JP2001220529A - Ink, ink jet recording method, recording unit, ink cartridge, and ink jet printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a blue ink which can form a high-quality, distinct image with a high density without being accompanied by indefinite or irregular blur and which hardly causes clogging of an orifice even when a recording head is left standing for a long time. SOLUTION: This ink contains a first dye, a second dye, and a liquid medium for dispersing or dissolving these dyes. The first dye is C.I. Direct Blue 199. The second dye is a compound represented by formula I. The mixing ratio by weight of the first dye to the second dye is (5:1)-(2:1), and the dye concentration in the ink is 1-2.5 wt.%.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an uncoated paper generally used in offices and schools, that is, a so-called plain paper, which hardly causes ink clogging at an orifice even when a recording head is left for a long time. A new ink (recording liquid) that has a high density of the recorded image when recorded, and is capable of reproducing a blue monocolor color without substantially affecting the printing characteristics of the type of paper, and ink jet recording using the same. The present invention relates to a method, a recording unit, an ink cartridge, and an ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, various compositions have been proposed as inks for recording on a recording material such as paper, such as for writing implements, stamps, recorders, and ink jet recordings. . They are various dyes dissolved or dispersed in water or other organic solvents.

[0003] In the ink jet recording method,
Various systems have been proposed, in which charged droplets are continuously generated and a part of the droplets are used for recording, or a signal is given to a recording head having a piezoelectric element, A method in which ink droplets are generated to perform printing, or a method in which thermal energy corresponding to a print signal is applied to ink in a chamber of a print head, and droplets are generated by the energy to perform printing. . The ink used for such an ink jet recording method has many characteristics (for example, less clogging at the tip of the orifice and a better signal responsiveness) than inks for writing instruments, stamps, and recorders due to the peculiarity of the recording method. Strict conditions are required in terms of ejection characteristics such as high-speed recording and recording characteristics such as low image bleeding and high density.

Conventionally, various studies have been made on yellow ink, magenta ink and cyan ink, and some of them have been put to practical use in the field of full-color recording. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for color recording (so-called mono-color recording), if not full color, such as creation of business documents and printing on postcards at home.
In such a monochromatic recording, various colors, for example, red, green or blue colors can be printed simply by replacing the ink cartridge, but inks of such a color tone have not yet been put to practical use.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording head which is not easily clogged with ink at an orifice even if it is left for a long period of time. A new type of ink that can reproduce a monochromatic blue color when recorded on so-called plain paper with a high density of recorded images, little bleeding, and printing characteristics are not significantly affected by the type of paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a (recording liquid), an ink jet recording method, a recording unit, an ink cartridge and an ink jet recording apparatus using the same.

[0006]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the ink according to the present invention is:
A first dye, a second dye and an aqueous liquid medium for dissolving or dispersing the first dye, wherein the first dye is C.I. I. Direct Blue 199, wherein the second dye is a compound represented by the following general formula (1), and the mixing ratio of the first dye and the second dye is 5: 1 to 2: 1 and the dye concentration in the ink is from 1 to 2.5% by weight of the total weight of the ink:

[Outside 2]

(Where Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group;
In some cases, a benzene ring may be formed together with the 3-position carbon atom of the benzene ring B. On the other hand, X represents any one of an acetyl group, a benzoyl group, a paratoluenesulfonyl group, a 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl group, and M1, M2 and M3 are each Alkali metal,
A base selected from ammonium).

Further, an ink jet recording method according to the present invention comprises a first dye, a second dye and an aqueous liquid medium for dissolving or dispersing the same, wherein the first dye is C.I. I. Direct Blue 199, wherein the second dye is a compound represented by the following general formula (1), and the mixing ratio of the first dye to the second dye is 5: 1 by weight.
Ink droplets of an ink jet recording ink having a dye concentration of 1 to 2.5% by weight of the total weight of the ink are ejected from an orifice in accordance with a recording signal to perform recording on a recording material. It is characterized by having a process:

[Outside 3]

(Where Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group;
In some cases, a benzene ring may be formed together with the 3-position carbon atom of the benzene ring B. On the other hand, X represents any one of an acetyl group, a benzoyl group, a paratoluenesulfonyl group, a 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl group, and M1, M2 and M3 are each Alkali metal,
A base selected from ammonium).

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording unit including an ink container for storing the ink for ink jet recording and a head for discharging the ink as ink droplets. It is.

Further, an ink cartridge according to the present invention is characterized in that the ink cartridge is provided with an ink storage section for storing the above-mentioned ink.

Further, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it has an ink container for storing the above ink for ink jet recording and a head for discharging the ink as ink droplets. Is what you do.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (Preferred Embodiment) Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments.

