JP4813760B2 - ink cartridge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink cartridge, and more particularly to an ink cartridge that can be attached to and detached from a recording apparatus that supplies ink to a recording head via a hollow ink extraction tube.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink cartridge having an ink chamber configured to be detachable from a recording apparatus that supplies ink to a recording head via a hollow ink supply needle having a pointed tip and that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head has been provided. Are known.

  In this type of ink cartridge, for example, a rubber plug is press-fitted into an ink supply port communicating with an ink chamber and the outside, and an ink supply needle is inserted into the rubber plug to extract ink in the ink chamber. is there.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-113723 (Patent Document 1) forms a cylindrical packing that forms an insertion path for an ink supply needle and fits with the ink supply needle, and is disposed closer to the ink chamber than the cylindrical packing. A valve body that elastically contacts a cylindrical packing to seal an ink flow path is disclosed in an ink supply port.

According to this ink cartridge, when the ink cartridge is installed in the recording apparatus, the ink supply needle contacts the valve body through the insertion path of the cylindrical packing, and the valve body is moved to the ink chamber side to move the ink chamber. An ink flow path is formed between the ink supply needles. At this time, since the cylindrical packing abuts on the outer surface of the ink supply needle, the ink in the ink chamber can be prevented from leaking from the insertion path of the cylindrical packing. On the other hand, when the ink cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus, the valve body is seated on the cylindrical packing, and the insertion path formed in the cylindrical packing is closed by the valve body. Therefore, the ink in the ink chamber can be prevented from leaking outside from the insertion path.
JP 2001-113723 A (FIG. 4 etc.)

  However, in any of the ink cartridges described above, the ink supply needle must have a sharp tip, and the ink extraction needle is sufficient for the arrangement of the ink supply needle so as not to damage the user. It was necessary to pay attention to this, which was a limiting factor in the design.

  In any of the ink cartridges described above, when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, the ink supply needle is inserted into the space filled with ink, so that the ink adheres to the outer surface of the ink supply needle, and the recording apparatus When the ink cartridge is detached from the ink cartridge, the ink adhering to the outer surface of the ink supply needle drips into the recording apparatus and the inside of the recording apparatus becomes dirty.

  Further, in any of the ink cartridges described above, when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, a rubber stopper or a cylindrical packing is brought into close contact with the outer surface of the ink supply needle so that the ink in the ink chamber does not leak to the outside. Therefore, there is a problem that the elastic force of the rubber plug or the cylindrical packing becomes resistance, and the ink cartridge cannot be smoothly attached to and detached from the recording apparatus.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is not necessary to make the tip of the ink supply needle sharp, and it is possible to smoothly perform the attaching / detaching operation without contaminating the inside of the recording apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge that can be used.

In order to achieve this object, the ink cartridge according to claim 1 is detachably attachable to a recording apparatus for supplying ink to a recording head through a hollow ink extraction tube having an end surface provided with a seal member at the end surface. In the ink cartridge comprising a main body case that forms an ink chamber for storing ink to be supplied to the recording head, a partition wall facing the ink extraction tube of the main body case , the partition wall, An entrance path formed by the outer peripheral wall of the main body case and into which the ink extraction pipe is inserted; a communication hole formed in the partition wall of the main body case and communicating the ink chamber and the entrance path; The communication hole is slidably fitted to the first position and the second position in the central axis direction of the communication hole, and the inside extends in the central axis direction. An inflow port that includes a flow path, communicates the ink flow path with the ink chamber when slid to the first position, and is blocked when slid to the second position; and A valve body having an outlet of the ink flow path on an end surface opposed to the end surface opening; and a biasing member that biases the valve body in a direction of closing the communication hole in a central axis direction of the communication hole. before Kigai peripheral wall, it said erected from the portion located on the outer edge of the partition wall in a direction apart from the ink chamber in the center line direction of the communication hole, to a tip from a proximal end which is connected portion between the partition wall The height of the outer peripheral wall in the direction of the center line of the communication hole is the center from the partition wall to the outlet when the valve body slides to the second position and closes the communication hole. It formed larger than the maximum height of the valve body in the line direction, before The valve body has a lid portion that closes the communication hole from the ink chamber side, a shaft portion that is connected to the lid portion and has a smaller diameter than the lid portion, and has a larger diameter than the shaft portion on the end surface of the shaft portion. A flange portion that is formed and disposed in the entry path and in which the outflow port is formed, and the biasing member includes the shaft portion disposed between the partition wall and the flange portion. The seal member is configured by a coil spring, the ink flow path is formed in the shaft portion, the inflow port is opened in a side surface of the shaft portion, and the flange portion and the end surface of the ink extraction pipe are provided. In the entry path, the ink flow path of the valve body and the ink extraction pipe can be communicated with each other. Before the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, the valve body The inlet of the ink flow path is the There in the second position which is closed by the partition wall, the said inlet when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus is set to a position in the ink chamber, the entryway the ink extraction tube and the end-face opening The valve body is slid to the first position where it communicates with the outlet of the ink flow path and communicates the inlet with the ink chamber.

