JP3416520B2 - Liquid supply system, inkjet cartridge, head cartridge, and liquid supply container - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid supply system that uses a negative pressure to supply a liquid to the outside, and more specifically, a liquid for supplying a liquid to a recording head to print and record on a recording medium. The present invention relates to a liquid supply system, an inkjet cartridge, a head cartridge, and a liquid supply container in an ejection recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a liquid supply method that uses a negative pressure to supply a liquid to the outside, for example, in the field of ink jet recording apparatuses, an ink tank for applying a negative pressure to an ink ejection head has been proposed and recorded. A structure (inkjet cartridge) that can be integrated with a head has been implemented. When the inkjet cartridge is further classified, the recording head and the ink tank (ink storage portion) are always integrated, the recording means and the ink storage portion are separate bodies, and both can be separated from the recording device. It can be divided into a structure to be used integrally.

As one of the easiest methods for generating a negative pressure in such a liquid supply system, there is a method of utilizing the capillary force of a porous body. The ink tank in this method is accommodated in the entire ink tank for the purpose of storing ink, preferably a porous body such as a sponge compressed and accommodated, and air is taken into the ink accommodating portion to facilitate ink supply during printing. It has a structure including a possible atmosphere communication port.

However, a problem in using the porous member as the ink holding member is that the ink storage efficiency per unit volume is low. In order to solve this problem, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-226990 that a negative pressure generating member has an ink containing chamber that is substantially sealed with respect to the capillary force generating member containing chamber except for a communicating portion. An invention has been proposed in which the ink storage chamber is replaceable with respect to the ink tank used with the storage chamber open to the atmosphere.

This ink tank can improve the ink storage efficiency and the ink holding capacity per unit volume as compared with the structure in which the porous body is inserted into the entire ink tank. Further, the ink tank disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-226990 is technically excellent in terms of exchangeability.

[0006]

The above ink tank is
Perform gas-liquid exchange when using ink in the ink storage chamber,
That is, since the outside air is introduced into the space of the ink storage unit to supply the ink from the ink storage chamber to the negative pressure generating member, air and ink exist in the ink storage chamber.

By the way, generally, the environment in which the printer is used is often set at a constant temperature, although it varies greatly depending on the region.

In reality, however, there are regions where the temperature changes drastically and regions where the temperature difference is large during the day. Therefore, when the outside air expands in the ink storage chamber, the ink in the ink storage chamber is stored in the negative pressure generating member. It is led to the room side. Therefore, in the related art, there is a case where the internal volume of the ink containing chamber cannot be increased as a result in consideration of the ink movement amount with respect to the expansion rate.

The present inventors have already filed an application for a liquid storage container based on a novel operating principle for solving the above problems, and the present invention was conceived based on the more preferable idea of the present inventors. Is.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid supply system, an ink jet cartridge and a head cartridge which can perform liquid supply operation more reliably and stably when the negative pressure generating member storage chamber and the liquid storage chamber can be separated. Etc. are to be provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide related inventions such as an ink jet cartridge to which the above liquid supply system can be applied.

[0012]

The concrete means of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned objects can be understood from the following constitutions.

The liquid supply system of the present invention is a liquid supply container having a liquid storage portion capable of generating a negative pressure by storing and deforming a liquid in a closed space, and is attachable to and detachable from the liquid supply container. Yes, a capillary force generating member capable of holding a liquid,
A capillary force generating member storage container including an atmosphere communicating portion that communicates with the atmosphere, and a liquid supply portion for supplying a liquid to the outside,
In the liquid supply system, the communication unit for communicating the liquid supply container and the capillary force generating member storage container, the gas preferential introduction for preferentially introducing gas into the liquid supply container And a liquid lead-out path for leading the liquid out of the liquid supply container.

According to the liquid supply system of the present invention, in the communication part that connects the liquid supply container and the capillary force generating member storage container, the liquid discharge path for discharging the liquid from the liquid supply container and the gas are given priority. Since the gas preferential introduction path for introducing the gas into the liquid supply container is provided, the gas is easily introduced into the liquid storage portion through the gas preferential introduction path during gas-liquid exchange. As a result, the liquid can be stably led out from the liquid storage portion to the capillary force generating member storage container.

[0015]

The present invention is also applicable to an ink jet cartridge and a head cartridge in the ink jet recording field.

The ink jet cartridge of the present invention is
Capillary force generating member capable of holding liquid inside, comprising a recording head unit for ejecting liquid to the outside, a liquid supply unit for supplying liquid to the recording head unit, and an atmosphere communicating unit for communicating with the atmosphere A capillary force generating member storage chamber and a liquid storage portion capable of generating a negative pressure by storing and deforming a liquid in a closed space, and the liquid supply detachable from the capillary force generating member storage chamber. An ink jet cartridge including a container, wherein a gas preferential introduction path for preferentially introducing a gas into the liquid supply container, and a liquid discharge path for discharging a liquid from the liquid supply container, It is characterized in that it is provided in a communication portion between the supply container and the capillary force generating member storage chamber.

The head cartridge according to the present invention is a head cartridge in which a liquid supply container having a liquid storage portion capable of generating a negative pressure by storing and deforming a liquid in a closed space is detachably mounted. And a liquid supply unit for supplying liquid to the recording head unit, and an atmosphere communication unit for communicating with the atmosphere, and a capillary force generating member capable of holding the liquid is housed inside. And a capillary force generating member storage chamber, the capillary force generating member storage chamber is provided integrally with the recording head portion, and at the communicating portion of the capillary force generating member storage chamber with the liquid supply container, It is characterized by comprising a gas preferential introduction path for preferentially introducing gas into the liquid supply container and a liquid discharge path for discharging liquid from the liquid supply container.

Further, the present invention provides a liquid supply container applicable to the liquid supply system. The liquid supply container of the present invention is a capillary force generating member storage container that stores therein a capillary force generating member that holds a liquid, the liquid supply container including a liquid supply unit for supplying the liquid to the outside and an atmosphere communicating unit that communicates with the atmosphere. A liquid supply container that is detachably replaceable with respect to the liquid supply container and that stores a liquid to be supplied to the capillary force generating member storage container, and is substantially the same as the liquid supply container except for a communicating portion with the capillary force generating member storage container. For forming a closed space and having a liquid storage portion that is deformed and negative pressure can be generated when the liquid stored inside is drawn out, the communication portion has a liquid for leading out to the capillary force generating member storage container. It is characterized in that a liquid lead-out path and a gas preferential introduction path for preferentially introducing the gas from the capillary force generating member storage container are formed.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As the liquid used in the liquid supply system of the present invention, ink has been described as an example in each of the following embodiments, but the applicable liquid is not limited to ink, and may be, for example, an inkjet recording field. In this case, it goes without saying that the treatment liquid for the recording medium is included.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an inkjet cartridge to which the liquid supply system of the embodiment of
FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a liquid supply system, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view when a recording head is connected to the liquid supply system of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet cartridge of this embodiment has an ink tank 50 and an ink tank 5 as a liquid supply container for containing ink therein.
A recording head 60 that discharges the ink supplied from the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 to a liquid supply system configured by the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 for temporarily holding the ink supplied from Is connected.

