JP2005144949A - Ink residual quantity detecting device, ink cartridge and liquid droplet discharging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink residual quantity detecting device which enables detection of a correct ink residual quantity by preventing leakage of a light by a simple constitution, and to provide an ink cartridge equipped with the ink residual quantity detecting device, and a liquid droplet discharging apparatus using the ink cartridge. <P>SOLUTION: The ink residual quantity detecting device is equipped with an ink container 17 which has a flexibility, has at least a part made a light transmission part and is filled with ink; a plurality of light guiding members 33 fixed to be opposed via the light transmission part at the light transmission part of the ink container 17; and a photosensor with a light emitting element 24 and a light receiving element 25 disposed at both sides via the light transmission part and the plurality of light guiding members 33. The light guiding members 33 are arranged to be movable following the deformation by a change of the ink residual quantity of the ink container 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink remaining amount detecting device for detecting the remaining amount of ink, an ink cartridge including the ink remaining amount detecting device, and a droplet discharge device using the ink cartridge.

  In recent years, techniques related to a droplet discharge apparatus that performs recording by discharging droplets from a droplet discharge head have been applied to various fields due to improvements in the technology. Along with this, the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge is prevented in the middle of recording to prevent the recording from being interrupted due to insufficient ink remaining in the ink cartridge and to effectively use the ink. It is desired to improve the technology for accurately detecting the remaining amount of ink by a method of directly detecting the ink. The indirect method of estimating the remaining amount of ink by counting the number of ejections of ink droplets cannot cope with variations in ejected ink droplets or non-ejection of ink droplets, making it difficult to accurately detect the remaining amount of ink.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a technique relating to an ink remaining amount detection apparatus capable of performing recording while constantly checking the ink remaining amount is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 60-32667 A

  However, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, the light guide member adjacent to the ink container is not in close contact with the ink container, and has a gap between the ink container and the ink container. The amount of this gap tends to increase with an increase in ink consumption, and tends to be non-uniform due to deformation of the surface of the light transmitting portion of the ink container. Accordingly, the light incident on the ink container through the light guide member is refracted and leaks in a complicated manner due to the increase and nonuniformity of the gap amount, and it is difficult to accurately detect the remaining amount of ink by the amount of light. There is an unresolved issue.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an ink remaining amount detection device capable of preventing light leakage and detecting an accurate ink remaining amount with a simple configuration, and the ink remaining amount detection. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink cartridge including the apparatus and a droplet discharge device using the ink cartridge.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an ink remaining amount detecting device used in a droplet discharge device, wherein the light transmitting portion of an ink container is flexible and has at least a portion as a light transmitting portion. A plurality of light guide members fixed so as to face each other, and a light sensor in which light emitting elements and light receiving elements are arranged on both sides of the light transmission portion and the plurality of light guide members, and the light guide member Are arranged so as to be movable following the deformation of the ink container due to the change in the remaining amount of ink.

  According to the above, the light guide member is fixed to the light transmission part of the ink container, and even if the ink container is deformed as the remaining amount of ink decreases, the light guide member can move following the deformation. There is no gap between the container. Accordingly, light leakage can be reduced, and the remaining amount of ink can be accurately detected.

The present invention is characterized in that the light guide member includes a guide portion that guides the light guide member so as to be movable in a direction connecting the light emitting element and the light receiving element in accordance with the deformation of the ink container.
According to the above, the light guide member can be moved by the guide portion without departing from the direction connecting the light emitting element and the light receiving element. Accordingly, light leakage can be further reduced, and the remaining amount of ink can be detected more accurately.

According to the present invention, the ink container includes a transparent resin layer and a gas permeation preventive layer that does not have light permeability, and the light transmissive portion is formed by opening the gas permeation preventive layer. It consists of a window part.
Based on the above, the gas permeation preventive layer can prevent the deterioration of ink characteristics due to the ingress of gas into the ink container, and the transparent resin layer can be used to form the light transmissive portion (window portion). .

