JP2022154696A - Liquid discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a liquid discharge device which prevents contamination of a liquid discharge head and inhibits malfunction of the device when a liquid is injected from a liquid injection port to a liquid storage chamber.SOLUTION: A printer 1 includes: a residual amount detection part 80 which detects a residual amount of an ink stored in an ink storage chamber; and a scanner member and a base part of a bottle support part serving as restriction members which may restrict injection of the ink from an ink injection port into the ink storage chamber. A control unit 40 determines whether or not the residual amount of the ink in the ink storage chamber detected by the residual amount detection part 80 is larger than or equal to a predetermined amount, controls a moving mechanism so that an ink tank is prohibited from moving from an injection restriction position to an injectable position when the ink residual amount is larger than or equal to the predetermined amount, and controls the moving mechanism so that the ink tank is allowed to move from the injection restriction position to the injectable position when the ink residual amount is smaller than or equal to the predetermined amount.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus that includes a liquid reservoir that stores liquid.

In Patent Document 1, a liquid jet head (liquid jet head), an ink tank (liquid storage portion) that stores ink to be supplied to the liquid jet head, and the liquid jet head and the ink tank are mounted, and the liquid jet head and the ink tank are mounted. and a movable carriage.

The device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200002 has a remaining amount checking portion of an ink tank made of a transparent material that allows the remaining amount of ink inside to be visually recognized. In the remaining amount confirming portion, the liquid surface of the ink in the ink tank can be visually recognized. The user checks the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank from the remaining amount checking unit, attaches a replenishment container (liquid bottle) to the liquid inlet of the ink tank at an arbitrary timing, and fills the ink tank with ink. .

JP 2019-69587 A

However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the user fills the ink tank with ink at any timing. For this reason, if ink is injected into the ink tank even though there is sufficient ink remaining in the ink tank, the ink overflows from the liquid injection port and contaminates the liquid ejecting head. Even if the ink does not overflow from the liquid injection port, the excessive amount of ink stored in the ink tank causes the pressure inside the ink tank to rise excessively, causing ink to leak from the nozzles of the liquid jet head. In addition, the ink may not be ejected properly from the nozzles, which may cause malfunction of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus capable of preventing contamination of the liquid ejecting head and suppressing malfunction of the apparatus when injecting liquid from a liquid inlet into a liquid storage chamber. .

A liquid ejection apparatus according to the present invention includes a liquid ejection head having nozzles for ejecting liquid onto a recording medium, a liquid storage section having a liquid storage chamber for storing liquid, and a liquid injection port communicating between the liquid storage chamber and the outside. a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium in a transport direction; a carriage for supporting the liquid ejection head and the liquid reservoir; a movement mechanism for moving the carriage in a scanning direction intersecting the transport direction; a remaining amount detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of the liquid stored in the liquid storage chamber; a regulating member capable of regulating injection of the liquid from the liquid inlet into the liquid storage chamber; and a control unit, wherein the control unit is determining whether or not the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage chamber detected by the remaining amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount; At least one of the moving mechanism and the regulating member is controlled so that injection of the liquid from the inlet into the liquid accumulating chamber is regulated by the regulating member to maintain an injection regulating state, and is below the predetermined amount, the injection restricted state is allowed to enter an injection ready state in which liquid can be injected from the liquid injection port into the liquid storage chamber. Second, at least one of the moving mechanism and the restricting member is controlled.

According to the present invention, injection of liquid into the liquid storage chamber is restricted until the amount of liquid remaining in the liquid storage chamber falls below a predetermined amount. Therefore, it is possible to avoid injecting liquid into the liquid storage chamber even though sufficient liquid remains in the liquid storage chamber. It is possible to suppress an excessive increase in the internal pressure. As a result, it is possible to prevent contamination of the liquid ejection head and prevent malfunction of the device when the liquid is injected from the liquid inlet into the liquid storage chamber.

1 is an overall perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the printer of FIG. 1 with an upper cover opened; FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the printer shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a side view of the ink tank and the inkjet head shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the printer of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the printer when replenishing ink with an ink bottle; FIG. 11 is an overall perspective view of a printer according to a modification with an upper cover opened; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the printer of FIG. 7 when one ink tank is in the refillable position; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the printer of FIG. 7 when another ink tank is in the refillable position;

A printer 1 (liquid ejection device of the invention) according to an embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. The up-down direction, left-right direction and front-rear direction shown in FIG.

(Overall Configuration of Printer 1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped housing 11 . An opening 12 is formed substantially in the center of the front wall 11 a of the housing 11 . A paper feed tray 15 and a paper discharge tray 16 are provided in two upper and lower stages in the opening 12 . The paper feed tray 15 is configured to be insertable and removable from the opening 12 in the front-rear direction, that is, detachable from the housing 11 . A desired size (for example, A4 size) of paper P (recording medium of the present invention) is placed on the paper feed tray 15 . The printer 1 can be connected to an external device such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC). Then, a recording operation is executed based on recording data from a PC or the like.

An operation unit 13 is provided on the left side of the upper surface of the housing 11, as shown in FIG. The operation unit 13 includes buttons operated for various settings, a liquid crystal display on which various information is displayed, and the like. In this embodiment, the operation unit 13 is composed of buttons operated for various settings. The operation unit 13 may be configured by a touch panel having both button and liquid crystal display functions.

The upper part of the housing 11 is open. The printer 1 has a scanner member 99 that partially covers the upper opening of the housing 11, as shown in FIG. The scanner member 99 can read image information on the paper P. FIG. Information read by the scanner member 99 is temporarily stored in the RAM 133 of the control section 40, which will be described later. When the image data is named and saved, the information may be saved in the EEPROM 134 which will be described later. In this embodiment, scanner member 99 is a flatbed scanner.

The housing 11, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, has an opening/closing cover 14 forming its ceiling. The opening/closing cover 14 covers the entire upper portion of the scanner member 99 . The opening/closing cover 14 is rotatable at the rear end of the housing 11 about a rotation axis (not shown) extending in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the opening/closing cover 14 is opened by rotating it counterclockwise around the rotation axis (not shown) at the rear end of the housing 11, thereby exposing the scanner member 99 to the outside. Let The opening/closing cover 14 is closed when an image is recorded on the paper P by the recording unit 30 (described later) or ink is supplied to the ink tank 61 (described later). As shown in FIG. 1, the opening/closing cover 14 is formed with a notch in the left end portion behind the central portion in the front-rear direction.

