JP2011110712A - Ink storage container and refilled ink storage recycle container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problems: regarding an ink storage container, the ability of a prism (a part to be inspected) having an apex (portion) is reduced, of course, in the original state, also, in particularly, in the ink-refilled state, meanwhile, in the current situation where the molecular weight of pigment or dye increases, an increase in size is more common due to lumping or aggregation, accordingly, surface energy is drastically changed. <P>SOLUTION: Regarding the ink storage container, the part-to-be-optically-inspected is positioned on the relatively lower side in an ink chamber for directly storing the ink, and includes first and second slanted surfaces facing each other and advancing relatively upward. The part-to-be-optically-inspected includes a top surface which continues to the upper parts of the first and second slanted surfaces advancing relatively upward and facing each other, and has the surface energy higher than that of each of the first and second slanted surfaces. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an ink storage container including an optically detected part and an ink supply part positioned relatively below, and a refilling ink storage recycling container refilled with refilling ink. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cartridge including a container and a recording apparatus using the cartridge, and in particular, an ink storage container that supplies ink to a recording head that performs recording according to an inkjet method, a cartridge including the ink storage container, and the cartridge are used. The present invention relates to a recording apparatus.

  Recent dye molecules, dye aggregates, or pigments (hereinafter referred to as colorants) have increased molecular weight in order to improve their performance (light resistance, color developability, etc.). For this reason, in the ink container, the color material settles and aggregates, causing various problems. It is well known among these problems that the ink concentration becomes high in the ink chamber that directly stores the ink in the ink storage container.

In addition, there is a prism (detected portion) for optically detecting the ink remaining amount in the ink chamber. However, as the above-mentioned problem, “false detection due to color material adhering to the prism surface” occurs. ing.

In order to prevent this erroneous detection, Patent Document 1 discloses a low surface energy treatment (repellency) in which the surface energy of a prism slope having a pyramid-shaped apex (part) is relatively low with respect to a large surface area of an ink storage container. Application of liquid medicine) is disclosed. However, in this water repellent coating process, it is difficult to uniformly coat the entire slope, and the surface energy tends to be non-uniform. Therefore, it is often seen that the coloring material adheres, and the amount of adhesion tends to increase when refilling is performed. That is, since this technique itself is premised on a prism having a pyramid-shaped apex (part), as a result, the above-mentioned color material adheres to the slope and causes a malfunction in the remaining ink amount detection. Therefore, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that stable production is difficult, the manufacturing process is complicated, and performance over a long period cannot be maintained.

Further, in Patent Document 1, as a conventional technique, when optical remaining ink detection is performed, “a water repellent treatment is performed to prevent ink droplets from adhering to the components included in the optical path, and the ink container is There is also known a configuration in which even when the amount of ink decreases, the ink droplets adhere to the surface of the component included in the optical path to avoid malfunction of the remaining ink amount detection.

  Further, for example, in Patent Document 2, silicon or tetrafluoroethylene is used as a water-repellent treatment agent for preventing ink droplets from adhering to a light reflector or a side wall surface of an ink storage container, which is a component included in an optical path. In addition, Patent Document 3 discloses that the inner wall surface of an ink storage container, which is a component included in the optical path, is polished to reduce its surface roughness, thereby reducing the ink and the inner wall surface of the ink storage container. It also discloses that surface treatment such as water and oil repellency treatment is applied to the inner wall surface in place of increasing the contact angle with the surface.

Japanese Patent Registration No. 3595743 JP 7-237300 A JP-A-8-187873

  The present invention is an invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the known technology, and is a novel optical that can eliminate the need for a water repellent without reducing the ability of a prism detection part having a pyramid-shaped apex (part). It is a first object of the present invention to provide an ink storage container provided with a target to be detected.

In the above-described background art, only the pyramid-shaped prism surface is a problem object in the above-described background art, but the color material deposited and deposited on the bottom surface of the ink storage container is not recognized. This accumulation problem is a serious problem at least on the bottom surface of the ink storage container around the pyramid-shaped prism, and becomes a larger problem when the ink storage container is reused. The second object of the present invention is to solve this new problem.

The first invention of the present invention achieves the first object, an ink chamber for directly storing ink, and a relatively lower position in the ink chamber that faces the upper side while facing each other. An ink storage container comprising: an optically-detected part having a first slope and a second slope; and an ink supply part positioned relatively below, wherein the optically-detected part is the first slope The surface energy is higher than each of the surface energy of the second slope and the surface energy of the second slope, and has a wetted surface positioned relatively higher than the first slope and the second slope. An ink storage container.

