JP2003063031A - Method for manufacturing ink cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a container which suppresses a porous material for impregnating ink and stores it in a specified state. SOLUTION: The method for manufacturing an ink cartridge comprises a step for inserting the porous material formed larger than the volume of the form chamber by a compressed member formed like the teeth of a comb into the form chamber by compressing the porous material from both sides, in a container main body which has the form chamber accommodating the porous material, an ink supply port formed at the bottom face and the top part opened, a step for accommodating the porous material as being compressed by retracting the compressed member from the form chamber, and a step for forming the container by bonding a lid member to the opening of the container main body.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink cartridge for an ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink jet recording head and an ink cartridge are mounted on a carriage and ink is replenished by replacing the cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an ink jet printer of a type in which an ink container is mounted on a carriage having an ink jet recording head, fluctuations in water head pressure due to rocking of ink due to movement of the carriage and printing due to foaming In order to prevent defects, the ink container is divided into two areas, the porous body is housed on the recording head side, and the ink is housed on the other area, as described in European Patent Publication 581531. Something that has been done is proposed. With such a structure, since the ink is supplied to the recording head through the porous body, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience caused by the ink swing.

[0003]

By the way, since the porous body has elasticity, it is difficult to load the container in a fixed state. An object of the present invention is to propose a method capable of efficiently manufacturing an ink cartridge in which a porous body impregnating ink is loaded in a prescribed compressed state. Another object of the present invention is to propose a method for manufacturing an ink cartridge that can reliably inject deaerated ink into an ink cartridge having a porous body that is stored in a compressed state.

[0004]

In order to solve such a problem, the invention of claim 1 is provided with a foam chamber for accommodating at least a porous body made of an elastic material that absorbs ink, and an ink supply port on the bottom surface. In the method for manufacturing an ink cartridge for an ink jet recording apparatus, which comprises a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container body in which an upper portion is opened, the inside of the foam chamber is formed by two compression members capable of moving the porous body in opposite directions. A step of compressing to a width smaller than the width, a step of pushing the porous body sandwiched by the compression member into a foam chamber by a pressing member, and a lid member bonded to the opening of the container body in the opening. Forming the container. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container body having a foam chamber containing a porous body made of at least an elastic material that absorbs ink, an ink supply port is formed on a bottom surface, and an upper portion is opened. Prepare, set on a pallet with the bottom face up, insert packing into the ink supply port, heat weld a sealing film to the ink supply port, and turn the container body upside down. Resetting to the pallet, fixing the filter material to the inlet side communicating with the ink supply port, and pressing the porous body into the foam chamber in a compressed state. And the ink inlet,
An atmosphere communication port, and a lid material bonding step of forming a container by adhering a lid material on the surface of which a narrow groove connecting to the atmosphere communication port is formed to the opening of the container body, and the container is placed under a reduced pressure environment. An ink injecting step of accommodating and injecting a predetermined amount of ink into the foam chamber, and a sealing step of adhering an air-permeable film so as to cover at least the ink injecting port on the surface of the lid member and the narrow groove region. And Further claim 9
According to another aspect of the invention, an ink cartridge having an ink storage region loaded with a porous body made of an elastic material that absorbs ink and an ink supply port communicating with the ink storage region is stored under a reduced pressure environment, and the ink is stored at room temperature. Than 10 to 20
It is configured such that the ink is heated to a temperature of ° C or higher and a prescribed amount is injected into the ink containing area.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an ink cartridge to which the manufacturing method of the present invention is applied, which accommodates three kinds of inks of cyan, magenta and yellow. The reference numeral 1 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container body whose opening side is slightly divergent, and is made of polypropylene in order to facilitate the joining with each member by heat welding.
It is configured by injection molding a polymer material such as polyethylene or polystyrene.

The container body 1 is made of a porous material 5 made of an elastic material suitable for absorbing ink from the partition plates 2, 3 and 4.
Is separated into a foam chamber 6, 6 and 6 for storing the ink and an ink chamber 7, 7 and 7 for directly storing the ink.

An ink supply port 8 that engages with an ink supply needle of a recording head is provided at the lower end of each foam chamber 6, and the opening of the container body 1 is located near the ink supply port 8 of the foam chamber 6. Ink injection ports 9, 9
9 and a lid 11 provided with atmosphere communication ports 10, 10, 10.