Further, the invention is characterized in that the light guide member is fixed to the ink container so as to cover the window portion.
According to the above, since the light guide member covers the window portion, light leakage from the window portion can be prevented, and gas can be prevented from penetrating from the window portion and entering the ink container.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge for use in a droplet discharge device, comprising the above ink remaining amount detection device.

  In addition, the present invention is a droplet discharge device that performs recording by supplying ink from an ink cartridge to a droplet discharge head, and the ink cartridge is the ink cartridge of the invention described above, and is applied to the light emitting element. The voltage is set to a predetermined value, and the ink is obtained from the voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light receiving element at the initial ink amount and the voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light receiving element when ink is consumed. A determination circuit for determining the remaining amount is provided.

  According to the above, since the remaining amount of ink is detected using a voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light receiving element at the initial stage where the ink is not consumed and at the stage where the ink is consumed, Even if the input voltage to the light emitting element varies due to the operation of the constituent devices of the droplet discharge device, the remaining amount of ink can be accurately determined.

The present invention also relates to a droplet discharge device that performs recording by supplying ink to a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets from an ink cartridge, and the remaining amount of ink is determined based on an output signal from the determination circuit. It is characterized by having an informing means for informing that the amount has been reduced to a fixed amount.
Based on the above, it is possible to easily know that the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge has decreased to a predetermined amount.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, as an example of the droplet discharge device of the present invention, an inkjet printer that discharges ink from an inkjet head as a droplet discharge head and prints an image on a sheet will be described.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the inkjet printer 1.
As shown in FIG. 5, an ink jet printer 1 using an ink cartridge provided with a remaining ink amount detecting device according to the present embodiment is connected to a belt 3 that transmits power from an actuator (not shown), and the belt 3. An ink jet head 5 that discharges ink droplets is held in a carriage 4 that reciprocates along the rotation direction of the recording paper, and a recording paper P moves by a predetermined amount by rotating a paper feed roller by an actuator to perform recording.

  The ink cartridge is detachably housed in the ink cartridge housing portion 6 of the carriage 4, and an ink supply path is secured by the ink supply needle 7 so that ink can be supplied to the inkjet head 5. The ink jet printer 1 receives recording data from a computer or the like via an interface, and sends a drive signal to the ink jet head 5 according to an instruction from a control unit in the ink jet printer 1 to record it.

  The carriage 4 is provided with a connector terminal (not shown) that conducts to the inkjet head 5, and a cable 9 extending from the control unit of the inkjet printer 1 is connected to supply a drive signal to the inkjet head 5. The ink cartridge housing 6 has an output terminal (not shown) for outputting a voltage signal from the power supply unit 8 to an ink cartridge, which will be described later, and a signal receiving terminal (not shown) for receiving a signal from the ink cartridge. Is provided.

Next, the configuration of the ink cartridge will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view and cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge provided with an ink remaining amount detection device. FIG. 1A is a front view of the ink cartridge, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the ink cartridge 11 is electrically connected to a power supply terminal (not shown) provided in the ink cartridge housing 6 of the carriage 4 on the front surface of the cartridge body 12 to receive a voltage signal. A substrate 15 provided with an input terminal 13 and a signal transmission terminal 14 that conducts a signal and transmits a signal to a signal reception terminal (not shown) provided in the ink cartridge housing 6 is provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the ink cartridge 11 detects the remaining amount of ink and an ink container (ink bag) 17 that is flexible and filled with ink inside the cartridge body 12. An optical sensor 18 and an ink supply port 16 serving as an ink supply path from the ink container 17 to the inkjet head 5 are provided.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram schematically showing the relationship between the configuration of the substrate 15 and the optical sensor 18.
As shown in FIG. 2, between the substrate 15 and the optical sensor 18, a voltage signal received at the input terminal 13 from the power supply unit 8 is transmitted to the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 of the optical sensor 18 via the resistor 21. A wiring 19 having a transmission path 19a for transmitting and a transmission path 19b for transmitting an output signal extracted from the optical sensor 18 is provided. In addition, an analog-digital conversion unit 20 that converts an analog signal into a digital signal is provided in the middle of a transmission path 19b that transmits an output signal from the light receiving element 25.