According to the ink cartridge of claim 1, wherein, when mounting the Lee ink cartridge to the recording apparatus, the flange portion and the end surface of the ink extraction tube is butted, the inflow port formed on the side surface of the shaft portion of the ink chamber The valve body slides to the position included in Therefore, the ink in the ink chamber flows out to the ink extraction tube through the ink channel of the shaft portion. On the other hand, when the ink cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus, the valve body slides on the opposite side to the ink chamber until the inflow port of the shaft portion is removed from the ink chamber. Therefore, the ink in the ink chamber is blocked from flowing into the ink flow path of the shaft portion. Further, the communication hole is closed by the lid, and the ink in the ink chamber is blocked from flowing out of the communication hole.

The ink cartridge of claim 2, in the ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the biasing member biases the front Symbol flange portion to the ink extraction pipe side.

Ink cartridge according to claim 3, wherein, in the ink cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, surrounds the communicating hole in the lid and the opposing surfaces of the partition wall facing the surface or the partition wall of the lid portion And a first seal member that is elastically deformed when the lid comes into contact with the partition wall.

The ink cartridge according to claim 4 projects from the surface of the partition wall or the lid portion facing the first seal member toward the first seal member in the ink cartridge according to claim 3, and surrounds the communication hole. An annular protrusion is provided.

An ink cartridge according to a fifth aspect of the invention is the ink cartridge according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, further comprising a second seal member that constitutes the inner surface of the communication hole so as to surround the outer surface of the shaft portion.

The ink cartridge according to claim 6 is the ink cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the seal member surrounds the outflow port on a surface of the flange portion facing the ink extraction pipe. It is the 3rd seal member provided .

  According to the ink cartridge of claim 1, when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, the ink extraction tube is in contact with the flange portion of the valve body having the outlet of the ink flow channel at the end surface of the ink extraction tube. Therefore, it is not necessary to make the tip of the ink extraction tube sharp, and the tip of the ink extraction tube can be made flat. Therefore, the user can be prevented from being damaged by the ink extraction tube, and the degree of freedom in design can be improved with respect to the arrangement of the ink extraction tube.

  In addition, unlike the conventional case, there is no need to attach a rubber stopper or a cylindrical packing to the outer surface of the ink extraction tube so that the ink in the ink chamber does not leak into the entrance path, so that the ink cartridge can be smoothly applied to the recording apparatus. There is an effect that can be attached and detached.

Further, since the ink extraction tube itself is not inserted into a space (ink chamber) filled with ink, ink does not adhere to the outer surface of the ink extraction tube, and when the ink cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus, the ink extraction tube It is possible to prevent ink adhering to the outer surface from dripping into the recording apparatus and causing the inside of the recording apparatus to become dirty.
Since the urging member that urges the valve body in the direction in which the lid portion closes the communication hole is further provided, the lid portion can be pressed against the partition wall when the ink cartridge is detached from the recording device. Can be more reliably prevented from leaking from the communication hole. Further, when the ink cartridge is mounted, the flange portion of the valve body can be pressed against the end face of the ink extraction tube, and ink can be prevented from leaking from the joint portion between the two.
Further, when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, the valve body can be slid from the second position to the second position where the inlet communicates with the ink chamber against the biasing force. When mounted in the recording apparatus, the valve body can be smoothly slid toward the ink chamber.
When the ink cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus, the communication hole is blocked by the lid portion, so that the ink in the ink chamber can be prevented from leaking from the communication hole.
Further, the urging member is constituted by a coil spring that encloses the shaft portion between the flange portion and the partition wall, and the entire circumference of the flange portion can be urged substantially uniformly toward the ink extraction pipe. There is an effect that it is possible to improve the adhesion between the portion and the ink extraction tube and to prevent the ink from leaking from the joint portion between the flange portion and the ink extraction tube.