A convex portion 12 for compressing the porous body 5 in cooperation with the lid body 11 is formed at the bottom of each foam chamber 6, and a void having a constant opening area is formed at the upper end thereof. A concave portion 13 is formed, and a through hole 14 extending from the concave portion 13 to the ink supply port 8 is formed. An enlarged portion 15 is formed on the outer end of the through hole 14 so as to be liquid-tightly engaged with an ink supply needle of the recording head, and a packing 16 is inserted therein. The filter material 17 is attached so as to cover the.

The surface of the filter material 18, the concave portion 12 and the through hole 14 which comes into contact with the ink is subjected to a treatment for irradiating ultraviolet rays to improve the wettability with respect to the ink.

The packing 16 is formed by forming a ring-shaped thin rib 16b on the surface 16a as shown in FIG. 3, and as shown in FIG. 4A, the upper surface 16a on the convex portion 12 side. An ink-resistant adhesive 19 is applied to the container 1 so that the space S between the container body 1 and the container body 1 is completely filled. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the pressing member 20 having the window 20a through which the ink supply needle can be inserted is elastically contacted with the lower end of the packing 16 and heat-welded to the container body 1, and the ribs of the packing 16 are provided. The packing 16 is inserted in a state in which 16b is elastically deformed in the expanding portion 15.

By adopting such a method, the communication between the space S existing between the side portion of the packing 16 and the expanded portion 15 and the through hole 14 can be cut off.

The tip of the ink supply port 8 formed by inserting the packing 16 in this way can be damaged by the insertion of an ink supply needle, and preferably has a high gas permeability and a low moisture permeability and is a low density polyethylene. An air-permeable film 21 made of a film or the like is attached, and the bottom portion 1 of the container body 1 is also attached.
A meat stealing portion 22 is provided between the a and the so as to ensure a space inside even when it is sealed in a packaging bag or the like.

On the surface of the lid body 11, as shown in FIG. 5A, one end communicates with the atmosphere communication port 10, and the other end extends meandering grooves 23, 23 extending to the other side of the lid body 11. 23 is formed, the tip 23a of the groove 23 can be opened to the atmosphere by peeling off the tongue piece 24a so as to cover the ink inlet 9, the atmosphere communication port 10 and the groove 23 as shown in FIG. The film 24 is attached. This film 24
It is desirable to use an air permeable film such as a low density polyethylene film having high gas permeability and low water permeability.

Next, the manufacturing method will be described. Figure 6
Shows an example of a pallet for transferring the container body during the manufacturing process. The pallet 30 has a position where the outer periphery of the bottom surface 1a of the container body 1 fits into the surface thereof,
At least four pins 31 and 32 are planted at positions where the inner surface of the opening 1b fits, and a recess 33 that can accommodate the ink is formed at a position where the ink supply port 8 faces the surrounding area. It is configured by forming a step portion 34 that forms a seal portion in an ink injection process described later.

First, the container main body 1 (FIG. 7 (I)) previously formed by injection molding is set on the pallet 30 by aligning the opening 1b with the pin 31 so that the bottom surface 1a faces upward, and at the tip. The packing 16 thinly coated with an adhesive having ink resistance is temporarily press-fitted into the ink supply port 8, and then the pressing jig 40 is rotated about the center to press-fit to a predetermined position while reducing friction ( Figure 7 (II)). When press-fitting while giving a twist in this way, the packing 16
Since it is fitted into the ink supply port 8 without causing the end regions such as the peripheral edge to be turned up or twisted, the packing 16 can be reliably prevented from jumping out from the ink supply port 8 after loading, and the container body 1 and The gap between can be filled with adhesive.

Further, the packing 16 is immersed in the ink to adhere the ink, and then the packing is loaded in the same manner as described above. As described above, the pressing member 20 having the window 20a through which the ink supply needle can be inserted is attached to the packing 16 The ink is preliminarily injected into the space 20 (FIG. 4) in which ink is unlikely to enter during the ink filling process described later by elastically contacting the lower end of the container 1 and thermally adhering to the container body 1 and expanding with the outer side surface of the packing 16. It is possible to shut off the space between the portion 15 and the ink supply port 8.

Air-shielding film 21 made of a heat-welding material
Is set so as to cover the ink supply port 8, and the periphery of the ink supply port 8 is heated and pressed by the jig 41 to seal the ink supply port 8 with the film 21 (FIG. 7 (III)), and if necessary. Accordingly, the lot number and the expiration date are printed or stamped on the bottom surface 1a and the side surface 1c.