<Ink Composition> In order to prevent clogging of the orifice which occurs when the recording head is not used for a long period of time without using a recording head, the content of the dye in the ink should be as low as possible. is necessary. However, if the concentration of many dyes is reduced, an image having a sufficient color tone cannot be obtained. Thus, in the present invention, a high-density recorded image is obtained despite the low concentration of the dye used,
They found a combination of dyes having excellent coloring properties.

As the dye suitably used in the blue ink of the present invention, C.I. I. This is a combination of Direct Blue 199 and a compound represented by the following general formula (1) as a second dye.

[Outside 4]

(Where Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group;
In some cases, a benzene ring may be formed together with the 3-position carbon atom of the benzene ring B. On the other hand, X represents any one of an acetyl group, a benzoyl group, a paratoluenesulfonyl group, a 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl group, and M1, M2 and M3 are each Alkali metal,
It is a base selected from ammonium. Specific examples of the compound represented by the general formula (1) are disclosed in JP-A-59-78273, and particularly preferable compounds for the present invention are shown below.

[Outside 5]

[0017]

[Outside 6]

[0018]

[Outside 7]

[0019]

[Outside 8]

The mixing ratio of the first dye and the second dye is 5: 1 to 2: 1, more preferably 5: 1 to 2 by weight.
The range is 3: 1.

These dyes used in the present invention can be used as a coloring material of an ink jet ink for ejecting ink droplets from an orifice by applying thermal energy to the ink, or the dye itself or a decomposition product of the dye is formed on the heater surface. This is preferable because it is possible to suppress so-called kogation, which is unlikely to cause sedimentation of the substance.

The concentration of these dyes in the ink is from 1 to 2.5% of the total weight of the ink from the viewpoint of preventing the clogging of the orifice after the recording head has been left for a long period of time.
% By weight, more preferably 1.5 to 2.3% by weight.

Next, the liquid medium component used in the present invention will be described. As a solvent generally used as a liquid medium component, there are high-boiling solvents such as polyhydric alcohols for the purpose of preventing clogging, but since these have a low surface tension, droplets become irregularly blurred on plain paper. And the image quality deteriorates. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve both prevention of clogging and high-quality images. On the other hand, glycerin and thioglycol have a high surface tension even though they are high boiling solvents, so that high-quality images can be obtained. The content of these solvents is 1 to 20% by weight, preferably 1 to 15% by weight of the total weight of the ink. In the present invention, it is preferable to use glycerin and thiodiglycol in combination as solvents. In particular, thiodiglycol is preferable because it can improve (promote) the coloring density of the dye and is excellent in re-ejection properties after recording is stopped.

In the present invention, glycerin and thioglycol are preferably used as the solvent, but it is preferable to use urea or thiourea in combination in order to further improve the effect of preventing clogging. When the urea or thiourea used in the present invention is added to the ink, the water in the ink is completely evaporated by the combined use with the glycerin, and when the glycerin, the dye, and the urea or thiourea alone are formed, the viscosity of these solvents is reduced. Has the property of maintaining fluidity without rising. Therefore, the addition amount of the polyhydric alcohol can be reduced as compared with the amount of the dye, which is further advantageous in print quality and fixability. The amount of urea or thiourea used is in the range of 0.5 to 15% by weight, more preferably 2 to 10% by weight, based on the total weight of the ink.

The above-mentioned combination, that is, the ink comprising the dye, glycol and / or thiodiglycol and water is not enough to solve the problem of fixability (image drying property), and this problem is solved. In the present invention, an aliphatic monohydric alcohol is used in the present invention. Conventionally, the use of a penetrant such as a surfactant has been proposed. In this case, although the fixability is improved, irregular or irregular bleeding occurs on plain paper, and the image quality deteriorates. There was a problem. In that regard, using aliphatic monohydric alcohol,
Since the bleeding is uniform and has the effect of promoting the ability of the droplets to penetrate and evaporate the paper, the fixability can be accelerated without lowering the image quality. Among the aliphatic monohydric alcohols, preferred are ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and n-butyl alcohol. Among them, isopropyl alcohol is particularly preferable because it has no odor compared to other alcohols and can improve the fixing property while maintaining the image quality. The content of the aliphatic monohydric alcohol is 0.1 to 10% by weight, preferably 1 to 5% by weight, based on the total weight of the ink.

The water content is 60 to 90% by weight, more preferably 70 to 90% by weight, based on the total weight of the ink.

In the present invention, in addition to the components described above, it is also possible to add additives such as a viscosity adjuster, a surface tension adjuster, a pH adjuster, a fungicide, and a rust preventive, if necessary. .

