JPH06191049A - Ink tank, ink jet cartridge, ink jet recording apparatus and device and method for injecting ink into ink tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the mixing of air bubbles into an ink tank at the time of the injection of ink in the ink tank having a slit bladder by separating the ink tank into a sub-tank chamber and a main tank chamber both of which communicate with an ink supply passage by an almost semispherical partition wall member composed of a deformable elastomer having a slit provided to the leading end part thereof. CONSTITUTION:Even when ink is temporarily sucked from an ink emitting orifice by a suction pump for the purpose of keeping and improving the emission state of a recording head part IJH, the pressure difference between a sub-tank chamber 170 and a main tank chamber 150 becomes large in the same way as the case of ink consumption at the time of recording. Therefore, a bladder 100 is deformed and a slit 110 is opened and ink is supplied into the sub-tank chamber 170 from the main tank chamber 150. After the supply of the ink, the bladder 100 is restored and the slit 110 is returned to an initial closed state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink tank, an ink jet cartridge, an ink jet recording apparatus, an ink injecting apparatus for the ink tank, and a method for injecting the ink, and more specifically, an ink tank containing a recording ink and the ink tank. Inkjet cartridge in which a recording head unit and a recording head unit are connected via an ink supply unit, an inkjet recording apparatus for recording by mounting such a replaceable inkjet cartridge, and ink to an ink tank of this type The present invention relates to an injection device and an injection method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet head cartridge (hereinafter referred to as an ink jet cartridge IJC) which is integrally configured with an energy generating portion for forming ink droplets and an ink tank for storing ink to be supplied to the energy generating portion. Has been put to practical use. This type of ink tank is disclosed in JP-A-63-87242 (US Pat.
No. 59-98857 (USP45090) and a method in which a porous ink absorber that is compressed and accommodated is impregnated with ink, as disclosed in US Pat.
62) or JP-A-59-207263 (US).
As disclosed in P4500095), a rubber bladder containing ink is known.

In the case of such a configuration, the ink retained inside is ejected from the ink supply path to the ink ejecting portion through the common liquid chamber in the head due to the capillary force and ejection caused by the ink consumption amount of the ejecting portion. It is supplied from the ink tank by negative pressure. Therefore, as a characteristic of the absorber or the rubber bladder, while the ink is held and the ink is filled and supplied to the ink ejection portion, the ink held inside does not leak out unexpectedly. Ink holding power is required. Therefore, in the ink absorber, it is necessary to optimize the size of internal pores, and in the rubber bladder, it is necessary to optimize the thickness and shape of the rubber film. .

Further, when injecting ink into the ink tank of the conventional ink jet cartridge IJC, it is more important to first suck the inside of the ink tank (hereinafter referred to as IT) which is the ink container of the IJC with a vacuum pump or the like. A method has been employed in which a negative pressure (-75 cmHg or more) is maintained and a fixed amount of ink is fed into the IT by a glass syringe driven by a motor or the like.

[0005]

However, in the case of the ink tank as in the above-mentioned conventional example, if the negative pressure in the ink tank is less than a certain value regardless of whether the absorber or the rubber bladder is used, If leakage occurs and the internal negative pressure increases as the amount of ink decreases and exceeds a certain range, it affects the ejection of ink, which leads to deterioration of recording quality or ejection failure. A certain amount of unusable ink in the tank remains. Further, when the absorber is used inside the tank, there is a defect that the ratio of the effective ink amount to the volume of the ink tank is low and the volume efficiency is low because the ink is impregnated in the absorber. On the other hand, when a rubber bladder is used, there is a drawback in that impact to ink is generated due to movement of the carriage or the like, and ink leakage is likely to occur, and so far only a small capacity has been realized.

Therefore, no matter which method is selected for increasing the capacity of IT, in the case of the absorber, the volume efficiency is poor and the IT becomes large when increasing the capacity, and the rubber bladder is used. In that case, the impact resistance was poor, and in either case, there were many problems in increasing the capacity.

Therefore, the inventors of the present invention first deformed the slits when the negative pressure increased in the IT or in the ink flow path and opened the slits, and when the negative pressure was reduced to a certain value, the deformation returned to some extent. By providing a dome-shaped or hemispherical partition wall (hereinafter referred to as a slit bladder) made of an elastic member having a slit that closes, the volume of the bladder itself is increased without increasing the negative pressure value in IT. We proposed that it is possible to realize a large capacity without needing to reduce impact resistance and to greatly improve IT volume efficiency.

However, it is very difficult to inject the ink into the inside and outside of the slit bladder so that no air bubbles are introduced, and the ink is separately injected into the sub tank chamber inside the slit bladder and the main tank chamber outside the slit bladder. When injected, bubbles remain in both the sub-tank chamber and the main tank chamber, and if the bubbles left inside the slit section in the sub-tank chamber inside the slit bladder exceed the size, the volume of the sub-tank chamber will be small. In addition, there is a risk that the inflow of ink from the slits may be hindered and ink may not be supplied.

