JPH0781083A - Ink cartridge, ink jet recorcing device having the cartridge, and recording apparatus having the ink jet recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the interposition of air between a recording head and an ink cartridge due to drawing-in of air by arranging fiber bundles in parallel to an ink supply direction to form an ink supply member and bringing one end part of the ink supply member into contact with a porous member under pressure. CONSTITUTION:An ink cartridge 304 has a porous member 309 being an ink storing part and an ink guide member 307 composed of fiber material arranged therein. An atmosphere communication port 310 allows the interior of the ink storing part to communicate with the atmosphere and an ink supply port 311 is engaged with the ink introducing part 305 of a recording head. Since the ink guide member 307 forms a part of an ink passage, the member 307 must have the directionality of ink supply. Further, since the member 307 comes into contact with the ink introducing port of the recording head under pressure, it also requires physical strength capable of keeping a shape. Therefore, it is desirable to form a fiber bundle by bundling fibers.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet device for ejecting droplets to perform printing, image formation, etc., an ink cartridge mounted in the device, an ink jet recording unit, and a method of filling ink into the ink cartridge. Is. In particular, the present invention relates to an ink cartridge that can be attached to and detached from an inkjet head, an inkjet unit configured by joining the ink cartridge and the head, and an inkjet device that mounts the unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there is a strong demand for miniaturization of an inkjet device that ejects liquid such as ink onto a recording medium to perform printing or image formation. Therefore, the recording head and the liquid storage container, which are conventionally provided separately on the carriage of the recording apparatus and on the recording apparatus main body side, are integrally arranged on the carriage to achieve miniaturization. ing.

FIG. 1 shows an example thereof. In FIG. 1, the printer carriage 1 of the main frame 122 of the recording device 120 is shown.
A recording unit 101 in which a recording head and an ink cartridge serving as a liquid storage container are integrated is arranged on the print head 21. In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, there is a recording unit in which a recording head and an ink cartridge can be separated. In this case, the ink cartridge has a replaceable structure, and the recording head has either a structure fixed on the carriage or a structure detachable from the carriage as required.

In the case of the above arrangement in which the recording head and the ink cartridge are arranged on the carriage, it is necessary to provide a negative pressure generating mechanism in the ink cartridge.
Here, the negative pressure generally means a state in which the hydrostatic head pressure of the ink held in the recording head is lower than the atmospheric pressure. By setting this state, it is possible to prevent ink from leaking from the nozzles provided in the recording head. As a negative pressure generating mechanism provided in the ink cartridge, a mechanism in which a porous member is provided inside the ink cartridge as an ink absorber and a negative pressure is generated by utilizing the capillary force of the porous member is adopted. .

When the above-mentioned porous member is used, in order to reduce the residual amount of the stored ink, that is, to increase the use efficiency of the ink, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1 is used.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 87364, a configuration is adopted in which the ink supply unit (or the introduction unit) on the recording head side is press-fitted into the ink absorber.

With this structure, the ink absorber near the ink introducing portion can be deformed to locally increase the capillary force. Therefore, since the ink is concentrated near the introduction portion to promote the ink supply, the amount of ink remaining in the ink absorber is reduced.

In general, in the separable recording unit, not only the ink cartridge which has used up the ink is replaced but also the recording head is replaced, or the cartridge which has been used once is filled with the ink again and used. . Further, it may be possible that the ink cartridge is attached or detached due to an erroneous operation by the user.

Therefore, it is impossible to predict under what circumstances the recording head and the ink cartridge will be attached and detached.

Therefore, when the recording head and the ink cartridge are attached and detached, it is considered that sufficient air enters the inside of the ink flow passage to prevent the formation of the ink flow passage that connects the recording head and the ink cartridge. To be

The structure for preventing the invasion of air into the ink flow path on the recording head side is described in EP-0536980A.
It is proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2 and the like. This discloses a configuration in which a fibrous sleeve that communicates with the liquid chamber on the recording head side is provided so as to project toward the recording head side so as to come into contact with the ink absorber on the reservoir side during coupling. By adopting this structure, the function of a filter is achieved, and even if the ink storage portion and the recording head are separated, the above-mentioned sleeve prevents air from entering the liquid chamber on the recording head side.

[0011] In addition to the above, as another problem to be solved by the inflow of air into the recording unit, there is JP-A-5-8405. According to the disclosed invention, when the reference has an ink storage portion communicating with the atmosphere, the ink is supplied to the recording head side through an air communication port provided in the ink storage portion as the ink is consumed. The purpose is to prevent air from entering the ink flow path and reduce the remaining amount of ink.

In order to achieve the above object, a structure is adopted in which a fibrous body is interposed between the ink introducing section on the recording head side and the ink absorbing section of the liquid containing section, and the ink introducing section is press-fitted into the fibrous body. There is.

However, the aforementioned EP-0536980A
The configurations described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-8 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-8405 are proposed in reports and the like. Even if a recording unit capable of recording heads is configured, there is a risk that ink discontinuity may occur when the ink cartridge is attached or detached before the ink cartridge is used up, etc. Found out.

When the recording head and the ink cartridge are separated from each other, the ink absorber near the supply port of the ink cartridge connected to the ink introducing portion can come into contact with the atmosphere.

At this time, as described above, when the ink introducing portion on the recording head side is pressed into the ink absorbing body, the ink absorbing body deformed by the ink introducing portion on the recording head side is As the ink absorber returns to its original shape, air may be drawn in by the ink absorber, and the vicinity of the ink supply port may be mixed with ink or may be in a state of only air.

When the recording head is mounted again in this state, an air layer exists in the vicinity of the ink supply port, which hinders the formation of an ink flow path from the ink cartridge to the recording head. Therefore, the ink supply rate is lowered and the ink is not supplied due to the ink interruption, and good printing cannot be performed.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, when the recording head and the ink cartridge are separated before the ink cartridge is used up, the ink absorber which has been deformed by the ink introducing portion on the recording head side is When the ink absorber re-installs the recording head by drawing air from the outside as it returns to its original shape,
Since an air layer is formed in the vicinity of the ink supply port, formation of an ink flow path from the ink cartridge to the recording head is hindered, the ink supply rate decreases and ink supply is interrupted, which prevents ink supply, and good printing cannot be performed. The challenge is to eliminate them.

Further, a low-cost and highly reliable ink cartridge which has a high basic performance and can supply a stable ink, and an ink jet recording unit in which the ink cartridge and the ink jet recording head can be attached to and detached from each other, An object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet recording device equipped with the recording unit.