The ink tank 50 is detachably installed in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10. The ink storage portion 53 for storing ink therein and the liquid in the ink storage portion 53 generate a capillary force which will be described later. An ink supply unit 52 for leading to the member storage chamber 10 is provided. The ink tank 50 includes an outer wall 51 that forms a chamber (housing) and an outer wall 51.
The inner wall 54 has an inner surface that is the same as or similar to the inner surface of the.

The ink supply section 52 is located at the lower end of the ink tank 50 and opens at the side end surface of the ink tank 50. The ink tank 50 is stored in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 1
Before being connected to 0, the ink supply unit 52 is sealed by a seal member 57, and the ink storage unit 53 is in a sealed state with respect to the atmosphere.

The inner wall 54 has flexibility, and the ink containing portion 53 can be deformed as the ink contained therein is drawn out. The inner wall 54 is a welded portion (pinch-off portion).
The inner wall 54 is supported by the welded portion 56 so as to engage with the outer wall 51. Further, the outer wall 51 is provided with an atmosphere communication port 55 so that the atmosphere can be introduced between the inner wall 54 and the outer wall 51.

On the other hand, the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 supplies an ink (including a liquid such as a treatment liquid) 12 to the outside of the recording head 60 or the like for recording by discharging the liquid from the discharge port 61. And a communication tube 71 that is in contact with the capillary force generating member 13 and that introduces the liquid from the ink tank 50. Inside the housing 11, a capillary force generating member 13 made of a porous member such as polyurethane foam or a fibrous member made of polyethylene, polypropylene or the like is stored. The ink is held by utilizing the ink absorption phenomenon due to the capillary force of the force generating member 13. The communication tube 71 is provided at the lower end of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 so as to project laterally, and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 and the ink tank 50 are connected in the lateral direction.

The capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is further provided with an atmosphere introducing groove 17 and an atmosphere communicating port 15. The air introduction groove 17 is for promoting gas-liquid exchange, which will be described later. The lower end communicates with the inside of the communication pipe 71 inside the side wall surface near the communication pipe 71, and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is formed. Is formed vertically toward the upper end side of the. The atmosphere communication port 15 is for communicating the capillary force generating member 13 with the outside air, and is formed at the upper end of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10. A buffer portion 16 formed by a rib protruding from the inner surface of the housing 11 is provided in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port 15.
Is provided. In the present embodiment, the communication pipe 71
Is in contact with the capillary force generating member 13, and its end is also continuous with the air introduction groove 17, so that the liquid supply operation described later can be smoothly realized.

Further, an ink derivative 75 is inserted inside the communication tube 71. The ink derivative 75 is for guiding ink well from the ink tank 50 to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10. For example, a felt-like ink or a felt-like ink can be used to guide the ink by utilizing the capillary force. A bundle of fibrous bodies along the axial direction of the communication pipe 71 is used. In addition, the size of the cross section of the ink guide 75 is smaller than the size of the cross section of the communication tube 71, and a gap is formed between the upper surface of the ink guide 75 and the inner surface of the communication tube 71. This gap is connected to the air introduction groove 17 and constitutes an air introduction passage 72 through which gas preferentially passes during gas-liquid exchange described later.

In each of the following sectional views including FIG. 1, the region where the capillary force generating member 13 holds the ink is shown by the shaded portion. Further, the ink stored in the space such as the ink storage portion 53, the air introduction groove 17, the gas-liquid exchange passage, and the like is indicated by a meshed portion.

The ink tank 50 of this embodiment is composed of six flat surfaces having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a cylindrical ink supply portion 52 is added as a curved surface. The maximum area surface of this rectangular parallelepiped shape is It is displayed indirectly on FIG. Further, the thickness of the inner wall 54 is thinner in the portion forming the apex portion (hereinafter, referred to as a corner portion even when the apex portion has a minute curved surface shape) than in the central region of each surface of the rectangular parallelepiped, Gradually decreases from the central region toward the corners, and has a convex shape inside the ink containing portion. In other words, this direction is the same as the deformation direction of the surface, and has an effect of promoting deformation which will be described later.

Further, since the corner portion of the inner wall 54 is composed of three faces, as a result, the strength of the entire corner portion of the inner wall 54 is relatively stronger than the strength of the central region. Also,
Seeing from the extension of the surface, the thickness is smaller than that in the central region, so that the movement of the surface described later is allowed. It is desirable that the portions forming the corners of the inner wall 54 have substantially the same thickness.

Since FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram, the positional relationship between the outer wall 51 and the inner wall 54 of the ink tank 50 is drawn as if a space is formed between them, but it is actually separable. The inner wall 54 and the outer wall 51 may be in contact with each other, or may be configured to be arranged with a minute space therebetween.

Next, the ink liquid supply operation of the liquid supply system will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 2
6 to FIG. 6, the ink tank 50 of the liquid supply system shown in FIG. 1 is attached to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10,
FIG. 2 shows changes when ink is ejected from the recording head 60.
FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view shown in the order of FIG. 6, where (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along the same cross section as in FIG. 1, and (b) is AA of FIG.
The line sectional view is shown. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the amount of ink derived from the ink supply port 12 shown in FIG. 1 and the negative pressure of the ink supply port portion, and the horizontal axis is the ink supply port 12.
The amount of ink discharged from the ink to the outside, and the vertical axis is the negative pressure (static negative pressure) of the ink supply port. In FIG. 7, the negative pressure changes shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 are indicated by arrows.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory views showing the capillary force generating member storage chamber and the ink tank before connection.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the ink tank 5
No. 0 ink supply unit 52 is provided with a seal member 57 for preventing the ink stored in the ink storage unit 53 from being drawn out, and the ink storage unit 53 of the ink tank 50 maintains a sealed state with respect to the atmosphere. ing. In addition, the ink storage unit 5
The inner wall 54 that forms part 3 is formed such that the corners of the inner wall 54 are located at least at the corners of the outer wall 51 along the inner surface shape of the outer wall 51 (this state is referred to as the initial state).

At this time, in the ink containing portion 53, the amount of ink slightly smaller than the amount of ink that can be contained in the ink containing portion 53 is set so that the ink supply portion 52 has a slight negative pressure when the seal member 57 is opened. By storing the ink, it is possible to more reliably prevent the ink from leaking to the outside when the seal member 57 is opened due to changes in external force, temperature change, and atmospheric pressure.

From the viewpoint of such environmental changes, it is desirable that the amount of air stored in the ink storage portion 53 before connection is extremely small. To reduce the amount of air stored in the ink storage portion 53, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 9-2
A liquid injection method as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 00126 may be used.

On the other hand, the capillary force generating member 13 in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 holds ink in a part thereof. In this embodiment, the air introduction groove 17 communicates with the atmosphere via the capillary force generating member 13.

Since the amount of ink stored in the capillary force generating member 13 depends on the amount of ink stored in the capillary force generating member 13 when the ink tank 50, which will be described later, is replaced,
There may be some variation. In addition, the air introduction groove 17
The communication pipe 71 and the communication pipe 71 do not necessarily need to be filled with a liquid, and may contain air as shown in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b),
The ink tank 50 is connected to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10. At this time, until the pressures of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 and the ink tank 50 become equal, the ink moves as shown by the arrow in FIG. (This state is referred to as a use start state).

Therefore, the ink movement for achieving this equilibrium state will be described in detail.