Further, in the case of injecting ink into the ink tank IT as described above, if the valve between the syringe and the glass syringe is opened while the inside of IT is kept at a negative pressure, the ink is immediately ejected from the piston sliding portion of the syringe. There is a problem that air is sucked in. Moreover, such a phenomenon occurs only in a short time until the syringe starts to move if the speed of movement in the cylinder of the syringe is sufficiently high,
When the moving speed of the syringe is slow, the result is that air is continuously sucked from the sliding portion during the movement.

That is, it is preferable that the injection speed is slow in order to sufficiently permeate the ink into the volume per unit of the absorber and further spread the ink to all the corners of the absorber. Since there are problems as described above and it is difficult to control the injection speed in the past, there were various restrictions on the design of IJC such as the shape of IT, the shape of IJC, the amount of ink stored, and the mounting position of the chip unit. .

A first object of the present invention is to provide an IT having the above-mentioned slit bladder so that air bubbles will not be mixed in at the time of injecting the ink, an IJC equipped with such an IT and such an IJC. An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus that is equipped with a printer and performs recording.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an ink injecting device and an injecting method thereof, which can be controlled so as to stably and sufficiently inject ink without mixing air when injecting ink into IT. To provide.

[0013]

In order to achieve the first object, the ink tank of the present invention is an ink tank having an ink supply path for storing ink and supplying the ink to a recording head portion. A deformable partition wall member formed in an approximately hemispherical shape by an elastic body is disposed at the inlet of the ink supply path, and the partition tank member separates the sub tank chamber communicating with the ink supply path from the main tank chamber; , A slit that can be opened only at the time of deformation due to the pressure difference between the two tank chambers is provided at the tip of the partition member, and the two tank chambers can be communicated with each other through the slit when the pressure difference occurs. The sub-tank chamber and the main tank chamber are provided with an ink injection path through which ink can be injected simultaneously.

Further, in the IJC of the present invention, a recording head section for ejecting ink for recording and an ink tank for storing the ink and supplying the ink to the recording head section are connected via an ink supply path. In the ink jet cartridge according to claim 1, a deformable partition wall member formed in a substantially hemispherical shape by an elastic body is disposed at an inlet portion of the ink supply path,
The sub-tank chamber communicating with the ink supply path is separated from the main tank chamber by the partition member, and a slit that can be opened only at the time of deformation due to the pressure difference between the two tank chambers is provided at the tip of the partition member. When the pressure is generated, the two tank chambers can be communicated with each other through the slit, and the sub tank chamber and the main tank chamber are provided with an ink injection path capable of injecting ink at the same time. Is.

Furthermore, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention, a recording head section for ejecting ink for recording and an ink tank for storing the ink and supplying the ink to the recording head section are provided via an ink supply path. In an ink jet recording apparatus in which an ink jet cartridge to be connected by a recording head is mounted and recording is performed by the recording head portion, a deformable partition wall member formed in an approximately hemispherical shape by an elastic body at an inlet portion of the ink supply path of the ink tank. And a partition member that separates the sub-tank chamber that communicates with the ink supply path from the main tank chamber, and a slit that can be opened at the tip of the partition member only when deformed by the pressure difference between the two tank chambers. Is provided so that the two tank chambers can communicate with each other through the slit when the differential pressure is generated. It is characterized in that the simultaneous injection of ink into said tank chamber main tank chamber was provided with an ink injection path possible.

In order to achieve the second object, the ink tank injection device according to the present invention is an ink tank ink injection device having an ink injection port and an atmosphere communication port. A negative pressure generating means for generating a negative pressure in the ink tank in a closed state of the atmosphere communication port and a predetermined ink storage amount stored in the ink tank, and the ink storage amount is The ink supply means capable of supplying the ink to the ink tank, the switching means for switching the connection to the ink injection port between the negative pressure generation means and the ink supply means, and the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generation means are Detecting that the negative pressure has reached a level at which the predetermined amount of ink contained in the ink tank can be suctioned,
The control means switches to the ink feeding means by the switching means and appropriately controls the ink feeding speed by the ink feeding means.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sub-tank chamber and the main tank chamber, which are in communication with the ink supply path, are separated by the substantially hemispherical partition wall member made of a deformable elastic body having a slit at the tip thereof. In this state, ink can be injected into both the sub-tank chamber and the main tank chamber at the same time by the ink injection path, and the sub-tank chamber side has a fluid resistance relationship from the main tank chamber side during the injection process. Since the slit of the partition wall member is opened, air bubbles do not remain on the sub tank chamber side, and after the ink is injected, both tank chambers can be kept separated by the plug member, and the ink from the sub tank can be maintained. If negative pressure is maintained in the sub tank by supply, the slit opens due to the pressure difference, and ink can be replenished from the main tank side to the sub tank side. Kill.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, in order to inject and fill the ink into the ink tank, first, a negative pressure capable of sucking the ink storage amount filled in the ink tank by the negative pressure generating means. When the temperature is kept below, the ink supply means is connected to the ink tank through the switching means by the control means, and the ink supply means is driven by maintaining the supply speed at an appropriate speed such that cavitation does not occur. It is possible to fill the ink, so that an appropriate amount of ink can be injected without mixing air in the ink tank.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the construction of an ink jet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. Here, 1 is a carriage (HC) on which a replaceable inkjet cartridge (IJC) 2 is mounted and which is reciprocally moved in the main scanning direction of a and b indicated by arrows by a lead screw 3, 4 is a platen, and 5 is a recording material. A pressing plate for holding P (hereinafter referred to as a recording sheet) on the platen 4 and 6A and 6B are cut off from the optical path by a lever 1A protruding from HC1.
It is a photo sensor for detecting the home position position of C1.

