JPH0234352A - Liquid injection recording head and supply method of liquid to recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify structure by forming a sealable injection path to a feed to a head section from a recording-liquid housing section and filling the recording-liquid housing section and the recording head section with a liquid through the feed from the injection path. CONSTITUTION:Ink is injected through an injection pipe installed to an ink fill opening IC first. Air in an ink discharge unit 2 is discharged to the outside from an ink discharge opening at that time. Ink is fed into an ink tank 3 through a path 21, ink is permeated successively through porous members 13, 14, and internal air is discharged from a vent hole 16 shaped to a cover 10 through an adjacent ventilating chamber 7. Accordingly, ink is held sufficiently by the porous members 13, 14, and a sphere 23 is pressed into the ink fill opening IC, thus executing treatment so that ink is not leaked to the outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording head and a method of replenishing liquid to the recording head, and more specifically, to an ink ejection unit that performs recording by ejecting liquid, and a method for supplying liquid to the ink ejection unit. A liquid ejecting recording head integrally configured with an ink reservoir (hereinafter referred to as an ink tank) containing recording liquid (hereinafter referred to as ink) and held in a recording liquid carrier, and a liquid replenishing method for the recording head. Regarding.

[Prior Art] Conventional recording heads of this type generally have separate ink passages for guiding ink from an ink tank to an ink discharge section and ink injection passages for sealing ink into an ink tank. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, as described above, it is not possible to provide separate ink passages for guiding ink from the ink tank to the ink ejection section and injection passages for sealing the ink into the ink tank. In addition to having a complicated structure, it is difficult to reliably fill both the ink tank and the ink ejection section with ink.

An object of the present invention is to focus on the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to solve the problems, an ink passage can also be used as an ink injection path, and ink can be reliably supplied to both an ink tank and an ink ejection part. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid jet recording head that can perform filling.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the liquid jet recording head of the present invention includes an ejection port for ejecting liquid, and an ejection port provided corresponding to the ejection port and used for ejecting the liquid. A print head section having an energy generating element that generates energy, a liquid storage section that stores liquid to be supplied to the print head section, and a liquid storage section that communicates with the print head section and the liquid storage section to supply the liquid in the liquid storage section to the print head. an injection path that communicates with the supply path and supplies liquid to the recording head section and the liquid storage section from the outside;
and a sealing member that seals the injection path.

In addition, the liquid replenishment method for a recording head of the present invention provides a recording head unit having an ejection port for ejecting liquid and an energy generating element provided corresponding to the ejection port and generating energy used for ejecting the liquid. a liquid storage section for storing liquid to be supplied to the recording head section; and a supply path that communicates with the recording head section and the tank and supplies the liquid in the liquid storage section to the recording head section. The replenishment method is characterized in that an injection path for externally replenishing the recording head section and the liquid storage section is provided in the middle of the supply path, and the liquid is replenished through the injection path.

[Function] According to the present invention, by providing a sealable injection path that communicates with the recording liquid supply path, it is possible to fill both of the green liquid storage portions of the recording head with the recording liquid, unlike the conventional method. It is no longer necessary to provide a separate injection path for filling the recording liquid, and the overall structure can be simplified.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

1A to 10 show an embodiment of the present invention. 1st A
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cartridge-shaped recording head that has an ejection energy generating element inside and integrates an ink ejection unit 2 with an ink ejection function and an ink tank 3 via a housing 4, and the ink tank 3 and a unit mounting chamber 5 in which the ink ejection unit 2 is mounted are separated by a partition wall 6. Further, 7 is a ventilation chamber having a 0-shaped communication groove 8 between it and the ink tank 3, and as will be described later, air is communicated between the ink tank 3 and the atmosphere through this ventilation chamber 7. can be done.

In addition, 9 is an ink discharge port, and 10 in FIG. 1B.
1 is a lid that is bonded and sealed on the housing 4 as described below;
Reference numeral 1 denotes an electrode part for signal supply provided in the ink ejection unit 2. The electrode part 11 is hollowed out at the bottom of the unit mounting chamber 5 so that it can be connected to wiring (not shown).
exposed to A. Furthermore, in FIG. 1A,
12. Both 13 and 14 are porous members with elasticity, and are made of foamed urethane, foamed valve, foamed PVA (
They are made of polyvinyl alcohol) and have different ink retention properties, ink filling efficiencies, or ink repellency.

