JP2006188633A - Recording fluid, liquid cartridge, liquid delivery apparatus and liquid delivery method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a recording liquid that controls foaming and has excellent delivery stability, high optical density, neither boundary bleeding nor solid unevenness of mixed color and performs high-quality printing and a liquid cartridge storing the recording liquid and to provide a liquid delivery apparatus and a liquid delivery method with which high-quality printing is carried out by using the recording liquid stored in the liquid cartridge. <P>SOLUTION: The recording liquid to be attached in a liquid drop to an object to record the object comprises a coloring matter, a solvent to dissolve or disperse the coloring matter and at least one kind of a bicyclic aliphatic compound represented by chemical formula (1). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording liquid that adheres to an object in the form of droplets in order to perform recording on the object, a liquid cartridge that stores the recording liquid, and ink that is stored in the liquid cartridge from a discharge port. The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus and a liquid ejecting method for ejecting a target object.

  As the liquid ejection apparatus, for example, there is an ink jet type printer apparatus that records an image or characters by ejecting ink of a recording liquid from an ejection unit onto a recording paper as an object. A printer device using this ink jet system has advantages such as low running cost, small device size, and easy colorization of printed images.

  Examples of the ink jet recording method include a deflection method, a cavity method, a thermo jet method, a bubble jet (registered trademark) method, a thermal ink jet method, a slit jet method, and a spark jet method. In these ink jet recording methods, an image is ejected from an ejection port of an ink ejection head, which is an ejection unit that ejects ink in the form of minute droplets, so-called nozzles, and landed on a recording sheet to record an image, characters, or the like.

  For ink used in such an ink jet recording system, it is required to prevent nozzle clogging. It is considered that nozzle clogging is caused by, for example, minute bubbles generated in the ink.

  In the ink, a predetermined amount of gas such as air dissolves, but when the solubility of the gas decreases as the temperature rises, the gas that cannot be completely dissolved in the ink is separated and becomes a fine bubble in the ink. Specifically, in the printer device, when the temperature of the ink cartridge that supplies ink to the ink discharge head or the temperature of the ink existing in the ink discharge head rises, the gas dissolved in the liquid is released, and a minute amount is discharged into the ink. Bubbles are formed.

  In the ink ejection head, when such a minute bubble is present, ejection failure such as non-ejection in which ink is not ejected from the nozzle or ejection direction of the ink ejected from the nozzle is shifted occurs, and a printed image is generated. There is a risk that blurring or white spots will occur and the quality of the printed image will deteriorate.

  In particular, the thermal method and the bubble jet method ink jet recording method are recording methods in which thermal energy is applied to ink to make the ink into fine droplets and ejected from nozzles. Specifically, the ink is rapidly heated by a heater of a thermal energy source, and the ink is ejected in the form of droplets by the pressure of bubbles generated by boiling the ink film. For this reason, in this recording method, heat is accumulated in the vicinity of the heater, the temperature of the ink in the ink flow path is very likely to rise, and minute bubbles are likely to be generated. As a result, in this recording method, there is a possibility that ejection failure such as non-ejection of ink or bending of the ejection direction may occur remarkably.

  In order to improve such a problem, for example, the following Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 propose to blend a propylene oxide addition polymer of a lower alcohol with an aqueous pigment ink. However, in these proposals, it is difficult to sufficiently suppress the generation of minute bubbles in the ink, and further improvement is required.

  Patent Document 3 below proposes that an ethylene oxide adduct of a higher secondary alcohol alkoxylate is contained, for example, in the ink. This ink is said to be excellent in ejection stability at the time of high frequency driving, permeability to recording paper, and drying property. However, in this ink, it is difficult to improve clogging of the nozzle due to fine bubbles even if a compound obtained by adding only ethylene oxide to a higher secondary alcohol alkoxylate is contained. Specifically, when the ink contains a compound in which only 7 mol or more of ethylene oxide is added, foaming is severe and nozzle clogging becomes significant.

  In addition, the ink used in the ink jet recording method, in addition to the requirement to suppress bubbling and prevent nozzle clogging, when printing on plain paper such as copy paper and report paper, so-called high-quality paper, It is also required to prevent degradation of image quality such as a decrease in optical density, boundary blurring, and mixed color solid spots.

  In response to such a requirement, for example, in Patent Document 4 below, a dye obtained by treating a water-insoluble dye with a polymer having a sulfonic acid (salt) group and / or a polymer having a phosphoric acid (salt) group is used. In addition, it has been proposed to add a polymer having a carboxylic acid (salt) group to the ink.

  Patent Document 5 below proposes blending an ink with alginic acid having a ratio of D-mannuronic acid to L-guluronic acid in the range of 0.5 to 1.2. Patent Document 6 proposes blending an ink with at least one surfactant selected from fluorine-based or silicon-based and an alginate. Patent Document 7 proposes blending cyclohexanol with ink. However, even with the proposals described in Patent Documents 5 to 7, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory results for preventing nozzle clogging and image quality deterioration, and further improvements are required.

  In addition, the problem caused by the minute bubbles generated in the ink is that the printer device capable of performing high-speed printing on the recording paper, that is, a line type printer having an ink ejection range substantially the same as the width of the recording paper. It occurs more prominently in the apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 7).

  The line-type printer device has one or more nozzles arranged in parallel in a direction substantially perpendicular to the recording paper feed direction, that is, in the width direction of the recording paper, while scanning the ejection means in a direction substantially perpendicular to the recording paper feed direction. It differs from a serial type printer that performs printing. The line-type printer device has a structure in which, for example, an ink flow path for guiding ink from an ink tank is formed so as to cross the recording paper feeding direction, and a plurality of ejection units having nozzles are arranged in the ink flow path. In line-type printers, the number of heaters provided for each nozzle increases as the number of nozzles increases, and minute bubbles tend to occur, and the ink flow path that connects between the ink tank and the ejection means Since the distance is long and the structure is complicated, it is difficult to remove the fine bubbles generated, and problems due to the fine bubbles are remarkably generated.

  In a line-type printer apparatus, it is necessary to use ink having excellent permeability to recording paper because the ink ejection cycle for each nozzle line in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in parallel is extremely short. In a line-type printer device, when ink having excellent permeability to recording paper is used for plain paper, the optical density may decrease because the ink is soaked in the depth direction of plain paper, that is, in the thickness direction. There is.

  In addition, in a line-type printer device, for example, when performing so-called color printing by ejecting different color inks on a recording paper, the next color before the ink landed on the recording paper has sufficiently penetrated into the paper. Since the liquid droplets are landed one after another, there is a risk that boundary bleeding and mixed color solid spots occur between the colors.

JP 2001-2964 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-46075 JP-A-7-70491 JP 2000-154342 A JP-A-8-290656 JP-A-8-193177 Japanese Patent No. 2925224 JP 2002-36522 A

  The present invention relates to a recording liquid that suppresses foaming, has excellent ejection stability, has a high optical density, is free from boundary bleeding and mixed-color solids and can be printed with high quality, a liquid cartridge that contains the recording liquid, and the liquid It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejection apparatus and a liquid ejection method that can perform high-quality printing using a recording liquid contained in a cartridge.

  The recording liquid according to the present invention is attached to an object in the form of droplets for recording on the object, a dye, a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, and a polycyclic aliphatic represented by the following chemical formula 1. It contains at least one kind of compound.

  Further, the liquid cartridge according to the present invention is mounted on a liquid discharge head provided in a liquid discharge device that discharges a recording liquid in the form of droplets and attaches to a target to perform recording. A recording liquid supply source, characterized in that the recording liquid contains a dye, a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, and at least one of the polycyclic aliphatic compounds represented by the above chemical formula 1. To do.

  The liquid ejection device according to the present invention is provided in the apparatus main body, the apparatus main body, a liquid chamber for storing the recording liquid, a supply unit for supplying the recording liquid to the liquid chamber, and at least one liquid chamber. A pressure generating element that presses the recording liquid stored in the liquid chamber; and a discharge port that discharges the recording liquid pressed by the pressure generating element from each liquid chamber in a droplet state toward the main surface of the object. And a liquid cartridge that is connected to the liquid ejection head and serves as a supply source of the recording liquid to the supply unit. The recording liquid includes a dye, a solvent that dissolves or disperses the dye, It is characterized by containing at least one of the polycyclic aliphatic compounds represented by Chemical Formula 1.