Further, an openable and closable upper cover 73 that covers a portion of the upper portion of the housing 11 is formed at a position that does not overlap with the openable cover 14 in plan view. As shown in FIG. 2 , the upper cover 73 is rotatable about a rotating shaft 74 extending in the horizontal direction at the rear and left portion of the upper surface of the housing 11 . The entire upper portion of the housing 11 is covered with the opening/closing cover 14 and the upper cover 73 .

(Internal structure of printer 1)
Next, the internal structure of the printer 1 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 1 includes a transport mechanism 20, a recording unit 30, a bottle support unit 19, the scanner member 99 described above, a remaining amount detection unit 80 (see FIG. 5), and a control unit 40. including.

The transport mechanism 20 has a feeding section 50 , a transport path 52 , a pair of transport rollers 53 , and a pair of discharge rollers 54 . As shown in FIG. 3, the feeding section 50 feeds the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 15 to the transport path 52 . The transport roller pair 53 transports the paper P fed by the feeding unit 50 to the recording unit 30 . The recording unit 30 has, for example, an inkjet recording system configuration, and records an image on the paper P transported by the transport roller pair 53 . The paper discharge roller pair 54 discharges the paper P recorded by the recording unit 30 to the paper discharge tray 16 .

The feeding unit 50 is provided above the paper feeding tray 15 as shown in FIG. The feeding section 50 has a feeding roller 50a and an arm 50b. The paper feed roller 50a is rotatably supported at the tip of the arm 50b. The arm 50b is rotatably supported by a support shaft 50c and is urged by a spring or the like to rotate downward so that the paper feed roller 50a comes into contact with the paper feed tray 15. As shown in FIG. Further, the arm 50b is configured to be retractable upward when the paper feed tray 15 is attached or detached. The paper feed roller 50 a is driven by a paper feed motor 91 M (see FIG. 5 ) to rotate, and the paper P stacked in the paper feed tray 15 is fed to the transport path 52 .

The paper feed tray 15 has an inclined wall portion 15a, as shown in FIG. The inclined wall portion 15a guides the paper P to the transport path 52 when the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 15 is fed by the paper feed roller 50a.

The transport path 52 is configured inside the housing 11 and, as shown in FIG. The paper P fed from the paper feed tray 15 is guided by the transport path 52 so as to make a U-turn from the bottom to the top and reaches the recording section 30 .

The conveying roller pair 53 has a conveying roller 53a arranged on the lower side and a pinch roller 53b arranged on the upper side. The transport roller 53a is rotated by being driven by a transport motor 92M (see FIG. 5). The pinch roller 53b rotates together with the rotation of the conveying roller 53a. The conveying roller 53a and the pinch roller 53b cooperate to pinch the paper P from above and below and convey the paper P to the recording section 30 .

The paper discharge roller pair 54 has a lower paper discharge roller 54a and an upper spur roller 54b. The discharge roller 54a is rotated by being driven by a discharge motor 93M (see FIG. 5). The spur roller 54b rotates with the rotation of the discharge roller 54a. The paper discharge roller 54 a and the spur roller 54 b cooperate to sandwich the paper P from above and below and transport the paper P to the paper discharge tray 16 .

In the present embodiment, the transport direction of the paper P is the direction in which the paper P is transported from the paper feed tray 15 by the transport mechanism 20, and is the solid arrow direction in FIG. Specifically, the paper P is transported from the front to the rear by the paper feed roller 50 a , guided to make a U-turn by the transport path 52 , and further rearward by the transport roller pair 53 and the paper discharge roller pair 54 . is the direction sent forward from the

As shown in FIG. 3, the recording unit 30 includes an inkjet head 31 (liquid ejection head of the present invention), four ink tanks 61 (liquid reservoirs of the present invention), a carriage 70, a moving mechanism 71, a platen 17. The carriage 70 reciprocates in a scanning direction (horizontal direction and a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the paper P). The inkjet head 31 and ink tanks 61 are supported by a carriage 70 . In other words, the printer 1 according to this embodiment is a so-called on-carriage type in which the ink tank 61 and the inkjet head 31 are mounted on the carriage 70 . The entirety of the ink tank 61 in this embodiment is positioned above the inkjet head 31 . However, not limited to this, a part of the ink tank 61 may be positioned above the upper surface of the inkjet head 31 and the remaining part may be positioned below the upper surface.

Each ink tank 61 has, as shown in FIG. The tank main body 62 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an ink storage chamber 62a (liquid storage chamber of the present invention) for storing ink is formed therein. Magenta, cyan, yellow, and black (M, C, Y, B) inks are stored in the respective ink storage chambers 62 a of the four ink tanks 61 . Also, the tank body 62 is mainly made of a translucent material (for example, transparent or translucent resin). This allows the user to visually check the amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tank body 62 is formed with a through hole 62c passing through its upper wall 62b. The through hole 62c is formed in the center of the upper wall 62b in the left-right direction and slightly forward. A cylindrical body 66 is fitted in the through hole 62c. The cylindrical body 66 has an ink inlet 67 (liquid inlet of the present invention) at its upper end. The ink inlet 67 is an opening that opens upward (that is, to the outside). The inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 66 defines an ink supply path 66a extending from the ink inlet 67 to the ink storage chamber 62a. As a result, the ink inlet 67 communicates the ink storage chamber 62a with the outside.

A valve 63 is a valve for opening and closing the ink inlet 67 . The valve 63 is, for example, a two-way electromagnetic valve and has a valve portion 63a and a solenoid portion 63b. The valve portion 63a is arranged in the ink storage chamber 62a and has an internal flow path (not shown) that communicates with the ink inlet 67 and the ink storage chamber 62a and a valve (not shown) that opens and closes the internal flow path. ing. In the valve 63 , the solenoid portion 63 b is driven under the control of the control portion 40 to move the valve portion 63 a in the front-rear direction to open and close the ink inlet 67 . When the valve 63 is open, ink can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a through the ink injection port 67. As shown in FIG. Further, when the valve 63 is closed, the injection of ink into the ink storage chamber 62a through the ink injection port 67 is restricted.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tank body 62 is formed with an air communication passage 64 that penetrates the upper wall 62b and communicates the ink storage chamber 62a with the outside. The air communication passage 64 is formed in the center in the left-right direction of the upper wall 62b and in the rear position.