The pH of the ink of the present invention is selected in an appropriate range in consideration of the influence on members in contact with the ink, the storage stability of the ink, the solubility of the dye, and the like. In particular, in the recording method in which thermal energy is applied to the ink in the recording head to generate droplets for recording, there is a close relationship between the dissolution stability of the dye and the continuous ejection stability of the head, and the dye is most stable. The pH of the ink must be selected such that it dissolves in the ink. In the ink of the present invention, the range of pH 7.5 to 11 is appropriate, and the range of pH 8.5 to 10.5 is most appropriate.

When ink-jet recording is performed on various types of plain paper using the ink of the present invention as described above, the image quality may be degraded depending on the type of paper as in the case where the conventional ink is used, or the image quality may deteriorate. Good recording is possible without causing a problem such as a decrease in density or deterioration of fixability.

The ink of the present invention is particularly preferably used in an ink jet recording method in which droplets are ejected by the action of thermal energy to perform recording, which will be described later, but can also be used in other ink jet recording methods and general writing instruments. .

[0031]

The ink of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to experimental examples.

Reference Examples 1 and 2 After sufficiently stirring the following composition, the mixture was filtered under pressure through a Fluoropore filter (a filter manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, trade name) having a pore size of 0.22 μm to obtain a green ink of Reference Example. .

"Parts" means parts by weight.

Ink 1 Direct Blue 199 1.3 parts Direct Yellow 86 0.7 parts Glycerin 5.1 parts Thiodiglycol 4.9 parts Urea 5.0 parts Isopropyl alcohol 4.1 parts Deionized water balance Residual ink 2 C. I. Acid Blue 9 1.4 parts C.I. I. Direct Yellow 86 0.6 parts Glycerin 5.2 parts Thiodiglycol 5.0 parts Urea 5.2 parts Isopropyl alcohol 3.8 parts Deionized water Remainder This ink was used to generate thermal energy as shown in FIG. The recording medium was filled with an ink absorber (polyurethane used in this example) of a recording unit for ink jet recording in which the ink droplets were applied and ejected from an orifice, and the recording unit was mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. Using this apparatus, printing was performed on 4024DP (manufactured by Xerox Corporation) and NP dry SK paper (manufactured by Canon Inc.). As a result, clear blue images with high density and almost no bleeding were obtained. In addition, the fixing property of the ink was good, and so-called kogation did not occur. Next, after the ink-filled recording unit shown in FIG. 2 was left for one month, printing was started again, and no clogging of the orifice was observed. These inks were also excellent in matching with polyurethane as a material of the ink absorber.

Reference Examples 3 and 4 Inks having the compositions shown below were prepared in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 to obtain red inks of Reference Examples.

Ink 3 Dye of Exemplified Compound 1 1.4 parts C.I. I. Direct Yellow 86 0.6 parts Glycerin 4.9 parts Thiodiglycol 5.1 parts Urea 5.0 parts Isopropyl alcohol 4.0 parts Deionized water balance Ink 4 C.I. I. Acid Red 52 1.5 parts C.I. I. Acid Yellow 23 0.5 parts Glycerin 5.0 parts Thiodiglycol 5.2 parts Urea 5.1 parts Isopropyl alcohol 3.8 parts Deionized water balance The printing performance of these inks in the same manner as in Experimental Example 1 And the discharge performance was evaluated. As a result, it was good as in Experimental Example 1.

Experimental Example 1 and Reference Example 5 Inks having the following compositions were prepared in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and were used as a blue ink (ink 5) of the present invention and a blue ink (ink 6) of the reference example.

Ink 5 C.I. I. Direct Blue 199 1.6 parts Dye of Exemplified Compound 1 0.4 part Glycerin 4.9 parts Thiodiglycol 5.1 parts Urea 5.0 parts Isopropyl alcohol 4.0 parts Deionized water balance Ink 6 C.I. I. Acid Blue 9 1.5 parts C.I. I. Acid Red 52 0.5 parts Glycerin 5.0 parts Thiodiglycol 5.2 parts Urea 5.1 parts Isopropyl alcohol 3.8 parts Deionized water balance The printing performance in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 using these inks And the discharge performance was evaluated. As a result, it was good as in Reference Example 1. As described above, by using the ink of the present invention, (1) an orifice is not easily clogged even after the recording head is left, and (2) a high-density image is obtained despite the low dye density. , (3)
It has the advantages of obtaining a blue image with good reproducibility without being affected by the type of plain paper, and (4) obtaining an image with almost no bleeding even when printed on plain paper. Is suitable for use as an ink for ink-jet recording in which recording is performed by ejecting ink droplets from an orifice by acting.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a preferred ink jet unit IJU, an ink jet head IJH, an ink tank IT as an ink storage unit, an ink jet cartridge IJC as a recording unit, and an ink jet to which the present invention is applied or applied. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a recording apparatus main body IJRA and a relationship between each; Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit will be described with reference to these drawings.