Further, in this example, the lead screw 3 is rotated in different directions via the driving force transmission gears 8 and 9 by the forward and reverse rotations of the drive motor 7, and the HC 1 is controlled to reciprocate along the recording sheet P. It Reference numeral 10 is a cleaning blade held by a support plate 11, 12 is a cap member that is connected to the suction means 13 and caps the front surface of the recording head IJH, 14 is a cap support member, and 15 is a cap opening portion. At some times, the recovery operation for the printhead IJH can be performed.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the construction of the ink jet cartridge IJC and the ink containing portion (ink tank) thereof according to the present invention. In the ink jet cartridge IJC constructed by connecting the recording head portion IJH and the ink tank IT. The state where the slit bladder is attached is shown. Further, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram relating to the ink injection port for the IT, the branch path provided at the tip of the ink injection port, and the plug closing the branch path. In FIG. 2, 100
Is a hemispherical slit bladder and has a hardness of 3 in this example.
It is molded from 0 ° (JIS A) ethylene propylene rubber. A slit 110 is formed in the slit bladder 100. Further, 130 is a slit bladder 100.
The rib provided on the upper part regulates the deforming posture of the slit blader 100. Reference numeral 140 denotes a mounting base of the bladder 100, and the mounting portion has a shape that conforms to the outer peripheral shape of the base of the bladder 100, and is formed in a circular shape in this example. Reference numeral 150 denotes a main tank chamber surrounded by an ink bag 160 outside the slit blader 100, and 170 denotes a sub tank chamber formed inside the slit blader 100.

Further, reference numeral 180 shown in FIG. 3 is an ink injection port, and 190 is an ink injection branch portion between the sub tank chamber 170 inside the slit blader 100 and the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader 100. 165 is a plug member that simultaneously closes the ink inlet 180 and the branch portion 190, and is press-fitted from the inlet 180. Thus, the sub-tank chamber 170 and the main tank chamber 150 are separated by simultaneously closing the ink inlet 180 and the branch portion 190.

Further, 120 is a slit blader cover, and the slit blader 10 is attached to the mounting portion of the mounting base 140.
The slit bladder cover 12 is inserted from the above.
0 is worn. The slit bladder cover 120 serves both as a rocking prevention wall and as a measure for preventing ink leakage when the ink freezes at a low temperature. The slit bladder cover 120 surrounds the peripheral portion of the slit bladder 100. An opening 200 into which ink flows is formed at the tip. In addition, in this embodiment, since the volume of the slit blader 100 is set to be small, the carriage H
It is not so greatly affected by vibration or shock due to movement of C or the like. It is needless to say that it is desirable to attach such a slit bladder cover 120 in consideration of further mitigating the impact and anticipating freezing of the ink in a storage environment or the like.

On the other hand, the slit blader 100 mounted on the mounting base 140 is an ink jet cartridge IJC.
2 is mounted in the ink tank IT of FIG. 2 so that the inside of the ink tank IT is located outside the slit bladder 100, inside the main tank chamber 150 inside the ink bag 160, and inside the slit bladder 100. The sub-tank chamber 170 is separated from the sub-tank chamber 170, and the sub-tank chamber 170 and the sub-tank chamber 170 can communicate with each other via a branch portion 190. Therefore, the ink can be injected into the main tank chamber 150 and the sub tank chamber 170 from the injection port 180.