[0019]

As means for solving the above problems, in the present invention, an ink containing portion having a porous member for containing ink and an ink supply port for supplying the ink to the outside are provided. And an ink supply member between the ink storage section and the ink supply port, wherein the ink supply member is parallel to the ink supply direction from the ink storage section to the ink supply port. The present invention provides an ink cartridge characterized in that it is a fiber bundle composed of arranged fibers, and one end of the ink supply member is in pressure contact with the porous member.

Further, in an ink cartridge having a porous member for holding ink supplied to the recording head through an ink introducing portion provided in the ink jet recording head, an end portion which is in pressure contact with the ink introducing portion, An ink cartridge comprising: an ink supply member having an end pressed against the porous member, wherein the ink supply member is a fiber bundle composed of fibers arranged in a direction connecting the ends. It is provided.

In an ink jet recording unit having a recording head having a plurality of ejection portions for ejecting ink, and an ink cartridge having a porous member for retaining the ink supplied to the recording head, the recording head comprises: The ink cartridge has an ink introducing portion for introducing ink from the ink cartridge, wherein the ink cartridge has one end pressed against the ink introducing portion and the other end pressed against the ink absorber. It is an object of the invention to provide an ink jet recording unit including an ink supply member including a fiber bundle arranged in a direction toward the ink introducing portion.

Further, in an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording unit having a recording head having a plurality of ejection portions for ejecting ink, and an ink cartridge having a porous member for holding ink to be supplied to the recording head. The recording unit has a recording head having an ink introducing portion for introducing ink from the ink cartridge, one end of which is pressed against the ink introducing portion and the other end of which is pressed against the ink absorber. An ink cartridge having an ink supply member composed of a fiber bundle arranged in a direction from a quality member toward the ink introduction portion, and a carriage for detachably mounting the recording unit is provided. The present invention provides an inkjet recording device.

[0023]

With the configuration of the present invention as described above, when the ink cartridge and the recording head are attached / detached while maintaining the concentration of the ink in the vicinity of the ink supply port of the ink cartridge, the introduction portion on the recording head side and the inside of the ink cartridge are Since the ink guiding member is brought into pressure contact with the ink guiding member, the ink flow path can be formed without interposing air between the recording head and the ink cartridge by drawing in air.

Further, since the pressure contact state between the ink cartridge and the recording head can be uniformly controlled, it is possible to form an ink flow path capable of stable ink supply.

Furthermore, an ink cartridge having high basic performance, low cost and high reliability can be obtained.

[0026]

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

(First Embodiment) FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure explaining the cross section of the ink jet recording unit 301 of an Example, the figure (a) shows the cross section of the state which the ink jet head and the ink cartridge are isolate | separated, and the figure (b) connects these. The cross-sectional view in the state where it did is shown. The inkjet recording head 302 includes
A filter 303 for removing dust in normal ink
Is provided at the end of the ink introduction portion 305, which is a connection portion with the ink cartridge 304.

The upper limit of the effective pore diameter of the filter 303 is defined by the ejection port diameter of the recording head for the purpose of preventing dust from flowing into the recording head side.

The lower limit of the effective pore diameter of the filter 303 is defined by the pressure loss at the maximum flow rate so that the pressure loss of the filter does not affect printing. Although the pressure loss depends on the diameter of the flow path of the ink introducing portion where the filter is provided, the filter 303 is empirically obtained from the experiments by the present inventors.
It is desirable that the effective pore diameter of 5 is 5 to 20 μm.

Further, the ink cartridge 304 is provided with a porous member 309 as an ink storage portion for storing ink and an ink guide member 307 made of a fibrous body. Further, 310 is an air communication port for communicating the inside of the ink containing portion with the atmosphere, and 311 is an ink supply port that engages with the ink introducing portion 305 of the recording head.

The ink guide member mentioned here is an ink supply member that guides the ink in one direction, and in the present embodiment, it guides the ink from the ink absorber to the ink supply port.

In this embodiment, a compressed and accommodated ink absorber is used as the porous member arranged in the ink accommodation portion of the ink cartridge. Examples of the ink absorber into which the ink is impregnated include sponge.

The ink guiding member 307 is fixed to the holder portion 312 of the ink cartridge 304 and is kept in pressure contact with the ink absorber 309 that is compressed and accommodated therein, so that the ink absorber at the contact portion is always deformed. There is. By this deformation of the ink absorber, the capillary force can be increased and the ink can be concentrated near the ink guiding member.

As a result, even when the recording head and the ink cartridge are separated from each other, ink is always supplied to the ink guide member and a meniscus is formed on the surface of the ink guide member on the ink supply port side. Does not pull in.

When the recording head and the ink cartridge are connected to each other to form the ink flow path, it is possible to promote the inflow of the ink into the ink guide member, prevent the ink from being interrupted, and reduce the residual ink amount. Therefore, the use efficiency of the ink stored in the ink cartridge is improved.

In the case where the ink absorber is compressed and housed as in this embodiment, the ink absorber is not compressed even if the ink guiding member is pressed against the ink absorber as shown in FIG. Since it is pressed against the ink guide member,
Since the vicinity of the press contact portion is most deformed, the ink can be concentrated near the press contact portion.

When an ink absorber which is not compressed and housed or an ink absorber having a low elastic coefficient is used, the ink guiding member is pressed into the ink absorber to ensure the deformation of the ink absorber, and It is preferable that the ink is concentrated.

The term "press-fitting" as used herein means that the ink guiding member is pushed into the ink absorber by a force stronger than the pressing force applied during normal pressure contact.

Generally, in an ink jet recording apparatus, by properly maintaining the balance of the hydraulic head pressure at the ejection port of the recording head, printing is performed due to ink leakage from the ejection port of the recording head or defective ink supply to the ejection port. Prevent quality deterioration. In order to stabilize the performance of the inkjet recording apparatus, the head pressure of the ink in the inkjet recording head 302 is low with respect to the atmospheric pressure (generally, the atmospheric pressure is 0 mmAq or less −150 mmAq or more, preferably −30 mmAq or less −100 mmAq or more). Need to keep. In this embodiment, the ink holding force by the capillary force of the porous member 309 is set to 40 to 60 mmAq to control the ink to a negative pressure.