(Schematic Description of Apparatus Main Body) FIG. 1 is an example of a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA applied to the present invention. In the figure, a spiral groove 5004 of a lead screw 5005 that rotates via driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with forward and reverse rotation of a drive motor 5013
Has a pin (not shown), and is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. The carriage HC is equipped with an ink cartridge IJC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the carriage movement direction. Photocouplers 5007 and 5008 are home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member for supporting a cap member 5022 for capping the front surface of the recording head.
Reference numeral 15 denotes suction means for sucking the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. 5
Reference numeral 017 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5019 denotes a member that allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support plate 5018. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form, and a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this embodiment.

Ink cartridge IJ in this example
C, as can be seen from the perspective view of FIG. 2, has a large ink storage ratio, and has a shape in which the tip of the ink jet unit IJU projects slightly from the front surface of the ink tank IT. The inkjet cartridge IJC is fixedly supported by positioning means and electrical contacts, which will be described later, of a carriage HC (FIG. 1) mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus main body IJRA, and is attached to and detached from the carriage HC. Possible types.

(Explanation of the structure of the ink jet unit IJU) The ink jet unit IJU employs a system in which recording is performed using an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy for causing film boiling to occur in ink in response to an electric signal. It is a unit.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 denotes a plurality of electrothermal transducers (discharge heaters) arranged in a plurality of rows on an Si substrate, and electric wires such as Al for supplying electric power to the heaters formed by a film forming technique. It is a heater board composed of: Reference numeral 200 denotes a wiring board for the heater board 100,
It has a wire corresponding to the wire No. 0 (for example, connected by wire bonding) and a pad 201 located at an end of the wire and receiving an electric signal from the main unit.

Reference numeral 1300 denotes a grooved top plate provided with partitions for partitioning a plurality of ink flow paths, a common liquid chamber, and the like, and an ink receiving port 1500 for receiving ink supplied from an ink tank and introducing the ink into the common liquid chamber. And an orifice plate 400 having a plurality of discharge ports. Polysulfone is preferred as these integrally molded materials,
Other molding resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a support made of, for example, a metal for supporting the rear surface of the wiring board 200 in a plane, and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes an M-shaped pressing spring which presses the common liquid chamber at the center of the M-shape,
At 01, a part of the liquid path is pressed with a linear pressure. Heater board 10
0 and the top plate 1300 and the foot of the spring
By being engaged with the back side of the support body 300 through the hole 3121 of the support board 300, the two are engaged with each other in a state where they are sandwiched, so that the urging force of the pressing spring 500 and the front drooping part 501 causes the heater board 100 to engage with the heater board 100. The top plate 1300 is fixed by crimping. Further, the support 300 is provided with the ink tank IT 2.
Positioning protrusions 1012 and positioning holes 31 to be engaged with positioning and heat fusion holding protrusions 1800, 1801.
2, 1900, and 2000, and the device main body IJRA
Positioning projections 2500 for the carriage HC,
2600 on the back side. In addition, the support 300 also has a hole 320 that can penetrate an ink supply pipe 2200 (described later) that allows ink to be supplied from the ink tank. The attachment of the wiring board 200 to the support 300 is performed by sticking with an adhesive or the like. The recesses 2400 and 2400 of the support 300 are respectively provided with the positioning protrusions 2.
In the assembled ink cartridge IJC (FIG. 12), three sides around the ink jet cartridge IJC are located at the extension points of the head tip region formed by a plurality of parallel grooves 3000 and 3001. In addition, it is positioned so that unnecessary substances such as dust and ink do not reach the projections 2500 and 2600. This parallel groove 3000 is formed. The lid member 800 forms the outer wall of the ink jet cartridge IJC and also forms a space for accommodating the ink jet unit IJU. The ink supply member 600 having the parallel groove 3001 formed therein
Is a method in which an ink conduit 1600 connected to the above-described ink supply tube 2200 is formed as a cantilever having a fixed supply tube 2200 side.
A sealing pin 602 for ensuring the capillary action is inserted. Reference numeral 601 denotes the ink tank IT and the supply pipe 22.
A packing 700 that seals with 00 is a filter provided at the tank side end of the supply pipe.