When all the work on the bottom surface 1a of the container body 1 is completed, the container body 1 is turned upside down and the container body 1 is turned upside down.
The container body 1 is reset on the pallet 30 so that the opening portion 1b of the container 1 faces upward.

Convex portion 1 communicating with ink supply port 8 and through port
A filter material tape such as a non-rust steel mesh material or a non-woven fabric, which becomes a filter having a width slightly larger than the width of the concave portion 13 formed in 2, is cut into a predetermined size in an oblique direction with respect to the longitudinal direction. To form the filter material 17,
This is set so as to cover the recess 13, and after the setting, the container main body 1 is heated and pressed by the jig 42 to such an extent that the container main body 1 is slightly softened, and heat-welded (FIG. 8 (I)). When the tape of the filter material 17 is formed by weaving a wire made of rust-free steel, it is possible to prevent fraying by cutting the tape so that the tape is not parallel to the direction of the warp and weft wires. it can.

When the occurrence of the fray is completely eliminated, the following effects are obtained. That is, when the wire forming the filter material 17 penetrates into the area of the packing 16, the wire is caught between the ink supply needle of the recording head and the packing 16 when the cartridge is mounted on the recording head, which causes The airtightness between the ink supply needle of the recording head and the cartridge is reduced, allowing the invasion of air from the outside and hindering the supply of ink to the recording head. The problem can be reliably avoided.

Further, in comparison with the shaping method in which the filter material is punched with a press in conformity with the shape of the convex portion 12 to which the filter material 17 is fixed, usually a circular shape or an elliptical shape, as described above, the tape material is used. By adopting a shaping method in which the tape is obliquely cut, the tape material can be effectively used in addition to preventing the wire from fraying.

Then, the process of press-fitting the porous body 5 is started. 9 (a) and 9 (b) show an embodiment of a porous body insertion device and a porous body insertion process, respectively, and the porous body insertion device is shown in FIG. 9 (a). Compression members 43, 43 formed in a comb-like shape and movable in opposite directions.
And a pressing member 44 which is located between them and is vertically movable.

The compression members 43, 43 are moved in the horizontal direction to sandwich the porous body 5 (FIG. 9 (B) I), and the compression members 43,
The compression members 43, 43 are moved to the pressing member 44 side until the width of the outer end of 43 becomes smaller than the inner width of the foam chamber 6 so that the width of the porous body 5 becomes smaller than the width of the foam chamber 6. (Fig. 9 (b) II).

Then, it moves to the foam chamber 6 and the pressing member 44 between the two compression members 43, 43 is moved to the container body 1 side to push the porous body 5 into the foam chamber 6 from the upper end (FIG. 9). (B) III). Then, the pressing member 44 is slightly lowered, and the container body 1 is retracted from the porous insertion device.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 8 (II), the porous body 5 formed to be slightly larger than the volume of the foam chamber 6 is set in the foam chamber 6 in a compressed state.

Next, the lid member 11 is attached to the opening 1b of the container body 1.
Is positioned, and the lid member 11 is pressed against the container body 1 with a predetermined pressure, and in a plane including the opening 1b through the jig 45, a direction including the plane of the lid material 11 or a vertical direction, and further an oblique direction. Ultrasonic vibration is applied in any one of the directions or in a combined direction to frictionally melt and bond the opening 1b of the container body 1 and the back surface of the lid member 11 (FIG. 8 (III)).

After welding, the heating rod 46 is heated to a temperature sufficient to soften the material forming the container body 1 and the lid member 11.
Are brought into contact with the periphery of the joining portion, or hot air is jetted from the jet nozzle 47 to remove burrs and the like generated during joining (FIG. 10).

When the container is completed in this way, it is moved to the ink injection station. FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of the ink injecting apparatus, in which reference numeral 50 indicates
The pedestal that holds the pallet 30 is configured to be vertically movable as shown by an arrow A by a drive mechanism (not shown).
Reference numeral 51 denotes a base, which has a through-hole, a lower surface is formed by a stepped portion 34 on the peripheral surface of the pallet 30, and an upper surface is formed by a lid member 52 described later, and an injection chamber 53 is formed. Connected to 55.

Reference numeral 52 denotes the above-mentioned lid member, which has a through hole 56 formed in a region facing the injection chamber 53, and a piston which can move up and down as shown by an arrow B in the figure while maintaining an airtight state. The member 57 is inserted.