  According to the ink cartridge of claim 2, in addition to the effect produced by the ink cartridge of claim 1, the urging member urges the flange portion connected to the end of the shaft portion toward the ink extraction tube. Therefore, the entire valve body can be urged stably, and there is an effect that ink can be prevented from leaking out from the joint portion between the flange portion and the ink extraction tube.

According to the ink cartridge of the third aspect, in addition to the effect produced by the ink cartridge according to the first or second aspect, the communication hole is formed in the surface facing the partition wall of the lid portion or the surface facing the lid portion of the partition wall. Since the first seal member that is fixed so as to surround and elastically deforms when the lid comes into contact with the partition wall is provided, the lid and the partition wall can be brought into close contact with each other by the first seal member. Therefore, when the ink cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus, the ink in the ink chamber can be prevented from leaking from between the lid and the partition wall through the communication hole.

According to the ink cartridge of the fourth aspect , in addition to the effect produced by the ink cartridge of the third aspect, the partition wall or the lid facing the first seal member protrudes from the surface of the cover toward the first seal member, and the communication Since the annular protrusion surrounding the hole is provided, there is an effect that the adhesion between the lid and the partition wall can be further improved in the portion of the first seal member that contacts the protrusion.

According to the ink cartridge of the fifth aspect , in addition to the effect produced by the ink cartridge according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the second seal member that configures the inner surface of the communication hole so as to surround the outer surface of the shaft portion. Even if the second seal member is in close contact with the outer surface of the shaft portion and the communication hole is not blocked by the lid portion (the state where the ink cartridge is detached from the recording apparatus), the ink chamber The ink can be prevented from leaking into the entrance path from between the shaft portion and the inner surface of the communication hole.
According to the ink cartridge of the sixth aspect, the same effect as the effect of the ink cartridge according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is obtained.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ink cartridge 1 and an ink jet recording apparatus 2 in which the ink cartridge 1 is mounted according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The ink cartridge 1 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from an ink jet recording apparatus 2 including a recording head 7 that ejects ink, and stores ink to be supplied to the recording head 7.

  The ink cartridge 1 includes a hollow box-shaped main body case 1a having an open upper surface and a lid 1b for sealing the open upper surface of the main body case 1a. The ink supplied to the recording head 7 is formed inside the main body case 1a. Are stored in the ink chamber 16 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The ink jet recording apparatus 2 is provided with a plurality of ink cartridges filled with four color inks of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

  The ink jet recording apparatus 2 includes a mounting unit 3 that detachably mounts the ink cartridge 1, a tank 5 that stores ink supplied from the ink cartridge 1 via the ink supply tube 4, and ink stored in the tank 5. A recording head 7 that ejects the ink toward the recording paper 6, a carriage 8 on which the tank 5 and the recording head 7 are mounted and reciprocated in a linear direction, a carriage shaft 9 that serves as a guide for the carriage 8 to reciprocate, and a recording A transport mechanism 10 for transporting the paper 6 and a purge device 11 are provided.

  The mounting portion 3 includes a base portion 3a and guide portions 3b standing from both sides of the base portion 3a. From the base portion 3a sandwiched between the guide portions 3b, ink stored in the ink cartridge 1 is received. A hollow ink extraction pipe 12 for extraction and an outside air introduction pipe 13 for introducing outside air into the ink cartridge are projected.

  An ink supply tube 4 is connected to one end side of the ink extraction tube 12, and the ink extraction tube 12 communicates with the tank 5 via the ink supply tube 4. An outside air introduction tube 15 is connected to one end side of the outside air introduction tube 13, and the outside air introduction tube 13 communicates with outside air via the outside air introduction tube 15.

  Further, the end surface opposite to the one end side to which the tubes 14 and 15 of both the tubes 12 and 13 are connected, that is, the upper end surface is formed on a flat surface orthogonal to the central axis, and the internal flow is formed on the surface. The road is open. As shown in FIG. 2, an annular third seal member 34 surrounding the opening is fixed to the end face.

  The ink cartridge 1 is attached to the attachment portion 3 from the vertical direction (arrow X direction). At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink extraction pipe 12 and the outside air introduction pipe 13 come into contact with the valve bodies 22 and 23 provided inside the ink cartridge 1, and the valve bodies 22 and 23 are in contact with the ink. The ink is pushed up toward the chamber 16 and communicates with the inside of the ink chamber 16.

  The recording head 7 is provided with a plurality of nozzle holes on the surface facing the recording paper 6, and by driving an actuator made of a piezoelectric element, ink stored in the tank 5 from the nozzle holes is directed toward the recording paper 6. Be injected. In the actual recording operation, recording is performed on the recording paper 6 while the carriage 8 on which the recording head 7 is mounted moves back and forth.