The electromagnetic valve 65 is a valve for opening and closing the atmospheric communication passage 64 . The electromagnetic valve 65 is arranged above the carriage 70 . The electromagnetic valve 65 is a two-way electromagnetic valve and has a valve portion 65a and a solenoid portion 65b. The valve portion 65a is arranged in the ink storage chamber 62a, and has an internal flow path (not shown) that communicates with the air communication path 64 and the ink storage chamber 62a, and a valve (not shown) that opens and closes the internal flow path. ing. The solenoid portion 65b of the electromagnetic valve 65 is driven by the control portion 40 to move the valve portion 65a in the front-rear direction, thereby opening and closing the atmospheric communication passage 64. As shown in FIG.

Further, the tank main body 62 is formed with an outlet 62h that penetrates the bottom wall 62g and allows the ink in the ink storage chamber 62a to flow out to the inkjet head 31. As shown in FIG. The outflow port 62h is arranged in the center of the bottom wall 62g in the left-right direction and near the front end.

The inkjet head 31 has an internal channel (not shown) to which ink is supplied from the ink tank 61 . Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the inkjet head 31 ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles 32 formed on a nozzle surface 31a, which is the lower surface thereof. More specifically, the plurality of nozzles 32 form a nozzle row along the direction in which the paper P is transported in the front-rear direction. Ink is ejected from the plurality of nozzles 32 .

The inkjet head 31 is connected to the ink tank 61 via a connecting member 69 as shown in FIG. The connection member 69 is formed with a communication path (liquid flow path) 69 a that connects the outflow port 62 h and the internal flow path of the inkjet head 31 . As a result, the ink stored in the ink storage chamber 62 a of the ink tank 61 is supplied to the inkjet head 31 .

The platen 17 is arranged below the inkjet head 31 and supports the paper P conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 53 from below. The platen 17 is arranged in a portion through which the paper P passes in the reciprocating range of the carriage 70 . Since the width of the platen 17 is sufficiently larger than the maximum width of the paper P that can be transported, the paper P transported along the transport path 52 always passes over the platen 17 .

The moving mechanism 71 includes a pair of guide rails 72 and a belt transmission mechanism (not shown), as shown in FIG. The pair of guide rails 72 are spaced apart in the front-rear direction and extend parallel to each other in the left-right direction. The carriage 70 is arranged to straddle the pair of guide rails 72 . The carriage 70 is connected to a carriage motor 94M (see FIG. 5) via a belt transmission mechanism, and driving the carriage motor 94M drives the belt transmission mechanism. As a result, the carriage 70 moves in the scanning direction (horizontal direction) along the pair of guide rails 72 to move the inkjet head 31 along the lateral direction.

The inkjet head 31 ejects ink from the nozzles 32 under the control of the controller 40 based on the recording data. That is, as the carriage 70 reciprocates in the left-right direction, the inkjet head 31 scans the paper P, and ink is ejected from the nozzles 32 , so that an image is formed on the paper P conveyed over the platen 17 . is recorded. The printer 1 is provided with a linear encoder (not shown) having a large number of translucent portions (slits) arranged at intervals in the scanning direction. On the other hand, the carriage 70 is provided with a transmissive position detection sensor (not shown) having a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The printer 1 can recognize the current position of the carriage 70 in the scanning direction from the count value of the transparent portion of the linear encoder detected by the position detection sensor while the carriage 70 is moving. Rotational drive is controlled.

The bottle support portion 19 is a member that supports an ink bottle 105 for injecting ink into the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61, as shown in FIGS. The bottle support portion 19 is positioned above the carriage 70 and below the upper cover 73 . The bottle support portion 19 has a flat base portion 19a extending in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and one support portion 19b formed on the base portion 19a and capable of supporting the tip portion of the ink bottle 105. As shown in FIG. One supporting portion 19b supports the tip portion of an ink bottle 105 containing the same type of ink as that contained in an ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink among the four ink tanks 61.例文帳に追加By attaching the ink bottle 105 supported by the support portion 19 b to the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 , ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 into the ink storage chamber 62 a of the ink tank 61 .

In this embodiment, the ink bottle 105 is a small single-use bottle. That is, when injecting ink from the ink bottle 105 into the ink tank 61, the entire amount of ink in the ink bottle 105 is injected.

The scanner member 99 is arranged along the horizontal direction at a position below the opening/closing cover 14 and above the carriage 70 . The scanner member 99 is arranged at a position not overlapping the upper cover 73 in plan view. The user cannot access the ink inlet 67 when the ink tank 61 is below the scanner member 99 on the movement track of the ink tank 61 that moves in the horizontal direction together with the carriage 70 . That is, when the ink tank 61 is below the scanner member 99 on the moving track of the ink tank 61, the scanner member 99 restricts the injection of ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a.

The remaining amount detection unit 80 detects the remaining amount of ink stored in the ink storage chamber 62 a of the ink tank 61 . The remaining amount detection unit 80 detects the remaining amount of ink stored in each of the ink storage chambers 62 a of the four ink tanks 61 . In this embodiment, the remaining amount detection unit 80 detects a floating member (not shown) supported at the tip of a swingable arm and the position of the floating member in the ink storage chamber 62a of each ink tank 61. A sensor arm system including a possible optical sensor (not shown). The floating member has a lower specific gravity than the ink stored in the ink storage chamber 62a, and the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is detected by detecting the position of the floating member with an optical sensor. is possible. A signal containing information on the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62 a detected by the remaining amount detection section 80 is sent to the control section 40 . The remaining amount detection unit 80 may constantly detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a, or may detect it only when an ink supply instruction (described later) is issued.

The control unit 40 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 131 , an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 135 and a memory 140 . These CPU 131 , ASIC 135 and memory 140 are connected by an internal bus 137 . The memory 140 includes ROM (Read Only Memory) 132 , RAM (Random Access Memory) 133 and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) 134 . The ROM 132 stores programs and the like for controlling various operations of the printer 1 . The CPU 131 executes programs using the RAM 133 and EEPROM 134 .