In the IJC thus constructed, ink is simultaneously injected into the sub-tank chamber 170 inside the slit blader 100 and the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader 100 when the ink is injected, and the inside of the slit blader is included. When ink is continuously injected into the sub-tank chamber 170 and the pressure in the sub-tank chamber 170 exceeds a certain value, the slit 110 is pushed open toward the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit bladder 100, whereby the ink is slit-blurred. Sub-tank room 17 inside the dar
From 0, it will be injected toward the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader, and at the same time, air bubbles will also be pushed out toward the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader, so the sub tank chamber inside the slit blader 170 No bubbles will remain in the. Then, by continuing the ink injection, the air existing in the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader is replaced with the ink, so that no bubbles remain in the ink tank IT, particularly in the slit blader inside sub tank chamber 170. Can be injected. In this embodiment, the ink injection path to the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader 100 is connected to the inside of the slit blader cover 120 through the opening 200. This is to make it difficult for air bubbles to remain inside the slit blader cover 120, but since the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader has a large volume, even if some air bubbles remain, there is no problem in the recording operation. .

The slit bladder 100 at the time of ink injection is in a completely restored state as shown in FIG. 3 or in a slightly collapsed state as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, since a certain amount of tension is applied to the side wall of the slit bladder 100 by the slit bladder mounting portion of the mounting base 140, the slit 110 does not remain open, and the ink head outside the slit bladder 100 is not opened. The pressure difference between the pressure and the negative pressure held by the slit bladder 100 is applied to the recording head portion IJH, and the liquid pressure applied to the ink ejection portion of the recording head portion IJH at this time is 0 to a slight negative pressure state. Is set to be Therefore, in this state, a balance relationship is maintained between the meniscus holding force of the ejection portion and the ink tank internal pressure, so that the temperature,
Ink does not easily leak from the ink ejection port due to changes in atmospheric pressure or vibration.

In this state, droplets are ejected from the recording head portion IJH and recording is performed, so that the sub tank chamber 17
Sub-tank chamber 1 as ink in 0 is consumed and reduced
The differential pressure between the inside 70 and the inside of the main tank chamber 150 gradually increases and the slit bladder 100 collapses. In this way, inside the sub tank chamber 170 and the main tank chamber 150
When the pressure difference between the inside and the inside exceeds a certain value, the slit bladder 10
The slit 110 at the tip of 0 opens little by little as the bladder deforms, and ink is supplied to the sub tank chamber 170 inside the slit bladder through the slit 110 opened from the main tank 150 outside the slit bladder. . When the ink is supplied in this way, the sub tank chamber 1
The differential pressure between 70 and the main tank chamber 150 gradually decreases. Thus, as the pressure difference between the sub tank chamber 170 and the main tank chamber 150 decreases, the deformation of the slit blader 100 is gradually restored. When it is restored to some extent, the slit 110 that has been opened is closed.
Therefore, as recording progresses and ink is consumed, the above operation is subsequently repeated and a good ink supply is achieved.

On the other hand, even when ink is temporarily sucked from the ink ejection port by a suction pump or the like for the purpose of maintaining and improving the ejection state of the recording head portion IJH, as in the case of ink consumption during recording, inside the sub tank chamber 170. Since the differential pressure between the inside of the main tank chamber 150 and the inside of the main tank chamber 150 becomes large, the bladder 10
0 deforms and the slit 110 opens, and the main tank chamber 15
Ink is supplied into the sub tank chamber 170 from 0. After the ink is supplied, the slit 110 is closed and the initial state is restored as the bladder 100 is restored. Therefore, the pressure in the slit bladder 100 constantly repeats movement within a range of a predetermined value within a range that does not affect ejection.

In this embodiment, the slit blader 10
0 was formed of ethylene propylene rubber, but other materials such as SBR, BR, IR, EPM, silicone rubber,
Butyl rubber, chloroprene rubber, urethane rubber, fluorinated rubber, nitrile rubber, acrylic rubber, polysulfide rubber, ethylene rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, SEP rubber (silicone modified ethylene propylene rubber) and the like may be used. The hardness of the rubber is preferably 15 to 70 °, more preferably 25 to 50 °.

In order to obtain stable droplets, the ink pressure applied to the recording head portion IJH is +30 to -200 mm.
The water head pressure is preferable. Further, the head pressure range is 0 to -150 mm, and the sub tank chamber 170 and the main tank chamber 1
Most preferably, the pressure differential between 50 and 50 is always kept in this range. For this purpose, it is needless to say that it is necessary to make an optimization selection with respect to the dimensions and wall thickness in terms of the material and shape, and to confirm the ink contact with liquid.

Further, the ink bag 160 in FIG. 2 is made of a flexible material, and the outside of the ink bag 160 is open to the atmosphere through an atmosphere communication port (not shown).

