JPH05318759A - Ink jet recording apparatus, ink tank therefor and ink tank integrated type recording head cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the leakage of ink from the atmosphere communication port of the ink tank being the ink supply source of an ink jet recording apparatus. CONSTITUTION:A member 1 provided with a thin-walled part wherein a groove having a comb-tooth cross section is formed to the periphery of an atmosphere communication route is arranged to the atmosphere communication port 1401 of an ink tank main body 1000 in which the ink to be supplied to an ink jet recording head IJH is received. By this constitution, even when a pressure change is generated in an ink receiving part and the ink reaches the atmosphere communication route, the ink can be held by the capillary force of the member 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has an ink jet recording apparatus for ejecting droplets onto a recording material to form characters, images and the like, an ink tank used in the apparatus, and an ink tank integrally provided. And a recording head cartridge integrated with an ink tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one form of a recording system, ink is guided from an ink tank to a recording head, and an energy generator, such as a heating element or a piezoelectric element, provided near an ejection port of the recording head is driven based on a signal. By doing
An ink jet recording method is known in which an ink droplet is ejected from an ejection port and the ejected ink is attached to a recording material to perform recording.

In this type of apparatus, a cartridge type ink tank is often used for the convenience of replenishing ink. In this case, ink can be replenished only by replacing the ink tank, and the amount of replenishment can be determined. There is an advantage that it is not necessary, and that the ink is hardly contaminated during replenishment.

In most of the conventional ink tanks, the ink storage portion of the ink tank opens a minute portion of the tank (about 3% of the internal area of the tank) to the atmosphere. Then, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat.No. 4,771,295, ink is absorbed by a porous absorbent body represented by a urethane sponge provided inside the ink tank to store the ink, and a suitable absorbent is used by the absorbent body. The ink was retained by generating pressure.

FIG. 8 shows a main sectional view of an ink tank according to a conventional example.

This ink tank has a form of a cartridge (hereinafter, also referred to as an ink tank integrated type recording head cartridge, an ink jet cartridge or simply a cartridge) in which a recording head element having a function of ejecting ink is integrated. Cartridge body
1000, an ink absorber 6000, a lid member 1100, and a recording head element 1103. Here, the ink absorber 6000 is arranged in the cartridge body 1000. Further, reference numeral 7000 denotes an atmosphere communication port for guiding the ink storage portion to the atmosphere.

[0007]

However, in such a structure, due to various factors such as a sudden temperature change, a pressure change, an impact due to a drop or a vibration, a centrifugal force, or the like,
The ink in the porous body could not be fully retained and leaked out from the atmosphere communication port 7000 in a minute amount.

It is an object of the present invention to prevent such inconvenience and prevent ink leakage from the atmosphere communication port.

[0009]

To this end, the present invention provides
In an ink tank used for an ink jet recording apparatus that performs recording using a recording head that ejects ink to a recording medium, the ink tank having a container that stores ink to be supplied to the recording head, It is characterized by comprising an atmosphere communication port for communicating the ink with the atmosphere and a buffer means provided in the atmosphere communication port for buffering the pressure fluctuation of the ink generated in the ink containing portion.

The ink tank-integrated recording head cartridge of the present invention integrally has such an ink tank and a recording head for ejecting ink onto the recording medium, and is attachable to and detachable from the ink jet recording apparatus. It is characterized by

Further, the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is characterized by comprising the above ink tank and a recording head for ejecting the ink supplied from the ink containing portion onto a recording medium.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a temporary ink reservoir member, which is a buffering means in the ink tank, is provided in the atmosphere communication port, and the interior of the ink storage portion is communicated with the atmosphere through the temporary ink reservoir member. Ink can be temporarily stored in the temporary ink storage member according to the change in pressure in the tank.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic cross section of an ink tank integrated type recording head cartridge as one embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 6 show the ink jet unit IJU, the ink jet head IJH, the ink tank IT, the ink jet cartridge IJC, the ink jet recording apparatus main body IJRA, which are suitable for implementing or applying the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining each of the carriages HC and their mutual relationships. Further, FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of the temporary ink reservoir member arranged in the ink tank. The configuration of each part will be described below with reference to these drawings.