The ASIC 135 outputs control signals to the inkjet head 31, the valve 63, the electromagnetic valve 65, the paper feed motor 91M, the transport motor 92M, the paper discharge motor 93M, the carriage motor 94M, etc., and controls their operations. For example, the control unit 40 controls the inkjet head 31, the paper feed motor 91M, the transport motor 92M, the paper discharge motor 93M, the carriage motor 94M, etc., based on recording data transmitted from an external device (for example, a PC or a smartphone). Then, the conveying process and the recording process are alternately executed, and an image or the like is recorded on the paper P. Also, the ASIC 135 can receive a signal transmitted from the operation unit 13, a signal transmitted from the remaining amount detection unit 80, and the like.

(Ink supply to ink tank 61)
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, an example of a user's operating procedure and a process performed by the control unit 40 when ink is injected into the ink tank 61 from the ink bottle 105 in the printer 1 will be described.

When the ink in the ink tank 61 is consumed by ejecting ink from the nozzles 32 of the inkjet head 31, the user needs to replenish the ink tank 61 with ink. When the user intends to replenish ink in one of the four ink tanks 61 , the user operates the operation section 13 to transmit an ink replenishment instruction signal to the control section 40 . For example, when the ink tank 61 storing yellow ink is to be replenished with ink, a yellow ink replenishment instruction signal is sent to the control unit 40 . Note that the ink replenishment instruction may be transmitted from the operation unit 13 to the control unit 40 by manual operation by the user, or may be transmitted from an external device to the control unit 40 .

Upon receiving the signal of the ink replenishment instruction, the control unit 40 temporarily suspends the operation command of the moving mechanism 71 for moving the ink tank 61 for which the ink replenishment instruction has been issued to the refillable position (described later). Then, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chambers 62a of the four ink tanks 61 detected by the remaining amount detection unit 80 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount.

Here, the "predetermined amount" refers to the amount of ink that can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a reaches the predetermined amount, and It is the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a that matches the amount of ink. That is, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 into the ink storage chamber 62a. Overflowing.

The control unit 40 allows the ink tank 61 whose remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a detected by the remaining amount detection unit 80 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, to move from the injection restricting position while allowing it to move to the injection restricting position. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so that the movement of the ink tank 61 to the refillable position is prohibited. That is, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the control unit 40 executes the processing for invalidating the operation command of the moving mechanism 71 described above. As a result, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink cannot be moved to the injectable position. be. In this embodiment, prohibiting the movement of the ink tank 61 from the injection restricted position to the injection enabled position corresponds to "maintaining the injection restricted state" of the present invention. Also, the phrase "allowing movement at the injection restricting position" means that the control unit 40 can move the ink tank 61 to an arbitrary injection restricting position.

In this embodiment, the ink inlet 67 moves along the left-right direction together with the ink tank 61 and is positioned below any one of the scanner member 99, the base portion 19a, and the support portion 19b. The injectable position is a position where access to the ink inlet 67 is possible. In this embodiment, the position where ink can be filled is below the upper cover 73, and the position of the ink tank 61 where the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is below the support portion 19b of the bottle support portion 19. is. In other words, the upper cover 73 is positioned above the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 when the ink tank 61 is in the refillable position. In this embodiment, the refillable position is a position where only one ink tank 61 out of the plurality of ink tanks 61 can be positioned.

Further, the injection restriction position is a position where access to the ink injection port 67 is disabled. The injection restriction position in this embodiment is any position other than the position where the ink tank 61 can be injected as the carriage 70 reciprocates. The position of the ink tank 61 is such that it is covered with any of the base portions 19a of 19. FIG. The scanner member 99 and the base portion 19a of the bottle support portion 19 in this embodiment correspond to the regulation member of the present invention.

The control unit 40 moves the ink tank 61 from the injection restriction position to the injection-allowed position for the ink tank 61 whose remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a detected by the remaining amount detection unit 80 is below a predetermined amount. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so that . That is, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is less than a predetermined amount, the control unit 40 executes the above-described operation command validation process for the moving mechanism 71. .

When the operation instruction activation process for the moving mechanism 71 is executed, the control unit 40 controls the moving mechanism 71 to move the carriage 70, thereby moving the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink to the refillable position. . At this time, the ink tanks 61 other than the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink are in the injection restricting position. In the present embodiment, allowing the ink tank 61 to move from the injection restricting position to the injectable position corresponds to "allowing the ink tank 61 to move from the injection restricting state to the injectable state" of the present invention.

Subsequently, the user opens the upper cover 73 as shown in FIG. The control unit 40 opens the valve 63 of the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink. Then, the ink bottle 105 is supported by the support portion 19b of the bottle support portion 19, and the tip of the ink bottle 105 is attached to the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink. As a result, ink can be injected from the ink bottle 105 into the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink.

As described above, the printer 1 of the present embodiment includes the remaining amount detection unit 80 for detecting the remaining amount of ink stored in the ink storage chamber 62a, and the ink inlet 67 to the ink storage chamber 62a. It has a scanner member 99 which is a regulating member capable of regulating injection of ink, and a base portion 19 a of the bottle support portion 19 . Then, the controller 40 determines whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a detected by the remaining amount detecting section is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so as to prohibit movement of the ink tank 61 from the injection regulation position to the injection possible position. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so that movement is permitted. According to this embodiment, the user cannot access the ink inlet 67 until the amount of ink remaining in the ink storage chamber 62a falls below a predetermined amount, and the injection of ink into the ink storage chamber 62a is restricted. Therefore, it is possible to avoid injecting ink into the ink storage chamber 62a even though sufficient ink remains in the ink storage chamber 62a, and to prevent ink from overflowing from the ink inlet 67. and the pressure in the ink tank 61 can be prevented from rising excessively. As a result, it is possible to prevent contamination of the inkjet head 31 and suppress malfunction of the printer 1 when injecting the ink liquid from the ink injection port 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a.

