JP2005262592A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To elongate operation time by a fuel cell without increasing the size of a recording apparatus, in the recording apparatus which uses the fuel cell as a power supply. <P>SOLUTION: An ink cartridge 70 removably installed in an inkjet recording apparatus 50 is constituted by integrating an ink containing part filled with ink to be jetted from a recording head 62 and a fuel containing part 71 filled with a fuel for the fuel cell 80. A fuel circulating path for feeding the fuel from the fuel containing part 71 via a fuel feeding tube 81 to the fuel cell 80 and returning the fuel via a fuel collection tube 82 to the fuel containing part 71 is formed, and a fuel feeding pump PU1 circulates a methanol aqueous solution in the fuel containing part 71 through the fuel circulating path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus operable with a fuel cell as a power source.

  Examples of lightweight and small electronic devices that can operate using batteries as a power source and are easy to carry even in environments where AC power cannot be received from commercial outlets include notebook personal computers, PDAs (Personal Digital An assistant (personal portable information terminal), a cellular phone, a printer, and the like are known. Conventionally, such an electronic device generally uses a lithium ion battery, but in recent years, a fuel cell using methanol or the like as a fuel has attracted attention as a clean next generation battery that is environmentally friendly. A fuel cell is an energy conversion device that generates electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen. Because it uses an electrochemical reaction that is the reverse of water electrolysis, water, electricity, and heat are generated using hydrogen and oxygen as energy sources. It is attracting attention as an environmentally friendly energy because it is highly energy efficient and the only substance emitted is water. In addition, the fuel cell can continue to be used if fuel is replenished. In other words, as well as being carried outdoors, electricity can be generated semipermanently if fuel is continuously replenished.

  Recently, a fuel cell such as a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) using a polymer membrane electrolyte has been attracting attention, and has attracted attention as a power source for mobile devices. This is to generate power by chemically reacting oxygen and aqueous methanol solution through a catalyst and electrolyte. Conventionally, those using polymer membranes are used in the field of power supply because of their low power generation efficiency. However, because the electrolyte of the polymer membrane is from room temperature to around 90 degrees, and it is cooler than the conventional electrolyte (several hundred degrees or more), it can be used as a power source for household power generation and mobile devices. A recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer equipped with such a fuel cell is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-341146 A

  However, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer has a head driving unit that drives a recording head to eject ink, a main scanning driving unit that reciprocates a carriage mounted with the recording head in the main scanning direction, and recording. It is common to have sub-scanning driving means for transporting recording paper to the head in the sub-scanning direction, and power consumption by a driving force source such as a DC motor for driving these is large. Compared with information processing devices such as PDAs and mobile phones, it consumes more power. Therefore, there arises a problem that the operable time by the fuel cell cannot be made too long. Further, if the fuel tank is enlarged in order to extend the operable time by the fuel cell, there arises a problem that the recording apparatus is increased in size.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and the problem is that in a recording apparatus using a fuel cell as a power source, the operation time by the fuel cell can be made longer without increasing the size of the recording apparatus. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus that includes a recording head that ejects ink onto a recording material and a fuel cell, and is filled with ink ejected from the recording head. The recording apparatus is characterized in that an ink cartridge integrally formed with an ink storage portion and a fuel storage portion filled with fuel supplied to the fuel cell is detachably disposed.

