JP2022095354A - Liquid tank and manufacturing method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a manufacturing method for a liquid tank that can easily prevent minute leakage from occurring.SOLUTION: A manufacturing method for a liquid tank includes steps of: joining a lid member 7 to a tank main body 5, by welding a welding rib 9 protruding from one of a first surface S1 surrounding an opening 8 of the tank main body 5 storing liquid and a second surface S2 of the lid member 7 to the other surface; and sealing a space between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2, by bringing a seal member 10 provided on the one of the first surface S1 and the second surface S2 and extended along the welding rib 9 into contact with the other surface, and then melting and hardening the member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid tank and a liquid tank.

As an inkjet recording device, a device equipped with a liquid tank (ink tank) is known. Liquid tanks are often manufactured by joining a lid member to the tank body. In Patent Document 1, the tank body and the lid member are fixed with jigs, the tank body and the lid member are brought into contact with each other from above and below, lateral vibration is applied to the lid member, and the contact surface is welded to the lid. A method of joining a member to a tank body is disclosed.

JP-A-2007-160860

According to the method described in Patent Document 1, the lid member is welded to the tank body by welding. However, there are minute irregularities on the joint surface between the lid member and the tank body, and it may be difficult to fill the minute recesses by welding. Since minute irregularities can cause minute leaks, it leads to a decrease in the reliability of the product. In addition, since the lid member is joined to the tank body at the end of the manufacturing process of the liquid tank, if a liquid tank in which a minute leak occurs is manufactured at this stage, they cannot be used, which leads to an increase in cost. ..

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid tank in which the generation of minute leaks can be easily suppressed.

In the method for manufacturing a liquid tank of the present invention, a welding rib protruding from one of the first surface surrounding the opening of the tank body containing the liquid and the second surface of the lid member is formed on the other surface. By welding, the lid member is joined to the tank body, and the sealing member provided on one of the first surface and the second surface and extending along the welding rib abuts on the other surface. It has the ability to seal the space between the first and second surfaces by allowing, melting and curing.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid tank in which it is easy to suppress the generation of minute leaks.

It is a perspective view of the recording cartridge containing the liquid tank of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the manufacturing method of a liquid tank. It is a schematic diagram which shows the manufacturing method of a liquid tank. It is a top view of the 2nd surface of the lid member which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the 2nd surface of the lid member which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the liquid tank of the present invention and a method for manufacturing the same will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the ink tank mounted on the inkjet printer will be described, but the liquid is not limited to the ink. That is, the present invention relates to a liquid tank for accommodating a liquid discharged from a liquid discharge device and a method for manufacturing the same. Further, the present invention is widely applicable to a liquid tank formed by joining a lid member to a tank body in which a liquid is stored, and a method for manufacturing the same.

In the embodiments described below, the liquid tank is integrated with the recording head to form a recording cartridge. The entire recording cartridge is replaced when the ink runs out. However, a large-capacity ink container may be provided separately, from which the liquid tank may be refilled with ink. The recording head may be provided independently of the liquid tank. In this case, when the ink in the liquid tank runs out, the recording head is not replaced, but only the liquid tank is replaced. The present invention can be applied to any type of liquid tank.

(First Embodiment)
FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of the recording cartridge 1 seen from the side of the recording element substrate 3, and FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the recording cartridge 1 seen from the side of the lid member 7. FIG. 1C shows an exploded perspective view of the recording element substrate 3, the electrical wiring member 4, and the tank body 5, and FIG. 1D shows an exploded perspective view of the liquid tank 2. The recording cartridge 1 has a liquid tank 2 for accommodating ink, a recording element substrate 3 for ejecting ink, and an electrical wiring member 4 for sending a recording signal or the like to the recording element substrate 3. There is. The liquid tank 2 has a tank body (housing) 5 that houses ink, an ink absorber 6 that is housed in the tank body 5 and holds ink, and a lid member 7. The tank body 5 and the lid member 7 are made of resin. The tank body 5 has a box shape with an opening 8 at the top. In FIG. 1D, the liquid tank 2 is completed by inserting the ink absorber 6 into the tank body 5, injecting ink, and then joining the lid member 7 to the tank body 5.