The resistor 21 is provided to take out an output signal from the light receiving element 25 as a voltage. In this case, the optical sensor 18 is configured using a light emitting diode as the light emitting element 24 and a phototransistor as the light receiving element 25.
An output signal output as an analog signal from the light receiving element 25 of the optical sensor 18 is converted into a digital signal by the analog / digital conversion unit 20 and transmitted to the signal processing unit 21 via the signal transmission terminal 14.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view and cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge provided with an ink remaining amount detecting device. 3A is a side view of the ink cartridge, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 3A.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the ink cartridge 11 is provided with a holding portion 23 that holds the upper end portion of the ink container 17. The optical sensor 18 includes a light emitting unit 18 a and a light receiving unit 18 b, and the light emitting unit 18 a incorporating the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving unit 18 b incorporating the light receiving element 25 face each other with the lower part of the ink container 17 interposed therebetween. It is configured as follows.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of the remaining ink amount detection device. FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an initial stage in which ink is not consumed, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a stage in which the amount of ink is decreased due to consumption of ink.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the ink container 17 is formed of a transparent resin layer 30 formed of a transparent material so as to have flexibility, and is composed of a metal foil or the like, and is a gas permeation preventive layer that does not have optical transparency. 31 are stacked and formed in a bag shape so that the gas permeation preventive layer 31 is inside the ink container 17. When the gas permeation preventive layer 31 is laminated, the gas permeation preventive layer 31 forms a window portion 34 by opening a portion facing a light guide member 33 (described later) fixed to the outside of the ink container 17, thereby forming an ink container. A part of 17 is formed as a light transmission part.

Next, the configuration of the ink remaining amount detection device will be described below.
The two light guide members 33 are bonded and fixed to the ink container 17 such that their light guide surfaces face each other with the ink container 17 interposed therebetween, and the light guide surface covers the window 34. The light guide member 33 is composed of a transparent material such as polycarbonate resin, silicon resin, acrylic resin, and glass. Moreover, the adhesive used when the light guide member 33 is bonded and fixed is preferably a transparent epoxy adhesive, silicon adhesive, or the like. The two light guide members 33 bonded and fixed to the ink container 17 have light guide surfaces opposite to the bonded surfaces facing the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25, respectively. It is arranged to be movable in the direction connecting the two.

  The light emitting unit 18a and the light receiving unit 18b of the optical sensor 18 are provided with the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 built therein so as not to cover the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface. Further, a guide portion 35 that covers the side surface of the light guide member 33 in a cylindrical shape in the longitudinal direction of the light guide member 33 and that guides the light guide member 33 so as to be movable in a direction connecting the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 is provided. I have. The light emitting part 18a and the light receiving part 18b, including the guide part 35, are preferably made of a material such as black ABS resin, nylon resin, POM resin, or PBT resin that does not transmit light. That is, the light emitting unit 18a, the light receiving unit 18b, and the guide unit 35 can prevent light from leaking in the light path from the light emitting element 24 to the light receiving element 25, and can prevent external light from entering the light path. It is preferable to be comprised from the said material.

Next, ink remaining amount detection will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a voltage signal is transmitted through the transmission path 19a of the wiring 19 through the input terminal 13 provided on the substrate 15, and the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 are activated. Upon receiving the voltage signal, the light emitting element 24 emits light with a light amount proportional to the applied voltage value, and the light reaches the light receiving element 25 through the light guide member 33, the window 34 of the ink container 17, and the ink 32. .

  The light receiving element 25 generates a voltage proportional to the amount of received light. Then, the voltage is transmitted as an output signal to the analog-digital conversion unit 20 through the transmission path 19b of the wiring 19. The output signal converted into a digital signal by the analog / digital converter 20 is taken out via the signal transmission terminal 14 of the substrate 15.

  In the initial stage where the ink is not consumed, most of the light emitted from the light emitting element 24 is absorbed by the ink 32 and cannot reach the light receiving element 25. The light receiving element 25 outputs a voltage value that is slightly proportional to the amount of light received as an output signal. In addition, when the ink is consumed and the remaining amount becomes small, most of the light from the light emitting element 24 can reach the light receiving element 25. Note that the voltage applied to the light emitting element 24 is fixed to a predetermined voltage value.

  When the difference between the voltage values proportional to the amount of light received by the light emitting element 24 at the initial stage where the ink is not consumed and the stage where the ink is consumed reaches a predetermined value, the remaining amount of ink is a predetermined amount. It can be determined that the value has fallen below.

  However, in order to accurately detect the change in the state as described above, it is indispensable to suppress light leakage in the light path from the light emitting element 24 to the light receiving element 25. In other words, when a gap is generated between the ink container 7 and the light guide member 33 due to deformation of the ink container 7 due to consumption of the ink, various forms of deformation of the light incident surface of the light transmission portion As a result, light is refracted in a direction deviating from the direction it should be, and light leakage occurs. Further, since this light leakage is not uniform depending on the deformation form of the ink container 7, it is difficult to estimate a correction value assuming leakage, and it becomes more difficult to accurately grasp the remaining ink amount. .

  In the present invention, the ink container 7 is deformed as described below when the ink is consumed and the remaining amount of ink decreases.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, when the ink 32 filled in the flexible ink container 17 is consumed, the ink container 17 is deformed as the volume decreases. The two light guide members 33 that are bonded and fixed across the window 34 of the ink container 17 move as the ink container 17 is deformed. During this movement, the two light guide members 33 are always guided along the direction connecting the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 by the guide part 35 of the light emitting part 18a and the light receiving part 18b. Therefore, the light guide surface of the light guide member 33 is held in a state substantially orthogonal to the direction connecting the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25.

Next, the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 will be described.
As the light emitting element 24, for example, a semiconductor laser, a light emitting diode (LED), electroluminescence (EL), or the like can be used, but it is preferable to use a light emitting diode for reasons of size and cost.

  Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are colored by emitting single-color LEDs (blue, green, red) and phosphors of three wavelength characteristics (blue, red, yellow) with light from the blue-violet LED chip, respectively. There are white LEDs that emit white light by mixing. FIG. 8 shows an example of the emission wavelength distribution of the white chip LED, and FIG. 9 shows an example of the emission wavelength distribution of the blue, green, and red light emitting LEDs.

  Examples of the light receiving element 25 include a photodiode and a phototransistor. FIG. 10 shows an example of the wavelength distribution of the light receiving sensitivity of the Si phototransistor. As shown in the figure, the photosensitivity of the Si phototransistor has a relatively small wavelength dependency and has a sensitivity characteristic that can be easily used as a light receiving element.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the light absorption wavelength distribution of the ink. FIG. 11A shows an example of a dye ink, and FIG. 11B shows an example of a pigment ink.
The sensitivity and S / N ratio of detection are determined by appropriately selecting three combinations of the light emitting element 24, the light receiving element 25, and ink.

  For example, to detect the remaining amount of cyan ink, as shown in FIG. 11A or 11B, the light absorption of cyan (C) ink increases in the vicinity of 600 to 700 nm. As shown in FIG. 10, if a red LED having a light emission peak near 650 nm is selected as the light emitting element, and a Si photodiode is selected as the light receiving element as shown in FIG. 10, the detection sensitivity is increased, which affects light of other wavelengths. In addition, the S / N ratio is improved.

  Similarly, in order to detect the remaining amount of magenta ink, the light absorption of magenta (M) ink increases in the vicinity of 500 to 570 nm as shown in FIG. 11A or FIG. As shown, a green LED having an emission peak near 540 nm may be selected as the light emitting element, and a Si photodiode may be selected as the light receiving element as shown in FIG.

  Similarly, in order to detect the remaining amount of yellow ink, the light absorption of yellow (Y) ink increases in the vicinity of 360 to 450 nm as shown in FIG. As shown, a blue LED having a light emission peak near 440 nm may be selected as the light emitting element, and a Si photodiode may be selected as the light receiving element as shown in FIG.