Since the ink supply member 600 is molded, the ink supply member 600 is inexpensive, has high positional accuracy, eliminates a decrease in precision in formation and manufacture, and has a cantilevered conduit 1600 for mass production. The pressure contact state of 1600 with ink receiving port 1500 can be stabilized. In this example, a complete communication state can be reliably obtained only by pouring the sealing adhesive from the ink supply member side under the pressure contact state. The ink supply member 600
Is fixed to the support 300 by the holes 19 in the support 300.
01, 1902 with the back side pins (not shown) of the ink supply member 600 in the holes 1901, 1902 of the support 300.
This is easily performed by projecting through the through hole and heat-sealing the portion of the support body 300 projecting to the rear surface side. Note that the slightly protruding region of the heat-sealed back surface portion is accommodated in a recess (not shown) in the side wall of the ink jet unit IJU mounting surface of the ink tank IT, so that the positioning surface of the unit IJU can be accurately obtained. .

(Explanation of Ink Tank IT Configuration) The ink tank is composed of a cartridge body 1000 and an ink absorber 90.
After the cartridge 0 and the ink absorber 900 are inserted from the side of the cartridge body 1000 opposite to the unit IJU mounting surface, a lid 1100 for sealing the unit is formed. 900 is an absorber for impregnating the ink,
It is arranged in the cartridge body 1000. Reference numeral 1200 denotes a supply port for supplying ink to the unit IJU composed of the components 100 to 600, and ink is injected from the supply port 1200 in a process before the unit is arranged in the portion 1010 of the cartridge body 1000. Thus, it is also an inlet for impregnating the absorber 900 with ink.

In this embodiment, the ink supply portions are the air communication port and this supply port. However, the ribs 2 in the main body 1000 for ensuring good ink supply from the ink absorber.
300 and partial ribs 2500 and 2400 of the lid member 1100
Is formed over the corner portion furthest from the ink supply port 1200 so as to be continuous from the air communication port 1401 side, so that it is relatively good and uniform. It is important that ink is supplied to the absorber from the supply port 1200 side. This method is extremely effective in practice. This rib 1
000 has four ribs parallel to the carriage movement direction on the rear surface of the main body 1000 of the ink tank to prevent the absorber from sticking to the rear surface. Also, the partial ribs 2400 and 2500 are similarly provided on the inner surface of the lid member 1100 which is on the extension corresponding to the rib 1000, but unlike the rib 1000, they are in a divided state and the presence of air. The space is larger than the former.
Note that the partial ribs 2500 and 2400 are distributed on a surface that is less than half the total area of the cover member 1000. With these ribs, the tank supply port 1200 of the ink absorber is provided.
The ink in the corner area farthest from the ink was more stably guided to the supply port 1200 side by capillary force. Reference numeral 1401 denotes an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. Reference numeral 1400 denotes a liquid-repellent material disposed inside the atmosphere communication port 1401, which prevents ink from leaking from the atmosphere communication port 1401.

The above-described arrangement of the ribs is particularly effective because the above-described ink storage space of the ink tank IT has a rectangular shape and has long sides on the side surfaces. In the case of having a side or a cube, by providing a rib on the entire lid member 1100, the ink supply from the ink absorber 900 can be stabilized.

The unit IJ of the ink tank IT
The configuration of the mounting surface of U is shown by FIG. Assuming that a straight line passing through substantially the center of the projecting opening of the orifice plate 400 and parallel to the mounting reference plane on the bottom surface of the tank IT or the surface of the carriage is L1, two positioning projections engaging with the holes 312 of the support 300 are formed. 1012 is on this straight line L1. The height of the protrusion 1012 is slightly lower than the thickness of the support 300, and the support 300 is positioned. On this drawing, on the extension of the straight line L1, there is located a claw 2100 with which the 90-angle engaging surface 4002 of the carriage positioning hook 4001 is engaged, and the acting force for positioning the carriage on the straight line L1. It is configured to operate in a plane area parallel to the above-mentioned reference plane. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, these relationships are effective because the positioning accuracy of only the ink tank is equivalent to the positioning accuracy of the head ejection port. Further, the projections 1800 and 1801 of the ink tank corresponding to the fixing holes 1900 and 2000 on the side of the ink tank of the support body 300 respectively correspond to the projections 1010 described above.
The portion longer than 12 and projecting through the support 300 is thermally fused to fix the support 300 to the side surface. Assuming that a straight line perpendicular to the line L1 and passing through the projection 1800 is L3 and a straight line passing through the projection 1801 is L2, the center of the supply port 1200 is located substantially on the straight line L3. This is a preferable configuration because it acts to stabilize the connection state with the supply pipe 2200 and can reduce the load on these connection states even when dropped or impacted. Further, the straight lines L2 and L3 do not coincide with each other, and a protrusion 1802 is formed around the protrusion 1012 on the discharge port side of the head IJH.
0, 1801 exist, so the head IJH
This has the effect of reinforcing the positioning with respect to the tank.
Note that the curve indicated by L4 is the outer wall position when the ink supply member 600 is mounted. Since the projections 1800 and 1801 are along the curve L4, sufficient strength and positional accuracy are given to the weight of the head-side configuration of the head IJH.
Reference numeral 2700 denotes a tip of the ink tank IT, which is inserted into a hole of the front plate 4000 of the carriage and provided for an abnormal time when the displacement of the ink tank becomes extremely bad. Reference numeral 2101 denotes an engagement portion between the carriage HC and a further positioning portion.