The ink jet recording head 302 and the ink cartridge 304 are connected to each other by the ink cartridge 3
A pair of joining mechanisms 317 integrally protruding from 04 are supported by both ends of a receiving portion (not shown) of the inkjet recording apparatus. By the coupling, the filter 303 of the inkjet recording head 302 comes into close contact with the ink guiding member 307 of the ink cartridge 304 with a predetermined pressing force.

This pressing force is determined by the amount of protrusion of the ink introducing portion on the recording head side and the ink introducing portion 305 on the recording head side from the outer surface of the ink cartridge applied to the recording head.
The distance to the contact surface of the ink guide member 307 that makes contact with
That is, it depends on the depth of the ink supply port 311.

By this connection, the ink cartridge 30
An ink flow path 306 reaching the ink introduction portion on the recording head side is formed from the porous member 309 in the recording medium 4 through the ink derivative 307, and ink can be supplied to the recording head.

Further, the O-ring 308 is provided at the connecting portion between the recording head and the ink cartridge, and the ink introducing portion 30 is provided.
The ink flow path formed by the connection between the ink supply port 5 and the ink supply port 311 can be kept sealed. In addition, it is possible to prevent the ink from leaking from the connection portion and to minimize the evaporation of the ink.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the construction of the above-mentioned ink guiding member 307. 315 is a fiber, and suitable materials are mainly polyester, nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, cellulose, polyurethane, etc., and those which are chemically stable to ink and have good wettability are desirable.

Generally, the contact angle of ink is small as a criterion for determining the good wettability. A material having a large contact angle such as a so-called Teflon-based material can also be used by subjecting it to a hydrophilic treatment. However, from the viewpoints of an increase in the number of manufacturing steps for the hydrophilic treatment and an increase in product cost, it is desirable that the ink has a small contact angle.

As the fiber material other than the above, fibers such as metal, glass and carbon may be used, or the above fiber materials may be mixed.

Further, since the ink guide member 307 forms a part of the ink flow path, it is necessary to have the directionality of ink supply. Further, since it comes into pressure contact with the introduction portion of the recording head, it is also necessary to have physical strength sufficient to maintain the shape.
Therefore, it is desirable to bind the fibers together to form a fiber bundle.

The condition for determining the upper limit of the thickness of the fiber forming the ink guiding member is the adhesion between the ink guiding member and the filter provided in the ink introducing portion. From this point of view, the thickness is preferably 0.05 mm or less. Further, the lower limit of the thickness of the fiber is preferably 0.01 mm or more from the viewpoint of adopting a structure in which the ink guiding member binds the fiber, in order to facilitate the cost and formation of the fiber bundle. In this embodiment, 0.03 mm polyester fiber is adopted.

Further, as a means for binding the fiber aggregate in this embodiment, a resinous binder (binder) is used.
A method of hardening the outer peripheral portion of the fiber bundle by 316 was adopted.

As a result, a hardened region is formed near the outer peripheral portion of the ink guiding member.

Here, as the resin to be impregnated from the outer peripheral portion of the fiber bundle, the present inventor has adopted polyurethane of polyester polyol, but a melamine-based binder may be used as long as it is suitable for the purpose.

As the means for forming the hardened region for binding the fibers, a method of applying heat or pressure from the outer peripheral portion and fusing may be used instead of using the resin binder described above.

Further, instead of forming the hardened region, the fiber bundle may be covered with another member. However, in the case of forming the above-mentioned cured region, the binder can be impregnated at the same time as molding, while in the case of coating and binding the fibers, the fibers must be coated in a bound state, In order to mold it to have uniform strength,
The manufacturing process may be complicated. Therefore, it seems that a structure having a hardening region is desirable.

Regarding the formation of the fiber bundle, it is possible to maintain the directionality of the ink supply of the fibers and to prevent the fibers from being deformed during press contact with the ink introducing portion on the recording head side to make the ink supply impossible or non-uniform. It is not limited to the above-described configurations and methods as long as they are made.

The fibers 315 arranged in the ink guiding member are arranged parallel to the ink flow direction in the ink guiding member, and the capillary force at the time of forming the fiber bundle is higher than the capillary force of the porous member. It is set. The capillary force of the porous member mentioned here also includes the capillary force when the ink guiding member is press-fitted into the porous member.

Therefore, the porous member 30 impregnated with ink is used.
By pressing one end of the guide member 307 against 9, the ink naturally and quickly permeates the tip of the guide member 307. The ink that reaches the tip of the guide member 307 is
There is no fear that a meniscus is formed by the capillary force of the fiber bundle of 15 and leaks to the outside.

In the ink derivative, since the resinous binder is impregnated from the outer peripheral portion to form the cured region,
It is not possible to draw a clear boundary between the impregnated and hardened area and the non-impregnated area.

However, when the hardened region of the outer peripheral portion formed by the binder and the inner region are roughly divided and compared,
In the cured region, the voids between the fibers are filled with resin or the like, while in the internal region, voids that are smaller or larger than the fiber diameter are mixed, so the internal region has better ink supply. it is conceivable that.

The ink jet recording head 302 described above
Filter 303 and ink cartridge 3 provided on the side
As for the relationship on the contact surface with the ink guiding member 307 provided on the 04 side, as shown in FIG.
It is necessary that the contact area of 03 is smaller than the area of the joint surface of the ink guiding member 307. This is because when the ink guiding member has the hardening region A as described above, the inner region B of the ink guiding member, that is, the region C where the ink flow path on the recording head side is formed is pressed to the portion excluding the hardening region. This is to allow it. By adopting this configuration, the pressure contact state can be made uniform in the region corresponding to the effective diameter of the filter.

Further, as a more preferable pressure contact state, it is possible to bring the entire end portion of the ink introducing portion on the recording head side into contact with the internal region B of the ink guiding member. With this configuration, the entire surface of the filter of the ink introducing portion and the inner region B are more surely brought into close contact with each other, so that it is possible to prevent a decrease in the ink supply amount due to the nonuniform pressure contact state.

Practically, even if there is a hardening area in the contact area between the ink guiding member and the ink introducing portion, it does not mean that the supply cannot be stopped. As described above, it is more preferable that the contact area does not include the hardening area.

Further, in order to efficiently supply the ink to the recording head side, the pressure contact state between the fiber bundle and the filter is not uniform due to mechanical tolerance or assembly accuracy, or the fiber bundle has wrinkles on the pressure contact surface. It should not be pressed into contact with the filter. Therefore, the pressure contact surface of the ink guide member with the head-side filter needs to have some flexibility.