4 and 5 show a second embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram in which the slit blader 100 is attached to an inkjet head cartridge IJC capable of separating the recording head unit IJH and the ink tank IT.
Further, FIG. 5 is a diagram relating to the ink inlet on the side of the ink tank IT and the plug for closing the branch portion of the ink inlet. Figure 4
In, 100 is a hemispherical slit bladder,
The material is made by molding ethylene propylene rubber having a material hardness of 30 ° (JISA). A slit 110 is provided in the tip region of the bladder. Reference numeral 130 is a rib for restricting the deforming posture of the slit bladder 100, 140 is a mounting base, and the mounting base is circular in this example. Further, 150 is a main tank chamber outside the slit blader 100, 170 is a sub tank chamber inside the slit blader 100, and 185 is a sub tank chamber on the recording head portion IJH side.

Further, in FIG. 5, reference numeral 180 is an ink inlet, and 190 is a branch portion of the ink inlet passage 155 to the sub tank chamber 170 inside the slit blader 100 and the main tank chamber 150 outside the slit blader 100.
Reference numeral 165 is a plug that simultaneously closes the ink inlet 180 and the branch portion 190, and is press-fitted from the inlet 180. Moreover, since the recording head unit IJH and the ink tank IT can be separated, the plug 165 is made of an elastic member so that the needle 205 capable of forming an ink flow path can be inserted between the recording head unit IJH and the ink tank IT. Made of As the material of the elastic member, chlorinated butyl rubber or the like which is stable with respect to ink is desirable. Thus, by simultaneously closing the ink inlet 180 and the branch portion 190, the sub tank chamber 170
And the main tank chamber 150 can be separated.

Reference numeral 120 is a slit blader cover,
The slit bladder 100 is fitted into the mounting portion 140, and the slit bladder cover 120 is capped from above. Similar to the first embodiment, the slit blade cover 120 also serves as a swing prevention wall and an ink leakage prevention member when the ink freezes at a low temperature, and the slit blade cover 120 surrounds the slit blade 100. At the same time, an opening 200 through which ink flows is provided at the tip. In addition, in the present embodiment, the slit blader 10
Since the volume of 0 is set to be small, the influence of vibration and impact due to carriage movement is not so great. But,
In order to further reduce the impact and prevent the ink from freezing in a storage environment or the like, it is desirable to attach such a slit bladder cover 120.

The mounting blade 140 has a slit blade 1
00 is installed in the ink tank IT of the inkjet cartridge IJC as shown in FIG. As a result, the inside of the ink tank IT has a slit bladder 100.
Main tank chamber 150 outside the ink tank and inside the ink bag 160
And a sub-tank chamber 170 inside the slit bladder, and both tank chambers can be communicated with each other at a branch portion ahead of the ink injection port 180. Therefore, ink can be injected into the main tank chamber 150 and the sub tank chamber 170 through the injection port 180. The ink tank IT has a rail portion 250 on the upper side thereof as shown on the right side of FIG.
Is fixed in the fitting groove 240 on the IJC side by the engaging claw 260.

Further, in the state shown in FIG. 4, the recording head unit IJ
By discharging and recording the droplets from H, as described above, as the ink in the sub tank chamber 170 is consumed and reduced, the differential pressure between the sub tank chamber 170 and the ink tank chamber 150 gradually increases and the slit blurring increases. When the dar is gradually crushed and the differential pressure exceeds a certain value, the slit 11
0 is gradually opened due to the deformation of the bladder, and ink is supplied to the sub tank chamber 170 through the slit. By supplying the ink in this manner, the sub tank chamber 17
When the differential pressure between 0 and the main tank chamber 150 gradually decreases, the deformation of the slit bladder gradually restores as the differential pressure decreases, and when restored to a certain extent, the opened slit 110 is closed again. The operation of the slit bladder 100 during the recovery operation is the same as that described in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the plug 165 of the connection portion of the ink tank IT with the print head portion IJH side also serves as the plug of the branch portion 190 of the ink injection port 180, and the print head portion IJH and the ink tank IT. Since it is not necessary to separately provide a plug for the ink injection port as in the ink jet head cartridge IJC configured by connecting the above, it is possible to provide only the ink tank IT as a replaceable one at a lower cost.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment of an ink injecting device for an ink tank capable of achieving the second object of the present invention will be described.

Here, IT is a replaceable ink tank (hereinafter referred to as an ink cartridge ITC) integrated with the recording head unit IJH as described above, 18 is an ink injection port thereof, and 19 is an atmosphere communication port. In the ink cartridge ITC, a porous ink absorber having a size larger than the internal volume of the ITC is accommodated in a compressed form. 20
Is an ink injection nozzle connected to the ink injection port 18 in a gas-liquid tight manner, 21 is an injection / suction pipe connected to the nozzle 20, 22 is a three-way switching valve for ink injection, and 23 is one of the three-way switching valves 22. A suction pipe that is connected to the vacuum pump 25 and is capable of sucking air through the first two-way switching valve 24,
26 is a branch pipe branched before the first two-way switching valve 24 of the suction pipe 23, and 27 is a second pipe interposed in the branch pipe 26.
The two-way switching valve 28 is a positive pressure source.