Next, a method of joining the lid member 7 to the tank body 5 will be described. FIGS. 2 and 3 conceptually show a method of manufacturing the liquid tank 2, specifically, a process of joining the lid member 7 to the tank body 5. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the joint portion between the lid member 7 and the tank body 5. 2 (a) and 3 (a) show the state of the lid member 7 before joining, and FIGS. 2 (b), 3 (b) and 3 (c) show the state of the lid member 7 during joining. FIG. 2C shows a state after the lid member 7 is joined. 3 (d) shows an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 3 (b), and FIG. 3 (e) shows an enlarged view of the same portion as FIG. 3 (d) of the comparative example. FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the second surface S2 of the lid member 7 on which the welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 are formed.

First, the configuration of the joint portion between the tank body 5 and the lid member 7 will be described. The tank body 5 has a first surface S1 that surrounds the rectangular opening 8. The first surface S1 is a rectangular frame-shaped surface. The lid member 7 has a second surface S2 facing the first surface S1. The second surface S2 is a rectangular surface facing the first surface S1 and the opening 8, and is parallel to the first surface S1 at least at the time of joining the lid member 7 with the tank body 5 and after joining. .. The lid member 7 has a welding rib 9 and a sealing member 10. The welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 are ridges protruding from the second surface S2 and extending along the second surface S2. The welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 have a closed shape extending continuously along the entire circumference of the opening 8 of the tank body 5, and have a rectangular shape as a whole. As a result, the joint strength between the tank body 5 and the lid member 7 and the sealing property of the lid member 7 can be ensured. In particular, in order to sufficiently secure the sealing property of the lid member 7, it is preferable to continuously provide the sealing member 10 along the entire circumference of the opening 8 of the tank body 5. As shown in FIG. 4A, the sealing member 10 extends parallel to the inside of the welding rib 9 along the welding rib 9. The welding rib 9 is welded to the first surface S1 of the tank body 5 to join the lid member 7 and the tank body 5. That is, the welding rib 9 is provided between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2, and is a joining means for joining the lid member 7 to the tank body 5. The welded rib 9 integrates the lid member 7 and the tank body 5, and the welded portion has a predetermined joining strength. The welded rib 9 has a higher rigidity (longitudinal elastic modulus) than the sealing member 10 so as to have a predetermined rigidity. The welded rib 9 is preferably made of the same material as the lid member 7 and integrally molded with the lid member 7 in consideration of flame retardancy and mass productivity.

The sealing member 10 is provided to improve the sealing property of the lid member 7. The sealing member 10 has a solid phase at room temperature of about 0 to 30 ° C., but is made of a material having a longitudinal elastic modulus lower than that of the lid member 7 and the welded rib 9. Therefore, when the seal member 10 is pressed against the tank body 5, it can be deformed and adapted to the first surface S1. Further, the seal member 10 is made of a material having a lower melting point (easily melts when heated) than the tank body 5 and the lid member 7 and having excellent meltability. Further, it is preferable that the seal member 10 has excellent chemical resistance. As a material satisfying these conditions, a thermoplastic elastomer is preferable, and an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer having a melting point of about 160 ° C. and excellent chemical resistance is more preferable. In order to ensure the molding accuracy of the seal member 10, it is preferable that the seal member 10 is molded at the same time as the lid member 7. The seal member 10 can also be formed by coating.

To join the lid member 7 to the tank body 5, first, as shown in FIG. 2A, the ink-filled tank body 5 is fixed to the lower jig 11 and the lid member 7 is fixed to the upper jig 12. do. As shown in FIG. 3A, the sealing member 10 is formed to be higher in height from the second surface S2 than the welding rib 9. Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the lower jig 11 is raised. The seal member 10 comes into contact with the first surface S1. Further, the lower jig 11 is raised, and an upward force is applied to the sealing member 10. Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the seal member 10 is pressed against the first surface S1 while being deformed. Subsequently, the welded rib 9 abuts on the first surface S1 and is pressed against it. As described above, in the present embodiment, the sealing member 10 higher than the welding rib 9 faces the sealing member 10 before the welding rib 9 comes into contact with the first surface S1 facing the welding rib 9. Contact the surface S1 of. As a result, frictional heat can be applied to the seal member 10 immediately after the lateral vibration described below is started.