Further, in this embodiment, four ink tanks 61 are provided, and the remaining amount detection unit 80 detects the remaining amount of ink stored in the ink storage chambers 62 a of the four ink tanks 61 . The control unit 40 permits the movement of the ink tank 61 in which the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount at the injection restricting position, but prohibits the ink tank from moving from the injection restricting position to the injectable position. The movement mechanism 71 is controlled so as to be prohibited, and the ink tank 61 whose remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is below a predetermined amount is allowed to move from the injection restriction position to the injection possible position. , the moving mechanism 71 is controlled. According to this embodiment, among the four ink storage chambers 62a, ink can be injected only into the ink storage chamber 62a whose remaining amount of ink is less than a predetermined amount. Therefore, in a situation where there may be both the ink storage chamber 62a with the remaining amount of ink equal to or greater than the predetermined amount and the ink storage chamber 62a with the remaining amount of ink below the predetermined amount, the remaining amount of ink may be accidentally reduced. It is possible to prevent the ink from being injected into the ink storage chamber 62a having a predetermined amount or more. Therefore, in a configuration having a plurality of ink tanks 61, it is possible to prevent contamination of the inkjet head 31 and suppress malfunction of the printer 1 when injecting ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a. can.

In this embodiment, the ink tank 61 is configured such that the ink bottle 105 containing ink therein is attached to the ink inlet 67, whereby ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 into the ink storage chamber 62a. be. When the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a reaches a predetermined amount, the amount of ink that can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a is equal to or greater than the amount of ink contained in the ink bottle 105. FIG. According to this, in the configuration in which the ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 attached to the ink inlet 67 into the ink reservoir chamber 62a, even if the entire amount of the ink contained in the ink bottle 105 is injected into the ink reservoir chamber 62a, It is possible to reliably prevent the ink from overflowing from the ink inlet 67 and contaminating the inkjet head 31 .

Further, in the present embodiment, the printer 1 is placed in a position covering the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 from above when the ink tank 61 is in the refillable position, and the closed state covers the ink inlet 67. It has an upper cover 73 movable between an open state exposing the ink inlet 67 to the outside. According to this configuration, when the upper cover 73 is opened while the ink tank 61 is at the injectable position, ink is injected from above into the ink inlet 67 arranged below the upper cover 73. can do. Therefore, ink can be easily injected into the ink inlet 67 .

Further, in this embodiment, the printer 1 has a valve 63 that can open and close the ink inlet 67 and that moves together with the ink tank 61 . The valve 63 is located below the upper cover 73 when the ink tank 61 is in the refillable position. The valve 63 moves together with the ink tank 61 . Therefore, even if the upper cover 73 is opened by mistake while the ink tank 61 is in the injection restricting position, the ink tank 61 is in the injection restricting position and access to the valve 63 is impossible. , regardless of whether the valve 63 is open or closed, ink cannot be injected from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a. Therefore, in the configuration having the upper cover 73, it is possible to avoid injecting ink into the ink storage chamber 62a even though a sufficient amount of ink remains in the ink storage chamber 62a.

Further, in this embodiment, the remaining amount detection unit 80 is of a sensor arm type. This makes it possible to reliably detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a.

(Modification)
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the patented invention.

In the above embodiment, the remaining amount detection unit 80 is of the sensor arm type. However, the remaining amount detection unit 80 may be of a prism type. In the case of the prism type remaining amount detection unit 80, the ink tank 61 is made of resin. The remaining amount detection unit 80 has an infrared irradiation unit that irradiates infrared rays from the outside to the inside of the ink tank 61 and an infrared light reception unit that detects the infrared rays reflected by the ink tank 61 made of resin. When there is ink in the portion of the ink storage chamber 62a that is irradiated with the infrared rays, the infrared rays irradiated from the infrared ray irradiation portion travel straight through the interface between the resin and the ink. At this time, the infrared light receiving section does not detect infrared rays. On the other hand, when there is no ink in the portion of the ink storage chamber 62a that is irradiated with the infrared rays, the infrared rays emitted from the infrared irradiation portion are totally reflected at the interface between the resin and the air, and are detected by the infrared light receiving portion. . By arranging one or a plurality of infrared irradiation units and infrared light reception units at arbitrary positions with respect to the ink tank 61, the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a can be detected. With such a configuration, it is possible to reliably detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a.

Further, the remaining amount detection unit 80 may be of a soft count type. In this case, the remaining amount detection unit 80 includes a counting unit that counts the value related to the amount of ink ejected from the nozzles 32 of the inkjet head 31, and the amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a based on the value related to the amount of ink counted by the counting unit. and a calculating unit that calculates the remaining amount of the stored ink. For example, the calculation unit subtracts the amount of ink ejected from the nozzles 32 from the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a immediately after shipment of the printer 1 or immediately after ink is supplied to the ink storage chamber 62a. It is calculated as the remaining amount of ink in 62a. The calculated value is always overwritten and saved in the EEPROM 134 . The amount of ink remaining in the ink storage chamber 62a immediately after the ink is replenished to the ink storage chamber 62a is, for example, the value of the ink remaining amount in the ink storage chamber 62a before the ink is replenished, and is stored in the disposable ink bottle 105. Calculated by adding the ink amount values. The value related to the ink amount counted by the counting unit may be the ink amount itself, or may be a numerical value obtained by replacing the ejected ink amount with a predetermined numerical value. With such a configuration, it is possible to reliably detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a.

In the above-described embodiment, the remaining amount detection section 80 detects the remaining amount of ink stored in each of the four ink tanks 61 . The controller 40 then determines whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the four ink tanks 61 detected by the remaining amount detecting section 80 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. However, of the four ink tanks 61, the remaining amount detection unit 80 may detect the remaining amount of ink stored in the ink tank 61 to be replenished that stores the ink for which the ink replenishment instruction has been issued. . In this case, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. For example, when the controller 40 receives a yellow ink replenishment instruction signal, the controller 40 determines whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 61 storing yellow ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. Then, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the control unit 40 allows the ink tank 61 to move from the injection restriction position to the injectable position while allowing movement at the injection restriction position. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so that the movement of is prohibited. Further, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is less than a predetermined amount, the control unit 40 moves the ink tank 61 so that it is permitted to move from the injection restricted position to the injectable position. It controls mechanism 71 .

In the above-described embodiment, the printer 1 has a notification unit that notifies the user when the remaining amount of ink detected by the remaining amount detection unit 80 of the four ink tanks 61 falls below a predetermined amount. may be The user who has received the notification inputs an ink supply instruction to supply ink to the ink tank 61 to the operation unit 13 or the like. The notification may be performed, for example, by uttering a sound, or by displaying on the liquid crystal display of the operation unit 13 or the screen of the PC connected to the printer 1, or both. It may be done by other means.