Inkjet cartridge IJC in this example
As is apparent from the perspective view of FIG. 3, the proportion of the ink storage portion is large, and the tip of the ink jet unit IJU is slightly projected from the front surface of the ink tank IT. This inkjet cartridge IJC is fixedly supported by a positioning means and electrical contacts of a carriage HC (FIG. 5) mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus main body IJRA, and is detachable from the carriage HC. .. 1 to 7 of the present example have a configuration to which a number of new technologies made at the stage of establishment of the present invention are applied, and therefore the entire configuration will be described while briefly describing these configurations. To do.

(I) Description of Configuration of Inkjet Unit IJU In the inkjet unit IJU of this example, recording is performed using an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy for causing film boiling in the ink in response to an electrical signal. Is a unit of.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 denotes an electrothermal converter (ejection heater) arranged in a plurality of rows on a Si substrate, and electric wiring such as Al for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converter, which are formed by a film forming technique. It is a heater board consisting of. 200 is the heater board 100
A wiring board corresponding to the wiring of the heater board 100 (for example, connected by wire bonding), and a pad 201 located at the end of this wiring and receiving an electric signal from the main body device. There is.

Reference numeral 1300 is a grooved top plate provided with a partition for partitioning a plurality of liquid passages and a common liquid chamber for temporarily storing ink for supplying ink to each liquid passage, which is supplied from the ink tank IT. An ink receiving port 1500 for receiving the generated ink and introducing it into the supply liquid chamber, and an orifice plate 400 having a plurality of ejection ports corresponding to the respective liquid passages are integrally molded. Polysulfone is preferable as the integral molding material, but other molding resin materials may be used.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a support body, for example, made of metal, which supports the back surface of the wiring board 200 on a flat surface and serves as a bottom plate of the ink jet unit. Reference numeral 500 denotes a presser spring, which has a substantially M-shape, presses the common liquid chamber with a light pressure at the center of the M-shape, and uses the front droop 501 to part of the liquid passage, preferably near the discharge port. Concentrate the area with linear pressure. Hold the heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 in place.
By sandwiching these by engaging the back side of the support 300 through 21 and engaging both in that state,
The heater board 100 and the top plate 1300 are pressure-bonded to each other by the concentrated biasing force of the presser spring 500 and its front slant 501. Also,
The support 300 has two positioning protrusions 10 of the ink tank IT.
12 and positioning holes 312, 1900, 2000 for engaging the positioning / heat-fusion holding projections 1800, 1801
IJRA carriage HC positioning protrusion 2500, 260
It has 0 on the back side. In addition, the support 300 is an ink supply pipe 2200 that enables ink supply from the ink tank.
It also has a hole 320 that allows for insertion (described below). The wiring board 200 is attached to the support 300 by adhering it with an adhesive or the like.

The recesses 2400 and 2401 of the support member 300 are provided in the vicinity of the positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600, respectively, and in the assembled ink jet cartridge IJC (FIG. 3), the surrounding three sides are parallel grooves. It is located at an extension point of the head tip region formed by a plurality of 3000 and 3001 so that unnecessary objects such as dust and ink do not reach the protrusions 2500 and 2600. Lid member with parallel groove 3000 formed
As is clear from FIG. 5, the 800 forms the outer wall of the inkjet cartridge IJC and also forms a space for accommodating the inkjet unit IJU together with the ink tank. Further, the ink supply member 600 in which the parallel groove 3001 is formed is formed as a cantilever with the ink conduit 1600 continuous to the above-described ink supply pipe 2200 being fixed on the supply pipe 2200 side, and the ink supply member 600 and the fixed side of the ink conduit. Supply pipe 22
A sealing pin 602 is inserted to ensure a capillarity with 00. 601 is a packing that seals the ink tank IT and the supply pipe 2200, and 700 is a filter provided at the end of the supply pipe on the tank side.

