JP2001158111A - Waste ink container and ink jet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To house a larger volume of waste ink per unit volume while preventing leakage of waste ink due to variation of attitude. SOLUTION: A double tube member 46 is placed on the upper plate 36A of a container body 36. The double tube member 46 comprises an inner tube for passing waste ink into the container body 36, and an outer tube for interconnecting the inside and outside of the container body wherein the inner end parts 48A, 50A thereof are located at the center 60 of inner volume of the container body 36. Even if the attitude of the container body 36 is varied while containing waste ink by less than half of the inner volume thereof, waste ink in the container body 36 does not leak because the inner end parts 48A, 50A are located above the liquid level of waste ink. Since waste ink is housed directly in the container body 36, a larger volume of waste ink can be housed per unit volume.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink discharge container and an ink jet recording apparatus, and more particularly to an ink jet recording head for discharging ink droplets onto an image recording medium based on image information. The present invention relates to a discharged ink container for storing discharged discharged ink, and an ink jet recording apparatus having the discharged ink container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus, a plurality of cap members for covering each nozzle portion of an ink jet recording head during non-image formation to prevent drying of ink, and sucking ink from the plurality of cap members. Some pumps are provided. In this ink jet recording apparatus, the ink is prevented from drying by covering each nozzle portion with each cap member, and the ink is thickened by sucking the ink with a pump in a state where the nozzle portion is covered with the cap member. Can be removed from the nozzle portion.

[0003] Also, a so-called dummy jet for discharging ink from each nozzle immediately before the start of image formation is performed.
There is an ink jet printer configured to prevent ink ejection unevenness that occurs at the start of image formation.

[0004] The ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a discharged ink absorber for absorbing discharged ink such as ink sucked by a pump and ink discharged by a dummy jet. Is used to discharge the discharged ink absorber to a predetermined position.

[0005] For example, a porous impregnating member is used as the discharged ink absorber. In such an impregnated member, minute gaps and holes of the discharged ink absorber are impregnated with the discharged ink to absorb the ink. Therefore, it is difficult to increase the amount of absorption per unit volume.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent No. 2878523 discloses an ink jet printer that stores discharged ink in a discharged ink container without using a discharged ink absorber.

[0007] In this ink jet printer, an opening is formed in the waste liquid tank when the printer is detached from the printer main body, and is opened when the printer is mounted. The opening allows the waste ink to be smoothly collected and stored in the waste liquid tank. Further, more waste ink can be stored per unit volume as compared with the case using the waste ink absorber.

However, since the opening of the waste liquid tank is always open when the printer is attached to the printer main body, for example, when the posture of the printer main body changes (tilt or reverse) in the mounting state, the opening from the opening is opened. The discharged ink may leak out.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and has been made in view of the above circumstances. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having the discharged ink container.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the apparatus is used in correspondence with an ink jet recording head that discharges ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information, and performs a recovery operation of the ink jet recording head. What is claimed is: 1. A discharge ink container for storing discharged ink discharged from an ink jet recording head by a recovery device, comprising: a container main body capable of storing discharged ink; and a discharge container provided in the container main body and discharged from the ink jet recording head by the recovery device. An inlet tube for introducing ink into the container body, and a communication tube for communicating the inside and the outside of the container body with each other, and the container body contains a half volume of discharged ink of the container body. When the attitude of the container body changes in an arbitrary direction in this state, the center of the volume through which all the planes formed by the discharged ink liquid surface and relative to the container body pass is It is shaped to present within the introduction opening of the inlet tube and, wherein the communication opening portion of the communicating pipe is positioned in the volume center.

Accordingly, the discharged ink discharged from the ink jet recording head by the recovery device is introduced into the container main body from the introduction pipe provided in the container main body.

Since the inside and the outside of the container body communicate with each other through a communication pipe, the pressure in the container body is released when the discharged ink is stored in the container body, so that the discharged ink can be stored smoothly.

The introduction opening of the introduction pipe and the communication opening of the communication pipe are located at the center of the volume. This volume center passes through all the planes relative to the container main body formed by the discharged ink liquid surface when the posture of the container main body changes in an arbitrary direction in a state where the container main body contains half the volume of discharged ink. Is a point. In other words, when considering an arbitrary bisecting surface that bisects the volume of the container body, this is a point through which any bisecting surface passes. When the (accommodating space) has a rectangular parallelepiped shape or a columnar shape, it coincides with this center of gravity. Therefore, even if the posture of the container body changes in an arbitrary direction in a state in which the discharged ink of less than half the volume is stored in the container body, the discharged ink surface (this discharged ink surface is, in relation to the container body, The above-mentioned relative plane is always located below the center of the volume.
Therefore, the discharged ink stored in the container body does not leak out from the introduction pipe or the communication pipe to the outside.