That is, the porous member 12 loaded in the ventilation chamber 7 has ink repellency due to the ink repellent treatment, and allows air to flow through it but does not accept ink. Further, the porous member 14 has a lower ink filling rate than the porous member 13, but has a higher ink retention property. These porous members 12, 13, and 14 were loaded into the ventilation chamber 7 and the ink tank 3, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1A, and then placed in FIG. 1D by pressing the filO shown in FIG. 1c. Highly liquid-tight adhesion is performed by ultrasonic welding or the like along a welding line W shown by a two-dot chain line.

Note that ribs 4B and IOB with sharply pointed tips are formed at corresponding positions on the surrounding wall, bottom, and inside of the lid 10 inside the ink tank 3, and the porous members 13 and 14 form the inside of the ink tank. 3, the tips of the ribs 4B and IOB bite into these porous members 13, 14, so that air and bubbles 31 in the tank 3, together with the ink, pass between the wall and the porous member. This prevents the ink from penetrating into the ink ejection unit 2 side. (See Figure 2).

Furthermore, in FIG. 1A, l^ is a fixed pin that is engaged with the carriage when the recording head 1 is mounted on the carriage (not shown), IB is a rib for positioning at that time, and I
C is an ink filling hole used when filling the recording head 1 with ink as described later, and the ink ejection unit 2 is fixed to the upper edge of the unit mounting chamber 5 with the ink discharge unit 2 inserted into the chamber 5. A fixing claw 15 is provided for this purpose.

Next, the configuration of the ventilation chamber 7 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In the upper part of the ventilation chamber 7 of ilG, first
As shown in the figure, a ventilation hole 16 is provided, and a conical protrusion 17 is formed around the ventilation hole 16 as shown in FIGS. are doing. Further, in these figures, 18 is a small wall protruding downward from the ink tank 3 side, and a semicircular notch 18A is provided at the lower position of this small wall 1B. A circular communication hole 19 is formed by the notch 18A and the communication groove 8.

Therefore, the ventilation chamber 7 is filled with an ink-repellent porous member 12 as shown in FIG. 4, and the lid 1 is inserted from above.
When sealed at 0, the tip opening 17^ of the conical projection 17 is pressed so as to bite into the ink-repellent porous member 12. Therefore, even if ink were to enter the ventilation chamber 7 through the communication hole 19 from the ink tank 3 side shown in FIG. There's nothing to do.

Furthermore, even if the infiltration occurs along the walls of the ventilation chamber 7, a protrusion 17 is provided inside, and the opening 17A of the ventilation hole is opened at the tip of the protrusion 17.
Since the porous member 12 is in close contact with A, there is no possibility of ink leaking to the outside from the ventilation hole 16.

Next, a route through which ink is supplied from the ink tank 3 to the ink ejection unit 2 will be described according to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 6. In these figures, 2
1 is an ink supply path (hereinafter referred to as an ink passage) provided at the bottom of the housing 4; 22^ is in communication with the ink passage 21;
An ink supply port (hereinafter referred to as a tank-side supply port) 22 projecting toward the ink tank 3 is a protrusion that surrounds the ink supply port and has a truncated conical tip.

Further, an ink filling hole 1 is provided at the other end of the ink passage 21.
After the recording head 1 is filled with ink through the ink filling hole IC as will be described later, the filling hole tC is closed by a sphere 23 shown in FIG. 24A is an ink supply port (hereinafter referred to as head side supply port) protruding toward the side of the unit mounting chamber 5;
Reference numeral 4 denotes a protrusion having a truncated conical tip so as to surround the head side supply port 24A.

The ink ejection unit 2 is attached to and positioned on the protrusion 24. An ink receiving port 25 that fits into the protrusion 24 is provided at the bottom of the ink ejecting unit 2, and the area around the ink receiving port 25 is A recess 2B is formed, and a sealing member 27 is interposed in this recess 26 to prevent ink supplied from the ink tank 3 from leaking into the unit mounting chamber 5. Note that the ink discharge unit 2 is fixed in the mounting chamber 5 by the fixing claw 15, but at this time, the sealing member 27 is deformed by applying pressure in the B direction, and the sealing effect cannot be sufficiently enhanced. can.