From this point of view also, as a condition of the pressure contact surface between the filter on the head side and the ink guiding member, from the viewpoint of stabilizing the supply property, the cured region is prevented from being pressed into contact with the filter. It is more desirable to press the ink introduction portion inwardly than to press it inward.

As the condition of the contact position in this embodiment, the distance from the outer circumference of the ink guiding member 307 to the outer circumference of the filter 303 (distance along the normal line direction of the filter outer circumference within the same plane including the filter surface) is set. 0.5 mm
As described above, it is preferably 1 mm or more.

Under this condition, since the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the fiber bundle which is the ink guiding member as the binder is hardened to a depth of about 1 mm toward the center by impregnating the resin, the hardened area is set. It is for avoiding the pressure contact. However, it has been empirically confirmed from the results of experiments conducted by the inventors of the present invention that even if the thickness is 0.5 mm or more and less than 1 mm, the effective diameter of the filter is reduced, which is disadvantageous for high-speed printing and the like, but functions.

As described above, according to the invention of the present application, the ink absorber serving as the ink containing portion and the fiber bundle serving as the ink guiding member are arranged between the ink absorber and the ink supply port inside the ink cartridge. The fiber bundle is pressed against the ink absorber. With this configuration, the ink concentrates on the supply port of the ink cartridge even when the recording head is removed, so that the ink supply to the recording head can be promoted.

Therefore, since the contact portion of the ink absorber with the fiber bundle is deformed by the fiber bundle, there is no need to deform the ink storage portion by the ink introduction portion on the recording head side to concentrate the ink. Therefore, the ink introducing portion and the fiber bundle on the recording head side need not be press-fitted, but only pressed against each other, and air is not drawn near the ink supply port when the recording head is attached or detached. The ink supply path is well formed.

Further, when the ink jet recording head 302 prints at a high speed, the ink cartridge 304 maintains a constant negative pressure according to the demand of the head 302, and a large amount of liquid droplets for recording are recorded per unit time. Must be discharged.

Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the flow path resistance in the ink supply path. The inkjet recording head 302 of the present invention was able to improve the performance even with respect to this problem.

In order to verify the flow path resistance of this embodiment, an ink cartridge having a valve mechanism at the joint between the recording head and the ink cartridge shown in FIG. 5 is used as a comparative example. FIG. 5A shows a sectional view in a state where the inkjet head and the ink cartridge are separated, and FIG. 5B shows a sectional view in a state where these are connected.

In FIG. 5, the ink jet recording unit 601 is configured such that the ink jet recording head 602 and the ink cartridge 604 are separably connected by the both-sided claws 617. Further, the ink introducing section 6 on the recording head side, which is inserted into the ink supply port 611 on the ink cartridge side,
In 05, a head filter 603 is provided to prevent dust from flowing into the inside of the recording head. At the time of connection, an O-ring 608 made of ethylene propylene rubber completely seals the ink flow path 606 from the outside.

On the other hand, an ink absorber 609 is provided inside the ink cartridge, the ink is retained by the ink holding capacity of the ink absorber 609, and the density of the ink absorber is adjusted, whereby the ink jet recording head 60 is obtained.
The head pressure of the second ink is set lower than the atmospheric pressure to prevent ink leakage. A mesh filter 613 is disposed at the end of the ink outlet side flow path of the ink absorber 609, and the ink in the ink absorber is held by pressing the ink absorber 609 to partially compress the ink absorber 609 to a high density. Is stably led out to the inkjet recording head 602 side.

When the ink cartridge 604 and the ink jet recording head 602 are separated, the valve mechanism 61 is provided downstream of the filter 613 in the ink cartridge 604.
4 acts to prevent leakage of ink when the ink cartridge 604 is a single body.

As a model for explaining the flow path resistances of this comparative example and this embodiment, an equivalent circuit using a battery having an internal resistance is used.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of ink flow path resistance.
FIG. 6A shows an ink circuit from the ink cartridge 604 having the valve mechanism shown in FIG. 5 to the inkjet recording head 602, and FIG. 6B is an electric circuit equivalent to FIG. 6A. is there.

Load the ink jet recording head 602,
The ink negative pressure can be a voltage, the ink flow rate can be a current, the ink flow path resistance can be a wiring resistance, and the flow path resistance in the ink cartridge 604 can be an internal resistance of the battery. Therefore, in order to supply a large amount of ink to the inkjet recording head 602, it is necessary to reduce the flow path resistance.

FIG. 7 compares the ratios of the flow path resistances in the comparative example and the present embodiment when the flow path resistances of the head filter are made equal.

FIG. 7A shows an ink cartridge 604 having the valve mechanism shown in FIG. 6A and a recording head 6.
2 conceptually shows the configuration of the flow path resistance between the two. Most of the flow path resistance component of the recording unit is the filter portion for taking out the ink from the ink absorber 609. The numbers in the graph correspond to the numbers in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Similarly, FIG. 7B shows the ratio of the flow path resistance of the ink cartridge 304 of this embodiment. As described above, the ink cartridge 304 of this embodiment does not have the filter 613 and the valve mechanism 614 shown in FIG. 5, and the ink guiding member 307 also has a small resistance component. Ink may be supplied by resistance. Each number in the graph corresponds to each number in FIG.

In FIG. 8, the difference in ink supply capacity between the case where the valve mechanism described above is used and the case where the ink guide member is used is specifically referred to as the supply pressure in the ink flow path, which is used for a specific one printing / printing pattern. A data chart of the measured and confirmed data is shown.

Here, when normal printing is not performed, the pressure in the ink flow path is -60 mmAq to -8 with respect to atmospheric pressure due to the capillary force which is the ink holding force of the ink absorber.
It is about 0 mmAq.

In this measurement, the pressure relative to the atmospheric pressure when no printing is performed is about -60 mmA in the ink cartridge having the valve mechanism shown in FIG. 8 (a).
q, about -80 mmAq in the ink cartridge using the fiber bundle of the present invention shown in FIG. 8 (b).

When a portion requiring a larger amount of ink (a solid portion or the like) is included during printing of the print pattern, the ink cartridge having the valve mechanism has a flow path resistance as shown in FIG. 8A. Caused by pressure loss. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, in the ink cartridge 304 of this embodiment, the pressure loss is extremely small, and it is suitable for high-speed recording and the like as compared with the comparative example.

