JP2002086678A - Ink container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure a light transmittance in the lateral face of a cylinder after the printing ink is scraped by the cylinder in an ink container storing the ink. SOLUTION: This ink container 10 is constituted of an almost cylindrically shaped cylinder 12 with a discharge aperture 11 for discharging the ink formed at the tip and a piston 13 which is fitted into the cylinder 12 and slides along the inner wall of the lateral face 12a of the cylinder 12. The light transmittance (y) [%T] of the lateral face 12a of the cylinder 12 after the ink is scraped by the piston 13 satisfies the equation: y=ax(a: a factor of 21 or more and x: the minimum output voltage [V] of a light receiving sensor which detects the light transmitted through the lateral face of the cylinder 12) when the light with 900 nm wavelength is transmitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an ink container,
More specifically, the present invention relates to an ink container suitable for detecting the remaining amount of printing ink in the ink container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a printing apparatus such as a stencil printing apparatus that performs printing by replacing an ink container containing printing ink therein is used, the ink in the ink container is almost completely removed. After the use, the empty ink container is taken out and disposed of, and a new ink container filled with ink is mounted, and printing is resumed. Alternatively, there is a case where the ink container which has been used up and is once emptied is filled with the ink again, and the ink container is mounted again on the printing apparatus for use.

The ink container accommodates ink in a space surrounded by a cylinder provided with a discharge port for discharging ink used for printing at a tip thereof and a piston slidable along an inner wall of a side surface of the cylinder. It is configured as follows. Here, an ink scraper having elasticity is provided around the piston. And the piston
As the ink is sucked from the ejection port, the ink is pushed to the atmospheric pressure and slides toward the ejection port while scraping the ink on the inner wall of the cylinder by the ink scraper. Thus, the ink can be prevented from adhering to the inner wall of the cylinder, and the ink can be used without waste.

When such an ink container is used, if the remaining amount of the ink is not checked, the ink may run out unexpectedly at an unexpected time. In such a situation, the operation of the printing apparatus has to be stopped. Therefore, in a printing apparatus such as stencil printing, originally, one of the most effective advantages is that the time efficiency of the printing operation is high. However, such an advantage is hindered by the above-described ink shortage. Would be. Therefore, it is required to confirm the ink shortly before the ink runs out or before the remaining amount of the ink becomes small.

For this purpose, the simplest possible countermeasure is to allow the user to visually check the remaining amount of ink. However, since the ink container is generally mounted at a deep position in the printing apparatus, the user needs to check the remaining amount of ink. In order to check the remaining amount of ink, stop the operation of the printing device, remove the ink container from the printing device to a visible position, open the ink container lid, etc. It is necessary to visually check the position of the liquid surface of the ink.

Alternatively, when the ink container is formed of a translucent material or the like, it is necessary to visually check the remaining amount of the ink inside the translucent side wall surface. It is extremely complicated for the user to perform such a series of operations only to check the remaining ink amount. Therefore, a technique for confirming that the remaining amount of ink inside the ink container has been reduced while the ink container is mounted in the printing apparatus has been conventionally proposed or used.

For example, a translucent ink container is used, and light is emitted from one side of the ink container. If no ink remains inside the ink container, the light reaches a light receiving sensor disposed on the opposite side. A method of detecting that the remaining amount of the ink has become low based on the detection has been proposed. In this method, for example, whether the container is full of ink,
Alternatively, the remaining amount of ink can be detected in a stepwise manner, such as whether the remaining amount is equal to or more than a predetermined amount or is less than the predetermined amount.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned ink container, the light transmittance of the cylinder may be deteriorated due to the material of the cylinder, printing on the side surface of the cylinder, coloring of the cylinder, and the like. In addition, light transmittance of the cylinder also deteriorates due to the presence of a portion where ink adheres to the inner wall of the cylinder (referred to as a defective scraping portion) due to defective ink scraping or the like. As described above, when the light transmittance of the cylinder is deteriorated, there is a problem that the remaining amount of ink cannot be accurately detected in the printing apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an ink container that can ensure light transmittance.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided an ink container comprising a cylinder provided with a discharge port for discharging ink used for printing at a front end thereof, inserted into the cylinder, and arranged along an inner wall of a side surface of the cylinder. In an ink container that stores the ink in a space surrounded by a slidable piston, at least a light transmittance y [% of at least a side surface of the cylinder after the ink is scraped off by the piston.
T], when light having a wavelength of 900 nm is transmitted, y =
ax (a: coefficient of 21 or more, x: minimum output voltage [V] of a light-receiving sensor that receives light transmitted through the side surface of the cylinder)
It is characterized by being.