The ink tank IT has a shape surrounding the unit IJU except for the lower opening by covering the unit IJU with the lid 800 after the unit IJU is mounted. However, as the ink cartridge IJC, the ink tank IT is mounted on the carriage HC. Because the lower opening to perform is close to the carriage HC,
A substantial four-sided surrounding space is formed. Therefore, the heat generated from the head IJH in the surrounding space is effective as a heat retaining space in the space, but the temperature rises slightly for long-term continuous use. For this reason, in this example, a slit 1700 having a width smaller than this space is provided on the upper surface of the cartridge IJC in order to assist the natural heat radiation of the support, and the temperature distribution of the entire unit IJU is uniform while preventing the temperature rise. Was made independent of the environment.

When the ink cartridge IJC is assembled, ink is supplied from the inside of the cartridge to the supply tank 1200 through the supply port 1200, the hole 320 provided in the support 300, and the introduction port provided on the middle and back sides of the supply tank 600. After passing through the inside thereof, an appropriate supply pipe and an ink inlet 150 of the top plate 400 are provided from the outlet.
The fluid flows into the common liquid chamber through 0. A packing made of, for example, silicon rubber or butyl rubber is provided at the connection portion for ink communication described above, whereby sealing is performed to secure an ink supply path.

In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyphenylene oxide, or polypropylene having excellent ink resistance, and is integrally formed with the orifice plate 400 in a mold. It is molded at the same time.

As described above, since the integrally molded parts are the ink supply member 600, the top plate and the orifice plate, and the ink tank main body 1000, not only the assembling accuracy is high, but also the quality of mass production is extremely effective. It is. Also, since the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional case, excellent desired characteristics can be surely exhibited.

In this embodiment, polyurethane is used as the material of the ink absorber.

(Description of Attachment of Inkjet Cartridge IJC to Carriage HC) In FIG.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a platen roller that guides the recording medium P upward from below. The carriage HC uses the platen roller 300
0, a front plate 4000 (2 mm thick) located in front of the ink cartridge IJC on the front platen side of the carriage, and a cartridge IJ.
Pad 2 corresponding to pad 201 of C wiring board 200
Recording a flexible sheet 4005 provided with an ink jet cartridge IJC, a support plate 4003 for an electrical connection portion for holding a rubber pad 4006 for generating an elastic force for pressing the flexible sheet 4005 against each pad 2011 from the back side. A positioning hook 4001 for fixing to a position is provided. The front plate 4000 has two positioning projections 410 corresponding to the positioning projections 2500 and 2600 of the cartridge support 300, respectively, and receives a vertical force directed toward the projection 4010 after the cartridge is mounted. For this reason, the reinforcing rib has a plurality of ribs (not shown) on the platen roller side of the front plate that are oriented in the direction of the vertical force. The rib also forms a head protection protruding portion that protrudes slightly (about 0.1 mm) toward the platen roller from the front position L5 when the cartridge IJC is mounted. The electrical connection part support plate 4003 has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 4004 not in the direction of the ribs but in the vertical direction.
The proportion of lateral protrusion toward one side is reduced. This also serves the function of tilting the position when the cartridge is mounted as shown in the figure. The support plate 4003 is provided with a positioning surface 4 on the platen side to stabilize the electrical contact state.
008 and a hook-side positioning surface 4007 to form a pad contact area therebetween and
The deformation amount of the rubber sheet 4006 with a boss corresponding to 11 is uniquely defined. These positioning surfaces are in the cartridge I
When the JC is fixed at a recordable position, the wiring board 300
In contact with the surface. In this example, since the pads 201 of the wiring board 300 are further distributed so as to be symmetrical with respect to the line L1, the rubber sheet 4006 is used.
The pad 2011, 20
The contact pressure of No. 1 is more stabilized. Pad 201 of this example
Are upper, lower two rows and vertical two rows.