  Further, the recording head 7 is disposed above the mounting portion 3, and the ink in the nozzle hole has a negative pressure (back pressure) due to a water head difference between the ink cartridge 1 mounted in the mounting portion 3 and the nozzle hole. ) Is given.

  The purge device 11 is disposed outside the recording range and faces the recording head 7, and includes a purge cap 11a that covers the nozzle hole forming surface of the recording head 7, and a waste ink tube 11b that communicates with the purge cap 11a. And a pump 11c for sucking ink from the nozzle holes via the waste ink tube 11b.

  When executing the purge process, the carriage 8 is moved to the purge process execution position, and the nozzle hole forming surface of the recording head 7 is covered with the purge cap 11a. In this state, the pump 11c is driven to suck the defective ink containing bubbles and the like accumulated inside the recording head 7. The sucked defective ink is stored in a waste ink tank (not shown) through the waste ink tube 11b. The recording operation and the purge process are controlled under a CPU (not shown) that is a central processing unit mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus 2.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the configuration of the joint portion (portion A in FIG. 1) of the ink cartridge 1 to the ink jet recording apparatus 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the joint portion showing a state before being mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus 2. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the joint portion showing a state where the ink jet recording apparatus 2 is mounted.

  The main body case 1a of the ink cartridge 1 has a partition wall 19 that vertically divides the inside of the cylindrical outer peripheral wall, and is integrally formed with the cylindrical outer peripheral wall. On the side, there are two approach paths 17 and 18 opened downward. When the ink cartridge 1 is attached to the attachment portion 3, the ink extraction pipe 12 is inserted into one of the entrance paths 17, and the outside air introduction pipe 13 is inserted into the other entrance path 18.

  The partition wall 19 corresponding to the ceiling portion of one entry path 17 is formed with an ink extraction side communication passage 20 that connects the ink chamber 16 and the entry path 17, and the partition wall 19 corresponding to the ceiling portion of the other entry path 18. In addition, an outside air communication side communication path 21 that connects the ink chamber 16 and the entrance path 18 is formed, and an ink extraction valve that is slidably fitted in each communication path 20, 21 in the direction of the central axis thereof. A body 22 and a valve body 23 for introducing outside air are provided.

  The ink extraction valve element 22 allows the ink chamber 16 and the ink extraction tube 12 to communicate with each other when the ink cartridge 1 is attached to the ink jet recording apparatus 2, and when detached, the ink chamber 16 and the ink extraction tube 12 are connected to each other. This is to block the communication.

  The ink extraction valve element 22 includes a rod-shaped shaft portion 24 inserted into the ink extraction-side communication passage 20, a disk-shaped lid portion 25 continuously provided at an end portion of the shaft portion 24 on the ink chamber 16 side, And a disk-shaped flange portion 26 provided continuously with the other end of the shaft portion 24.

  The shaft portion 24 has an ink flow path 27 extending in the center axis direction inside the shaft portion 24, and an inlet port 28 that opens the upper end of the ink flow channel 27 to the side surface of the shaft portion 24. Each is connected to an outlet 29 that opens to the opposite lower end surface.

  The lid 25 is for closing the ink extraction side communication path 20 from the ink chamber 16 side when the ink cartridge 1 is detached from the ink jet recording apparatus 2, and is larger than the opening diameter of the ink extraction side communication path 20. It is formed in the diameter.

  Further, a first seal member 30 made of an elastic material is fixed to a surface of the lid portion 25 facing the partition wall 19, and the first seal is formed so as to surround the ink extraction side communication path 20 from the partition wall 19. An annular protrusion 31 protrudes toward the member 30.

  The flange portion 26 is for supporting a coil spring 32 that urges the ink extracting valve element 22 to the side opposite to the ink chamber 16, and is formed to protrude from the shaft portion 24 so as to surround the shaft portion 24. Yes. The coil spring 32 is disposed between the partition wall 19 and the flange portion 26 while including the shaft portion 24.

  When the ink cartridge 1 is attached to the ink jet recording apparatus 2, the outside air introduction valve element 23 allows the ink chamber 16 and the outside air introduction pipe 13 to communicate with each other. This is to block the communication. Since the outside air introduction valve element 23 is configured in the same manner as the ink extraction valve element 22, the description thereof is omitted.

  In addition to the above, the second seal member 33 is fixed to the joint portion so as to surround the shaft portion 24 in the ink extraction side communication path 20.