The second invention of the present invention achieves the second object. The ink chamber directly storing the refilled ink and the ink chamber positioned relatively below the ink chamber are relatively opposed to each other. In the refilled ink storage and recycling container, comprising: an optically detected portion having a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface facing upward; and an ink supply portion positioned relatively below; The portion has a surface energy higher than each of the surface energy of the first slope and the surface energy of the second slope, and a wetted surface positioned relatively above the first slope and the second slope. It is a refilling ink storage recycling container characterized by having.

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the above-mentioned “upper surface” is positively adhered before adhering the causal aggregate or agglomerated color material as described above to the first slope and the second slope. Since it functions as a squeezing region, it is possible to prevent the increase in the color material concentration of the ink, which is the above problem, and to stabilize the function of the detected portion. In particular, the second invention of the present invention can prevent the coloring material from adhering to the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface even for the refill ink, so that the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface of the optically detected portion can be prevented. Maintains slope function and provides long-term stability.

It is a side view of an ink cartridge including a partial cross section of the first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which looked at the cross section of the bottom face part of FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is the schematic which looked at the cross section of the upper surface part of FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is the schematic which looked at the longitudinal cross-section containing the prism to-be-detected part of FIG. 1 from the side surface. FIG. 5 is a side view of the opposite side of FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus including a recording head that performs recording in accordance with an ink jet method to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit of the recording apparatus in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an ink remaining amount detection unit 25 in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a head holder 200 including the ink storage container 7 and the recording head 1 of FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an ink container 7 according to a modification of the present invention applied to FIG. 6. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the light transmission type prism with which this invention provided in the bottom face of the ink storage container of FIG. 6, the light emitting element which irradiates light to the prism, and the light receiving element which receives the light.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an ink cartridge including a partial cross section of a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the cross section of the bottom portion of FIG. 1 viewed from above, and FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the longitudinal section including the prism detected part of FIG. 1 as viewed from the side, and FIG. 5 is a diagram of FIG. It is a side view of the other side. In these figures, P is a trapezoidal prism (optically detected portion), which is a first inclined surface P1 as a first detected surface, a second inclined surface P2 as a second detected surface, and a wetted surface as an upper surface. U1 is provided. The surface energy of the liquid contact surface U1 is higher than the surface energy of each of the first slope P1 and the second slope P2. Specifically, it is sufficient if the color material aggregated or associated among the color materials in the ink is more likely to adhere to the liquid contact surface U1 than the first slope P1 and the second slope P2. In particular, the surface energy of the liquid contact surface U1 is preferably higher than the surface energy of the bottom surface F of the ink chamber 72 in the ink chamber 72 of the ink container 7, and a color material that easily collects on the bottom surface of the ink chamber 72 is preferably used. The trapezoidal prism can be adhered to the wetted surface U1, and as a result, an increase in the color material concentration at the bottom of the ink chamber can be suppressed.

As a method for increasing the surface energy of the liquid contact surface U1 as compared with other portions, a known method can be employed. For example, as a method for increasing the surface energy of the liquid contact surface U1, in the case of a die-cutting manufacturing method, a method of lowering the surface property of the mold of the liquid contact surface U1 than other portions can be adopted, and the same as other portions If molded, the method of roughening the wetted surface U1 by post-processing, or the surface energy of the first slope and the second slope with respect to the upper surface may be reduced. It is preferable that the first slope and the second slope maintain water repellency to the extent that adhesion of the coloring material can be prevented. For example, it is particularly effective if the surface of the portion with respect to the upper surface is set to “1S” or less and the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface of the detected portion are set to “3S” and the water repellent treatment is performed.

The trapezoidal prism shape has a trapezoidal cross section, and may be not only an isosceles trapezoid but also a quadrangular shape with an upper surface, and the overall shape may be a trapezoidal column.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a known recording apparatus provided with a recording head for recording in accordance with an ink jet method to which the present invention is applied.
As shown in FIG. 6, the recording head 1 is connected together with an ink storage container 7 for supplying ink to the recording head 1 to constitute an ink cartridge 20. In this embodiment, the ink cartridge 20 is configured such that the recording head 1 and the ink storage container 7 can be separated as will be described later. However, an ink cartridge in which the recording head and the ink storage container are integrated is used. Also good.

