JPH05138895A - Liquid accomodation container and ink jet head cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a bag for accomodating liquid to be thermally welded to an introduction component without thickening the bag by a method wherein a hot melt adhesive layer is provided to both of the bag for accomodating the liquid and the introduction component for introduction and supply of the liquid by being bonded to the bag. CONSTITUTION:An ink bag 10 for accomodating ink is made of a flexible material of a plastic sheet or the like, has a welding layer, and is thermally welded or high frequency welded to an ink introduction component 20. Therefore, the thickness of the welding layer of the ink bag 10 should re quire 20-30mu or over in consideration of welding strength. Further, an inside material of the ink bag 10 is stable for the ink. The ink bag is composed of, for example, a film of nylon or the like for the outside and two layer film of polyethylene for the inside. Further, much importance is attached to a gas barrier property and it is composed of a film car the like to which an aluminum layer is provided as a middle layer. Further, the ink introduction layer 20 is composed of an ink introduction tube part 21, a rib 22, and a sealing surface 23, and the rib 22 prevents the ink bag 10 from being crushed flat. A hot melt adhesive is preliminarily applied to the sealing surface 23 of the introduction component 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container for containing a liquid, and more particularly to a container for containing ink in an ink cartridge of an ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional liquid storage container is generally composed of an ink bag, an ink lead-out member, an ink lead-out tube portion, and ribs for preventing the ink bag from being crushed and brought into close contact. The ink bag is made of a flexible material such as a plastic sheet. The ink bag is heat-welded or high-frequency welded to the ink lead-out member. Therefore, the thickness of the welding layer of the ink bag needs to be 20 to 30 μm or more in consideration of the welding strength.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the sheet forming the ink bag needs to have a certain thickness for heat welding. If the thickness of the bag material is large, the resistance that is generated when the bag is crushed due to the bag being crushed, that is, the dynamic negative pressure increases, and the amount of residual ink that cannot be ejected increases. Therefore, the material forming the ink bag is required to be as thin and soft as possible. Further, the material on the welding surface side of the sheet and the material for the ink lead-out member need to be the same material, and the selectivity of the material is significantly restricted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid container and an ink jet head cartridge which can reduce the thickness of the bag.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a liquid container having a bag for containing a liquid and a lead-out member connected to the bag for leading and supplying the liquid, wherein Alternatively, by providing a hot-melt adhesive layer on the lead-out member, it is possible to perform heat welding with the lead-out member without increasing the thickness of the bag. Further, it is not necessary to use the same material for the inner material of the bag and the lead-out member, and the degree of freedom in material selection is increased.

[0006]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 10 denotes an ink bag for storing ink, which is made of a flexible material such as a plastic sheet. And this ink bag 10
It has a welding layer and is heat-welded or high-frequency welded to the ink lead-out member 20. Therefore, the thickness of the welding layer of the ink bag 10 is required to be 20 to 30 μ or more in consideration of the welding strength. Further, the material inside the ink bag 10 needs to be a stable material against ink. For example, the outer side is a film of nylon, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinylidene chloride or the like, the inner side is a two-layer film of polyethylene, or a three-layer film in which an aluminum layer is provided as an intermediate layer with an emphasis on gas barrier properties.

Reference numeral 20 denotes an ink lead-out member, which comprises an ink lead-out tube portion 21, a rib 22 and a sealing surface 23. Rib 22
Is for preventing the ink bag 10 from being crushed and closely attached. In the present embodiment, the sealing surface 2 of the ink lead-out member 20
3 is coated with hot melt adhesive in advance. Alternatively, it may be applied to the seal surface of the ink bag 10 in advance, or may be applied to both of them. As the hot melt adhesive, many adhesives such as ethylene-ethyl acrylate (EEA) and vinyl acetate-ethylene (VAE) can be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the ink storage container shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on the tank portion of an ink jet head cartridge in which the recording head portion and the tank portion are integrally formed. Reference numeral 100 is a slit bladder made of an elastic member having a slit that opens at a certain pressure difference or more, and is for controlling the hydraulic pressure applied to the nozzle within a certain pressure range. Reference numeral 200 denotes a slit bledder cover, which is used to prevent ink leakage due to the volume expansion of the ink in the ink bag when the ink is frozen and the slit bledder being pushed. 300 is a recording head unit, 40
Reference numeral 0 is an inkjet head cartridge.

The ink jet recording ink used in the present invention has, for example, the following composition.

As the dyes used in the ink used in the present invention, almost all of the water-soluble acid dyes, direct dyes, basic dyes, and reactive dyes described in the color index can be used. Further, even those not described in the color index can be used. Further, inorganic pigments such as carbon black and titanium oxide, and organic pigments such as monoazo pigments and phthalomyanine can also be used.

The amount of the above dye used in the ink of the present invention is not particularly limited, but generally 0.1 to 20% by weight, preferably 0.3 to 10% by weight based on the total weight of the ink.
Amounts occupying 10% by weight, more preferably 0.5 to 6% by weight are suitable.