  Further, a cylindrical body 35 is provided upright from the partition wall 19 so as to surround the outside air introduction communication path 21 and extend to the upper space of the ink chamber 16. As will be described later, when ink is supplied from the ink chamber 16 to the ink extraction tube 12, outside air corresponding to the amount is guided to the upper side of the ink chamber 16 through the outside air introduction tube 13.

  Next, the operation of the ink extraction valve element 22 configured as described above will be described. Since the outside air introduction valve element 23 operates in the same manner as the ink extraction valve element 22, the description of the outside air introduction valve element 23 is omitted.

  When the ink cartridge 1 is attached to the attachment portion 3, as shown in FIG. 3, the ink extraction tube 12 comes into contact with the flange portion 26, and the inlet 28 is located in the ink chamber 16 against the urging force of the coil spring 32. The ink extraction valve element 22 is pushed up to the ink chamber 16 side up to the position included in FIG.

  At this time, the inflow port 28 of the shaft portion 24 opens into the ink chamber 16, the lower end of the ink flow path 27 coincides with the upper end opening of the ink extraction pipe 12, and the ink chamber 16, the ink flow path 27, and the ink extraction pipe. 12 is communicated, and ink is supplied to the recording head. In this state, the second seal member 33 seals between the ink extraction communication path 20 and the shaft portion 24, and the third seal member 34 seals between the shaft portion 24 and the ink extraction tube 12. As a result, the ink is prevented from leaking from these places to the outside (entrance path).

  Further, the flange portion 26 is biased substantially uniformly by the coil spring 32 to the ink extraction tube 12, and the third seal member 34 is deformed by the biasing force, and the flange portion 26 and the ink extraction tube 12 are in close contact with each other.

  On the other hand, when the ink cartridge 1 is pulled up from the mounting portion 3, the ink extraction tube 12 and the flange portion 26 are pulled apart. Then, the ink extraction valve element 22 slides on the side opposite to the ink chamber 16 by the urging force of the coil spring 32, and the inlet 28 located in the ink chamber 16 moves into the ink extraction side communication path 20. At the same time, the first seal member 30 fixed to the lid portion 25 contacts the partition wall 19, and the first seal member 30 is pressed against the partition wall 19 by the biasing force of the coil spring 32.

  Thereby, the communication between the ink chamber 16 and the ink flow path 27 is blocked, and the ink in the ink chamber 16 can be prevented from leaking from the inlet 28 to the outside (entrance path) through the ink flow path 27. it can. Further, the communication between the ink chamber 16 and the ink extraction side communication path 20 is blocked by the lid portion 25, so that the ink in the ink chamber 16 can be prevented from leaking outside through the ink extraction side communication path 20. Further, in this case, the portion of the first seal member 30 that contacts the protrusion 31 protruding from the partition wall 19 is pressed with a higher pressure than the other portions, and thus the adhesion between the protrusion 31 and the first seal member. As a result, the communication between the ink chamber 16 and the ink extraction communication path 20 can be more reliably blocked.

  When the ink cartridge is installed, the upper end of the outside air introduction tube 13 is connected to the upper end of the ink extraction tube 12 so that the outside air introduction tube 13 communicates with the ink chamber 16 before the ink extraction tube 12 communicates with the ink chamber 16. The lower end of the valve body 23 on the outside air introduction pipe 13 side is set slightly lower than the lower end of the valve body 22 on the ink extraction pipe 12 side.

  As described above, according to the ink cartridge of the present invention, when the ink cartridge 1 is mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus 1, the end surface of the ink extraction valve element 22 on which the outlet 29 is formed, the ink extraction The ink formed inside the ink extraction valve body 22 is brought into contact with the opening end surface of the tube 12 and sliding the ink extraction valve body 22 until the inflow port 28 is located in the ink chamber 16. Since the ink chamber 16 and the ink extraction tube 12 are communicated with each other via the flow path 27, the ink chamber 16 and the ink extraction tube 12 can be communicated even if the tip of the ink extraction tube 12 is flat. .

  Further, since the ink extraction tube 12 is not inserted into a space filled with ink, the ink does not adhere to the outer surface of the ink extraction tube 12, and the ink jet recording apparatus uses the ink attached to the outer surface of the ink extraction tube 12. It is possible to prevent the inside of 2 from becoming dirty.