When the communication pipe 71 of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is inserted into the ink supply portion 52 of the ink tank 50, the sealing by the seal member 57 is released. Then, the ink in the ink storage portion 53 flows into the communication tube 71, and an ink path is formed between the ink in the ink storage portion 53 and the capillary force generating member 13 in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10. Further, when air exists in the communication pipe 71 in the state shown in FIG.
(The air is omitted in FIG. 3).

When the ink path is formed, the capillary force of the capillary force generating member 13 starts the movement of the ink from the ink containing portion 53 to the capillary force generating member 13. At this time,
The inner wall 54 begins to deform from the center of the surface having the largest area in the direction in which the volume of the ink containing portion 53 decreases.

Here, since the outer wall 51 functions to suppress the displacement of the corner portion of the inner wall 54, the ink containing portion 53 has a function of deforming due to ink consumption and a function of returning to the initial state (FIG. 2). The force acts to generate a negative pressure according to the degree of deformation without making a sudden change.
Since the space between the inner wall 54 and the outer wall 51 communicates with the outside air through the atmosphere communication port 55, air is introduced between the inner wall 54 and the outer wall 51 according to the above deformation. Further, regarding the introduction of ink into the air introduction groove 17, the air introduction groove 1 is adjusted according to the negative pressure generated in the ink containing portion 53 as in the present embodiment.
When the capillary force of 7 is large, the ink is filled.

The movement of ink is started, and the capillary force generating member 1
As the ink is filled in 3, the ink is also filled above the upper end portion of the air introduction groove 17, and the air introduction groove 17 does not communicate with the atmosphere. Then, the ink tank 50 exchanges the ink and the atmosphere only through the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10, so that the static negative pressure in the gas-liquid exchange passage of the ink tank 50 and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 are changed. Further movement of ink is performed so that the static negative pressure in the communication passage 71 becomes equal.

That is, since the negative pressure on the side of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 at this time is larger than the negative pressure on the side of the ink tank 50, the negative pressures of both sides become equal to each other.
Further, the ink is further moved from the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10, and the amount of ink held by the capillary force generating member 13 in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 increases accordingly. In this way, the movement of the ink from the ink tank 50 to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is performed without introducing gas into the ink tank 50 via the capillary force generating member 13. The static negative pressure of the ink tank 50 and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 at the time of equilibrium depends on the type of the recording head 60 so that the ink does not leak from the recording head 60 connected to the ink supply port 12. Accordingly, the value may be set to an appropriate value (α in FIG. 7).

The lower limit of the amount of ink that can be moved from the ink tank 50 is the amount of ink when the capillary force generating member 13 is filled with ink to the upper limit level (air-liquid interface described later) of the air introduction groove 17, and the upper limit is the capillary. It is the amount of ink when the force generating member 13 is completely filled with ink. Therefore, when the amount of ink to be moved to the capillary force generating member 13 is determined from these upper and lower limit ink amounts in consideration of variations in the amount of ink held in the capillary force generating member 13 before connection, this ink amount Based on the negative pressure value α in the equilibrium state, the material and thickness of the ink containing portion 53 corresponding to the capillary force generating member 13 can be appropriately selected.

Further, since there is a variation in the amount of ink held in the capillary force generating member 13 before the connection, even if the equilibrium state is reached as shown in FIG.
There may be areas where ink is not filled.
This area, together with the buffer section 16, can be used as a buffer area for changes in temperature and pressure described later.

On the contrary, when there is a possibility that the pressure of the ink supply port becomes positive when the equilibrium state is reached due to the influence of the variation amount, the suction recovery means provided in the main body of the liquid ejection recording apparatus sucks. This may be dealt with by performing recovery and letting some ink flow out.

The ink path may be formed in the communication tube 71 at the time of connection by utilizing the impact at the time of connection, and the ink storage section 53 may be pressed together with the outer wall 51 at the time of connection. You may perform by pressurizing. Further, the ink containing portion 53 before connection is kept in a very slight negative pressure state, and this negative pressure is utilized to make the communication pipe 71.
The movement of the gas inside the ink storage portion 53 may be promoted.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the recording head 60
The ink is ejected by and the consumption of the ink is started. At this time, the ink held in both the ink storage portion 53 and the capillary force generating member 13 is balanced while the static negative pressure values generated in both the ink storage portion 53 and the capillary force generating member 13 are balanced. Is consumed. (This is referred to as a first ink supply state.) That is, when ink is consumed from the ink supply port 12, the liquid surface position of the capillary force generating member 13 in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is lowered and the ink is stored. The portion 53 is further deformed, and the central portion of the ink containing portion 53 is maintained in a stable crushing manner.

Here, the welded portion 56 also serves as a deformation restricting portion of the inner wall 54, and the surface adjacent to the surface having the maximum area is relatively welded from the region having the welded portion 56.
The portion that does not have deformation starts to deform first, and the inner wall 54 separates from the outer wall 51. In this embodiment, the opposing surfaces having the largest surface area deform at substantially the same time, so that more stable deformation is realized.

The ink supply port 1 in the state shown in FIG.
The change in static negative pressure with respect to the amount of discharged ink from No. 2 has a form in which the static negative pressure is gradually increased in proportion to the amount of discharged ink, as shown in the area A of FIG. Even in this first ink supply state, air does not enter the ink storage portion 53 via the communication pipe 71.

When the ink is further discharged from the ink supply port 12, gas is introduced into the ink containing portion 53 as shown in FIG. 5 (hereinafter, gas-liquid exchange state or second ink Referred to as the supply state).

At this time, the liquid surface position of the capillary force generating member 13 is substantially constant (gas-liquid interface) at the upper end portion of the atmosphere introducing groove 17, and the atmosphere communicating port 15 through the atmosphere introducing groove 17 and the communicating pipe 71.
When the air that has passed through the air introduction path 72 of the
The capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 through the ink derivative 75 of
And moves to the capillary force generating member 13.

Therefore, even if the ink is consumed by the recording head 60 as the liquid discharge recording means, the ink is filled in the capillary force generating member 13 according to the consumed amount, and the capillary force generating member 13 holds a constant amount of ink. Further, since the air is introduced into the ink storage portion 53 as well, the negative pressure of the ink tank 50 is kept substantially constant while substantially maintaining the shape at the time of gas-liquid exchange, so that the ink is supplied to the recording head 60. Stabilize.
The change in static negative pressure with respect to the amount of ink discharged from the ink supply port 12 in the state shown in FIG. 5 is a substantially constant value with respect to the amount of ink discharged, as in the region shown in B of FIG.

When the ink is further discharged from the ink supply port 12, as shown in FIG.
The ink of No. 3 is almost completely consumed, and the ink remaining in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is consumed. Figure 6
The change in the negative pressure with respect to the amount of ink discharged from the ink supply port 12 in the state shown in FIG. 7 is such that the negative pressure increases in proportion to the amount of ink discharged, as in the region shown in C of FIG. In such a state, even if the ink tank 50 is removed, there is little risk of ink leakage from the communication pipe 71, so the ink tank 50 may be removed and replaced with a new ink tank.

The liquid supply operation of the ink tank in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is as described above.