The medium suitable for use in the ink of the present invention is water or a mixed solvent of water and a water-soluble organic solvent, and particularly preferable is a mixed solvent of water and a water-soluble organic solvent. The water-soluble organic solvent contains polyhydric alcohols having an effect of preventing ink drying. As the water, it is preferable to use deionized water instead of general water containing various ions.

The content of the water-soluble organic solvent in the ink is generally 2 to 80% by weight, preferably 3 to 70% by weight, more preferably 4 to 40% by weight based on the total weight of the ink.

The water used is 35% by weight of the total ink.
Or more, preferably 45% by weight or more,
In addition to the above components, the ink of the present invention may optionally contain
Antifungal agents, preservatives, pH adjusting agents, viscosity adjusting agents, surface tension adjusting agents and the like may be included.

The ink used in the present invention is 2
Viscosity at 5 ° C is 1 to 20 cP, preferably 1 to 15
It is preferable that it has a physical property of cP, a surface tension of 30 dyne / cm or more, preferably 40 dyne / cm or more, and a pH of about 4 to 10.

FIG. 3 shows an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the ink jet head cartridge of the present invention is applied.
FIG. Here, the carriage HC interlocks with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013, and the drive force transmission gear 501.
Lead screw 500 rotating through 1, 5009
The carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5005 of No. 4 has a pin (not shown) and is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. A recording head unit 5025 and an ink tank unit 5026 are mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate that holds the paper in the platen 5 in the carriage movement direction.
Press against 000. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photo couplers, which are home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Reference numeral 5016 is a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head, and 5015 is a suction unit that sucks the inside of the cap, which is an opening 502 in the cap.
The suction recovery of the recording head is performed via 3. 5017
Is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member that allows this blade to move in the front-rear direction.
These are supported by 8. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Reference numeral 5012 is a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor moves by a known transmission means such as clutch switching. Controlled.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage HC is positioned in the home position side area. If the desired operation is performed at a known timing, any of this example can be applied.

The present invention is provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating heat energy as energy used for ejecting ink, particularly in the ink jet recording system, and the heat energy is used to generate the heat energy. The present invention provides excellent effects in a recording head and a recording device of a type that causes a change in ink state.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,199 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, a liquid (ink) is used.
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the , Heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and the film is boiled on the heat acting surface of the recording head,
As a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) in a one-to-one correspondence with this drive signal, which is effective. The growth of this bubble,
The contraction causes the liquid (ink) to be ejected through the ejection opening to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape, because the bubble growth and contraction are immediately and appropriately performed, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be achieved. This pulse-shaped drive signal is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
Those described in 345262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the linear liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. US Pat. No. 4,558,333, US Pat. No. 4,558,333, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The structure using the specification of 459600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 123670/1984 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy. The present invention is also effective as a configuration based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138461/1984, which discloses a configuration in which the above is associated with the discharge portion.

Further, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum recording medium width that can be recorded by the recording device, a combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification is used. The present invention can exert the above-mentioned effects, although it may have a configuration that satisfies the length or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head that is specially provided is used.

It is also preferable to add recovery means for the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc., which are provided as a constituent of the recording apparatus of the present invention. Specifically, the recording head is preheated by a capping means, a cleaning means, a pressurizing or sucking means, an electrothermal converter, a heating element other than this, or a combination thereof. It is also effective to perform stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which discharge is performed separately from the means and the recording.

Further, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but the recording head may be integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely effective for a device provided with at least one of full color by color mixing.

[0025]

As described above, by providing the hot-melt adhesive layer on the bag containing the liquid and / or the outlet pipe member, the thickness of the bag can be remarkably reduced, and the liquid can be removed from the bag. It has become possible to reduce the dynamic negative pressure that occurs when it is derived.

As a result, in the case of containing the ink jet ink, it is possible to extremely reduce the residual ink amount remaining in the ink bag, increase the effective ink usage rate of the cartridge, and reduce the size of the cartridge. It has become possible to reduce running costs.

This is particularly remarkable in an ink jet head cartridge in which the recording head section and the ink tank section are integrally formed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a liquid container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of an inkjet head cartridge equipped with the liquid container shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with the inkjet head cartridge shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Ink Bag 20 Ink Outlet Member 21 Ink Outlet Tube Part 22 Rib 23 Sealing Surface 100 Slit Breader 200 Slit Breader Cover 300 Recording Head Part 400 Inkjet Head Cartridge

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Masami Kojima 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A liquid storage container having a bag for containing a liquid and a lead-out member coupled with the bag for leading out and supplying the liquid, wherein a hot-melt adhesive is applied to the bag and / or the lead-out member. Liquid storage container characterized by having layers. 2. The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the hot melt adhesive layer contains ethylene-ethyl acrylate. 3. The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the hot melt adhesive layer contains vinyl acetate-ethylene. 4. The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the bag for containing the liquid contains the ink for ink jet. 5. The liquid storage container according to claim 1, and a recording head configured to discharge the ink when the ink stored in the liquid storage container is supplied, are connected to each other. Inkjet head cartridge. 6. The recording head has a form of ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy, and has an electrothermal conversion element for generating the thermal energy. The described inkjet head cartridge.