JP2006142767A - Ink tank and ink-jet head cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink tank and ink-jet head cartridge which prevents volatile components in inks from leaking exteriorly. <P>SOLUTION: The ink tank which is separated from a recording head capable of receiving inks fed to the head is equipped with an ink tank main body 1, a first adsorption section 2 with an adsorbent 16a capable of adsorbing the volatile components in inks and a second adsorption section 3 with an adsorbent 16b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink tank and an ink jet head cartridge used in an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink droplets toward a recording medium.

  Ink used in an ink jet recording apparatus typified by an ink jet printer is obtained by dissolving or dispersing a color material (dye or pigment) in a solvent containing water as a main component, and has physical properties such as viscosity and surface tension. The value is adjusted according to the application. Further, it is desirable that the ink droplets landed on the surface of the recording medium are quickly dried and the coloring material is fixed, and an organic solvent for that purpose is prepared according to the use of the recording apparatus and the type of the recording medium.

  In an ink jet recording apparatus, the ink is ejected from a recording head integral with or separate from an ink tank in which ink is stored, and landed on a recording medium to obtain an image. Does not land on the recording medium as ink droplets of a predetermined size. That is, a part of the ejected ink is separated from the ink droplet (main droplet) landing on the recording medium, forms an ink droplet (ink mist) smaller than the main droplet, and floats in the printer. Further, the ink mist causes the inside and outside of the recording apparatus to become dirty.

In view of this, an exhaust fan is provided in a wide format printer corresponding to a recording medium of A3 size or more in which contamination due to ink mist is remarkable, and an ink mist adsorption filter is provided in front of the exhaust fan to adsorb the ink mist. Technology has been proposed (Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-16661

  However, installing an exhaust fan and a filter dedicated to countermeasures against ink mist leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus. Therefore, it can be introduced into a large printer such as a wide format printer, but it is difficult to introduce it into a small printer. Furthermore, in the combination of the exhaust fan and the filter, the ink mist can be collected, but the volatile component from the ejected ink cannot be collected. Therefore, the volatile component passes through the filter and is discharged to the outside as it is.

  The ink tank is provided with an air communication port for communicating between the inside and outside of the tank in order to keep the pressure inside and outside the tank constant. In general, the air communication port is always open during use. Therefore, the air communication port always connects the inside of the tank and the outside air, and as a result, the volatile components in the ink continue to evaporate even when the printer is not operating. On the other hand, the exhaust fan functions only when the printer is in operation. Therefore, even if the dust collection performance of the filter is improved, the volatile component of the ink that evaporates from the stopped printer is not captured, and as a result, it remains leaked (released) to the outside.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ink tank and an inkjet head cartridge capable of preventing leakage of volatile components in ink to the outside.

  The ink tank of the present invention is an ink tank separate from the recording head that can store the ink supplied to the recording head, and includes an ink tank body and an adsorbent that can adsorb volatile components in the ink. And an adsorption part.

  An ink jet head cartridge according to the present invention includes a recording head unit including at least an ejection port from which ink is ejected and ejection means for ejecting ink from the ejection port, and an ink tank capable of holding ink supplied to the recording head unit The ink tank portion is provided with an adsorbing portion provided with an adsorbent capable of adsorbing a volatile component in the ink.

  According to the present invention, the volatile component in the ink in the ink tank separate from the recording head or in the ink tank integrated with the recording head is adsorbed, and the ink in the ink regardless of whether the recording apparatus is used or not used. Leakage of volatile components is prevented.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of an ink tank of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a front view of the ink tank X of this example. FIG.1 (b) is AA 'sectional drawing of the figure (a). The ink tank X includes an ink tank main body 1 and first and second suction units 2 and 3. The internal space of the ink tank main body 1 is partitioned into an ink storage portion 6 and an absorber storage portion 7 by a partition wall 5. In the absorber accommodating portion 7, an ink absorber 8 for generating negative pressure is accommodated. The ink in the ink container 6 moves to the absorber container 7 through the gap (gas-liquid exchange port 9) between the lower end of the partition wall 5 and the bottom surface of the ink tank body 1 and is absorbed by the ink absorber 8. Is done. The ink absorbed by the ink absorber 8 is supplied from the ink supply port 10 to a recording head (not shown) according to consumption of the ink. At this time, outside air corresponding to the amount of consumed ink enters the absorber accommodating portion 7 from the atmosphere communication port 11 and is replaced with ink in the ink accommodating portion 6 through the gas-liquid exchange port 9. The ink in the ink tank main body 1 is retained by the capillary force of the ink absorber 8.

