JPH06320748A - Ink jet cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the ink storage efficiency in a cartridge and to stably perform printing even in an inclined state. CONSTITUTION:A pressure adjusting part 10 is attached to the hole 11 being the atmosphere communication part of a main body 1 and consists of an air chamber 12, a liquid 13 (desirably pure) and a filter A14 and pressure is kept constant by the capillary force of the hole 11 and, when load with a definite value or more is generated, open air is taken in by the filter A14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet cartridge, and more particularly, an ink jet cartridge having a recording head section for ejecting ink to record an image on a recording medium and a tank section for supplying ink to the head section. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet cartridge of this type is known to have a porous body in a tank portion communicating with the atmosphere at an atmosphere communicating portion. This is to adjust the capillary force to a desired value by changing the characteristics of the porous body, the compressibility, etc. as parameters, and to stably supply the ink to the recording head portion while holding the ink, JP-A-63-87242 discloses a thermal ink-jet pen in which ink is stored in a porous medium of polyurethane foam.

[0003]

In the conventional ink jet cartridge described above, the porous body is inserted into the tank portion and the ink is stored therein. Therefore, the inside of the tank is filled with the porous body, and the amount of ink that can be stored in the porous body is about 50% of the tank capacity. In other words, by using a porous material, this method of supplying ink stably can store only a small amount of ink and has a drawback of being inefficient.

[0004]

An ink jet cartridge of the present invention has a recording head section for ejecting ink and a tank section for storing ink for ejection, and the tank section is an atmosphere communicating section for communicating with the atmosphere. By doing so, in the ink jet cartridge that can supply the ink in the tank portion to the recording head portion, a small chamber is provided in the atmosphere communicating portion of the tank portion, and an air layer and a liquid layer are formed in this small chamber. Between the liquid layer and the atmosphere, it is constituted by having a pressure adjusting section which is partitioned by a filter that allows the atmosphere to pass therethrough but does not allow the liquid to pass, and in the pressure adjusting section of the ink jet cartridge of this configuration, A second filter that allows air to pass through but does not allow liquid in the chamber to pass through a layer of air in the chamber, and a through hole only in the center of the layer of liquid. It constituted by having an atmosphere communication stop that.

[0005]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) shows an overall view, and FIG. 1 (b) shows a partially enlarged view. The main body 1 includes a storage unit 2 for storing ink, a through hole 5 for circulating ink, a recording head unit 6 outside the through hole 5, and a pressure adjusting unit 10 indicated by a wavy circle. Ink 3 is usually stored in the storage unit 2.
FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the pressure adjusting unit 10 and shows the pressure adjusting unit 1.
0 and the body are holes with a diameter that allows the capillary force to work properly 1
It communicates with 1. The lower surface of the pressure adjusting portion 10 is partitioned from the outside by a filter A14 made of a substance having a polymer structure that allows gas to pass therethrough but does not allow liquid to pass therethrough, or another structure having an equivalent function. A liquid (preferably pure) 13 is held inside the pressure adjusting unit 10, but it is not filled and has an appropriate air chamber 12 at the upper part thereof.

When the ejected ink 7 is sequentially ejected from the storage section 2, a storage section space 4 is formed in the storage section 2. At this time, in the storage space 4, the atmospheric pressure becomes lower in the storage 2 as the ejected ink 7 is ejected, and a phenomenon of ejection failure occurs in the ink jet cartridge having no pressure adjusting portion 10. However, in the embodiment of FIG. When the negative pressure in the storage unit 2 exceeds the capillary force of the hole 11, the ink in the hole 11 is drawn into the storage unit 2 and the air in the air chamber 12 is drawn into the storage unit 2. Then, the outside air is newly replenished in the air chamber 12 through the filter A14 by the amount of the drawn air. With these series of operations, the storage unit 2 and the air chamber 12
Will always be kept at a constant negative pressure. Also here
Without this air chamber 12, the holes 11 would be filled with liquid both inside and below, and no capillary force would be generated. If the liquid 13 is not present, when the ink jet cartridge is turned upside down, the storage space 4 comes into contact with the outside air, and the negative pressure cannot be maintained. Further, the holes 11 are always in contact with the outside air whose conditions change, and there is a risk that the ink will dry or the physical properties will change. In other words, the best condition is that the hole 11 of the pressure adjusting unit 10 is always in contact with the air chamber 12, and the liquid 13 is always present between the hole 11 and the filter A14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the pressure adjusting unit 10
Although a rectangular shape is assumed, the shape is not limited as long as it does not deviate from the above conditions.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2A shows an overall view, and FIG. 2B shows a partially enlarged view. In FIG. 2, the pressure adjusting unit 2 of FIG. 1 further includes a filter C25 and an atmosphere communication stopper 26 in addition to the pressure adjusting unit 10 of FIG.
It is an inkjet cartridge having 0. Figure 2
(B) is an enlarged view of the pressure adjusting unit 20.