As described above, the ink cartridge detachably disposed in the recording apparatus is integrally formed with the ink storage portion filled with the ink ejected from the recording head and the fuel storage portion filled with the fuel of the fuel cell. Therefore, it is possible to omit a useless space and a mechanism generated by a configuration in which a fuel storage portion separate from the ink cartridge is mounted. As a result, it is possible to increase the amount of fuel that can be mounted on the recording device without increasing the size of the recording device, thereby extending the operating time of the fuel cell without increasing the size of the recording device. The effect of being able to be obtained is obtained.
Further, an ink cartridge that is detachably attached to the recording apparatus is integrally formed with an ink storage portion filled with ink ejected from the recording head and a fuel storage portion filled with fuel of the fuel cell. Therefore, when the ink cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, ink is supplied from the ink storage portion to the recording head, and fuel is supplied from the fuel storage portion to the fuel cell. That is, a recording apparatus that can operate only by mounting an ink cartridge in an environment such as outdoors where AC power cannot be received from a commercial outlet becomes possible. This eliminates the need for maintenance such as battery replacement and charging, eliminates the need to carry a spare battery or charger in addition to the spare ink cartridge, and eliminates the risk of running out of battery.
Further, since it is not necessary to attach a heavy external battery such as a conventional lithium ion battery to the recording apparatus, an effect that the recording apparatus can be made lighter than the conventional one can be obtained.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect described above, a fuel supply path that supplies fuel from the fuel storage portion to the fuel cell, and a fuel that recovers waste fuel of the fuel cell to the fuel storage portion. A recovery path, and a fuel circulation means for circulating fuel in a fuel circulation path that returns from the fuel storage section to the fuel storage section via the fuel supply path, the fuel cell, and the waste fuel recovery path, The recording apparatus is characterized by this.

In an actual fuel cell, the waste fuel is often reusable although the fuel concentration decreases. Therefore, the fuel is supplied from the fuel storage section to the fuel cell through the fuel supply path, and the waste fuel is returned to the fuel storage section through the fuel recovery path, so that the waste fuel can be reused without being discarded. As a result, the fuel concentration in the fuel storage section gradually decreases, but the waste fuel that can still be used as the fuel decreases to a certain concentration or less, and a predetermined power generation capacity cannot be obtained. It becomes possible to reuse it effectively repeatedly. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an operational effect that the operation time of the fuel cell can be further extended with the same amount of fuel.
In addition, since a waste fuel tank or the like for discarding the waste fuel is not required, it is possible to reduce the size of the recording apparatus or to increase the capacity of the fuel storage portion by increasing the ink cartridge. The effect is also obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect described above, a generated water recovery path for recovering water generated when power is generated by the fuel cell using the fuel circulation means to the fuel storage portion. The recording apparatus is characterized by comprising:
Since water is generated during power generation on the cathode side (air electrode side) of the fuel cell, it is necessary to provide means for treating the water inside the recording apparatus without leaking it to the outside. Cost will rise. Therefore, by collecting the water generated on the cathode side into the fuel storage part of the ink cartridge, it becomes possible to omit means for treating the water generated on the cathode side, thereby reducing the cost of the recording apparatus. Can be made.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect described above, the head surface suction unit that sucks the head surface of the recording head, and the waste that is stored by absorbing the waste ink sucked by the head surface suction unit. A recording apparatus comprising: an ink absorbing material; and a generated water delivery path for delivering water generated when power is generated by the fuel cell to the waste ink absorbing material.

  As described above, on the cathode side (air electrode side) of the fuel cell, since water is generated during power generation, it is necessary to provide means for processing the water inside the recording apparatus without leaking it to the outside. As a result, the cost of the recording apparatus increases. Generally, a recording apparatus such as an ink jet recording apparatus is provided with means for periodically sucking the head surface of the recording head in order to prevent clogging of a large number of nozzles arranged on the head surface of the recording head. Yes. Further, the waste ink sucked from the head surface is stored in the recording apparatus in a state where the waste ink is absorbed by a waste ink absorbing material composed of an absorbing material such as a sponge for storing the waste ink. . Therefore, water generated on the cathode side of the fuel cell is sent to the waste ink absorbing material and absorbed by the waste ink absorbing material. The water absorbed in the waste ink absorbing material is vaporized and discharged into the atmosphere before being stored in the waste ink absorbing material together with the waste ink. Therefore, the water produced on the cathode side of the fuel cell can be treated without leaking outside. In this way, by sending the water generated on the cathode side of the fuel cell to the waste ink absorber, the means for processing the water generated on the cathode side of the fuel cell inside the recording apparatus without leaking outside is reduced. Can be realized at a cost.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects described above, main scanning driving means for reciprocating the recording head in the main scanning direction, and a recording material in the sub scanning direction. And a sub-scanning drive unit that transports the fuel by a predetermined transport amount, wherein the fuel circulation unit circulates the fuel in the fuel circulation passage with the driving force of the driving power source of the main scanning driving unit or the sub-scanning driving unit. The recording apparatus is characterized by comprising:

