JPH07132612A - Liquid cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the evaporation of a liquid by a container storing the liquid such as ink used in a recording medium apparatus such as an ink jet recording apparatus, a copier or a facsimile. CONSTITUTION:In a liquid container 1 wherein two or more liquid chambers 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e are partitioned by two or more partition members and the adjacent liquid chambers 4a-4e are allowed to communicate with each other through liquid communication parts 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e and the lowering of the residual amt. of the liquid in the liquid chambers 4a-4e accompanied by the consumption of the liquid is successively generated at every liquid chambers 4a-4e, a buffer chamber 3 having an atmosphere communication hole and preventing the leak of the liquid to the outside when air in the liquid chambers 4a-4e expands is provided and a part or almost whole thereof covers at least the top surfaces of the liquid chambers 4a-4e.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid container for storing a liquid, particularly an ink, used in a recording medium device such as an ink jet recording device, a copying machine or a facsimile, and more particularly to prevention of evaporation of the liquid. .

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid container,
The ink container will be described below as being particularly effective for an ink container, but the present invention relates to a liquid container that evaporates, and is not limited to the ink container.

In an ink jet recording apparatus, the ink at the ejection port is always kept at an appropriate negative pressure in order to stably eject the ink from the recording head and prevent the ink from leaking from the ejection port during standby. Is preferred. In a conventional inkjet recording device,
As one means for realizing this negative pressure state, a method has been adopted in which the water level of the ink container is always lower than that of the recording head. In such an ink jet recording apparatus, since it utilizes gravity, it is necessary to always have a fixed posture during use. However, in recent years, miniaturization and portability of the inkjet recording apparatus have been required, and it is possible to mount the ink container on the carriage of the recording apparatus, instead of disposing the ink container separately from the carriage for transporting the recording head as in the related art. It has been demanded. The following ink container is known as an ink container that generates an appropriate negative pressure for the recording head and does not leak ink from the ejection port during non-recording.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of an ink container of a conventional example in a cutaway manner, and FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the conventional example. Incidentally. In these drawings, a recording head 105 that performs recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium such as paper.
Shows a state in which is connected. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the container body 101 of the conventional example has a plate-shaped porous body 103 made of sponge or the like disposed on the bottom wall 101a thereof, except for the portion of the porous body 103. 5 partition plates 10
It is divided into 6 chambers by 2a to 102e. The recording head 1 is provided on the outer surface of the front wall 101b of the container body 101.
05 is attached, and an atmosphere communication hole 104 is opened in the rear wall 101c. Since the atmosphere communication hole 104 is formed in a tubular shape and projects and opens at a substantially central portion of the chamber where the atmosphere communication hole 104 is opened, the atmosphere communication hole 104 is formed.
When the ink is stored in the chamber in which the ink is stored, no matter what position the ink container is in, the ink does not leak if the amount of ink is less than half the volume of the chamber in which the atmosphere communication hole 104 is opened. .

Next, the recording operation of the ink container of this example will be described with reference to FIG. At the time of recording, the attitude must be such that at least a part of the porous body 103 is arranged at the bottom of the ink container as shown in FIG. In the initial state, the ink container is filled with ink in all the chambers except the first chamber in which the atmosphere communication hole 104 is opened. As you print,
As shown in (A), the ink is consumed in order from the room farthest from the ejection port 105a. The reason is as follows. As the ink is ejected through the ejection port 105a, the ink in the sixth chamber closest to the ejection port 105a is sucked out in an amount corresponding to the ejection amount. The sixth chamber has a discharge port 10
In addition to 5a, it is only connected to the fifth chamber through the porous body 103, so that the amount of ink sucked from the sixth chamber to the ejection port 105 is larger than that of the fifth chamber by the porous body 103. Is supplied through the gap. Similarly, ink is sequentially supplied from the chamber near the air communication hole 104, whereby the ejection port 10
Ink is continuously supplied to 5a. When there is no ink that can be supplied to the chamber adjacent to the atmosphere communication hole 104, the air supplied from the atmosphere communication hole 104 is supplied through the porous body 103. In this way, the ink is consumed in order from the chamber near the air communication hole 104. At this time, a large number of minute meniscuses are formed in the porous body 103 in the communicating portion between the chamber closest to the ejection port 105a where there is no ink and the adjacent chamber on the ejection port 105a side. Thus, the ink in the container maintains a predetermined negative pressure.

Next, the action of maintaining the ink state during non-printing will be described. Since the ink is a liquid, its volume hardly changes with the change of the surrounding environment, especially the change of the temperature and the atmospheric pressure of the surroundings, but the air greatly expands and contracts.
For example, in the case of FIG. 8A, when the temperature rises, the first
Since the air from the chamber to the fifth chamber has almost no ink in the porous body 3 in that portion and communicates with the outside air through the atmosphere communication hole 104, it can easily escape to the outside even when expanded. No pressure is applied to the head side. However, the fourth
Since the air in the chamber is blocked from the outside air by ink,
With the expansion of the air in the fourth chamber, the ink in the fourth chamber is pushed out into the third chamber. However, since the ink pushed out into the third chamber spreads through the porous body 103 toward the first chamber, the air in the third chamber and the second chamber is blocked from the outside air in the process, and as a result, as shown in FIG. As shown in (B), the extruded air hardly enters the third chamber and the second chamber, and the atmosphere communication hole 10
Move only to the first chamber where 4 is open.