Here, the coefficient a is experimentally obtained from the relationship between the output voltage of the light receiving sensor and the light transmittance of the cylinder. Specifically, for example, variously changing the degree of contamination of the inner wall of the cylinder, transmitting light to a cylinder having various light transmittances, receiving the transmitted light with a light receiving sensor, and detecting the output voltage thereof, The relationship between the output voltage and the light transmittance of the cylinder is plotted, and the slope of the plot can be used as the coefficient a.

The minimum output voltage of the light receiving sensor in this case differs depending on the performance of the light receiving sensor. However, detecting means for detecting the voltage output from the light receiving sensor (for example, an ink used in a printing apparatus described later) (Remaining amount detecting means) means the minimum value of the voltage that can be detected.

In the ink container according to the present invention, the coefficient a is preferably 36 or more.

Further, in the ink container according to the present invention, it is preferable that a plurality of the pistons are inserted into the cylinders.

Further, at least one or more annular scraping portions projecting radially outward from the piston, and projecting radially outward from the piston, and contacting the cylinder to move the piston into the cylinder It is preferable that a support portion for supporting the inside is formed.

In this case, the support member has at least one
It may be made of the above-mentioned protruding member, or may be made of an annular member having a plurality of notches formed in a portion that contacts the cylinder.

Note that the notch includes a shape cut linearly.

Further, the ink container according to the present invention comprises: a light receiving sensor for outputting an electric signal in accordance with the received light; light irradiating means for irradiating the light receiving sensor with light passing through the side of the cylinder; The present invention can be applied to a printing apparatus provided with ink remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of ink based on the electric signal output from the printer.

Further, in this case, the printing apparatus is characterized in that the light receiving sensor is arranged near the rear end of the cylinder, and the light irradiating means is provided in plural along the moving direction of the piston, and the position in the direction is determined. Is configured to be driven by sequentially changing the lighting state for each different thing, the ink remaining amount detecting means, based on a change in the output of the light receiving sensor according to a change in the lighting state of the plurality of light irradiation means. It may be configured to detect the remaining amount of ink.

The electric signal output from the light receiving sensor of the printing apparatus is equivalent to the output voltage.

[0021]

According to the ink container of the present invention, the light transmittance of at least the cylinder side surface after the ink has been scraped off by the piston becomes y = ax when light having a wavelength of 900 nm is transmitted. With this configuration, it is possible to secure a light transmittance that can be detected by the detection unit that detects the voltage output from the light receiving sensor on the side surface of the cylinder.

Further, when the ink container according to the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus having a light receiving sensor, a light irradiating means and an ink remaining amount detecting means, the light output from the light irradiating means is surely received by the light receiving sensor. Therefore, the remaining amount of ink can be accurately detected.

Further, by inserting a plurality of pistons into the cylinder, it is possible to increase the number of times of scraping of ink on the inner wall of the cylinder. The light transmittance of the side surface can be improved.

Further, by forming an annular scraping portion on the piston, it is possible to improve the performance of scraping ink on the inner wall of the cylinder, thereby reliably preventing the occurrence of a defective portion of ink scraping. be able to. Further, by forming the support portion, the piston can be stably moved in the cylinder.

On the other hand, in the case where the support portion is formed, if ink accidentally enters between the support portion and the scraping portion, the ink is dragged by the support portion, and the inner wall of the cylinder is formed into a stripe or band shape over a wide range. There is a risk of becoming dirty. Therefore, the support portion is formed of at least one or more protruding members, or the support portion is formed of an annular member having a plurality of notches formed in a portion that comes into contact with the cylinder. Even if ink enters between the cylinders, the ink remains on the inner wall of the cylinder, but is not dragged by the support portion. Therefore, it is possible to prevent significant contamination of the inner wall of the cylinder and improve the light transmittance on the side surface of the cylinder.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a configuration of an ink container according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an ink container 10 according to the present embodiment has a substantially cylindrical cylinder 12 provided with a discharge port 11 for discharging ink at the tip, and a cylinder 12
And a piston 13 slidable along the inner wall of the side surface 12a. The ink is contained in a space surrounded by the cylinder 12 and the piston 13. Note that the piston 13 is provided with annular scraping portions 14 and 15 projecting radially outward. Thereby, the piston 1
3 is the cylinder 1 at the annular scrapers 14 and 15
The ink is sealed by contacting the inner wall surface of the ink cartridge 2. Note that the scraping section 15 has a function as a support section that supports the piston 13 in the cylinder 12.

