JP2007196425A - Lamination film for inkjet recorder, film for air dumper, container for ink cartridge, sub-tank, and inkjet recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a film structure stable for a long time in which a volatile component of ink passing through an inner layer does not attack an adhesive layer. <P>SOLUTION: A laminated film for an inkjet recorder is so constituted that an outer layer 216 and the inner layer 212 are stuck with the adhesive layer 214 and a metallic thin film layer 213 is provided between the adhesive layer and the inner layer. A component of ink passing through the inner layer is blocked by the metallic thin film layer 213 so that the component does not attack the adhesive layer by virtue of the metallic thin film layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

      The present invention relates to a laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus, a film for an air damper, a container for an ink cartridge, a sub tank, and an ink jet recording apparatus.

In some inkjet recording apparatuses, an air damper is interposed in a flexible tube that connects an ink head and an ink cartridge in order to absorb ink dynamic pressure fluctuation when the ink head moves (for example, Patent Document 1). The film used to partition the external air and ink used in this air damper prevents the ink components stored inside from evaporating to the outside, and conversely, moisture, oxygen, etc. from the outside air will not enter the ink. It has a multilayer film structure. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a film for an air damper of a conventional ink jet recording apparatus. In the air damper film, PE (polyethylene) or PP (polypropylene) is usually used for the inner layer 1 in consideration of weldability. The inner layer 1 and an outer layer 3 made of nylon or PET film having gas barrier properties are bonded via an adhesive 2. A silica vapor deposition layer 4 is provided on the inner side of the outer layer 3 so as to be easily adapted to the adhesive 2.
JP 2004-74462 A

      In the above-described conventional film structure, PE or PE constituting the inner layer 1 has no gas barrier property, so that the volatile component in the ink passes through the inner layer 1 and reaches the adhesive 2. A component that lowers the performance of the adhesive 2 among the volatile components damages the adhesive 2 and causes the outer layer 2 to peel off from the inner layer 1. Then, there is a problem that the function as an air damper, that is, the function of absorbing the dynamic pressure fluctuation of the ink is lowered.

  In addition, the wall portion of the ink cartridge container used in the ink jet recording apparatus also basically has the above-described film structure. In this case as well, the volatile component in the ink passes through the inner layer and reaches the adhesive. Volatile components in the ink that has reached the adhesive will damage the adhesive and cause the outer layer to peel off from the inner layer, reducing the strength of the container, or gas, oxygen, etc. from the outside entering the ink. There was a problem that the deaeration of the water was impaired. Further, when the adhesive deteriorates, the strength of the welded portion decreases, and when the container is dropped, the welded portion is damaged, and ink inside the container may leak out.

      The present invention has been proposed in view of the above, and prevents the adhesive between the layers from being peeled off due to a decrease in adhesive force without causing damage due to the volatile components of the ink. The purpose is to maintain the performance of the ink over a long period of time.

    In order to achieve the above object, the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is a laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus in which an outer layer and an inner layer are bonded together with an adhesive layer, and is between the adhesive layer and the inner layer. It is characterized in that a metal thin film layer is provided.

      In the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the metal thin film layer is a metal vapor deposition film.

      In the present invention, the metal thin film layer is an aluminum vapor deposition film.

      Moreover, the film for air dampers of this invention was comprised from the laminated | multilayer film for inkjet recording apparatuses of any one of Claims 1-3.

      In addition, an ink cartridge container according to the present invention comprises the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. To.

      In addition, a sub tank of the present invention is characterized by comprising the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

      In addition, an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention includes the component according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

    According to the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, the outer layer and the inner layer are laminated with an adhesive layer, and the metal thin film layer is provided between the adhesive layer and the inner layer. The volatile component of the ink that has passed through is blocked by the metal thin film layer and does not attack the adhesive layer, and the adhesive state between the inner layer and the outer layer can be maintained for a long time.

