JP2004249710A - Ink tank, and recording head using the same and recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably mount an ink tank, while minimizing lowering of strength of a holder and the ink tank which may cause when the ink tank is downsized. <P>SOLUTION: In a color ink tank 10B having a plurality of ink supplying ports 14, respective color ink supplying ports 14, a retaining pawl 17, and a latch pawl 18 are provided to be substantially aligned nearer one side surface out of the two side surfaces which are in a direction substantially orthogonal to a direction connecting the latch pawl 18 and the retaining pawl 17 and sandwich the bottom of the ink tank 10B. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink tank mounted on an ink jet recording head that performs recording on a recording medium by discharging ink droplets, and more particularly, to an ink tank detachably held by a cartridge type ink jet recording head, and recording using the ink tank. The present invention relates to a head and a recording device.

  As one of the ink jet recording apparatuses, an ink tank for storing ink and an ink jet recording head which detachably mounts the ink tank and receives ink from the ink tank to discharge ink droplets (hereinafter, referred to as a recording head cartridge) And a carriage having a detachably mounted inkjet recording head, a transport unit for transporting a recording medium such as paper or film, and a control unit for controlling these units are provided on the market.

  Since an ink jet recording apparatus can easily cope with color image recording using a plurality of color inks and can be downsized, a portable color printer that can be carried together with a notebook computer or the like is also provided.

As an ink tank used in such a small-sized color printer, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-163, a partition plate divides the inside into three parts, accommodates inks of yellow, cyan, and magenta, and uses an ink jet recording head for each ink. Disclosed is a configuration in which an ink supply port for supplying ink to the ink tank is formed along the insertion direction of the ink tank. In the above specification, as an ink tank used in a small-sized ink jet recording apparatus, in an ink tank detachable from a holder having an ink jet recording head, an ink supply port is provided on a bottom face, and one end face adjacent to the bottom face is provided. The latch lever is provided with a claw-like projection that fits into a retaining hole formed in the ink tank holder, and a latch claw that is provided on the other end surface with a engaging claw that engages with an engagement hole formed in the ink tank holder. Also disclosed is a configuration that is supported and provided, and is widely adopted as a configuration in which the ink tank can be attached and detached with a simple operation and mechanism without lowering the positioning accuracy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,237

  In recent years, the technical improvement of the ink jet recording head has been remarkable, and accordingly, the printing speed has been improved from about 2 to 5 ppm to about 10 to 20 ppm as a capability of the recording head alone. When high-speed printing is performed using a conventional ink tank on a print head capable of such high-speed printing, color printing may not be performed well even though there is sufficient ink remaining in the ink tank. Was.

  The present inventors diligently studied the cause, and as a result, it was necessary to increase the ink supply speed from the ink tank to the print head in order to achieve high-speed printing. I found that I needed to make it bigger.

  However, the ink tanks used for small color printers, especially the multi-color integrated ink tanks having an ink storage amount of 10 ml or less for each color, have a limited space to be mounted on the recording apparatus, and the arrangement of the supply ports is also limited. .

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-color integrated ink tank capable of realizing stable ink supply even if the ink supply speed to an ink jet print head is improved with a simple configuration, and a print head and a printing apparatus using the ink tank It is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an ink tank according to the present invention includes a housing having a substantially rectangular bottom surface, a plurality of ink storage sections divided by a partition plate provided in the housing, and the plurality of inks. An ink supply port provided on the bottom of the housing, the ink supply port being provided on the bottom of the housing, and being detachably mounted to a holder having a recording head for discharging ink contained in the ink storage. In the ink tank, the plurality of ink supply ports are provided to be biased to one of the long sides of the bottom surface, and the bottom surface of the housing includes a plurality of depressions each having the plurality of supply ports on the bottom surface, It is characterized in that the side portions of the plurality of recesses are cut out and opened with respect to a side surface of the housing provided on the side where the plurality of supply ports are biased.