  Further, an optical prism for detecting the remaining amount of ink has the above-described configuration requirements of the present invention on the bottom surface of the ink container 7. This recording head is provided with means (for example, an electrothermal converter, a laser beam, etc.) that generates thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, and the ink is generated by the thermal energy. A method of causing a change in state is used.

In FIG. 6, a recording head 1 is mounted on a carriage 2 in a posture for ejecting ink downward in the drawing, and ink droplets are ejected while moving the carriage 2 along a guide shaft 3, like a recording sheet. An image is formed on a recording medium (not shown). The carriage 2 is moved left and right (reciprocating) through the timing belt 5 by the rotation of the carriage motor 4. An engagement claw 6 is provided on the carriage 2, and the ink storage container 7 is fixed to the carriage 2 by engaging with the engagement hole 7 a of the ink storage container.

  When the recording for one scanning of the recording head is completed, the recording operation is interrupted, the recording medium positioned on the platen 8 is conveyed by a predetermined amount by driving the motor 9, and then the carriage 2 is again moved along the guide shaft 3. While moving, image formation for the next one scan is performed.

  On the right side of the apparatus main body, there is disposed a recovery device 10 that performs a recovery operation for keeping the ink ejection state of the recording head 1 in good condition. The recovery device 10 includes a cap 11 that caps the recording head 1, and the recording head 1. A wiper 12 for wiping the ink discharge surface, and a suction pump (not shown) for sucking ink from the ink discharge nozzles of the recording head 1 are provided.

  Further, the driving force of the motor 9 for conveying the recording medium is transmitted to the automatic paper feeder (ASF) 13 in addition to being transmitted to the original recording medium conveying mechanism.

Further, an optical unit 14 for detecting the remaining amount of ink and the presence / absence of an ink container is provided on the side of the recovery device 10, which includes an infrared LED (light emitting element) 15 and a phototransistor (light receiving element) 16. . The light emitting element 15 and the light receiving element 16 are attached so as to be aligned along the recording sheet conveyance direction (direction of arrow F). The optical unit 14 is attached to a chassis 17 of the apparatus main body. An ink cartridge 20 is mounted on the carriage 2,
When the ink cartridge 20 moves to the right from the position shown in FIG. 1, the ink cartridge 20 is positioned on the optical unit 14. The presence or absence of remaining ink can be detected by the optical unit 14 from the bottom surface of the ink container 7.

Next, a control configuration for executing the recording control of the above-described apparatus will be described.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit of the recording apparatus. In FIG. 7 showing the control circuit, 1700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal, 1701 is an MPU, 1702 is a ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701, and 1703 is various data (supplied to the recording signal and the recording head 1). This is a DRAM for storing recording data and the like. Reference numeral 1704 denotes a gate array (GA) that controls supply of print data to the printhead 1 and also performs data transfer control among the interface 1700, MPU 1701, and RAM 1703. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a head driver for driving the recording head 1, and reference numerals 1706 and 1707 denote motor drivers for driving the feed motor 9 and the carriage motor 4, respectively.

  The operation of the control configuration will be described. When a recording signal enters the interface 1700, the recording signal is converted into recording data for printing between the gate array 1704 and the MPU 1701. The motor drivers 1706 and 1707 are driven, and the recording head 1 is driven according to the recording data sent to the head driver 1705 to perform recording.

  Reference numeral 1710 denotes a display unit including an LCD 1711 for displaying various messages related to the recording operation and the wiping state of the recording apparatus, and LED lamps 1712 of various colors for notifying the state of the recording operation and the recording apparatus.

The operation of the ink remaining amount detecting unit 25 that detects the presence or absence of the remaining amount of ink in the ink container 7 integrated with the recording head 1 is controlled by the MPU 1701.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the ink remaining amount detection unit 25. In the configuration shown in FIG. 8A, based on the control signal from the MPU 1701, the controller 32 outputs a pulse signal having a predetermined duty (DUTY) ratio (%) to the LED drive circuit 30, and the duty The light emitting element 15 constituting the optical unit 14 is driven according to the ratio to irradiate the bottom of the ink container 7 with infrared light. The infrared light is reflected by an optical prism (hereinafter referred to as a prism) 180 at the bottom of the ink container 7 and returns to the light receiving element 16 constituting the optical unit 14. The light receiving element 16, which is a phototransistor, converts the received light into an electrical signal and outputs the electrical signal to a low-pass filter (LPF) 31. The low pass filter (LPF) 31 cuts high frequency noise from the electric signal input from the light receiving element 16 and sends only a low frequency signal to the controller 32. The controller 32 performs A / D conversion on the signal from the low-pass filter (LPF) 31 to convert it into a digital signal. Then, the converted value is transferred to the MPU 1701.