Further, as another effect of this embodiment, there is an improvement in the reliability of the ink jet recording unit after a long break. As a general problem of the inkjet recording apparatus, if the apparatus has an extremely long down time, bubbles may be generated in the ink flow path of the inkjet recording unit, and the flow path may be blocked, resulting in inability to reprint. is there.

If there are a few bubbles in the ink flow path while the ink jet recording apparatus is at rest, these bubbles are filled with saturated vapor of the ink, so that the outside air acts to dilute the vapor concentration of the bubbles (osmotic pressure). ) As a result of penetrating the channel wall,
It is generated when the volume of bubbles expands.

For this reason, conventionally, a timer for counting the post-pause time is mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus, and after a certain time has elapsed, bubbles are discharged together with the ink in the ink jet recording unit by a pump.

However, when the environment is very severe and the temperature is relatively low and the relative humidity is low, bubbles may grow before the above-mentioned set time and printing may not be possible. In particular, when the ink jet recording head 602 and the ink cartridge 601 are joined or separated as shown in FIG.
When 14 operates, it is disadvantageous because the outside air, which is the source of air bubbles, easily mixes into the ink flow passage such as the moving region of the valve.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, the ink discharge surface of the ink guiding member 307 of the ink tank with which the filter 303 of the ink jet recording head comes into contact forms a meniscus over the entire surface, so that the recording head is separated. It rarely takes bubbles. Further, since the filter and the ink guide member come into direct contact with each other, the area where air may enter may be reduced as compared with the case where the valve mechanism is used, and it is easy to remove the outside air at the time of connection and the air is mixed or intervened. There is little to do.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment according to the present invention.
It is an explanatory sectional view of an example. In this example, since the ink guide member 907 is pressed against the ink absorber 909 arranged in a compressed state in the ink containing portion, as in the first embodiment, the ink guide member 907 is provided in the direction in which the ink supply port 911 is provided. It becomes a form that receives repulsive force. In addition, the ink cartridge 90
3 is provided with an atmosphere communication port 910 for communicating the inside of the cartridge with the atmosphere.

In this embodiment, the ink guiding member 9
Reference numeral 07 denotes a holder portion 912 of the inkjet cartridge.
Further, the recording head 902 is slidably arranged in parallel to the joining direction D with the filter 903 provided in the ink introduction portion 905 of the recording head 902, and is pressed by the ink absorber as described above. However, since the ink cartridge 904 has the stopper 918, it does not fall out.

When the recording head 902 is inserted into the ink cartridge 904, the ink introducing portion 9 on the recording head side.
05 contacts the ink guide member 907. The pressing force for press-contacting the ink introducing portion and the ink derivative depends on the relationship between the ink introducing portion and the ink supply port in the first embodiment. On the other hand, when the ink guide member is slidable as in the present embodiment, the press-fitted state of the ink guide member and the ink absorber, and the sliding amount of the ink guide member due to the insertion of the ink introduction portion, The pressing force is set.

By incorporating such a structure,
Even if the dimensional tolerance in the longitudinal direction of the ink guiding member 907 is designed to be loose, the filter and the ink guiding member 907 can be brought into stable contact with each other.

This is because when the ink guide member 907 is fixed so that it cannot slide, the ink guide member is too short due to variations in the machining accuracy of the ink guide member, or the flatness of the tip of the ink guide member. If this is not sufficient, the ink introducing portion on the recording head side and the ink guiding member may not be able to come into contact with each other, which may cause ink interruption.

When the length is too long, the fibers forming the ink guide member are deformed due to excessive pressing force of the ink introducing portion on the recording head side, and a portion where ink cannot be supplied is partially formed to make the supply uneven. There is also a possibility that it may lead to shortage and supply shortage.

Therefore, instability of the pressure contact can be eliminated, and even if the recording head and the ink cartridge are detached and attached a plurality of times, it is possible to preferably prevent the invasion of air at the time of joining. Further, in terms of accuracy, it has become possible to significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of the ink guiding member 907.

The lower limit of the sliding amount of the above-mentioned ink guiding member is
It needs to be 0.1 mm or more. The reason for this is that the adhesiveness between the filter and the ink guiding member utilizes elastic deformation at the joint surface of the ink guiding member.

Since this elastic deformation is used, if the filter and the ink guiding member are fixed in a pressure contact state and left for a long period (several months to several years), the joint surface of the ink guiding member is Repulsion force may be reduced due to the creep phenomenon (plastic deformation). As a result, due to poor adhesion between the filter surface and the ink guiding member, air enters and causes defective ejection.

In order to prevent this, the ink guide member is made slidable and the repulsive force of the ink absorber of the ink reservoir against which the ink guide member is pressed is utilized.
The ink guide member is pressed against the filter.

Therefore, as a condition of the pressure contact in the present embodiment, 5 g or more per 1 mm 2 of the pressure contact portion is required from the experiment, so that a sliding amount of at least 0.1 mm or more is determined in order to obtain this pressing force from the ink absorber. It In addition, a sliding amount of 0.1 mm or more is an appropriate condition from the viewpoint of manufacturing error at the joint between the recording head and the ink cartridge.

Further, the upper limit of the sliding amount of the ink guiding member is 3 mm or less, preferably 2 mm or less, more preferably 1 mm or less from the viewpoint of miniaturization of the tank. Further, although the elastic modulus is different from that of the ink guiding member, since the ink absorber itself is also elastically deformed, the sliding amount is 3 mm from the viewpoint of preventing the decrease of the pressing force due to the creep phenomenon similarly to the ink guiding member described above. Hereinafter, the upper limit is set to preferably 2 mm or less, more preferably 1 mm or less.

Unlike the present embodiment, when an ink absorber having a low degree of compression or a small elastic coefficient when the ink absorber is compressed and stored is used, the ink absorber is press-fitted. In this case, Also, as described above, the lower limit condition of the sliding amount is determined by the pressing force of the ink absorber.

The press-fitting referred to here means that the ink guide member is pushed into the ink absorber by a force stronger than the pressing force at the time of normal press-contacting and press-contacts.

As described above, by disposing the ink guide member slidably along the insertion direction of the ink introduction member of the recording head, the adhesion between the filter surface of the ink introduction portion and the ink guide member is improved. The ink flow path from the ink cartridge to the recording head is formed more reliably. Therefore, high print quality can be maintained without causing a decrease in the ink supply amount due to the intake of air or the like.

(Third Embodiment) FIGS. 10 to 14 are explanatory views of a third embodiment of the ink cartridge of the present invention to which the constitutions of the respective embodiments described above are applied.