  As described above, the fuel supplied from the fuel storage portion to the fuel cell via the fuel supply passage becomes waste fuel, and the fuel in the fuel circulation passage is circulated so that the waste fuel is returned to the fuel storage portion again via the fuel recovery passage. By configuring the fuel circulation means to drive using the driving force of the driving power source of the main scanning driving means or the sub-scanning driving means without providing a dedicated driving force source for driving the fuel circulation means, The cost of the recording apparatus provided with the fuel cell can be reduced.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the ink cartridge according to the first aspect or the second aspect described above.
According to the ink cartridge shown in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the effects of the invention described in the first aspect or the second aspect described above can be obtained in the recording apparatus including the ink cartridge.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, a schematic configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus (ink jet printer) as an example of the “recording apparatus” according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.
In the ink jet recording apparatus 50, the carriage guide shaft 51 serves as a “main scanning drive unit” that scans the recording paper P in the main scanning direction X by ejecting ink onto the recording paper P. A carriage 61 that is pivotally supported and moves in the main scanning direction X is provided. Mounted on the carriage 61 are a recording head 62 and an ink cartridge 611 filled with ink of each color ejected from the recording head 62. A platen 52 that defines the gap between the head surface of the recording head 62 and the recording paper P is provided facing the recording head 62. Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus 50, a conveyance driving roller 53 that conveys the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y is used as “sub-scanning driving means” that causes the recording head 62 to scan the recording paper P in the sub-scanning direction Y. And a conveyance driven roller 54 are provided. The conveyance driving roller 53 is rotationally controlled by a rotational driving force such as a stepping motor, and the recording paper P is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the conveyance driving roller 53. A plurality of transport driven rollers 54 are provided and are individually urged by the transport driving roller 53, and the recording paper P is in contact with the recording paper P when the recording paper P is transported by the rotation of the transport driving roller 53. Rotates following the transport of A film having a high frictional resistance is applied to the surface of the transport driving roller 53. The recording paper P pressed against the surface of the transport driving roller 53 by the transport driven roller 54 comes into close contact with the surface of the transport driving roller 53 by the frictional resistance of the surface, and is transported in the sub-scanning direction by the rotation of the transport driving roller 53. The An operation for transporting the recording paper P between the carriage 61 and the platen 52 in the sub-scanning direction Y by a predetermined transport amount, and ink from the recording head 62 to the recording paper P while the recording head 62 is reciprocated once in the main scanning direction X. The recording is performed on the recording paper P by alternately repeating the operation of jetting.

  A paper feed tray 57 is disposed on the upstream side of the transport driving roller 53 in the sub-scanning direction Y. The paper feed tray 57 is configured to feed recording paper P such as plain paper or photo paper, for example, and an ASF (auto sheet feeder) as a paper feeding means for automatically feeding the recording paper P is provided. Is provided. The ASF is an automatic paper feed mechanism having two paper feed rollers 57b provided on the paper feed tray 57 and a separation pad (not shown). One of the two paper feed rollers 57b is disposed on one side of the paper feed tray 57, the other paper feed roller 57b is attached to the recording paper guide 57a, and the recording paper guide 57a is a recording paper. The paper feed tray 57 is slidable in the width direction according to the width of P. When a plurality of recording sheets P placed on the sheet feeding tray 57 are fed due to the rotational driving force of the sheet feeding roller 57b and the frictional resistance of the separation pad, the plurality of recording sheets P are fed at a time. The paper is automatically and accurately fed one by one. Further, a paper detector 63 according to a known technique is disposed between the paper feed roller 57b and the conveyance drive roller 53. The paper detector 63 has a lever that is pivotally supported in a state that it is given a self-returning behavior to a standing posture and protrudes into the conveyance path of the recording paper P so as to be able to rotate only in the recording paper conveyance direction. The detector is configured to detect the recording paper P by rotating the lever when the tip of the lever is pressed against the recording paper P. The paper detector 63 detects the start end position and the end position of the recording paper P fed from the paper feed roller 57b, determines the recording area according to the detected position, and executes recording.