In addition,
As shown in FIG. 8B, the light emitting element 15 is an LED that emits infrared light 28, and the light receiving element 16 receives infrared light 29 and outputs an electrical signal in accordance with the received light intensity. This is a phototransistor. As shown in FIG. 1, these LEDs and phototransistors are arranged so as to be aligned along the recording sheet conveyance direction.

Next, regarding the outline of the configuration of the ink storage container to which the present invention can be suitably applied,
FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of a head holder 200 including the ink storage container 7 and the recording head 1.
9A shows a state where the ink storage container 7 is separated from the head holder 200, and FIG. 9B shows a state where the ink storage container 7 is attached to the head holder 200. FIG. 10 is a side sectional view showing the internal structure of the ink container 7. First, the ink storage container 7 in this embodiment has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the upper wall 7U is provided with an air communication port 120 which is a hole communicating with the inside of the ink storage container.

  In addition, an ink supply cylinder 140 having an ink supply port is formed on the lower wall 7B of the ink storage container 7 so as to protrude in a cylindrical shape. In the physical distribution process, the atmosphere communication port 120 is sealed with a film or the like, and the ink supply tube 140 is sealed with a cap as an ink supply port sealing member. Reference numeral 160 denotes a lever member integrally formed on the outer side of the ink container 7 so as to be elastically deformable, and a locking projection is formed at an intermediate portion thereof. Reference numeral 200 denotes a recording head integrated head holder to which the above-described ink storage container 7 is mounted. In this embodiment, for example, ink storage containers of each color of cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are used. 7 (7C, 7M, 7Y). A recording head 1 that discharges each color ink is integrally provided below the head holder 200. Note that only the ink storage container containing black (Bk) ink may be attached to the head holder to constitute a recording head dedicated to monochrome recording. A window is provided at the bottom of the head holder 200 so that an ink presence / absence detection unit, which will be described later, can detect the presence / absence of remaining ink in cooperation with the optical unit 14 and the ink remaining amount detection unit 25.

The recording head 1 has a plurality of discharge ports formed downward (hereinafter, the surface of the head on which the discharge ports are formed is referred to as a discharge port forming surface). The ink container 7 is
From the state shown in FIG. 9A, the ink supply tube 140 is engaged with the ink supply tube receiving portion (not shown) provided in the recording head 1 in the head holder 200 and the ink passage tube of the recording head 1 is used. Is pushed into the ink supply cylinder 140. Then, the locking protrusion 160A of the lever member 160 engages with a protrusion (not shown) formed at a predetermined position of the head holder 200, and a normal mounting state shown in FIG. 9B is obtained. The head-integrated head holder 200 with the ink storage container 7 mounted thereon is further mounted on the carriage 2 of the recording apparatus as shown in FIG. In such a state, a predetermined water head difference (H) is formed between the bottom of the ink container 7 and the ejection port forming surface of the head.

Next, regarding the internal structure of the ink container 7,
This will be described with reference to FIG. The ink storage container 7 in this embodiment communicates with the atmosphere through the atmosphere communication port 120 at the upper part, and communicates with the ink supply port at the lower part, and generates negative pressure that houses the absorber 320 as a negative pressure generating member therein. A member storage chamber 340 and a substantially sealed liquid storage chamber 360 that stores liquid ink are partitioned by a partition wall 380. The negative pressure generating member storage chamber 340 and the liquid storage chamber 360 are communicated only via the communication port 400 formed in the partition wall 380 near the bottom of the ink storage container 7.

  A plurality of ribs 420 are integrally formed on the upper wall 7U of the ink storage container 7 forming the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 340 so as to protrude inside, and stored in the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 340 in a compressed state. It is in contact with the absorber 320 to be made. Thus, an air buffer chamber 440 is formed between the upper wall 7U and the upper surface of the absorber 320. The absorber 320 is made of heat-compressed urethane foam and is accommodated in the negative pressure generating member accommodating chamber 340 in a compressed state so as to generate a predetermined capillary force as will be described later. The absolute value of the pore size of the absorber 320 for generating the predetermined capillary force depends on the type of ink used, the dimensions of the ink storage container 7, the position of the ejection port forming surface of the recording head 1 (water head difference H), and the like. Different.