That is, when the ink tank 50 is connected to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10, the ink moves until the pressures of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 and the ink tank 50 become equal, and the ink is started to be used. Recording head 6
When the consumption of ink is started by 0, first, the ink storage portion 53 and the capillary force generation are balanced while balancing the values of the static negative pressure generated by both the ink storage portion 53 and the capillary force generation member 13. The ink held on both members 13 is consumed. After that, the gas is introduced into the ink storage portion 53, so that the capillary force generating member 13 undergoes a gas-liquid exchange state in which a substantially negative pressure is maintained with respect to the discharge of the ink while maintaining the gas-liquid interface, and then the capillary force generating member 13 The ink remaining in the storage chamber 10 is consumed.

As described above, in the present invention, the ink containing portion 5 is
3 has a step of using the ink in the ink containing portion 53 without introducing the outside air, the limitation of the inner volume of the ink tank 50 in the ink supplying step (first ink supplying state) is to store the ink during the combination. It is only necessary to consider the air introduced into the portion 53. That is,
Even if the restriction of the internal volume of the ink tank 50 is relaxed, there is an advantage that it is possible to deal with the environmental change.

Further, according to the present invention, the ink tank 50
Not only can the ink inside be completely consumed, but the communication tube 71 may contain air at the time of replacement, and the ink tank 50 can be replaced regardless of the ink holding amount of the capillary force generating member 13. Therefore, it is possible to provide the ink supply system in which the ink tank 50 can be replaced without providing the remaining amount detecting mechanism as in the prior art.

In particular, the ink derivative 75 is provided in the communication pipe 71.
Since the air introduction passage 72 in which the air does not exist is formed, the air that has passed through the air introduction groove 17 preferentially passes through the atmosphere introduction passage 72 in the communication pipe 71 during the gas-liquid exchange described above. The air passage can be secured. As a result, air easily passes through the communication pipe 71 and air is easily introduced into the ink containing portion 53, so that the ink is also led out from the ink containing portion 53 to the capillary force generating member containing chamber 10 accordingly. It can be reliably and stably performed via 75, and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 1
Gas-liquid exchange can be easily performed regardless of the ink holding amount within 0.

As shown in FIG. 7, the negative pressure increases in proportion to the ink derivation amount (region A), maintains a constant value thereafter (region B), and then in proportion to the ink derivation amount. In order to increase the negative pressure (region C), it is necessary to introduce the atmosphere, that is, to shift from region A to region B before the opposing deforming surfaces of the ink storage portion come into contact with each other. desirable. This is because the rate of change in the negative pressure with respect to the amount of ink drawn in the ink storage chamber is different before and after the facing maximum area surfaces are in contact.

Further, according to the configuration of the present invention, even when the ink containing portion contains air such as the second ink supply state, it is possible to cope with the change of environment by a solution different from the conventional method. It is possible.

Therefore, the mechanism of stable liquid holding of the ink tank shown in FIG. 1 when the environmental conditions are changed will be described with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b) are explanatory views for explaining the function of the capillary force generating member as a buffer absorber and the buffer action of the ink containing portion, and the state of FIG. 5 (gas-liquid exchange state). 3 shows changes in the ink storage portion when the air in the ink storage portion expands due to a decrease in atmospheric pressure or an increase in temperature.

That is, when the air in the ink tank 50 expands due to the pressure reduction of the atmospheric pressure (or the temperature rise), the wall surface of the ink containing portion 53 (FIG. 8A,
(In (b)) and the liquid surface (in FIG. 8 (a)) are pressed,
While the internal volume of the ink containing portion 53 increases, a part of the ink flows out from the inside of the ink containing portion 53 to the capillary force generating member containing chamber 10 side through the communication pipe 71. Here, since the inner volume of the ink containing portion 53 increases, the amount of ink flowing out to the capillary force generating member 13 (the rise of the liquid surface of the capillary force generating member 13 shown in FIG. 8A) is stored in the ink. This is much less than when the portion 53 cannot be deformed.

Here, the amount of ink flowing out through the communicating pipe 71 is accompanied by the deformation of the wall surface when the wall surface is pressed when the air in the ink storage portion 53 expands to increase the internal volume of the ink storage portion 53. It is determined by the magnitude of the resistance force and the resistance force for moving the ink to be absorbed by the capillary force generating member 13. In particular, in the case of this configuration, since the flow resistance of the capillary force generating member 13 is larger than the resistance to the restoration of the inner wall 54, the inner volume of the ink containing portion 53 first increases with the expansion of air, and the upper limit of this increase is exceeded. When the volume increase due to the expansion of air is large, the ink flows from the inside of the ink storage portion 53 to the side of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 via the communication pipe 71. Therefore, since the wall surface of the ink storage portion 53 functions as a buffer against environmental changes, the movement of the ink in the capillary force generation member 13 becomes slow, and the negative pressure characteristic at the ink supply port portion becomes stable.

In this embodiment, the ink flowing out into the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 is held by the capillary force generating member 13. In this case, since the amount of ink in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 temporarily increases and the gas-liquid interface moves to the right in the figure, it is slightly positive from the stable period of the ink internal pressure as in the initial use. Internal pressure, but recording head 6
The effect of 0 on the ejection characteristics is small, and there is no problem in actual use. When the atmospheric pressure is restored to the level before depressurization (returns to 1 atm) (or returns to the original temperature), it leaks into the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10 and the capillary force generating member 13 is released.
The ink held in the ink storage portion 53 returns to the ink storage portion 53 again, and the volume of the ink storage portion 53 returns to the original state.

Regarding the relationship between the ink absorption amount of the capillary force generating member and the ink tank in the present invention, from the viewpoint of preventing the leakage of the ink from the atmosphere communication port at the time of the above-mentioned pressure reduction or temperature change, the ink tank The maximum ink absorption amount of the capillary force generating member storage chamber is determined in consideration of the amount of ink outflowing from the ink under the worst condition and the amount of ink held in the capillary force generating member storage chamber when ink is supplied from the ink tank, and at least It suffices to provide the capillary force generating member storage chamber with a volume for storing the capillary force generating member.

8C, assuming that the ink storage portion 53 of FIGS. 8A and 8B does not deform at all due to the expansion of air, the initial space volume of the ink tank 50 before depressurization and 0 The relationship with the ink outflow amount when the pressure is reduced to 0.7 atm is shown by a dashed line.

As is clear from this graph, the ink derivation amount ΔV at this time is P (0 <P <
1), the ratio of the initial air amount of the ink tank 50 is a (0 ≦
When a ≦ 1) and the volume of the ink containing portion 53 before expansion is V _B , it is approximately expressed by the following equation.

(1) When 0 ≦ a <P, the air in the ink tank 50 that expands under reduced pressure becomes larger as the residual ink amount is smaller and a large amount of ink is pushed out. It is proportional to the amount and is represented by ΔV = ((1−P) / P) × a × V _B (Formula 1).

(2) When P ≦ a ≦ 1, it does not flow out beyond the amount of ink in the ink tank 50, so it depends on the amount of ink initially stored, and ΔV = (1-a) × It is represented by V _B (formula 2).

Therefore, the worst condition of the ink outflow from the ink tank 50 is, for example, the maximum outflow of ink from the ink tank 50 when the maximum decompression condition of the atmospheric pressure is 0.7 atm. This is the case where 30% of the volume V _B of the ink tank 50 remains in the ink tank 50, and the ink below the lower end of the ink chamber wall also has a capillary force generating member 13 in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10. If it is absorbed into the ink tank, it may be considered that all the ink (30% of V _B ) remaining in the ink tank 50 leaks.