Since the ink supply member 600 is molded, the ink supply member 600 is inexpensive, has a high positional accuracy, and eliminates a decrease in the accuracy of formation and manufacture.
With 00, the pressure contact state of the conduit 1600 to the ink receiving port 1500 can be stabilized even in mass production. In this example, by simply pouring the sealing adhesive from the ink supply member side under this pressure contact state, a more complete communication state can be reliably obtained. To fix the ink supply member 600 to the support 300, the back side pins (not shown) of the ink supply member 600 to the holes 1901 and 1902 of the support 300 are attached to the holes 190 of the support 300.
This can be easily performed by projecting through through 11902 and heat-sealing the portion projecting to the back surface side of the support 300. In addition, the slightly projected area on the back surface that is heat-sealed is accommodated in the recess (not shown) on the side wall surface of the ink-jet unit IJU mounting surface of the ink tank IT.
The positioning surface of U can be obtained accurately.

(Ii) Description of Ink Tank IT Structure The ink tank IT is composed of a cartridge body 1000, an ink temporary reservoir member 900, a movable wall 950, and a lid member 1100.

Reference numeral 900 denotes an absorber for impregnating ink, which is arranged in the cartridge body 1000. 1200 is an ink jet unit IJU consisting of 100 to 600 parts above
Is a supply port for supplying ink to
It is also an injection port for impregnating the absorber 900 with ink by injecting ink from the supply port 1200 in the process before disposing the unit in the portion 1010 of the cartridge body 1000.

In this example, the ink supply portion is the atmosphere communication port and this supply port, but the rib 3300 in the main body 1000 and the lid member 1100 for good ink supply from the ink absorber. Since the tank air presence area formed by the partial ribs 3500 and 3400 of the above is continuous from the atmosphere communication port 1401 side and is formed over the farthest corner area from the ink supply port 1200, It is important that the ink supply to the absorber that is good and uniform is performed from the supply port 1200 side. This method is extremely effective in practice. Furthermore, on the rear surface of the main body 1000 of the ink tank, there are four ribs parallel to the carriage movement direction,
This prevents the absorber from sticking to the rear surface.

Similarly, the partial ribs 3400 and 3500 are provided on the inner surface of the lid member 1100 which is an extension corresponding to the ribs 3300 and the like, but are in a divided state unlike the ribs 3300 and the like. The space where air exists is increased more than the former.
Further, the partial ribs 3500 and 3400 are distributed over the surface of half or less of the total area of the lid member 1000. With these ribs, the ink in the corner area farthest from the tank supply port 1200 of the ink absorber is made more stable and the supply port 12 is surely provided.
I was able to lead to the 00 side by capillary force. 1401 is an atmosphere communication port provided in the lid member for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere. A liquid repellent material 1400 is arranged inside the atmosphere communication port 1401. This prevents ink leakage from the atmosphere communication port 1400.

Since the ink storage space of the ink tank IT described above has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and has long sides on its side surfaces, the rib arrangement configuration described above is particularly effective. In the case where the ink absorber 900 has a cubic shape or a cubic shape, it is possible to stabilize the ink supply from the ink absorber 900 by providing a rib on the entire lid member 1100.
A rectangular parallelepiped shape is suitable for storing ink in a limited space as much as possible, but in order to use this stored ink for recording without waste, as described above, the corner area is It is a preferable configuration to provide ribs capable of performing the above-mentioned action in the two adjacent surface areas.

Further, the inner surface ribs of the ink tank IT in this embodiment are arranged in a substantially uniform distribution in the thickness direction of the rectangular parallelepiped ink absorber. This configuration is an important configuration because the ink residual amount can be made almost zero while the atmospheric pressure distribution is made uniform with respect to the ink consumption of the entire absorber. Further, to describe the technical idea of the arrangement of the ribs in detail, when an arc having a long side as a radius is drawn around the position where the ink supply port 1200 of the ink tank is projected on the rectangular upper surface of the rectangular parallelepiped, It is important to dispose the ribs on the surface outside the arc so that the atmospheric pressure state can be given to the absorber located outside the arc at an early stage. In this case, the atmosphere communication port of the tank is not limited to this example as long as the atmosphere can be introduced into the rib disposition region.