On the other hand, a discharge driving roller 55 and a discharge driven roller 56 are provided as means for discharging the recording paper P after execution of recording. The paper discharge driving roller 55 is rotationally controlled by a rotational driving force such as a stepping motor, and the recording paper P after recording is discharged in the sub-scanning direction Y by the rotation of the paper discharge driving roller 55. The paper discharge driven roller 56 is a toothed roller having a plurality of teeth around it and sharply sharpened so that the tip of each tooth makes point contact with the recording surface of the recording paper P. The plurality of paper discharge driven rollers 56 are individually urged by the paper discharge driving roller 55, and come into contact with the recording paper P when the recording paper P is discharged by the rotation of the paper discharge driving roller 55. Rotates following paper discharge. A feed driving motor (not shown) for driving the paper feed roller 57b, the transport driving roller 53, and the paper discharge driving roller 55, and a carriage driving motor (not shown) for driving the carriage 61 in the main scanning direction are provided. The drive control is performed by a recording control unit 100 as a “recording control device”. Similarly, the recording head 62 is driven and controlled by the recording control unit 100 to eject ink onto the surface of the recording paper P.
Ink is supplied to the recording head 62 from an ink cartridge 70 detachably disposed in the ink jet recording apparatus 50. The ink jet recording apparatus 50 includes a fuel cell 80 as a power supply device, and the fuel of the fuel cell 80 is supplied from the ink cartridge 70.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 according to the present invention.
The recording control unit 100 includes a system bus SB. The system bus SB includes a ROM 21, a RAM 22, a USB controller 23 as a “connection interface” with the information processing apparatus 200 as a “host device”, and a memory card interface 24. , MPU (microprocessor) 26, I / O 27, and head driver 28 are connected so as to be able to transfer data. The MPU 26 performs various types of arithmetic processing. The ROM 21 stores in advance software programs and data necessary for the arithmetic processing of the MPU 26. The RAM 22 is used as a temporary storage area for software programs, a work area for the MPU 26, and the like. The various motor control units 31 are drive control circuits that drive and control various motors of the ink jet recording apparatus 50.

  Various sensors 32 detect various state information of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 and output them to the I / O 27. The I / O 27 performs output control on the various motor control units 31 based on the calculation processing result in the MPU 26 and inputs input information from the various sensors 32. When an USB host device such as a personal computer is connected as the information processing device 200 as a “host device” equipped with a USB host controller, the USB controller 23 causes the ink jet recording device 50 to function as a USB device. At the time of recording, the image data is color-converted from RGB data to YMC data in the information processing apparatus 200, and then binarized to convert it into binarized YMC data to generate recording data.

  The generated recording data is transmitted from the information processing apparatus 200 to the ink jet recording apparatus 50 as recording control data together with control data for controlling the ink jet recording apparatus 50. The recording control data transmitted from the information processing apparatus 200 is received by the USB controller 23 and then stored in the RAM 22. The recording control data stored in the RAM 22 is separated into control data and recording data by executing command analysis and processing for expanding the compressed data by program processing executed by the MPU 26. . The control data is transferred to the MPU 26, and the developed recording data is transferred to the head driver 28 as “head driving means”.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of an ink supply path to the recording head 62 and a fuel supply path to the fuel cell 80 in the ink jet recording apparatus 50.
The ink cartridge 70 includes a yellow ink container 7Y, a magenta ink container 7M, a cyan ink container 7C, and a black ink container 7K as “ink containers”. The yellow ink filled in the yellow ink container 7Y is filled into the cyan ink container 7C via the ink tube YC, and the magenta ink filled in the magenta ink container 7M is filled into the cyan ink container 7C via the ink tube MC. The cyan ink is supplied to the recording head 62 via the ink tube CC, and the black ink filled in the black ink container 7K is supplied to the recording head 62 via the ink tube KC.