In the above embodiment, the bottle support 19 has one support portion 19b. However, the bottle support portion 19 may have four support portions 19b corresponding to the ink inlets 67 of the four ink tanks 61, respectively. In this case, the tip portion of the ink bottle 105 is supported by the support portion 19b corresponding to the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink among the four ink tanks 61 . In this case, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be replenished falls below a predetermined amount, the controller 40 moves the four ink tanks 61 including the ink tank 61 into the injection restriction position. to the position where injection is possible. At this time, the fillable positions are those of the ink tanks 61 such that the ink fill ports 67 of the four ink tanks 61 including the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink are below the four support portions 19b of the bottle support portion 19. position. Then, the user supports the ink bottle 105 on the support portion 19b corresponding to the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink among the plurality of ink tanks 61 at the fillable position.

In the above embodiment, the ink bottle 105 is a small single-use bottle. However, the ink bottle 105 does not have to be a disposable one, and for example, it may contain an amount of ink that can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a in a plurality of times. Further, the ink bottle 105 may have an air communication passage for communicating the inside and the outside, or may not have an air communication passage. However, if the ink bottle 105 does not have an air communication passage, the ink tank 61 preferably has an air communication passage 64 . If the ink bottle 105 has an air communication passage, the ink tank 61 may not have the air communication passage 64 .

Further, in the present invention, the bottle supporting portion 19 may not be arranged, and the bottle 105 may be directly attached to the ink inlet 67 . The printer 101 having no bottle support 19 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. In addition, in the following description, the same reference numerals are used for the same configurations as in the above-described embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. 7 to 9 are diagrams showing how the upper cover 73 is opened. In the printer 101, as shown in FIG. 7, each of the four ink tanks 61 has a cap 163 (a cap 163 of the present invention) rotatable about a rotation axis (not shown) extending in the left-right direction at the rear end of the upper surface of the ink tank 61. injection lid). When the user lifts the front end portion of the cap 163, the cap 163 rotates around a rotation axis (not shown) to open. The cap 163 covers the entire upper portion of the upper wall 62b of the ink tank 61 when closed. Also, the cap 163 exposes the ink inlet 67 to the outside when it is in an open state.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the printer 101 is provided with a cap 163 which is located above the movement track of the front end portion of the cap 163 which moves together with the ink tank 61 and which does not overlap the opening/closing cover 14 in a plan view. A plate-like member 121 is formed along the left-right direction so as to cover the portion. In addition, a gap 171 is formed between the plate member 121 and the opening/closing cover 14 in plan view, which is larger than the lateral width of one cap 163 and smaller than the sum of the lateral widths of the two caps 163 . It is

In the printer 101, the refillable position is the position of the ink tank 61 when the front end portion of the cap 163 is below the gap 171 between the plate member 121 and the opening/closing cover 14 when viewed from above and below. be. When the ink tank 61 is in the refillable position, the user can lift the tip portion of the cap 163 of the ink tank 61 without being blocked by the plate member 121 . As a result, the cap 163 is opened to allow access to the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61 .

In the printer 101 , the fillable position is a position where only the ink fill port 67 of one of the four ink tanks 61 can be accessed. For example, when moving the rightmost ink tank 61 out of the four ink tanks 61 to the refillable position, the controller 40 controls the tip portion of the cap 163 of the rightmost ink tank 61 to be a plate when viewed from above and below. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so as to be positioned below the gap 171 between the shape member 121 and the opening/closing cover 14 (see FIG. 8). When the second ink tank 61 from the right among the four ink tanks 61 is moved to the refillable position, the controller 40 moves the cap 163 of the second ink tank 61 from the right when viewed from the top and bottom. is positioned below the gap 171 between the plate member 121 and the opening/closing cover 14 (see FIG. 9). As described above, of the four ink tanks 61, only the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink can be moved to the refillable position. In this case, the injection restricting position is the position of the ink tank 61 where the top of the tip portion of the cap 163 is covered under either the scanner member 99 or the plate member 121 . In this embodiment, the scanner member 99 and plate member 121 correspond to the regulation member of the invention. According to the configuration of the printer 101 as described above, even if the upper cover 73 is opened by mistake while the ink tank 61 is in the injection restricting position, the ink tank 61 is in the injection restricting position and the cap 163 is closed. , the cap 163 cannot be opened. Therefore, in the configuration having the upper cover 73, it is possible to avoid injecting ink into the ink storage chamber 62a even though a sufficient amount of ink remains in the ink storage chamber 62a.

In addition, in a configuration in which the ink bottle 105 is directly attached to the ink inlet 67, the injectable position may be a position accessible to the ink inlets 67 of two or more ink tanks 61 out of the plurality of ink tanks 61. . In this case, the control unit 40 restricts the supply of two or more ink tanks 61, including the ink tank 61 to which ink is to be replenished and whose remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is less than a predetermined amount. Move from position to injectable position. Then, the user attaches the ink bottle 105 to the ink filling port 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink among the plurality of ink tanks 61 at the fillable positions.

In the above embodiment, the "predetermined amount" refers to the amount of ink that can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a when the amount of ink remaining in the ink storage chamber 62a reaches the predetermined amount, and the amount of ink that can be stored in the disposable ink bottle 105. This is the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a that matches the amount of ink stored in the ink storage chamber 62a. However, the "predetermined amount" is a range in which the pressure inside the ink tank 61 is equal to or less than the pressure resistance of the ink meniscus formed in the nozzle 32 when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a reaches the predetermined amount. The remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a may be such that the amount of ink that can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a and the amount of ink stored in the disposable ink bottle 105 match. In this case, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, and ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 into the ink tank 61, the pressure inside the ink tank 61 increases to the nozzle 32 is equal to or greater than the withstand voltage of the ink meniscus formed in the . As a result, the dynamic pressure generated when the carriage 70 is moved by the moving mechanism 71 may cause the printer 1 to malfunction, for example, ink may leak from the nozzles 32 or ink may not be ejected from the nozzles 32 in an appropriate direction. There is Therefore, the "predetermined amount" is defined as described above, and the control unit 40 controls the movement of the ink tank 61 from the injection restricting position to the injectable position when the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank 61 is below the predetermined amount. The moving mechanism 71 is controlled so that movement is permitted. As a result, in a configuration in which ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 attached to the ink inlet 67 into the ink tank 61, even if the entire amount of ink contained in the ink bottle 105 is injected into the ink tank 61, It is possible to prevent the printer 1 from malfunctioning as described above due to an excessive increase in pressure.