When a predetermined upward load is applied to the welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10, the upper jig 12 is laterally vibrated as shown in FIG. 2 (b). As a result, as shown in FIG. 3C, the lid member 7 vibrates laterally with respect to the tank body 5. At this time, the upward load is still applied. As described above, the welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 are in contact with the first surface S1 and are pressed against the first surface S1. Therefore, frictional heat due to lateral vibration is generated between the welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 and the first surface S1. The welded rib 9 is heated and melted by frictional heat. Similarly, the sealing member 10 is also heated and melted by frictional heat. The welded rib 9 is melted (scraped) by an upward load, and its height gradually decreases. The seal member 10 is compressed in the thickness direction and spreads in the lateral direction. When the amount of welding of the welding rib 9 reaches a desired amount, the lateral vibration is stopped, and the lower jig 11 is lowered as shown in FIG. 2 (c). After that, the generation of frictional heat stops, and the welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 are cooled and cured. As a result, the welding rib 9 is welded to the first surface S1 of the tank body 5. Further, the sealing member 10 seals the space between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2. In other words, a sealing member 10 is provided between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2 to seal the space between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2. With the above steps, the joining process is completed.

By melting the seal member 10 by the frictional heat generated by the lateral vibration in this way, as shown in FIG. 3D, the melted seal member 10 enters the fine recess 13 of the first surface S1. Since the upward load is applied, the seal member 10 more reliably enters the fine recess 13. Since the seal member 10 also melts at the contact surface with the second surface S2, the minute recesses on the second surface S2 are also filled with the seal member 10. As described above, the sealing member 10 is provided so as to have a shape along the unevenness of the first surface S1 and the second surface S2, thereby improving the sealing property of the lid member 7. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the generation of minute leaks and provide a highly reliable liquid tank 2. In addition, since poor joining of the lid member 7 is less likely to occur, the yield is improved and the cost of the liquid tank 2 is reduced. In particular, in the case of the integrated inkjet recording cartridge 1, if a bonding defect occurs due to a minute leak, not only the liquid tank 2 but also the recording head is discarded, so that the amount of loss is large. Therefore, this embodiment is particularly effective in an integrated inkjet recording cartridge that requires a higher yield. FIG. 3E shows the vicinity of the O-ring 14 and the first surface S1 when a general rubber O-ring 14 is used instead of the sealing member 10. Since the rubber product has a property of being cured by heat, it is difficult to fill the fine recess 13 of the first surface S1. It is also conceivable to arrange the welded ribs 9 in duplicate. However, since it is necessary to sufficiently secure the parallelism between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2, it is difficult to improve the sealing property in consideration of the manufacturing tolerance of the tank body 5.

If the sealing member 10 is made too high, the amount of melting of the sealing member 10 until the welding rib 9 is melted by a predetermined amount increases, and the process takes time. Therefore, it is preferable that the height difference h between the welded rib 9 and the sealing member 10 shown in FIG. 3A is equal to or less than the weld thickness of the welded rib 9 (the thickness at which the welded rib 9 is scraped by friction). It is preferable that the height difference h can be adjusted according to the melt thickness of the welded rib 9. Further, the separation distance w between the welded rib 9 and the seal member 10 shown in FIG. 3A satisfies the relationship of the melt thickness of the welded rib 9 (same as above) <the pressure contact amount of the seal member 10 + the separation distance w. Is preferable. This makes it possible to prevent the sealing member 10 from entering the welding surface of the welding rib 9. The pressure contact amount of the seal member 10 means a pressing amount (deformation amount in the vertical direction) for fitting the seal member 10 into the uneven shape of the first surface S1 of the tank body. It is preferable that the height difference h and the separation distance w can be adjusted according to the melt thickness of the welded rib 9.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the sealing member 10 is arranged inside the welding rib 9 (see FIG. 4A). By arranging the seal member 10 inside, the amount of the seal member 10 used can be reduced, which leads to cost reduction. However, as shown in FIG. 4B, the sealing member 10 may be arranged outside the welding rib 9. Since welding burrs (generated in the portion B of FIG. 3B) generated on the contact surface between the welding rib 9 and the first surface S1 are prevented from protruding to the outside, the effect of improving the appearance quality is improved. There is. With regard to sealing properties, the same effect can be obtained with either pattern.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the second surface S2 of the lid member 7 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Although the sealing member 10 is not shown in FIG. 5, the sealing member 10 is arranged inside or outside the welding rib 9 as shown in FIG. The welded rib 9 extends intermittently around the opening 8. The welding rib 9 is provided along a rectangular line. As a result, the rectangular line becomes a line extending through the center of each of the plurality of welded ribs 9. In order to secure the welding strength, the total length of the welding ribs 9 (the total length of the plurality of welding ribs 9) is preferably 60% or more of the total length of the above-mentioned rectangular line. An example of a rectangular line is shown by a broken line L in FIG. 5A. In the form shown in FIG. 5A, the welded rib 9 extends intermittently along the long side of the lid member 7 and continuously along the short side. In the form shown in FIG. 5B, the welded rib 9 extends intermittently along the long side and the short side of the lid member 7. In the form shown in FIG. 5 (c), the welding rib 9 extends continuously along the short side of the lid member 7, and further, the welding rib is formed in a direction orthogonal to the end portion of the portion along the short side. 9 is extended. In the form shown in FIGS. 5 (d) and 5 (e), the welded ribs 9 extend continuously along the long side and the short side of the lid member 7, but the welded ribs 9 are separated from each other. In the form shown in FIG. 5D, the welding rib 9 along the long side of the lid member 7 is longer than the welding rib 9 along the short side, and in the form shown in FIG. 5E, the long side of the lid member 7 is formed. The welded rib 9 along the short side is shorter than the welded rib 9 along the short side. In the form shown in FIG. 5 (f), only the welding rib 9 along the long side of the lid member 7 is provided. These forms are preferably selected according to the thickness and height of the welded rib 9 on the premise of ensuring the welding strength. According to the present embodiment, the amount of the material used for the welded rib 9 can be suppressed, which leads to cost reduction.