In this way, the amount of ink that overflows into the first chamber is
Since the air is shut off from the outside air before the temperature rises in only one chamber, the volume of the first chamber is different from the volume of each of the second chamber and the subsequent chambers in the assumed temperature and atmospheric pressure. It may be secured at a predetermined ratio in consideration of the range.

On the other hand, when the temperature drops from the state shown in FIG. 8B, the air in the second, third, and fourth chambers is cut off from the outside air, so that the air moves to the first chamber as the air contracts. On the contrary, the ink is sucked back toward the second, third, and fourth chambers.
Then, finally, as shown in FIG. 8C, the initial state is restored.

The above-described ink state maintaining action during non-printing functions similarly for any other posture. However, the porous body 103 is upside down from the state of FIG. 8 and is slightly different only in the posture in which the ink in the fourth chamber is not in contact with the porous body 103 at all. Since the air is in communication with the outside air, the ink does not even overflow into the first chamber.

As described above, according to the conventional example, it is possible to return to the original state when exposed to temperature changes and pressure changes in all postures.

[0011]

However, the conventional example has the following problems. The material used for the ink container is mainly plastic from the viewpoint of moldability and cost, and since plastic is a porous body, it allows gas molecules to pass through. Therefore, the ink container acts as a semi-permeable membrane,
Dry outside air penetrates into the ink chamber where the water vapor of the ink is saturated. Then, the air in the ink container increases with time, expelling the ink toward the buffer chamber (ink chamber a), disconnecting the communication between the ink chambers, and in the worst case, causing the ink to overflow from the atmosphere communication hole.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems and problems of the above-mentioned prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink container which hardly uses the outside air to enter while using a plastic member for the container. It is what

[0013]

The present invention, which achieves the above object, is intended to reduce the invasion of outside air, and has a plurality of liquid chambers partitioned by a plurality of partition members, and adjacent liquid chambers communicate with each other. In the liquid container, which is communicated through the liquid chamber and in which the remaining amount of the liquid in the liquid chamber decreases as the liquid is consumed, the liquid container has an atmosphere communication hole, and when the air in the liquid chamber expands, the liquid is discharged to the outside. A liquid cartridge characterized in that it has a buffer chamber for preventing leakage, and part or almost all of it covers at least the top surface of the liquid chamber, and is further divided by a plurality of partition members. In an ink container having a plurality of ink chambers, adjacent ink chambers are communicated via an ink communicating portion, and a decrease in the remaining amount of ink in the ink chambers due to consumption of ink sequentially occurs in each ink chamber, It has an air communication hole and a buffer chamber for preventing the ink from leaking outside when the air in the ink chamber expands. A part or almost all of this buffer chamber covers at least the top surface of the ink chamber. It is an ink cartridge characterized by the above. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an ink cartridge characterized in that the porous body is housed in substantially the entire area of the buffer chamber.

[0014]

In the ink cartridge of the present invention, since the buffer chamber covers the ink chamber, the wall of the ink chamber does not directly contact the outside air, and the outside air does not directly penetrate into the tank chamber.

Since the buffer chamber is in communication with the ink chamber and the communication hole communicating with the outside air is small, the humidity in the buffer chamber in contact with the ink chamber is maintained in a state substantially equal to that in the ink chamber. Therefore, air hardly enters the ink chamber from the buffer chamber. That is,
By creating an atmosphere around the ink chamber that is equivalent to that in the ink chamber, the outside air was prevented from entering the ink chamber.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an ink container in use, which is an example of the present invention, taken parallel to the direction in which ink chambers are arranged, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. In the following description, an ink container that stores ink is used as an example of the liquid storage container, but the liquid storage container is not limited to this.
Further, in these figures, a state is shown in which a recording head is connected to this container for recording by flying ink on a recording medium such as paper, but the recording head and the main body can be detached as described later. Anything is fine.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container body 1 of this embodiment has the same form and operation as the conventional example. The buffer chamber 3 has an inner volume substantially equal to that of each of the ink chambers 4a to 4e as in the conventional example, but its shape is flat and covers the top surface and the side surface of the other ink chambers. Further, a porous body 5 is filled inside, and a communication hole 6a for communicating with the ink chamber and an atmosphere communication hole 7 are provided.
Is provided. With this structure, the outer wall of each ink chamber does not come into direct contact with the outside air, and the outside air does not directly enter.

Explaining in detail with reference to FIG. 3, it is considered that the water vapor of the ink in the air is saturated in the ink chamber where the ink has been used up. At this time, if it is not covered with the buffer chamber 3 as shown in FIG. 3A, the outside air enters through the porous container body 8 to dilute the concentration of water vapor in the ink chamber 9. However, the evaporation of the water continues as long as the ink is present, and the invasion of the outside air also continues in order to maintain the equilibrium, so that the volume of the air in the ink chamber increases and the ink in the ink chamber 9 is expelled.