  In addition, a cylindrical pressure contact body 460 is disposed in the ink supply cylinder 140 forming the ink supply port 140A. The pressure contact member 460 is formed of, for example, polypropylene felt, and is not easily deformed by an external force. The pressure contact body 460 is held in a state where it is pushed into the absorbent body 320 so as to locally compress the absorbent body 320 in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, a flange that abuts the periphery of the press contact body 460 is formed at the end of the ink supply cylinder 140.

  A negative pressure generating member accommodating chamber that accommodates such a negative pressure generating member and includes a liquid supply port and an atmosphere communicating portion, a communicating portion that communicates with the negative pressure generating member accommodating chamber, and a substantially sealed space In the ink storage container having the liquid storage chamber to be formed, when the ink of the absorber 320 is consumed by the recording head 1, the ink is stored from the liquid storage chamber 360 through the communication port 400 of the partition wall 380. It is supplied to the absorber 320 in the chamber 340. At this time, the inside of the liquid storage chamber 360 is depressurized, but the air that has passed through the negative pressure generating member storage chamber from the atmosphere communication unit 120 enters the liquid storage chamber 360 through the communication port 400 of the partition wall 380 and enters the liquid storage chamber 360. The reduced pressure is relaxed. Therefore, even if ink is consumed by the recording head 1, the ink is filled into the absorber 320 according to the consumption amount, and the absorber 320 holds a certain amount of ink and keeps the negative pressure on the recording head 1 substantially constant. Therefore, the ink supply to the recording head 1 is stabilized. Thereafter, when the ink in the liquid storage chamber 360 is consumed, the ink in the absorber 320 is consumed. Accordingly, a trapezoidal prism P which is a part of the ink remaining amount detection mechanism is provided in the liquid storage chamber 360 of such an ink storage container, and the user is notified that the ink in the liquid storage chamber 360 has been consumed and the storage container is replaced. As a result, the problem of ink adhesion can be solved and the recording apparatus can be used.

  In this embodiment, the trapezoidal prism P functions as the ink presence / absence detection unit described above. The trapezoidal prism P is a to-be-detected portion having two faces of an isosceles triangle with a temporary apex angle of 90 ° as an extension of the first and second slopes, and the liquid contact surface U1, excluding the upper part including the apex angle. It has the shape of a trapezoidal prism. The surface energy of the liquid contact surface U1 is higher than the surface energy of each of the first slope P1 and the second slope P2.

  A process for increasing the water repellency for preventing the coloring material from adhering to the first and second slopes of the detected portion of the trapezoidal prism P will be described. This process is a process for lowering the surface energy of the prism surface relative to other regions of the ink container, and is hereinafter referred to as a low surface energy process.

  Examples of the treating agent for performing the low surface energy treatment used in this embodiment include those having compositions as in Examples 1 and 2 described later. In each example, the concentration of the alkylpolysiloxane is 4 parts, but the content of the alkylpolysiloxane in the low surface energy treatment agent is in the range of 1 to 20% by weight, more preferably 2 to 8% by weight. .

  Moreover, although 2-propanol and 2-methyl-2propanol are used as alcohols as the solvent of the alkylpolysiloxane, the present invention is not limited to these, volatile alcohols, water-soluble Volatile organic solvents can also be used.

  In this embodiment, benzenesulfonic acid is used as the acid substance. However, other strongly acidic substances such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, aromatic sulfonic acid, and aliphatic sulfonic acid can be used. .

  In the low surface energy treatment described here, a low surface energy treatment agent having such a composition is half-dropped on the first and second slopes of the trapezoidal prism P using a needle (injection needle) having a needle diameter of 26G. (Approximately 1.0 mg) It is carried out by applying dropwise, followed by natural drying after application. By such a low surface energy treatment, the first and second inclined surfaces exposed to the inside of the ink storage container of the trapezoidal prism P of the ink storage container 7 are 3.0 to 4.0 (μg / μm) per unit area (1 square millimeter). Preferably, a square millimeter) alkylpolysiloxane is applied.