In addition, in this embodiment, the rearward direction with respect to the head of the ink jet cartridge IJC is flattened,
In addition to minimizing the space required when installed in the device and maximizing the amount of ink stored, the device can be made smaller and the replacement frequency of the cartridge can be reduced. It has an excellent structure. Then, by utilizing the rear part of the space for integrating the inkjet unit IJU, a protruding part for the atmosphere communication port 1401 is formed there, and the inside of this protruding part is hollowed, and the temporary ink reservoir is stored here. The member 1 is disposed, and the atmospheric pressure supply space 1402 is provided around the temporary ink reservoir member 1.
Has been formed. With such a configuration, it was possible to provide an excellent cartridge that has never been seen before. Even if the ink is separated from the absorber due to some abnormality, the temporary ink reservoir member 1 can temporarily hold the ink and surely collect the ink in the absorber, so that an excellent cartridge without waste. Can be provided.

Here, the construction and operation of the temporary ink reservoir member 1 for temporarily retaining ink according to the pressure change in the ink tank will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7 (a) to 7 (d).

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 is an ink core, one end of which is connected to the temporary ink reservoir member 1 and the other end of which is connected to the ink absorber 900. 7 (a) to 7 (d), the temporary ink reservoir member 1 includes a through hole 1a, a thin portion 1b, and an ink groove.
It has 1c, communication part 1d, etc. The ink core 2 made of a fiber bundle is inserted into the through hole 1a. The thin portion 1b is for forming an ink reservoir. That is, the gap between the thin portions serves as a portion where ink is temporarily stored. The thin portion 1b has a comb-shaped vertical cross section, and is formed as a plurality of arranged thin portions or as a spiral thin portion.

The ink groove 1c has a slit shape, and in this example, it is formed up to the outermost end of the thin portion 1b. It is not preferable to make the capillary force of the ink reservoir portion stronger than the capillary force of the ink groove 1c.

In this example, the communicating portion 1d is formed at the end of the ink groove 1c on the ink absorber 900 side as an opening to the through hole 1a of the ink groove 1c. Because it is easy to mold.
However, the communicating portion 1d is not connected to the ink absorber 90 in the ink groove 1c.
It is for guiding the 0 ink and is not necessarily formed as a part of the ink groove 1c.

Now, the ink groove 1c of this example is shown in FIGS. 7 (a), (c),
As shown in (d), the two wires are arranged so as to be symmetrical in the cross section. This point is important and will be explained below.

The ink that has entered the temporary ink reservoir member 1 from the ink absorber 900 flows to the communicating portion 1d (in this example, since the communicating portion 1d is formed as a part of the ink groove 1c, the ink groove 1c). Also flows to). During this time, the ink absorber 900
Since the pressure inside the ink absorber 900 decreases only by ejecting the ink from the inside, air actually enters the ink absorber 900 through the communication portion 1d. External pressure and ink absorber 900
When the internal pressure becomes almost equal, an ink film that separates the outside world from the inside of the ink absorber 900 is formed at the communication portion 1d. In this state, no ink is stored in the ink reservoir, but when the air in the ink absorber 900 expands, the ink is pushed out.

The ink thus pushed out passes through the communicating portion 1d and the ink groove 1c and is collected in the ink reservoir. On the contrary, when the air in the ink absorber 900 contracts, the ink in the ink reservoir passes through the ink groove 1c and the communicating portion 1d, and the ink absorber
Return to 900. The accumulation of ink in the ink reservoir and the return of ink to the ink absorber 900 are movements through the two ink grooves 1c. That is, in the ink reservoir, ink is accumulated in the vicinity of each ink groove 1c and in a ring shape when a large amount of ink is moved, but when returning, the two inks are symmetrical in cross section. Since the ink returns from the ink groove 1c, the moving distance to the ink groove 1c can be short. In other words, even if the ink stored in the ink reservoir has the largest movement distance to the ink groove 1c, the movement is about 90 ° at most. The amount of ink left in the ink reservoir is reduced accordingly.