The "predetermined amount" is a range in which the ink in the ink storage chamber 62a does not reach the height of the air communication passage 64 when the amount of ink remaining in the ink storage chamber 62a reaches a predetermined amount. The remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a may be such that the amount of ink that can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a and the amount of ink stored in the disposable ink bottle 105 are the same.

In the above-described embodiment, the opening/closing cover 14 is a member that can be opened and closed by rotating at the rear end portion of the housing 11 around a rotation axis (not shown) extending in the left-right direction. However, the opening/closing cover 14 may be a member that can be attached to and detached from the housing 11 in the vertical direction. Also, the member constituting the ceiling portion of the housing 11 may be a simple top plate that does not open and close, instead of the opening/closing cover 14 .

In the above embodiment, the upper cover 73 is formed. When injecting ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink tank 61, the upper cover 73 is opened. However, the printer 1 may be configured without the upper cover 73 . In this case, the opening/closing cover 14 is not provided with a notch, and the opening/closing cover 14 is opened when injecting ink into the ink storage chamber 62a. Further, in this case, a cover member is arranged so as to cover a part of the movement track of the ink inlet 67 that moves in the horizontal direction together with the ink tank 61 at a position that does not overlap the scanner member 99 in plan view. It is preferably provided separately. In this case, the fillable position is a portion below the opening/closing cover 14 where the cover member is not formed, and the ink fill port 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink is the support portion 19b of the bottle support portion 19. The position of the ink tank 61 is such that it is below the .

Further, the printer 1 may have, for example, a locking member that restricts the upper cover 73 from being closed to being opened. When the amount of ink remaining in the ink storage chamber 62a is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the control unit 40 maintains the regulation by the lock member so that the upper cover 73 is kept closed. As a result, the injection regulation state is maintained. Further, when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a falls below a predetermined amount, the control unit 40 releases the restriction by the lock member so that the upper cover 73 is allowed to change from the open state to the closed state. Let As a result, it is allowed to change from the injection restricted state to the injection enabled state. In the above case, the locking member corresponds to the regulating member of the present invention. Further, the printer 1 may have a locking member that restricts the cap 63 from being closed to being opened. In addition, in the case of a configuration that does not have the upper cover 73, it may have a locking member that locks the opening/closing cover 14 from being closed to being opened.

Also, the printer 1 may have an electromagnetic valve capable of opening and closing the ink inlet 67 . In this case, the controller 40 maintains the closed state of the electromagnetic valve when the amount of ink remaining in the ink storage chamber 62a is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount. As a result, the injection regulation state is maintained. Further, the control unit 40 opens the electromagnetic valve when the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a falls below a predetermined amount. As a result, an injectable state is established. In this case, the injection restriction state is automatically switched to the injection possible state. In the above case, the electromagnetic valve corresponds to the regulating member of the present invention. When injecting ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink tank 61, the upper cover 73 or the opening/closing cover 14 is opened.

In the above-described embodiment, after receiving the signal of the ink supply instruction, the control unit 40 determines the remaining amount of ink in each of the ink storage chambers 62a of the four ink tanks 61 detected by the remaining amount detection unit 80. It judges whether or not it is above the fixed amount. However, the controller 40 may determine whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chambers 62a of the four ink tanks 61 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount before receiving the signal of the ink replenishment instruction. For example, the remaining amount of ink in each ink storage chamber 62a is constantly detected by the remaining amount detection unit 80, and the control unit 40 determines whether the remaining amount of ink in each ink storage chamber 62a is a predetermined amount or more. The determination may be made all the time or in a short cycle. In this case, the control unit 40 moves the ink tank 61, which has determined that the remaining amount of ink in the ink reservoir chamber 62a is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, to the position where the ink tank 61 can be filled when receiving an ink replenishment instruction. An invalidation flag is generated for invalidating the operation command of the moving mechanism 71 for moving to. When the controller 40 receives an instruction to replenish ink to the ink tank 61, the controller 40 executes a process of invalidating the operation command of the moving mechanism 71 based on the invalidation flag. In addition, the control unit 40 moves the ink tank 61 to the refillable position when the ink replenishment instruction is given for the ink tank 61 determined that the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is less than the predetermined amount. A validating flag is generated for validating the operation command of the moving mechanism 71 for moving. When the control unit 40 receives an ink replenishment instruction for the ink tank 61, the control unit 40 validates the operation command for the moving mechanism 71 based on the validation flag, controls the moving mechanism 71, and supplies the ink tank. 61 is moved to the injectable position. Note that the invalidation flag is deleted when it is determined that the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is below a predetermined amount. Also, the activation flag is deleted after ink is injected from the ink bottle 105 into the ink storage chamber 62a.

Note that even when the control unit 40 controls the regulating member when switching between the injection regulated state and the injectable state, the control unit 40 determines whether the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is at a certain level after receiving the ink replenishment instruction. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount before receiving the ink replenishment instruction.

In the above embodiment, the fillable position is a position where only one ink tank 61 out of the plurality of ink tanks 61 can be positioned. Then, the control unit 40 removes only the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink from among the plurality of ink tanks 61 and for which the remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is less than a predetermined amount, from the injection regulation position. Move it to a position where it can be injected. However, the fillable position may be a position where two or more ink tanks 61 of the plurality of ink tanks 61 can be positioned. In this case, the control unit 40 restricts the supply of two or more ink tanks 61, including the ink tank 61 to which ink is to be replenished and whose remaining amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a is less than a predetermined amount. Move from position to injectable position.

In the present invention, the printer 1 may have one ink tank 61 or may have two or more ink tanks 61 .