  In addition, the configuration in which the mounting engagement members for the holder are provided on the opposite sides of the housing so as to sandwich the plurality of supply ports therebetween, thereby preventing the ink tank from being twisted when the holder is mounted. However, this is a more preferable configuration in that stable mounting can be realized with a small number of engagement portions. Also, by providing the engagement portion at a position close to the side surface of the tank, the ink tank positioning mechanism can be arranged at a position where the tank strength is high, so that a stable mounting state, that is, a reliable connection state of all the ink supply ports, can be achieved. It can be realized.

  Here, one of the mounting engagement members is an engagement claw provided on a side surface of the housing, and the other is an engagement claw provided on a lever provided on the housing, and is provided on the side surface of the housing. It is preferable to adopt a configuration in which the ink supply port closest to the provided engaging claw is shifted toward the partition wall forming the plurality of ink storage sections, because the volume of the ink storage section can be secured.

  Further, the ink storage portions are respectively held in a shape that can be in contact with an external member from an air communication port for communicating the inside of the ink storage portion with the atmosphere and an ink supply port, and that conforms to the inner surface shape of the bottom surface of the housing. A first liquid holding member in the form of a sheet, and a second liquid holding member that is in close contact with the first liquid holding member and supplies ink to the first liquid holding member. It is preferable that the liquid holding force is larger than the liquid holding force of the second liquid holding member, because the volume of the ink container can be secured.

  Further, the present invention includes a holder for detachably holding the above-described ink tank, and a recording head unit provided on the holder, for receiving ink from an ink tank mounted on the holder and discharging ink droplets. The present invention also relates to an ink jet recording apparatus having an ink jet recording head having the same, and a carriage on which the recording head is detachably mounted, and recording by discharging ink droplets from the ink jet recording head to a recording medium.

  In the ink tank configured as described above, the ink supply port at the bottom of the tank is arranged on one side, so that the ink flow path from the ink supply pipe of the holder to the recording head can be shortened. As a result, even if the ink supply speed from the ink tank to the recording head is increased, the ink supply port is large, so that stable ink supply from the ink tank can be realized.

  Furthermore, since the ink supply port at the bottom of the tank is disposed near a relatively high-rigidity corner (side surface of the tank that is continuous with the bottom of the tank) in the housing, a reduction in the strength of the ink tank housing can be minimized. This makes it possible to prevent deformation of the ink tank when the tank is mounted on the holder and when the liquid supply unit is connected between the holder and the ink tank.

  Further, since the plurality of recesses are independent, there is no danger that the ink will be mixed with the ink of the other ink storage portion from the ink supply port when the ink tank is attached to or detached from the holder, and the recording head is connected to the ink supply pipe of the holder. This is a more preferable configuration because the ink flow path up to can be made shorter. Further, in this configuration, since the ink supply port is opened to the side of the ink tank, it is easy to wipe off the ink attached near the supply port after ink injection in the production process. In addition, when the ink supply port disposed closer to the side of the ink tank is the entire peripheral wall, a very thin wall is formed on the side of the ink tank. A weld line is likely to occur in such a thin molded member. As a result, the user may touch the ink oozing on the weld line leading from the ink supply port to the thin wall portion to stain the finger or hand. However, in the present invention, since there is no thin portion by opening the side surface side, there is no weld line. That is, a more reliable ink tank can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an ink tank constituting a color recording head cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention and a holder portion for mounting the ink tank. FIG. 2 is a top view of the holder shown in FIG. 3A and 3B are views for explaining the structure of the ink tank shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 3A is a top view, FIG. 3B is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. 3C is a bottom view. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the color ink tank shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing a state where the black ink tank and the color ink tank are respectively mounted in the holder shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a color recording head cartridge 30 includes a holder 31 integrally provided with an ink jet type recording head unit 32 for discharging ink droplets, an ink tank 10A detachably held by the holder 31, and an ink tank 10A. And a tank 10B. The ink tank 10A stores black ink to be supplied to the recording head unit 32. The ink tank 10 </ b> B separately stores the three color inks of yellow, magenta, and cyan to be supplied to the recording head unit 32.