Further, it is desirable that the two ink grooves 1c are designed to have exactly the same shape and the same size. However, in reality, there is a difference in size due to variations in molding. is there. This dimensional difference makes a great difference in the movement of the air following the ink, although it makes a small difference in the movement of the ink. That is, the ink is absorbed from one ink groove 1c through the one having the weaker capillary force to the ink absorber 900.
When it is completely returned to, an ink film is formed in at least the communication portion 1d of the ink groove 1c. After the ink film is formed, the force of the air to break the ink film is large as described above, so that the ink returns from the other ink groove 1c continuously. Then, after the ink film is formed on both sides, the entry of air that breaks the ink film starts for the first time. Therefore, the invasion of air occurs unilaterally in the communicating portion 1d of the ink groove 1c, which has a comparatively weak capillary force. In the time from the formation of one ink film to the formation of the other ink film, if the ink to be moved to the ink groove 1c of the film formation remains in the ink reservoir, it moves to the ink groove 1c. This will give you time. Because of this, 2
The fact that the ink grooves 1c of the book are formed symmetrically with respect to the transverse section is very useful for satisfying a good function even if there are variations in molding actually.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the structure of the mounting surface of the unit IJU of the ink tank IT. Let L ₁ be a straight line that passes through the approximate center of the orifice of the orifice plate 400 and is parallel to the placement reference plane of the bottom surface of the ink tank IT or the carriage surface. Two positionings that engage with the holes 312 of the support 300 The protrusion 1012 is on this straight line L ₁ . This protrusion 1012
Is slightly lower than the thickness of support 300,
Position 0. In this drawing, the 90 ° angle engaging surface 40 of the carriage positioning hook 4001 is located on the extension of the straight line L _1.
The claw 2100 with which 02 is engaged is located, and the positioning action force with respect to the carriage is configured to act in a plane region including the straight line L ₁ and parallel to the reference plane. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 5, these relationships are effective because the positioning accuracy of only the ink tank is equal to the positioning accuracy of the ejection port of the head.

Further, the protrusions 1800 and 1801 of the ink tank corresponding to the fixing holes 1900 and 2000 on the side of the ink tank of the support 300 are longer than the protrusion 1012 described above, and the support 30
This is for fixing the support 300 to the side surface of the support 300 by heat-sealing the protruding portion penetrating through 0. A straight line passing through the protrusion 1800 perpendicular to the above line L ₁ is L ₃ , and a straight line passing through the protrusion 1801 is
When the L _2, since on the straight line L ₃ are located substantially center of the supply port 1200, and the effect of stabilizing the state of bonding between the supply pipe 2200 and a mouth 1200 of the feed unit, even by impacts and falls This is a preferable configuration because the load on these coupled states can be reduced. Further, the straight lines L ₂ and L ₃ do not coincide with each other, and the projections 1800 and 1801 are present around the projection 1012 on the ejection port side of the head IJH, which further enhances the positioning effect of the head IJH with respect to the tank. .. The curve indicated by L ₄ is the outer wall position when the ink supply member 600 is mounted. Protrusion 180
Since 0 and 1801 are along the curve L ₄ , sufficient strength and positional accuracy are given to the weight of the tip side structure of the head IJH.

Reference numeral 2700 is a tip brim of the ink tank IT, which is inserted into a hole (FIG. 5) of the front plate 4000 provided in the carriage HC and is provided for an abnormal case where the displacement of the ink tank becomes extremely bad. 2101 is a retainer for the carriage HC, which is provided for a bar (not shown) of the carriage HC. When the cartridge IJC is pivotally mounted as will be described later, it enters below this bar and is unnecessarily positioned. It is a protection member for maintaining the mounted state even when a force is applied in the upward direction to disengage it from.

By the way, the ink tank IT is a unit IJ.
The unit IJU can be covered by covering with the lid 800 after the U is attached.
However, in the ink jet cartridge IJC, since the lower opening for mounting on the carriage HC is close to the carriage HC, a substantially four-sided surrounding space is formed. Therefore, although the heat generated from the head IJH in this enclosed space is effective as a heat retaining space in this space, a slight rise in temperature occurs during long-term continuous use. Therefore, in this example, a slit 1700 having a width smaller than this space is provided in the upper surface of the cartridge IJC in order to help the support body to radiate heat naturally to prevent the temperature from rising and to make the temperature distribution of the entire unit IJU uniform. We decided to make the change insensitive to the environment.