In such an ink container 10, as the ink is sucked from the ejection port 11,
1 is slid from the initial position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG.

Although the cylinder 12 and the piston 13 may be made of any material, depending on the type of the contents,
In order to prevent dimensional change, consideration is given to solvent resistance (hard swelling), barrier properties and strength are required to ensure the storage stability of the contents, and slipping and scraping portions of the piston 13 and the cylinder 12 are considered. It is necessary to select in consideration of the flexibility of 14 and 15. Generally, it can be easily manufactured with high precision by a molding method such as an injection molding method using a plastic material. Such plastic materials include polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), vinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyoxymethylene (POM), polysulfone (PSF), and polysulfone (PSF). Ether sulfone (PES), polyacrylate (PAR), polyamide (PA) and the like can be mentioned. Among these, polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are particularly preferred because they are general-purpose plastics having excellent solvent resistance and are inexpensive. In particular, the scrapers 14, 15
Is preferably made of a material having high flexibility, and is preferably made of polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or the like. In this case, the scraping units 14, 1
The outer diameter of the cylinder 5 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the cylinder 12, and when the piston 13 is fitted into the cylinder 12,
It is preferable that the scrapers 14, 15 press the inner wall of the piston 13 with its elasticity. The cylinder 12 and the piston 13 are not limited to a plastic material, but may be made of a light-permeable paper material.

The ink container 10 has a light transmittance y of 900 nm for the side surface of the cylinder 12 after the ink is scraped off by the piston 13 for the purpose of detecting the remaining amount of ink.
Is formed so that y = ax (a: a coefficient of 21 or more, x: output voltage of the light receiving sensor that detects light transmitted through the side surface of the cylinder). In order to form the ink container 10 as described above, the cylinder 12 may be formed of a material in consideration of the slipperiness of the piston 13 and the cylinder 12 and the flexibility of the scraping portions 14 and 15 as described above. The piston 1 including the scraping portions 14 and 15
It is preferable that the outer diameter of the cylinder 3 and the inner diameter of the cylinder 12 are formed so that defective ink scraping does not occur. For example, the cylinder 12 is made of polypropylene and the piston 13 is made of high-density polyethylene, the inner diameter of the cylinder 12 is 76.3 ± 0.05 mm (average 76.3 mm), and the outside of the piston 13 including the scraping portions 14 and 15 is formed. By forming the diameter (the state before being inserted into the cylinder 12) to 76.9 mm or more, it is possible to prevent the ink from being scraped poorly and to secure the light transmittance y = ax of the cylinder 12.

The coefficient a is experimentally determined from the relationship between the output voltage of the light receiving sensor and the light transmittance of the cylinder 12. Specifically, for example, the degree of dirt on the inner wall of the cylinder 12 is variously changed, and light is transmitted through a cylinder having various light transmittances, the transmitted light is received by a light receiving sensor, and the output voltage is detected. , The relationship between the output voltage and the light transmittance of the cylinder can be plotted, and the slope of the plot can be used as the coefficient a. A method for defining the coefficient a will be described later.

Although the output voltage of the light receiving sensor in this case differs depending on the performance of the light receiving sensor, a detecting means for detecting the voltage output from the light receiving sensor (for example, used in a printing apparatus shown in FIG. Control board 2
1 is the lowest value of the voltage that can be detected by one circuit for detecting the remaining amount of ink. This detecting means can detect the remaining amount of ink when the voltage output from the light receiving sensor reaches a certain value or more, but the certain value varies depending on the performance of the detecting means.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus using the ink container 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. This printing apparatus is, for example, a stencil printing apparatus, as shown in the figure, a plate cylinder or a printing paper transport mechanism for performing stencil printing on a printing medium (not shown) such as printing paper or an OHP transparent sheet. And the like, the ink container 10 according to the present embodiment, a control board 21 for detecting the remaining amount of ink, and a main body control board 22 for overall control.

As the printing mechanism 30, a conventionally well-known general one can be used, and a detailed description and illustration of its configuration and operation are omitted.