The function of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described below. Unless the cartridge is designed to be used in a tilted manner, it is not shown in FIG. 1B and FIG. 2B.
It is operating in a state like. In such a state, there is no difference in the functions of both. 3 (a) and 3 (b) show the pressure adjusting unit 10, and FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) show the condition when the pressure adjusting unit 20 is inclined by 60 degrees and 90 degrees, respectively. . In the case of FIG. 3A, the pressure adjusting unit 10
Since the hole 11 is blocked with the liquid, no capillary force is generated between the hole 11 and the storage unit 2, and the liquid 13 or the ink 3 is stored in either the storage unit 2 or the pressure adjusting unit 10 depending on the pressure state at that time. Pour. This phenomenon can be avoided to some extent by reducing the amount of the liquid 13, but FIG.
When tilted by 90 degrees as in (b), normal pressure cannot be maintained regardless of the ratio of the volume of the liquid 13 to the volume of the air chamber 12. Here, like the pressure adjusting unit 20, by providing the filter C25 and the atmosphere communication stopper 26, the hole 21 is always made to generate a capillary force as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). Become. As a result, even if the inkjet cartridge is tilted, the pressure is appropriately maintained and stable printing is performed.

The atmosphere communication stopper 2 shown in FIGS.
The shape of 6 is an example, and the shape is not limited as long as the same function can be achieved.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to store a large amount of ink and to store a large amount of ink by not having the porous body in the tank portion and having the pressure adjusting portion in the atmosphere communicating portion. Since the pressure is kept constant, it is possible to stably supply the ink to the recording head unit. Further, by providing the pressure adjusting unit with a structure that allows the pressure to be adjusted even in an angled state, there is an effect that stable printing is always performed even when the inkjet cartridge is inclined.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is an overall view, and FIG. 1 (6) is a partially enlarged view.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is an overall view, and FIG. 2 (b) is a partially enlarged view.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the embodiment of FIG. 1 is tilted by 60 ° and 90 °.

4 is a diagram showing a state in which the embodiment of FIG. 2 is tilted by 60 degrees and 90 degrees.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body 2 Storage Section 3 Ink 5 Through Hole 6 Recording Head 7 Ejection Ink 10,20 Pressure Adjusting Section 11,21 Hole 12,22 Air Chamber 13,23 Liquid 14 Filter A 24 Filter B 25 Filter C 26 Air Communication Stop

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A recording head section for ejecting ink, and a tank section for storing ink for ejection are provided. The tank section communicates with the atmosphere through an atmosphere communication section, so that the ink in the tank section is In an ink jet cartridge that can be supplied to the recording head unit, a small chamber is provided in the atmosphere communicating portion of the tank unit, and an air layer and a liquid layer are formed in the small chamber, and an atmosphere is formed between the liquid layer and the atmosphere. An ink jet cartridge comprising a pressure adjusting portion partitioned by a filter that allows the liquid to pass therethrough but does not allow the liquid to pass therethrough. 2. The pressure adjusting unit according to claim 1, wherein a second filter that allows air to pass through the layer of air in the small chamber but does not pass a liquid in the small chamber, and a layer of the liquid. The inkjet cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising an atmosphere communication stopper having a through hole only in a central portion.