On the other hand, a porous member 14 is enclosed in the in-tank 3 so as to surround the tank-side supply port 22A.
Further, a porous member 13 is housed around this porous member 14, as shown in FIG. 1A. Here, however, the porous member 14 has a smaller independent pore diameter than the porous member 13, and therefore has a stronger ability to absorb and retain ink. On the other hand, the porous member 13 has a larger ink storage capacity than the porous member 14, but its retention force is weaker, so as ink is consumed on the ink ejection unit 2 side, it is retained in the porous member 13. The ink transferred to the porous member 14 is transferred from the porous member 14 to the supply port 22.
A.

The ink is supplied to the ink ejection unit 2 via the ink passage 21 and the head-side supply port 24A.

Further, the porous members 13 and 14 housed in the ink tank 3 are held in such a way that the surrounding ribs 4B and IOB bite into them, and the tank side supply port 22A is opened at the tip of the protrusion 22. Since the porous member 14 is in close contact with this, it is possible to prevent air bubbles from flowing along the inner wall surface of the tank and entering the ink ejection unit 2 side.

Here, the applicant has set the dimensions of each part as shown in FIG. 7 as an example for the ink supply and injection route from the ink tank 3 to the ink discharge unit 2 shown in FIG. 6. However, the inner diameters Φ and Φ3 of the supply ports 22^ and 24A are in the range of approximately 0, cI to 1.5IllI11, and the height of the protrusion 22 is approximately 1.0 to 3.
．． 0 mm range, about 1 for the height h2 of the protrusion 24
．． Range of 5 to 4゜Omm, distance between supply ports lit t +
For about 7.0~20.0am range, filling hole IC
The diameter Φ5 of the injection path connected to this is approximately 0.
It was possible to select within the range of 5 to 2.5 ma+.

However, the supply port pressure 1ltL should be as short as possible from the viewpoint of fluid resistance under the design conditions, and the distance L2 should be appropriately determined from the relative relationship with the ink ejection unit 2. . The diameter of the ink passage 21 is approximately 0.5 to 2.0 mm, and the passage diameter Φ5 is approximately 1.0 to 2.0 mm.
Although it is set within the range of 5ma+, it is preferable that the ink passage 21 be thinner in order to reduce the influence of vibration, and it is better that the injection path and filling hole IC be thicker in order to facilitate ink filling. .

Next, the operation of injecting and filling the recording head 1 with ink will be explained with reference to FIG. The injection of ink is carried out after the recording pad 1 is assembled into one piece.
A porous member 13.1 is provided in the ink tank 3 and the ventilation chamber 7.
4 and 12 are respectively loaded, and furthermore, the ink ejection unit 2 is installed in the unit installation chamber 5, and the MlO
This is done after the parts are attached by ultrasonic welding or the like.

To do this, first insert the ink injection pipe 3 into the ink filling hole 1G.
0 is inserted and attached, and ink is injected through the injection vibrator 30. At this time, the air inside the ink ejection unit 2 is discharged to the outside from the ink ejection port 9 (see FIG. 1A). Furthermore, as ink is fed into the ink tank 3 through the ink passage 21, the ink sequentially permeates into the porous members 14 and 13, and the air inside passes through the adjacent ventilation chamber 7 and is provided in the lid 10. The air is discharged from the vent holes 16 that are closed.

In this way, when the ink is sufficiently retained by the porous members 13 and 14, the ink injection pipe 30 is removed, and then the sphere 23 is press-fitted into the ink filling hole IC.
It is sufficient to take measures to prevent ink from leaking to the outside.