  The liquid ejection method according to the present invention is provided in the apparatus main body, the apparatus main body, a liquid chamber for storing the recording liquid, a supply unit for supplying the recording liquid to the liquid chamber, and one or more in the liquid chamber. A pressure generating element that presses the recording liquid stored in the liquid chamber; and a discharge port that discharges the recording liquid pressed by the pressure generating element from each liquid chamber in a droplet state toward the main surface of the object. A liquid discharge device including a liquid discharge head having a liquid cartridge connected to the liquid discharge head and serving as a recording liquid supply source with respect to the supply unit, and a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, A recording liquid containing at least one or more of the polycyclic aliphatic compounds represented by the above chemical formula 1 is discharged.

  According to the present invention, the inclusion of the bicyclic aliphatic compound represented by the chemical formula 1 in the recording liquid improves the wettability of the recording liquid and suppresses the generation of bubbles in the recording liquid. Clogging of the discharge port is prevented. Accordingly, the present invention can prevent ejection failure such as non-ejection or bending of the ejection direction when the recording liquid is ejected from the ejection port.

  Further, according to the present invention, the inclusion of the polycyclic aliphatic compound in the recording liquid also improves the wettability with respect to the object, and the recording liquid penetrates and diffuses into the object, so there is no blur or white spot. It is possible to record a high-quality image having a high optical density and no boundary blur or mixed color solid spots.

  Hereinafter, an ink, a liquid cartridge, a liquid ejection apparatus, and a liquid ejection method to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. An ink jet printer apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a printer apparatus) 1 shown in FIG. 1 prints images and characters by ejecting ink or the like onto a recording paper P traveling in a predetermined direction. In addition, the printer device 1 is a so-called line in which ink discharge ports (nozzles) are arranged in a substantially line shape in the width direction of the recording paper P, that is, in the direction of the arrow W in FIG. Type printer device.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the printer apparatus 1 includes an inkjet printer head cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a liquid ejection head) that ejects ink 2 that is a recording liquid for recording images, characters, and the like on the recording paper P. 3) and an apparatus main body 4 to which the head cartridge 3 is mounted. In the printer apparatus 1, the head cartridge 3 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 4, and the ink tanks 5 y, 5 m, 5 c, which are liquid cartridges that contain ink 2 and serve as ink supply sources for the head cartridge 3. 5k is detachable. In this printer apparatus 1, a yellow ink tank 5y, a magenta ink tank 5m, a cyan ink tank 5c, and a black ink tank 5k can be used. 3 and the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k that can be attached to and detached from the head cartridge 3 can be exchanged as consumables.

  In such a printer apparatus 1, the recording paper stored in the tray 65 a is mounted by mounting the tray 65 a that stores the recording paper P in a stacked manner on the tray mounting portion 6 provided on the front bottom surface side of the apparatus main body 4. P is fed into the apparatus main body 4 from the paper feed port 65 of the tray mounting portion 6 and travels within the apparatus main body 4. In the printer apparatus 1, print data corresponding to character data or image data input from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer is printed as characters or images on the recording paper P traveling in the apparatus body 4. 4 is delivered to the paper discharge port 66 on the front side.

  The ink 2 serving as a recording liquid for printing contains a dye, a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, and a polycyclic aliphatic compound that prevents the generation of bubbles and improves the wettability.

  As the coloring matter, conventionally known dyes, pigments, colored polymer fine particles and the like can be used alone or in combination, but it is particularly preferable to use a water-soluble dye. As the water-soluble dye, any of acid dyes, direct dyes, basic dyes, reactive dyes, and food dyes may be used, and may be appropriately selected from the viewpoint of solubility in water, color developability, fastness, and the like. preferable.

  Specifically, examples of yellow water-soluble dyes include C.I. I. Acid Yellow 17, 23, 42, 44, 79, 142, C.I. I. Food Yellow 3, 4 and C.I. I. Direct Yellow 1, 12, 24, 26, 33, 44, 50, 86, 120, 132, 142, 144, C.I. I. Direct Orange 26, 29, 62, 102, C.I. I. Basic Yellow 1, 2, 11, 11, 14, 15, 19, 21, 21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 32, 36, 40, the same 41, 45, 49, 51, 53, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 73, 77, 87, 91, C.I. I. Reactive Yellow 1, Same 5, Same 11, 13, 14, 20, 21, 21, 22, 25, 40, 47, 51, 55, 65, 67, etc. Can do.

  Examples of magenta water-soluble dyes include C.I. I. Acid Red 1, 8, 13, 13, 18, 26, 27, 35, 37, 42, 52, 82, 87, 89, 92, 97, 106, 111, 114, 115, 134, 186, 249, 254, 289, C.I. I. Food Red 7, 9 and 14, C.I. I. Direct Red 1, 4, 9, 13, 17, 20, 28, 31, 39, 80, 81, 83, 89, 225, 227, C.I. I. Basic Red 2, 12, 12, 13, 15, 18, 22, 22, 23, 24, 27, 29, 35, 36, 38, 39, 46, the same 49, 51, 52, 54, 59, 68, 69, 70, 73, 78, 82, 102, 104, 109, 112, C.I. I. Reactive Red 1, 14, 17, 17, 25, 26, 32, 37, 44, 46, 55, 60, 66, 74, 79, 96, 97, etc. Can be used.

  Examples of cyan water-soluble dyes include C.I. I. Acid Blue 9, 29, 45, 92, 249, C.I. I. Direct Blue 1, 2, 6, 15, 25, 71, 76, 79, 86, 87, 90, 98, 163, 165, 199, 202, C.I. I. Basic Blue 1, 3, 5, 7, 21, 21, 22, 26, 35, 41, 45, 47, 54, 62, 65, 66, the same 67, 69, 75, 77, 78, 89, 92, 93, 105, 117, 120, 122, 124, 129, 137, 141, 147, 155, C.I. I. Reactive Blue 1, 2, 7, 14, 15, 23, 32, 35, 38, 41, 63, 80, 95, etc. can be used.

  Examples of black water-soluble dyes include C.I. I. Acid Black 1, 2, 2, 7, 24, 26, 94, C.I. I. Food Black 1, 2 and C.I. I. Direct black 19, 22, 32, 38, 51, 56, 71, 74, 75, 77, 154, 168, 171, C.I. I. Basic Black 2, 8 and C.I. I. Reactive Black 3, 4, 7, 7, 11, 12, 17 etc. can be used.

  The content of the pigment is in the range of 1% by mass to 10% by mass, more preferably in the range of 2% by mass to 6% by mass with respect to the total mass of the ink 2. The content of the coloring matter is determined in consideration of the viscosity, drying property, ejection stability, coloring property, storage stability of the printed matter, and the like.

  As the solvent, water is mainly used, but conventionally known for the purpose of imparting desired physical properties to the ink 2, improving the solubility and dispersibility of the pigment in water, and preventing the drying of the ink 2. Organic solvents can be used.

  Specifically, examples of the organic solvent include polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, and diethylene glycol. Polyhydric alcohol alkyl ethers such as monobutyl ether, tetraethylene glycol monomethyl ether and propylene glycol monoethyl ether; polyhydric alcohol allyl ethers such as ethylene glycol monophenyl ether and ethylene glycol monobenzyl ether; and N-methyl-2 -Pyrrolidone, N-hydroxyethyl-pyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethylimidazo Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds such as lydinone, ε-caprolactam, γ-butyrolactone, amides such as formamide, N-methylformamide, N, N-dimethylformamide, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine, monoethylamine, Examples thereof include amines such as diethylamine and triethylamine, and sulfur-containing compounds such as dimethyl sulfoxide and sulfolane.

  The content of the organic solvent is in the range of 5% by mass to 50% by mass with respect to the total mass of the ink 2, and more preferably in the range of 10% by mass to 35% by mass. The content of the organic solvent is determined in consideration of the viscosity, drying property, ejection stability, and the like of the ink 2.