The piston member 57 is provided at a position opposed to the ink injection port 9 of the container 1 set in the injection chamber 53 and an air supply device (not shown) so as to oppose the injection needle 58 and the atmosphere communication port 10 of the container 1. A flow path 60 that communicates is provided. Further, the injection needle 58 is connected to the branch pipe 62 via the flow path 59 and the tube 61.

Reference numeral 63 is a gas-liquid separation unit, and in this embodiment, the upper and lower ends are liquid-tightly fixed to a cylinder 65 so that the hollow fiber bundle 64 serves as a liquid flow path, and the cylinder 65 is connected to a vacuum pump 66. Then, a negative pressure is applied to the outer circumference of the hollow fiber, one end of the cylinder 65 is connected to the ink tank 68 by the tube 67, and the other end is connected to the branch pipe 62 via the stop valve 69. .

A measuring pipe 70 is composed of a cylinder 71 and a piston 72, and the top dead center side is connected to the branch pipe 62 by a tube 73. In the figure, reference numeral 74 is a stop valve, and 75 is a pump for pressure-feeding ink.

When the pallet 30 on which the container 1 on which the respective members have been assembled by the above-mentioned steps is placed reaches the ink injection device and is set below the injection chamber 53 (FIG. 12).
(I)), and the pedestal 50 rises until it comes into close contact with the lower surface of the base 51 (FIG. 12 (II)).

Next, the piston 56 is attached to the lid member 11 of the container 1.
And the vacuum pump 55 is operated by opening the stop valve 74 while keeping the stop valve 68 communicating with the gas-liquid separation unit 63 in the closed state. Injection chamber 53, tubes 61 and 73, and measuring pipe 7
0 is reduced to a predetermined pressure (FIG. 13 (I)).

When the pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure, the stop valve 74 is closed and the stop valve 68 is opened to inject a predetermined amount of ink 7 into the measuring pipe 63 (FIG. 13 (II)). In parallel with this, the piston member 57 is lowered to the bottom dead center. As a result, each packing 77, 78 at the lower end of the piston member 47 is
Makes elastic contact with the ink supply port 10 and the atmosphere communication port 10 of the container 1, and the injection needle 58 enters near the bottom surface of the container 1.

In this insertion process, preferably, when the injection needle 58 is positioned directly above the filter 17, it is possible to reliably fill the ink without causing bubbles to remain in the filter 17, the recess 13, the through hole 14, and the packing 16. You can
By forming the ink ejection port of the ink injection needle radially, the ink can be evenly absorbed in the entire porous body 5.

Further, since the gas-liquid separation unit 63 is connected close to the measuring pipe 70, the ink immediately after being degassed by the gas-liquid separating unit 63 flows into the measuring pipe 70.

Next, when the stop valve 69 is closed to shut off the gas-liquid separation unit 63, the stop valve 74 is opened and the piston of the measuring pipe 70 is pressed to discharge a predetermined amount of ink. 1 is filled with a predetermined amount of ink (see FIG.
4)).

At this time, since the ink that has been surely degassed by the gas-liquid separation unit 60 is injected into the porous body 5,
The ink easily dissolves the gas adsorbed in the pores of the porous body 5 that could not be exhausted in the above-described depressurization step (FIG. 13 (I)) to generate bubbles in the porous body 5. It is uniformly absorbed by the porous body 5 without leaving or remaining.

In particular, when the tube 61 connecting the stop valve 74 and the ink injection needle 58 is heated so that the temperature rises by 10 to 20 ° C. above room temperature during the ink injection period, the viscosity of the ink decreases and the porosity increases. It surely enters the pores of the mass 5.

As a result, at the time when the injection of the ink is completed, at least the gas does not exist in the porous body 5, so that bubbles are not contained and the print quality can be guaranteed.

When the ink injection is completed, the exhaust port 6
The ink remaining in the upper part of the porous body 5 is completely absorbed by the porous body 5 due to the differential pressure from the atmospheric pressure.
After that, the pedestal 50 is lowered, the pallet 40 is moved to the next step, the ink adhering to the ink injection port 9 or the like is wiped off by vacuum suction or a cloth, and finally the conduit is brought into contact with the ink injection port 9. Then, a small positive pressure is applied to wipe off the ink adhering to the back of the lid 11 to the side of the porous body 5.

The container 1 is tilted so that the atmosphere communication port 10 faces upward, and is housed in a decompression container, and at least the atmosphere communication port 1
0, the ink injection port 9 and the small groove 23 are cut to a size such that the air-tight film 24 is temporarily fixed by heat welding with a jig 80 (FIG. 15). At this time, even if the pressure in the container 1 rises due to the temperature rise, since the atmosphere communication port 10 is located as high as possible, the expanded air is quickly discharged from the atmosphere communication port 10 and the ink injection port is discharged. It is possible to prevent the ink from leaking from 9.