The ink cartridge 70 includes a fuel storage unit 71 filled with an aqueous methanol solution serving as fuel for the fuel cell 80, and a waste fuel recovery unit 72 that recovers the aqueous methanol solution supplied to the fuel cell 80 as "waste fuel". Have. The fuel cell 80 is a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) using a polymer membrane electrolyte, and is a fuel cell in which methanol is directly supplied to the cell CL without being reformed into hydrogen. The cell CL is a unit of the minimum unit of the fuel cell 80 composed of the polymer membrane electrolyte 8E and two electrodes of the fuel electrode (anode 8A) and the air electrode (cathode 8K). In the fuel electrode (anode 8A), methanol reacts with water and is oxidized to generate CO ₂ , H ⁺ , and electrons. H ⁺ reaches the air electrode (cathode 8K) through the electrolyte 8E. At the air electrode (cathode 8K), O ₂ (oxygen) in the air combines with H ⁺ and electrons and is reduced to produce water. In the process, electrons flow through a circuit connected to the anode 8A and the anode 8K, and a current is taken out.

The aqueous methanol solution in the fuel storage unit 71 is fed to the fuel cell 80 by a fuel feed pump PU1 serving as a “fuel feed unit” via a fuel feed tube 81 serving as a “fuel feed path”. The waste fuel that has been fed to the fuel cell 80 and chemically reacted at the fuel electrode (anode 8A) is recovered to the waste fuel recovery section 72 via a fuel recovery tube 82 as a “fuel recovery path” for recovering the waste fuel. Is done. The waste fuel is an aqueous methanol solution in which the methanol concentration is reduced by a chemical reaction by power generation. On the other hand, in the air electrode (cathode 8K) of the fuel cell 80, oxygen in the air supplied from the air supply path 84 is combined with H ⁺ and electrons to be reduced to generate water, and the generated water (hereinafter, generated) Water) is sent to the fuel recovery tube 82 via the generated water recovery tube 83 as a “generated water recovery path” for recovering the generated water to the waste fuel recovery unit 72 and recovered to the waste fuel recovery unit 72. In this way, by collecting the water generated on the air electrode (cathode 8K) side to the waste fuel recovery unit 72 of the ink cartridge 70, means for treating the water generated on the air electrode (cathode 8K) is omitted. Accordingly, the cost of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be reduced.

  As described above, the ink cartridge 70 detachably disposed in the inkjet recording apparatus 50 includes the yellow ink storage portion 7Y, the magenta ink storage portion 7M, the cyan ink storage portion 7C, which are filled with the ink ejected from the recording head 62. The black ink storage unit 7K, the fuel storage unit 71 filled with the fuel (methanol aqueous solution) of the fuel cell 80, and the waste fuel recovery unit 72 for recovering the waste fuel are integrally formed. As a result, useless spaces and mechanisms generated by installing a fuel tank or the like separate from the ink cartridge 70 can be omitted, so that the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be omitted without increasing the size of the ink jet recording apparatus 50. The amount of fuel (methanol aqueous solution) that can be mounted on the device 50 can be increased. Therefore, the operation time of the fuel cell 80 can be extended without increasing the size of the ink jet recording apparatus 50.

  When the ink cartridge 70 is mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus 50, each ink is supplied to the recording head 62 from the yellow ink container 7Y, the magenta ink container 7M, the cyan ink container 7C, and the black ink container 7K. At the same time, an aqueous methanol solution is supplied from the fuel storage portion 71 to the fuel cell 80. In other words, in an environment such as outdoors where AC power cannot be received from a commercial outlet, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be operated simply by mounting it. Accordingly, maintenance such as battery replacement and charging is not required, and it is not necessary to carry a spare battery, a charger, etc. in addition to the spare ink cartridge 70, and there is no fear of running out of the battery.

  Furthermore, since there is no need to attach a heavy external battery such as a conventional lithium ion battery to the ink jet recording apparatus 50, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be made lighter than the conventional one. Furthermore, in recent years, a system has been developed in which a manufacturer or the like can collect and reuse a used ink cartridge 70 in consideration of the environment. Thus, the waste fuel from which the waste fuel of the fuel cell 80 is recovered is provided. By providing the storage section 72 in the ink cartridge 70, it becomes possible to collect the waste fuel together with the used ink cartridge 70, and the collection and reuse of the waste fuel are promoted.

