JP2001162823A - Liquid ejecting fiber. absorbent, liquid container having fiber absorbent, and production method for the liquid ejecting fiber absorbent - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the ink flow resistance at the time of moving an ink in a container. SOLUTION: An ink tank 10 comprises a tank housing 11 provided with a supply opening 12 for supplying an ink to an ink ejecting head and an atmosphere communication opening 13, and a giber absorbent 14 stored inside the tank housing 11. A hydrophilic treatment is applied to the fiber absorbent 14 such that a higher hydrophilic property is provided the direction away from the supply opening.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid container for holding a liquid to be supplied to a recording head, and more particularly to a liquid container for holding a liquid to be supplied to a recording head. The present invention relates to a fiber absorbent housed in a container and a liquid container having the fiber absorbent.

Further, the present invention provides a liquid storage container having a surface or a surface treated with a fiber, which is used as a negative pressure generating member, by changing the characteristics and properties of the surface. The present invention relates to a method for modifying the surface of an article for improving property, and to a negative pressure generating member having the surface modified.

[0003] In particular, the present invention relates to a surface modification method capable of reliably performing surface modification on a fiber composed of an olefin-based resin which is difficult to perform surface treatment but is environmentally friendly. It relates to a manufacturing method.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of ink jet recording, an ink tank (ink container) for applying a negative pressure to a recording head in order to prevent ink from leaking from the recording head.
Is used. In this type of ink tank,
A porous body or a fibrous body is housed inside the ink tank, and the ink is held by the capillary force to generate a negative pressure. In particular, the ink tank containing the fibrous body is arranged so that the fiber direction is substantially horizontal, so that the interface between the ink and the gas maintains the horizontal direction even when fluctuations due to environmental changes occur, and there is little variation in the direction of gravity. It is preferred in that respect.

As a fibrous body stored in the ink tank, the housing of the ink tank is made of PE (polyethylene) or PP.
Since it is composed of an olefin resin such as (polypropylene), what is spun with an olefin resin is used in consideration of easiness of recycling. Olefin-based resins have poor wettability with inks, especially inks with a high surface tension, such as black ink.Therefore, when injecting ink into an ink tank containing a fibrous body made of olefin-based resin, A reduced pressure injection method in which the pressure is reduced inside and the ink is forcibly injected is used.

[0006] On the other hand, in order to improve the image quality in recent inkjet recording and to ensure the robustness of the ink attached to a recording medium, the ink itself has been improved. Specifically, a pigment ink is used to improve water resistance, or a solvent that improves fixability to a recording medium is added to the ink.

However, in a conventional ink tank containing a fibrous body made of an olefin-based resin, since the ink is injected into the ink tank by the reduced pressure injection method as described above, it is necessary to reduce the pressure inside the ink tank. Therefore, the process and equipment for that purpose are also complicated.
On the other hand, regarding the improvement of the ink itself, by using a pigment ink or adding a solvent to the ink as described above,
The viscosity of the ink increases. As a result, the supply of ink to the recording head is reduced, and as the recording speed is increased, the supply of ink to the recording head is reduced.

Conventionally, the properties and properties of an article itself are dominated by the properties of the constituent materials, but the properties are modified on the surface to give desired properties. . The desired properties include
A reactive group having reactivity such as water repellency or hydrophilicity, or a reactive group capable of reacting with an adduct on its surface is exemplified.

In the conventional surface modification of this type, the surface of the article is generally radicalized by ozone or UV or a combination of UV and ozone, and the main component of the treating agent is generally formed only by chemical bonding. is there.

[0010] On the other hand, a treatment agent having desired properties itself is attached to the surface of the article without radicalizing the article surface to obtain the desired properties instantaneously. there were.

In particular, in the case of hydrophilizing an olefin-based resin which is environmentally friendly, it is conventionally known that an incomplete hydrophilic state is temporarily obtained in the presence of a liquid by mixing a surfactant. is there.

Heretofore, adhesives and primers have been used to form additional layers on articles. Among them, a primer such as a silane coupling agent that performs only a reactive bond on the surface of the article needs to be treated so that the article itself can react.

[0013] As a primer, there is also a method using an affinity using the same material system as the article. As this primer, an acid-modified chlorinated polypropylene used for providing an overcoat layer of a polyurethane resin on polypropylene is known. However, if the same material system as the surface of the article must be used, the volume of the article is increased as a result, and a technique for performing thin uniform coating is required. In addition, it is impossible to uniformly perform the inside of a fine object or a porous body. Particularly, acid-modified chlorinated polypropylene is insoluble in water and cannot be used after being made water-soluble, and its use is limited.

[0014] Therefore, it can be said that there is no material which can be made into an aqueous solution and can perform thin and uniform surface modification regardless of the shape of the article even if the material is different from the article surface.

In the liquid supply port to the recording head, there is an ink tank in which a press-contact body made of a fiber bundle whose fiber direction is aligned with the liquid supply direction is arranged.
If the ink flow resistance of the pressure contact body is high, there arises a problem that when high-speed printing is required and a high flow rate ink supply is required, ink cannot be stably sent to the head.

The present invention is an epoch-making invention made based on new knowledge while studying the prior art.

Conventional surface modification only by chemical bonding by radicalization cannot perform uniform surface modification on a surface having a complicated shape. In addition, surface modification cannot be performed particularly on the inside of a negative pressure generating member having a complicated porous portion inside such as a sponge or a fiber composite for generating a negative pressure used in the field of ink jet.

In addition, a liquid containing an interfacial lubricant or the like does not modify the surface of the porous body itself. It immediately returns to its characteristics.

Although the olefin resin is excellent in water repellency with a contact angle to water of 80 ° or more, there is a method of modifying the surface so that lyophilicity can be obtained in a long term with desired characteristics. There is no.

Accordingly, the present inventors first clarified a method of rationally modifying the surface of an olefin-based resin and maintaining a property of the olefin-based resin, so that a method of modifying the surface of any article can be achieved. As a result of researching to provide, attention was paid to using a liquid processing liquid, and it was decided that processing was possible even for a negative pressure generating member having a complicated shape.

As a new finding of the present inventors, in relation to the surface of the negative pressure generating member to be modified and the polymer having a reactive group, the surface energy is used to make the reaction with the reactive group. It has been found that the balance can be controlled to a desired state and that the polymer itself can be further improved in durability and quality stability by analyzing the polymer itself.

From another viewpoint, the present inventors focused on the negative pressure characteristics of a negative pressure generating member such as a porous body.
The following issues have been newly recognized.

That is, the conventional negative pressure generating member is often always exposed to a liquid such as liquid ink which is initially filled, and even when the negative pressure chamber and the liquid storage chamber are integrated. Although the part exposed to the liquid may be consumed and refilled, it is not assumed that the negative pressure generating member in the entire consumed state receives liquid replenishment in a normal apparatus. For this reason, it is not recognized by those skilled in the art as to whether or not to return to the initial negative pressure or the initial liquid holding amount by replenishing the liquid.

The present invention relates to a negative pressure generating member storage chamber,
After consuming the contained liquid at an arbitrary level, it was examined whether or not such a return could be made by installing a replenishing liquid storage chamber (container or tank), and the negative pressure generating member was initially filled. A considerable amount of liquid can be obtained because of the use of some kind of forced injection.However, if the liquid is simply refilled in this way, only about half of the return can be obtained, probably because of the difficulty in removing the air from the negative pressure generating member. By repeating this, the amount of liquid that can be re-maintained becomes smaller and smaller, and the negative pressure tends to increase.

According to the present invention, the characteristics of the negative pressure generating member are not processed by a method such as radicalization by ozone or ultraviolet light, but by applying a primer such as a silane coupling agent. Innovative new liquid surface modification method capable of performing a desired new liquid surface modification by a novel mechanism, which is not a method that causes uneven coating, and a treatment liquid used for the method, and a negative pressure generating member obtained thereby And to provide a fiber negative pressure generating member which is excellent in the ability to return to the initial negative pressure by re-supplying the liquid, particularly the surface structure obtained by the modification to the new liquid surface, and which is excellent in the liquid supply property. The main purpose is to obtain the desired characteristics such as reducing the flow resistance of the liquid during the movement of the liquid, particularly by changing the fibrous body characteristics in the liquid container by changing the lyophilic treatment level or the like. Possible to provide a liquid discharge fibrous absorber and the liquid container.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a liquid processing solution capable of performing a desired lyophilic treatment on the entire inner surface of a negative pressure generating member having a complicated shape such as a porous body or a micromachined article. The provision of a lyophilic surface modification method using this can be mentioned.

[0027] A second object of the present invention is to provide a novel lyophilic surface modification method and a novel lyophilic surface modification method which can maintain lyophilicity for an olefinic resin for which surface modification is considered difficult. The purpose is to provide the structure itself.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a novel lyophilic surface modification in which the modified surface itself can be formed as a thin layer at a molecular level, preferably a monomolecular level, with almost no negative pressure generating member structure or weight increase. It is to provide a method and a surface structure itself.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a processing method capable of freely performing a desired modification by introducing a new mechanism into the lyophilic surface modification method itself.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a lyophilic surface of a negative pressure generating member which is simple and excellent in mass productivity.

A sixth object of the present invention is to utilize the viewpoint of interfacial energy of groups (or groups) provided in a polymer while utilizing interfacial physical adsorption by substantially equivalent energy levels due to cleavage of the polymer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for treating a lyophilic liquid on a surface of a negative pressure generating member.

A seventh object of the present invention is to provide a novel lyophilic surface reforming method capable of uniformly reforming the periphery of a negative pressure generating member, and the surface structure itself cannot be obtained conventionally from the viewpoint of the entire periphery. To provide a different level of surface structure.

[0033] Other objects of the present invention will be understood from the following description, and the present invention can achieve a combined object by any combination of the above individual objects.

[0034]

In order to achieve the above object, a liquid discharge fiber absorber of the present invention is housed in a liquid container for holding a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state. An ink-jet fiber absorber made of olefin-based resin fibers, wherein at least a part of the fibers has a lyophilic treatment part in which the surface of the fibers has been subjected to a lyophilic treatment. Is characterized by having a first lyophilic region that is relatively excellent, and a second lyophilic region that is relatively poor in lyophilicity with respect to the first lyophilic region.

Another aspect of the liquid ejection fiber absorber of the present invention is used to hold a liquid supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state, and forms a lyophilic liquid constituting at least a part of the surface. A liquid ejecting fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having a polymer compound provided on a surface of a part to be liquid, wherein the polymer compound has a first portion having a lyophilic group, A second portion having a group having a surface energy lower than the surface energy of the liquid group and substantially equal to the surface energy of the partial surface, wherein the second portion is oriented toward the partial surface, and The portion 1 has a lyophilic portion that is lyophilic by being oriented in a direction different from the partial surface, and the partial surface has relatively excellent lyophilicity among the lyophilic portions to the fibers. First
And a second lyophilic region in which the density of the lyophilic portion decreases as the distance from the first lyophilic region increases.

Another aspect of the liquid-absorbing fiber absorber of the present invention is a liquid-absorbing surface having a lyophobic surface which is housed in a liquid container for holding the liquid supplied to the liquid-discharging head in a negative pressure state. A liquid ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers in which at least a part of the liquid surface has been modified to a lyophilic surface,
The fragmented product having the lyophilic group and the lyophobic group generated by the cleavage of the polymer compound having the lyophilic group and the lyophobic group, And has a lyophilic portion that is lyophilic by being oriented to face in a direction different from the hydrophilic group and attached to the lyophobic surface, and the lyophilic portion is Is characterized by having a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, and a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity with respect to the first lyophilic region.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid-absorbing fiber absorbent body which is housed in a liquid container for holding a liquid to be supplied to a liquid-discharging head in a negative pressure state, and has an olefin resin at least on its surface. A liquid-absorbing fiber absorber that is an aggregate of fibers having a modified surface in which at least a part of the surface is lyophilic, wherein the fiber includes at least a lyophilic group and a component of the olefin-based resin. After forming a fiber surface to which a treatment liquid containing a polymer having a surface energy group substantially equal to the surface energy of the surface, a dilute acid as a cleavage catalyst for the polymer, and an alcohol is adhered, adhere to the fiber mirror surface Along with evaporating the treating solution that has been removed, the polymer is cleaved by concentrated oxidation of the dilute acid on the fiber surface, and then the cleavage product is condensed, so that the fiber is relatively long on the fiber surface. chain A lyophilic group and a liquid-contact surface structure having a substantially short-chain lyophobic group substantially alternately, wherein the liquid-contact surface structure has a first lipophilic property that is relatively excellent. It is characterized by having a lyophilic region and a second lyophilic region, which has relatively poor lyophilicity relative to the first lyophilic region.

As described above, according to the liquid-absorbing fiber absorbent of the present invention, the lyophilic treatment is performed with the lyophilicity being distributed, so that the flow resistance of the liquid in the fiber absorbent can be reduced as required. ,
Using the behavior of lyophilic groups (the more lyophilic groups,
(Based on the fact that the flow resistance is relatively low)
Can be set freely. As a result, the fiber absorber holds the liquid in an optimal state according to the behavior of the liquid required in the liquid container and supplies the liquid to the liquid ejection head.

The liquid container according to the present invention has a container housing provided with a supply port for supplying liquid to the liquid discharge head and an atmosphere communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and the container housing is provided in the container housing by utilizing a negative pressure. The liquid discharging fiber absorbent body according to any one of the above aspects of the present invention, which is housed in the container housing to hold a liquid.

According to the above-described liquid container, if the first lyophilic region of the liquid ejection fiber absorber is arranged at a predetermined position in the liquid container according to the behavior of the liquid required in the liquid container, Can be held in an optimal state and supplied to the liquid ejection head.

More specifically, the liquid container of the present invention utilizes a container housing having a supply port for supplying a liquid to the liquid discharge head and an atmosphere communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and a negative pressure. An olefin that is stored in the container housing to hold the liquid in the container housing, and at least partially subjected to lyophilic treatment so that the lyophilicity increases as the distance from the supply port increases. And a fiber absorber made of fibers of a base resin.

According to the above liquid container, the fiber absorbent contained in the container housing is made lyophilic so that the longer the distance from the supply port is, the more the lyophilic group becomes (the higher the lyophilicity becomes). Since the treatment is performed, the flow resistance of the liquid at a position far from the supply port is reduced. As a result, the liquid easily flows toward the supply port even at a position far from the supply port, and the use efficiency of the liquid in the liquid container is improved. In addition, if the liquid is injected into the liquid container from a region having strong lyophilicity, the liquid can be injected without reducing the pressure in the liquid container.