However, when the intermediate chamber 11 communicating with the outside air through the small holes 10 is provided between the ink chamber and the outside air as shown in FIG. 3B, in order to eliminate the humidity difference between the ink chamber 9 and the inside chamber 11. First, air enters the ink chamber 9 from the intermediate chamber 11. At the same time, water vapor also moves from the ink chamber 9 to the intermediate chamber 11, and when the humidity in both chambers becomes equal, the movement of air and water vapor ceases. Since the intermediate chamber 11 communicates with the outside air through the small hole 12, there is little interaction with the outside air and the change in humidity is gentle. However, the air in the ink chamber 9 gradually increases due to the air gradually entering the ink chamber 9 due to the difference in humidity between the ink chamber 9 and the intermediate chamber 11.

Therefore, when the buffer chamber 12 is covered as in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
Is connected to the ink chamber 13, so that the water vapor in the buffer chamber 12 is always close to saturation (the ink chamber that is out of ink can be regarded as a part of the buffer chamber). Therefore, there is little difference from the humidity in the ink chamber 13, and the air in the buffer chamber 12 hardly enters the ink chamber 13 through the container body 14. Further, since the buffer chamber 12 is only connected to the outside air through the small atmosphere communication hole 15, the water vapor in the buffer chamber 12 does not escape to the outside so much that the internal humidity is kept substantially unchanged. Further, the porous body 16 in the buffer chamber 12 prevents ink leakage and improves the moisturizing effect. As described above, according to the present invention, the invasion of air into the ink chamber can be significantly suppressed by covering the ink chamber with the high humidity buffer chamber.

In FIG. 4, only the top surface of the ink chamber is covered with the buffer chamber.

In the case of the ink chamber in which the ink is not yet used, the air mixed at the time of ink injection is accumulated in contact with the top surface. Since the accumulated air is saturated with water vapor, outside air enters from the top surface in contact with the air. Then, the amount of intrusion increases in proportion to the amount of accumulated air (the speed of expansion is accelerated). Therefore, the most effective method is to provide a buffer chamber on the top surface so that air does not enter from the top surface in the initial state.

Further, a porous body may be housed in the intermediate chamber described with reference to FIG. 3 (b) and further contain water to the extent that it does not leak from the atmosphere communication hole (not shown). According to this method, the difference in humidity between the air in the intermediate chamber and that in the ink chamber is small and the air in the ink chamber does not enter. Further, since the communication between the intermediate chamber and the ink chamber is not necessary, the shape is simple and the manufacturing is easy (in this case, an atmosphere communication hole is provided in the ink chamber farthest from the ejection port as in the conventional case). .

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cartridge in which the recording head 16 and the container body can be attached and detached. The ink supply hole of the container body is sealed with a rubber stopper 17. Rubber stopper 17
Is cylindrical and has a hole in the center, but the container body 1
When it is attached to 8, the hole is closed by tightening with the frame. The pipe 19 of the recording head 16 is attached to the rubber stopper 1
By penetrating 7, ink is communicated.

[0025]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
By changing the shape of the conventional cartridge, you can prevent air from entering the inside of the ink container without increasing the size, using a special non-material, or covering it with another container or film. It prevents the inconvenience of.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a cartridge according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of the cartridge according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the cartridge of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a cartridge of a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing a cartridge of a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional cartridge partially broken away.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional cartridge.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation during recording of a conventional cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container body 2 Recording head 3 Buffer chamber 4a-e Ink chamber 5 Porous body 6a-e Communication hole 7 Atmosphere communication hole 8 Container body 9 Ink chamber 10 Atmosphere communication hole 11 Intermediate chamber 12 Buffer chamber 13 Ink chamber 14 Container body 15 Atmosphere communication hole 16 Recording head 17 Rubber stopper 18 Container body 101 Container body 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e
Partition plate 103 Porous body 104 Atmosphere communication hole 105 Recording head 105a Discharge port

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A liquid chamber having a plurality of liquid chambers partitioned by a plurality of partition members, adjacent liquid chambers being communicated with each other via a liquid communicating portion, and a decrease in the amount of remaining liquid in the liquid chamber due to consumption of the liquid. In the liquid container that sequentially occurs for each, has an atmosphere communication hole, and has a buffer chamber for preventing the liquid from leaking to the outside when the air in the liquid chamber expands, part of this,
Alternatively, a liquid cartridge characterized in that almost all of it covers at least the top surface of the liquid chamber. 2. An ink chamber having a plurality of ink chambers partitioned by a plurality of partition members, adjacent ink chambers being communicated with each other through an ink communicating portion, and a decrease in the ink remaining amount in the ink chamber due to ink consumption. In the ink container that is sequentially generated for each, an atmosphere communication hole is provided, and a buffer chamber for preventing the ink from leaking to the outside when the air in the ink chamber is expanded is provided. An ink cartridge characterized in that it covers at least the top surface of the chamber. 3. The ink cartridge according to claim 2, wherein a porous body is housed in substantially the entire area of the buffer chamber.