In the embodiment described above, the printer has a scanner member 99 . However, the printer 1 may not have the scanner member 99 . In this case, the printer is positioned below the opening/closing cover 14 and does not overlap the upper cover 23 in a plan view, and covers a part of the upper part of the movement path of the ink inlet 67 that moves together with the ink tank 61 . It has a regulating member arranged in such a manner. The restricting member may be, for example, a plate member made of metal or resin. In addition, in a printer that does not have the opening/closing cover 14, the top plate of the housing 11 that does not open/close corresponds to the restricting member. In addition to the printer 1, the liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present invention can also be applied to multi-function machines, copiers, and the like.

In the above embodiment, valve 63 is an electromagnetic valve. However, valve 63 need not be an electromagnetic valve. For example, the valve 63 may be a valve that mechanically opens and closes when the ink bottle 105 is attached to the ink inlet 67 .

In the above-described embodiment, the electromagnetic valve 65 for opening and closing the air communication passage 64 may not be electrically controlled to open and close. It may be a valve that is Also, the electromagnetic valve 65 may not be arranged. In this case, a semi-permeable membrane that blocks the passage of ink and allows the passage of gas may be formed so as to block the air communication passage 64 .

1 printer 14 open/close cover 19 bottle support 19a base (restriction member)
19b support portion 20 transport mechanism 31 inkjet head (liquid ejection head)
32 nozzle 40 control unit 61 ink tank (liquid reservoir)
62a Ink storage chamber (liquid storage chamber)
63 valve (injection lid)
67 ink inlet (liquid inlet)
70 Carriage 71 Moving mechanism 73 Upper cover 80 Remaining amount detector 99 Scanner member (restriction member)
101 printer 105 ink bottle 121 plate member (regulating member)
163 cap (injection lid)
P paper (recording medium)

Claims (10)

a liquid ejection head having nozzles for ejecting liquid onto a recording medium;
a liquid storage part having a liquid storage chamber for storing liquid and a liquid injection port communicating between the liquid storage chamber and the outside;
a transport mechanism for transporting a recording medium in a transport direction;
a carriage that supports the liquid ejection head and the liquid reservoir;
a moving mechanism that moves the carriage in a scanning direction that intersects with the transport direction;
a remaining amount detection unit that detects the remaining amount of the liquid stored in the liquid storage chamber;
a regulating member capable of regulating injection of the liquid from the liquid inlet into the liquid storage chamber;
a control unit;
The control unit
determining whether the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage chamber detected by the remaining amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount;
When the amount of liquid remaining in the liquid storage chamber is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount, the injection restriction state is maintained in which injection of liquid from the liquid inlet into the liquid storage chamber is restricted by the restriction member. controlling at least one of the moving mechanism and the regulating member;
When the amount of liquid remaining in the liquid storage chamber is less than the predetermined amount, the injection restricted state may be changed to an injectable state in which liquid can be injected from the liquid inlet into the liquid storage chamber. A liquid ejecting apparatus that controls at least one of the moving mechanism and the regulating member so as to be permitted. The control unit
When the amount of liquid remaining in the liquid storage chamber is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount, the liquid injection opening is not accessible from the injection restricted position, and the liquid injection opening is accessible. controlling the moving mechanism so that movement of the liquid reservoir is prohibited;
controlling the movement mechanism so as to permit movement of the liquid reservoir from the injection restricting position to the injectable position when the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid reservoir is below the predetermined amount; The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by: A plurality of the liquid reservoirs are provided,
The remaining amount detection unit detects the remaining amount of the liquid stored in each of the liquid storage chambers of the plurality of liquid storage units,
The control unit
determining whether or not the remaining amount of liquid in each of the liquid storage chambers detected by the remaining amount detection unit is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount;
With respect to the liquid storage portion in which the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage chamber is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount, the movement of the liquid storage portion from the injection restricting position to the injectable position is allowed while allowing movement at the injection restricting position. controlling the movement mechanism so that movement is prohibited;
For the liquid storage portion in which the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage chamber is less than the predetermined amount, the movement of the liquid storage portion is allowed such that the movement of the liquid storage portion from the injection restricting position to the injectable position is allowed. 3. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the liquid ejecting apparatus controls a mechanism. The liquid storage part is configured such that a liquid bottle containing liquid therein is attached to the injection port, whereby the liquid is injected from the liquid bottle into the liquid storage chamber,
2. An amount of liquid that can be injected into said liquid storage chamber when the amount of liquid remaining in said liquid storage chamber reaches said predetermined amount is equal to or greater than the amount of liquid stored in said liquid bottle. 4. The liquid ejection device according to any one of 1 to 3. The liquid storage part is configured such that a liquid bottle containing liquid therein is attached to the injection port, whereby the liquid is injected from the liquid bottle into the liquid storage chamber,
When the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid storage chamber reaches the predetermined amount, the pressure inside the liquid storage portion is within a range in which the pressure inside the liquid storage portion is equal to or lower than the pressure resistance of the liquid meniscus formed in the nozzle. 4. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the amount of liquid that can be injected is equal to or greater than the amount of liquid contained in the liquid bottle. An upper cover is disposed at a position covering the liquid inlet from above in the pourable state, and is movable between a closed state covering the liquid inlet and an open state exposing the liquid inlet to the outside. The liquid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The control unit
When the amount of liquid remaining in the liquid storage chamber is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount, the liquid injection opening is not accessible from the injection restricted position, and the liquid injection opening is accessible. controlling the moving mechanism so that movement of the liquid reservoir is prohibited;
controlling the movement mechanism so as to allow movement of the liquid reservoir from the injection restricting position to the injectable position when the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid reservoir is below the predetermined amount;
The upper cover is arranged at a position above the liquid inlet when the liquid reservoir is in the injectable position,
further comprising an injection lid capable of opening and closing the liquid injection port and moving together with the liquid reservoir;
7. The liquid ejection device according to claim 6, wherein the injection lid is arranged below the upper cover when the liquid reservoir is in the injection-enabled position. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the remaining amount detecting section is of a sensor arm type. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the remaining amount detecting section is of a prism type. The remaining amount detection unit includes a counting unit that counts a value related to the amount of liquid ejected from the nozzles of the liquid ejection head, and a liquid stored in the liquid storage chamber based on the value related to the amount of liquid counted by the counting unit. 8. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a calculator for calculating the remaining amount of the liquid.

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