However, since the ink containing portion 53 is actually deformed by the expansion of air, the ink containing portion 5 before the expansion is expanded.
Since the inner volume of the ink storage portion 53 after expansion increases with respect to the inner volume of 3, the relationship between the initial space volume of the ink tank 50 before depressurization and the ink outflow amount when depressurizing to 0.7 atm is a solid line. become that way.

That is, the rate of expansion at this time is t (t
> 1) and t is a constant, the ink derivation amount ΔV
Is approximately expressed by the following equation.

(3) When 0 ≦ a <P × t, the ink derivation amount ΔV is proportional to the initial air amount, but ΔV = (((1-P) / P) × due to the expansion of the ink containing portion 53. a− (t−1)) × V _B (Equation 3) However, in the above Equation 3, when ΔV <0, ΔV =
It becomes 0. That is, in this state, the ink does not move through the communication tube 71, and only the internal volume of the ink containing portion 53 expands.

(4) When P × t ≦ a ≦ 1, it does not flow out beyond the ink amount in the ink tank 50, and therefore depends on the ink amount initially stored, ΔV = (1-a ) × V _B (Equation 4)

As is clear from this figure, the worst-case estimation of the amount of ink outflowing from the ink tank 50 can be made smaller than in the case where it is assumed that the ink containing portion 53 does not deform at all with respect to the expansion of air. Monkey For example, when the maximum decompression condition of the atmospheric pressure is 0.7 atm and t = 1.2, the maximum outflow amount of ink from the ink tank 50 is 16% of the volume V _B of the ink tank 50. This is the case where the ink remains in the ink tank 50, and the outflow amount is 16% of the volume V _B of the ink storage amount.

Actually, t has a relation with the flow resistance of the ink moving in the communicating tube 71, and therefore it actually becomes a function of a and may not be a constant value, but even in that case. It goes without saying that the amount of ink that flows out is smaller than when the ink storage portion 53 is not deformed. Also,
The upper limit of t can be determined by the size of the inner surface of the outer wall 51 and the internal volume of the ink storage portion 53 before the expansion of the gas in the state shown in FIG.

The above phenomenon is the same when the temperature changes, but the amount of outflow is smaller than that when the pressure is reduced even if the temperature rises by about 50 deg.

As described above, according to the present invention, the outer shape of the ink containing portion is restored until it becomes substantially the same as the shape of the inner surface of the outer wall. Therefore, due to the buffer action of the restoring of the ink containing portion, the ink containing chamber is restored. It is possible to provide an ink supply system capable of coping with environmental changes even if the ink storage amount of is greatly increased. Therefore, the volume ratio between the capillary force generating member storage chamber and the ink storage chamber can be arbitrarily determined by appropriately selecting the materials of the capillary force generating member and the ink storage unit to be used. However, it can be used in practice.

When the buffer effect of the ink tank is emphasized, the amount of deformation of the ink storage portion in the gas-liquid exchange state with respect to the use start state may be increased within the elastically deformable range.

In order to make the above-mentioned buffer effect of the ink containing portion effectively function, the amount of air existing in the ink containing portion is small when the deformation of the ink containing portion is small. It is desirable that the amount of air existing in the ink storage portion before the exchange state is as small as possible.

As described above, using the first embodiment of the present invention,
Having described the main part of the present invention, other embodiments to which the present invention can be applied will be described below. In addition,
It goes without saying that in each of the following embodiments and the above-described embodiment, any combination of elements that can be combined is possible.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the outline of an inkjet cartridge to which the liquid supply system of the embodiment of the present invention is applied, and is a cross-sectional view before the ink tank is attached to the holder with head. Further, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a connection portion related to the ink passage between the ink tank and the holder with head shown in FIG.

The ink jet cartridge of this embodiment has an ink tank 150 for accommodating ink therein, a tank holder 111 for holding the ink tank 150, and a capillary force generating member for temporarily holding the ink supplied from the ink tank 150. A holder 130 with a head in which the recording chamber 160 and the recording head 160 that discharges the ink supplied from the capillary force generating member storing chamber 110 to perform recording are integrated.
Have and.

The ink tank 150 is the holder with head 1.
The outer wall 151 is detachably attached to the outer wall 151.
And the inner wall 154, the ink storage portion 153 for storing ink therein, and the ink supply portion 152 for leading out the liquid of the ink storage portion 153 to the capillary force generating member storage chamber 110 are the first point. It is similar to the embodiment.

However, in the present embodiment, the ink tank 15
0 is attached to the upper part of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 10, and accordingly, the ink supply unit 152 is connected to the ink tank 1
It is opened at the lower end surface of 50. In addition, the ink tank 15
In order to mount 0 on the tank holder 111, the outer wall 151
A latch lever 180 having a latch claw 181 is integrally provided on the wall surface on the side where the ink supply section 152 is located.

On the other hand, the head-equipped holder 130 is, as described above, the tank holder 1 for holding the ink tank 150.
11, a capillary force generating member storage chamber 110 provided at the bottom of the tank holder 111, and a recording head 160 that ejects ink (including a liquid such as a treatment liquid) from an ejection port 161 to perform recording on a recording medium. And has a structure in which these are integrated.

The ink tank 1 is attached to the tank holder 111.
In the state in which 50 is mounted, the engagement hole 108 with which the latch claw 181 of the latch lever 180 engages, and the retaining hole 184 with which the retaining claw 182 provided on the outer wall 151 of the ink tank 150 engages are formed. The ink tank 150 is held by the tank holder 111 by these engaging structures.

The capillary force generating member storage chamber 110 is provided with a communication pipe 171 which is connected to the ink supply portion 152 of the ink tank 150 and communicates with the ink storage portion 153 on the upper wall, and the recording head 160 on the lower wall. An ink supply port 112 for supplying ink is open. The ink supply port 112 is located below the communication pipe 171. In addition,
A filter 170 is provided at the ink supply port 112 to prevent foreign matter from entering the recording head 160.

The capillary force generating member accommodating chamber 110 is further provided with an atmosphere introducing groove 117 for promoting gas-liquid exchange as in the first embodiment, and an atmospheric communication for communicating the capillary force generating member 113 with the outside air. It has a mouth 115. The air introduction groove 117 is horizontally formed inside the upper wall surface near the communication pipe 171 toward the other end side of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 110, and communicates with the inside of the communication pipe 171. The atmosphere communication port 115 is formed in the upper part of the other end wall of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 110.

Here, the structure in the vicinity of the ink supply section 152 of the ink tank 150 and in the vicinity of the communication pipe 171 of the head holder 130 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Inside the communicating pipe 171, the ink derivative 1
75 is inserted. At the inner wall of the communication pipe 171, an air introduction passage 172 communicating with the air introduction groove 117 is provided.
1 is formed from the upper end to the lower end. Further, the communication pipe 171 is formed with a slit 173 formed by removing a part of the pipe wall of the communication pipe 171 along the axial direction. Communication pipe 17
The upper end surface of No. 1 is inclined so that the height of the portion where the air introduction path 172 opens is the lowest.