Therefore, in the liquid jet recording head 1 configured in this way, the porous member 13 that occupies most of the space in the ink tank 3 can accommodate an amount of ink at a sufficiently high filling rate, and even if this ink has the same water head, the holding force is Highly porous member 1
4, the ink is supplied to the ink discharge unit 2 according to the discharge of ink, and air is replenished into the ink tank 3 through the ventilation hole IO and the ventilation chamber 7, so that the pressure inside the tank is increased. is always kept constant, allowing the ink ejection unit 2 to maintain optimal ink ejection characteristics. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the ink from shaking and rippling in the tank due to vibrations caused by the movement of the carriage. Furthermore, air is drawn into the ink tank 3 through the ink-repellent porous member 12 housed in the ventilation chamber 7, and the ventilation holes 16 are directed inward in the ventilation chamber 7. The protrusion 17 has an opening at its tip, and the ink-repellent porous member 1 is inserted into the tip opening 17A.
Since the holes 2 and 2 are tightly attached so that they are bitten into each other, in the unlikely event that the communication hole 1 of the partition wall 17 shown in FIG.
Even if the ink enters the ventilation chamber 7 side through the porous member 12, the ink does not penetrate into the porous member 12.
Even if it flows along the wall surface, it will be blocked by the protrusion 17,
There is no possibility of leakage to the outside.

Furthermore, filling the ink tank 3 and ink ejection unit 2 with ink is performed using the ink passage 21 after the recording head 1 is assembled, but this ink passage 21 was originally Since it communicates with the ejection unit 2, both can be reliably filled with ink at the same time, and there is no need to provide a special path for ink injection.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the supply path for supplying liquid from the recording liquid storage section to the recording head section is provided with an injection path that communicates with the supply path and can be sealed. Since the liquid can be filled into the recording liquid storage section and the recording head section through the supply channel, there is no need to provide an injection channel for filling the liquid separately from the supply channel, simplifying the structure. In addition, it has become possible to fill the recording liquid reliably and in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the liquid jet recording head of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing the external appearance of FIG. 1A from the rear side, and FIG. 1C is a perspective view showing the inner surface of the lid according to the present invention. FIG. 1D is a perspective view showing the appearance of FIG. 1A viewed from above, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vicinity of the rib according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a configuration of the ventilation chamber according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the ventilation chamber according to the present invention; FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing the structure of the ink passage according to the present invention; FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5A. A perspective view, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an ink supply operation by an ink supply path according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an ink injection operation according to the present invention. 1... Recording head, 1^... Fixing pin, 1B... Positioning rib, IC... Ink filling hole, 2... Ink discharge unit, 3... Ink tank, 4... Housing, 4B, IOB...rib, 5...unit mounting chamber, 7...ventilation chamber, 8...communication groove, 9...ink discharge port, lO...lid, 11...・Electrode part, 12.13.14...Porous member, 15...Fixing claw, 16...Vent hole, 17.22.24-...Protrusion, 17A...Tip opening, 19. ... Vent hole, 21... Ink passage, 22A, 24A... Ink supply port, 23... Sphere, 25... Ink receiving port, 27... Seal member, 30... Ink injection pipe . The inside of the bottle of the present invention is shown in Figure 31, which shows the inner surface of the bottle. Song diagram Figure 4 Figure 5B

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A recording head unit having an ejection port for ejecting liquid and an energy generating element provided corresponding to the ejection port and generating energy used for ejecting the liquid; a liquid storage section that stores liquid to be supplied to the recording head section; a supply path that communicates with the recording head section and the liquid storage section and supplies the liquid in the liquid storage section to the recording head section; The recording head has: an injection path that communicates with the supply path and supplies liquid to the recording head section and the liquid storage section from the outside; and a sealing member that seals the injection path. A liquid jet recording head. 2) a print head unit having an ejection port for ejecting liquid and an energy generating element provided corresponding to the ejection port and generating energy used for ejecting the liquid; and supplying energy to the print head unit. A liquid replenishment method for a recording head, comprising: a liquid storage section that stores liquid; and a supply path that communicates with the recording head section and the tank and supplies the liquid in the liquid storage section to the recording head section. , providing an injection path in the middle of the supply path for replenishing the recording head section and the liquid storage section with liquid from the outside;
A method for replenishing liquid for a recording head, comprising replenishing liquid through the injection path. 3) The liquid jet recording head according to claim 1, wherein the energy generating element is an electric/thermal converter that generates thermal energy that can be used for ejecting liquid.