  The specific bicyclic aliphatic compound contained in the ink 2 is represented by the following chemical formula 1.

  Specifically, examples of the polycyclic aliphatic compound include hexahydro-1,2-indanediol, hexahydro-4,5-indanediol, and hexahydro-5,6-indane, which are diols having a hexahydroindane skeleton. Diols and hexahydro-3,4-indanediol can be used.

  Ink 2 is preferably hexahydro-1,2-indanediol represented by the following chemical formula 2 among diols having various hexahydroindane skeletons.

  This hexahydro-1,2-indanediol is, for example, higher in water solubility than other diols having a hexahydroindan skeleton, and can easily adjust the ink 2, and has a foam as described later. Is excellent, and wettability to the surface of the ink discharge head 23 and wettability to the paper sizing agent are excellent.

  Since the bicyclic aliphatic compound can suppress bubbling of the ink 2, clogging of the nozzle 52 a due to minute bubbles is prevented, and the ink 2 can be stably ejected in a predetermined direction. In addition, since this bicyclic aliphatic compound improves the wettability to the inner surface of the ink discharge head 23 described later, even if fine bubbles are generated in the ink 2, the fine bubbles are generated by the ink discharge head 23. Without staying on the inner surface, it is possible to prevent non-ejection or ejection failure of the ink 2 due to bubbles.

  In addition, when the bicyclic aliphatic compound is contained in the ink 2, a sizing agent usually used for plain paper, for example, a surface sizing agent such as a styrene / various acrylic copolymer, an olefin resin, or an alkyl ketene dimer type is used. Improves the wettability of the ink 2 with respect to an internal sizing agent such as (AKD) or alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA). When the ink 2 is sufficiently wetted on the surface of the sizing agent, the ink 2 does not diffuse and penetrate only along the fiber while avoiding the sizing agent, but also uniformly penetrates and diffuses into the fiber. As a result, the ink 2 has a high optical density, prevents the occurrence of border blur and mixed-color solid spots, and can form a high-quality image.

  The content of the bicyclic aliphatic compound is in the range of 0.1% by mass to 5% by mass, more preferably in the range of 0.2% by mass to 3% by mass with respect to the total mass of the ink 2. When the content of the bicyclic aliphatic compound is less than 0.1% by mass, the generation of bubbles in the ink 2 cannot be suppressed, resulting in ejection failure and image quality deterioration.

  On the other hand, when the content of the bicyclic aliphatic compound is more than 5% by mass, the viscosity of the ink 2 increases, and the ejection stability decreases. Therefore, by setting the content of the bicyclic aliphatic compound in the range of 0.1% by mass to 5% by mass with respect to the total mass of the ink 2, high ejection stability of the ink 2 can be obtained, and a high-quality image can be obtained. Can be formed. The content of the bicyclic aliphatic compound is determined in consideration of the viscosity, drying property, ejection stability, color development property, storage stability of the printed matter, and the like.

  Since the ink 2 having the above-described configuration contains a polycyclic aliphatic compound, foaming of fine bubbles in the ink 2 is prevented, and wettability with respect to the inside of the ink discharge head 23 is improved. The nozzle 52a is prevented from being clogged with bubbles, and is stably discharged in a predetermined direction.

  Further, since the ink 2 contains a polycyclic aliphatic compound, the wettability with respect to various sizing agents such as the surface sizing agent and the internally added sizing agent of the recording paper P becomes high. It is possible to print a high-quality image that penetrates and diffuses into the surface, has a high optical density, and prevents the occurrence of border blur and mixed-color solid spots.

  Further, even when the ink 2 is ejected with a short ejection cycle, the ink that has landed on the recording paper P penetrates and diffuses uniformly, so that the optical density is high, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of boundary bleeding and mixed-color solid spots. .

  In addition to the pigment, solvent, and polycyclic aliphatic compound, for example, a conventionally known surfactant, pH adjuster, chelating reagent, antiseptic, rust inhibitor, and the like may be added to the ink 2. .

  Specifically, as the surfactant, for example, a special phenol type nonionic surfactant such as polycyclic phenol ethoxylate, ethylene oxide adduct of glycerite, polyethylene glycol oleate, polyoxyalkylene taroate, sorbitan lauryl ester, sorbitan Ester type nonionic surfactants such as oleyl ester, polyoxyethylene sorbitan oleyl ester, amide type nonionic surfactants such as coconut oil fatty acid diethanolamide, polyoxyethylene coconut oil fatty acid monoethanolamide, acetylene glycol and the like Ethylene oxide adduct, alcohol sulfate sodium salt, higher alcohol sulfate sodium salt, ammonium polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether sulfate Anionic surfactants such as sodium salt of alkylbenzene sulfonate, cationic surfactants such as mono long chain alkyl cation, di long chain alkyl cation, alkylamine oxide, laurylamidopropyl acetate betaine, laurylamino acetate betaine, etc. These amphoteric surfactants can be used, and these can be used alone or in combination.

  The content of the surfactant is in the range of 0.1% by mass to 5% by mass with respect to the total mass of the ink 2, more preferably in the range of 0.2% by mass to 1% by mass. It is preferable to make it contain so that surface tension may become 30-45 mN / m (25 degreeC).

  Examples of the pH adjuster include amines such as diethanolamine and triethanolamine, hydroxides of alkali metal elements such as lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide, and quaternary ammonium hydroxides. And quaternary phosphonium hydroxides, carbonates of alkali metals such as lithium carbonate, sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. These can be used alone or in combination.

  Examples of the chelating reagent include sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate, sodium nitrilotriacetate, sodium hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetate, sodium diethylenetriaminepentaacetate, sodium uramil diacetate and the like, which can be used alone or in combination.

  Examples of the preservative include sodium dehydroacetate, sodium sorbate, sodium 2-pyridinethiol-1-oxide, sodium benzoate, sodium pentachlorophenol and the like, and these can be used alone or in combination.

  Examples of the rust preventive include acidic sulfites, sodium thiosulfate, ammonium thiodiglycolate, diisopropylammonium nitrite, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, dicyclohexylammonium nitrite and the like, and these can be used alone or in combination.

  In addition to the above-described surfactant and the like, for example, an ultraviolet absorber as proposed in JP-A-9-227811 may be added to the ink 2 as appropriate.

  The general characteristics of the ink 2 having the above-described configuration are a viscosity of 0.5 to 5 cP (25 ° C.), a static surface tension of 30 to 45 mN / m (25 ° C.), and a pH of 6 to 10 (25 ° C.).

  In the case of preparing the ink 2, a pigment, a solvent, a polycyclic aliphatic compound, a conventionally known surfactant, pH adjuster, and the like are mixed at a predetermined blending ratio, and the room temperature or 40 ° C. to 80 ° C. It can be prepared by stirring and dispersing with a screw or the like while heating to the extent.

  In the ink 2 described above, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the yellow ink is stored in the ink tank 5y, the magenta ink is stored in the ink tank 5m, and the cyan ink is stored in the ink tank 5c. Black ink is stored in the ink tank 5k.

  Next, referring to the drawings, the head cartridge 3 that can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 2 constituting the printer apparatus 1 and the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k that can be attached to and detached from the head cartridge 3 will be described. I will explain.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the head cartridge 3 for printing on the recording paper P is mounted from the upper surface side of the apparatus body 4, that is, from the direction of arrow A in FIG. Print.

  The head cartridge 3 discharges the ink 2 described above into fine particles by the pressure generated by the pressure generating means using, for example, an electrothermal conversion type or an electromechanical conversion type. The ink 2 in a droplet state is sprayed on the surface. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the head cartridge 3 has a cartridge main body 21, and ink tanks 5 y, 5 m, 5 c, 5 k which are containers filled with the ink 2 are provided in the cartridge main body 21. Installed. Hereinafter, the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k are also simply referred to as the ink tank 5.

  The ink tank 5 that can be attached to and detached from the head cartridge 3 has a tank body 11 that is molded by injection molding a resin material such as polypropylene having strength and ink resistance. The tank body 11 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape having substantially the same dimension as the width direction of the recording paper P that uses the longitudinal direction, and is configured to maximize the ink capacity stored inside.