The three-way switching valve 22 switches between the piping 23 and the piping 30 for the injection / suction combined piping 21, and 31 supplies ink to the piping 30 via the third two-way switching valve 32. Is a tank for filling ink, 33 is a branch pipe for a syringe provided downstream of the third two-way switching valve 32 in the pipe 30, and 34 is a syringe driven by a pulse motor 35. In this example, the syringe 34 is a highly airtight syringe (made by Hamilton Co.) whose female side, that is, the cylinder side, is made of glass and whose off side, that is, the plunger side, is made of Teflon resin.
Reference numeral 36 is a control unit for controlling the ink injecting device according to the present invention. The control unit 36 receives the air pressure in the pipe 23 detected by the pressure gauge 37 and also controls the driving speed of the pulse motor 35. From the low speed to the high speed, it can be freely controlled by the control unit 36 as described later, and further, the switching operation of the three-way switching valve 22 can be controlled.

Indicated at 38 is ink 3 in the ink filling tank 31.
9 is a replenishment ink tank for replenishing 9 and 40 is an ink 39 from the replenishment ink tank 38 to the ink filling tank 31.
, 41 is a liquid supply pump, 42 is a laser displacement meter provided to control the liquid level of the ink filling tank 31, and 43 is the displacement of the liquid level from the displacement meter 42. It is a sequencer that drives the liquid feed pump 40 based on the above. In this example, the ink I
After being injected into the TC, the ink removal nozzle 4 is used to remove and return the ink remaining in the three-way switching valve 22 and the nozzle 20.
5, a return pipe 46 is provided. Also, 47 is ITC
And a plug member 4 capable of sealing the atmosphere communication port 19 of
It is an air cylinder for extracting the air in the ITC via 7.

Next, the operation of injecting ink into the ITC by the ink injecting device thus constructed will be described.

First, the nozzle 20 is attached to the ink injection port 18 of the ITC in a gas-liquid tight manner, and the atmosphere communication port 19 of the ITC is provided.
Is sealed by the plug member 47. When the preparation for ink injection is completed as described above, the vacuum pump 25 is operated, the three-way switching valve 22 is switched to the connection side of the pipe 21 and the pipe 23, and the first two-way switching valve 24 is opened. , The second two-way switching valve 27 is kept closed. And
In this state, while sucking the air in the ITC, the third two-way switching valve 32 is opened to drive the pulse motor 35. By driving the pulse motor 35, a predetermined amount of ink to be injected from the ink filling tank 31 into the syringe 34 via the branch pipe 33 is secured.

The liquid level in the ink filling tank 31 is monitored by the laser displacement meter 42, and when the liquid level drops to a predetermined position, the liquid feeding pump 40 is operated by the sequence 43 to replenish the ink. Tank 38
Since the ink 39 is replenished to the ink filling tank 31 from the above, even if the ink 39 in the replenishment ink tank 38 is temporarily exhausted, the injection device is stopped during the replenishment. There is no danger of On the other hand, the negative pressure inside the ITC is monitored by the pressure gauge 37, and an appropriate negative pressure (-730 mmHg in the case of the present example) capable of injecting a predetermined amount of ink secured in the syringe 34.
In the above case, the first two-way switching valve 24 is closed so that the negative pressure does not become too large, and the control unit 3
The three-way switching valve 22 is switched to the side of the pipe 30 by 6.

Then, the third two-way switching valve 3 is further provided.
2 is closed, and the ink secured in the syringe 34 by driving the pulse motor 35 is transferred from the pipe 30 to the three-way switching valve 2
It is filled in the ITC via the pipe 21 and the nozzle 20 via the line 2. If the nozzle 20 is removed from the ink injection port 18 at the time of completion of filling, air may be sucked into the ink absorber near the injection port in the tank where some negative pressure remains. That is, such suction of air causes a failure of ink ejection when the ink injection port 18 is connected to a print head unit (not shown), which is not preferable. Therefore, in this example, first, the air cylinder 48 is operated to remove the plug member 47 from the atmosphere communication port 19 so that the ink absorber on the side of the atmosphere communication port 19 contains air before removing the nozzle 20.