  Further, as in the prior art, in the ink cartridge attachment / detachment operation, the ink extraction tube 12 is inserted into an elastic body such as a rubber stopper, or the ink extraction pipe is removed from an elastic body such as a rubber stopper that is in close contact with the outer surface of the ink extraction pipe 12 Since there is no need to pull out 12, the ink cartridge 1 can be smoothly attached and detached.

  The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be easily guessed.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the case where the first seal member 30 is fixed to the lid portion 25 and the protrusions that contact the first seal member are protruded from the partition wall 19 has been described. You may comprise so that the protrusion which adheres to a wall and contact | abuts the 1st seal member may protrude from the cover part 25. FIG. Even in this case, the same effect as described above can be obtained. Similarly, the third seal member 34 may be fixed to the flange portion 26 with respect to the third seal member 34.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording apparatus in which the ink cartridge is mounted. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a joint portion showing a state before being mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a joint portion showing a state where it is mounted on an ink jet recording apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink cartridge 1a Main body case 2 Inkjet recording device (recording device)
7 Recording Head 12 Ink Extraction Pipe 17 Entry Path 19 Partition Wall 20 Ink Extraction Side Communication Path (Communication Hole)
22 Valve body for ink extraction (valve body)
24 Shaft portion 25 Lid portion 26 Flange portion 27 Ink flow path 28 Inlet 29 Outlet 30 First seal member 31 Projection 32 Coil spring (biasing member)
33 Second seal member 34 Third seal member

Claims (6)

A seal member is provided on the end surface, and is configured to be detachable from a recording apparatus that supplies ink to the recording head via a hollow ink extraction tube having an opening on the end surface, for storing ink supplied to the recording head In an ink cartridge having a main body case forming an ink chamber,
A partition wall facing the ink extraction tube of the main body case ;
An entry path formed by the partition wall and the outer peripheral wall of the main body case and into which the ink extraction pipe is inserted;
A communication hole that is formed in the partition wall of the main body case and communicates the ink chamber and the entry path;
The communication hole is slidably fitted to a first position and a second position in the central axis direction of the communication hole, and an ink flow path extending in the central axis direction is provided therein, and the first The ink flow path communicates with the ink chamber when slid to the position, the inlet closed when slid to the second position, and the end face facing the end face opening of the ink extraction tube, A valve body having an outlet of the ink flow path;
An urging member that urges the valve body in a direction to close the communication hole in a central axis direction of the communication hole;
Before Kigai peripheral wall, it said erected from the portion located on the outer edge of the partition wall in a direction apart from the ink chamber in the center line direction of the communication hole, to a tip from a proximal end which is connected portion between the partition wall The height of the outer peripheral wall in the direction of the center line of the communication hole is the center from the partition wall to the outlet when the valve body slides to the second position and closes the communication hole. Formed larger than the maximum height of the valve body in the line direction;
The valve body has a lid portion that closes the communication hole from the ink chamber side, a shaft portion that is continuous with the lid portion and has a smaller diameter than the lid portion, and an end surface of the shaft portion that has a larger diameter than the shaft portion. And a flange portion formed in the approach path and formed with the outflow port,
The biasing member is configured by a coil spring that includes the shaft portion disposed between the partition wall and the flange portion,
The ink flow path is formed in the shaft portion, and the inflow port is opened on a side surface of the shaft portion,
By abutting the flange portion and the seal member provided on the end face of the ink extraction pipe in the entrance path, the ink flow path of the valve body and the ink extraction pipe can be communicated with each other.
Before mounting the ink cartridge in the recording apparatus, the valve body is in the second position where the inlet of the ink flow path is blocked by the partition wall , and the ink cartridge is mounted in the recording apparatus. Then, by positioning the inflow port in the ink chamber, the ink extraction pipe causes the end surface opening to communicate with the outflow port of the ink flow path in the entrance path and to connect the inflow port to the ink chamber. An ink cartridge, wherein the valve body slides to the first position. Said biasing member, the ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the pre-Symbol flange, characterized in that biasing to the ink extraction pipe side. The lid portion is fixed to the surface facing the partition wall or the surface facing the lid portion of the partition wall so as to surround the communication hole, and the lid portion is elastically deformed by contacting the partition wall. the ink cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a first sealing member. Protruding toward the first sealing member from the partition wall or surface of the lid facing the first sealing member, according to claim 3, characterized in that an annular projection surrounding the communication hole ink cartridge. The ink cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a second sealing member constituting the inner surface of the communication hole so as to surround the outer surface of the shaft portion. The sealing member, according to the ink extraction tube and the opposite surfaces of the flange portion, to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the a third seal member provided so as to surround the outlet Ink cartridge.

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