  The ink tank X of this example is configured separately from a recording head (not shown), and only the ink tank X can be replaced after the ink is used up. That is, the ink tank X is distributed independently as an independent product. FIGS. 1A and 1B show the form of the ink tank X in the distribution process. In order to prevent leakage of ink to the outside, the ink supply port 10 is sealed by a supply port seal 12 to communicate with the atmosphere. The mouth 11 is sealed with a communication port seal 13.

  The first adsorbing portion 2 mounted on the upper portion of the ink tank main body 1 includes a holding member 15 and an adsorbent 16 a held by the holding member 15. The holding member 15 is made of polypropylene and has an elongated shape along the upper surface of the ink tank body 1 in which the atmosphere communication port 11 is formed.

  The first suction unit 2 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The holding member 15 includes a tubular storage portion 14a that can hold the adsorbent 16a. A pair of locking portions 17 extending vertically from the bottom surface of the storage portion 14a are formed under the storage portion 14a so as to face each other. Further, a locking claw 18 protruding toward the other locking portion 17 is integrally formed at the lower end of each locking portion 17, and the locking claw 18 is formed on the side surface of the ink tank body 1 by this locking claw 18. It can be locked / unlocked to the stopper 20 (FIG. 1a). Further, a restricting portion 21 protrudes from the upper portion of each locking portion 17 so as to come into contact with the upper surface of the main body 1 when mounted on the ink tank main body 1. The mounting state of the first suction unit 2 to the ink tank body 1 will be described later.

  A large number of slits 22 having a width of 0.5 mm are provided on each of the front, rear, upper, lower, left and right wall surfaces of the storage portion 14a, and the adsorbent 16a communicates with the outside air through the slits 22. The adsorbent 16a in this example is granular activated carbon having a diameter of 1.0 mm or more and does not spill out of the slit 22. However, FIG. 2 is illustrated excluding the dimensional difference between the adsorbent 16a and the slit 22, and the difference in size between the adsorbent 16a and the slit 22 cannot be compared. Further, the adsorbent 16a can be replaced with a sintered molded adsorbent obtained by kneading an arbitrary adsorbent and a binder and forming the adsorbent 16a into a predetermined shape and then sintering.

  Referring to FIG. 1 again, it can be seen that the first adsorbing portion 2 is mounted on the upper portion of the ink tank main body 1 so as to cover the upper surface of the ink tank main body 1 where the atmosphere communication port 11 is formed. . With this configuration, it is possible to efficiently adsorb volatile components that evaporate from the atmosphere communication port 11. Furthermore, it can be seen that a gap 23 having a predetermined height is formed between the storage portion 14a and the upper surface when the regulating portion 21 of the first suction portion 2 is in contact with the upper surface of the ink tank main body 1. The void 23 has a role of making it easy to peel off the communication port seal 13 without deteriorating the adsorption performance of the volatile component. That is, the communication port seal 13 is partially welded in the longitudinal direction from the front (absorber accommodating portion 7 side) to the rear (ink accommodating portion 6 side) of the ink tank main body 1, and the remaining portion is on the opposite side ( It is folded back to the absorber housing portion 7 side and protrudes forward of the ink tank body 1 (FIG. 1B). Therefore, it can be easily imagined that the communication port seal 13 is very difficult to peel off when the storage portion 14a is in close contact with the upper surface of the ink tank main body 1.

  Next, the 2nd adsorption | suction part 3 is demonstrated. The second adsorbing part 3 is obtained by filling an adsorbent 16b similar to the adsorbent 16a into a tubular accommodating part 14b corresponding to the accommodating part 14a of the first adsorbing part 2. The storage portion 14b is made of polypropylene and has a rectangular cross-sectional shape. Further, a slit (not shown) similar to the slit 22 is formed on the peripheral wall. That is, if it says strongly, the form of the 2nd adsorption | suction part 3 is a form which removed the latching | locking part 17 from the 1st adsorption | suction part 2. FIG.

  However, the second suction unit 3 has a shorter overall length than the first suction unit 2 and does not cover the supply port seal 12 when the second suction unit 3 is attached to the ink tank main body 1. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the ease of peeling off the supply port seal 12. Therefore, the second suction unit 3 is attached to the main body 1 so as to be in close contact with the bottom surface of the ink tank main body 1. As a result, it is not always necessary to form the slit on the surface that is in close contact with the bottom surface of the ink tank body 1.

  The adsorbents 16a and 16b can be stored in the storage portions 14a and 14b after being placed in a bag made of paper or fiber having air permeability. In this case, the width of the slits of the storage portions 14a and 14b is not limited by the particle size of the adsorbents 16a and 16b. In addition, if the adsorbents 16a and 16b adsorb unnecessary substances in the atmosphere in the distribution process, the desired adsorptivity may not be exhibited during use. Therefore, it is desirable that the ink tank X be placed in a distribution process after being packed with a material having low gas permeability, for example, a resin bag with aluminum vapor deposition. Such packaging can almost completely prevent leakage of volatile components to the outside during the distribution process.