  The recording head unit 32 is located at the bottom of the holder 31 in the use state, and includes a group of ejection ports (not shown) corresponding to black ink supplied from the ink tank 10A and a group of yellow ink supplied from the ink tank 10B. , An ejection port group for magenta ink (not shown), and an ejection port group for cyan ink (not shown). At a connection portion of the holder 31 with the ink tanks 10A and 10B, ink receiving pipes 33 corresponding to a plurality of colors of the ink stored in the ink tanks 10A and 10B are provided so as to protrude. It communicates with each discharge port group via a supply path (not shown). Further, a partition plate 38 is integrally provided on the bottom wall of the holder 31 in order to divide an area where the respective ink tanks 10A and 10B are mounted.

  The holder 31 is provided with one ink receiving pipe 33 corresponding to the position of the ink supply port 14 of the black ink tank 10A, and corresponding to the position of each ink supply port 14 of the color ink tank 10B. , Three ink receiving tubes 33 are provided. A seal member 39 is provided around each ink receiving tube 33 to prevent the ink supplied from the ink tanks 10A and 10B through each ink receiving tube 33 from leaking into the holder 31 and to prevent ink from evaporating. Installed.

  On the other hand, the ink tank 10B is provided with a housing 11 having an opening at the upper end which constitutes an ink container for ink, and a rib structure 13 for closing the opening of the housing 11 and providing a space for a buffer. (See FIG. 3B).

  At the bottom of the housing 11, ink supply ports 14 are formed at positions facing the ink receiving pipes 33 of the respective colors of the holder 31 when the ink tank 10B is mounted on the holder 31.

  Inside the housing 11, a first ink holding member 50 and a second ink holding member 51 for impregnating and holding ink are loaded. The first ink holding member 50 is provided between the second ink holding member 51 and the bottom wall of the ink tank so as to be in close contact with the second ink holding member 51 and to close the ink supply port 14 from the inside. ing.

  The basic configuration of such an ink tank is the same for the black ink tank 10A.

  However, in the color ink tank 10B, the inside of the housing 11 is formed by two partition plates 52 arranged in parallel to each other as shown in FIG. Are divided into three spaces having substantially equal capacities so as to divide the long side. As described above, by providing the partition plate so as to divide the long side of the bottom surface of the rectangular parallelepiped ink tank, the size of the ink supply port 14 provided on the bottom surface can be reduced as shown in FIG. The size can be increased as compared with the case where a partition plate is provided so as to divide the short side of the bottom surface. Specifically, in FIG. 3C, the bottom surface of the ink tank has a substantially rectangular shape of about 25 mm × about 40 mm, and is 6 mm, 6 mm, and 7 mm from the right in the figure. They are provided apart from the side walls by about 1 to 5 mm. These three spaces are arranged side by side in the direction in which the retaining claws 17 and the latch claws 18 which are engaging portions when the color ink tank 10B is mounted on the holder 31 are arranged. Here, since the opening of the supply port closest to the retaining claw 17 is larger than the other openings, when the ink tank is attached to or detached from the holder (to be described later) (see FIGS. 5 and 6), the filter 34 is closed. It is preferable that the shape of the ink tank housing be substantially rectangular parallelepiped while preventing damage, so that the ink storage efficiency of the ink tank can be improved. In addition, the fact that only this supply port is shifted toward the partition wall also prevents the filter 34 from being damaged when the ink tank is attached to or detached from the holder, and the shape of the ink tank housing is substantially rectangular parallelepiped. This is a preferable configuration because the shape can improve the ink storage efficiency of the ink tank.

  On the bottom surface of the housing 11, ink supply ports 14 for yellow, magenta, and cyan, respectively corresponding to the respective spaces in the housing 11, are provided on one of the long sides of the divided bottom surface from the right in FIG. It is biased and opens near one side wall. By biasing the supply port to one side as described above, the ink receiving pipes 33 of each color of the tank holder can be gathered at one place as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to shorten an ink supply path (not shown) that connects the ejection port group from the ink receiving pipe to the recording head. This is a preferable configuration because the ink flow resistance can be reduced during high-speed recording. .

  Around each ink supply port 14, a recess 40 is formed by making the bottom wall of the housing 11 thinner. The bottom surface of each recess 40 is a sealing surface on which a seal member 39 around the ink receiving pipe 33 of the holder 31 is in close contact. At least one side surface Q side of the ink tank 10B, which is a side portion of each of the recesses 40, is cut and opened (a cutout denoted by reference numeral 40a in FIG. 4). Providing independent depressions in this manner is a preferable configuration because it prevents entry of other ink from the ink supply port when attaching / detaching the ink tank to / from the holder. Further, in the configuration in which the one side Q is cut off as in the present embodiment, each ink supply port is closer to one side wall by that amount, so that the strength of the ink tank described later is also reduced. This is a preferable configuration from the viewpoint that the ink supply path (not shown) is shortened as much as possible.

  In addition, a first ink holding member 50 that absorbs and holds yellow, magenta, and cyan inks and a second ink holding member 51 for supplying ink are housed in each space of the housing 11, respectively. .

  Although the first ink holding member 50 and the second ink holding member 51 both impregnate and hold ink, the ink holding force (capillary force) of the first ink holding member 50 is the second ink holding member 51. Is higher than the ink holding power. Thereby, the ink held by the second ink holding member 51 is effectively guided to the first ink holding member 50, and the consumption efficiency of the ink held by the second ink holding member 51 is improved.

  In the present embodiment, as the ink holding members 50 and 51, a fiber aggregate obtained by laminating webs in which fibers made of a polyolefin-based thermoplastic resin are arranged in substantially one direction and compressing the webs in the laminating direction is used.

  In the ink tank according to the present embodiment, the housing 11 and the lid member 12 are formed of the same type of polyolefin resin material as the first ink holding member 50 and the second ink holding member 51. Therefore, recyclability and reusability can be greatly improved, and an ecological ink tank can be provided.

  When the ink tank 10 </ b> B is mounted on the holder 31, the ink receiving pipe 33 contacts the first ink holding member 50 in the ink supply port 14, and the ink absorbed by the second ink holding member 51 becomes the first ink holding member 50. The ink is supplied to the ink supply port 14 via the ink holding member 50, and is supplied to the ejection port group of each color of the recording head unit 32 through the ink receiving pipe 33 and the ink supply path of the recording head unit 32. At this time, the seal member 39 provided around the ink supply port 14 is in close contact with the bottom surface (seal surface) of the concave portion 40 having the ink supply port 14, and ink leakage and ink evaporation in the mounted state are suppressed. . In addition, a filter 34 is attached to the tip of each ink receiving tube 33 in order to prevent foreign substances from entering the ink receiving tube.

  Further, a general latch lever mechanism for mounting a holder is attached to the ink tanks 10A and 10B. In the present embodiment, the latch claw 18, which is one engagement portion of the ink tanks 10 </ b> A and 10 </ b> B with the holder 31, has a latch lever 16 having a shape inclined or curved upward from a region near the ink tank bottom on the side of the ink tank. The latch lever 16 is elastically deformed, and the latch claw 18 is engaged with the latch claw engagement hole 36 of the holder 31. The latch lever 16 has at least an operation unit (a knob at the top of the latch lever) used when the ink tank is pulled out of the holder 31. Further, the latch lever 16 is elastically displaced toward the ink tank body when the ink tank is mounted on the holder 31.

  More specifically, when installing the ink tanks 10A and 10B, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the ink tanks 10A and 10B of the holder 31 are mounted from the side where the retaining claws 17 are formed on the ink tanks 10A and 10B. Is inserted obliquely into the part to be removed, and the retaining claw 17 is hooked on the retaining claw engaging hole 35 of the holder 31. Thereafter, the ink tanks 10A and 10B are pushed downward and rotated about the side where the retaining claws 17 are formed, so that the latch lever 16 is elastically displaced toward the ink tank body, and the latch lever 16 is moved as shown in FIG. The latch claw 18 of the lever 16 is engaged with the latch claw engagement hole 36 of the holder 31.

  By mounting the ink tanks 10A and 10B on the holder 31 in this manner, the ink in the ink tanks 10A and 10B is recorded via the ink receiving pipe 33 and the ink supply path of the holder 31 corresponding to each color. The ink is supplied to a discharge port group (discharge port row) of the head section 32.

  When removing the ink tanks 10A and 10B from the holder 31, the ink tanks 10A and 10B may be pulled out from the holder 31 while the operating portion of the latch lever 16 is elastically displaced toward the ink tank body.

  Further, a more preferable configuration of the housing of the ink tank of the present invention will be described in detail.

  As can be seen from FIG. 3C, in the color ink tank 10B having a plurality of ink supply ports 14, the ink supply ports 14, the retaining claws 17 and the latch claws 18 of the respective colors are composed of the latch claws 18 and the retaining claws 18. The two sides P and Q sandwiching the bottom of the ink tank 10 </ b> B are arranged in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction connecting the two sides 17, and are offset in a straight line toward the side Q side. That is, with respect to the ink tank center line 70 in the direction connecting the latch claw 18 and the retaining claw 17 in the drawing, the ink supply port 14, the retaining claw 17, and the latch claw 18 of each color are shifted toward one side surface Q. They are arranged substantially on a straight line. Each ink supply port 14 is formed on the bottom surface of the recess 40, and at least one side Q of the ink tank 10B on the side of each recess 40 is cut open (see FIG. 4). (Notch 40a).

  According to such a configuration, the portion of the tank bottom wall where the ink supply port 14 is provided, where the strength of the wall forming the housing 11 is likely to be reduced as viewed from the entire housing, is relatively small. By approaching a high corner (the side wall of the tank that is continuous with the bottom wall of the tank), a reduction in the strength of the housing 11 is prevented as much as possible. In addition, the two engaging portions (retaining pawls 17 and latch pawls 18) when the ink tank 10B is mounted on the holder 31 are also arranged on the side wall side of the tank, similarly to the ink supply port 14. Thus, twisting of the tank at the time of mounting the holder can be avoided, and stable mounting can be realized with a small number of engagement portions. In particular, even if the number of ink supply ports is increased, if the engagement portions and the ink supply ports can be arranged substantially in a straight line as in the present embodiment, stable mounting with the twist of the ink tank suppressed as much as possible can be realized. Further, by providing the engagement portion at a position close to the side wall of the tank, the ink tank positioning mechanism can be arranged at a position where the tank strength is high, so that a stable mounting state, that is, all the ink supply ports 14 and the ink receiving pipes 33 Can be reliably connected. The above points are very effective when the entire wall of the ink tank housing is made thinner in order to secure a larger internal volume without increasing the space occupied by the ink tank.

  In addition, after the ink is injected into the tank housing in the production process, it is necessary to wipe off the ink adhered to the peripheral surface (seal surface) of the ink supply port 14 in each of the recesses 40. Since at least one side surface Q side of the ink tank 10B is cut out and opened (a cutout 40a in FIG. 4), wiping of the ink is simplified.

  Also, in general, when the ink supply port is arranged to be offset to one side of the ink tank, the side of the recess having the ink supply port on the bottom side has a very thin wall on the side of the ink tank. It will be molded as a part. A weld line is likely to occur in such a thin molded portion. As a result, the user may touch the ink oozing on the weld line leading from the ink supply port to the thin wall portion to stain the finger or hand. However, in the present invention, the weld line does not exist because the opening on the side of the ink tank on the side of each recessed portion, that is, the provision of the notch 40a has no thin portion. That is, a more reliable ink tank can be realized.

  In this specification, “disposing the engagement portion and the ink supply port substantially on a straight line” means that the center of the opening of the ink supply port 14 is located on the center line connecting each of the retaining claw 17 and the latch claw 18. The position is not limited to this, and includes the position where the ink supply port 14 overlaps the center line.

  Further, the tank fixing hole provided in the holder 31 may be formed only at two places of the retaining claw engagement hole 35 and the latch claw engagement hole 36, and it is not necessary to provide the holder 31 with a large hole shape. A decrease in strength can be prevented.

  Further, as in the present embodiment, a partition wall that divides the inside of the ink tank so as to be orthogonal to the direction in which the retaining claws 17 and the latch claws 18 are engaged when the color ink tank 10B is mounted on the holder 31. By providing 52, the strength of the wall where the ink supply port is opened can be increased. In addition, such a configuration is desirable in that the strength of the ink tank in the direction in which the ink tank is easily twisted when the tank is mounted on the holder 31 can be increased.

  In the present embodiment, the method of mounting the ink tank to the holder has been described in the form using the latch lever. However, the present invention is not limited to only the mounting method using the latch lever, and the method of mounting the ink supply ports is not limited to the above. As long as the front and rear sides can be effectively fixed to the holder, a lever mechanism may be used on the holder side, or another method may be used.

  In the present embodiment, an ink tank using an ink absorber made of a fibrous body has been described. However, regarding the above-described configuration relating to the housing of the ink tank, the absorber housed therein is limited to the fibrous body. However, the invention is not limited to an ink tank using an absorber.

  Next, an ink jet recording apparatus to which the recording head cartridge having the above configuration is applied will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the entirety of an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the recording head cartridge having the above-described configuration. The recording apparatus shown in this figure includes a reciprocating movement (main scanning) of the recording head cartridge 71 in the main scanning direction and a sub-movement of a recording sheet (recording medium) such as general recording paper, special paper, OHP film, etc. at a predetermined pitch. By repeatedly ejecting ink from the recording head cartridge 71 and attaching it to the recording sheet while synchronizing with these movements while repeating conveyance (sub-scanning) in the scanning direction, characters, symbols, images, and the like are printed. This is a general serial type recording apparatus formed on a recording sheet.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the recording head cartridge 71 is detachably mounted and held on a carriage 73 as a head holding member together with an ink tank 72 containing ink used for image formation. The carriage 73 is guided by a guide shaft 74 and a guide rail 75 fixed in the recording apparatus so as to be movable only in the direction of the arrow X (main scanning direction) shown in FIG. The carriage 73 is driven by a CR motor 76 as a driving unit via a carriage belt 76a to perform reciprocating scanning. As described above, the guide shaft 74, the guide rail 75, the CR motor 76, and the carriage belt 76a constitute a scanning unit for reciprocally scanning the carriage 73.

  A recording medium (not shown) on which recording is performed by a recording head unit (not shown) of the recording head cartridge 71 is sandwiched between an LF roller 77 and a pinch roller 78 rotatably mounted in the recording apparatus. Is rotationally driven by the LF motor 80 via the LF gear 79, and is conveyed in the arrow Y direction (sub-scanning direction) orthogonal to the arrow X direction as shown in FIG.

  A control board 81 is mounted in the recording device. A control circuit provided as control means on the control board 81 generates control signals to the recording head unit, the CR motor 76 and the LF motor 80, and controls their operations. Since the recording head 71 and the control board 81 are electrically connected to and electrically connected to each other by a flexible cable 82 serving as a signal transmission means, the transmission of a control signal between the recording head unit and the control board 81 is performed by a recording head cartridge. The operation is performed via the flexible cable 82 even during the operation of scanning the arrow 71 in the X direction.

  A plurality of nozzle rows corresponding to each color are formed in the print head unit, and printing is performed by discharging ink from each nozzle. In the recording head section, a heating resistor corresponding to each nozzle is used as an electrothermal transducer element as an energy generating means for generating energy for ejection given to ink in the nozzle in order to eject ink droplets from the nozzle. A plurality is formed. A drive signal for driving the recording head unit is transmitted from the control board 81 to the recording head unit via the flexible cable 82 and an electrical connection unit attached to each of the recording head unit and the flexible cable 82. Ink is ejected from the recording head unit based on the drive signal.