Moreover, since the discharged ink is stored directly in the container body without using the discharged ink absorber, the stored amount of discharged ink per unit volume is increased.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the outer tube member is fixed to the container main body, and is provided coaxially inside the outer tube member and integrally with the outer tube member. Inner tube member, and a double tube member,
It is characterized by having.

The outer tube member and the inner tube member are coaxial, and one of them is an introduction tube and the other is a communication tube.

Further, since the outer tube member and the inner tube member are provided integrally, the fixing to the container body becomes easier as compared with the case where they are provided separately.

Since the double pipe member is fixed to the container body, the introduction opening and the communication opening do not deviate from the center of the volume.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the double pipe member is made of a flexible material.

Therefore, the portion of the double-pipe member located outside the container body can be changed in shape, and, for example, restrictions on the position where the container body is provided in the ink jet recording apparatus are reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an ink jet recording head for recording an image by ejecting ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information, and the image recording medium is used as an image recording medium. A moving means for relatively moving the ink jet recording head in a direction along the recording surface, a recovery device for performing a recovery operation of the ink jet recording head, and a discharge ink container according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Features.

Accordingly, ink droplets based on image information are ejected from the ink jet recording head onto the image recording medium, and the moving means moves the image recording medium and the ink jet recording head relative to each other in the direction along the recording surface of the image recording medium. By moving, an image is formed in a predetermined area of the image recording medium.

In this ink jet recording apparatus,
An ink container according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is provided. Therefore, even if the attitude of the ink jet recording apparatus changes, the discharged ink stored in the container body does not leak out, and the discharged ink can be smoothly stored in the container body. Further, since no waste ink absorber is used, more waste ink can be stored per unit volume.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the amount of discharged ink contained in the discharged ink container is detected, and the amount of discharged ink reaches a half volume of the discharged ink container. A control device for stopping the recovery device,
It is characterized by having.

Therefore, the amount of the discharged ink contained in the container body can be reliably reduced to half the volume of the container body, and the leakage of the discharged ink from the container body can be reliably prevented.

[0026]

FIG. 1 shows an ink jet recording apparatus 10 having an ink discharge container 44 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
0 is shown. FIGS. 2 and 3 show a main part of the ink discharge container 44 of the first embodiment.

The ink jet recording apparatus 100 includes a conveying roller 14 for conveying the recording paper 12 in a predetermined direction,
A guide member 16 provided facing the conveyance path of the recording paper 12 and along a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording paper 12; a recording head carriage 10 supported by these guide members 16; It has a maintenance station 18 disposed below the member 16 and adjacent to the recording paper 12 conveyance path, and a housing 20 for integrally holding these. The control device 42 is connected to the recording head carriage 10 through the signal line 22.
(Refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). Further, a home position of the recording head carriage 10 is set at a position facing the maintenance unit 18, and this position is detected by a home position sensor 24.

In the drawings, the direction of movement of the recording head carriage 10 (main scanning direction) is indicated by an arrow M, and the direction of movement of the recording medium P (sub-scanning direction) is indicated by an arrow S.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording head carriage 10 includes an ink tank 30 for storing any one of black, cyan, yellow and magenta inks.
An ink jet recording head 26 capable of discharging ink from the ink tank 30 is mounted. The ink jet recording head 26 is formed with a plurality of nozzles 28 for discharging any one of the above four inks, and the ink supplied from the ink tank 30 is supplied from the nozzles 28 as ink droplets. It is discharged onto a recording paper 12 (see FIG. 1). Then, the recording head carriage 10
Scans in the main scanning direction (arrow M direction), and the recording paper 12 scans in the sub-scanning direction (arrow S direction), whereby an image is formed on the recording paper 12. The ink jet recording head 26 and the ink tank 30 are detachable from the recording head carriage 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the maintenance station 18 includes a cap member 32, a suction pump 34, a wiper blade, and a dummy jet receiver (all not shown). A maintenance operation such as suction of discharged ink in the member 32) and a dummy jet is performed.