  FIG. 3 shows a situation when the ink tank X of this example is set in the tank holder 30. The tank holder 30 shown in FIG. 3 has a separate ink tank configuration in which a plurality of ink tanks X can be individually mounted, and the mounted tank holders X can be individually detached. In addition, the recording head unit 31 is provided, and a configuration necessary for ejecting ink supplied from the mounted ink tank X toward a recording medium according to an electric signal input from the outside is also provided. . The tank holder 30 is mounted on a carriage of a recording apparatus (not shown) and reciprocally scans in a direction (sub-scanning direction) orthogonal to the recording medium conveyance direction (main scanning direction) by the recording apparatus conveyance mechanism. .

  As described above, according to the ink tank X of the present example, when the ink tank X is placed in the distribution process, the volatility in the ink in the ink tank main body 1 mainly by the first adsorption unit 2. Of course, the components are adsorbed and removed, and after the ink tank X is mounted on the recording apparatus, the volatile components in the ink discharged to the recording medium are mainly adsorbed and removed by the second adsorbing unit 3. . Further, since the suction portions 2 and 3 are also new each time the ink tank X is replaced, a stable suction performance can always be obtained. Further, since the suction portions 2 and 3 are configured as a part of the ink tank main body 1, it can be easily applied to a relatively small recording apparatus, and can be applied to a plurality of models employing the same consumables. It can be introduced as it is.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of an inkjet head cartridge of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4A is a front view of the ink jet head cartridge of this example. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. The ink jet head cartridge of this example is a so-called ink tank integrated recording head cartridge having an ink tank portion 40 for containing ink and a recording head portion 60 for discharging ink supplied from the ink tank portion 40. .

  The ink tank section 40 is provided with an ink storage section 44 for storing ink, and the ink storage section 44 stores an ink absorber 41 for holding ink. The ink in the ink container 44 is held by the capillary force of the ink absorber 41. The ink held by the ink absorber 41 passes through the filter 42 and is supplied to the recording head unit 60 via the ink supply pipe 43.

  The recording head unit 60 includes at least an ejection port from which ink is ejected and ejection means for ejecting ink from the ejection port, and the ink is ejected in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Although a detailed description and illustration of the structure of the recording head unit 60 are omitted, the recording head unit 60 includes an ejection unit that ejects ink using foaming energy generated by applying a voltage to the heating resistor. . However, the ejection unit is not limited to a specific method, and needless to say, it may be an ejection unit that uses energy generated by deformation of the piezoelectric element as ejection energy, or another unit.

  Returning to the description of the ink tank section 40 again. A first suction portion 45 is integrally provided on the ink storage portion 44, and a second suction portion 46 that is separate from the ink tank portion 40 is mounted below the ink storage portion 44. . Adsorbents (granular activated carbon) 47 are filled in the two adsorbing portions 45 and 46, respectively. The adsorbent 47 communicates with the outside through a slit (width 0.5 mm) 48 provided in each of the adsorbing portions 45 and 46 (the slit of the second adsorbing portion 46 is not shown). Here, an air communication port 50 penetrating the ceiling is provided in the ceiling of the ink containing portion 44. The atmospheric communication port 50 has the role of maintaining the internal pressure of the ink containing portion 44 constant, as with the atmospheric communication port 11 (FIG. 1B) of the first embodiment. However, the air communication port 50 in this example does not directly communicate with the outside, but communicates with the outside via the first adsorption portion 45 (adsorbent 47). With such a structure, air enters and exits between the ink containing portion 44 and the outside through the slit 48 of the first suction portion 45. Therefore, the volatile component evaporated from the ink in the ink storage unit 44 must pass through the adsorption unit 47 before being exposed to the outside, and is adsorbed by the adsorbent 47.

  The ink jet head of this example is replaced with a new one when the ink in the ink container 44 is consumed. That is, the ink jet head is distributed independently as an independent product. 4A and 4B show the form of the ink jet head in the distribution process, and the face surface 61 including the ejection port of the recording head unit 60 protects the ejection port and leaks ink to the outside. In order to prevent this, the face seal 62 is sealed.