On the upper wall of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 110,
Bellows 17 as a sealing member surrounding the communication pipe 171
4 is fixed. The bellows 174 is for preventing ink leakage when the communication pipe 171 is inserted into the ink supply portion 152 of the ink tank 150, and the height thereof is higher than the height of the communication pipe 171. The bellows 174 can be made of an elastic body such as rubber. The ink leaked between the communication pipe 171 and the bellows 174 when the communication pipe 171 is inserted into the ink supply unit 152 is stored in the capillary force generating member storage chamber 11 via the slit 173.
It can flow into zero.

On the other hand, the seal member 157 welded to the ink supply portion 152 of the ink tank 150 has an opening groove 187.
And the seal member 157 is opened by pushing the ink supply portion 152 into the communication pipe 171.
7 and the communication pipe 171 is inserted into the ink supply unit 152.

The rest of the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, so its explanation is omitted.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the ink tank 150 is mounted above the capillary force generating member storage chamber 110, in addition to the same effect as the first embodiment, the ink from the ink tank 150 The ink supply direction to the supply port 112 can be a direction that follows gravity,
It is possible to always maintain a stable supply state. Moreover, by providing the air introduction groove 117 connected to the communication pipe 171 in the horizontal direction, gas-liquid exchange can be smoothly performed. Further, since the upper end surface of the communication pipe 171 is formed obliquely as described above, when the connection pipe 171 is inserted into the ink supply portion 152 of the ink tank 150, the ink derivative 175 is first communicated with the ink storage portion 153. Therefore, the ink in the ink storage portion 153 is preferentially given to the ink derivative 1
75, and the ink in the ink storage portion 163 can be efficiently supplied to the capillary force generating member 113.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a liquid supply system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
(A) shows the state before the connection between the capillary force generating member storage chamber and the ink tank, and (b) shows the state after the connection.

In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which the ink guide and the air introduction passage are provided on the side of the capillary force generating member accommodating chamber has been shown, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. The derivative 275 and the air introduction passage 272 are provided on the ink tank 250 side. That is, the ink supply unit 252 of the ink tank 250 has a tubular shape, the ink derivative 275 is inserted in the ink supply unit 252, and the space above the ink derivative 275 in the ink supply unit 252 is the air introduction path. It is 272. A film-shaped seal member 257 is detachably attached to the tip surface of the ink supply unit 252. On the other hand, the connecting pipe 271 of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 210 is configured to receive the ink supply unit 252 of the ink tank 250. The seal member 257
As shown in FIG. 11B, the ink supply unit 252 is connected to the communication pipe 2 with the seal member 257 attached.
When it is inserted into 71, the end portion is sized so as to protrude from the tip of the connecting pipe 271 and be exposed on the outer wall surface of the ink tank 257. Other configurations are similar to those of the first embodiment. It should be noted that the print head shown in FIG. 1B is omitted in FIG.

When connecting the ink tank 250 and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 210, first, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the ink is supplied to the ink tank 250 with the seal member 257 attached. The portion 252 is inserted into the communication tube 271 of the capillary force generating member storage chamber 210. Then
The exposed portion of the seal member 257 is pinched and pulled. As a result, the seal member 257 is peeled off from the ink supply unit 252 and pulled out from the connecting pipe 271. in this way,
The seal member 257 connects the ink supply unit 252 to the communication pipe 27.
Since it is to be pulled out from the communication pipe 271 after being inserted in the first member 1, it is desirable that the seal member 257 is attached only to the front end surface of the ink supply unit 252 in order to facilitate the pulling out of the seal member 257. .

By pulling out the seal member 257 as described above, the ink supply portion 252 is opened and the ink supply portion 252 and the connecting pipe 271 communicate with each other, and the ink tank 2
It is possible to supply the ink in the ink storage portion 253 of the 50 to the capillary force generation member 213 of the capillary force generation member storage chamber 210.

The subsequent supply operation (including gas-liquid exchange) and the action of the ink tank 250 due to environmental changes are the same as in the first embodiment. In this way, the ink derivative 275 and the air introduction passage 272 are connected to the ink tank 25.
Even if it is provided on the 0 side, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, such a liquid outlet passage and a gas preferential inlet passage may be provided not only in one of the ink tank 250 and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 210 but also in both of them. In this embodiment, the ink tank 25
0 and the capillary force generating member storage chamber 210 are described as being connected from the lateral direction as in the first embodiment. However, as in the second embodiment, they are also connected from the vertical direction. This embodiment can be applied.

<Other Embodiments> The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. Hereinafter, other embodiments applicable to the embodiments and modifications of the embodiments will be described. In addition, in the following description, the above-described embodiments are applicable unless otherwise specified.

<Structure of Communication Portion> A supplementary description will be given of the structure of the communication portion in each embodiment.

In any of the present inventions, the ink tank can be attached to and detached from the capillary force generating member storage container, and the communication portion of the present invention may be provided anywhere as long as it has the above-mentioned function. Further, the communication portion may be completely separated from the ink tank and the capillary force generating member storage container.

In the above-mentioned modified example in which the communicating portion is completely separated, the ink tank, the communicating portion, and the capillary force generating member storage container are combined when the ink tank and the capillary force generating member storage container are attached and detached. , Will be uncoupled. Regarding the timing of connecting the communication part to the ink tank and the capillary force generating member storage container, the connection with both may be substantially the same, or whichever may be performed first. More preferably, the coupling with the capillary force generating member storage container is performed first, and then the coupling with the ink tank is performed.

The method of fixing the communicating portion to the ink tank and the capillary force generating member accommodating container in the above-described modified example may be fitting by uneven shape, or may be a fixing member (such as an adhesive material). ).

Further, as another modified example, a liquid outlet passage,
The gas preferential introduction passages may be provided in the ink tank or the capillary force generating member storage container, respectively. In this case, by mounting the ink tank and the capillary force generating member storage container, it is possible to configure the communication section including the liquid outlet passage and the gas preferential inlet passage. Although the liquid derivation path and the gas preferential introduction path may be substantially simultaneous with each other, the liquid derivation path is preferably coupled first.

<Structure of Capillary Force Generating Member Storage Chamber> First, a supplementary description will be given of the structure of the capillary force generating member storage chamber in each of the above-described embodiments.

As the capillary force generating member to be stored in the capillary force generating member storage chamber (capillary force generating member storage container), in addition to a porous member such as polyurethane foam, a fiber-like material or a fiber mass is heated. A molded product or the like can be used.

The communication pipe has been described as a tubular pipe, but any form may be used as long as it does not hinder the gas-liquid exchange in the gas-liquid exchange state.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the space (buffer portion) where the capillary force generating member is not provided is provided in the vicinity of the upper surface portion, but this is eliminated, and instead the capillary force that does not hold the liquid in the normal state is provided. The generating member may be filled. Since the capillary force generating member that does not retain the liquid is present in the buffer space in this manner, it is possible to retain the ink that has moved to the capillary force generating member storage chamber when the environment changes as described above.

<Structure of Ink Tank> Next, a supplementary description will be given of the structure of the ink tank in each of the above-described embodiments.

When the ink tank is attachable to and detachable from the capillary force generating member, the communication portion of the ink tank with the capillary force generating member storage chamber prevents liquid and air from leaking from the communication portion at the time of connection. A seal member is provided as a member for preventing the ink from being drawn out from the ink storage unit before being combined. In each of the embodiments, a film-shaped sealing member is used, but a ball-shaped plug or the like may be used.