When assembled as an ink jet cartridge IJC, ink is supplied from the inside of the cartridge 12
00, is supplied into the supply tank 600 through a hole 320 provided in the support 300 and an inlet provided on the back side of the supply tank 600, and after passing through the inside, an appropriate supply pipe and a ceiling are provided from the outlet. It flows into the common liquid chamber through the ink introduction port 1500 of the plate 1300.

In the connection part of the ink supply system described above,
For example, packing such as silicone rubber or butyl rubber is provided, and sealing is performed by this to secure the ink supply path.

In this embodiment, the top plate 1300 is made of a resin such as polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyphenylene oxide, polypropylene, etc., which has excellent ink resistance, and is molded simultaneously in the mold together with the orifice plate 400. is doing. The thin portion 901, which is a temporary ink reservoir, has a structure in which the capillary force is increased and the ink is retained by subjecting the ABS resin to a hydrophilic treatment to make it porous.

As described above, in this example, the ink supply member
Since the 600, the top plate / orifice plate integrated part, and the ink tank main body 1000 are integrally molded parts, not only the assembly accuracy becomes high, but also it is extremely effective in improving the quality of mass production. Further, since the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional one, excellent desired characteristics can be surely exhibited.

Further, in this embodiment, in the shape after assembly, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the ink supply member 600 has a roof portion whose upper surface portion 603 is provided with the slit 1700 of the ink tank IT. 3, a slit S is formed between the end portion 4008 and the end portion 4008, and the lower surface portion 604 is formed between the head side end portion 4011 of the thin plate member to which the lower lid 800 of the ink tank IT is adhered. A slit (not shown) similar to the slit S is formed in the. The slit between the ink tank IT and the ink supply member 600 is the slit 1700 described above.
In addition to substantially promoting the heat dissipation of
Even if unnecessary pressure is applied to the tank IT, it is prevented from directly affecting the supply member and eventually the inkjet unit IJT.

In any case, the above configuration of this embodiment is
It is a structure that has not been available in the past, and each of them has an effective effect independently, and also has a composite structure, which brings about an organic structure.

(Iii) Description of Attachment of Inkjet Cartridge IJC to Carriage HC In FIG. 5, reference numeral 5000 is a platen roller that guides the recording medium P upward from below the paper surface. The carriage HC moves along the platen roller 5000, and is mounted on the front platen side of the carriage on the front plate 4000 (thickness 2 mm) located on the front side of the inkjet cartridge IJC and the pad 201 of the wiring board 200 of the cartridge IJC. A flexible sheet 4005 equipped with a corresponding pad 2011 and a support plate 4003 for electrical connection portion holding a rubber pad sheet 4007 for generating an elastic force that presses the flexible sheet 4005 against each pad 2011 from the back surface side.
And a positioning hook 4001 for fixing the inkjet cartridge IJC to the recording position.
The front plate 4000 has two positioning projection surfaces 4010 corresponding to the above-mentioned positioning projections 2500 and 2600 of the cartridge support 300, respectively.
Receives vertical force toward 4010. For this reason, the platen roller side of the front plate has a plurality of ribs (not shown) directed in the direction of the vertical force. This rib is slightly smaller than the front position L ₅ when the cartridge IJC is installed (about 0.1 mm
A head protection protrusion protruding toward the platen roller is also formed. The support plate 4003 for electrical connection portions has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 4004 in the vertical direction, not in the direction of the ribs, and the proportion of lateral projection from the platen side toward the hook 4001 side is reduced. This also fulfills the function of inclining the position when the cartridge is mounted as shown in the figure.