Here, as described above, if too much of the low surface energy treatment agent is applied, it may not be able to be adsorbed on the prism surface. On the contrary, if the amount of application is too small, sufficient low surface energy treatment will not be achieved. There is a fear that it will not be. Therefore, it is desirable that the alkylpolysiloxane applied to the portion (here, only the trapezoidal prism slope) to be treated with the low surface energy treating agent is in the range of 1 to 15 μg / mm ² .

  By the method described above, the ink container is subjected to low surface energy treatment with a low surface energy treatment agent containing alkylpolysiloxane on the prism surface included in the optical path in detecting the presence or absence of the optical ink. The surface energy of the prism surface is relatively low with respect to the surface U1 and other regions of the inner wall of the container.

  Next, this low surface energy treatment is performed on the first and second inclined surfaces and the ink chamber bottom surface except for the contact liquid surface U1 which is the upper surface of the trapezoid prism P, and the trapezoid upper surface is more than the first and second inclined surfaces and the ink container bottom surface. In order to demonstrate the effect of the embodiment of the present invention in which the surface energy was high, the following comparative experiment was conducted.

In this experiment, an aqueous pigment ink having the following composition was used. This ink is a self-dispersion type pigment that does not use a dispersant.
・ Water-based pigment ink composition Microjet CW1 pigment (manufactured by Orient Chemical Co., Ltd.) 5 parts Diethylene glycol (water-soluble organic solvent) 5 parts Glycerin (water-soluble organic solvent) 7 parts Thiodiglycol (water-soluble organic solvent) 7 parts Acetyleneol EH (Surfactant) 0.1 part Potassium sulfate (additive) 0.3 part Water balance

The following low surface energy treatment is applied to the first and second inclined surfaces of the trapezoid prism and the bottom surface of the ink storage container except for the contact liquid surface U1 which is the upper surface of the trapezoid prism P of the ink storage container shown in FIG. High surface energy was used for these. The ink storage container is filled with the water-soluble pigment ink having the above composition, stored for one month in an environment of 60 ° C., the ink is extracted from the ink storage container, and the remaining amount of ink is detected using the recording apparatus having the above-described configuration. Processed.

Here, an ink storage container in which the remaining amount of ink was detected according to the above-described procedure using the following processing agent is referred to as experimental sample 1, and an ink storage container using the processing agent of Example 2 is also referred to as experimental sample 2.
(Treatment Agent Example 1)
・ Low surface energy treating agent A composition Alkyl polysiloxane 4 parts 2-propanol (alcohols) 45.7 parts 2-methyl-2-propanol (alcohols) 50 parts benzenesulfonic acid (acid) 0.3 parts (treatment agent implementation) Example 2)
・ Low surface energy treatment agent B composition Alkyl polysiloxane 4 parts 2-propanol (alcohols) 46 parts 2-methyl-2-propanol (alcohols) 50 parts Desirable treatment agent is applied to the prism of the treatment agent of each Example The amount was applied, and then air-dried. In each Example, the application amount of the alkylpolysiloxane applied to the prism is in the range of 1 to 15 (μg) per unit area (1 square millimeter).

  For comparison, (Comparative Example 1) The upper surface and slope of the trapezoidal prism are not subjected to low surface energy treatment, and are filled with water-soluble pigment ink having the above composition using an ink storage container having the same surface energy. The ink stored in the same environment (temperature of 60 ° C. for 1 month) and (Comparative Example 2) Ink storage in which the low surface energy treatment agent A shown in Example 1 was applied to the entire inner wall including the entire surface of the trapezoidal prism of the ink storage container. A recording apparatus having the above-described configuration is prepared by filling a container with water-soluble pigment ink having the above composition and storing it in the same environment (temperature 60 ° C. for 1 month), and extracting the ink from each ink storage container after the storage period. The same ink remaining amount detection process was performed using Here, the former ink container in which the remaining amount of the ink container is detected in accordance with such a procedure is referred to as a comparative sample 1, and the latter ink container is referred to as a comparative sample 2.

  As a result, in the experimental samples 1 and 2, even after being stored for two months in an environment of a temperature of 60 ° C., no color material adheres to the slope of the trapezoid prism and the bottom surface of the ink storage container, and the color on the top surface of the trapezoid prism Although reliable adhesion of the material was observed, the remaining ink detection worked effectively. On the other hand, in Comparative Sample 1 and Comparative Sample 2, after storing for one month in an environment at a temperature of 60 ° C., the trapezoidal prism has color material sticking to the top surface as well as to the slope, so detection of the remaining amount of ink is effective. (I.e., it was determined that the color material was attached to the prism even though the ink was not in the ink container).