  In addition, since the metal thin film layer is a metal vapor deposition film, the ink component that has passed through the inner layer is blocked by the metal vapor deposition film and does not attack the adhesive layer, and the adhesion state between the inner layer and the outer layer can be maintained over a long period of time. .

  Further, since the metal thin film layer is an aluminum vapor deposition film, the ink component that has passed through the inner layer is blocked by the aluminum vapor deposition film and does not attack the adhesive layer, and the adhesion state between the inner layer and the outer layer can be maintained for a long period of time. .

  In addition, according to the air damper film of the present invention, since it is composed of the laminated film for an inkjet recording apparatus, the adhesive layer is not easily damaged, and the laminated film does not peel off, and the damper function can be maintained for a long time. Can be maintained.

  In addition, according to the ink cartridge container of the present invention, since it is composed of the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus, the adhesive layer is hardly damaged, the peeled film does not peel off, and the performance of the ink cartridge is improved. Can be maintained over time.

  Further, according to the subtank of the present invention, since it is composed of the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus, the laminated film of the subtank containing the ink is not peeled off, and the performance as the subtank can be maintained for a long time. .

  Moreover, according to the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, since the component according to any one of claims 4 to 6 is provided, the damper characteristics are deteriorated or the function as the ink cartridge container is impaired. Or a problem that the function of the sub-tank is impaired can be avoided.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus 10 according to the present invention. Here, the inkjet recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is
A plurality of inkjet heads 20 provided for each color, a carriage 21 in which a plurality of the inkjet heads 20 are arranged in parallel in the main scanning direction, and an ink that supplies ink through an ink supply tube 22 formed of a flexible tube. A cartridge 23, a flexible ink bag, and a sub tank 24 for stably supplying ink to the inkjet head 20 regardless of increase or decrease of ink in the ink cartridge 23, and an air damper 25 are provided. The carriage 21 is mounted so as to be movable in the major axis direction of the pair of guide rails 26a and 26b. In addition, a drive motor 27 is provided on one end side of the guide rails 26a and 26b, and a driving force by the drive motor 27 is applied to the pulley 28a connected to the drive motor 27 and the other ends of the guide rails 26a and 26b. It is transmitted to the timing belt 29 that is stretched between the pulley 28b provided on the side, and the carriage 21 fixed at a predetermined position of the timing belt 29 is thereby conveyed.

      In addition, a pair of transport rollers 30 and 31 are provided along the guide rails 26a and 26b, respectively, as transport means on both ends of the case indicated by the broken line in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the carriage 21. The transport rollers 30 and 31 transport the recording medium S below the carriage 21 in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the carriage 21. The inkjet head 20 forms an image or the like by scanning the carriage 21 in a direction perpendicular to the direction while feeding the recording medium S by the transport rollers 30 and 31.

      As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet head 20 fixes a nozzle plate 202 provided with a hole for ejecting ink at the tip of a head chip 201 made of PZT, a flow path 203 for supplying ink into the head chip 201, and each component. It consists of a base 204, an air damper 25, and the like.

      In such an ink jet recording apparatus, when ink is supplied to the ink jet head 20, the rubber cap 205 is pressed against the nozzle plate 202 of the ink jet head 20 to seal the inside of the nozzle plate 202 and the cap 205, and the cap 205 is provided. A tube 207 is attached to the discharge port 206 communicating with the outside, and the space inside the space 205 between the cap 205 and the nozzle plate 202 is made negative by sucking with a pump (not shown) through the tube 207, so that the ink cartridge 23, ink is filled into the inkjet head 20 from the sub tank 24 via the ink supply pipe 22.

      Further, the ink storage unit 209 of the air damper 25 is configured such that a laminated film 211 is fixed and sealed on the entire surface of the ink storage unit 209. In this way, when ink is filled into the air damper 25, the ink is then filled into the inkjet head 20 and ejected from the nozzle plate 202, and the air in the head is pushed out from the discharge port 206 of the cap 205 for printing. Is ready.

      FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the laminated film 211. In the laminated film 211 of this embodiment, PE (polyethylene resin) or PP (polypropylene resin) is used as the inner layer 212. A metal thin film layer 213 is formed on the outer surface of the inner layer 212. The metal thin film layer 213 is formed of a metal such as aluminum with a thickness of 300 to 500 mm by vacuum deposition or ion plating. Further, an outer layer 216 made of nylon or the like having a silica layer 215 attached to the inner side is bonded to the outer side through an adhesive 214.

According to the air damper 25 in which the ink storage unit 209 is configured by the laminated film 211 as described above, the ink component that has passed through the PE (polyethylene resin) or PP (polypropylene resin) as the inner layer 212 is the metal thin film layer 213. It is blocked and does not reach the adhesive 214. Therefore, the adhesive 214 is not attacked by the volatile component of the ink, the outer layer 216 is not peeled off from the inner layer 212, and the damper function, that is, the function of suppressing the dynamic pressure fluctuation of the ink can be maintained for a long time. it can.

      FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a laminated film 23 </ b> A constituting the container of the ink cartridge 23. In the laminated film 23 </ b> A, PE (polyethylene resin) is used for the inner layer 300, and a metal thin film layer 301 is formed on the outer side of the inner layer 300 by vapor deposition. An adhesive 302 is applied to the outside of the metal thin film layer 301. A nylon layer 304 having a silica layer 303 deposited thereon is bonded to the outside. A 9-12 μm aluminum foil 306 is affixed to the outside via an adhesive 305, and a polyester layer 308 is affixed to the outside via an adhesive 307.

      The ink cartridge 23 composed of the laminated film 23A configured as described above is formed in a bag shape, and ink is stored therein. Volatile components in the stored ink pass through the gas-permeable inner layer 300, but are blocked by the metal thin film layer 301 and do not reach the adhesive 302. Therefore, the adhesive 302 is not damaged by the volatile component of the ink, and there is no possibility that the nylon layer 304 is peeled off from the inner layer 300. In addition, the aluminum foil 306 disposed in the outer layer can block light from the outside and prevent deterioration of the ink component.

  In this ink cartridge 23, a metal thin film layer 301 is attached to the outside of the inner layer 300, and light from the outside can be blocked by the metal thin film layer 301. For this reason, when sufficient light-shielding property can be obtained by the metal thin film layer 301, the aluminum foil 306 existing outside the metal thin film layer 301 can be omitted.

    If the sub tank 24 is constituted by the laminated films 211 and 23A as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, even if the volatile component of the ink in the sub tank 24 passes through the inner layer, the metal thin film layers 213 and 301 Further passage can be blocked, thereby preventing the film layers of the laminated film constituting the sub tank from being separated from each other, and the function of the sub tank can be maintained over a long period of time.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship among the ink cartridge, the sub tank, and the air damper in the inkjet recording apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an air damper film of the ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an ink cartridge container of the ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an air damper film used in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Inkjet recording apparatus 20 Inkjet head 21 Carriage 22 Ink supply pipe 23 Ink cartridge 24 Sub tank 25 Air damper 212, 300 Inner layer 213, 301 Metal thin film layer 214, 302 Adhesive 215, 303 Silica layer 304 Nylon layer 305 Adhesive 306 Aluminum foil 307 Adhesive 308 Polyester

Claims (7)

A laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus in which an outer layer and an inner layer are bonded with an adhesive layer,
A laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein a metal thin film layer is provided between the adhesive layer and the inner layer.   The laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the metal thin film layer is a metal vapor deposition film.   The laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the metal thin film layer is an aluminum vapor deposition film.   The film for air dampers comprised from the laminated | multilayer film for inkjet recording apparatuses of any one of Claims 1-3.   The container for ink cartridges comprised from the laminated | multilayer film for inkjet recording apparatuses of any one of Claims 1-3.   A sub-tank comprising the laminated film for an ink jet recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising the component according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

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