Another embodiment of the liquid container of the present invention utilizes a container housing having a discharge port for supplying a liquid to a liquid discharge head and an atmosphere communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and utilizing a negative pressure. Stored in the container housing to retain the ink in the container housing, and subjected to lyophilic treatment at least around the supply port so that the lyophilic property becomes weaker as the distance from the supply port increases. A fiber absorber made of olefin resin fibers.

According to the above liquid container, the fiber absorber is subjected to the lyophilic treatment in the vicinity of the supply port so that the lyophilic property becomes weaker as the distance from the supply port increases. The liquid can be held without increasing the flow resistance of the liquid in the surroundings, and the liquid discharge head is prevented from running out of liquid. Further, the liquid can be injected into the liquid container from the supply port without depressurizing the inside of the liquid container.

Another aspect of the liquid container of the present invention is a liquid container of an olefin resin which has a supply port for supplying a liquid to a liquid discharge head and an atmosphere communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and holds the liquid under a negative pressure. A negative pressure generating member storage chamber that stores therein a fiber absorber made of fibers, and communicates with the negative pressure generating member storage chamber, except for a substantially sealed state except for a communication portion with the negative pressure generating member storage chamber. A liquid storage chamber having a liquid storage section that has a liquid storage section, wherein the fiber absorber exists as a layer that intersects with the direction of gravity above the communication section, and has lyophilicity from below to above. It has a lyophilic processing section that has been subjected to lyophilic processing so as to be weak.

In the above liquid container, when the liquid in the negative pressure generating member storage chamber is consumed until the liquid level in the negative pressure generating member storage chamber reaches the communication portion with the liquid storage section, thereafter, the negative pressure is generated. The communication portion communicates with the atmosphere via the atmosphere communication port of the member storage chamber and the fiber absorber, and gas is introduced into the liquid storage chamber.
At the same time, the liquid in the liquid storage chamber moves into the negative pressure generation member storage chamber via the communication portion, and the negative pressure in the negative pressure generation member storage chamber is kept constant.

Here, when the liquid and the gas in the liquid storage chamber expand rapidly due to an environmental change or the like, the liquid in the liquid storage chamber flows into the negative pressure generation member storage chamber. Is absorbed by the fiber absorber. The fiber absorber is present above the communication portion as a layer intersecting with the direction of gravity, and is subjected to lyophilic treatment so that the lyophilicity decreases from lower to upper. Therefore, the liquid flowing into the negative pressure generating member storage chamber is sequentially captured by the lyophilic processing section from below. As a result, the buffer function described above can be sufficiently exerted without increasing the upper volume of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber more than necessary.

Further, the present invention provides a method for producing the above-mentioned liquid-absorbing fiber absorber of the present invention. One embodiment of the present invention is to hold the liquid supplied to the liquid-discharging head in a negative pressure state. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorbent, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having a lyophilic group provided on a surface of a part to be lyophilic constituting at least a part of the surface, wherein the lyophilic liquid is used. The partial surface, comprising: a first portion having a lipophilic group; and a second portion having a group having a surface energy different from the surface energy of the lyophilic group and substantially equal to the surface energy of the partial surface. A first step of applying a liquid containing a polymer different from the constituent material to form a first region having a relatively high application density on the partial surface and a second region having a relatively low application density; Of the polymer towards the surface By orienting the second portion and the first portion on a side different from the partial surface, a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a first lyophilic region A second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity.

Another embodiment of the method for producing a fiber absorbent for liquid ejection according to the present invention is used to hold a liquid supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state, and forms a lyophilic liquid constituting at least a part of the surface. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having a lyophilic group provided on the surface of a part to be treated, comprising: a first part having the lyophilic group; A second portion having a group having a surface energy different from the surface energy of the group and having substantially the same surface energy as the surface energy of the partial surface. A liquid that includes a subdivided material having a first portion and the second portion is applied so as to form a first region having a relatively large application density on the partial surface and a second region having a relatively small application density. One step and the second portion of the fragmentation The first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and the first lyophilic region are relatively oriented by aligning the first portion on a side different from the partial surface and orienting the first portion on a side different from the partial surface. A second step of obtaining a second lyophilic region relatively inferior to the lyophilic property, and a third step of condensing at least a part of the fragmented products oriented on the partial surface to polymerize. Having.

Another aspect of the method of the present invention for producing a fiber absorber for liquid discharge is used to hold a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state and has at least a surface of an olefin resin. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having lyophilicity imparted to at least a part of the surface thereof, wherein a polymer of an alkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group is dissolved. Applying the liquid to the surface so as to obtain a first region having a relatively high application density and a second region having a relatively low application density, and orienting the alkylsiloxane on the surface, By orienting the liquid group in a direction different from the surface, a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, and a relatively lyophilic region with respect to the first lyophilic region A second step of obtaining an inferior second lyophilic region. To.

Another aspect of the method for producing a fiber absorbent for liquid ejection according to the present invention is used to hold a liquid to be supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state, and has at least a surface of an olefin resin. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having lyophilicity imparted to at least a part of the surface thereof, comprising cleaving a polymer of an alkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group. A first step of applying a liquid in which the fragmentation is dissolved to the surface so as to form a first region having a relatively high application density and a second region having a relatively low application density; By condensing the compound on the surface, orienting the alkylsiloxane on the surface, and orienting the lyophilic group in a direction different from that of the first surface, so that the first lipophilicity is relatively excellent. A liquefaction zone and the first And a second step of obtaining a second lyophilic area inferior relatively lyophilic to lyophilic region.

Another embodiment of the method for producing a fiber absorber for liquid ejection according to the present invention is used to hold a liquid to be supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state and has at least a surface of an olefin resin. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorbent, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having lyophilicity imparted to at least a part of the surface thereof, comprising a polyalkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group, an acid, and an alcohol. Forming a fiber surface attached to form a first region having a relatively high adhesion density and a second region having a relatively low adhesion density, and forming the liquid adhering to the fiber surface at room temperature. By heating and drying at a temperature higher than and lower than the melting point of the olefin-based resin, a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, and a first lyophilic region relative to the first lyophilic region The second less lyophilic And a step of obtaining a liquefied region.

Another embodiment of the method for producing a fiber absorbent for liquid ejection according to the present invention is used to hold a liquid to be supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state and has at least a surface of an olefin resin. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of a large number of fibers having lyophilicity imparted to at least a part of the surface thereof, comprising: a polyalkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group, an acid, an alcohol and water. A step of forming a fiber surface in which the liquid containing the liquid adheres to form a first region and a second region having a relatively low adhesion density; and drying the liquid adhering to the fiber surface. In the process, by lyophilizing the fiber surface by orienting the lyophilic group in a direction opposite to the fiber surface, a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, For the first lyophilic region, And a step of obtaining a second lyophilic area inferior relatively lyophilic Te.

The surface modification method of the present invention is used to hold the liquid supplied to the liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state.
A liquid-absorbing fiber absorbent having a large number of fibers having a lyophobic surface, a surface modification method for modifying the lyophobic surface to be lyophilic, comprising: The fragmented material having the lyophilic group and the lyophobic group generated by the cleavage of the polymer compound having the lyophobic group is divided into a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and the second lyophilic region. The lyophobic group is directed toward the surface of the lyophobic group so as to have a second lyophilic region having relatively low lyophilicity relative to the first lyophilic region, and A step of aligning the lipophilic group in a direction different from the direction of the lyophobic group and attaching the lipophilic group to the lyophobic surface.

In another aspect of the surface modification method of the present invention, the fiber of the liquid discharge fiber absorber, which is a fiber aggregate used to hold the liquid supplied to the liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state. A surface modification method for performing a surface modification on the partial surface of the first lyophilic region, wherein the first lyophilic region has relatively good lyophilicity and the first lyophilic region has relatively poor lyophilicity. The surface is modified by condensing a fragmented polymer oriented on the basis of the affinity of surface energy of a group similar to the surface energy of the partial surface of the fiber at the partial surface so as to have a second lyophilic region. It is characterized by doing.

In another aspect of the surface modification method of the present invention, the fiber of the liquid discharge fiber absorber, which is a fiber aggregate used to hold the liquid supplied to the liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state. A method for modifying a partial surface of the first lyophilic region using a liquid polymer, wherein a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a first lyophilic region are relatively A first group having a lyophilic group capable of being cleaved and condensed so as to have a second lyophilic region having inferior lyophilicity; and a second group having an interfacial energy substantially equal to the surface energy of the partial surface of the fiber. A condensation step of condensing the polymer fragmentation provided with the above on the partial surface to form a polymer.

The liquid-contact surface structure of the fiber assembly of the present invention is a liquid-contact surface structure of the fiber assembly used for holding the liquid supplied to the liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, and is relatively long. A lyophilic part comprising a polymer having substantially alternately a lyophilic group of a chain and a relatively short-chain lyophobic group, wherein the lyophilic part has a relatively lyophilic property. It is characterized by having a first lyophilic region that is excellent and a second lyophilic region that is relatively inferior in lyophilicity to the first lyophilic region.

In the present invention, “a lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity” is defined as the number of lyophilic groups per unit area with respect to other lyophilic regions. When there are many, showing relatively strong lyophilicity,
And that region is relative to other lyophilic regions,
For example, if the adhesion of the lyophilic group is stronger, a relatively lyophilic state can be maintained for a long time,
In both cases.

On the other hand, in the present invention, “a lyophilic region having relatively inferior lyophilicity” means that the region shows relatively weak lyophilicity with respect to other lyophilic regions. Also, the case where the region can maintain the lyophilic state with respect to other lyophilic regions for a short period of time is included.

[0060]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present invention, the property having excellent wettability with respect to the contained liquid is referred to as “lyophilic property”, and in the embodiment described below, an aqueous ink is described as an example of the ink. In particular, the case where hydrophilicity is imparted is described. However, in the present invention, the type of ink is not limited to water-based, but may be oil-based. In that case, the property imparted to the surface is lipophilic. Further, the liquid held by the fiber absorber is not limited to ink, but includes various liquids supplied to the liquid ejection head.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink tank according to the embodiment.

The ink tank 10 of this embodiment is provided with ink (a liquid such as a water-resistant strengthening liquid for performing a water-resistant treatment on a recording medium before the ink is ejected) on a recording head that performs recording by ejecting the ink from an ejection port. And a fiber absorber 14 stored in the tank housing 11 and holding the ink in a negative pressure state. The tank housing 11 has an air communication port 13 for allowing the fiber absorber 14 housed therein to communicate with the outside air.

The fiber absorber 14 is composed of a fiber bundle in which PP (polypropylene) fiber and PE (polyethylene) fiber are mixed and the fiber directions of the mixed fibers are substantially aligned. The length of each fiber constituting 14 is about 60 mm. As shown in FIG. 2, the cross-sectional shape of this fiber is substantially concentric, in which PE having a relatively low melting point is used as the sheath material 14a, and PP having a relatively high melting point is used as the core material 14b. The fiber absorber 14 of the present embodiment is manufactured by aligning the fiber directions of such short fibers with a carding machine, then heating and cutting to a desired length. The heating temperature is desirably higher than the melting point of PE and lower than the melting point of PP.

As shown in FIG. 3 (a), each fiber is continuously arranged in a longitudinal direction (F1) prepared by a carding machine, and in a direction (F2) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the fibers are heated. Some of the contact points (intersection points) between the fibers are fused to form a structure having a connection. For this reason, the fiber absorber 14 is hardly broken even when a tensile force is applied in the F1 direction shown in FIG. 3A, but when the fiber absorber 14 is pulled in the F2 direction, the joint between the fibers is broken. It is easy to separate when compared.

When the crimped short fibers as shown in FIG. 3B are heated in a state where the fiber directions are aligned to some extent, the state becomes as shown in FIG. 3C. Here, in the area α where a plurality of short fibers are overlapped in the fiber direction in FIG. 3B, the intersections are fused as shown in FIG. 3C, and as a result, the direction F1 shown in FIG. Is difficult to cut. In addition, by using crimped short fibers, end regions (β, γ shown in FIG. 3B) of the short fibers are three-dimensionally reduced by other short fibers as shown in FIG. 3C. Fused with (β)
It remains as an end as it is (γ). In addition, not all fibers are aligned in exactly the same direction,
Short fibers (ε shown in FIG. 3 (b)) that are in contact with other short fibers at an angle so as to cross from the beginning are directly fused after heating (ε shown in FIG. 3 (c)). ). In this way, fibers having higher strength in the F2 direction than in the conventional one-way fiber bundle are formed.

In a fiber absorber composed of a one-way fiber bundle, a capillary force is generated by a gap between fibers. In the fiber absorber 14 of the present embodiment, the main fiber direction (F
Since 1) exists, the main fiber direction (F1) and the fiber direction (F2) perpendicular thereto differ in the ink fluidity and the manner of holding the ink in a stationary state.

In the present embodiment, such a fiber absorbent 1
4 are arranged such that the main fiber direction (F1) is substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction. Therefore, the gas-liquid interface (the interface between the ink and the gas) in the fiber absorber 14 is substantially parallel to the main fiber direction F1. In order to maintain the horizontal direction (the direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction), the gas-liquid interface returns to the original position if the environmental fluctuation stops.
Therefore, the variation in the gas-liquid interface in the vertical direction does not increase according to the number of cycles of the environmental change unlike the related art. By determining the main fiber direction of the fiber absorber 14 in this manner, it is possible to suppress the variation of the gas-liquid interface with respect to the direction of gravity.

Here, if the fiber arrangement direction is slightly inclined from the vertical direction, the above-mentioned effect can be obtained even if it is theoretically slight, but in practice, it is approximately ± 3 ° with respect to the horizontal plane.
When it was in the range of 0 °, a clear effect was confirmed. Therefore, the expression “substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction” or “substantially horizontal” includes the above-described inclination in this specification.

The structure of the fiber absorber 14 is as described above, and the fiber absorber 14 is entirely subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. In particular, in the present embodiment, the fiber absorber 14
1 is not uniformly hydrophilized, and as shown schematically in FIG. 1, the density of the hydrophilized portion is lowest around the supply port 12 and the supply port 1
The hydrophilic treatment has been performed so that the distance from 2 increases as the distance increases.

In FIG. 1, when the fiber absorber 14 is divided into five areas A to E according to the distance from the supply port 12, the area A has the highest hydrophilicity, and the areas B to E have the following characteristics.
As the distance from the supply port 12 increases, the hydrophilicity gradually decreases. In particular, in the region A, substantially all of the fibers are subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. That is, in the present embodiment, the region A is the first lyophilic region according to the present invention, and the regions BE are the second lyophilic regions according to the present invention.

Consider the ink flow resistance in each of these areas A to E.