Next, the area covering the groove 19 is heated to weld one half of the film 24, and the other half of the film is welded to such an extent that it can be peeled off, and the narrow groove 19 and the film 24 form a capillary. When the ink cartridge is housed in the deaeration chamber and re-deaerated before the other half of the film 24 is attached, if the depressurized value is suppressed to about 200 mmHg, the ink is supplied more than the filter 17 generated by the packing 16. The cartridge can be decompressed again while suppressing the physical growth of the bubble generation nuclei remaining near the mouth, and the ejection of ink from the ink inlet can be suppressed, filling the ink cartridge with as much ink as possible. can do.

In the ink cartridge 70 thus completed, as shown in FIG. 16, at least the cushioning material 81 is brought into contact with the ink supply port 8 so as not to damage the seal 16 of the ink supply port 8, and After folding the tongue piece 24a of the air-shielding film 24, the tongue piece 24a is inserted into the bag 83 with the gusset 83a formed of the air-shielding film.

Then, the gusset 83a near the opening is folded inward to form a uniform thickness, and the vicinity of the opening is heat-welded and sealed under a reduced pressure environment (FIG. 17A). The meat stealing portion 22 provided in the vicinity forms a reduced pressure space with the bag 83. On the other hand, if the film 21 that seals the ink supply port 8 is made of a low-density polyethylene film or the like having high gas permeability and low moisture permeability, only air dissolved in the ink near the ink supply port will be used. Is transmitted through the film 21 and the meat stealing portion 22 is discharged into the depressurized space formed by the bag 83. This makes it possible to reduce the air solubility of the ink in the vicinity of the ink supply port as much as possible and prevent bubbles from flowing into the recording head.

Further, the film 21 for sealing the ink supply port 8 and the film 24 for sealing the ink injection port 9, the exhaust port 10 and the groove 23 of the lid 11 have high gas permeability,
By using an air-permeable film such as a low-density polyethylene film with low moisture permeability, the dissolved air volume of the entire ink in the cartridge is reduced as much as possible, and the generation of air bubbles in the recording head is reliably prevented. You can Desirably, the bag 83 is sealed within 72 hours after re-deaeration.

Particularly, when the recording head is first filled with ink, the ink in the cartridge is maintained at a deaeration degree of about −300 mmHg in order to surely dissolve and eliminate the bubbles in the recording head. I want to put it. In order to maintain a high degree of deaeration in the ink, the volume of the meat stealing portion 22 of the container is increased or the bag 8 is
For the purpose of positively forming a dead space between the cartridge 3 and the cartridge, it is desirable to provide a concave portion or a through hole in the thick buffer material 81, or to enclose and seal the spacer.

Finally, the product is placed in a case 84 and finished as a product (FIG. 17B). The ink cartridge that is included as an accessory to the recording apparatus main body is the ink cartridge that is first attached to the recording head of the recording apparatus, so select the one that is filled with the above-described high degassing ink, and For supply, it is desirable to supply an ink cartridge having a slightly lower degree of deaeration, and the case 84 is configured to be distinguishable by a symbol or a color so that these two types of cartridges can be easily distinguished.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the cartridge provided with the ink chamber has been described as an example. However, as shown in FIG. 18, the container 1 is filled with the porous body 5, and the porous body 5 is filled with the porous body 5. It is obvious that the present invention can also be applied to the manufacture of the cartridge 85 containing only the ink.

Further, as shown in FIG. 19, in the small cartridge 86, only one opening 87 which serves as an ink inlet and an atmosphere opening is formed, but in such a case, As shown in FIG. 20, the ink injection needle 58
By arranging the above and the flow path 60 communicating with the exhaust device coaxially, one opening 87 of the cartridge 85 can be used for the ink injection work and the exhaust work at the same time.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the container containing the ink-impregnated porous material in a prescribed state can be easily and automatically manufactured by elastically pressing the porous material. it can. According to the invention of claim 5, the degassed ink can be injected into the container in which the porous body is housed in the compressed state while maintaining the degassed state. Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 9, the degassed ink can be surely injected into the pores of the porous body in the compressed state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an assembly perspective view showing an embodiment of an ink cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing an embodiment of the same ink cartridge as above.