FIG. 10 shows the appearance of the ink cartridge. (A) is from above, (b) is from the side,
(C) is a view from the ink supply port side, and (d) is a view from the atmosphere communication port. Further, 1104 is an ink cartridge, 1110 is an air communication port for communicating the inside of the ink cartridge with the atmosphere, and 1111 is an ink supply port for supplying ink to the outside.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the ink cartridge shown in FIG. (A) is A in FIG. 10 (a)
-A sectional view, (b), (c), and (d) are respectively FIG.
0 (b) BB sectional view, CC sectional view, DD
Corresponds to a cross-sectional view. Here, 1107 is an ink guiding member, 1109 is an ink absorber made of a porous member as an ink containing portion, and 1112 is a holder portion provided inside an ink cartridge as a supporting member for slidably supporting the ink guiding member. Is. Further, 1118 is a stopper, and the ink guide member 1107 is provided in the ink supply port 11.
It is regulated to move to the 11th side.

In this embodiment, the holder portion 1112 has a diameter of 6.85 mm.

FIG. 12 is a detailed view of the ink guiding member 1107 shown in FIG. Here, the ink guiding member 11
The diameter R of 07 is about 6.8 mm, and the cross-sectional shape is not a perfect circle but an ellipse. This shape prevents the ink guide 1107 from falling off the holder 1112 inside the ink cartridge during assembly.

In the present example, the fibers 1115 are 0.
It is assumed that a polyester fiber of 03 mm is used and a binder (not shown) for forming the fiber bundle is polyurethane of polyester polyol.

FIG. 13 shows the ink cartridge 1104 and the recording head 110 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of this embodiment.
2 shows the engagement relationship with 2. Engagement is a joining mechanism 1117
Maintained by

FIG. 14 shows the contact position between the filter of the ink introducing portion and the ink guiding member in this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the outer circumference of the ink introducing portion 1105 covers the hardening area A, but the ink flow path forming portion C is located in the inner area B.

In this embodiment, the hardening area A is about 1 mm from the outer circumference of the ink guiding member 1107.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the ink cartridge 1104 and the recording head 1102 are used.
The amount of protrusion of the ink introducing portion 1105 from the contact surface with the ink is 3.
Since the depth from the contact surface to the ink guiding member 1107 is 2 mm, the sliding amount L of the ink guiding member 1107 is 0.9 mm.

Therefore, the internal area B of the filter 1103 and the ink guide member 1107, that is, the area excluding the hardening area, is pressed against the area C forming the ink flow path 1106 on the recording head 1102 side, so that the filter is effective. The pressure contact state can be made uniform in the area corresponding to the diameter.

Further, by disposing the ink guiding member slidably along the insertion direction of the ink introducing member of the recording head, a creep phenomenon occurs in the pressure contact state between the filter surface of the ink introducing portion and the ink guiding member. Since it can be controlled not to do so, good adhesion can always be maintained.
Therefore, the ink flow path 1106 from the ink cartridge to the recording head is formed more reliably, and high print quality can be maintained without causing a decrease in the ink supply amount due to air intake.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the ink guiding member is positioned so that the ink guiding member is located in the central region in the cross section in the direction orthogonal to the ink supply direction of the ink cartridge. A structure in which it is held by a holding unit is adopted.

At this time, the ink guide member comes into pressure contact with the central region of the ink absorber arranged in the ink cartridge.

By adopting the above configuration, when the ink guiding member concentrates the ink in the ink absorber,
The ink contained in the ink absorber can be uniformly collected in the center.

Therefore, since the above-mentioned configuration is adopted, when the ink is supplied to the recording head side as the ink is consumed, the distribution of the ink remaining in the ink absorber is uniform and uniform. Ink supply is always more stable, and ink supply efficiency is also improved.

In the present embodiment, the central region of the ink cartridge and the central region of the ink absorber are the same, but unlike the present embodiment, the central region of the ink cartridge is different from the central region of the ink absorber. In addition, by bringing the ink guiding member into pressure contact with the center of the ink absorber, the same effect as this embodiment can be obtained.

By the way, as a method of refilling the ink in the ink cartridge of this embodiment, the ink guiding member is provided in a state where the internal air is sucked from the atmosphere communication port 910 and the pressure inside the ink cartridge is lowered. There is a method of filling the ink from the ink supply port side by utilizing the pressure difference.

When the pressure inside the ink cartridge is lowered as described above, it is also possible to perform suction from the ink supply port side where the ink guide member is arranged and to fill the ink from the atmosphere communication port side.

As another filling method, a method may be considered in which a hole is formed in a part of the member constituting the ink cartridge and the ink is injected from that part using a liquid injector such as a syringe. In this case, in order to prevent ink leakage after refilling the ink, the ink injection hole may be sealed with a sealing member such as resin.

The ink cartridge shown in this embodiment is
Since the structure on the ink supply port side is configured to use the ink guiding member, for example, as compared with the structure having the valve mechanism shown as the comparative example in the first embodiment, When suctioning the internal air or filling the ink, the complication of the connection mechanism with the refilling device is avoided, so that the filling can be performed easily.

As described above, the ink cartridge of the present invention is suitable from the viewpoint of refilling the ink including environmental problems.

(Fourth Embodiment) This embodiment is the same as the first embodiment described above.
The present invention relates to a form at the time of distribution of the embodiment to the third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of the packaging state of the ink cartridge in the above-mentioned embodiment. here,
(A), (b) is the figure which looked at arrangement | positioning of the ink cartridge inside a packaging bag from the front and the side, respectively.
(C) is a sectional view showing a storage mode of the ink cartridge inside the packaging bag.

The packaging bag 1625 is made of aluminum laminate in order to prevent evaporation of ink during long-term distribution storage, and is completely sealed by a heat-welding bag.

Further, by sealing the ink supply port 1611 for supplying the ink to the outside with the seal tape 1626, it is ensured that the ink never leaks from the ink cartridge in a severe physical distribution state after packaging. There is. The seal tape 1626 is fixed to the ink cartridge 1604 by heat welding, but is attached to such a degree that the user can easily peel it off when opening the seal.

The material of the seal tape 1626 includes polypropylene, nylon, polyester, polyethylene, aluminum foil and the like, but it may be a composite laminate film. Ink cartridge 160
In order to obtain good adhesion at the adhesion portion with No. 4, it is desirable that the material is the same as the material of the ink cartridge 1604.