  Specifically, the tank body 11 constituting the ink tank 5 includes an ink storage unit 12 that stores the ink 2, and an ink supply unit 13 that sends the ink 2 from the ink storage unit 12 to the cartridge body 21 of the head cartridge 3. Is provided.

  The ink containing portion 12 is provided with an external communication hole 14 that serves as a hole for taking in external air at the center of the upper surface. The ink storage portion 12 can take air into the inside through an air introduction pipe 15 that extends from the external communication hole 14 toward the inside. In the ink tank 5, when the ink 2 in the ink storage unit 12 is sent from the ink supply unit 13 to the cartridge body 21, the air corresponding to the decrease in the ink 2 in the ink storage unit 12 The ink is taken into the ink storage portion 12 from the communication hole 14 through the air introduction tube 15.

  In the middle part of the air introduction pipe 15, ink that is a liquid storage part that temporarily stores the ink 2 so that the ink 2 that flows backward from the ink storage part 12 does not suddenly flow out of the external communication hole 14. A reservoir 16 is provided. As a result, in the ink tank 5, the ink 2 that has flowed back from the ink storage portion 12 through the air introduction pipe 15 is temporarily stored in the ink storage portion 16, so that the ink 2 does not leak to the outside from the external communication hole 14. The ink 2 can be returned again to the ink container 12 side.

  The ink supply unit 13 is provided at a substantially central portion below the ink storage unit 12. The ink supply unit 13 is a substantially protruding nozzle that communicates with the ink storage unit 12, and the tip of the nozzle is fitted into a connection unit 27 of the head cartridge 3 described later, whereby the tank main body of the ink tank 5. 11 and the cartridge main body 21 of the head cartridge 3 are connected.

  The ink supply unit 13 is provided with a supply port for supplying the ink 2 to the cartridge body 21 side on the bottom surface side of the ink tank 5. A valve mechanism for opening and closing the supply port is provided on the bottom surface of the ink tank 5. The supply port prevents the ink 2 from leaking out of the ink tank 5 by the valve closing the supply port before the ink tank 5 is attached to the cartridge main body 21. When the ink tank 5 is attached to the cartridge main body 21, the valve is separated from the supply port, the supply port is opened, and the ink 2 can be supplied to the head cartridge 3 side.

  Further, the ink tank 5 has a locking protrusion 17 and an engaging step 18 which are fixing means for fixing to a mounting portion 22 of the cartridge main body 21 described later. The locking projection 17 is a projection that is formed to protrude from the side surface portion on the other end side in the long side direction of the ink tank 5, and is engaged with a latch lever 25 of the mounting portion 22 described later. The engagement step portion 18 is a step portion formed on one end side in the long side direction of the ink tank 5 and is engaged with an engaged piece 26 formed on a side surface of the mounting portion 22 described later. The ink tank 5 is fixed and attached to the cartridge body 21 by the locking projection 17 and the engagement step portion 18.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the ink tank 5 having the above-described configuration includes, for example, a remaining amount detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of the ink 2 in the ink storage unit 12 and the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k. And an identification unit for identifying.

  Next, the head cartridge 3 to which the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k containing the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks 2 configured as described above are mounted will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the head cartridge 3 includes the ink tank 5 and the cartridge main body 21, and the cartridge main body 21 has mounting portions 22y, 22m, 22c, 22k (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a mounting portion 22), an ink discharge head 23 that discharges the ink 2, and a head cap 24 that protects the ink discharge head 23.

  The mounting portion 22 to which the ink tank 5 is mounted is formed in a substantially concave shape, and the four ink tanks 5 are stored side by side in a direction substantially perpendicular to the width direction of the recording paper P, that is, in the running direction of the recording paper P. . As shown in FIG. 2, a partition wall 22a for partitioning the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k for the respective colors is provided between the ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k for the respective colors. Yes.

  When the ink tank 5 is mounted on the mounting portion 22, a latch lever 25 is provided on the side surface facing the locking protrusion 17 of the ink tank 5, and a locking hole 25 a formed in the latch lever 25. The locking projection 17 is locked by Further, the mounting portion 22 is provided with an engaged piece 26 on a side surface of the ink tank 5 facing the engaging step portion 18, and the engaged piece 26 is engaged with the engaging step portion 18. The The mounting portion 22 is configured such that the locking projection 17 of the ink tank 5 and the locking hole 25a of the latch lever 25 are locked, and the engagement step portion 18 and the engaged piece 26 are engaged, thereby The tank 2 is fixed and attached.

  The ink tanks 5y, 5m, 5c, and 5k are attached to the mounting portions 22y, 22m, 22c, and 22k at the approximate center in the longitudinal direction of the mounting portions 22y, 22m, 22c, and 22k. , 5k ink supply unit 13 is connected. The connection unit 27 includes an ink supply path that supplies the ink 2 to the ink discharge head 23 that discharges the ink 2 provided on the bottom surface of the cartridge main body 21 from the ink supply unit 13 of the ink tank 5 mounted on the mounting unit 22. Become.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the connecting portion 27 includes an ink reservoir portion 31 that stores the ink 2 supplied from the ink tank 5 and a seal member 32 that seals the ink supply portion 13 connected to the connecting portion 27. And a filter 33 for removing impurities in the ink 2 and a valve mechanism 34 for opening and closing the supply path to the ink discharge head 23 side.

  The ink reservoir 31 is a space that is connected to the ink supply unit 13 and stores the ink 2 supplied from the ink tank 5. The seal member 32 is a member provided at the upper end of the ink reservoir 31, and prevents the ink 2 from leaking to the outside when the ink supply unit 13 of the ink tank 5 is connected to the ink reservoir 31 of the connection unit 27. The space between the ink reservoir 31 and the ink supply unit 13 is sealed. The filter 33 removes dust such as dust and dirt mixed in the ink 2 when the ink tank 5 is attached and detached, and is provided downstream of the ink reservoir 31.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the valve mechanism 34 includes an ink inflow path 41 to which the ink 2 is supplied from the ink reservoir 31 and an ink chamber into which the ink 2 flows from the ink inflow path 41. 42, an ink outflow passage 43 through which the ink 2 flows out of the ink chamber 42, an opening 44 provided between the ink inflow passage 41 and the ink outflow passage 43, and the opening 44 opened and closed. , A urging member 46 that urges the valve 45 in the direction of closing the opening 44, a negative pressure adjusting screw 47 that adjusts the strength of the urging member 46, and a valve shaft connected to the valve 45 48 and a diaphragm 49 connected to the valve shaft 48.

  The ink inflow path 41 is a supply path that is connected to the ink container 12 so that the ink 2 in the ink container 12 of the ink tank 5 can be supplied to the ink discharge head 23 via the ink reservoir 31. The ink inflow path 41 is provided from the bottom surface side of the ink reservoir 31 to the ink chamber 42.

  The ink chamber 42 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped space formed integrally with the ink inflow path 41, the ink outflow path 43, and the opening 44, and the ink 2 flows in from the ink inflow path 41 and passes through the opening 44. Then, the ink 2 flows out from the ink outflow passage 43.

  The ink outflow path 43 is a supply path to which the ink 2 is supplied from the ink chamber 42 through the opening 44 and is further connected to the ink discharge head 23. The ink outflow path 43 extends from the bottom surface side of the ink chamber 42 to the ink discharge head 23.

  The valve 45 is a valve that closes the opening 44 and divides the ink inflow path 41 side and the ink outflow path 43 side, and is disposed in the ink chamber 42. The valve 45 moves up and down by the urging force of the urging member 46, the restoring force of the diaphragm 49 connected via the valve shaft 48, and the negative pressure of the ink 2 on the ink outflow path 43 side. When the valve 45 is located at the lower end, the valve 44 closes the opening 44 so as to separate the ink chamber 42 from the ink inflow path 41 side and the ink outflow path 43 side, thereby blocking the supply of the ink 2 to the ink outflow path 43. . When the valve 45 is positioned at the upper end against the urging force of the urging member 46, the ink chamber 42 is not blocked between the ink inflow path 41 side and the ink outflow path 43 side, and the ink 2 is supplied to the ink ejection head 23. It is possible to supply In addition, although the material which comprises the valve 45 does not ask | require the kind, in order to ensure high obstruction | occlusion property, it forms with a rubber elastic body, what is called an elastomer, etc., for example.