Further, since the support body 4003 stabilizes the electrical contact state, the hook side for exerting an acting force on the cartridge in the direction opposite to the acting direction of the two positioning protruding surfaces 4010 on the cartridge is provided. Two positioning surfaces 4006 are provided corresponding to the projecting surfaces 4010, a pad contact area is formed between them, and the deformation amount of the bocce of the rubber sheet 4007 with a boch corresponding to the pad 2011 is uniquely defined. These positioning surfaces come into contact with the surface of the wiring board 200 when the cartridge IJC is fixed at a recordable position. In this example, since the pads 201 of the wiring board 200 are distributed symmetrically with respect to the line L ₁ described above, the deformation amounts of the respective bottches of the rubber sheet 4007 are made uniform and the contact pressure of the pads 2011, 201 is reduced. Is more stable. The distribution of the pads 201 in this example is two rows above and two rows below.

The hook 4001 has an elongated hole that engages with the fixed shaft 4009. The hook 4001 is rotated counterclockwise from the position shown in the drawing using the moving space of the elongated hole, and then left along the platen roller 5000. By moving to the side, the inkjet cartridge IJC is positioned with respect to the carriage HC. This hook 40
Although 01 can be moved by any means, it is preferable to use a lever or the like. In any case, when the hook 4001 rotates, the cartridge IJC moves to the platen roller side, and the positioning protrusions 2500 and 2600 move to a position where they can contact the positioning surface 4010 of the front plate, and the hook 4001 moves to the left side. 90 ° hook surface 4002 by 90 on cartridge IJC claw 2100
Align the cartridge IJC with the positioning surface 2500,4
[0101] The pads 201 and 2011 come into contact with each other after turning in a horizontal plane around the contact area of the comrades. And hook 4001
Is held in place, i.e. in a fixed position, the pad
201,2011 Complete contact with each other and positioning surface 2500,4010
The simultaneous full surface contact, the double surface contact of the 90 ° surface 4002 and the 90 ° surface of the claw, and the surface contact of the wiring board 300 and the positioning surface 4006 are simultaneously formed, and the holding of the cartridge IJC with respect to the carriage is completed.

(Iv) General Description of Apparatus Main Body FIG. 6 shows an inkjet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. Here, the carriage HC is the drive motor 50.
It has a pin (not shown) that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 50111 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of 13 and And reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b. 5002
Is a holding plate (paper holding plate) for paper, OHP film or other recording medium (hereinafter also simply referred to as paper), and presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the carriage movement direction. Fifty
07,5008 is a photocoupler, and lever 50 of the carriage
It is a home position detecting means for confirming the presence of 06 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. Fifty
16 is a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head.
A member 5015 that supports the suction means 5015 is suction means for sucking the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. 5017 is a cleaning blade, 5019 is a member that allows this blade to move in the front-back direction,
These are supported by the main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Reference numeral 5012 denotes 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 drive 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. Any of these can be applied to the present example as long as a desired operation is performed at a known timing.

(Others) The present invention is particularly provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink even in the ink jet recording system. The present invention provides excellent effects in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type in which the thermal energy causes a change in ink state. This is because such a system can achieve high density recording and high definition recording.

Regarding the typical structure and principle thereof, see, for example, US Pat. No. 4,723,129 and US Pat. No. 4,740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method is a so-called on-demand type,
It can be applied to any of the continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, it can be applied to the sheet holding the liquid (ink) or the electrothermal converter arranged corresponding to the liquid path. By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and giving a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling, heat energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface of the recording head. Liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal as a result
This is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings 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. As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 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 discharge port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications. U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333, U.S. Pat. No. 44, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting portion is arranged in a bending region.
The configuration using the specification of No. 59600 is also included in the present invention. In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670 discloses a configuration in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is provided. The effect of the present invention is effective even if the configuration corresponding to the ejection portion is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461. That is, according to the present invention, recording can be surely and efficiently performed regardless of the form of the recording head.

Further, the present invention can be effectively applied to a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum width of a recording medium which can be recorded by the recording apparatus. Such a recording head may have a configuration that satisfies the length by a combination of a plurality of recording heads or a configuration as one recording head integrally formed.