If the hydrophilicity of the fiber absorber 12 is uniform in each of the regions A to E, the ease of ink flow in each of the regions A to E is the same. As shown, when the flow resistance of the ink is dynamically viewed, the path of the ink corresponds to a tube having a uniform diameter proportional to the length from each of the areas A to E to the supply port 12. That is, the hydrophilicity of the fiber absorber is in each region A.
To E, the flow resistance of the ink increases as the distance from the supply port 12 increases, and the supply port 12
Supply of ink to the ink becomes difficult.

Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the hydrophilicity of the fiber absorber 14 is minimized around the supply port 12 and is increased as the distance from the supply port 12 increases.
As schematically shown in FIG. 2B, the ink path from each of the areas A to E to the supply port 12 is easier to flow as the distance from the supply port 12 increases.
It corresponds to a tube whose diameter increases as the distance from the tube increases. As a result, the difficulty in moving the ink located far from the supply port 12 is reduced, and the ink located far from the supply port 12 can easily flow toward the supply port 12. This also allows the supply port 12
Since the ink existing at a position far from the ink tank does not move and does not remain on the spot, the ink in the ink tank 10 can be used efficiently. As described above, in the ink tank 10 of the present embodiment, the mobility of the ink in the fiber absorber 14 is improved, so that a high-viscosity ink such as a pigment ink is used, or a recording apparatus having a high recording speed is used. The present invention can also be suitably applied to a recording apparatus that needs to supply ink from the supply port 12 at high speed.

In this embodiment, since the air communication port 13 is provided on the surface of the tank housing 11 opposite to the surface where the supply port 12 opens, the portion of the fiber absorber 14 where the hydrophilicity is highest is It is located on the atmosphere communication port 13 side. Therefore,
When the ink is injected into the tank housing 11 at the time of manufacturing the ink tank 10, if the ink is injected from the atmosphere communication port 13, the ink is positively absorbed by the fiber absorber 14. Ink can be stably injected without reducing the pressure.

Hereinafter, the fiber absorber 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.
The hydrophilic treatment 4 will be described in detail together with its principle. In the present invention, the target of the hydrophilization treatment is the outer surface exposed to the outside of the fiber constituting the fiber absorber 14, but in the following description, the surface modification of the article will be widely described.

The surface modification method described below utilizes a functional group or the like of a molecule contained in a substance constituting the surface of an article to produce a polymer (or a finely divided polymer).
Is attached to the surface in a specific orientation, giving the surface properties associated with the groups of the polymer (or polymer fragmentation), enabling the intended surface modification It is a method.

Here, the "article" means an article formed from various materials and having a constant outer shape. Therefore, it has an outer surface that is exposed to the outside accompanying this outer shape. In addition, there may be voids, cavities, or hollows including a portion communicating with the outside, and the inner surface (inner wall surface) defining these portions may be subjected to the surface modification treatment. It can be a partial surface. The hollow part has an inner surface that defines it, and includes a space that is completely isolated from the outside, but it is possible to apply the surface treatment liquid into the hollow part before the reforming treatment. In addition, any material that becomes a hollow part isolated from the outside after the reforming treatment can be a processing target.

As described above, according to the surface modification method used in the present invention, a liquid surface treatment solution can be externally brought into contact with all the surfaces of various articles without damaging the shape of the articles. It is intended for simple surfaces.
Accordingly, each or both of the outer surface of the article and the inner surface connected thereto are considered as partial surfaces. The present invention also includes changing the properties of the subdivided partial surface selected from the target surface.
Depending on the choice, the mode of selecting the outer surface of the article and the inner surface connected to it is also included in the modification of the desired partial surface area.

In the above-mentioned surface modification, a part to be modified (partial surface) constituting at least a part of the surface of the article is treated. That is, a part of the surface of the article selected as desired or the entire surface of the article.

In the present specification, the term “subdivision of a polymer” may be any of a polymer obtained by cutting a part of the polymer and a monomer. And all those cleaved by the cleavage catalyst. Also,
The term "polymer film formation" includes a film in which a substantial film is formed or a film in which each part is oriented differently with respect to a two-dimensional surface.

In the present invention, “polymer” refers to
A first portion having a lyophilic group and a second portion having a surface energy different from the surface energy of the lyophilic group and substantially equal to the surface energy of the article to be attached; It is preferably different from the constituent material of the article surface. Therefore, depending on the constituent material of the article to be modified,
A desired polymer may be appropriately selected from polymers having an interface energy substantially equal to the surface energy of the surface of the article. More preferably as the "polymer" of the present invention,
It is desirable that the polymer can be cleaved, and further that it can be condensed after cleavage. Further, a functional group may be provided in addition to the first and second parts described above. In this case, the lyophilic group as the functional group is It is desirable that the functional group other than the first and second portions has a relatively long chain relative to the functional group (becomes a lyophobic group relatively to the lyophilic group).

In the present invention, the portion to be surface-treated may be composed of a single material or a composite material in which a plurality of types of materials are mixed. Molecules can be used.

Hereinafter, in order to facilitate the explanation of the principle,
The principle of surface modification will be described more specifically using an example of modifying a surface composed of a single substance.

<Principle of Surface Modification> The surface modification of the article used in the present invention is carried out by using a polymer used for the surface modifier as a surface (interface) energy of the article surface (substrate surface). Utilizes a polymer composed of a main skeleton having the same surface energy (general term for main chain or side chain group or group) and a group having surface energy different from the surface (interface) energy of the article surface Then, a polymer having a surface energy different from the surface energy of the article surface is attached to the polymer by using the main skeleton having the surface energy substantially equal to the surface energy of the article surface in the surface modifier. Is achieved by forming a polymerized film (polymer coating) that is oriented outward with respect to the article surface.

In other words, the polymer used for the surface modifying agent is, from a different point of view, a first group having essentially different affinity for water from the group exposed on the surface of the article before surface modification. When,
Exhibiting affinity for water substantially similar to the groups exposed on the surface of the article, and having a second group contained in a repeating unit contained in its main skeleton. Can also.

FIG. 20 schematically shows a typical example of such an orientation mode. FIG. 20A shows a case where a polymer in which a first group 1-1 and a second group 1-2 are bonded as side chains to a main chain is used, and FIG. This shows a case where one group 1-1 constitutes the main chain 1-3 itself, and the second group 1-2 constitutes a side chain.

When the orientation shown in FIG. 20 is taken, the outermost surface (outside) of the substrate 6 constituting the surface of the article to be surface-modified is a group having an interface energy different from the surface (interface) energy of the substrate 6. Since the surface 1-2 is oriented on the surface, the surface is modified by utilizing the property accompanying the group 1-2 having an interface energy different from the surface (interface) energy of the substrate 6. Here, the surface (interface) energy of the base material 6 is determined based on the substance / molecule constituting the surface being derived from the group 5 exposed on the surface. That is,
In the example shown in FIG. 20, the second group 1-2 acts as a functional group for surface modification, the surface of the base material 6 is hydrophobic,
When the second group 1-2 is hydrophilic, hydrophilicity is imparted to the surface of the substrate 6. When the second group 1-2 is hydrophilic and the group 5 on the side of the substrate 6 is hydrophobic, for example, when polysiloxane described later is used, FIG.
It is considered that the state shown in FIG. In this state, by adjusting the balance between the hydrophilic group and the hydrophobic group on the surface of the modified substrate 6, water or an aqueous liquid mainly composed of water passes through the modified substrate surface. It is also possible to adjust the passing state and the flow velocity at the time of passing. By using a fibrous body made of, for example, a polyolefin-based resin having such a surface state on the fiber outer wall surface in an ink tank integrated with the inkjet recording head or provided as a separate component, Filling the ink and supplying the ink from the ink tank to the head are extremely effective, and by securing an appropriate negative pressure in the ink tank, the ink interface near the discharge port of the print head immediately after the ink is discharged ( It is considered that it is possible to secure a favorable meniscus position. Further, the hydrophilic group in the upper layer of the surface of the modified base material 56 reduces the flow resistance when the ink flows along the surface, and when the force for moving the ink is lost, the upper layer of the surface becomes lower than the hydrophilic group. It is conceivable that the hydrophobic group exposed to the surface acts to instantaneously prevent ink movement. Accordingly, it is possible to provide the most suitable negative pressure generating member for holding the ink for supplying ink to the ink jet recording head, in which the positive and negative pressures are larger than the dynamic negative pressure.

In particular, in the case of the fiber surface structure in FIG. 29, since the hydrophilic group 1-2 is a polymer group, it has a structure longer than the methyl group (hydrophobic group) in the side chain on the same side. . Therefore, when the ink flows, the hydrophilic group 1-2 inclines so as to follow the fiber surface with respect to the flow velocity (at the same time, substantially covers the methyl group). As a result, the flow resistance is significantly reduced. Conversely, when the ink stops and a meniscus is formed between the fibrous bodies, the hydrophilic group 1-2 is directed toward the ink, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the fiber surface (at the same time, the methyl group is (Exposed on the surface), and a sufficient negative pressure can be formed by forming a balance of hydrophilic (large) -hydrophobic (small) at an intramolecular level. As in the embodiment in which the hydrophilic group 1-2 is formed by a large number of (—C—O—C—) bonds and an OH group as a terminal group, a large number (at least a plurality) of hydrophilic groups are present in the polymer. By doing so, the action of the hydrophilic group 1-2 can be assured, which is preferable. Further, when another hydrophobic group other than the above methyl group is present in the polymer, the hydrophilic group is more polymer-level so that the existing range of the hydrophilic group is larger than the existing range of the hydrophobic group. It is preferable that the balance is made so that hydrophilicity> hydrophobicity as described above.

The static negative pressure at the ink supply port is expressed by the following equation.

Static negative pressure = (height of ink interface from ink supply port) − (capillary force of fiber at ink interface) The capillary force is defined as θ, the wetting contact angle between ink and the fiber absorber.
Is proportional to COS θ. Therefore, depending on the presence / absence of the hydrophilization treatment of the present invention, it is possible to lower the static negative pressure by that much in the case of an ink having a large change in COSθ, and to secure a higher negative pressure in terms of absolute value.

More specifically, if the contact angle is at a level of 10 °, the capillary force is increased by up to about 2% even if the hydrophilic treatment is performed. Can be increased by 50% if the hydrophilic treatment reduces the angle to 10 ° or less (COS 0 ° / CO
S10 ° {1.02 COS10 ° / COS50 °}
1.5).

Here, as a specific method for manufacturing an article having a modified surface shown in FIG. 20, a wettability of the treating agent with respect to a base material using a good polymer solvent used for surface modification is used. The method of using the improving agent will be described below. In this method, after a treatment liquid (surface modification solution) in which the polymer of the surface modifier is uniformly dissolved is applied on the surface of the base material,
While removing the solvent contained in the treatment liquid, the surface modifier polymer contained in the treatment liquid is oriented as described above.

More specifically, in a solvent that is a good solvent for the polymer and sufficiently wets the substrate surface, a liquid (surface treatment solution,
Preferably, it is desirable to contain pure water. ), And applying a surface treatment liquid to the surface of the substrate, followed by evaporating and drying (for example, in a 60 ° C. oven) to remove the solvent in the surface treatment liquid.

Here, if the solvent contains an organic solvent which shows sufficient wettability to the surface of the substrate and dissolves the polymer as a surface modifier, the uniformity of the polymer used for surface modification can be improved. From the viewpoint of facilitating proper application, it is more desirable for the present invention. Furthermore, even when the concentration of the polymer as a surface modifier increases due to the evaporation of the solvent, the polymer is uniformly dispersed in the applied liquid layer to maintain a sufficiently dissolved state. Having it can also be mentioned as an effect. In addition, the surface treatment liquid
As a result of sufficient wetting, the polymer of the surface modifier can be evenly spread on the surface of the base material, resulting in a case where surface modification is performed on the surface of each fiber of a fibrous body in which many fibers are intertwined. This makes it possible to uniformly coat the polymer even on a surface having such a complicated shape.

In addition to the volatile first solvent which is wettable to the substrate surface and is a good solvent for the polymer, the surface treatment liquid has a good solvent for the polymer. However, a second solvent having relatively poor wettability with respect to the substrate surface as compared with the first solvent and having a relatively low volatility as compared with the first solvent can be used in combination. As such an example, a combination of water and isopropyl alcohol, which will be described later, in the case where the base material surface is made of a polyolefin-based resin and polyoxyalkylene / polyditylsiloxane is used as the polymer can be mentioned.

Here, the effects of adding an acid as a cleavage catalyst to the surface treatment solution may be as follows. For example, in the process of evaporating and drying the surface treatment liquid, when the concentration of the acid component is increased due to the evaporation of the material, a high concentration of acid accompanying heating causes partial decomposition (cleavage) of the polymer used for surface modification. , By the generation of macromolecular fractions,
Orientation to finer parts of the substrate surface becomes possible, and in the final process of evaporative drying, through the polymerization of the surface modifier polymer by recombination between polymer cleavage parts,
This has the effect of promoting the formation of a polymerized film (polymer coating, preferably a monomolecular film).

When the concentration of the acid component is increased due to the evaporation of the solvent in the process of evaporating and drying the surface treatment liquid, the high-concentration acid removes impurities on the substrate surface and in the vicinity of the surface. The effect of forming a clean substrate surface is also expected. Such a clean surface is also expected to improve the physical adhesion between the base material / molecule and the polymer of the surface modifier.

At this time, in some cases, the base material surface is decomposed by the high-concentration acid accompanied by heating, and active sites appear on the base material surface. Is supposed to occur when a secondary chemical reaction in which is bonded. In some cases, it is considered that the improvement in the stabilization of the adhesion of the surface modifier on the base material due to the chemical adsorption between the secondary surface modifier and the base material partially exists.

Next, the cleavage of the main skeleton having a surface energy substantially equal to the surface energy of the substrate of the surface modifier (including the hydrophilic treatment liquid) and the condensation of the fragmentation product as a cleavage product on the substrate surface are carried out. The polymer film forming step will be described with reference to FIGS. 21 to 27 by taking as an example the case where the functional group is a hydrophilic group and imparts hydrophilicity to the hydrophobic substrate surface. The hydrophilic group has a structure capable of imparting hydrophilicity as a whole group, and the hydrophilic group itself, or even a group having a hydrophobic chain or a hydrophobic group, has a hydrophilic property by being substituted and arranged. Any substance having a function as a group that can be provided can be used as a hydrophilic group.

FIG. 21 shows an enlarged view after the application of the hydrophilic treatment liquid. At this point, the polymers 1 to 4 and the acid 7 as the hydrophilizing agent in the hydrophilic treatment liquid 8 are uniformly dissolved in the hydrophilic treatment liquid on the surface of the substrate 6. FIG. 22 shows an enlarged view of the drying step after applying the hydrophilic treatment liquid. In the drying with heating in the drying step after the application of the hydrophilic treatment liquid, the surface of the substrate 6 and the impurities on the surface near the surface are removed by the increase in the concentration of the acid component due to the evaporation of the solvent. As a result, a pure surface of the base material 6 is formed, and the physical adsorption force of the base material 6 and the polymers 1 to 4 as the surface modifier is improved. In addition, in the drying with heating in the drying step after the application of the hydrophilic treatment liquid, there is also a portion where a part of the polymers 1 to 4 of the hydrophilizing agent is cleaved due to an increase in the concentration of the acid component due to evaporation of the solvent.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the decomposition of polymer 1 by a concentrated acid.
3 is shown. FIG. 24 shows the state of adsorption of the hydrophilizing agent decomposed in this manner on the substrate. Further, as the solvent evaporates, a main skeleton having surface energy substantially equal to the surface energy of the base material of the finely divided materials 1a to 4b from the polymer constituting the hydrophilizing agent that has reached the solution saturation is formed by washing. And selectively adsorbs to the surface of the pure substrate 6 thus prepared. As a result, the group 1-2 having a surface energy different from the surface energy of the substrate 6 in the surface modifier is oriented outward with respect to the substrate 6.

Therefore, on the surface of the substrate 6, a main skeleton portion having an interface energy substantially equal to the surface (interface) energy of this surface is oriented, and the group 1 having a surface energy different from the surface energy of the substrate 6 is oriented. In the case where the group 1-2 is a hydrophilic group, hydrophilicity is imparted to the surface of the base material 6 so that -2 is oriented outward on the opposite side to the surface of the base material 6, The surface is modified. FIG. 25 shows a schematic diagram of the state of adsorption of the hydrophilic agent and the surface of the substrate after application and drying of the hydrophilic treatment liquid.

By using a polymer, such as polysiloxane, which can be bonded to at least a part of the fragment by condensation or the like, such as polysiloxane, the fragment adsorbed on the surface of the substrate 6 is used. A bond is generated between the layers to polymerize, and the film of the hydrophilic agent can be further strengthened, and the hydrophilicity of the surface of the substrate 6 can be maintained for a long time. Further, since this film is formed as a thin film at the molecular level, the weight of the substrate 6 hardly increases. FIG. 26 shows a schematic view of the recombination by such a condensation reaction. In addition, the mechanism of formation of a fragmented product by cleavage and polycondensation by condensation when polysiloxane is used is as follows.

[0104] That is, with the drying of controlled surface treatment liquid in the surface to be treated, and concentrated oxidation concentration of dilute acid contained in this surface treatment liquid increases, its concentrated acid (eg, H ₂
SO ₄ ) cleaves the siloxane bonds of the polysiloxane, resulting in the production of polysiloxane fractions and silyl sulfate (Scheme 1). Then, as the treatment liquid existing on the surface to be treated further dries, the concentration of the finely divided material present in the surface treatment liquid also increases, and the contact probability between the finely divided materials is improved. As a result, as shown in Scheme 2, the fragmented products are condensed with each other, and the siloxane bond is regenerated. Also, when the surface to be treated is hydrophobic, the silyl sulfate as a by-product also has the methyl groups of the silyl sulfate oriented toward the surface to be treated and the sulfone groups oriented in a direction different from the surface to be treated. However, it is supposed that it contributes to the hydrophilization of the surface to be treated.

[0105]

Embedded image FIG. 26 schematically shows an example of the state of the surface treatment liquid when a liquid having a composition in which water is present in the solvent is used as the surface treatment liquid. When water is present in the solvent of the treatment liquid, the water and the volatile organic solvent evaporate during evaporation of the solvent from the treatment liquid for the purpose of hydrophilization accompanied by heating (gas molecules of water are 8c, organic organic 8 gas molecules in the solvent
b)). At that time, since the evaporation rate of the volatile organic solvent is higher than that of water, the concentration of water in the processing liquid increases, and the surface tension of the processing liquid increases. As a result, a difference in surface energy occurs at the interface between the processing surface of the substrate 6 and the processing liquid, and the surface energy of the processing liquid of the substrate 6 and the processing liquid (water-containing layer 8a) whose concentration of water has increased due to evaporation. At the interface, portions of the finely divided materials 1a to 4b from the polymer as the hydrophilizing agent having surface energy substantially equal to the surface to be treated of the substrate 6 are oriented toward the surface of the substrate 6 to be treated. On the other hand, the portion having the hydrophilic group of the fragmented product from the polymer as the hydrophilizing agent is oriented toward the water-containing layer 8a where the concentration of water is increased by the evaporation of the organic solvent. As a result, it is considered that the predetermined orientation of the finely divided polymer is further improved.

FIG. 28 shows an example of a surface modification procedure based on the above-described surface modification principle. At the start of production, the article and the treatment liquid are provided, and the treatment liquid is applied to the surface of the article to be modified (the surface to be modified), the excess material is removed from the surface to be modified, and the height of the surface is improved. An article having a modified surface can be obtained through a treatment solution concentration / evaporation step for cleavage of molecules and orientation of the fragmentation, a polymer condensation step for polymerization by bonding between the fragmentation, and the like. .

The treatment liquid concentration step and the treatment liquid evaporation step can be performed by a continuous heating and drying step, preferably at a temperature higher than room temperature and below the boiling point of the solvent (for example, 60 ° C.). When the polysiloxane is used together with water, an acid and an organic solvent (for example, isopropyl alcohol) to modify the surface, the time can be, for example, about 45 minutes to 2 hours.
In the use of a 0% by weight aqueous solution of isopropyl alcohol, for example, about 2 hours. The drying time can be shortened by reducing the water content.

In the example of FIG. 28, the fragment is formed on the surface to be modified of the article by cleavage of the polymer. To be oriented.

As described above, the composition of the treatment liquid has, for example, wettability to the surface to be modified for improving the wettability of the treatment liquid to the surface to be modified, A wettability improver that is a good solvent for the polymer that is the active ingredient,
A composition comprising a solvent, a polymer cleavage catalyst, a functional group for imparting a modifying effect to a surface to be modified, and a polymer having a group for obtaining a function of adhering to the surface to be modified. Is available.

<Gradation Treatment for Hydrophilization>
In addition, in the present embodiment, in particular, as described above, the density of the hydrophilized portion with respect to the fiber absorber 14 is changed depending on the region. However, such a method of processing will be described with some examples.

First, the first method will be described with reference to FIG. In the first method, as shown in FIG.
Only a part of the untreated fiber absorber 14 ′ is immersed in the hydrophilic treatment liquid 15 described above. As a result, the treatment liquid 15 adheres to the entire surface of the fiber of the fiber absorber 14 'in the part immersed in the treatment liquid 15, but in the part not immersed in the treatment liquid 15, the treatment is performed by the capillary force between the fibers. Since the liquid 15 rises, the processing liquid 15 increases as the height of the processing liquid 15 from the liquid level increases due to variations in the size of the gap between the fibers.
The ratio of the portion to which is adhered decreases.

In this state, the fiber absorbent 14 ′ is
5B, through the drying process after the application of the hydrophilic treatment liquid, the fiber absorber 14 in which the density of the hydrophilized portion gradually decreases from the lower end toward the upper end is obtained as shown in FIG. 5B. Can be

Next, the second method will be described with reference to FIG. In the second method, first, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a fiber absorber 14 "in which the hydrophilic treatment liquid is uniformly soaked throughout is prepared.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), a part (the upper end in this example) of the fiber absorbent 14 ″ is compressed. 1
As the gap between the 4 "fibers becomes smaller, it moves toward the uncompressed portion. In this example, the hydrophilic treatment liquid moves from the upper end to the lower end of the fiber absorber 14".

Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the compression to the fiber absorber 14 "is released. Thereby, the compressed portion returns to the original shape by the restoring force of the fiber absorber 14". The hydrophilic treatment liquid attached to the fiber surface of the compressed portion is dispersed by the capillary force generated at the time of restoration of the fiber absorber 14 ". As a result, the compressed portion is compressed by the compression. Is higher, the hydrophilic treatment liquid is dispersed and adhered so that the adhesion density of the hydrophilic treatment liquid is lower. That is, the portion of the fiber absorber 14 ″ to which the hydrophilic treatment liquid is adhered. Gradually increases from the compressed portion to the uncompressed portion.

It should be noted here that the impregnation amount of the hydrophilic treatment liquid into the fiber absorber 14 "in the state shown in FIG. 6A is reduced when the fiber absorber 14" is restored. The amount is such that the hydrophilic treatment liquid that has moved to the non-existing part does not return to the compressed part again.

Finally, such a fiber absorbent 14 ″ is subjected to the above-mentioned drying treatment after application of the hydrophilic treatment liquid, so that the hydrophilicity gradually increases from the compressed portion to the uncompressed portion. A weakened fiber absorber is obtained.

Next, the third method will be described with reference to FIG. In the third method, first, as in the second method, the fiber absorber 1 uniformly impregnated with the hydrophilic treatment liquid as a whole is used.
4 "is prepared. Next, the fiber absorber 14" is placed on the periphery of the turntable 16 and the turntable 16 is rotated. As a result, the hydrophilic treatment liquid in the fiber absorber 14 ″ moves outward with respect to the turntable 16 due to the centrifugal force, and the density of the portion where the hydrophilic treatment liquid is adhered decreases inside the turntable. The adhesion density of the hydrophilic treatment liquid increases from the inner side to the outer side with respect to 16. Here, the fiber absorber 14 ″ is used.
The rotation speed of the turntable 16 is set to 60 rpm to 300 rpm (1 s ^-1 to 5
s ^-1 ). In addition, for efficient processing, it is preferable that a plurality of fiber absorbers 14 "are placed on the turntable 16 and the plurality of fiber absorbers 14" are simultaneously processed, as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the fiber absorber 14 ″ is removed from the turntable 16, and the drying process is performed after the application of the hydrophilic treatment liquid, whereby the fiber absorber whose hydrophilicity is gradually weakened from one end to the other end is obtained. can get.

Next, a fourth method will be described with reference to FIG. In the fourth method, similarly to the second method, the fiber absorber 14 ″ in which the hydrophilic treatment liquid is uniformly soaked throughout is prepared. Hot air is blown from one end of the 14 ″.
At this time, in the initial stage, a strong hot air is blown to move the hydrophilic treatment liquid in the fiber absorber 14 ″ to the other end side. In this case as well, the fiber absorber 1
The strength of the hot air is adjusted so that the hydrophilic treatment liquid remains even at one end of the 4 ". When the hydrophilic treatment liquid moves, the intensity of the hot air is adjusted to such an extent that the hydrophilic treatment liquid does not move. The hydrophilic treatment liquid in 14 ″ is dried. As a result, a fiber absorber whose hydrophilicity is gradually weakened from the other end toward one end is obtained.

Incidentally, depending on the shape of the ink tank and the arrangement of the supply ports, there is a case where the above method cannot cope. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the tank housing 21 that stores the fiber absorber 24 has a horizontally long rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the supply port 22 is open at an end of the bottom surface of the tank housing 21, In the above-described method, the lower right end in the state shown in FIG. 9 is not subjected to the hydrophilization treatment even though it is far from the supply port 22, or the density of the portion subjected to the hydrophilization treatment is small. I will.

Such a case can be dealt with by applying the method described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 10A, one end of an untreated fiber absorber 24 'is immersed in the hydrophilic treatment liquid 25. Next, the fiber absorber 24 'is pulled up from the hydrophilic treatment liquid 25, and as shown in FIG. 10B, the fiber absorber 24' is rotated by 90 °, and as shown in FIG. 24 ′ is immersed in the hydrophilic treatment liquid 25 again. Then, by performing the above-mentioned drying treatment after applying the hydrophilic treatment liquid to the fiber absorber 24 ', as shown in FIG. 9, the hydrophilicity gradually decreases from the region A toward the region E, Specifically, supply port 2
Thus, the fiber absorber 24 that has been subjected to a hydrophilic treatment can be obtained so that hydrophilicity is strongest in the vicinity of two surfaces adjacent to each other at a position distant from the surface 2 and becomes weaker as the distance from the surface increases.

In the case of the horizontally long ink tank 20 as shown in FIG. 9, if there is a gap between the tank housing 21 and the fiber absorber 24 on the inner bottom surface of the ink tank, this area E In some cases, the ink in the gap moves toward the region A and separates from the supply port 22. Therefore, in order to prevent such a phenomenon, the tank housing 2
It is desirable that there is no gap between the fiber absorber 1 and the fiber absorber 24.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink tank according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line CC of the ink tank shown in FIG. FIG.

As in the first embodiment, the ink tank 30 of the present embodiment also includes a tank housing 31 having an air communication port 33 and a supply port 32, and a fiber absorber 34 accommodated in the tank housing 31. And The fiber absorber 34 is also the first
In the same manner as in the embodiment, the fiber bundle is made of a fiber bundle in which the fiber directions of PP and PE are substantially aligned, and the surface of the fiber constituting the fiber absorber 34 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. .

The difference between the first embodiment and this embodiment is that
In the present embodiment, the supply port 3
2 is that the fiber absorber 34 is provided with a hydrophilization treatment section at least around the supply port 32 so that the fiber absorber 34 is subjected to a hydrophilization treatment so that the fiber absorber 34 becomes weaker as the distance increases. It is not necessary to perform the hydrophilic treatment on the entire fiber absorber 34, and the hydrophilic treatment may not be performed at a position far from the supply port 32. Note that in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, an approximate boundary between the first region and the second region and a boundary between the second region and the region that has not been subjected to the hydrophilic treatment are indicated by solid lines. It is schematically shown and does not actually have such a clear boundary.

Generally, in the vicinity of the supply port 32, ink is always held in order to prevent running out of ink to a recording head (not shown). For this reason, conventionally, a configuration has been used in which a press-contact body with increased capillary force is installed in the supply port 32, or a negative pressure generating member is compressed near the supply port 32 to increase the capillary force. However, such a configuration in which the capillary force is increased leads to an increase in the flow resistance of the ink, which may be an obstacle in increasing the recording speed in the future where a large amount of ink supply is required. Therefore, by increasing the hydrophilicity near the supply port 32 with respect to other parts as in the present embodiment, the ink is positively held without increasing the flow resistance of the ink around the supply port 32. be able to.

On the other hand, in order to supply ink from the ink tank 30 to the recording head satisfactorily while preventing ink leakage from the recording head, it is necessary to maintain the internal pressure of the ink tank 30 at a proper negative pressure. Here, the relationship between the internal pressure of the ink tank 30 and the amount of ink derived from the supply port 32 will be considered with reference to FIG. Here, the negative pressure means a total negative pressure including the static negative pressure and the dynamic negative pressure.

FIG. 13 shows an ink tank containing a fiber absorber that has been subjected to a hydrophilic treatment so that the hydrophilicity is highest near the supply port and gradually decreases as the distance from the supply port increases, and 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the ink tank internal pressure and the amount of ink drawn out for an ink tank containing a fiber absorber that has not been treated.

As shown in FIG. 13, in the case where the hydrophilization treatment is not performed, as shown by the broken line, the ink tank internal pressure decreases substantially linearly with the derivation of the ink. However, as shown by the solid line, the rate of change of the internal pressure, that is, the rate of decrease of the internal pressure, becomes smaller as the amount of discharged ink becomes larger, as indicated by the solid line, as shown by the solid line. This is because the ink subjected to the hydrophilization treatment tends to move as the ink level in the ink tank approaches the supply port as the ink is drawn out, so the dynamic negative pressure is lower than that of the untreated ink. This is because it becomes smaller.

As described above, the hydrophilic treatment of the fiber absorber is performed such that the hydrophilicity increases around the supply port and decreases as the distance from the supply port increases, so that the ink accompanying the ink derivation from the supply port can be obtained. Fluctuation of the negative pressure in the tank can be suppressed. This has the advantages described below.
As shown in FIG. 13, when the limit negative pressure at which ink cannot be supplied from the ink tank to the recording head is p _L ,
The ink deriving amount that reaches the limit negative pressure p _L is V1 when the ink has not been treated, and V2 when the hydrophilic treatment has been performed. Therefore, when the hydrophilization treatment is performed, more ink in the ink tank can be used by V2−V1 = ΔV. In other words, by performing the hydrophilic treatment as in the present embodiment,
The use efficiency of the ink in the ink tank is improved, and the running cost can be reduced. Further, when an arbitrary ink leading volume was V _x, [Delta] P the case from the initial negative pressure of ink output volume = 0, untreated for the negative pressure of the amount of change until the derived ink V _{x 1} , it made in the case of hydrophilic treatment with P _2. As described above, since the amount of change in the negative pressure due to the derivation of the ink at the beginning of using the ink and the depletion of the ink can be suppressed, stable printing independent of the amount of the derived ink can be realized.

In the present embodiment, since the hydrophilic property is the highest around the supply port 32, when the ink is injected during the manufacture of the ink tank 30, the ink is injected from the supply port 32 so that the ink is absorbed by the fiber absorber. Since the ink is positively absorbed by the ink 34, the ink can be stably injected without reducing the pressure in the ink tank 30.

Next, the fiber absorber 34 of the present embodiment will be described.
Will be described with reference to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 14A, an ink tank 30 in which an untreated fiber absorber 34a is stored in a tank housing 31 is prepared.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The syringe 36 holding the hydrophilic treatment liquid 35 described in the embodiment is inserted through the atmosphere communication port 33 of the tank housing 31,
The syringe 36 injects the hydrophilic treatment liquid 35 into the fiber absorber 34a. Thereby, the hydrophilic treatment liquid 35 spreads radially in the fiber absorber 34a.

At the same time as the injection of the hydrophilic processing liquid 35 or when the hydrophilic processing liquid 35 spreads to some extent, the hydrophilic processing liquid 35 is forcibly supplied from the supply port 32 of the tank housing 31 as shown in FIG. Suction. Thereby, the hydrophilic treatment liquid 35
Is drawn into the supply port 32 side, and the content of the hydrophilic treatment liquid 35 in the fiber absorber 34 is adjusted by the tip of the syringe 36 and the supply port 32.
Is highest in the region between the two, and decreases as the distance from the region increases.

Finally, the fiber absorber 34 containing the hydrophilic processing liquid 35 is subjected to a drying step after the application of the hydrophilic processing liquid in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the ink tank 30 shown in FIGS. Is obtained.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 15 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of an ink jet head cartridge which is a liquid container according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, the ink jet head cartridge of this embodiment has an ink jet head unit 160, a holder 150, and a negative pressure control chamber unit 1.
00 and an ink tank unit 200. The negative pressure control chamber unit 100 is fixed in the holder 150, and the ink jet head unit 160 is fixed below the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 via the holder. The negative pressure control chamber unit 100 includes a negative pressure control chamber container 110 having an opening formed on the upper surface, a negative pressure control chamber lid 120 attached to the upper surface of the negative pressure control chamber container 110,
It comprises two absorbers 130 and 140 that are loaded in the negative pressure control chamber container 110 and hold the ink by impregnation. The absorbers 130 and 140 are stacked in upper and lower stages in the use state of the ink jet head cartridge, and are closely contacted with each other and filled in the negative pressure control chamber container 110. The capillary force generated by the lower stage absorber 140 is Since the upper absorber 130 has a higher capillary force than the upper absorber 130, the lower absorber 140 has a higher ink holding power. To the inkjet head unit 160,
Negative pressure control chamber unit 100 through ink supply pipe 165
Is supplied.

The absorber 130 communicates with the atmosphere communication port 115, and the absorber 140 is in close contact with the absorber 130 on its upper surface and in close contact with the filter 161 on its lower surface. The boundary surface 113c between the absorbers 130 and 140 is higher than the upper end of the joint pipe 180 as the communicating part in the posture in use.

The absorbers 130 and 140 are formed by entanglement of polyolefin resin fibers (for example, biaxial fibers in which PE is formed on the surface layer of PP). In addition, the upper absorber 130 of each of the absorbers 130 and 140 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment so as to exist as a layer that intersects with the direction of gravity in the posture during use. In FIG. 15, the region of the absorber 130 that has been subjected to the hydrophilic treatment is uniformly indicated by a reticulated line. However, in the present embodiment, the density of the portion subjected to the hydrophilic treatment with respect to the fibers in this region is increased from below to above. The surface is subjected to a hydrophilization treatment so as to become gradually smaller.

The boundary surface 113c between the absorbers 130 and 140 is located above the joint pipe 180 in a posture during use, preferably, as in this embodiment,
In the gas-liquid exchange operation described later, the interface between the ink and the gas in the absorbers 130 and 140 during the gas-liquid exchange operation can be used as the boundary surface 113c. It is possible to stabilize the static negative pressure in the head portion during operation. Furthermore, the absorber 13
By making the strength of the capillary force of the absorber 140 relatively higher than the capillary force of 0, when ink is present in both the absorbers 130 and 140, the ink in the upper absorber 130 is consumed. , The ink in the lower absorber 140 can be consumed. When the gas-liquid interface fluctuates due to an environmental change, first, the absorber 140 and the absorber 130
After the area near the boundary surface 113c between the ink and the space 140 is filled, the ink enters the absorber 130.

The ink tank unit 200 includes the holder 1
It is configured to be detachable from the 50. A joint pipe 180, which is a part to be joined, provided on the surface of the negative pressure control chamber container 110 on the ink tank unit 200 side is inserted and connected inside the joint port 230 of the ink tank unit 200. Its joint pipe 18
The ink in the ink tank unit 200 is connected to the negative pressure control chamber unit 1 through the connection between the joint 0 and the joint port 230.
The negative pressure control room unit 100 is
And an ink tank unit 200. The portion above the joint pipe 180 on the surface of the negative pressure control chamber container 110 on the ink tank unit 200 side has an ink tank unit 200 protruding from the surface.
An ID member 170 for preventing erroneous mounting of the camera is integrally provided.

[0144] A negative pressure control chamber lid 120 has an air communication port for communicating the inside of the negative pressure control chamber container 110 with the outside air, here, the absorber 130 housed in the negative pressure control chamber container 110 and the outside air. 115 is formed, and the negative pressure control chamber container 1
In the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port 115 in the space 10, a space formed by a rib protruding from the surface of the negative pressure control chamber lid 120 on the absorber 130 side, and a region where ink (liquid) in the absorber does not exist. , A buffer space 116 is provided.

A valve mechanism is provided in the joint port 230. The valve mechanism includes a first valve frame 260a, a second valve frame 2
60b, a valve body 261, a valve lid 262, and an urging member 263. The valve body 261 is slidably supported within the second valve body 260b and is urged by the urging member 263 toward the first valve frame 260a. Joint port 2
In a state where the joint pipe 180 is not inserted into the inside 30, the edge of the portion on the first valve frame 260a side of the valve body 261 is pressed by the first valve frame 260a by the urging force of the urging member 263. The airtightness in the ink tank unit 200 is maintained.

The joint pipe 180 is inserted into the joint port 230, and the valve body 261 is pressed by the joint pipe 180 and moves in a direction away from the first valve frame 260a, thereby forming a side surface of the second valve frame 260b. The inside of the joint pipe 180 communicates with the inside of the ink tank unit 200 through the opened opening. Thereby, the airtightness in the ink tank unit 200 is released, and the ink in the ink tank unit 200 is
The air is supplied into the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 through the joint 30 and the joint pipe 180. That is, when the valve in the joint port 230 is opened, the inside of the ink storage unit of the ink tank unit 200 that has been in the sealed state is brought into a communicating state only through the opening.

The ink tank unit 200 includes an ink container 201 and an ID member 250. I
The D member 250 is for preventing erroneous mounting when the ink tank unit 200 and the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 are mounted. The ID member 250 is formed with the above-described first valve frame 260a, and a valve mechanism that controls the flow of ink in the joint port 230 using the first valve body 260a is configured. . This valve mechanism
The opening and closing operation is performed by being engaged with the joint pipe 180 of the negative pressure control chamber unit 100. On the front surface of the ID member 250 on the side of the negative pressure control chamber unit 100, an ID concave portion 252 for preventing erroneous insertion of the ink tank unit 200 is formed.

The ink container 201 is a substantially polygonal column-shaped hollow container having a negative pressure generating function. The ink container 201 includes a housing 210 and an inner bag 220,
The housing 210 and the inner bag 220 are peelable. The inner bag 220 has flexibility, and
0 can be deformed with the derivation of the ink stored inside. Further, the inner bag 220 has a pinch-off portion (welded portion) 22.
The inner bag 220 is supported by the pinch-off portion 221 so as to engage with the housing 210. Also, the housing 21
The outside air communication port 222 is provided in the vicinity of the pinch-off portion 221 of the airbag 0, and the atmosphere can be introduced between the inner bag 220 and the housing 210 through the outside air communication port 222.

The ID member 250 is joined to each of the housing 210 and the inner bag 220 of the ink container 201. The ID member 250 has a seal surface 102 of the inner bag 220 corresponding to an ink outlet of the ink container 201 with respect to the inner bag 220, and a joint port 23 of the ID member 250.
Joining is performed by welding the corresponding part of the zero part. As a result, the supply port of the ink container 201 is completely sealed, and the
Ink leakage from the sealing portion between the D member 250 and the ink container 201 is prevented.

The housing 210 and the ID member 250 are
An engaging portion 210a formed on the upper surface of the housing 210;
The ID member 250 is almost fixed to the ink container 201 by being engaged with the click portion 250 a formed on the upper portion of the member 250.

Next, the movement of ink between the ink tank unit 200 and the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 will be described.

When the ink tank unit 200 and the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 are connected, the ink in the ink storage container 201 is maintained at a negative pressure until the pressure in the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 and the pressure in the ink storage container 201 become equal. Moves into the control room unit 100 (this state is referred to as a use start state). When the ink is started to be consumed by the inkjet head unit 160, the static electricity generated in both the inner bag 220 and the absorber 140 is generated. The ink held in both the inner bag 220 and the absorber 140 is consumed while balancing in the direction in which the pressure value increases. Here, when the ink is held in the absorber 130, the ink in the absorber 130 is also consumed.

Negative pressure control chamber unit 1
As soon as the amount of ink in 00 decreases and the joint pipe communicates with the atmosphere, gas is immediately introduced into inner bag 220, and the ink in inner bag 220 moves into negative pressure control chamber unit 100 instead. Thereby, the absorbers 130, 1
Reference numeral 40 holds a substantially constant negative pressure for ink discharge while maintaining the gas-liquid interface. After all of the ink in the inner bag 220 moves into the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 through such a gas-liquid exchange state, the ink remaining in the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 is consumed.

As described above, the negative pressure control chamber unit 10
In the ink-jet head cartridge having the ink tank unit 200 and the ink tank unit 200, when the ink and the gas in the ink container 201 expand rapidly due to an environmental change or the like, the ink flows into the negative pressure control chamber container 110, and the negative pressure control is performed. The ink level in the chamber container 110 rises.
At this time, the ink flows to find a place in the absorbers 130 and 140 where the fiber density with low flow resistance is low. This alleviates a sudden increase in pressure in the container, but in order to sufficiently exhibit such a pressure relief function (also referred to as a buffer function), in a conventional liquid container, the upper volume of the negative pressure control chamber container is reduced. Had to be larger than necessary. However, by providing a hydrophilic treatment area in the absorber 130 as in the present embodiment, the flow of ink above the absorber due to a rapid pressure rise is captured in the hydrophilic treatment area, and is indicated by an arrow in FIG. As shown, they can be scattered in a direction that intersects the direction of gravity. Thus, the buffer function can be sufficiently exerted without increasing the upper volume of the negative pressure control chamber container 110 more than necessary. Further, in particular, by performing the hydrophilic treatment of the absorber 130 so that the treatment density becomes smaller as it goes up unevenly, the ink is sequentially captured from the lower side in the hydrophilic treatment region. The ink does not rise beyond the hydrophilic treatment area when the ink is not completely captured in the hydrotreating area.

In the example shown in FIG. 15, the upper absorbent 13
Although the example in which the hydrophilization treatment area is provided in a part of 0 is shown, particularly in this embodiment, since the boundary surface 130c between the two absorbers 130 and 140 is located above the joint pipe 180, FIG. As shown in (2), the same effect as described above can be obtained even if the entire upper absorber 130 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment so that the hydrophilicity decreases from lower to upper.

Further, in this embodiment, the ink jet cartridge in which the negative pressure control chamber unit 100 and the ink tank unit 200 are separable is shown, but these may be inseparable forms. Further, the ink storage container 201 of the ink tank unit 200 has a deformable inner bag 2.
Although the structure has 20, it may be a structure having only the housing 210. Ink container 201 is housing 2
In the case where the ink storage container 201 is composed of only the negative pressure control chamber, the buffer function of the ink storage container 201 itself is lost when the pressure inside the ink storage container 201 suddenly rises due to an environmental change or the like. A configuration in which the buffer function of the unit 100 is sufficiently exhibited is more preferable.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, with reference to FIG. 18, a description will be given of a liquid discharge recording apparatus which carries out recording by mounting the liquid container according to each of the above embodiments. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a liquid ejection recording apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 18, the liquid container 1000
Are fixedly supported by the positioning means (not shown) of the carriage HC on the main body of the liquid ejection recording apparatus IJRA, and are detachably mounted on the carriage HC. A recording head (not shown) for ejecting recording liquid droplets may be provided in advance on the carriage HC, or may be provided in advance on the ink supply port of the liquid container 1000. The liquid container 1000 is the same as that shown in any of the first to third embodiments described above, and has at least a part of a fiber absorber that has been subjected to a hydrophilic treatment.

The forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5130 is transmitted to the lead screw 5040 via drive transmission gears 5110, 5100, and 5090 to rotate the lead screw 5040, and the carriage HC is rotated by the spiral groove 505 of the lead screw 5040.
By being engaged with 0, it is possible to reciprocate along the guide shaft 5030.

Reference numeral 5020 denotes a cap for closing the front surface of the recording head. The cap 5020 is used for performing suction recovery of the recording head through an opening in the cap by a suction unit (not shown). Cap 5020 is gear 508
The recording head can be moved by the driving force transmitted through the recording heads 0, 5090 and the like to cover the ejection port surfaces of the respective recording heads. In the vicinity of the cap 5020, a cleaning blade (not shown) is provided, and this blade is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction in the figure. The blade is not limited to this form, and it goes without saying that a known cleaning blade can be applied to this embodiment.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired processing can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5040 when the carriage HC moves to the home position. If the desired operation is performed in any of the above, any of the present embodiments can be applied.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 19E is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink tank according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In the ink tank 10 of the present embodiment, the ink (a liquid such as a water-resistant strengthening liquid for performing a water-resistant treatment on a recording medium before the ink is ejected) is applied to a recording head that performs recording by ejecting the ink from an ejection port. And a fiber absorber 14 stored in the tank housing 11 and holding the ink in a negative pressure state. The tank housing 11 has an air communication port 13 for allowing the fiber absorber 14 housed therein to communicate with the outside air.

The fiber absorber 14 is entirely subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. In the present embodiment, the hydrophilic treatment is performed on the entire fiber absorber 14, but the supply port 12
Is strongest in the vicinity of the surface, and the supply port 12
The hydrophilic treatment is performed so that it becomes weaker as the distance from the object increases.

Referring to FIG. 19, a method for obtaining a region in which the hydrophilic effect of the hydrophilization treatment section on the fiber absorber 14 is relatively excellent and a region in which the hydrophilic effect is relatively poor will be described.

As shown in FIG. 19 (a), the untreated fiber absorber 14 is immersed in a hydrophilizing treatment liquid 15, and as shown in FIG. 19 (b), a portion requiring an initial hydrophilic effect is hydrophilized. The treatment liquid 15 is attached. Thereafter, the process proceeds to the drying step of the hydrophilizing treatment liquid 15, and at this time, as shown in FIG.
Where the durability of the hydrophilic effect is not required, a drying step without applying heat is performed.

Then, the portion to which heat is applied as usual is formed on the surface of the fiber after the hydrophilization treatment, and the portion to which the drying step without applying heat is applied, Cleavage of macromolecules contained in the hydrophilizing agent. Since no condensation is performed, the hydrophilizing agent is present as a lump on the fiber surface and is not bonded to the fiber surface. The portion where the hydrophilizing agent is solidified contributes to the initial wettability of the ink, but is more easily peeled off than the portion subjected to the heat treatment. Therefore, as the time passes, the vicinity of the supply port 12 becomes a region where the hydrophilic treatment effect is maintained and the hydrophilicity is relatively strong, but the portion away from the supply port 12 does not have the sustained hydrophilic treatment effect. The region becomes relatively weak in hydrophilicity.

The fiber absorber 14 is inserted into the tank housing 11 as shown in FIG. When the ink is injected into the ink tank 10, the area where the initial hydrophilic effect is enhanced is extended to the periphery of the air communication port 13, so that the ink can be easily injected from the other air communication port 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 19E, after the ink is injected, the hydrophilizing portion near the air communication port 13 is peeled off, and the hydrophilic effect is reduced.
This results in the fiber absorber 14 having an enhanced hydrophilic treatment effect. Therefore, by adopting the configuration of this embodiment, FIG.
In addition to the advantages described in the second embodiment with reference to 1 and the like in which the hydrophilic effect is enhanced toward the supply port, the initial ink injection can be facilitated.

As described above with reference to some embodiments, the present invention relates to an ink-jet fiber absorber for holding ink by negative pressure, and a method for forming a hydrophilic surface on fibers constituting the fiber absorber. Is to be processed,
According to the surface modification of the above-mentioned articles used in the present invention, the object of the surface modification is not limited to the fiber, and various articles and uses can be mentioned depending on the properties and types of the functional groups of the polymer. . Hereinafter, some examples will be described.

(1) In the case where the functional group is a hydrophilic group As the article, an article which requires an absorbency such as an ink absorber used in an ink jet system (when an olefin fiber is contained, it can be dealt with from the above embodiment) ), Hydrophilicity capable of absorbing liquid (such as the water-based ink described in the above embodiments) instantaneously can be imparted by surface modification. It is also effective when liquid retention is required.

(2) In the case where the functional group is a lipophilic group According to the surface modification applied to the present invention, it is possible to effectively give a function to those requiring lipophilicity.

(3) The surface modification can be applied to all other applications that can be achieved by using the surface modification mechanism.

In particular, as a treating agent, a wettability improver (eg, isopropyl alcohol: IPA) capable of improving wettability to the article surface and a wettability capable of achieving a polymer liquid medium and a medium capable of causing polymer cleavage are used. In the case of using a polymer having a functional group and a surface energy different from this group and having a group (or group of groups) substantially equivalent to the partial surface energy of the article surface, Surface modification by condensation after cleavage exerts particularly excellent effects, and can surely provide uniformity and characteristics that have not been obtained conventionally.

The fiber may contain a neutralizing agent (such as calcium stearate or hydrotalcite) and other additives used when molding or forming the fiber. Both the elution of these inks and the deposition by the ink can be reduced, and when the polymer film of the present invention is formed, these problems can be solved. Therefore, according to the present invention, the range of use of the additive such as the neutralizing agent can be expanded, the characteristic change of the ink itself can be prevented, and the characteristic change of the ink jet head itself can be prevented.

[0175]

EXAMPLES Specific examples of the hydrophilic treatment for the fiber absorber and evaluation examples thereof will be described below in more detail. Note that the following specific example is for evaluating the hydrophilicity of the hydrophilized portion, and the density of the hydrophilized portion is 100%, that is, the hydrophilization of the entire fiber surface is taken as an example. I have.

Example 1 In this example, a polypropylene / polyethylene fiber absorber (PP / PE fiber absorber) having the structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 was subjected to a hydrophilic treatment.

In this example, since the target article shape is a fibrous structure and the liquid retention is generally high, the treatment liquid solution had the following composition.

[0178]

[Table 1] (1) Method for Hydrophilizing PP / PE Fiber Absorbent A polypropylene / polyethylene fiber absorbent having the structure shown in FIG. 30A was immersed in the hydrophilic treating solution having the above composition (FIG. 30B). At this time, the processing liquid is held in the gap between the fiber absorbers. Thereafter, the fiber absorber is crushed (FIG. 30).
(C)), the excess treatment solution held in the gaps between the fibers was removed. When taken out from a holding jig such as a wire mesh, the fiber absorber is restored to its original shape ((a) in FIG. 31), and a liquid layer is applied to the fiber surface. The fiber whose surface was wet with the liquid was dried in a 60 ° C. oven for 1 hour (FIG. 31B).

(Comparative Example 1 and Reference Example 1) In addition, as Comparative Example 1, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed for a solution containing only sulfuric acid and isopropyl alcohol prepared in the above-mentioned fibrous body hydrophilic treatment solution. That is, it is a liquid obtained by removing (polyoxyalkylene) and poly (dimethylsiloxane) from the processing liquid used in Example 1. As Reference Example 1, an untreated PP / PE fiber absorber was used.

Note that in Example 1, the PP
The hydrophilic treatment liquid applied to the entire fiber absorber by the above-described coating method is 0.3 to 0.1% for 0.5 g of the PE fiber absorber.
5 g. Also in Comparative Example 1, the amount of liquid to be applied is the same as in Example 1.

The evaluation of the surface treatment state of each fiber absorbent obtained by the above operation and the results are shown below.

(1) Method for evaluating hydrophilicity of PP / PE fiber absorber a) Evaluation of dropping of dropper with pure water PP / PE fiber absorber treated in Example 1, Comparative Example 1
PP / PE fiber absorbent and untreated PP /
When pure water was dripped from the upper part of each of the PE fiber absorbers with a dropper, the degree of penetration of the pure water was observed.

B) Evaluation of immersion in pure water A container having a size enough to contain the PP / PE fiber absorber is filled with pure water, and the container is filled with the PP / PE fiber absorber of Example 1 and the PP of Comparative Example 1 The PE fiber absorber and the untreated PP / PE fiber absorber of the reference example were slowly put on, and at that time, the degree of infiltration of pure water into each PP / PE fiber absorber was observed.

(2) Results of evaluation of PP / PE fiber absorber hydrophilicity a) Results of dropper pure water drop evaluation The PP / PE fiber absorber treated in Example 1
When pure water was dropped from the top with a dropper, the pure water instantly permeated into the interior of the fiber absorber.

On the other hand, in the PP / PE fiber absorber of Comparative Example 1 and the untreated PP / PE fiber absorber of Reference Example 1, pure water was dropped from the top with a dropper.
It did not penetrate the E fiber absorber at all, and formed spherical droplets repelling on the PP / PE fiber absorber.

B) Results of evaluation of pure water immersion When the PP / PE fiber absorber treated in Example 1 was slowly put in a container filled with pure water, the PP / PE fiber absorber slowly sinks in water. Was. At least, this indicates that the surface of the PP / PE fiber absorber treated in Example 1 has hydrophilicity.

On the other hand, the PP / PE fiber absorber of Comparative Example 1
In addition, when the untreated PP / PE fiber absorber of Reference Example 1 was slowly put in a container filled with pure water, the comparative example 1
Both the PP / PE fiber absorber and the untreated PP / PE fiber absorber completely floated on pure water. After that, it did not absorb water at all, and clearly showed water repellency.

From the above results, the treatment liquid composed of polyalkylsiloxane having a polyalkylene oxide chain, an acid, and an alcohol was applied to the PP / PE fiber absorber and dried to obtain a structure shown in FIG. It is determined that a coating of polyalkylsiloxane as shown in (1) is formed, and the surface hydrophilization treatment is effectively performed. As a result,
It has been found that the PP / PE fiber absorber that has been subjected to the above treatment can sufficiently function as an ink absorber even for aqueous ink.

The above results, that is, in order to obtain a visa that the polyalkylsiloxane having a polyalkylene oxide chain adheres to the surface of the PP / PE fiber in the surface modification of the present invention to form a polymer coating. The surface of the fiber was observed by SEM photograph.

FIGS. 32, 33 and 34 show enlarged SEM photographs of the untreated PP / PE fiber surface of Reference Example 1 (untreated PP / PE fiber absorbent). Also. FIG. 35 shows Comparative Example 1
The enlarged SEM photograph of the acid-treated PP / PE fiber surface of the (PP / PE fiber absorber treated only with acid and alcohol) is shown.

FIGS. 36, 37 and 38 show enlarged SEM photographs of the surface of the treated PP / PE fiber of Example 1 (hydrophilized PP / PE fiber absorber).

First, in all of these PP / PE fiber surface enlarged SEM photographs, no clear structural change, which is judged to be caused by the adhesion of organic substances on the fiber surface, can be confirmed.
Actually, comparing the untreated PP / PE fiber of FIG. 34 and the 2000 times enlarged photograph of the hydrophilized PP / PE fiber of FIG. 38 in detail, the untreated PP / PE fiber and the hydrophilicized PP
-No difference between the two was observed in the SEM observation of the surface of the PE fiber. Therefore, in the hydrophilized PP / PE fiber, (polyoxyalkylene) / poly (dimethylsiloxane) is uniformly attached to the fiber surface in a thin film form (which is considered to be a monomolecular film). , And cannot be distinguished from the original fiber surface, and it is determined that no difference is observed in SEM observation.

On the other hand, in the SEM photograph of the PP / PE fiber treated with only the acid and the alcohol in FIG. 34, the intersection (welded portion) of the fiber is frequently cut, and there are nodules in the fiber. Many are seen. This change indicates that during the heating and drying process, the degradation of the PE / PP molecules on the fiber surface, especially the surface PE, was induced and promoted by the high concentration of acid due to the evaporation of the solvent and the heat of the drying process itself. I have.

On the other hand, the hydrophilizing solution also contains an acid of the same concentration, and is similar to that observed in the acid-treated PP / PE fiber treated only with the acid and the alcohol, despite the same heat drying. No cuts in the joints and no knots in the fibers are observed. This fact indicates that in the hydrophilization treatment of Example 1, deterioration of PE molecules on the fiber surface is suppressed. This is because even when an acid acts, the PE molecules on the fiber surface are cut and radicals are generated in the molecules, some substances or structures trap the radicals, and the radicals destroy PE in a chain. Is considered to be suppressed. (Polyoxyalkylene) / poly (dimethylsiloxane) attached to the surface also participates in the capture of the radicals, and also forms a chemical bond with the PE surface in a form that captures the generated radicals, thereby forming a radical chain. The secondary phenomena and effects of suppressing the destruction of PE and PP due to the above cannot be denied.

In summary, in the first embodiment, the modification of the fiber surface was achieved by the fact that (polyoxyalkylene) poly (dimethylsiloxane) was uniformly and thinly adhered to the fiber surface. It is determined that it is. In the process, an effect of cleaning the fiber surface by the acid and solvent contained in the solution used for the hydrophilization treatment can be expected, and an effect of promoting the physical adsorption of the polyalkylene oxide chain is also expected. In addition to this, it is also conceivable that there is considerable possibility of chemical bonding between the PE molecule cleavage portion and the polyalkylene oxide chain due to the cleavage of the PE molecule by a high concentration of acid and heat.

The biaxial fibers include the following:
The core material 14b shown in FIG. 2 is eccentric with respect to the sheath material 14a, and the core material 14b is partially exposed to the outer wall surface, and the surface composed of the surface layer (sheath material) and the surface composed of the core portion (core material) May be mixed, but even in such a case, by performing the surface modification treatment according to the present invention described above, it is possible to impart hydrophilicity to both the exposed portion of the core and the surface of the surface layer. Is possible. In the case where a surfactant having a hydrophilic function is applied and dried only, although the initial hydrophilicity is obtained partially, the surfactant is immediately washed with pure water and then immediately washed with water. And is eluted and loses hydrophilicity.

(Examples 2 and 3) In addition to Example 1 in which the above-mentioned PE / PP fiber body was subjected to a hydrophilic treatment,
An example in which a hydrophilization treatment is applied to a PP fiber body will be described. Specifically, as a PP fibrous body, 2 cm × 2 cm × 3 cm
The fiber mass formed into a rectangular parallelepiped and having a fiber diameter of 2 denier was used.

First, a hydrophilic treatment solution having the following two compositions was prepared.

[0199]

[Table 2]

[0200]

[Table 3] The second composition (Example 3) is (polyoxyalkylene)
A treatment liquid containing 4.0% by weight of poly (dimethylsiloxane), 0.5% by weight of sulfuric acid, and the remainder being isopropyl alcohol, to which a predetermined amount of isopropyl alcohol and pure water are added in this order to obtain the above composition. It is. Again, the sulfuric acid and (polyoxyalkylene) poly (dimethylsiloxane) contained are diluted four-fold.

A PP fibrous body treated with a solution of a first composition containing isopropyl alcohol as a main solvent according to the procedure of the method for hydrophilizing a PP / PE fiber absorbent described in Example 2 (Example 2) And a PP fibrous body (Example 3) treated with a solution of the second composition as a mixed solvent of water and isopropyl alcohol. (Reference Example 2) An untreated PP / PE fibrous body was referred to as Reference Example 2.

As in Embodiment 2, the unprocessed P
The surface of the P • PE fiber was water-repellent, but both the PP • PE fiber of Example 2 and the PP • PE fiber of Example 3 were modified to have hydrophilic surfaces. For the purpose of evaluating the degree of hydrophilicity, the aqueous ink (γ
= 46 dyn / cm), and PP / PE fibrous material of Example 2 and PP / P of Example 3 were placed on the surface of the ink liquid.
The E fiber body and the untreated PP / PE fiber body of Reference Example 2 were gently placed.

The untreated PP / PE fiber of Reference Example 2 was:
Although it was floating on the aqueous ink, the PP of Example 2 was used.
In the case of the PE fibrous body and the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 3, ink was sucked from the bottom surface of the fibrous body. However,
Comparing the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 2 with the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 3, a clear difference is seen in the amount of the aqueous ink sucked up. Although all of the ink inside was sucked up and absorbed, about half of the ink remained in the petri dish with the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 2.

In the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 2 and the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 3, the total amount of the polymer (polyoxyalkylene) / poly (dimethylsiloxane) coated on the surface is as follows: There is no substantial difference,
It is considered that there is a difference in the degree of orientation of the polymer itself in the coating.

For example, in the PP / PE fibrous body of Example 2, although the polymer coated on the surface is substantially oriented, the adhesion is partially completed in a state where the orientation is disordered. . On the other hand, in the PP fiber body of Example 3,
The disorder of the orientation described above is remarkably reduced.

The hydrophilization treatment with (polyoxyalkylene) / poly (dimethylsiloxane) is carried out by adding water to the solvent in addition to isopropyl alcohol.
It is determined that coating with more uniform orientation has been achieved.
Since it is necessary to uniformly wet the surface of the treatment liquid, it is desirable that the treatment liquid contains at least about 20% of isopropyl alcohol. However, the isopropyl alcohol content of Example 3 is smaller than the isopropyl alcohol content of 40%. However, it is considered that coating is possible. That is, in the process of evaporating and drying the solvent, isopropyl alcohol is volatilized and lost more quickly, and during that time, the content of isopropyl alcohol further decreases.
It is considered that coating is possible even with a lower content of isopropyl alcohol. From the industrial viewpoint, the amount of isopropyl alcohol is preferably 40% or less from the viewpoint of safety.

It goes without saying that the above-mentioned technical idea of the above-mentioned modification method and modified surface of the present invention can be applied to all porous bodies other than fibers as negative pressure generating members.

Incidentally, the negative pressure generating member lyophilicized by the method disclosed in the description of the surface modification of the article of the above embodiment is a negative pressure generating member as described in the section of the problem to be solved by the invention. Regarding the re-suction of the ink after the ink (liquid) impregnated in the generating member is extracted, the amount of ink held by the negative pressure generating member after the re-suction, regardless of the amount of ink extracted and the number of times of repetition However, there is an effect that it is possible to return to the initial negative pressure.

On the other hand, in the embodiment in which the liquid storage chamber is detachably provided to the negative pressure generation member storage chamber, the amount of liquid held in the negative pressure generation member storage chamber when replacing the liquid storage chamber is determined by the ink outlet. There are various cases, such as a case where the liquid is held near the joint pipe which is a connection portion with the ink, a case where the liquid near the ink supply port is consumed, or a case where there is no ink that can be consumed (supplied). According to the application of the present invention, the liquid storage is performed by performing lyophilic treatment on the negative pressure generating member in the negative pressure generating member storage chamber by any of the methods disclosed in the description of the surface modification in the above embodiment. After replacing the chamber, the negative pressure at the ink supply port of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber is changed to the initial level (negative pressure, amount) regardless of the number of replacements and the remaining amount of liquid in the negative pressure generating member storage chamber before replacement. ) Can always be restored. Here, in consideration of the partial hydrophilization of the present invention, if the remaining amount of the liquid of the negative pressure generating member before replacement is in the vicinity of the processing unit in the processing unit (for example, only the liquid near the joint pipe is consumed) In this case, the above-described lyophilic treatment is performed from the portion where the liquid is replenished to the portion where the liquid is consumed, instead of hydrophilizing the entire negative pressure generating member by the above-described method. I just need.

[0210]

As described above, according to the fiber absorbent of the present invention, the lyophilic treatment is performed with a distribution of the lyophilicity, so that the behavior of the liquid required in the liquid container can be improved. Accordingly, the liquid can be held in an optimal state and supplied to the liquid ejection head.

According to the liquid container of the present invention, the fiber absorbent for liquid ejection of the present invention is housed in the container housing,
By disposing the first lyophilic region of the liquid ejection fiber absorber at a predetermined position in the liquid container in accordance with the behavior of the liquid required in the liquid container, the liquid is held in an optimal state and the liquid ejection head Can be supplied to

More specifically, the lyophilic treatment is performed on the fiber absorbent so that the lyophilicity increases as the distance from the supply port increases, so that the liquid far from the supply port also moves toward the supply port. The liquid can be made to flow easily, and the use efficiency of the liquid can be improved. In addition, by performing lyophilic treatment on the fiber absorber around the supply port so that the lyophilic property becomes weaker as the distance from the supply port increases, without increasing the flow resistance of the liquid around the supply port, It is possible to prevent the discharge head from running out of liquid. Further, in a liquid container having a structure in which the negative pressure generating member storage chamber storing the fiber absorber and the liquid storage chamber storing the liquid communicate with each other through the communication portion, the liquid container is located above the communication portion of the fiber absorber. ,
By having a lyophilic treatment portion that exists as a layer that intersects with the direction of gravity and that has been subjected to a hydrophilic treatment so that the lyophilicity decreases from below to above, the inside of the liquid storage chamber may change due to environmental changes or the like. The buffer function when the liquid flows into the negative pressure generating member storage chamber can be realized with a small volume of the negative pressure generating member storage chamber. Further, in the above-described liquid container of the present invention, by injecting the liquid from the region having strong lyophilicity, the liquid can be easily injected into the liquid container without depressurizing the inside of the liquid container.

Further, according to the method for producing a liquid ejection fiber absorber of the present invention, the liquid ejection fiber absorber of the present invention having a lyophilic distribution can be easily produced. In addition, the surface treatment of the fiber absorbent is performed by applying a liquid containing a lyophilic group to a predetermined portion of the fiber surface, and cleaving the lyophilic group.
Since it is bonded to the fiber surface through a process such as condensation, it can be satisfactorily modified even on a surface having a complicated shape such as a fiber surface, and can maintain lyophilicity for a long time. . Further, since the film formed on the surface is a film of a single molecule level, the weight of the fiber absorber hardly increases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink tank according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of fibers constituting the fiber absorber shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the fiber absorber shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an ink flow path from each of the areas A to E to a supply port by a tube for explaining the flow resistance of the ink in the fiber absorber of the ink tank shown in FIG. 1;
(A) shows the case of statically viewing, and (b) shows the case of dynamic viewing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for hydrophilizing the fiber absorber shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining another example of the method for hydrophilizing the fiber absorber shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining still another example of the method for hydrophilizing the fiber absorbent shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining still another example of the method for hydrophilizing the fiber absorbent shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modified example of the ink tank according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for hydrophilizing the fiber absorber shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of an ink tank according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 11) of an ink tank according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the relationship between the ink tank internal pressure and the amount of ink drawn out from a supply port of the ink tank according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in comparison with a case where no hydrophilic treatment is performed.

14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for hydrophilizing the fiber absorber of the ink tank shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a schematic sectional view of an ink jet head cartridge which is a liquid container according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

16 is a diagram illustrating the flow of ink in the absorber when the ink flows into the negative pressure control chamber container due to a sudden pressure change in the ink jet head cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a schematic sectional view of a modified example of the inkjet head cartridge according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic perspective view showing a liquid ejection recording apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an ink tank according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic view showing an adhesion form between a polymer of a surface modifying agent formed on a surface to be modified of an article (substrate) and a surface of the article in a surface modifying method which is a basic principle of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a case where both a second group as a functional group and a first group for attachment to the surface of an article are present in a side chain of a polymer. (B) is a diagram for explaining the case where the first group is contained in the main chain.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a surface modification method according to a basic principle of the present invention, in which a treatment solution containing a polymer of a surface modification agent is applied;
It is a figure which shows typically the state where the coating layer was formed on the base material.

FIG. 22 is a conceptual diagram showing a step of partially removing a solvent in a coating layer containing a polymer of a surface modifier formed on a substrate in a surface modification method as a basic principle of the present invention. is there.

FIG. 23 is a partial view of the polymer of the surface modifier, which is accompanied by the step of partially removing the solvent in the coating layer containing the polymer of the surface modifier and is induced by an acid added to the treatment solution. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a simple dissociation process.

FIG. 24 is a conceptual diagram showing a process in which a polymer of a surface modifier or a dissociated fragment thereof is oriented and formed, following a step of further removing a solvent in a coating layer containing a polymer of a surface modifier. .

FIG. 25 is a conceptual diagram showing a process in which a solvent in a coating layer is dried and removed, and a polymer or a dissociated fragment thereof of a surface modifier is oriented and adhered and fixed on a surface.

FIG. 26 is a conceptual diagram showing a process in which dissociated fragmentation products derived from a polymer of a surface modifier adhered and fixed on a surface are recombined by a condensation reaction.

FIG. 27 is a conceptual diagram showing an example in which a surface modification method serving as a basic principle of the present invention is applied to a hydrophilic treatment of a water-repellent surface, and showing an effect of adding water to a treatment solution.

FIG. 28 is a process chart showing an example of a process for producing an article having a modified surface according to the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an estimated distribution of a hydrophilic group and a hydrophobic group on the surface subjected to the surface modification treatment according to the present invention.

FIG. 30 shows an example in which the surface modification method of the present invention is applied to the hydrophilic treatment of the water-repellent surface of the PE / PP fibrous body shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, (a) shows an untreated fibrous body, (b) is a diagram schematically illustrating a step of immersing the fibrous body in a hydrophilizing treatment liquid, and (c) is a diagram schematically illustrating a step of compressing the fibrous body after immersion and removing an excess processing liquid.

FIG. 31 shows a step that follows the step shown in FIG. 30,
(A) shows a coating layer formed on the fibrous body surface, (b) shows a step of drying and removing a solvent contained in the coating layer, (c)
FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing the coating of a hydrophilizing agent covering the fiber surface.

FIG. 32 shows the untreated PP / PE fiber shape of the reference example (untreated PP / PE fiber absorber) and its surface state 150
The SEM photograph as a drawing substitute of double magnification is shown.

FIG. 33 shows the untreated PP / PE fiber shape of the reference example (untreated PP / PE fiber absorber) and its surface state 500
The SEM photograph as a drawing substitute of double magnification is shown.

FIG. 34 shows the untreated PP / PE fiber shape of the reference example (untreated PP / PE fiber absorber) and its surface state 200
The SEM photograph as a substitute for a drawing at a magnification of 0 is shown.

FIG. 35: Comparative Example 1 (PP / P treated only with acid and alcohol)
The SEM photograph as a substitute for a drawing at 150 times magnification showing the shape of the acid-treated PP / PE fiber of the (E fiber absorber) and its surface state is shown.

FIG. 36 is a 150-times-enlarged SEM photograph showing a treated PP / PE fiber shape and a surface state thereof in Example 1 (hydrophilized PP / PE fiber absorber), which are enlarged by 150 times.

FIG. 37 shows a SEM photograph as a substitute of a drawing, magnifying 500 times, showing the shape of the treated PP / PE fiber and the surface state thereof in Example 1 (hydrophilized PP / PE fiber absorber).

FIG. 38 shows a SEM photograph as a substitute of a drawing at 2000-times magnification showing the shape of a treated PP / PE fiber of Example 1 (hydrophilized PP / PE fiber absorber) and the surface state thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,2,3,4 polymer 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b
Subdivided product 1-1 First group 1-2 Second group 1-3 Main chain 5 Group exposed on base material surface 6 Base material 7 Acid 8 Treatment liquid 9 Atmosphere 10, 20, 30 Ink tank 11, 21, 31 Tank casing 12, 22, 32 Supply port 13, 33 Atmospheric communication port 14, 14 ', 14 ", 24, 34, 34a Fiber absorber 14a Sheath material 14b Core material 15, 25, 35 Treatment liquid 36 Syringe REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 negative pressure control unit 102 sealing surface 110 negative pressure control chamber container 113 c boundary surface 115 atmosphere communication port 116 buffer space 120 lid member 121 guide portions 130 and 140 absorber 150 holder 155 ink tank locking portion 160 inkjet head unit 161 filter 165 Ink supply pipes 170, 250 ID member 180 Joint pipe 180a Sealing projection 180 b Valve opening / closing projection 200 Ink tank unit 201 Ink storage container 210 Housing 210a Engaging section 220 Inner bag 221 Pinch-off section 222 Outside air communication port 230 Joint port 250a Click section 252 ID recess 260a First valve frame 260b Second valve frame 261 Valve body 262 Valve cover 263 Urging member 1000 Liquid storage container 5020 Cap 5030 Guide shaft 5040 Lead screw 5050 Spiral groove 5080 Gear 5090, 5100, 5110, 5200 Drive transmission gear 5130 Drive motor HC carriage IJRA Ink ejection recording device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Sadayuki Sugama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Koshikawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inside (72) Inventor Kenji Kitabatake 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Eiichiro Shimizu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. ( 72) Inventor Hajime Yamamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shozo Hattori 3-30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. 2C056 EA26 KC12 KC13 KC16 4L033 AA05 AB01 AC07 AC15 CA48 CA59

Claims (37)

[Claims] 1. A liquid-discharge fiber absorbent body made of olefin-based resin fibers, which is stored in a liquid container for holding a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, wherein the surface of the fibers is A lyophilic treatment section in which lyophilic treatment is performed on at least a part of the first lyophilic area, the first lyophilic area having relatively superior lyophilicity, and the first lyophilic section. A second lyophilic region having lower lyophilicity relative to the region. 2. A large number of fibers used to hold a liquid to be supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, wherein a polymer compound is applied to a surface of a part to be lyophilic constituting at least a part of the surface. A liquid-absorbing fiber absorber that is an aggregate of the above, wherein the polymer compound has a first portion having a lyophilic group,
A second portion having a group having a surface energy lower than the surface energy of the lyophilic group and substantially equal to the surface energy of the partial surface, wherein the second portion is oriented toward the partial surface. The first portion has a lyophilic portion that is lyophilic by being oriented in a direction different from the partial surface, and the partial surface is relatively lyophilic among the lyophilic portions with respect to the fibers. And a second lyophilic region in which the density of the lyophilic portion decreases as the distance from the first lyophilic region increases. body. 3. The fiber absorbent for liquid ejection according to claim 2, wherein the polymer compound is provided so as to cover at least a part of the outer periphery of the fiber. 4. The liquid-ejection fiber absorber according to claim 2, wherein the fibers have an olefin-based resin on at least a surface thereof. 5. The liquid-ejection fiber absorber according to claim 4, wherein the polymer compound is a polyalkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group. 6. The fiber has a core portion and a surface layer covering the core portion, and a melting temperature of a resin forming the core portion is higher than a melting temperature of a resin forming the surface layer. Or the fiber absorber for liquid ejection according to 5. 7. The liquid-ejection fiber absorber according to claim 6, wherein the resin constituting the core is polypropylene, and the resin constituting the surface layer is polyethylene. 8. A lyophobic surface which is accommodated in a liquid container for holding the liquid to be supplied to the liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, and has a lyophobic surface at least a part of which is lyophilic. A liquid fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers that are modified, wherein the lyophilic group and the lyophobic liquid are generated by cleavage of a polymer compound having a lyophilic group and a lyophobic group. And the lyophobic group is directed toward the lyophobic surface, and is oriented so as to face in a direction different from the hydrophilic group, and adheres to the lyophobic surface. A lyophilic portion having lyophilicity, wherein the lyophilic portion has a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, and a lyophilicity relatively to the first lyophilic region. A liquid ejecting fiber absorber comprising: an inferior second lyophilic region. 9. A liquid storage device which is housed in a liquid container for holding a liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state, and has an olefin-based resin on at least a surface thereof and at least a part of the surface is made lyophilic. A liquid-absorbent fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers having a porous surface, comprising a lyophilic group and a surface energy group substantially equivalent to the surface energy of the fiber surface containing at least as a component of the olefin-based resin. After forming a fiber surface to which a processing solution containing a polymer having a diluent acid and alcohol as a cleavage catalyst for the polymer is attached, the processing solution attached to the fiber mirror surface is evaporated, and the fiber surface is removed. After the polymer is cleaved by concentrated oxidation of the dilute acid above, by condensing the cleavage product, a relatively long-chain lyophilic group and a relatively short chain are formed on the fiber surface. Lyophobic groups A lyophilic surface structure having qualitatively alternating, wherein the lyophilic surface structure has a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, and a first lyophilic region relatively to the first lyophilic region. A fiber absorbent for liquid ejection, comprising: a second lyophilic region having poor lyophilicity. 10. A container housing provided with a supply port for supplying a liquid to a liquid ejection head and an air communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and for holding the liquid in the container housing using negative pressure. A liquid container comprising: the liquid-absorbing fiber absorber according to any one of claims 1 to 9 housed in the container housing. 11. A container housing provided with a supply port for supplying a liquid to a liquid ejection head and an air communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and for holding the liquid in the container housing using negative pressure. A fiber absorber made of olefin-based resin fibers, at least partially subjected to lyophilic treatment so that the lyophilicity increases as the distance from the supply port increases. Having a liquid container. 12. A container housing provided with a discharge port for supplying a liquid to a liquid discharge head and an air communication port communicating with the atmosphere, and for holding the liquid in the container housing using negative pressure. A fiber absorption made of olefin-based resin fibers, which is housed in the container housing and is subjected to a lyophilic treatment so that the lyophilic property becomes weaker as the distance from the supply port becomes longer at least around the supply port. A liquid container having a body. 13. A fiber absorber comprising an olefin-based resin fiber that has a supply port for supplying a liquid to a liquid ejection head and an air communication port that communicates with the atmosphere, and retains the liquid in a negative pressure state. A liquid storage chamber having a negative pressure generation member storage chamber to be stored, and a liquid storage part communicating with the negative pressure generation member storage chamber and being in a substantially sealed state except for a communication part with the negative pressure generation member storage chamber. The fiber absorber is present above the communication portion as a layer intersecting with the direction of gravity, and is subjected to lyophilic treatment so that lyophilicity decreases from below to above. Liquid container having a lyophilic treatment part. 14. The negative pressure generating member storage chamber and the liquid storage chamber are separable from each other at the communication portion.
4. The liquid container according to 3. 15. The liquid container according to claim 13, wherein the liquid storage portion has a bag capable of generating a negative pressure by being deformed, and stores the liquid in the bag. 16. A large number of fibers used to hold a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state and having a lyophilic group provided on a surface of a part to be lyophilic constituting at least a part of the surface. A method for manufacturing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of: a first portion having the lyophilic group, and a surface energy of the partial surface different from the interfacial energy of the lyophilic group. A liquid containing a polymer different from the constituent material of the partial surface, comprising a second portion having a group having substantially the same surface energy, is applied to a first region having a relatively high density applied to the partial surface. A first step of applying a second region of the polymer toward the partial surface, wherein the first portion is on a different side from the partial surface. Orientation, the lyophilicity is relative Liquid absorbing fiber absorber having a second step of obtaining a first lyophilic region having excellent lyophilicity and a second lyophilic region having relatively low lyophilicity with respect to the first lyophilic region. Manufacturing method. 17. A large number of fibers used to hold a liquid supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state and having a lyophilic group provided on a part of the surface to be made lyophilic, which constitutes at least a part of the surface. A method for producing a liquid-ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of: a first portion having the lyophilic group and an interfacial energy of the lyophilic group are different from each other and substantially equal to a surface energy of the partial surface. A second portion having a group having an equivalent surface energy, obtained by cleaving the polymer for imparting a lyophilic group,
The liquid containing the fragmented material having the first portion and the second portion is applied so as to form a first region having a relatively large application density on the surface of the portion and a second region having a relatively small application density. A first step to orient the second portion of the fragmented product toward the partial surface, and orient the first portion to a side different from the partial surface, so that the lyophilicity is relatively excellent. A second step of obtaining a first lyophilic region and a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity with respect to the first lyophilic region; And a third step of condensing at least a portion of the polymer to form a polymer. 18. The liquid discharging apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the first step includes immersing only the first region on the partial surface of the liquid discharging fiber absorber in the liquid. A method for producing a fiber absorber. 19. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 19, wherein, after the liquid is uniformly applied to the entirety of the partial surface of the liquid discharging fiber absorber, the first step is performed from the first region of the liquid discharging fiber absorber. The method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorbent according to claim 16 or 17, comprising compressing a distant region to move the liquid toward the first region. 20. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the liquid is uniformly applied to the entirety of the partial surface of the liquid-discharging fiber absorber, and then the liquid is applied to a region farthest from the first region. 18. The method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber according to claim 16 or 17, further comprising: moving the liquid absorbent to the first region side by centrifugal force. 21. The first step, wherein the liquid is uniformly applied to the entirety of the partial surface of the liquid ejection fiber absorber, and then the liquid is applied to an area farthest from the first area. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: moving the liquid absorbent to the first region side by a flow of air. 22. A method for holding a liquid to be supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, wherein a large number of olefin-based resins are provided on at least the surface and at least a part of the surface is provided with lyophilicity. A method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers, comprising: dissolving a liquid in which a polymer of an alkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group is dissolved; A first step of providing the surface with a relatively small second region, and orienting the alkylsiloxane on the surface, and orienting the lyophilic group in a direction different from the surface,
A second step of obtaining a first lyophilic region having relatively good lyophilicity and a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity relative to the first lyophilic region. A method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber. 23. A method for holding a liquid to be supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, wherein a large number of olefin-based resins are provided on at least the surface and at least a part of the surface is provided with lyophilicity. A method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers, wherein a liquid in which a fragmented product obtained by cleaving a polymer of an alkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group is dissolved has a relatively high applied density. A first step of applying to the surface a large first region and a relatively small second region; condensing the fragmentation on the surface on the surface; Orientation,
By arranging the lyophilic group in a direction different from that of the surface, a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity, and a lyophilicity relatively to the first lyophilic region And a second step of obtaining a second lyophilic region having an inferior condition. 24. The liquid discharging fiber according to claim 20, wherein the first step includes immersing only the first region on the surface of the liquid discharging fiber absorber in the liquid. Manufacturing method of absorber. 25. In the first step, after the liquid is uniformly applied to the entire surface of the liquid ejection fiber absorber, the liquid is furthest from the first region of the liquid ejection fiber absorber. 24. The method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber according to claim 22, comprising compressing an area to move the liquid toward the first area. 26. The first step, wherein the liquid is uniformly applied to the entire surface of the liquid ejection fiber absorber, and then the liquid applied to an area farthest from the first area is applied. 24. The method according to claim 22, further comprising moving the fiber absorbent to the first region side by centrifugal force. 27. The first step, wherein the liquid is uniformly applied to the entire surface of the liquid ejection fiber absorber, and then the liquid applied to a region farthest from the first region is applied. 24. The method of manufacturing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber according to claim 22, further comprising: moving the fiber absorber toward the first region by an air flow. 28. A method for holding a liquid to be supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state, wherein a plurality of olefin-based resins are provided on at least the surface and at least a part of the surface is provided with lyophilicity. A method for producing an ink-jet fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers, wherein a liquid containing a polyalkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group, an acid, and an alcohol has a relatively high adhesion density.
Forming a fiber surface attached to form a region and a second region that is relatively small; and applying a liquid attached to the fiber surface above room temperature and below the melting point of the olefin-based resin. By heating and drying at a temperature, a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity relative to the first lyophilic region And a method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorber. 29. A method for holding a liquid to be supplied to a liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state, wherein a large number of olefin-based resins are provided on at least the surface and at least a part of the surface is provided with lyophilicity. A method for producing a liquid ejection fiber absorber, which is an aggregate of fibers, wherein a liquid containing a polyalkylsiloxane having a lyophilic group, an acid, an alcohol, and water has a first region with a relatively high adhesion density. Forming a fiber surface attached to form a relatively small second region; and drying the liquid attached to the fiber surface, and in the process, the lyophilic groups are combined with the fiber surface. Are oriented in the opposite direction to make the fiber surface lyophilic, whereby a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a lyophilic region relatively to the first lyophilic region And a second lyophilic region, which is less And a method of manufacturing an liquid discharge fibrous absorber. 30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step of forming the fiber surface includes immersing only the first region in the liquid. 31. The step of forming the fiber surface, wherein the liquid is uniformly attached to the entire portion of the liquid-ejection fiber absorber to which lyophilicity is to be imparted, and then is farthest from the first region. 30. The method according to claim 28, further comprising compressing a region to move the liquid toward the first region. 32. The step of forming the fiber surface includes the step of: attaching the liquid uniformly to the entire portion of the liquid-ejection fiber absorber to which lyophilicity is to be imparted, and then setting the area farthest from the first area. The liquid given to the first by centrifugal force
30. The method according to claim 28 or 29, comprising moving to an area side.
3. The method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorbent according to claim 1. 33. The step of forming the fiber surface, wherein the liquid is uniformly attached to the entire portion of the liquid-ejection fiber absorber to which lyophilicity is to be imparted, and before the liquid is dried. And moving the liquid attached to the region farthest from the first region to the first region side by an air flow from the region farthest from the first region toward the first region side. Item 30. The method for producing a liquid-absorbing fiber absorbent according to item 28 or 29. 34. The lyophobic liquid absorber for liquid ejection, which is used to hold the liquid supplied to the liquid ejection head in a negative pressure state and is an aggregate of many fibers having a lyophobic surface. A surface modification method for modifying a surface to be lyophilic, wherein the lyophilic group and the lyophobic group are generated by cleavage of a polymer compound having a lyophilic group and a lyophobic group. Having a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity relative to the first lyophilic region. The lyophobic group is oriented toward the surface side of the lyophobic group, and the lyophilic group is oriented so as to face in a direction different from the lyophobic group, so that A method for modifying a surface, comprising a step of attaching. 35. A surface modification method for performing surface modification on a partial surface of the fiber of a liquid fiber absorber, which is a fiber assembly used for holding a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state. The fiber so as to have a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a second lyophilic region relatively inferior to the first lyophilic region. A surface-modified method comprising condensing, on the partial surface, a cleaved polymer oriented based on the affinity of surface energy of a group similar to the surface energy of the partial surface to modify the surface. 36. A partial surface of the fiber of a liquid discharge fiber absorber, which is a fiber aggregate used to hold a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, is modified using a liquid polymer. A first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity relative to the first lyophilic region. A fragmented polymer having a first group having a lyophilic group capable of being cleaved and condensed, and a second group having an interface energy substantially equal to the surface energy of the partial surface of the fiber, A surface modification method comprising a condensation step of condensing a surface to polymerize the surface. 37. A liquid contact surface structure of a fiber assembly used for holding a liquid supplied to a liquid discharge head in a negative pressure state, wherein the liquid aggregate has a relatively long chain and a relatively short length. A lyophilic part comprising a polymer having substantially alternate lyophobic groups in the chain, wherein the lyophilic part comprises a first lyophilic region having relatively excellent lyophilicity and the first lyophilic part. And a second lyophilic region having relatively poor lyophilicity with respect to the lyophilic region.