3A and 3B are a top view and a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a packing, respectively.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are enlarged cross-sectional views showing an embodiment of an ink supply port.

5 (a) and 5 (b) are views showing the structure of the lid of the ink cartridge with the film removed, respectively.
It is a figure shown in the state where the film was stuck.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a pallet that holds and conveys containers.

FIGS. 7 (I), (II), and (III) are views showing an initial step in the ink cartridge forming step.

8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G, 8H, 8I, 8I, 8I, 8I, 8I, 8I and 8H are diagrams illustrating a middle stage of the ink cartridge forming process.

FIG. 9 (a) shows an embodiment of a porous body insertion device,
Further, (I) to (III) of FIG. 11B are diagrams showing a process of inserting the porous body into the container body.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a step of shaping the outer shape of the cartridge.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an ink injection device.

FIGS. 12 (I) and (II) are diagrams showing an initial step of the ink injection step.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing a middle stage of the ink injection process.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a final step of the ink injection step.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a step of attaching an air-permeable film.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a first half process of the packaging process.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a latter half of the packaging steps.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing another embodiment of an ink cartridge to which the manufacturing method of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another embodiment of an ink cartridge to which the manufacturing method of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the ink injection device suitable for the ink cartridge of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 container body 5 Porous body 6 foam room 7 ink chamber 8 ink supply port 9 ink inlet 10 atmosphere communication port 11 lid material 16 packing 16b Ring rib S space

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Minor Usui, Inventor             Seiko, 3-3-3 Yamato, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture             -In Epson Corporation (72) Inventor Koichi Toba             Seiko, 3-3-3 Yamato, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture             -In Epson Corporation F-term (reference) 2C056 EA24 KC10 KC11 KC13 KC16

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An ink jet recording comprising a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container body having a foam chamber containing at least a porous body made of an elastic material that absorbs ink, an ink supply port being formed on a bottom surface, and an upper portion being opened. In the method of manufacturing an ink cartridge for a device, a step of compressing the porous body by two compression members that can move in opposite directions until it becomes smaller than an inner width of the foam chamber, and the porous material sandwiched by the compression members. A method of manufacturing an ink cartridge, comprising: a step of pushing a body into a foam chamber with a pressing member; and a step of forming a container by adhering a lid material to the opening of the container body at the opening. 2. The method of manufacturing an ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the compression member is formed in a comb shape. 3. A pressing member is arranged between the compression members, and the pressing member is moved to the container body side to push the porous body into the foam chamber. The method of manufacturing an ink cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a step of retracting the compression member from the pressing member. 4. The method of manufacturing an ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the compression member compresses the width direction of the porous body. 5. A substantially rectangular parallelepiped container body having a foam chamber accommodating at least an ink-absorbing elastic material, an ink supply port formed on the bottom surface, and an upper opening is provided. Set on a pallet so that the top is the top, a packing is inserted into the ink supply port, a sealing film is heat-welded to the ink supply port, and the container body is turned upside down to the pallet. A step of resetting, a step of fixing a filter material to the inlet side communicating with the ink supply port, a step of inserting a porous body into the foam chamber so as to be in a compressed state, and an ink injection A lid material adhering step of forming a container by adhering a lid member having an inlet, an atmosphere communication port, and a thin groove connected to the atmosphere communication port on the surface to the container body to form a container; An ink injecting step of injecting a prescribed amount of ink into the foam chamber by containing it in a pressure environment, and adhering an air shielding film so as to cover at least the ink injecting port on the surface of the lid member and the narrow groove region. And a method of manufacturing an ink cartridge comprising: 6. The ink injecting step includes an operation of housing the container in a reduced pressure environment to heat the ink.
The method for manufacturing an ink cartridge according to [4]. 7. The method for manufacturing an ink cartridge according to claim 5, further comprising the step of re-deaerating at a negative pressure of 200 mmHg or less with respect to atmospheric pressure before welding the air-permeable film. 8. The method for producing an ink cartridge according to claim 7, further comprising the step of thermally welding and sealing the vicinity of the opening in a reduced pressure environment within 72 hours after re-deaeration. 9. An ink cartridge, which has an ink containing region filled with a porous body made of an elastic material that absorbs ink and an ink supply port communicating with the ink containing region, is housed under a reduced pressure environment to store ink. A method for manufacturing an ink cartridge, which comprises heating at a temperature of 10 to 20 ° C. or higher than room temperature and injecting a prescribed amount into the ink containing region.