recording head,
The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink tank is provided on a front side of the apparatus main body on which the discharge unit is provided.   The ink tank includes a black ink tank for containing black ink, and a color ink tank for containing color ink, and the black ink tank is disposed in the width direction of the recording medium in the width direction of the recording medium. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the color ink tank is disposed on the other side of the discharge portion in the width direction.   The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink tank has a supply unit for supplying ink stored in the storage chamber to the recording head.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a first tube that connects the supply unit and the recording head and supplies ink from the supply unit to the recording head. A carriage that carries the recording head and reciprocates;
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first area and the second area are provided side by side in a movement direction of the carriage.   The ink tank includes an air chamber that is provided below the storage chamber and stores air, and an atmosphere communication unit that allows the storage chamber to communicate with the atmosphere via the air chamber. Item 11. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 10.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a second tube connected to the atmosphere communication unit and configured to communicate the storage chamber with the atmosphere.   The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cap for sealing the injection portion.   2. A step is disposed between the first region and the second region, and the first region and the second region are provided on different planes on the inner wall of the viewing surface. 14. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 13.   The height of the concavo-convex part at the first position in the first region is higher than the height of the concavo-convex part at a second position below the first position in the direction of gravity. The ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of 1 to 14. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the height of the concavo-convex portion varies depending on an ink color or an ink type of ink stored in the storage chamber.

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