That is, a light emitting element that emits light having a wavelength that is complementary to the ink color may be selected. Alternatively, if a white LED is selected as the light emitting element, or an LED having three colors of blue, green, and red in one package is selected, the sensitivity is high as described above, and detection with an excellent S / N ratio is achieved. It becomes possible.
Further, each of the light emitting element and the light receiving element is provided with a lens, and the light can be more efficiently detected by concentrating the light near the optical axis.

Next, the ink jet printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating how the ink remaining amount of the inkjet printer 1 is detected.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in addition to the appearance configuration described with reference to FIG. 5, the ink jet printer 1 performs ink based on a data processing unit 40 that controls various controls of the ink jet printer 1 and an output signal 42 from the light receiving unit 18b. A determination circuit 44 that generates a signal 43 indicating that the remaining amount is lower than a predetermined amount, and a notification unit 45 that notifies that the remaining amount of ink has decreased to a predetermined amount based on the operation signal 46 from the data processing unit 40. And. In FIG. 6, the notification unit 45 corresponds to a notification unit.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the ink cartridge 11 is stored in the ink cartridge storage portion 6 of the carriage 4.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the determination circuit 44 of the ink jet recording apparatus 1 is provided at a portion facing the substrate 15 of the ink cartridge 11 of the carriage 4. The determination circuit 44 is provided with a signal reception terminal 50 that receives the output signal 42 through contact with the signal transmission terminal 14 of the substrate 15. Further, the carriage 4 is provided with an output terminal 51 for supplying a voltage signal from the power supply unit 8 transmitted by the cable 9 via a connector terminal (not shown) at a position where contact with the input terminal 13 of the substrate 15 is possible. It has been.

When the ink cartridge 11 is stored in the ink cartridge storage unit 6, the ink supply needle 7 extending from the inkjet head 5 is inserted into the ink supply port 16 of the ink cartridge 11, and an ink supply path to the inkjet head 5 is secured.
Note that the ink cartridge 11 can be replaced (taken out and set) when the ink has run out by opening and closing the lever L by pushing up the lever L.

Next, ink remaining amount detection will be described.
The voltage signal received from the output terminal 51 via the input terminal 13 is transmitted to each of the light emitting element 24 and the light receiving element 25 through the transmission path 19 a of the wiring 19. Upon receiving the voltage signal, the light emitting element 24 emits light with a light amount proportional to the applied voltage value, and the light reaches the light receiving element 25 through the light guide member 33, the window 34 of the ink container 17, and the ink 32. . The light receiving element 25 generates a voltage proportional to the amount of received light to generate an output signal.

  The output signal extracted from the light receiving element 25 is transmitted to the analog / digital conversion unit 20 through the transmission path 19 b of the wiring 19. The output signal converted into a digital signal by the analog / digital conversion unit 20 is taken out via the signal transmission terminal 14 of the substrate 15.

  Next, a flow from the result of ink remaining amount detection until notification that the ink remaining amount has decreased to a predetermined amount will be described.

The output signal extracted as described above is transmitted to the determination circuit 44 provided in the carriage 4. The determination circuit 44 calculates a difference between the transmitted output signal 42 and a voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light emitting element 24 at an early stage when ink is not consumed, and the difference is a predetermined amount. If it is lower, a signal 43 indicating that the remaining ink amount is lower than the predetermined amount is transmitted to the data processing unit 40. If the difference is greater than or equal to the predetermined amount, the signal 43 indicating that the remaining amount of ink is below the predetermined amount is not generated.
The data processing unit 40 that has received the signal 43 indicating that the remaining amount of ink is below the predetermined amount generates an operation signal 46 for operating the notification unit 45, and the notification unit 45 operates.

  In the present embodiment, the ink jet printer 1 performs recording by storing the ink cartridge 11 in the ink cartridge storage section 6 provided in the carriage 4, but is not limited thereto. That is, the ink cartridge housing 6 is configured separately from the carriage 4 and can be applied to an ink jet printer in which ink is supplied to the ink jet head via an ink supply path such as a tube.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the ink cartridge 11, light leakage in the light path from the light emitting element 24 to the light receiving element 25 can be suppressed, and even when ink is consumed and the ink container 7 is deformed, light leakage due to the deformation is also suppressed. As a result, the remaining amount of ink can be accurately detected.
(2) In the ink cartridge 11, the guide portion 35 restricts the movement of the light guide member 33 in the vertical direction, and the ink container 7 can be prevented from being detached from the detection region of the optical sensor 18.
(3) The ink jet printer 1 can accurately detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge 11, and can promptly notify that the remaining amount of ink has decreased to a predetermined amount.