The ink tank of each of the above embodiments is formed by the direct blow manufacturing method. That is, the case (outer wall) and the ink storage portion (inner wall) that can be separated from each other are formed by uniformly expanding a cylindrical parison with a substantially polygonal column mold by air blow. Instead of this, for example, a metal spring may be provided in a flexible bag to generate a negative pressure as the ink is discharged.

However, by using blow molding, it is possible not only to easily manufacture an ink containing portion having an outer surface shape that is the same as or similar to the inner surface shape of the housing, but also to use the material of the inner wall forming the ink containing portion, There is an advantage that the negative pressure generated easily can be set by changing the thickness. further,
By using a thermoplastic resin for the material of the inner wall and the outer wall, it is possible to provide an ink tank that is highly recyclable.

Here, the structure of the "outer wall" and the resultant structure of the "outer wall" on the "inner wall" in each of the above-described embodiments will be supplementarily described.

In each of the above-described embodiments, since the ink tank is manufactured by blow molding, the inner wall is formed so that the thickness in the vicinity of the corner is thinner than the thickness in the vicinity of the center of the surface forming the container. . Similarly, the outer wall is also formed so that the thickness in the vicinity of the corners is thinner than that in the area in the vicinity of the center of the surface forming the container. Further, the inner wall is formed by being laminated on the outer wall having a thickness distribution that gradually decreases from the central portion of each surface toward the corners of each surface with respect to the outer wall.

As a result, the inner wall has an outer surface that matches the inner surface of the outer wall. The outer surface of this inner wall is
Since it follows the thickness distribution of the outer wall, it is convex toward the ink containing portion formed by the inner wall. Since the inner surface of the inner wall has the above-described inner wall thickness distribution, it becomes more convex toward the ink containing portion. Since these structures particularly exhibit the above-mentioned function in the maximum area portion, the present invention requires that such a convex shape exists at least in the maximum area portion, and the convex shape also has an inner wall surface of 2 mm or less. And the outer surface of the inner wall may be 1 mm or less. This convex shape may fall within the measurement error range in the small area part,
It is one of the preferable conditions for the present invention because it is one of the factors that bring about the deformation priority in each surface of the substantially polygonal column ink tank.

In addition, the structure of the outer wall will be supplemented. One of the functions of the outer wall is to regulate the deformation of the corner of the inner wall, but the structure that exerts this function is to maintain the shape against the deformation of the inner wall and Any structure having a covering structure (corner surrounding member) may be used. Therefore, the outer wall or the inner wall may be covered with a material such as plastic, metal, or cardboard. The outer wall may be the entire surface, or only the corner portions may have a surface structure, and the surface structure may be joined with a rod of metal or the like. Further, the outer wall may have a mesh structure.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the ink storage portion has a substantially polygonal prism shape, but the present invention is not limited to this shape, and it can be deformed at least as the ink is drawn out. The object of the present invention can be achieved in any form as long as a negative pressure can be generated.

Furthermore, in order to obtain the above-mentioned buffer effect by the ink containing portion, the ink containing portion can be elastically deformed, and the ink containing portion can return to the shape before the deformation by the expansion of the contents contained therein. It is required to deform within the range of elastic deformation. If there is a state in which the rate of change in negative pressure due to deformation due to ink derivation suddenly changes (for example, when the deformed portions come into contact with each other), this sudden change occurs even within the elastic deformation range. It is desirable that the first ink supply state is finished before the change state and the second ink supply state is started.

Further, the material used for the liquid container of the present invention may be any material as long as the inner wall and the outer wall can be separated from each other. Good. Further, as compared with the case where the ink storage chamber is used alone as the negative pressure generation type liquid storage container, it is possible to use a highly elastic inner wall. Considering the influence on the ink contained in the inside, for example, polyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, etc. are preferably applicable.

<Liquid Supply Operation and Ink Supply System>
Next, a supplementary explanation regarding the liquid supply operation and the ink supply system will be given.

Regarding the ink supply operation in the ink supply system of each of the above-described embodiments, from the initial state in which the ink tank and the capillary force generating member storage chamber are not connected, to the use start state when they are connected, the first and The second ink supply state has been passed.

Here, as a first modification of each of the above-described embodiments, even in an ink supply system in which there is no gas-liquid exchange state, that is, the second ink supply state, ink is not introduced into the ink storage section. Since there is a step of using the ink in the storage section, the internal volume of the liquid storage container can be limited only by the air introduced into the ink storage section at the time of coupling. That is, even if the restriction on the inner volume of the ink tank is relaxed, there is an advantage that it is possible to cope with a change in the environment, so that the object of the present invention can be achieved. However, considering the usage efficiency of the ink storage unit, it is easier to consume the ink in the ink storage unit by having the gas-liquid exchange state after the first ink supply state as in the above-described embodiments. can do.

As a second modification, in the state shown in FIG. 2, the liquid level of the capillary force generating member storage chamber before connection may be higher than the gas-liquid interface. At this time, in the movement of the ink to be in the use start state described with reference to FIG. 3, there is no one-way movement of the ink to the capillary force generating member storage chamber due to the capillary force.

As a third modification, the consumption speed when consuming ink from the recording head may be extremely high. At this time, in the first supply state, the negative pressures of the both do not always balance, and the ink in the capillary force generating member storage chamber has priority until the difference between the negative pressures of the both becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value. When the negative pressure difference exceeds a certain level, the ink in the ink storage chamber may move toward the capillary force generating member storage chamber side.

<Liquid Ejection Recording Device> Finally, an ink jet recording device in which an ink jet cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted for recording will be described. FIG. 12 is a schematic view of an inkjet recording device equipped with an inkjet cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 12, the tank holder 4010 and the ink tank 4100 are fixed and supported by a carriage 5010 of the ink jet recording apparatus main body by a positioning means (not shown), and are detachably attached to the carriage 5010. It As shown in the above-described embodiment, the tank holder 4010 is an integrated recording head that ejects ink, and the carriage 5010 mounts the tank holder 4010 with the ejection port of the recording head facing downward.

The forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5130 is transmitted through the drive transmission gears 5110 and 5090 to the lead screw 504.
0 is transmitted to rotate the carriage 501
Reference numeral 0 has a pin (not shown) that engages with the spiral groove 5050 of the lead screw 5040. As a result, the carriage 5010 is reciprocated in the device longitudinal direction.

On the other hand, the recording material P is the paper feed motor 506.
When the transport roller 5000 is rotated by driving 0, the sheet is fed below the carriage 5010. Recording is performed on the recording material P by ejecting ink from the recording head while moving the carriage 5010 at this position.

The cap 5020 for capping the front surface of the recording head is used for performing suction recovery of the recording head through the opening in the cap by suction means (not shown). The cap 5020 can be moved by the driving force transmitted through the gear 5080 or the like to cover the ejection port surface of the recording head. A cleaning blade (not shown) is provided near the cap 5020, and the blade is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the drawing. Needless to say, the blade is not taken in this form, and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured such that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5040 when the carriage moves to the home position.
If the desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of the examples can be applied.