Further, when the nozzle 20 is removed from the ink injection port 18, ink remains in the nozzle 20, the pipe 21 and the three-way switching valve 22, so that the injection operation to the next ITC is performed as it is. If the nozzle 20 is attached to the inside of the vacuum pump 25, the intake pipe 23, the two-way switching valve 23, and the inside of the vacuum pump 25 will be contaminated with ink, and the inside of the vacuum pump 25 will be rusted. Therefore, in this example, if the nozzle 20 is removed from the ink injection port 18 of the ITC, the nozzle 20 is attached to the ink receiving port 45A of the ink removal nozzle 45, the three-way switching valve 22 is switched to the pipe 23 side, and the first The two-way switching valve 24 is closed and the second switching valve 27 is opened. And the positive pressure source 28
The residual ink is extruded to the ink removing nozzle 45 through the nozzle 20, and this is supplied to the replenishment ink tank 3
Set it back to 8. Thus, the residual ink can be removed from the three-way switching valve 22, the pipe 21 and the nozzle 20, and the residual ink can be replenished with the ink tank 38.
Can be collected.

Strictly speaking, with respect to the ink amount secured in the syringe 34, only the residual ink amount has not been filled in the IJC, so in order to completely fill the IJC with a predetermined amount of ink as much as possible. Is a three-way switching valve 22
It is desirable that the pipe 21 from the nozzle to the nozzle 20 be as short as possible. Now, as described above, when the residual ink is removed, it becomes possible to refill the new IJC with ink again, so that the ink refilling can be continued.

(Others) The present invention is provided with a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink, particularly in the ink jet recording system. The present invention brings about excellent effects in a recording head and a recording apparatus of the type in which the state of ink is changed by the heat energy. 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 recording 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 in a one-to-one correspondence
It is effective because bubbles can be formed inside. Due to the growth and contraction of the bubbles, the liquid (ink) is 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. 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 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 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 JP-A-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 the ejection recovery means of the recording head, the auxiliary auxiliary means, etc. because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specifically, heating is performed by using a capping unit, a cleaning unit, a pressure or suction unit 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 or 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 it may be either the recording head is integrally formed or a plurality of combinations may be used. The present invention is also extremely 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 system, it is common to control 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. Sometimes, a liquid ink may be used. In addition, the temperature rise due to thermal energy is positively prevented by using it as the energy of the state change 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 the standing state. You may use the ink liquefied by. In any case, by applying thermal energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal 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-A-54-56847 or JP-A-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, in addition to the one used as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a computer, a copying apparatus combined with a reader or the like, and a facsimile apparatus having a transmitting / receiving function can be used. It may be a form or the like.

[0057]

As described above, according to the ink tank, the ink jet cartridge having the ink tank, and the ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention, the ink for storing the ink and supplying the ink to the recording head portion. In an ink tank having a supply channel, a deformable partition wall member formed in a substantially hemispherical shape by an elastic body is arranged at an inlet portion of the ink supply channel, and the sub tank chamber communicated with the ink supply path by the partition wall member. Is separated from the main tank chamber, and a slit that can be opened only at the time of deformation due to the pressure difference between the two tank chambers is provided at the tip of the partition wall member, and the two tank chambers are opened through the slit when the pressure difference occurs. In addition, the ink can be injected into the sub tank chamber and the main tank chamber simultaneously. Since it has an injection path, not only can ink be injected into the sub tank inside the slit bladder and the main tank outside the slit bladder from the ink injection port at the same time, but even if air bubbles enter the sub tank side, Due to the difference in the fluid resistance of the passage, the pressure on the sub tank side becomes higher than that on the main tank side, and the pressure difference between them becomes a predetermined pressure, so that the slits of the slit bladder are pushed open and the air bubbles escape to the main tank side. To do. Further, after the ink is injected, the sub-tank and the main tank can be completely branched by closing the injection port and the branch portion by the plug member, and each can be functionally operated at the time of recording.

Thus, the slit tank can keep the sub tank at a proper negative pressure and the shock resistance can be held by the blade cover, which contributes to the large capacity of the ink tank itself and greatly improves the volume efficiency thereof. Can be made.

Further, according to the ink tank injecting device and the ink injecting method thereof according to the present invention, in the ink injecting device for the ink tank having the ink injecting port and the air communication port, the ink injecting device is connected to the ink injecting port. And holding a predetermined amount of ink stored in the ink tank and a negative pressure generating means for generating a negative pressure in the ink tank when the atmosphere communication port is closed, and storing the ink storage amount in the ink tank. Ink feeding means capable of feeding to
Switching means for switching the connection to the ink inlet to the negative pressure generating means and the ink feeding means, and the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating means causes suction of the predetermined ink storage amount in the ink tank. Since it is detected that the negative pressure is lower than a possible negative pressure, the control means switches to the ink feeding means by the switching means and appropriately controls the ink feeding speed by the ink feeding means. For various ink tanks or ink cartridges of different
It is possible to reliably inject a fixed amount of ink without mixing air.