Four cap members 32 are provided corresponding to the respective ink jet recording heads 26.
When the recording head carriage 10 moves to the home position, each of the inkjet recording heads 26 is capped. This prevents evaporation of the ink while the inkjet recording head 26 is not recording an image, and prevents clogging of the nozzles 28 of the inkjet recording head 26. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the recording head carriage 10 is at the home position and the cap member 32 caps the ink jet recording head 26 as described above.

The cap member 32 has a double tube member 46 fixed to a container body 36 described later by a tube 40.
Are connected to the inner cylinder 48. A suction pump 34 is provided at an intermediate portion of the tube 40. By driving the suction pump 34 at the time of capping, each of the ink jet recording heads 26 is selectively sucked and excess ink (discharged ink) in the nozzles is provided. (A so-called suction recovery operation). And the suction pump 3
The discharged ink sucked by 4 is stored in the container body 36.

The wiper blade is formed in a substantially plate shape, and is moved by an elevating mechanism (not shown) between a contactable position where the tip slightly enters the moving area of the ink jet recording head 26 and a retracted position retracted therefrom. It is supposed to. When the recording head carriage 10 moves in the main scanning direction in a state where the lifting mechanism moves the wiper blade to the contactable position in response to a predetermined wiping signal from the control device 42, the extra head attached to the recording head carriage 10 Ink droplets are removed (wiping operation).

The dummy jet receiver is formed in a box shape having an open side facing the ink jet recording head 26. When the recording head carriage 10 moves to a position corresponding to these dummy jet receivers, the ink jet recording head is moved. Reference numeral 26 performs a predetermined number of dummy jets in accordance with the number of printings, the suction recovery operation, and the like, and discharges the ink droplets into the dummy jet receiver. With this dummy jet, it is possible to form a high-quality image by preventing ink ejection unevenness occurring at the start of image recording.

The tube 40 is branched by a branch portion (not shown) and connected to a dummy jet receiver. By driving the suction pump 34, it is possible to absorb the ink discharged by the dummy jet and send it into the container body 36.

Further, the control device 42 performs a suction recovery operation,
The number of wiping operations and the number of dummy jets are counted, and the total amount of discharged ink is calculated from the discharged ink discharge amount per operation for each operation, and is sequentially added.
When the added value of the total amount of the discharged ink sent to the container body 36 reaches a preset maximum value, the maintenance operation (all of the suction recovery operation, the wiping operation, and the dummy jet) is stopped and not shown. Activate the warning device. This maximum value is set to a predetermined value within a range smaller than half (half volume) of the total volume in the container body 36.

As shown in FIG. 1, a drainage ink container 44 is arranged below the maintenance station 18.

The drain ink container 44 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and has a container body 3 capable of storing discharged ink therein.
6. An opening 3 is provided in the upper plate 36A of the container body 36.
8 are formed, and the tube 4 described above is inserted into the opening 38.
0 is connected. The container body 36 has a grip 3
6H is formed, and by holding the holding portion 36H, the attachment / detachment to / from the housing 20 can be easily performed.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
A double pipe member 46 is disposed on the upper plate 36A.
The double tube member 46 includes an outer cylinder 50 fixed to the upper plate 36A.
And an inner cylinder 48 disposed inside the outer cylinder 50 and coaxially with a smaller diameter than the outer cylinder 50. Outer cylinder 50
The inner tube 48 and the inner tube 48 are fixed to each other by a fixing portion (not shown), and are integrally formed to form the double tube member 46 as a whole.

The inner cylinder 48 is formed to be longer than the outer cylinder 50, and the inner end 48 in each container body 36 is formed.
A and 50A have the same axial position. On the other hand, outside the container body 36, the outer end portion 48 of the inner cylinder 48 is provided.
B is located above the outer end 50B of the outer cylinder 50. Then, the tube 4 is attached to the outer end portion 48B of the inner cylinder 48.
0 is fixed. The outer end 50B of the outer cylinder 50
Is open to the outside of the container body 36.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the inner ends 48A and 50A of the inner tube 48 and the outer tube 50 are located at the center 60 of the volume in the container body 36. Here, this volume center 6
0 will be described.

Consider a case where the attitude of the container body 36 changes in an arbitrary direction in a state in which half of the volume (half volume) of the discharged ink is contained in the container body 36. At this time, the liquid level of the discharged ink is horizontal,
Considering the container body 36 as a reference, the position of the liquid surface with respect to the container body 36 has changed. The point at which all of the liquid surface (relative plane) whose position has changed with respect to the container body 36 passes through is defined as the volume center 60. Therefore, the volume center 60 is a point through which any plane that bisects the entire volume in the container body 36 passes. In other words, any plane that passes through the volume center 60 divides the inside of the container body 36 by two. Divide equally.