(Modification 1)
The difference between the output signal 42 converted into a digital signal by the analog-to-digital converter 20 and the voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light emitting element 24 at the initial stage when ink is not consumed is a predetermined amount or more. In the determination circuit 44 for comparing whether or not, if a plurality of predetermined amounts are set, the remaining amount of ink can be detected stepwise and notified. For example, a first predetermined amount indicating that the ink remaining amount is half or more, a second predetermined amount indicating that the ink remaining amount is less than half, and a third predetermined amount indicating that the ink remaining amount is almost absent. By setting, it is possible to notify step by step how much ink is remaining.

(Modification 2)
In the determination circuit 44, it is compared whether or not the difference between the output signal 42 and the voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light emitting element 24 in the initial stage when ink is not consumed is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. However, it may be configured to compare whether the ratio of two voltage values is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. In this case, the remaining amount of ink can be detected more accurately.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view and cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge provided with an ink remaining amount detection device. The circuit diagram which shows typically the relationship between the structure of a board | substrate, and an optical sensor. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view and cross-sectional view of an ink cartridge provided with an ink remaining amount detection device. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of an ink remaining amount detection device. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of an ink jet printer. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating ink remaining amount detection of an inkjet printer. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the ink cartridge is stored in an ink cartridge storage portion of a carriage. The figure which shows the light emission wavelength distribution of white chip LED. The figure which shows the light emission wavelength distribution of blue, green, red light emission LED. The figure which shows wavelength distribution of the light reception sensitivity of Si phototransistor. The figure which shows the light absorption wavelength distribution of an ink.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer as a droplet discharge device, 4 ... Carriage, 5 ... Inkjet head as a droplet discharge head, 8 ... Power supply part, 11 ... Ink cartridge, 13 ... Input terminal, 14 ... Signal transmission terminal, 17 ... Ink Container, 18 ... optical sensor, 24 ... light emitting element, 25 ... light receiving element, 30 ... transparent resin layer, 31 ... gas permeation preventive layer, 33 ... light guide member, 34 ... window part as light transmitting part, 35 ... guide part , 44 ... determination circuit, 45 ... notification section as notification means.

Claims (7)

An ink remaining amount detection device used in a droplet discharge device,
A plurality of light guide members which are flexible and fixed so as to face each other with the light transmission part of the ink container having at least a part as a light transmission part;
An optical sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element disposed on both sides of the light transmitting portion and a plurality of light guide members,
The ink remaining amount detecting device, wherein the light guide member is disposed so as to be able to move following the deformation of the ink container due to a change in the remaining amount of ink.   2. The ink remaining amount detection according to claim 1, further comprising a guide portion that guides the light guide member so as to be movable in a direction connecting the light emitting element and the light receiving element according to the deformation of the ink container. apparatus. The ink container has a transparent resin layer and a gas permeation preventive layer that does not have optical transparency.
The ink remaining amount detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the light transmitting portion includes a window portion formed by opening the gas permeation preventing layer.   The ink remaining amount detection device according to claim 3, wherein the light guide member is fixed to the ink container so as to cover the window portion. An ink cartridge for use in a droplet discharge device,
An ink cartridge comprising the ink remaining amount detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A droplet discharge device that performs recording by supplying ink from an ink cartridge to a droplet discharge head,
The ink cartridge is the ink cartridge according to claim 5,
The voltage applied to the light emitting element is set to a predetermined value, and the voltage value proportional to the amount of light received by the light receiving element at the initial ink amount and proportional to the amount of light received by the light receiving element when ink is consumed A droplet discharge device comprising a determination circuit for determining a remaining ink amount from a voltage value. The liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a notification unit configured to notify that the remaining amount of ink has decreased to a predetermined amount based on an output signal from the determination circuit.

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