In the above-described embodiments, both the ink tank having the ink bag and the ink tank having the porous ink absorber have been described.
Needless to say, the application of the present invention can be applied to any of the forms.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an inkjet recording apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an ink jet cartridge according to the present invention by partially crushing it.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged part of the configuration of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another example of the inkjet cartridge according to the present invention by partially crushing it.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged part of the configuration of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ink injection device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Carriage (HC) 2 Inkjet Cartridge (IJC) IT Ink Tank IJH Recording Head Part 18 Ink Inlet 19 Atmosphere Communication Port 20 Nozzle 21, 23, 30, 46 Piping 22 Three-way Switching Valve 24, 27, 32 Two-way Switching Valve 25 Vacuum pump 28 Positive pressure source 31 Filling ink tank 34 Syringe 35 Pulse motor 36 Control unit 38 Replenishing ink tank 39 Ink 40 Liquid sending pump 43 Sequencer 45 Ink removal nozzle 47 Plug member 48 Air cylinder 100 Slit bladder 110 Slit 120 Slit Bladder cover 130 Rib 140 Mounting base 150 Main tank (room) 160 Ink bag 165 Plug member 170 Sub tank (room) 180 Ink inlet 190 Branch

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An ink tank having an ink supply path for storing ink and supplying the ink to a recording head section, wherein a deformation formed in an approximately hemispherical shape by an elastic body at an inlet section of the ink supply path. A partition member capable of being disposed is provided, the sub-tank chamber communicating with the ink supply path is separated from the main tank chamber by the partition member, and only at the time of deformation due to the pressure difference between the two tank chambers at the tip of the partition member. An ink injection path that is provided with a slit that can be opened so that both tank chambers can communicate with each other via the slit when the differential pressure is generated, and that can simultaneously inject ink into the sub tank chamber and the main tank chamber An ink tank comprising: 2. The sub-tank has a branch portion into the sub-tank chamber and the main tank chamber, and a plug member that can close the branch portion is inserted into the sub-tank chamber. The ink tank according to claim 1, wherein the chamber and the main tank chamber are separable from each other. 3. An ink jet cartridge in which a recording head section for ejecting ink for recording and an ink tank for storing the ink and supplying the ink to the recording head section are connected via an ink supply path, A deformable partition wall member formed in an approximately hemispherical shape by an elastic body is disposed at the inlet of the ink supply path, and the partition tank member separates the sub tank chamber communicating with the ink supply path from the main tank chamber, A slit that can be opened only at the time of deformation due to the pressure difference between the two tank chambers is provided at the tip of the partition member, and the two tank chambers can be communicated with each other via the slit when the pressure difference occurs. An ink jet cartridge having an ink injection path capable of injecting ink into the sub tank chamber and the main tank chamber at the same time. 4. The ink tank has a branch portion to the sub tank chamber and the main tank chamber, and the sub tank is inserted into the ink tank by inserting a plug member that can close the branch portion. The ink jet cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the chamber and the main tank chamber are separable from each other. 5. An ink jet cartridge in which a recording head section for ejecting ink for recording and an ink tank for storing the ink and supplying the ink to the recording head section are connected via an ink supply path. In the ink jet recording apparatus for performing recording by the recording head unit, a deformable partition wall member formed into a substantially hemispherical shape by an elastic body is arranged at an inlet of the ink supply passage of the ink tank, and the partition wall member is provided. The sub-tank chamber that communicates with the ink supply path is separated from the main tank chamber, and a slit that can be opened only at the time of deformation due to the pressure difference between the tank chambers is provided at the tip of the partition wall member when the pressure difference occurs. Both of the tank chambers can be communicated with each other through the slit, and the sub-tank chamber and the main tank chamber can be simultaneously opened. An ink jet recording apparatus characterized by the injection of click is provided with an ink injection path possible. 6. The recording head section has an electrothermal conversion element for generating thermal energy for causing film boiling in the ink, as a means for generating energy for ejecting the ink. The inkjet recording device according to claim 5. 7. An ink injection device for an ink tank, comprising an ink injection port and an atmosphere communication port, wherein a negative pressure is generated in the ink tank when the atmosphere communication port is closed and connected to the ink injection port. A negative pressure generating means and an ink feeding means capable of holding a predetermined amount of ink stored in the ink tank and feeding the stored ink amount to the ink tank; and a connection to the ink inlet. Switching means for switching between the negative pressure generating means and the ink feeding means, and the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating means becomes equal to or lower than the negative pressure at which the predetermined ink storage amount can be sucked into the ink tank. And a control means for switching to the ink feeding means by the switching means and appropriately controlling the ink feeding speed by the ink feeding means. Ink filling device for the ink tank. 8. When injecting and filling ink into an ink tank having an ink injection port and an atmosphere communication port, the negative pressure in the ink tank is set to be equal to or lower than a negative pressure capable of sucking a predetermined ink storage amount. A method for injecting ink into an ink tank, characterized in that the predetermined amount of ink stored in the ink tank maintained in this state is controlled so as to be fed and filled while maintaining an appropriate ink feeding speed.