[0139]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The liquid storage portion is configured to be capable of generating a negative pressure by being deformed or elastically deformable, and when the liquid supply container and the capillary force generating member storage container are connected via the communication portion, one of the liquids in the liquid storage portion is connected. By holding the portion on the capillary force generating member and deforming the liquid storage portion, this deformation serves as a buffer, and the influence of the expansion of the air in the liquid storage portion due to the environmental change can be mitigated. Therefore, it is possible to improve the storage efficiency and the usage efficiency of the liquid, and further it is possible to further reduce the size of the container and reduce the running cost. Further, since the liquid discharge path and the gas preferential introduction path are provided in the communication part, a gas path is secured during gas-liquid exchange, and as a result, the liquid is surely discharged into the capillary force generating member storage container. And it can be performed stably. Further, by ensuring the gas passage during the gas-liquid exchange in this way, the gas-liquid exchange can be easily performed regardless of the amount of the liquid held in the capillary force generating member storage container.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an inkjet cartridge to which a liquid supply system according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

2 is a schematic diagram of the ink jet cartridge shown in FIG.
It is explanatory drawing explaining the state before an ink tank and a capillary force generation member storage chamber are couple | bonded, (a) is sectional drawing by the same cross section as FIG. 1, (b) is A of the ink tank of FIG. 1 (b). -A
It is a line sectional view.

3A and 3B are explanatory views for explaining a use start state of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 3A is a sectional view taken along the same section as FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the ink tank A in FIG. FIG.

4A and 4B are explanatory views for explaining a state of the ink jet cartridge shown in FIG. 1 when the ink is drawn out, in which FIG. 4A is a sectional view taken along the same section as FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is an ink tank in FIG. 1B. FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

5A and 5B are explanatory views for explaining a gas-liquid exchange state of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 5A is a sectional view taken along the same section as FIG. 1, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view of the ink tank in FIG. It is the sectional view on the AA line.

6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state before the ink tank of the inkjet cartridge illustrated in FIG. 1 is replaced,
1A is a sectional view taken along the same section as FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the ink tank of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the amount of ink discharged from the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 1 and the negative pressure of the ink supply port.

8A and 8B are explanatory views of a stable liquid holding mechanism of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 1 when environmental conditions are changed, and FIG. 8C illustrates an ink outflow amount at the time of depressurization. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the outline of an inkjet cartridge to which the liquid supply system of the second embodiment of the present invention is applied, and is a cross-sectional view before the ink tank is attached to the head-equipped holder.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a connection portion regarding an ink passage between the ink tank and the holder with a head shown in FIG.
Is a sectional view and (b) is a plan view of the connecting pipe.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a liquid supply system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the liquid supply system of the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 110, 210 Capillary force generating member storage chamber 11 housing 12,112 Ink supply port 13, 113, 213 Capillary force generating member 15,115 Air communication port 16 buffer section 17,117 Atmosphere introduction groove 50,150,250 ink tank 51,151 outer wall 52, 152, 252 ink supply unit 53,153,253 Ink storage section 54,154 inner wall 55 Air communication port 56 Welded part 57,157,257 Seal member 60,160 recording head 61,161 outlet 71,171,27 1 Communication pipe 72,172,272 Atmosphere introduction path 75,175,275 Ink derivative 111 tank holder 130 Holder with head 170 filters 173 slit 174 Bellows 180 latch lever 181 Latch claw

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-7-68776 (JP, A) JP-A-8-34122 (JP, A) JP-A-10-44452 (JP, A) JP-A-8-258277 (JP , A) JP-A-7-148940 (JP, A) JP-A-55-3961 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/175 B65D 83/00 B67D 5/00

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A liquid supply container having a liquid storage part capable of generating a negative pressure by storing and deforming a liquid in a closed space; and a liquid supply container that can be attached to and detached from the liquid supply container to hold the liquid. A liquid supply system comprising: a capillary force generating member, an atmosphere communicating portion communicating with the atmosphere, and a capillary force generating member storage container having a liquid supply portion for supplying liquid to the outside. A communication unit for communicating the container and the capillary force generating member storage container, a gas preferential introduction path for preferentially introducing gas into the liquid supply container, and for leading out the liquid from the liquid supply container The liquid supply system according to claim 1. 2. A liquid supply system according to claim 1 in which the time of the mounting, communicating the liquid outlet path ahead the gas priority introduction path. 3. The communication section has a tubular member, the liquid outlet passage is a capillary force generating member inserted along the axial direction of the tubular member, and the gas preferential inlet passage is the capillary tube. The liquid supply system according to claim 1, wherein the liquid supply system is a gap provided between the force generating member and a part of the inner wall of the tubular member. 4. A recording head section for ejecting a liquid to the outside, and a liquid supply section for supplying the liquid to the recording head section,
A capillary force generating member storage chamber that stores a capillary force generating member that can hold a liquid inside, and an air communicating portion that communicates with the atmosphere, and a negative pressure by storing and deforming the liquid in a sealed space An ink jet cartridge including a liquid storage portion capable of generating and a liquid supply container detachable from the capillary force generating member storage chamber, wherein a gas for preferentially introducing gas into the liquid supply container An ink jet cartridge comprising a preferential introduction path and a liquid lead-out path for leading out a liquid from the liquid supply container in a communication portion between the liquid supply container and the capillary force generating member storage chamber. 5. The ink jet cartridge according to claim 4 , wherein the liquid storage portion is elastically deformable. 6. The communication section has a tubular member, the liquid outlet passage is a capillary force generating member inserted along the axial direction of the tubular member, and the gas preferential introduction passage is the capillary tube. The ink jet cartridge according to claim 4 or 5 , which is a gap provided between the force generating member and a part of the inner wall of the tubular member. 7. A recording head for ejecting a liquid to the outside in a head cartridge in which a liquid supply container having a liquid storage portion capable of generating a negative pressure by storing and deforming a liquid in a closed space is detachably mounted. Section, and a liquid supply section for supplying a liquid to the recording head section,
An atmosphere communicating portion for communicating with the atmosphere, and a capillary force generating member storage chamber for storing a capillary force generating member capable of holding a liquid therein, wherein the capillary force generating member storage chamber is the recording head portion. And a gas preferential introduction path for preferentially introducing gas into the liquid supply container, and a liquid in the communicating portion of the capillary force generating member storage chamber with the liquid supply container. A head cartridge, comprising: a liquid lead-out path for leading out from a liquid supply container. 8. The communication unit has a tubular member that is inserted into the liquid storage unit by mounting the liquid supply container.
However, the protruding height of the tubular member is such that
Head cartridge according to claim 7 that is higher than body priority introduction path. 9. A capillarity force generating member storage container for accommodating a capillarity force generating member for holding a liquid therein, comprising a liquid supply unit for supplying a liquid to the outside and an atmosphere communication unit communicating with the atmosphere. A liquid supply container that is freely replaceable and that stores a liquid to be supplied to the capillary force generating member storage container, and that has a substantially closed space except for a communicating portion with respect to the capillary force generating member storage container. There is a liquid storage portion that is formed and deforms as a liquid stored therein is deformed to generate a negative pressure, and the communication portion has a liquid discharge path for discharging the liquid to the capillary force generating member storage container. , And a gas preferential introduction path for preferentially introducing gas from the capillary force generating member storage container. 10. The liquid supply container according to claim 9 , wherein a seal member that can be opened is provided in the communication portion.