  Furthermore, the fuel feed pump PU1 operates using the motor M1 as a “driving force source” as a driving force source. In this embodiment, the motor M1 is a carriage drive motor (not shown) that drives the carriage 62 described above, and serves as both a drive force source for the carriage 62 and a drive force source for the fuel feed pump PU1. However, the structure which combines with the motor for a conveyance drive (not shown) mentioned above may be sufficient. Thus, the cost of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be reduced by using the driving force source of the fuel feed pump PU1 also as a driving force source such as a carriage driving motor or a conveyance driving motor. In this embodiment, the fuel feed pump PU1 is disposed in the fuel recovery tube 82. However, the fuel feed pump PU1 may be disposed in the fuel supply tube 81, and may be disposed anywhere as long as the above-described fuel flow path can be configured. It doesn't matter.

  In this manner, in the ink jet recording apparatus 50 using the fuel cell 80 as a power source, the operable time by the fuel cell 80 can be further extended without increasing the size of the ink jet recording apparatus 50.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of the ink supply path to the recording head 62 and the fuel supply path to the fuel cell 80 in the ink jet recording apparatus 50.
The ink supply path from the ink cartridge 70 to the recording head 62, the configuration of the fuel cell 80, the motor M1, and the fuel feed pump PU1 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted. In this embodiment, the ink cartridge 70 does not have the waste fuel recovery unit 72, and the methanol aqueous solution in the fuel storage unit 71 is fueled via a fuel feed tube 81 as a “fuel supply path” for supplying fuel. After being fed to the battery 80 and becoming waste fuel by a chemical reaction at the fuel electrode (anode 8A) of the fuel cell 80, the fuel is accommodated through a fuel recovery tube 82 as a “fuel recovery path” for recovering the waste fuel. Collected into the unit 71. That is, a fuel circulation passage is configured which is fed from the fuel storage portion 71 to the fuel cell 80 via the fuel supply tube 81 and returns to the fuel storage portion 71 again via the fuel recovery tube 82. Then, the methanol aqueous solution is circulated through the fuel circulation passage by the fuel feed pump PU1 as the “fuel circulation means”.

As described above, the waste fuel is an aqueous methanol solution in which the methanol concentration is reduced by a chemical reaction by power generation. Although the fuel concentration is reduced and the power generation efficiency is reduced, the waste fuel can still be reused as fuel. Accordingly, the waste fuel used for power generation in the fuel cell 80 is not discarded as it is, but is returned to the fuel storage unit 71 and reused as fuel, so that the methanol concentration of the aqueous methanol solution in the fuel storage unit 71 gradually decreases. However, waste fuel that can still be used as fuel can be effectively reused repeatedly until the fuel concentration falls below a certain concentration and a predetermined power generation capacity cannot be obtained. Therefore, the operation time by the fuel cell 80 can be made longer with the same amount of fuel. Further, since the waste fuel recovery unit 72 (see FIG. 4) for recovering the waste fuel is not required, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be reduced in size accordingly. Alternatively, the capacity of the fuel storage portion 71 of the ink cartridge 70 can be expanded so that more fuel can be stored in the ink cartridge 70 of the same size, thereby further increasing the operation time of the fuel cell 80. be able to.
Further, the generated water generated at the air electrode (cathode 8K) of the fuel cell 80 is sent to the fuel recovery tube 82 via the generated water recovery tube 83 as a “generated water recovery path” and recovered to the fuel storage unit 71. Is done. Thus, by collecting the water generated on the air electrode (cathode 8K) side into the fuel storage portion 71 of the ink cartridge 70, means for treating the water generated on the air electrode (cathode 8K) is omitted. Thus, the cost of the ink jet recording apparatus 50 can be reduced.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of the ink supply path to the recording head 62 and the fuel supply path to the fuel cell 80 in the ink jet recording apparatus 50.
Since the configuration of the ink cartridge 70, the ink supply path from the ink cartridge 70 to the recording head 62, the configuration of the fuel cell 80, the motor M1, and the fuel feed pump PU1 are the same as those in the second embodiment described above, description thereof is omitted. In this embodiment, the ink jet recording apparatus 50 periodically sucks the head surface of the recording head 62 in order to prevent clogging of many nozzles (not shown) arranged on the head surface of the recording head 62. As a means, a sealing member CAP for sealing the head surface of the recording head 62 to prevent the ink on the head surface of the recording head 62 from drying when ink is not ejected from the recording head 62, and a sealing And a head suction pump PU2 for sucking the head surface of the recording head 62 in a state of being sealed with the member CAP. The head suction pump PU2 operates using the motor M2 as a driving force source. When the head suction pump PU2 operates, suction force is generated in the head surface suction path 85, and the head suction pump PU2 is sealed with the sealing member CAP. The head surface of the recording head 62 is sucked. The waste ink sucked from the head surface of the recording head 62 is sent from the head surface suction path 85 to the waste ink absorbing material 86 via the head suction pump PU2, and is absorbed by the waste ink absorbing material 86 in the ink jet recording. It is stored in the device 50.