  The urging member 46 is, for example, a compression coil spring or the like, and connects the negative pressure adjusting screw 47 and the valve 45 between the upper surface of the valve 45 and the upper surface of the ink chamber 42, and the valve 45 is connected to the opening 44 by the urging force. Energize in the closing direction. The negative pressure adjusting screw 47 is a screw that adjusts the urging force of the urging member 46, and the urging force of the urging member 46 can be adjusted by adjusting the negative pressure adjusting screw 47. As a result, the negative pressure adjusting screw 47 can adjust the negative pressure of the ink 2 that operates the valve 45 that opens and closes the opening 44, as will be described in detail later.

  The valve shaft 48 is a shaft provided so as to move by connecting a valve 45 connected to one end and a diaphragm 49 connected to the other end. The diaphragm 49 is a thin elastic plate connected to the other end of the valve shaft 48. The diaphragm 49 is composed of one main surface of the ink chamber 42 on the ink outflow path 43 side and the other main surface in contact with the outside air, and elastically moves to the outside air side and the ink outflow path 43 side due to the atmospheric pressure and the negative pressure of the ink 2. Displace.

  In the valve mechanism 34 as described above, the valve 45 is pressed so as to close the opening 44 of the ink chamber 42 by the urging force of the urging member 46 and the urging force of the diaphragm 49 as shown in FIG. Has been. When the ink 2 is ejected from the ink ejection head 23, the negative pressure of the ink 2 in the ink chamber 42 on the ink outflow path 43 side divided by the opening 44 increases, as shown in FIG. Thus, the diaphragm 49 is pushed up by the atmospheric pressure by the negative pressure of the ink 2, and the valve 45 is pushed up against the urging force of the urging member 46 together with the valve shaft 48. At this time, the opening 44 between the ink inflow path 41 side and the ink outflow path 43 side of the ink chamber 42 is opened, and the ink 2 is supplied from the ink inflow path 41 side to the ink outflow path 43 side. Then, the negative pressure of the ink 2 decreases, the diaphragm 49 returns to its original shape by the restoring force, and the valve 45 together with the valve shaft 48 is pulled down by the biasing force of the biasing member 46 so that the ink chamber 42 is closed. As described above, the valve mechanism 34 repeats the above operation when the negative pressure of the ink 2 increases every time the ink 2 is ejected.

  In addition, in the connection portion 27, when the ink 2 in the ink storage portion 12 is supplied to the ink chamber 42, the ink 2 in the ink storage portion 12 decreases. Enter the tank 5. The air that has entered the ink tank 5 is sent above the ink tank 5. As a result, the ink droplet i returns to a state before being ejected from a nozzle 52a, which will be described later, and is in an equilibrium state. At this time, an equilibrium state is reached with almost no ink 2 in the air introduction path 15.

  The connecting portion 27 has a complicated structure as described above, and the ink 2 moves in the complicated valve mechanism 34. The ink 2 contains at least one kind of the above-described polycyclic aliphatic compound. Therefore, the wettability of the ink 2 with respect to the inner surface of the valve mechanism 34 is high, and minute bubbles are generated in the ink 2 due to the opening / closing operation of the valve mechanism 34 or the movement of the ink 2 in the valve mechanism 34. Is prevented. Thereby, in the connection part 27, the ink 2 in which the fine bubble is not mixed can be supplied to the ink discharge head 23.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ink discharge head 23 is disposed along the bottom surface of the cartridge body 21, and a later-described nozzle 52 a that is an ink discharge port for discharging the ink 2 supplied from the connection portion 27 has a color. Each line is formed in a substantially line shape in the width direction of the recording paper P, that is, in the direction of the arrow W in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the ink discharge head 23 is divided into a circuit board 51 serving as a base, a nozzle sheet 52 formed with a plurality of nozzles 52a, and a space between the circuit board 51 and the nozzle sheet 52 for each nozzle 52a. Film 53, an ink liquid chamber 54 that pressurizes the ink 2 supplied through the ink flow path 43, a heating resistor 55 that heats the ink 2 supplied to the ink liquid chamber 54, and an ink 2 in the ink liquid chamber 54. And an ink flow path 56 for supplying the ink.

  The circuit board 51 forms a control circuit including a logic IC (Integrated Circuit), a driver transistor, and the like on a semiconductor wafer made of silicon or the like, and forms an upper surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 54.

  The nozzle sheet 52 is a sheet-like member having a thickness of about 10 μm to 15 μm. The nozzle sheet 52 is reduced in diameter toward the discharge surface 23 a and has a diameter of about 20 μm on the discharge surface 23 a side. The lower surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 54 is formed by opposingly arranging the film 51 and the film 53 therebetween.

  The film 53 is made of, for example, an exposure curing type dry film resist, and is formed so as to surround the periphery of each nozzle 52a except for a portion communicating with the ink flow path 43 described above. Further, the film 53 is interposed between the circuit board 51 and the nozzle sheet 52, thereby forming a side surface portion of the ink liquid chamber 54.

  The ink liquid chamber 54 is surrounded by the circuit board 51, the nozzle sheet 52, and the film 53, thereby forming a pressurizing space for pressurizing the ink 2 supplied from the ink flow path 43 for each nozzle 52a.

  The heating resistor 55 is disposed on the circuit board 51 facing the ink liquid chamber 54 and is electrically connected to a control circuit or the like provided on the circuit board 51. The heating resistor 55 generates heat by being controlled by a control circuit or the like, and heats the ink 2 in the ink liquid chamber 54.

  The ink flow path 56 is connected to the ink outflow path 43 of the connection portion 27, and is formed long in the width direction of the recording paper P, that is, the arrow W direction in FIG. The ink channel 56 is a channel through which the ink 2 is supplied from the ink tank 5 connected to the connection portion 27 and the ink 2 is sent to each ink liquid chamber 54 communicating with the ink channel 56. That is, the ink flow path 56 and the connection portion 27 are communicated with each other. As a result, the ink 2 supplied from the ink tank 5 flows into the ink flow path 56 and is filled in the ink liquid chamber 54.

  One ink discharge head 23 is provided with a heating resistor 55 for each ink liquid chamber 54, and 100 to 5000 ink liquid chambers 54 with the heating resistors 55 are provided for each color ink tank 5. Has a degree. In the ink discharge head 23, each of the heating resistors 55 in each ink liquid chamber 54 is appropriately selected in accordance with a command from the control unit (described later) of the printer apparatus 1 to generate heat, and the ink corresponding to the generated heating resistor 55. The ink 2 in the liquid chamber 54 is ejected as ink droplets i from the nozzles 52 a corresponding to the ink liquid chamber 54.

  Specifically, in the ink ejection head 23, the control circuit of the circuit board 51 drives and controls the heating resistor 55, and a pulse current is applied to the selected heating resistor 55 for about 1 to 3 microseconds, for example. Supply. Thereby, in the ink discharge head 23, the heating resistor 55 is rapidly heated. Then, in the ink discharge head 23, as shown in FIG. 7A, bubbles b are generated in the ink 2 in the ink liquid chamber 54 in contact with the heating resistor 55. In the ink discharge head 23, as shown in FIG. 7B, the ink 2 is pressurized while the bubble b expands in the ink liquid chamber 54, and the pushed ink 2 becomes the ink droplet i. And discharged from the nozzle 52a. Further, in the ink discharge head 23, after the ink droplet i is discharged, the ink 2 is supplied to the ink liquid chamber 54 through the ink flow path 43, thereby returning to the state before the discharge again.