On the other hand, the ink container 10 is filled with the ink 16.

Three positions P along the moving direction of the cylinder
1, P2 and P3 have cylinder side surfaces 12a, respectively.
In a state of being close to and facing L.
An ED (light emitting diode) is provided.

The position P1 is a position at which the remaining amount of ink becomes 10%. Here, for example, three LEDs 1-1, LE
D1-2 and LEDs 1-3 are provided. Position P
Reference numeral 2 denotes a position where the remaining amount of ink becomes 30%. Here, one LED 2 is provided as an example. Position P
Reference numeral 3 denotes a position where the remaining amount of ink becomes 50%, and here, for example, two LEDs 3-1 and 3-2 are provided.

The three LEDs 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3 are arranged at substantially equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylinder 12, that is, at approximately 120 ° intervals. In the following, these three LEDs 1-1, LE
D1-2 and LED1-3 may be collectively referred to as LED1. The two LEDs 3-1 and LE
D3-2 are also disposed at substantially equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylinder 12, that is, at approximately 180 ° intervals. In the following, these two LEDs 3-1 and LED3-2
May be collectively referred to as LED3.

At the rear end of the cylinder 12, a light receiving sensor 20 fixed to a light receiving substrate 23 is arranged. As the light receiving sensor 20, for example, a photoelectric conversion element that outputs an electric signal when receiving light, such as a phototransistor or a photodiode, is desirably used. In the present embodiment, a phototransistor is used.

The light emitted from the LED 1, 2, or 3 is received by the light receiving sensor 20 unless the ink 16 exists in the cylinder corresponding to the installation position. At that time, the light passes through the cylinder side surface 12a only once and reaches the light receiving sensor 20. LED
Ink 1 is applied to the portion corresponding to the installation position of 1, 2, or 3.
6 are present, the light emitted from them is ink 1
6, the amount of light received by the light receiving sensor 20 is negligible or extremely small.

The ink container 10 of the present embodiment is formed so that the light transmittance of the side surface of the cylinder 12 becomes y = ax as described above.
In (a), the residue of the ink 16 may not be scraped off by the piston 13 and may remain in a streak or band shape. Even if such a situation occurs, the positions P1 and P
In FIG. 3, since a plurality of LEDs are provided, a certain LED
Even if the light emitted from the LED is blocked by the residue of the ink 16, the light emitted from another LED can be received by the light receiving sensor 20.

The turning on and off of each LED is controlled by the control board 21. Note that three LEDs 1-1, 1-2, and
1-3 light up at the same time, and the two LEDs 3-1 and 3-2 arranged at the position P3 also light up at the same time.

In such a printing apparatus, the remaining amount of ink in the ink container 10 is detected as follows.
First, all three of LED1, ie, LED1-1, LED1-2, and LED1-3 are turned on (lit), and the output signal of light receiving sensor 20 is detected. This detection is performed at the position P
Since it is about the light from the LED 1 arranged at 1, the determination is made as to whether or not the remaining amount of ink is 10% or less.

Next, after the LED 1 is turned off (turned off), the LED 2 is turned on, and the output signal of the light receiving sensor 20 is detected. Since this detection is for the light from the LED 2 arranged at the position P2, the remaining amount of ink is 30%.
This is for determining whether or not the following is true.

Next, after turning off the LED 2, the LED
3, that is, all the two LEDs 3-1 and 3-2 are turned on, and the output signal of the light receiving sensor 20 is detected. Since this detection is for the light from the LED 3 arranged at the position P3, it is for determining whether or not the remaining amount of ink is 50% or less. Thereafter, the LED 3 is turned off.

Next, based on the results of the above three detections of the output signal, the remaining amount of ink is obtained by logical discrimination. That is, in the detection of the output signal of the light receiving sensor 20 three times,
If the output signal is obtained three times, that is, if the LED
When all of the lights from 1, 2, and 3 are received by the light receiving sensor 20, it is determined that the remaining ink amount is 10% or less.

When the output signal is detected only in the second and third times of the three output signal detections, ie, when L
When the light from the EDs 2 and 3 is received by the light receiving sensor 20, it is determined that the remaining ink amount is more than 10% and not more than 30%.

When the output signal is detected only the third time among the three output signal detections, that is, when only the light from the LED 3 is received by the light receiving sensor 20, the ink remaining amount exceeds 30%. It is determined that it is 50% or less.