  The method of ejecting ink droplets in the recording head is not limited to the above example. Needless to say, the liquid held in the ink tank of the present invention is not limited to the black, cyan, magenta, and yellow described above, and can be ejected from a recording head such as a reaction station that reacts with ink. If it is a thing, it does not need to be ink.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an ink tank constituting a color recording head cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention, and a holder for mounting the ink tank. It is a top view of the holder shown in FIG. 2A and 2B are views for explaining the structure of the ink tank shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A is a top view, FIG. 2B is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a color ink tank illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a black ink tank and a color ink tank are respectively mounted in the holder illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a black ink tank and a color ink tank are respectively mounted in the holder illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which a recording head cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Explanation of reference numerals

10A ink tank (for black)
10B ink tank (for magenta, yellow, cyan)
Reference Signs List 11 housing 12 lid member 13 rib structure 14 ink supply port 15 atmosphere communication port 16 latch lever 17 retaining claw 18 latch claw 30 color recording head cartridge 31 holder 32 recording head unit 33 ink receiving tube 34 filter 35 retaining claw Mating hole 36 Latch claw engagement hole 38 Partition plate 39 Seal member 40 Depressed portion 40a Notch 50 First ink holding member 51 Second ink holding member 52 Partition plate 70 Ink tank center line 71 Recording head cartridge 72 Ink tank 73 Carriage 74 Guide shaft 75 Guide rail 76 CR motor 77 LF roller 78 Pinch roller 79 LF gear 80 LF motor 81 Control board 82 Flexible cable 1 Recording head cartridge 101a Atmospheric communication port 101b First engaging portion 101c Second engaging portion 102 E Cylinder 103 Recording head 104 Ink receiving tube

Claims (6)

A housing having a substantially rectangular bottom surface,
A plurality of ink storage sections divided by a partition plate provided in the housing,
An ink supply port provided on each of the plurality of ink storage units and located on a bottom surface of the housing, and attached to and detached from a holder including a recording head unit for discharging ink stored in the ink storage units. In the ink tank that can be freely mounted,
The plurality of ink supply ports are provided biased to one of the long sides of the bottom surface,
A housing side surface provided with a plurality of depressions each having the supply port on the bottom surface, and a side portion of the plurality of depressions provided on a side on which the plurality of supply ports are biased. An ink tank characterized by being cut out and opened. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein
An ink tank, wherein a mounting engagement member for the holder is provided on each of the side surfaces of the housing facing each other with the plurality of supply ports interposed therebetween. 3. The ink tank according to claim 2, wherein one of the mounting engagement members is an engagement claw provided on a side surface of the housing, and the other is an engagement claw provided on a lever provided on the housing. An ink tank, wherein an ink supply port closest to an engagement claw provided on a side surface of the housing is shifted toward a partition wall forming the plurality of ink storage units. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein
The ink storage units each include:
An atmosphere communication port for communicating the inside of the ink container with the atmosphere,
A sheet-like first liquid holding member that can be brought into contact with an external member from an ink supply port and is held in a shape along the inner surface shape of the housing bottom surface;
A second liquid holding member that is in close contact with the first liquid holding member and supplies ink to the first liquid holding member;
Has,
The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein a liquid holding force of the first liquid holding member is larger than a liquid holding force of the second liquid holding member. 2. An ink jet printer comprising: a holder for detachably holding the ink tank according to claim 1; and a recording head provided on the holder for receiving ink from an ink tank mounted on the holder and discharging ink droplets. Recording head. An ink jet recording apparatus, comprising: a carriage on which the ink jet recording head according to claim 5 is removably mounted, and recording by discharging ink droplets from the ink jet recording head onto a recording medium.

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