  In the ink discharge head 23 configured as described above, the ink flow path 56 is formed long in the width direction of the recording paper P, and the heat generating portions of the ink 2 are increased by the amount of the plurality of heat generating resistors 55, so that the ink flow path 56 is very small. However, since the ink 2 contains at least one or more of the above-described polycyclic aliphatic compounds, the wettability of the ink 2 with respect to the inner wall of the ink liquid chamber 54 and the inner wall of the nozzle 52a is improved. In addition, the occurrence of minute bubbles in the ink liquid chamber 54 and the nozzle 52a is prevented. Thereby, in the ink ejection head 23, ejection failure such as non-ejection of the ink 2 due to minute bubbles or bending of the ejection direction is prevented, and ejection stability is good.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the head cap 24 is a cover provided to protect the ink discharge head 23, and is retracted from the ink discharge head 23 during a printing operation. The head cap 24 is provided with a pair of engaging protrusions 24a provided in the opening / closing direction at both ends in the direction of arrow W in FIG. 2 and excess ink 2 attached to the ejection surface 23a of the ink ejection head 23 provided in the longitudinal direction. And a cleaning roller 24b for sucking. The head cap 24 is engaged with a pair of engagement grooves 23b provided on the ejection surface 23a of the ink ejection head 23 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the arrow W direction in FIG. The ink tank 5 is opened and closed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the short direction of the ink tank 5, that is, the arrow W direction in FIG. In the head cap 24, during the opening / closing operation, the cleaning roller 24 b rotates while contacting the ejection surface 23 a of the ink ejection head 23, so that excess ink 2 is sucked and the ejection surface 23 a of the ink ejection head 23 is cleaned. To do. For the cleaning roller 24b, for example, a highly hygroscopic member, specifically, a sponge, a nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric, or the like is used. The head cap 24 closes the ejection surface 23a so that the ink 2 in the ink ejection head 23 is not dried when the printing operation is not performed.

  Next, the apparatus main body 4 constituting the printer apparatus 1 to which the head cartridge 3 configured as described above is mounted will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the apparatus main body 4 includes a head cartridge mounting portion 61 to which the head cartridge 3 is mounted, and a head cartridge holding mechanism 62 for holding and fixing the head cartridge 3 to the head cartridge mounting portion 61. A head cap opening / closing mechanism 63 that opens and closes the head cap, a paper supply / discharge mechanism 64 that supplies / discharges the recording paper P, a paper supply port 65 that supplies the recording paper P to the paper supply / discharge mechanism 64, and a paper supply / discharge And a paper discharge port 66 from which the recording paper P is output from the mechanism 64.

  The head cartridge mounting portion 61 is a recess in which the head cartridge 3 is mounted, and performs printing on the traveling recording paper as data. Therefore, the ejection surface 23a of the ink ejection head 23 and the paper surface of the traveling recording paper P are substantially the same. The head cartridge 3 is mounted so as to be parallel. The head cartridge 3 may need to be replaced due to ink clogging or the like in the ink discharge head 23. Since the head cartridge 3 is a consumable item that is not frequently replaced like the ink tank 5, the head cartridge 3 is attached to the head cartridge mounting portion 61. On the other hand, the head cartridge holding mechanism 62 is detachably held.

  The head cartridge holding mechanism 62 is a mechanism for detachably holding the head cartridge 3 on the head cartridge mounting portion 61, and a knob 62 a provided on the head cartridge 3 is provided in the locking hole 62 b of the apparatus main body 4. The head cartridge 3 can be positioned, held and fixed so as to be crimped to a reference surface 4a provided in the apparatus main body 4 by engaging with a biasing member such as a spring (not shown).

  The head cap opening / closing mechanism 63 has a drive unit that opens and closes the head cap 24 of the head cartridge 3. The head cap 24 is opened when printing is performed, and the ink ejection head 23 is exposed to the recording paper P. Thus, when printing is completed, the head cap 24 is closed to protect the ink discharge head 23.

  The paper supply / discharge mechanism 64 has a drive unit for transporting the recording paper P, transports the recording paper P supplied from the paper feed port 65 to the ink ejection head 23 of the head cartridge 3, and is ejected from the nozzle 52a. The ink droplet i has landed, and the printed recording paper P is conveyed to the paper discharge port 66 and discharged outside the apparatus. Specifically, the paper supply / discharge mechanism 64 pulls out the recording paper P from the tray 65a by the paper supply roller 71, and reverses one of the recording paper P drawn by the pair of separation rollers 72a and 72b rotating in opposite directions. The recording paper P is transported to the roller 73 and the transporting direction is reversed, and then the recording paper P is transported to the transporting belt 74, and the recording paper P is transported to the position facing the ink ejection head 23 by the transporting belt 74. The paper feed port 65 is an opening for supplying the recording paper P to the paper supply / discharge mechanism 64, and a plurality of recording papers P can be stacked on the tray 65a or the like. The paper discharge port 66 is an opening through which ink droplets i land and discharge the printed recording paper P.

  In the printer apparatus 1 having the above configuration, printing is controlled by a control circuit (not shown in detail) that controls printing based on print data input from an information processing apparatus provided outside. Specifically, the printer apparatus 1 includes a head cap opening / closing mechanism 63, a paper supply / discharge mechanism 64, and a belt lifting / lowering mechanism (not shown) that lifts and lowers the transport belt 74 provided in the control circuit. Control is performed by control units that respectively control the supply of current supplied to the power supply 23. When performing printing, the printer device 1 operates as follows by the control unit to perform printing.

  First, in order to cause the printer apparatus 1 to execute the printing operation, the user operates the operation button 4a provided on the apparatus body 4 to instruct the control unit to start printing. In the printer apparatus 1, when the control unit is instructed to start printing, the head cap opening / closing mechanism 63, the paper supply / discharge mechanism 64, the belt lifting mechanism, and the like are driven by the control signal from the control unit, as shown in FIG. In addition, printing is possible.

  The head cap opening / closing mechanism 63 drives the drive unit to move the head cap 24 toward the tray 65a with respect to the head cartridge 3. Thereby, in the printer apparatus 1, the nozzle 52a of the ink discharge head 23 is exposed to the outside.

  The belt lifting mechanism raises the conveyor belt 74 so that the conveyor belt 74 is substantially parallel to the ejection surface 23 a of the ink ejection head 23.

  The paper supply / discharge mechanism 64 drives the drive unit to cause the recording paper P to travel. Specifically, the paper supply / discharge mechanism 64 pulls out the recording paper P from the tray 65 a by the paper supply roller 71, and the recording paper P drawn by the pair of separation rollers 72 a and 72 b rotating in opposite directions to the reversing roller 73. After transporting and reversing the transport direction, the recording paper P is transported to the transport belt 74, the recording paper P transported to the transport belt 74 is held at a predetermined position by the platen plate 75, and the recording paper P is discharged onto the ejection surface 23a. To face.

  Next, in the printer apparatus 1, the current supplied to the heating resistor 55 provided in the ink ejection head 23 is controlled by the control unit based on print data input from an external information processing apparatus. Thereby, in the printer apparatus 1, the heating resistor 55 is heated based on the print data input from the information processing apparatus, and the ink droplet i is ejected from the nozzle 52 a to the recording paper P conveyed to the printing position. Then, an image, characters and the like made of ink dots are printed by landing.

  In the printer apparatus 1, since the ink 2 contains at least one or more of the above-described polycyclic aliphatic compounds, the wettability of the ink 2 with respect to the ink liquid chamber 54 and the inner surface of the nozzle 52 a is improved, and the ink flow path 56 is provided. It is possible to prevent the formation of minute bubbles in the moving ink 2. The printer device 1 can prevent the generation of minute bubbles in the ink 2 filled in the ink liquid chamber 54 and the nozzle 52a of the ink discharge head 23, so that the non-discharge of the ink droplet i and the discharge direction are bent. Thus, the ink droplet i can be appropriately discharged.

  In the printer apparatus 1, when the ink droplet i is ejected from the nozzle 52 a, the same amount of ink 2 as that of the ink droplet i is ejected from the ink tank 5 through the connection portion 27 into the ink liquid chamber 44. To be replenished. In the ink ejection head 23, the ink 2 is replenished from the ink tank 5 into the ink liquid chamber 44 every time the ink droplet i is ejected.