  In the present embodiment, the generated water generated at the air electrode (cathode 8K) of the fuel cell 80 is sent to the waste ink absorbing material 86 through the generated water recovery tube 83 as a “generated water delivery path” and discarded. The ink is absorbed and collected by the ink absorbing material 86. The water absorbed in the waste ink absorbing material 86 is vaporized and discharged into the atmosphere before being stored in the waste ink absorbing material 86 together with the waste ink. The produced water produced at (cathode 8K) can be treated without leaking to the outside. In this way, by sending the generated water generated at the air electrode (cathode 8K) of the fuel cell 80 to the waste ink absorbent 86, a means for processing the generated water inside the ink jet recording apparatus 50 without leaking to the outside. It can be realized at low cost.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

1 is a plan view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a side view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed 1st Example of the fuel supply path | route to a fuel cell. It is the schematic diagram which showed 2nd Example of the fuel supply path | route to a fuel cell. It is the schematic diagram which showed the 3rd Example of the fuel supply path | route to a fuel cell.

Explanation of symbols

21 ROM, 22 RAM, 23 USB controller, 24 memory card interface, 25 memory card slot, 26 MPU, 27 I / O, 28 head driver, 50 ink jet recording apparatus, 51 carriage guide shaft, 52 platen, 53 transport drive roller , 54 Carriage driven roller, 55 Paper discharge driving roller, 56 Paper discharge driven roller, 57 Paper feed tray, 57b Paper feed roller, 61 Carriage, 62 Recording head, 63 Paper detector, 70 Ink cartridge, 71 Fuel container, 72 Waste fuel recovery unit, 80 fuel cell, 81 fuel supply tube, 82 fuel recovery tube, 83 generated water recovery tube, 84 air supply path, 85 head surface suction path, 86 waste ink absorber, 8A anode (fuel electrode), 8E Electrolyte, 8K cathode Air electrode), 100 recording controller, 200 an information processing apparatus, M1, M2 motor, P recording paper, PU1 fuel feed pump, PU2 head suction pump, SB a system bus, X main scanning direction, Y subscanning direction

Claims (6)

A recording apparatus comprising a recording head for ejecting ink onto a recording material and a fuel cell,
An ink cartridge in which an ink containing portion filled with ink ejected from the recording head and a fuel containing portion filled with fuel supplied to the fuel cell are integrally formed is detachably disposed. A recording apparatus characterized by that. 2. The fuel supply path for supplying fuel from the fuel storage section to the fuel cell, a fuel recovery path for recovering waste fuel from the fuel cell to the fuel storage section, and the fuel supply from the fuel storage section. And a fuel circulating means for circulating the fuel in the fuel circulation passage returning to the fuel storage section via the fuel cell and the waste fuel recovery passage. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a generated water recovery path that recovers water generated when power is generated by the fuel cell using the fuel circulation unit to the fuel storage unit. 3. The power generation by the fuel cell according to claim 2, wherein the head surface suction unit that sucks the head surface of the recording head, the waste ink absorbing material that absorbs and stores the waste ink sucked by the head surface suction unit, and the fuel cell And a generated water delivery path for delivering the produced water to the waste ink absorbing material. 5. The main scanning driving means for reciprocating the recording head in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning driving means for conveying the recording material in the sub scanning direction by a predetermined conveyance amount. And the fuel circulation means is configured to circulate the fuel in the fuel circulation passage by the driving force of the driving force source of the main scanning driving means or the sub-scanning driving means. . The ink cartridge according to claim 1 or 2.

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