Further, as the constitution of the recording apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to add ejection recovery means of the recording head, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, heating is performed by using a capping means, a cleaning means, a pressure or suction means for the recording head, an electrothermal converter or a heating element other than this, or a combination thereof. Examples thereof include a preliminary heating unit for performing the discharge and a preliminary discharge unit for performing discharge different from the recording.

Regarding the type and number of recording heads to be mounted, for example, only one is provided corresponding to a single color ink, or a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities are supported. A plurality of pieces may be provided. That is, for example, the recording mode of the recording apparatus is not limited to the recording mode of only the mainstream color such as black, but may be either integrally formed of the recording heads or a combination of a plurality of them. The present invention is also very effective for an apparatus provided with at least one of full-color recording modes by color mixing.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower and that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Or, in the inkjet method, it is common to adjust the temperature of the ink itself within the range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower to control the temperature so that the viscosity of the ink is within the stable ejection range. At times, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state, or in order to prevent the evaporation of the ink, it is solidified and heated in a standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, by applying heat energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In this case, the ink is
JP 54-56847 A or JP 60-7.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 1260, it may be configured to face the electrothermal converter in a state of being held as a liquid or a solid in the concave portion or the through hole of the porous sheet. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, besides the one used as an image output terminal of an information processing apparatus such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function. It may be in a form or the like.

[0061]

As described above, since the ink tank is made to communicate with the atmosphere through the temporary ink reservoir member, it is possible to cause a sudden temperature change or pressure change, or a shock or a centrifugal force due to a drop or vibration. Ink leakage can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an ink tank integrated recording head cartridge as a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the assembly of the cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mounting surface of the cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of a mounting portion of a recording apparatus to which the cartridge is applied.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a recording apparatus to which the cartridge is applied.

7 (a) to 7 (d) are explanatory views showing a configuration example of a temporary ink reservoir member arranged in the atmosphere communication port of the cartridge of this example.

FIG. 8 is a main sectional view of a conventional ink tank.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Heater board 200 Wiring board 201 Pad 300 Support 320 Hole 400 Orifice plate 500 Presser spring 501 Forehead 600 Ink supply member 601 Packing 602 Sealing pin 700 Filter 800 Lid member 900 Temporary ink reservoir member 1000 Cartridge 1010 Fixed wall 1100 Lid Parts 1200 Ink supply port 1300 Groove top plate 1401 Air communication port

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location 9012-2C B41J 3/04 103 B (72) Inventor Masami Kojima 3-30 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Hattori 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Hideo Saitokawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Kenji Aono 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Mitsushi Kitani 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. Within

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An ink tank used in an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by using a recording head for ejecting ink to a recording medium, the ink tank having a storage portion for storing ink to be supplied to the recording head. An atmosphere communication port for communicating the inside of the ink storage unit with the atmosphere,
An ink tank comprising a buffer means provided at the atmosphere communication port for buffering a pressure fluctuation of ink generated in the ink containing portion. 2. The buffering means has a through hole forming a part of an atmosphere communication passage, and a member provided around the through hole for holding ink by a capillary force. Ink tank described in. 3. The ink tank according to claim 2, wherein the member is provided with a thin portion that forms a groove having a comb-like vertical cross section. 4. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein the storage section is provided with a porous body for impregnating ink. 5. An ink tank according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and a recording head for ejecting ink onto a recording medium are integrally provided, and are attachable to and detachable from an inkjet recording apparatus. An ink tank-integrated recording head cartridge characterized in that 6. The recording head has an electrothermal converter that generates thermal energy that causes film boiling in the ink, as an element that generates energy used for ejecting the ink. The recording head cartridge integrated with an ink tank according to claim 5. 7. An ink jet recording comprising the ink tank according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and a recording head for ejecting ink supplied from the ink containing section onto a recording medium. apparatus. 8. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the recording head and the ink tank are in the form of a cartridge that is integrally formed, and the recording head and the ink tank are provided with a supporting unit that detachably supports the cartridge. Recording device. 9. The recording head has an electrothermal converter that generates heat energy that causes film boiling in the ink, as an element that generates energy used for ejecting the ink. Claim 7 or 8
The inkjet recording device according to item 1.