  Next, in the printer apparatus 1, the conveyance belt 74 of the paper supply / discharge mechanism 64 is driven by the control unit, and the recording paper P that has been printed is discharged from the paper discharge port 66.

  In the printer apparatus 1 described above, the ink 2 contained in the ink tank 5 contains at least one or more kinds of the above-described polycyclic aliphatic compounds, and therefore, for example, the valve mechanism 34 or the like in the ink discharge head 23. A plurality of heating resistors 55 are provided while moving in the ink flow path 43 that is formed long in the width direction on the valve mechanism 34 or the recording paper P having a complicated structure, and the wettability of the ink 2 with respect to the inner surface is improved. It is possible to prevent the generation of minute bubbles in the ink liquid chamber 54 and the nozzle 52a due to the heat generation. As a result, the ink ejection head 23 prevents ejection defects such as non-ejection of the ink 2 due to bubbles or bending of the ejection direction, so that the image is free from blurring or white spots and high quality image quality is prevented. Images and characters can be printed.

  Further, in this printer apparatus 1, since the ink 2 contains at least one or more of the above-described polycyclic aliphatic compounds, the wettability of the ink droplets i made of the ink 2 with respect to the recording paper P is enhanced. . As a result, in the printer apparatus 1, when the ink droplet i lands on the recording paper P, the ink droplet i uniformly penetrates and diffuses into the recording paper P, so that the optical density is high, and boundary bleeding and mixed color solid spots occur. It is possible to print a high-quality image in which the image is prevented.

  In the printer 1, the nozzles 52a that discharge the ink droplets i are arranged in a line, and the ink droplets i are discharged for each line. However, even if the ejection cycle is short, the optical density is high, and a high-quality image can be printed in which boundary bleeding and mixed color solid spots are prevented.

  In the head cartridge 3 described above, the ink tank 5 can be attached to and detached from the cartridge main body 21, but it is not necessarily limited to such a configuration. That is, since the head cartridge 3 itself is handled as a consumable and can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 4, the ink tank 5 can be integrated with the cartridge main body 21. .

  The above is an example in which the present invention is applied to a printer apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to the above example, and can be widely applied to other liquid ejection apparatuses that eject liquid. . For example, a facsimile, a copying machine, a discharge device for a DNA chip in liquid (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-253200), a liquid discharge device that discharges a liquid containing conductive particles for forming a wiring pattern of a printer wiring board, and the like It is also applicable to.

  In the above description, the ink discharge head 23 that heats and discharges the ink 2 by one heating resistor 55 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to such a structure, and includes a plurality of pressure generating elements. The present invention can also be applied to a liquid ejection apparatus including ejection means that can control the ejection direction by supplying different energy to each pressure generating element or energy at different timings.

  In the above description, the electrothermal conversion method in which the ink 2 is heated from one nozzle 52a while being heated by one heating resistor 55 is adopted, but the present invention is not limited to this method. For example, an electric device such as a piezoelectric element such as a piezoelectric element is used. An electromechanical conversion method in which ink is electromechanically ejected from a nozzle by a mechanical conversion element or the like (JP 55-65559 A, JP 62-160243 A, JP 2-270561 A). It may be.

  In the above, the line type printer apparatus 1 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a serial type liquid in which the ink head moves in a direction substantially orthogonal to the running direction of the recording paper P is described. The present invention can also be applied to a discharge device.

  Examples and comparative examples in which inks to which the present invention is applied were actually prepared will be described below.

<Example 1>
In Example 1, a yellow ink was prepared as follows. When preparing a yellow ink, 4% by mass of Acid Yellow 142 as a pigment, 74.7% by mass of water as a solvent, 10% by mass of glycerin as another solvent, and 2% by mass of 1,3-butanediol , 2-pyrrolidone 6% by mass, hexacyclic-1,2-indanediol 3% by mass as a polycyclic aliphatic compound, acetylene glycol ethylene oxide (EO) adduct as a surfactant (Orphine manufactured by Nisshin Chemical) E1010) 0.3% by mass was mixed and filtered through a main blanc filter (trade name: Millex-0.22) with a pore size of 0.22 μm manufactured by Millipore to prepare a yellow ink.

  In Example 1, a black ink was prepared as follows. When preparing a black ink, 4% by mass of food black 2 serving as a pigment, 74.7% by mass of water as a solvent, 10% by mass of glycerin as another solvent, and 2% by mass of 1,3-butanediol %, 2-pyrrolidone 6% by weight, hexacyclic-1,2-indanediol 3% by weight as a polycyclic aliphatic compound, and acetylene glycol nonionic surfactant (Olfin E1010 manufactured by Nissin Chemical) as a surfactant. ) 0.3% by mass was mixed and prepared in the same manner as the yellow ink.

<Example 2>
In Example 2, yellow and black inks were used in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount of hexahydro-1,2-indanediol added was 1.5 mass% and water was 76.2 mass%. Were prepared respectively.

<Example 3>
In Example 3, yellow and black inks were used in the same manner as in Example 1 except that hexahydro-4,5-indanediol was used as the polycyclic aliphatic compound instead of hexahydro-1,2-indanediol. Were prepared respectively.

<Example 4>
In Example 4, yellow and black inks were used in the same manner as in Example 3 except that the amount of hexahydro-4,5-indanediol added was 1.5 mass% and water was 76.2 mass%. Were prepared respectively.

<Comparative example 1>
In Comparative Example 1, yellow and black inks were respectively prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the polycyclic aliphatic compound was not contained and water was changed to 77.7% by mass.

<Comparative example 2>
In Comparative Example 2, yellow and black inks were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 1,250-cyclohexanediol of Japanese Patent No. 2502242 was used instead of hexahydro-1,2-indanediol. did.

<Comparative Example 3>
In Comparative Example 3, yellow and black inks were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 1,2-cyclopentanediol was used instead of hexahydro-1,2-indanediol.

<Comparative example 4>
In Comparative Example 4, yellow and black inks were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that cyclohexanol of Japanese Patent No. 2925224 was used instead of hexahydro-1,2-indanediol.

  Next, the yellow and black inks of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were evaluated for ejection stability, boundary bleeding, optical density of black ink, and mixed color solid spots. Table 1 below shows the evaluation results.

  The ejection stability was evaluated as follows. After each ink was ejected by a line type ink jet printer apparatus filled with each ink in an ink tank and mounted on the head cartridge, the head cartridge was once removed from the ink jet printer apparatus, and the head cartridge was temperature 10 ° C. and humidity It was stored for 5 days in a 50% atmosphere and further in an atmosphere at a temperature of 40 ° C. and a humidity of 50% and exposed to an environment of a temperature of 20 ° C. and a humidity of 50%. Then, the head cartridge is again attached to the line-type ink jet printer apparatus, and immediately after printing a predetermined area for each color on copy paper (trade name: Mitsubishi PPC paper, manufactured by Mitsubishi Paper), so-called solid printing, The ink tank was removed from the cartridge, and whether or not minute bubbles were generated in the ink ejection head was visually observed and evaluated. The printed image was also observed and evaluated visually.

  In the evaluation of ejection stability, ◎ marks indicate that the entire image has no white spots and the ink in the ink ejection head does not generate fine bubbles, and there is no problem with the image quality, but the image has slight white spots. In the ink discharge head, a very small amount of small bubbles are generated in the ink discharge head, indicated by a circle, and there are white spots that deteriorate the image quality, and a very small amount of small bubbles are generated in the ink in the ink discharge head. These are indicated by Δ, and those with white spots that deteriorate the image quality and a large amount of fine bubbles generated in the ink in the ink ejection head are indicated by X.

  The boundary bleeding was evaluated as follows. 100% solid printing in which yellow and black are adjacent to copy paper (trade name: Mitsubishi PPC paper, manufactured by Mitsubishi Paper Industries Co., Ltd.) using a line-type inkjet printer device that is filled with ink into the ink cartridge and mounted on the head cartridge This was evaluated by visually observing the degree of bleeding at the boundary of each color in the printed image.