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, by applying a low surface energy treatment agent to the bottom surface of the ink container excluding the top surface of the trapezoid prism and the slope of the trapezoid prism included in the optical path for detecting the remaining amount of optical ink, Since the area with much lower surface energy than the upper surface of the trapezoidal prism is provided, it was possible to accurately detect the presence or absence of remaining ink without deteriorating the detection function of the trapezoidal prism under severe storage conditions. .

  In the above embodiment, in the case of a refilled ink storage container that is refilled with ink, the difference in the above effects is more remarkable. In the case of the ink storage container of the present invention, the ink is refilled three times. Even if it is repeatedly used, the presence or absence of remaining ink can be accurately detected without any problem. Therefore, the present invention is also effective as a refilling ink storage recycling container.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the water repellent treatment is performed on the first and second slopes of the trapezoidal prism for detecting the remaining amount of ink is shown, but a trapezoidal prism as shown in FIG. 11 may be used.
FIG. 11 is formed of a light transmissive member, and a surface constituting a part of an outer wall surface of an ink storage container such as an ink storage container is different from the surface and contains an object (for example, an ink container). Etc.) and a plurality of reflecting surfaces having a predetermined angle with respect to the optical path, and the amount of light reflected from the reflecting surface is different depending on the presence or absence of an object in the container. When the prism having such a configuration is used, the presence or absence of ink can be detected by utilizing the difference in refractive index between the inside of the ink container and the presence or absence of a substance present on the surface of the reflecting surface.

  Therefore, the application of the present invention to such a trapezoidal prism is provided on the bottom surface of the ink container as shown in FIG. 10 when using an ink in which a color material such as an aqueous pigment ink is dispersed. Ink drops do not adhere to the prism when the ink in the ink container runs out, and even if the dispersion of the color material becomes unstable in a high-temperature environment, the color material will remain on the prism. Since it does not adhere, it is particularly effective.

Since the recording apparatus can perform high-density and high-speed recording operations, an output unit of an information processing system, for example, a printer as an output terminal such as a copying machine, a facsimile, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, or a workstation, or It can be used as a handy or portable printer provided in personal computers, optical disk devices, video devices, and the like. Accordingly, the applicable range of the ink storage container according to the present invention is not limited to the recording apparatus, but also extends to various devices such as a facsimile machine and a copying machine. The present invention may be applied to a system constituted by devices (for example, a host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.) or may be applied to an apparatus (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, etc.) comprising a single device.

P trapezoidal prism (optically detected part)
P1 First detected surface (first slope)
P2 Second surface to be detected (second slope)
U1 Top surface (wetted surface)
7 Ink container 72 Ink chamber F Bottom of ink chamber

Claims (8)

An ink chamber for directly storing ink; and an optically-detected portion having a first sloping surface and a second sloping surface that are positioned relatively lower in the ink chamber and face each other and relatively upward; An ink supply container having a relatively lower ink supply portion, wherein the optically detected portion has a surface energy higher than the surface energy of the first slope and the surface energy of the second slope. An ink container having a liquid contact surface positioned relatively above the first slope and the second slope. 2. The ink container according to claim 1, wherein the liquid contact surface is continuous with an upper portion of each of the first slope and the second slope. 3. The ink container according to claim 1, wherein the surface energy of the liquid contact surface is higher than the surface energy of the bottom surface of the ink chamber. 4. The liquid contact surface captures a color material in ink and prevents the color material from adhering to the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface. The ink storage container described in 1. An optical chamber having an ink chamber directly storing the refilled ink, and a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface that are positioned relatively below the ink chamber and face each other and relatively upward. In the refilling ink storage and recycling container including a detection unit and a relatively lower ink supply unit, the optically detected unit includes a surface energy of the first slope and a surface of the second slope. A refilling ink storing and recycling container having a surface energy higher than each of the energy and having a liquid contact surface positioned relatively above the first slope and the second slope. 6. The refilling ink storage and recycling container according to claim 5, wherein the liquid contact surface is continuous with an upper portion of each of the first slope and the second slope. The refilling ink storage recycling container according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the surface energy of the liquid contact surface is higher than the surface energy of the bottom surface of the ink chamber. The liquid contact surface captures a color material in ink and prevents the color material from adhering to the first slope and the second slope. The refilling ink storage recycling container as described in the item.