Seal tape 162 adopted by the present inventors
6 is a laminate of polypropylene + aluminum + polyester because the material of the ink tank is polypropylene. An ink absorbing pad 1627 as an ink absorbing member is provided between the seal tape 1626 and the ink guiding member, and is heat-welded to the seal tape 1626.

The ink absorbing pad 1627 absorbs and holds the ink leaked from the ink guiding member 1607, thereby preventing a slight scattering of the ink when the seal tape is opened when the ink tank is used.

The material of the ink absorbing pad 1627 may be any material as long as it can absorb and retain ink. For example, PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, polyurethane,
Examples include resin foam such as nylon and fibrous materials such as paper and cloth.

In this example, a sealing tape 1626 and a polypropylene foam material having excellent heat-welding property were used.
By adopting the above packaging state, safe physical distribution of each ink cartridge of the first, second and third embodiments becomes possible.

However, during the distribution of the ink cartridge, when the environmental temperature of the ink cartridge becomes very high or the environmental pressure becomes very low, the effect thereof affects the inside of the ink cartridge regardless of the presence or absence of the outer bag. there's a possibility that. The state is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 16, (a) shows the case where the ink cartridge is put in a high temperature atmosphere, (b) shows the case where the ink cartridge is stored at a high temperature, and (c) shows the state shown in (b) and returns to room temperature. (D) shows the respective states when the seal is peeled off at room temperature after (c).

As shown in FIG. 16A, when the external environment changes, the air pressure in the space 1628 between the seal tape 1626 and the ink guide member 1607 becomes higher than the environmental pressure outside the ink cartridge. , Air acts to go out.

As shown in FIG. 16A, the ink guide member 1607 and the ink guide member holding portion (holder portion) 1612.
If there is almost no gap between them, or if the gap is such that the air flow is blocked by the surface tension due to the presence of ink, the air enters the ink guide member and the ink guide member 1607
The ink inside will be pushed back once.

However, as a result of the force of returning the ink that has been pushed back to the surface of the ink guiding member 1607 by the capillary force constantly, as a result, as shown in FIG. The air is the ink guide member 160.
7 escape from the gap between the holder 1612 and the space 16
The air pressure at 28 is equal to the outside air.

In this state, when the environmental temperature and the environmental pressure of the ink tank are returned to the normal state again, the force of the air flowing into the space acts this time. Then, as shown in FIG. 16C, this pressure acts on the ink in the ink absorber 1609 holding the ink made of the porous member, and the ink overflows from the ink guiding member 1607 into the space.

This overflowed ink is normally quickly absorbed by the ink pad, but under severe conditions such that the ink exceeding the ink pad absorption capacity overflows, the space 1628
Ink may remain on the screen.

When the user opens the seal tape in such a state, as shown in FIG. 16D, this ink is scattered to the outside and contaminates the living room.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of this embodiment in which an air flow path 1619 is provided to improve the state of FIG. 16 described above. In FIG. 17, (a) is when the ink cartridge is placed in a high temperature atmosphere, (b) is when the ink cartridge is stored at high temperature, (c) is when the ink cartridge is returned to room temperature after the state of (b), d) shows the respective states when the seal is peeled off at room temperature after (c).

In this embodiment, the air flow path 16 is provided between the ink guide member 1607 and the ink guide member holder 1612.
19 is provided so that the air in the space 1628 communicates with the outside through the inside of the ink cartridge through this flow path.

As can be seen from the above description, even if the relative pressure of the air in the space with respect to the outside air rises or falls, the air in the space can freely flow in and out, so that the ink overflow as shown in FIG. Can be completely eliminated. By introducing such a device, the logistics reliability of the present invention could be further improved.

Each of the ink cartridges shown in the first, second, third and fourth embodiments is excellent in an ink jet device of a form in which the ink cartridge which can be separated from the recording head is used for miniaturization. It has an effect.

FIG. 18 shows an example of the recording device. Figure 1
8, a recording head unit 2001 used in a small printer (recording device) 2020 incorporated in a main body of a computer or the like has a joining mechanism 20 in which a recording head 2002 and an ink cartridge 2004 are both-sided nails.
A configuration in which the connection is made separable by 17 is adopted.

The method of ejecting ink from the head is not limited to the method of using thermal energy by using an electrothermal conversion element, but can be applied to a method of using an electromechanical conversion element, a so-called piezo head or the like. Further, it can be suitably used not only for printing on paper or the like, but also for textile printing for printing on cloth or the like.

Further, as the constitution of the apparatus of the present invention, the addition of a recording or print head ejection recovery means, a preliminary auxiliary means or the like can further stabilize the effects of the present invention.
It is preferable.

Specific examples thereof include capping means for the head, cleaning means, pressure or suction means, an electrothermal converter or a heating element other than this, or a combination thereof. Examples thereof include a preliminary heating unit for heating and a preliminary ejection unit for ejection other than recording.

Further, two or more ink cartridges using the present invention may be provided for the head in correspondence with a plurality of inks having different recording colors and densities.

That is, regardless of whether the heads corresponding to different ink cartridges are integrally formed or a plurality of heads are combined, for example, the recording mode or the printing mode of the apparatus may be only the mainstream color mode such as black. In addition, the present invention is extremely effective for an apparatus having at least one of a plurality of modes of different colors or a full color by mixing colors.

[0153]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an inkjet recording unit that is separable from the inkjet recording head, when the recording head and the ink cartridge are separated before the ink cartridge is used up, the ink flow path is formed between the recording head and the ink cartridge by pressure contact. The air is not drawn into the ink cartridge at the supply port portion connected to the ink introduction portion on the recording head side of the ink cartridge.

Therefore, the formation of the ink flow path is not hindered by the presence of air between the recording head and the ink cartridge, and the efficiency of use of the ink in the ink cartridge can be maintained at a high level even if the ink cartridge is repeatedly attached and detached.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an example of a conventional device (mainframe).

FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an ink guide member.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the combination of the recording head and the ink cartridge of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a comparative example having a valve mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of ink flow path resistance.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of ink flow path resistance.

FIG. 8 Example of measurement data diagram of difference in ink supply capacity

FIG. 9 is an explanatory sectional view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an external view explanatory diagram of a third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory sectional view of a third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of an ink guiding member of a third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an engagement relationship diagram of a recording head and an ink cartridge according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the combination of the recording head and the ink cartridge of the third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of the packaging state of the ink cartridge during distribution.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the effect of environmental changes

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view of the operation of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an apparatus using a separation-type recording unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

101, 301, 601, 2001 Recording unit 302, 602, 902, 1102, 2002 Recording head 303, 603, 903, 1103 Filter 304, 604, 904, 1104, 1604, 200
4 Ink cartridges 305, 605, 905, 1105 Ink introducing sections 306, 606, 1106 Ink flow paths 307, 907, 1107, 1607 Ink guiding members (fiber bundles) 308, 608, 1108 O-rings 309, 909, 1109, 1609 Ink Storage part (porous member, ink absorber) 310, 910, 1110 Atmosphere communication port 311, 611, 911, 1111, 1611 Ink supply port 312, 912, 1112, 1612 Holder part (ink guide member holding part) 613 Mesh filter (Inside of ink cartridge) 614 Valve mechanism 315 Fiber 316 Binding material (binder) 317, 617, 1117, 2017 Joining mechanism 918 Stopper 1619 Air flow path 120, 2020 Recording device 121 Printer carriage 122 Me In-frame 1625 Packaging bag 1626 Seal tape 1627 Ink absorption pad 1628 Space

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. An ink cartridge having an ink storage section having a porous member for storing ink and an ink supply port for supplying the ink to the outside, wherein the ink storage section and the ink supply port are provided. An ink supply member between the ink supply member and the ink supply member, the ink supply member being a fiber bundle made of fibers arranged in parallel with an ink supply direction from the ink storage portion to the ink supply port, An end portion of the ink cartridge is pressed against the porous member. 2. The ink supply member is slidably supported by a support member provided inside the ink cartridge, and has a restricting member for restricting a sliding amount toward the ink supply port side. Claim 1 characterized by
The ink cartridge described in. 3. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the fiber bundle of the ink supply member has a hardened region for binding the fibers at an outer peripheral portion. 4. The ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the fiber bundle of the ink supply member is formed by impregnating a binding material from the outer peripheral portion of the fiber aggregate. 5. An ink cartridge having a porous member for holding ink to be supplied to the recording head via an ink introducing portion provided in an ink jet recording head, the end portion being in pressure contact with the ink introducing portion. And an ink supply member having an end pressed against the porous member, the ink supply member being a fiber bundle composed of fibers arranged in a direction connecting the ends. . 6. The ink introducing section has a filter, and an area of a surface of the ink supply member which is in pressure contact with the ink introducing section is larger than an area of the filter. Ink cartridge described. 7. The ink supply member is arranged such that a pressure contact portion with the ink introduction portion is located inside an outer periphery of the ink supply member. The ink cartridge described in. 8. The pressure contact portion of the ink supply member with the ink introduction portion is separated from the outer periphery of the ink supply member by 0.5 mm or more in the center direction. Ink cartridge. 9. The ink supply member according to claim 5, wherein the ink supply member is configured to be slidable in the ink cartridge in parallel with a connection direction axis with the ink jet recording head. ink cartridge. 10. The sliding amount of the ink supply member is 0.1.
The ink cartridge according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the ink cartridge has a diameter of 3 mm or more and 3 mm or less. 11. The fiber bundle has an average diameter of 0.01 mm to
The ink cartridge according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the ink cartridge is made of 0.05 mm polyester fiber. 12. The ink cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the fibers forming the fiber bundle are combined by a binder that impregnates and hardens the outer peripheral portion. 13. The ink cartridge according to claim 12, wherein the binder is urethane of polyether polyol. 14. The ink supply port, to which the ink supply member is arranged, is provided with a sealing member that can be easily removed in a packaged state of the ink cartridge. The ink cartridge described in. 15. A space located between the sealing member and the ink supply member communicates with a space provided inside the ink cartridge.
The ink cartridge described in. 16. The ink cartridge according to claim 14, wherein the sealing member is an aluminum laminate film material. 17. The sealing member according to claim 1, wherein at least one layer is made of polyolefin and is adhered to the ink cartridge by heat welding.
The ink cartridge according to any one of 6 above. 18. The ink cartridge according to claim 14, wherein an ink absorbing member is provided between the sealing member and the ink supply member. 19. The ink cartridge according to claim 18, wherein the ink absorbing member is a polyvinyl alcohol foam material. 20. The ink absorbing member is heat-welded to the sealing member.
9. The ink cartridge according to any one of 9. 21. The ink cartridge according to claim 18, wherein the material of the ink absorbing member is the same as the material of the welding layer of the sealing member. 22. An ink jet recording unit comprising a recording head having a plurality of ejecting sections for ejecting ink, and an ink cartridge having a porous member for holding ink to be supplied to the recording head, wherein the recording head comprises: An ink introducing portion for introducing ink from the ink cartridge, wherein the ink cartridge has one end pressed against the ink introducing portion and the other end pressed against the ink absorber, from the porous member. An ink jet recording unit comprising an ink supply member composed of a fiber bundle arranged in a direction toward the ink introducing portion. 23. The recording head has a thermal energy generating means for causing the ink to undergo a state change due to heat, and ejecting the ink from the ejecting section based on the state change to form flying droplets. 23.
The inkjet recording unit according to 1. 24. The ink supply member is in pressure contact with the ink introducing portion when the ink cartridge and the ink cartridge are combined, and is pressed toward the porous member by the ink introducing portion. Claim 22
24. The inkjet recording unit according to any one of 23 to 23. 25. An ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording unit, comprising: a recording head having a plurality of ejecting sections for ejecting ink; and an ink cartridge having a porous member for holding ink to be supplied to the recording head. The recording unit includes a recording head having an ink introducing portion for introducing ink from the ink cartridge, one end of which is pressed against the ink introducing portion and the other end of which is pressed against the ink absorber. An ink cartridge having an ink supply member composed of a fiber bundle arranged in a direction from a quality member to the ink introduction portion, and a carriage for detachably mounting the recording unit is provided. Inkjet recording device. 26. A method of refilling an ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the inside of the ink cartridge is sucked from either one of the ink supply port or an atmosphere communication port that communicates the inside and the outside of the ink cartridge, and the other side. A method of filling an ink cartridge for filling ink. 27. The method of refilling an ink cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink cartridge is provided with a hole that allows the inside and the outside of the ink cartridge to communicate with each other, and the ink is filled from the hole. 28. The ink cartridge filling method according to claim 27, further comprising the step of sealing the holes with a sealing member after filling the ink.