When the output signal is not detected at all in the detection of the output signal three times,
When the light from 1, 2, and 3 is not received by the light receiving sensor 20, it is determined that the remaining ink amount exceeds 50%.

The ink remaining amount obtained as described above is temporarily stored in a predetermined location of a storage unit (not shown).

If the remaining amount of ink can be detected as described above, it can be determined that, for example, there is no need to replace the ink container 10 or prepare a spare, based on the detected amount. Alternatively, when it is expected that the next printing will be a large number of copies, the spare ink container 10 is prepared for the next large amount of printing even if the ink 16 remains at least half now. It is possible to make an appropriate decision corresponding to the convenience of the user at that time, for example, it is necessary to prepare several pieces.

Here, the coefficient a is defined by the following method. First, prepare five types of cylinder samples SP,
The cylinder sample SP is irradiated with light having a wavelength of 900 nm, and its light transmittance is measured with a spectrophotometer V-5 manufactured by JASCO Corporation.
The measurement was performed using a Model 70 (measuring unit integrating sphere device ISN-470). The light transmittance of each sample is 0
%, 4%, 6%, 12% and 21%. Next, in order to reproduce the situation where ink adheres to the inner wall of the cylinder, FIG.
As shown in Fig. 7, a rectangular black paper (black paper) 40 having a long side equivalent to the length of the cylinder sample SP was stuck on the inner wall of each cylinder sample SP along the long axis. here,
When the ink is ejected from the ink container, the ink is dragged by the piston and the ink adheres along the long axis of the cylinder inner wall. Therefore, the black paper 40 is formed into a rectangle having a long side equal to the length of the cylinder sample SP. It is what it was.

At this time, in order to reproduce the state of adhesion of various inks, 0 is set to the side area of the cylinder sample SP.
%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, respectively)
A black paper 40 having each of the following areas was prepared. Note that 0
% Is without black paper. Further, side ribs are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the ink container 10 so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the ink container 10 in order to perform positioning when the ink container 10 is mounted on the printing apparatus. Tends to stick. Therefore, the black paper 40 has the cylinder sample S centered on the side rib of the cylinder sample SP.
Affixed to the inner wall of P.

The cylinder sample SP was mounted on the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the LED was turned on, and the output signal of the light receiving sensor 20 was measured as the output voltage.

Table 1 below shows the measurement results of the output voltage of the light receiving sensor. FIG. 4 shows the results of plotting the output voltage (V) of the light receiving sensor on the x-axis and the light transmittance of the cylinder sample SP on the y-axis for the case of 0% inner wall contamination and 100% inner wall contamination. As shown in FIG. 4, the inclination in the case of 0% of the inner wall dirt having the best condition is approximately 21.
In the case of the worst condition of the inner wall dirt being 100%, it was approximately 36. Therefore, in the present invention, the coefficient a is set to 21 or more, and the light transmittance y of at least the side surface of the cylinder after the ink is scraped off by the piston has a wavelength of 900 nm.
When y is transmitted, y = ax is satisfied. In addition, since the condition becomes the worst when the coefficient a is 36, the coefficient a = 36 is set as a more preferable coefficient.

[0055]

[Table 1] If the minimum output voltage of the light receiving sensor is 0.15 V when the coefficient a = 36, the light transmittance on the side of the cylinder is 5.4% T. In this case, the ink is scraped by the piston. It can be seen that the light transmittance on the side surface of the cylinder after being taken should be 5.4% T or more.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the light transmittance of at least the cylinder side surface after the ink 16 has been scraped off by the piston 13 is determined as y = ax when light having a wavelength of 900 nm is transmitted. (A: coefficient of 21 or more), it is possible to select a cylinder having a light transmittance that can be detected by the detecting means in accordance with the performance of the detecting means connected to the light receiving sensor. Therefore,
When the ink container 10 is used in a printing apparatus as shown in FIG. 2, the light output from the light irradiating means is reliably detected by a circuit for detecting the remaining amount of ink on the control board 21 connected to the light receiving sensor 20. Therefore, the remaining amount of ink can be accurately detected.

By using the ink container 10 of the present invention, it is possible to accurately detect the remaining amount of ink without particularly limiting the color of the ink used or the wavelength of the light emitted by the light irradiating means. In addition, by providing a condensing means such as a condensing lens on the front side of the light receiving sensor 20 or selecting and using a light receiving sensor having a large light receiving area, the light condensing efficiency is increased and the accuracy of detecting the remaining amount of ink is further improved. It is also possible.