The center 60 of the volume is defined by the container body 3
The shape of the container body 36 is determined so as to exist inside the space 6 (in the space accommodating the discharged ink), and the volume center 6
The length and position of the double tube member 46 are determined so that the inner ends 48A and 50A of the inner tube 48 and the outer tube 50 are located at zero. Therefore, no matter how the posture of the container main body 36 changes in a state where the discharged ink of less than half the volume is contained in the container main body 36, the inner end portions 48A and 50A of the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 are , Is located above the liquid level of the discharged ink. For example, FIG. 5B shows a state in which the container main body 36 is rotated (reversed) by 180 °. Even in this posture, the inner end portions 4 of the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 are also shown.
8A and 50A are located above the liquid level of the discharged ink. Also, as shown in FIG. 5C, even when the container main body 36 is rotated by 90 °, the inner ends 48A and 50A of the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 are positioned above the liquid level of the discharged ink. ing. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and even when the container body 36 is inclined obliquely, the inner ends 48A and 50A of the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 are located above the liquid level of the discharged ink.

The shape of the container main body 36 in which the volume center 60 exists inside the container main body 36 is not limited to the rectangular shape described above. For example, there can be mentioned a container body in which the inner shape of the container body is cylindrical, prismatic, spherical, or convex polyhedral.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment, the control device 42 performs a suction recovery operation and a maintenance operation such as a dummy jet in a predetermined state and timing set in advance.

By these maintenance operations, the control device 42 drives the suction pump 34 in order to suck the ink discharged inside the cap member 32 and the dummy jet receiver (not shown). As a result, the discharged ink is supplied to the tube 4
After passing through the inner cylinder 48 as shown by an arrow A in FIG. As a result, the amount of ink discharged in the container body 36 increases.
Is communicated with the outside by the outer cylinder 50, and as shown by the arrow B, the air in the container body 36 is released to the outside, the rise in pressure is prevented, and the pressure is maintained substantially at atmospheric pressure. Therefore, no resistance occurs when the discharged ink is sent to the container body 36, and the discharged ink can be stored smoothly.

During the maintenance operation, the control device 42
The amount of discharged ink stored in the container body 36 is detected and added, and when the added value reaches a preset maximum value, all maintenance operations are stopped and a warning device (not shown) is activated. . Therefore, the amount of the discharged ink in the container body 36 is smaller than the half volume of the container body 36 in any case.

Here, in the present embodiment, FIGS.
As illustrated in (C), the inner ends 48 </ b> A and 50 </ b> A of the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 are connected to the volume center 6 in the container body 36.
0 and the inner ends of the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 are changed regardless of the posture of the container body 36 in a state where the discharged ink is less than half the volume contained in the container body 36. 48A and 50A are located above the liquid level of the discharged ink. Therefore, regardless of the attitude of the container body 36, the discharged ink in the container body 36 does not leak to the outside through the inner cylinder 48 or the outer cylinder 50.

Further, since the discharged ink is directly stored in the container body 36 without using the conventional discharged ink absorber, the discharged ink is absorbed by the discharged ink absorber. Thus, the capacity of the discharged ink per unit volume is increased.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the discharged ink flows into the container main body 36, the internal pressure of the container main body 36 is released, so that the discharged ink can be smoothly accommodated without resistance to the flow. Further, even if the attitude of the container body 36 changes, leakage of the discharged ink can be reliably prevented. Furthermore, since the conventional waste ink absorber is not used, the storage amount per unit volume in the container body 36 increases, and the storage can be efficiently performed.

In the above description, the discharge ink container 44 provided with the double tube member 46 formed separately from the tube 40 has been described as an example. Alternatively, the tube 40 and the double tube member 46 may be integrated to reduce the number of parts. In this case,
The tube 40 and the inner cylinder 48 are integrally continuous.

Further, it is not always necessary to fix the double pipe member 46 and the container main body 36 integrally. Instead, they are formed separately, and the double pipe member 46 is inserted into a mounting hole formed in the container main body 36. It may be inserted and attached. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, a positioning projection 62 is formed on the double pipe member 46, and at a position where the projection 62 contacts the upper plate 36 </ b> A of the container body 36, the inner cylinder 48 and the outer cylinder 50 If the inner ends 48A and 50A are located at the center 60 of the volume, the attachment becomes easy. Further, the double pipe member 46 is further provided with an engaging portion, and this engaging portion is
6 so that the double tube member 46 is
May be prevented from inadvertently coming off.