The hook 4001 has a long hole which engages with the fixed shaft 4009. After rotating in the counterclockwise direction from the position shown in FIG.
By moving to the left along 0, the ink cartridge IJC is positioned with respect to the carriage HC. The hook 4001 can be moved in any manner, but is preferably configured to be moved by a lever or the like. In any case, when the hook 4001 rotates, the cartridge IJC moves toward the platen roller while the positioning protrusion 2500,
2600 is moved to a position where it can be brought into contact with the positioning surface 4010 of the front plate.
The cartridge IJC is rotated in a horizontal plane around the contact area between the positioning surfaces 2500 and 4010 while being in close contact with the 90-th surface, and finally, the contact between the pads 201 and 2011 starts. When the hook 4001 is held at a predetermined position, that is, a fixed position, the pads 201 and 2011 are completely in contact with each other, the positioning surfaces 2500 and 4010 are completely in contact with each other, and the 90-degree surface 4002 and the 90-degree surface of the nail are in contact with each other. The two-surface contact and the surface contact between the wiring board 300 and the positioning surfaces 4007 and 4008 are simultaneously formed, and the holding of the cartridge IJC with respect to the carriage is completed.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below using such an apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the entire system of the present invention. As a configuration, an IJC unit including a recording unit, preferably a type identification unit and an exchange detection unit attached thereto, and a blade for performing maintenance of the head at the home position or the like with respect to the IJC unit,
A blade cleaner (first cleaner) for cleaning the blade, an ink receiving member (second cleaner) for receiving ink ejected from the recording means to maintain a stable recording state, and forcibly discharging ink from the nozzles of the recording means. A control unit having a cleaning unit constituted by ink forcibly discharging ink to be discharged, a recording means driving element for supplying a recording signal to the recording means, and a memory means such as a line buffer memory for supplying a printing pattern to the recording element driving means, and its control The unit is composed of a host unit including a printer driver for converting a print pattern from the host into a form suitable for the control unit. Further, it has a recording medium conveying means for recording an image on the recording medium by the recording means, and preferably a registration adjusting means for positioning the recording medium at that time. Thus, even if the same recording medium is conveyed by the recording medium conveying means a plurality of times and printing is performed, the position is not shifted for each recording.
Further, there is a paper discharging means for discharging the print medium after recording. At this time, some methods have already been shown as the paper discharging means, but in general, a paper discharging spur is often used to discharge while holding the printing surface of the recording medium after printing with a spur.

FIG. 7 shows an example sequence when the system of the present invention is implemented. This shows a procedure in which print recording is performed a plurality of times using the same recording medium. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the first print recording is to be performed. Reference numeral 6005 denotes an automatic sheet feeder.
1 is a pickup roller. Reference numeral 6002 denotes a needle roller which is installed in pressure contact with the 5000 platen roller in parallel to generate a conveying force for feeding the recording medium in the conveying direction. Reference numeral 6003 denotes a paper ejection spur.
This is also for generating a conveying force for paper discharge between the paper discharge roller 004 and the paper discharge roller 004. In FIG. 7B, the recording medium after the printing has been completed once and discharged is 600
5 shows a state in which the IJC is set again in the automatic sheet feeder and the IJC is replaced with another type. Accordingly, the state in which the ink (A) printed by the first print recording is attached to the recording medium is shown. FIG. 7C shows a state in which the recording medium is set in order to exchange the IJC again and perform printing.

Normally, in this monocolor printing, printing is performed in a single color. Therefore, compared with a printing apparatus having a plurality of recording elements of different colors on the same carriage which prints at almost the same time, the mixed color bleeding and the boundary bleeding occur. Etc. are very difficult to occur. Therefore, it is possible to perform very high-quality printing on plain paper without using special paper such as coated paper. Further, even if the same recording medium has been printed at least for the first time, even if the paper is re-passed, at least several tens of seconds are required for head replacement and data exchange, so the ink is re-transferred to the paper feed system and others. Etc. are less likely to occur. In some cases, it is better to change the printing order and the like depending on the color type, print pattern, and recording medium type. For example, when there is a background color for printing and a pattern such as a character is on it. That is, if there is a print area surrounded by the background color, a better result is obtained by printing the part surrounded by the background color such as characters and lines last.

This may be extracted on software such as a printer driver or the like, and an optimum printing order may be designated. In addition, using a method that eliminates unevenness in the ejection amount of nozzles and image defects due to unevenness by performing printing multiple times using different nozzles called the fine mode, which is usually performed in color printing with staggered and inverted staggered printing Is also good. In this case, the first printing may be performed with the thinned pattern, and after the sheet is discharged, the printing may be performed again by using the same head or a different head to interpolate the thinned pattern. Further, the paper may be fed so that at least one nozzle is displaced from the number of nozzles being used, and scanning may be performed a plurality of times to complete the image. Further, an image improving method for changing the number of nozzles used for each color or changing the registration position of the seam between lines may be added. In the case of mono-color printing, unlike normal color ink-jets, which usually have multiple recording heads arranged almost side by side, so that printing is performed in a single-color superposition, even if reciprocating printing is performed, the order of color injection differs between the forward pass and the return pass. Because there is no such difference, even if reciprocating color printing is performed, there is no difference in color due to the difference in the order of driving in the forward path and return path, so reciprocating printing is possible without performing special color control, so there is no bleeding, Further, since the color tone is stable, it is possible to obtain a considerably high-quality color print.