Although the present invention has been described above by some embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, either or both of the welding rib 9 and the sealing member 10 may be provided on the tank body 5. That is, the welding rib 9 can be provided so as to protrude from either one of the first surface S1 of the tank body 5 and the second surface S2 of the lid member 7, and by welding to the other surface, the welding rib 9 can be provided. The lid member 7 can be joined to the tank body 5. The sealing member 10 extending along the welding rib 9 is also provided on one of the first surface S1 and the second surface S2, and can be brought into contact with the other surface to be melted and cured. Can seal the space between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2.

5 Tank body 7 Closure member 9 Welding rib 10 Sealing member S1 First surface S2 Second surface

Claims (16)

The lid member is attached to the lid member by welding a welding rib protruding from one of the first surface surrounding the opening of the tank body containing the liquid and the second surface of the lid member to the other surface. By joining to the tank body,
The first surface is formed by contacting, melting, and curing a sealing member provided on one of the first surface and the second surface and extending along the welding rib with the other surface. To seal the space between the surface of the surface and the second surface,
A method for manufacturing a liquid tank. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member has a melting point lower than that of the welded rib and is a solid phase at 0 to 30 ° C. The manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the sealing member is made of a thermoplastic elastomer. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sealing member has a height higher than that of the welded rib. A claim that the sealing member contacts the first or second surface facing the sealing member before the welding rib contacts the first or second surface facing the welding rib. The manufacturing method according to any one of 1 to 4. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the welded rib and the sealing member protrude from the second surface. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sealing member extends continuously along the entire circumference of the opening. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the welded rib extends continuously along the entire circumference of the opening. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the welded rib extends intermittently around the opening. The manufacturing method according to claim 9, wherein the welded rib is provided along a rectangular line, and the total length of the welded rib is 60% or more of the total length of the rectangular line. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the sealing member is arranged inside the welding rib. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the sealing member is arranged outside the welding rib. By vibrating the lid member laterally with respect to the tank body,
By the vibration, frictional heat for welding the welded rib is generated between the welded rib and the first or second surface in contact with the welded rib.
By the vibration, frictional heat for melting the seal member is generated between the seal member and the first or second surface in contact with the seal member.
The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 12. The lid member is attached by a joining means provided between a first surface surrounding the opening of the tank body containing the liquid and a second surface of the lid member facing the first surface. To join to the tank body and
It is provided with a sealing member between the first surface and the second surface to seal the space between the first surface and the second surface.
A method for manufacturing a liquid tank, wherein the sealing member is provided so as to have a shape along the unevenness of the first surface and the second surface. A tank body having an opening and a first surface surrounding the opening and containing a liquid.
A lid member having a second surface facing the first surface, and
A welding rib that protrudes from one of the first surface and the second surface and is welded to the other surface to join the lid member to the tank body.
A sealing member provided between the first surface and the second surface, extending along the welding rib and sealing the space between the first surface and the second surface.
Liquid tank with. The liquid tank according to claim 15, wherein the sealing member is formed along the unevenness of the first surface and the second surface.

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