In the above embodiment, only one piston 13 is inserted into the cylinder 12, but as shown in FIG. 5, two or more pistons 13, 1 are provided.
3 'may be inserted into the cylinder 12. In this manner, by inserting the plurality of pistons 13 and 13 'into the cylinder 12, the number of times of ink scraping on the inner wall of the cylinder can be increased, thereby reliably preventing the occurrence of defective portions of ink scraping. Thus, the light transmittance on the side surface of the cylinder can be improved.

Further, in the above embodiment, the shape of the scraping section 15 is annular like the scraping section 14, but if ink accidentally enters between the scraping section 14 and the scraping section 15, In addition, there is a possibility that the ink is dragged by the scraping portion 15 and the inner wall of the cylinder is stained in a wide band or band shape over a wide range.

For this reason, instead of the scraping section 15, FIG.
(A) As shown in FIG.
3 is preferable. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, a plurality of notches 52 may be formed in a portion of the scraping portion 15 that contacts the cylinder 12. The shape of the notch 52 may be such that the scraping portion 15 is cut off as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 6D, a linear cutout 53 may be formed in the scraping portion 15.

As described above, the protruding member 51 as shown in FIG. 6A is formed on the piston 13 or the notch 52 as shown in FIGS.
By forming 53, the ink remains on the inner wall of the cylinder, but is not dragged by the scraper 151. Therefore, it is possible to prevent significant contamination of the inner wall of the cylinder and improve the light transmittance on the side surface of the cylinder.

Further, the ink container 10 according to the present invention
By providing a light irradiating unit on one of the side surfaces and a light receiving sensor on the opposite side surface, the light irradiating unit can also be used for a printing apparatus that detects the remaining amount of ink in the ink container 10.
In this case, light is emitted from the light irradiating means, and if no ink remains in the ink container, the light reaches the light receiving sensor, and based on that, it is possible to detect that the remaining amount of ink has decreased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of an ink container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a printing apparatus using the ink container according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cylinder sample for obtaining a coefficient a;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how to obtain a coefficient a;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a configuration of an ink container according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another shape of the cylinder.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2, 3-1, 3-2 LE
D 10 Ink container 11 Discharge port 12 Cylinder 12a Cylinder side face 13, 13 'Piston 14, 15 Scraping section 16 Ink 20 Light receiving sensor 30 Printing mechanism 21 Control board 22 Main body control board 23 Light receiving board 51 Support member 52, 53 Notch

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A space surrounded by a cylinder provided with a discharge port for discharging ink used for printing at a front end thereof, and a piston fitted into the cylinder and slidable along an inner wall on a side surface of the cylinder. In the ink container storing the ink, at least the light transmittance y [% T] of the side surface of the cylinder after the ink is scraped off by the piston,
When light having a wavelength of 900 nm is transmitted, y = ax
(A: coefficient of 21 or more, x: minimum output voltage [V] of a light-receiving sensor that receives light transmitted through the side surface of the cylinder). 2. The ink container according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient a is 36 or more. 3. The ink container according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said pistons are inserted into said cylinder. 4. An at least one annular scraping portion projecting radially outward from the piston, and projecting radially outward from the piston and contacting the cylinder to move the piston into the cylinder. 4. A support portion for supporting the inside of the vehicle is formed.
The ink container according to any one of the preceding claims. 5. The ink container according to claim 4, wherein said support portion is made of at least one or more projecting members. 6. The ink container according to claim 4, wherein said support portion is formed of an annular member having a plurality of cutouts at a portion in contact with said cylinder. 7. A light receiving sensor for outputting an electric signal in accordance with the received light, a light irradiating means for irradiating the light receiving sensor with light through the cylinder side surface, and an electric signal output from the light receiving sensor. The ink container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the ink container is used in a printing apparatus including: an ink remaining amount detecting unit that detects the remaining amount of the ink based on the remaining amount. 8. The light receiving sensor is arranged near the rear end of the cylinder, and a plurality of the light irradiating means are provided along a moving direction of the piston, and each of the light irradiating means is turned on at a different position in the direction. Are sequentially changed, and the ink remaining amount detecting means detects the ink remaining amount based on an output change of the light receiving sensor accompanying a change in a lighting state of the plurality of light irradiation means. The ink container according to claim 7, wherein the ink container is configured as follows.