Up to now, it has been described that high-quality printing can be obtained. However, when printing is performed a plurality of times on the same recording medium, the problem that has been solved by single-color printing may be highlighted. That is the issue of paper spurs. There are several practical examples of paper spurs, but one of the most efficient and simplest methods is to make the peripheral surface continuously contact and rotate with the surface to be printed and to use a material such as a fluorine compound for the material. A device devised so as to prevent the ink from being transferred to the peripheral surface thereof by using a material having a high performance has been put to practical use. In this case, when printing is performed once on the same recording medium, even if printing is performed a plurality of times, printing is performed without transferring the ink of the printing target portion to the non-printing portion and without generating a so-called spur mark. Was possible. However, in the case where multiple recordings are made on the same recording medium using the IJC of a plurality of colors, when the spur passes over the printing of a different color with a high printing ratio, a spur mark occurs only on the different color. Is a problem. In principle, this occurs because ink droplets adhering to the side surface of the spur, not the peripheral surface, mix on different colors. If the colors are the same, there is no problem even if the inks on the sides are mixed, but this is a problem because the colors are different. In places where printing was not performed or where the printing ratio was low, the ink on the side surface of the spur did not cause any problem because there was little deformation due to swelling of the paper. In order to print a plurality of different colors, it is optimal to replace the spur unit or the like. Specifically, a combination of well-known means such as those with a spur cleaner and those without a spur can be considered.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention,
(1) The orifice is hardly clogged even after the recording head is left unattended. (2) A high-density image is obtained despite the low dye concentration. (3) Reproduction without being affected by the type of plain paper. A good blue color image can be obtained,
(4) Blue ink is provided which can provide an image with almost no bleeding even when printed on plain paper. Such ink is particularly used for ink jet recording in which thermal energy is applied to eject ink droplets from an orifice to perform recording. It is suitable as ink.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an ink jet recording apparatus main body to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the ink jet cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an ink jet cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing details of a part of an ink jet cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining attachment of an ink jet cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a system of an inkjet recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a usage pattern of the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) C09B 67/46 B41J 3/04 101Y

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An ink containing a first dye, a second dye and an aqueous liquid medium for dissolving or dispersing the same, wherein the first dye is C.I. I. Direct Blue 199
Wherein the second dye is a compound represented by the following general formula (1), and the mixing ratio of the first dye to the second dye is 5: 1 to 2: 1 by weight. Wherein the dye concentration in the ink is 1 to 2.5% by weight of the total weight of the ink: (However, in the above general formula (1), Y represents any one of a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, a methoxy group, an acetylamino group, and a nitro group, and forms a benzene ring together with the carbon atom at the 3-position of the benzene ring B. On the other hand, X is an acetyl group,
Represents any one of a benzoyl group, a paratoluenesulfonyl group and a 4-chloro-6-hydroxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl group, and M1, M2 and M3 are each selected from an alkali metal and ammonium Base). 2. The ink according to claim 1, wherein the aqueous liquid medium contains glycerin and thiodiglycol. 3. The ink according to claim 2, wherein the aqueous liquid medium further contains urea or thiourea. 4. The ink according to claim 2, wherein the aqueous liquid medium further contains an aliphatic monohydric alcohol. 5. The ink according to claim 1, wherein the ink is an ink for inkjet recording. 6. An ink jet recording method, comprising the step of discharging ink droplets according to claim 5 from an orifice in accordance with a recording signal to perform recording on a recording material. 7. The ink jet recording method according to claim 6, wherein the ink is ejected by applying thermal energy to the ink. 8. A recording unit, comprising: an ink storage unit that stores the ink according to claim 5; and a head unit that discharges the ink as ink droplets. 9. The recording unit according to claim 8, wherein the head unit includes a head for ejecting ink droplets by applying thermal energy to the ink. 10. An ink cartridge, comprising: an ink storage section that stores the ink according to claim 1. Description: 11. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: an ink container for storing the ink according to claim 5; and a head for discharging the ink as ink droplets. 12. The head unit includes a head for ejecting ink droplets by applying thermal energy to ink.
2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to 1.