  On the other hand, the slit 48 of the first suction portion 45 is opened without being sealed. This is because the ink in the ink container 40 is held by the capillary force of the ink absorber 41, and when the internal pressure of the ink container 40 increases due to fluctuations in ambient temperature and pressure, the recording head unit This is because it is necessary to prevent the ink from overflowing to the 60 side. However, since the adsorbent 47 is interposed between the slit 48 and the atmosphere communication port 50 as described above, the volatile component in the ink in the ink container 40 is not released into the outside air. . On the other hand, the slit of the second suction part 46 is sealed with a suction part seal 49. This is in order not to adsorb useless substances contained in the outside air during the distribution process, and the adsorption force of the second adsorption unit 46 is exhibited for the first time by peeling the adsorption unit seal 49 just before use. .

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the slit 48 of the first suction part 45 is formed only on the front surface of the suction part 45. Although not shown, the slit of the second suction portion 46 is formed only on the lower surface of the suction portion 46. However, the shape, position, and number of slits are not limited to specific ones. In addition, although the atmosphere communication port 50 is illustrated as a simple cylindrical hole, it does not deny taking measures to prevent clogging by the adsorbent 47. For example, it is possible to take measures against clogging such as installing a filter in the atmosphere communication port 50 or providing a plurality of atmosphere communication ports 50.

  Further, what is indicated by reference numeral 70 in FIG. 4A is a printed wiring board for inputting an electric signal to the recording head unit 60. Reference numeral 71 denotes an input terminal 71 provided on the printed wiring board 70. When the inkjet head is mounted on a carriage of a recording apparatus (not shown), the input terminal 71 comes into contact with a contact terminal provided on the carriage and receives an electrical signal output from the recording apparatus.

  As described above, according to the ink jet head cartridge of this example, when the cartridge is placed in the distribution process, the volatile component in the ink in the ink tank unit 40 is adsorbed by the first adsorbing unit 45. Of course, after the cartridge is mounted on the recording apparatus, volatile components from the ink ejected to the recording medium are mainly removed by adsorption by the second adsorption unit 46. In addition, since the suction portions 45 and 46 are renewed each time the ink jet head cartridge is replaced, stable suction performance can always be obtained. Furthermore, since the suction portions 45 and 46 are configured as a part of the ink tank portion 40, it can be easily mounted on a relatively small recording apparatus, and can be used as it is in a plurality of models that employ the same consumables. It can be introduced.

It is a figure which shows an example of embodiment of the ink tank of this invention, Comprising: (a) is a front view, (b) is AA 'sectional drawing of (a). It is sectional drawing of the 1st adsorption | suction part shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state when the ink tank shown in FIG. 1 is set in a tank cartridge. It is a figure which shows an example of embodiment of the inkjet head cartridge of this invention, Comprising: (a) is a front view, (b) is BB 'sectional drawing of (a).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ink tank main body 2, 45 1st adsorption | suction part 3, 46 2nd adsorption | suction part 6, 44 Ink accommodating part 7 Absorber accommodating part 8, 41 Ink absorber 10 Ink supply port 11, 50 Atmospheric communication port 12 Supply port Seal 13 Communication port seal 14a Storage part 14b Storage part 15 Holding member 16a, 16b, 47 Adsorbent 47 Adsorbent 17 Locking part 18 Locking claw 22, 48 Slit 40 Ink tank part 49 Adsorption part seal 60 Recording head part 61 Face Face 62 Face face seal

Claims (10)

  An ink tank that is separate from the recording head that can store ink to be supplied to the recording head, and includes an ink tank body and an adsorbing portion that includes an adsorbent capable of adsorbing volatile components in the ink. Ink tank.   The ink tank according to claim 1, further comprising an atmosphere communication port that communicates an internal space of the ink tank main body in which ink is accommodated with the outside, wherein the suction portion is disposed so as to cover the air communication port. .   The ink tank according to claim 2, wherein a gap is provided between the atmosphere communication port and the adsorption portion.   The ink tank according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the adsorbent is granular activated carbon.   The ink tank according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the adsorbent is a sintered molded adsorbent obtained by kneading an adsorbent and a binder and forming the adsorbent and a binder into a predetermined shape and then sintering. An ink jet head having a recording head portion having at least an ejection port from which ink is ejected, an ejection means for ejecting ink from the ejection port, and an ink tank portion capable of holding ink supplied to the recording head portion. And
An ink jet head cartridge, wherein the ink tank part is provided with an adsorbing part provided with an adsorbent capable of adsorbing volatile components in the ink.   The ink jet head according to claim 6, further comprising an air communication port that communicates an internal space of the ink tank portion in which ink is accommodated with the outside, wherein the suction unit is disposed so as to cover the air communication port. cartridge.   8. The ink jet head cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the suction portion is formed integrally with the ink tank portion.   The inkjet head cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the adsorbent is granular activated carbon. The inkjet head cartridge according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the adsorbent is a sintered molded adsorbent obtained by kneading an adsorbent and a binder and forming the adsorbent and a binder into a predetermined shape and then sintering.

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