  In the evaluation of border blur, ◎ indicates that there is no bleeding of each color at the boundary, and there is no problem with the image quality, but ○ indicates that there is a small amount of bleeding of each color at the boundary, and the image quality at the boundary A mark having a blur of each color to be deteriorated is indicated by Δ, and a mark having a blur of each color in the whole boundary portion and the image quality is significantly deteriorated is indicated by a mark “X”.

  The optical density was evaluated as follows. The optical density of a 100% solid black printed portion printed for boundary blur evaluation was measured by Macbeth RD918 and evaluated.

  The mixed color solid spots were evaluated as follows. 80% density solid printing by overlaying each color on copy paper (product name: Mitsubishi PPC paper, manufactured by Mitsubishi Paper Industries) with a line-type ink jet printer device filled with each ink into an ink tank and mounted on the head cartridge The color density uniformity in the printed image, that is, the presence or absence of color unevenness was visually observed and evaluated.

  In the evaluation of mixed color solid spots, images with no solid color unevenness are indicated by ◎ marks, and images with no color unevenness are indicated by ○ marks when there is no problem with image quality. A mark having a color unevenness that deteriorates the color is indicated by Δ, and an image having a color unevenness and the image quality is significantly deteriorated is indicated by a cross.

  From the results shown in Table 1, the yellow ink and the black ink of Examples 1 to 4 were better in evaluation of ejection stability than the yellow ink and the black ink of Comparative Examples 1 to 4.

  In Comparative Example 1, since the polycyclic aliphatic compound is not contained in the ink, the ink wettability with respect to the inner surface of the ink discharge head of the head cartridge is low, and minute bubbles are easily generated in the ink. . For this reason, in Comparative Example 1, the generated bubbles remain attached to, for example, the inner surface of the nozzle of the ink discharge head, resulting in non-discharge of ink, a change in the discharge direction, a decrease in discharge stability, and white spots. The image quality deteriorated.

  Further, in Comparative Examples 2 and 3, 1,2-cyclohexanediol and 1,2-cyclopentanediol are contained in the ink, so that the wettability of the ink cannot be lowered and fine bubbles are generated. It became easier. As a result, in Comparative Example 2, due to the minute bubbles generated in the ink, the bubbles adhere to the inner surface of the nozzle or the like, causing non-ejection of the ink, bending the ink ejection direction, and lowering the ejection stability. The image quality deteriorates due to white spots.

  Moreover, in Comparative Example 4, cyclohexanol is contained in the ink, the wettability of the ink cannot be lowered to a sufficiently satisfactory level, fine bubbles are easily generated, and the printed image has blurring at the boundary. The mixed color solid spots could not be significantly suppressed. In Comparative Example 4, due to the minute bubbles generated in the ink, the bubbles adhere to the inner surface of the nozzle or the like, resulting in non-ejection of the ink, the ink ejection direction being bent, the ejection stability is lowered, and white spots are lost. Caused the image quality to deteriorate.

  On the other hand, in Examples 1 to 4, since the ink contains the polycyclic aliphatic compound as described above, the wettability of the ink into the ink discharge head of the head cartridge is increased, and The generation of minute bubbles in the ink is prevented. As a result, in Examples 1 to 4, since there were no fine bubbles in the ink, the nozzles were not clogged, and the ejection stability was good.

  Further, in Examples 1 and 2 among the examples, since hexahydro-1,2-indanediol is contained, the wettability of the ink becomes higher and the generation of fine bubbles is prevented. Therefore, an image quality higher than that of Examples 3 and 4 containing hexahydro-4,5-indanediol was obtained.

  Further, from the results shown in Table 1, the yellow ink and the black ink of Examples 1 to 4 are more blurred than the yellow ink and the black ink of Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the optical density of the black ink, and the mixed color solids. The plaque evaluation was good.

  In Comparative Examples 1 to 4, since no bicyclic aliphatic compound is contained or 1,2-cyclohexanediol, 1,2-cyclopentanediol or cyclohexanol is contained, the wettability of the ink is Insufficiently improved and insufficient wettability of the ink to the sizing agent used on the copy paper, resulting in blurring throughout the border, reduced print density, uneven color, and markedly high image quality Deteriorated. Further, in Comparative Example 4, since the wettability cannot be lowered to a sufficiently satisfactory level, it was not possible to significantly suppress boundary bleeding and mixed color solid spots in the printed image.

  On the other hand, since Examples 1-4 contain a polycyclic aliphatic compound, the ink wettability with respect to the sizing agent used in the copy paper is good, and the copy paper is uniform. Penetrating and diffusing, there was no bleeding at the boundary, the printing density was high, color unevenness was prevented, and high quality image quality was obtained.

  In addition, since Example 1 and Example 2 contain hexahydro-1,2-indanediol, the wettability of the ink with respect to the sizing agent is particularly improved, and hexahydro-4,5-indanediol is contained. Border blurring was suppressed more than in Examples 3 and 4, printing density was high, color unevenness was suppressed, and better image quality was obtained.

1 is a perspective view showing a printer apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a head cartridge provided in the printer apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the head cartridge. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between an ink tank and an ink discharge head in the head cartridge. The valve mechanism in the connection part of the ink tank is shown. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the valve is closed, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the valve is opened. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the ink discharge head. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state where bubbles are generated in the heating resistor, and FIG. 2B shows a state where ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle. It is sectional drawing shown typically. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a part of the printer device. FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a partially transparent state in which the head cap is open in the printer apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet printer apparatus, 2 ink, 3 Inkjet printer head cartridge, 4 Apparatus main body, 5 Ink tank, 21 Cartridge main body, 23 Ink ejection head, 23a Ejection surface, 52 Nozzle sheet, 52a Nozzle, 55 Heating resistor

Claims (10)

In the recording liquid attached to the object in the form of droplets for recording on the object,
Pigments,
A solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye,
A recording liquid comprising at least one of the bicyclic aliphatic compounds represented by the following chemical formula 1.

The recording liquid according to claim 1, wherein the bicyclic aliphatic compound is a bicyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 2.

A liquid that is attached to a liquid discharge head provided in a liquid discharge apparatus that discharges a recording liquid in the form of droplets and adheres to a target, and serves as a supply source of the recording liquid to the liquid discharge head In the cartridge,
A liquid cartridge, wherein the recording liquid contains a dye, a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, and at least one kind of a polycyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 1.

4. The liquid cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the bicyclic aliphatic compound is a bicyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 2.

The device body,
A liquid chamber provided in the apparatus main body for storing a recording liquid, a supply unit for supplying the recording liquid to the liquid chamber, and one or more in the liquid chamber, and the recording liquid stored in the liquid chamber A liquid discharge head having a pressure generating element that presses and a discharge port that discharges the recording liquid pressed by the pressure generating element from the liquid chambers toward the main surface of the object in the form of droplets;
In a liquid discharge apparatus comprising: a liquid cartridge connected to the liquid discharge head and serving as a supply source of the recording liquid to the supply unit;
The liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein the recording liquid contains a dye, a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, and at least one kind of a polycyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 1.

6. The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the polycyclic aliphatic compound is a bicyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 2.

  6. The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the liquid discharge head has the discharge ports arranged in a line. An apparatus main body, a liquid chamber provided in the apparatus main body for storing a recording liquid, a supply unit for supplying the recording liquid to the liquid chamber, and one or more in the liquid chamber are provided and stored in the liquid chamber. A liquid having a pressure generating element that presses the recording liquid, and a discharge port that discharges the recording liquid pressed by the pressure generating element from the liquid chambers toward the main surface of the object in the form of droplets. A liquid discharge method using a liquid discharge apparatus comprising: a discharge head; and a liquid cartridge connected to the liquid discharge head and serving as a supply source of the recording liquid to the supply unit,
A liquid ejecting method comprising ejecting the recording liquid containing a dye, a solvent for dissolving or dispersing the dye, and at least one kind of a polycyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 1.

The liquid discharge method according to claim 8, wherein the bicyclic aliphatic compound is a bicyclic aliphatic compound represented by the following chemical formula 2.

  9. The liquid ejection method according to claim 8, wherein the liquid ejection head has the ejection ports arranged side by side in a substantially line shape.

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