Further, in the above description, the discharged ink flows through the inner tube 48 of the double tube member 46, and the air flows between the inner tube 48 and the outer tube 50 (the inside of the container body 36 communicates with the outside). Although the configuration described as above has been described, these may be reversed. That is, in this configuration, as shown in FIG. 7, the tube 40 is fixed to the outer cylinder 50, and the discharged ink flows between the outer cylinder 50 and the inner cylinder 48 as shown by the arrow A. The tube 48 is bent at an intermediate portion to form an outer tube 50.
And the upper end thereof is open to the outside. As shown by the arrow B, the air in the container body 36 passes through the inside of the inner tube 48 to the outside.

When the double pipe member 46 is formed separately from the container body 36, the material of the double pipe member 46 is not particularly limited.
For example, metal or resin can be adopted. Also, it can be made of a flexible material that is deformed by external force,
In this case, since a portion of the double tube member 46 located outside the container body 36 can be deformed, for example, the double tube member 46 interferes with other members in the ink jet recording apparatus. Even in such a case, the container body 36 can be deformed so as not to interfere, and the restriction on the position where the container main body 36 is disposed is reduced. Even when the double pipe member 46 is made of a flexible material as described above, the inner pipe 48 and the outer pipe 50 are always positioned by positioning or engaging the double pipe member 46 with the container body 36. Inside edge 48 of
A, 50A can be located at the volume center 60 within the container body 36.

[0056]

According to the present invention, since the above configuration is adopted, more waste ink can be stored per unit volume, and the waste ink does not leak due to a change in posture.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a carriage and its vicinity in an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink jet recording head and an ink discharge container of the ink jet recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a double tube member of the ink discharge container according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a double tube member of the ink discharge container according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams showing the attitude of the discharged ink container and the position of the liquid level of the discharged ink according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Is a state in which the attitude of the ink discharge container has not changed, (B) is a state in which the ink discharge container is rotated 180 degrees upside down,
(C) shows a state where the discharged ink container is rotated by 90 °.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another example of the double pipe member according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing still another example of the double pipe member according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Recording head carriage 14 Conveying roller (moving means) 16 Guide member (moving means) 18 Maintenance station (recovery device) 26 Ink jet recording head 36 Container main body 42 Control device 46 Double pipe member 48 Inner cylinder (introduction pipe) 48A Inner end Part (introduction opening of introduction pipe) 50 Outer cylinder (communication pipe) 50A Inner end (communication opening of communication pipe) 54 Movable valve 60 Center of volume

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Junichi Yoshida 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.Ebina Office (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Fujimura 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2C056 EA27 JC13 JC20

Claims (5)

[Claims] An ink jet recording head, which discharges ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information, is used for recovering ink discharged from the ink jet recording head by a recovery device that performs a recovery operation of the ink jet recording head. A container main body capable of storing discharged ink, an introduction pipe provided in the container main body, and configured to introduce discharged ink discharged from the inkjet recording head by the recovery device into the container main body; A communication pipe communicating between the inside and the outside of the container of the container body, wherein the posture of the container body has changed in an arbitrary direction in a state in which a half volume of the discharged ink has been stored in the container body. The center of the volume through which all of the relative planes with respect to the container body formed by the discharged ink liquid level are formed is present in the container body, and The discharge ink container, wherein the introduction opening and the communication opening of the communication tube are located at the center of the volume. 2. A double pipe member fixed to the container main body, comprising: an outer pipe member; and an inner pipe member provided coaxially inside the outer pipe member and integrally with the outer pipe member. The discharged ink container according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The ink discharge container according to claim 2, wherein the double pipe member is made of a flexible material. 4. An ink jet recording head for recording an image by ejecting ink droplets to an image recording medium based on image information, and a direction along the recording surface of the image recording medium. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: a moving unit that relatively moves the ink jet recording head; a recovery device that performs a recovery operation of the ink jet recording head; and the ink discharge container according to claim 1. 5. A control device for detecting an amount of discharged ink contained in the discharged ink container and stopping the recovery device before the discharged ink amount reaches a half volume of the discharged ink container. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein