JPH08197745A - Liquid storage tank for ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To achieve the compact housing of a tank and to prevent the leakage of a liquid from a joint part while achieving simple operation at the time of conversion by providing a replaceable tank adjacent on a carriage, the means capable of being inserted in and extracted from the tank wherein an internal liquid storage region is arranged above an internal liquid introducing part and a liquid sensing means. CONSTITUTION: Since a recording head 14 itself is small-sized in an ink jet recording apparatus, if a tank is set to a separation and replacement system, the constitution almost embedded in a carriage 12 is enabled and a vertical space is not sacrificed. When a tank outer shape provided at an almost central part is operated in the direction vertical to a guide in the insertion and extraction of the tank, the liquid leak preventing structure from the internal liquid supply passage between the tank 11 and a recording head 14 is simplified and operability is not damaged. Next, a light projecting and detecting type photosensor 15 is arranged to the lower part of the tank and a light detecting and reflecting part 16 is provided to the bottom part of the tank 11 corresponding thereto on this side of an internal liquid supply part with respect to a paper feed direction to achieve the compact constitution around the carriage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid storage tank for ink jet recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are many cases of an on-carriage integrated tank for monochrome ink. In the above-mentioned conventional case, an ink jet that mainly deals with high-quality pictorial images instead of mainly dealing with characters alone. In the case of a recording device, it is necessary to eject a plurality of types of liquid such as ink and, if necessary, a fixing accelerator onto the recording medium,
In addition, considering that the background color is also colored, it is necessary to store a large-capacity liquid storage tank in the recording device.
However, in order to increase the number and capacity of the tanks to be stored, the outer dimensions of the recording device must be enlarged. Further, the tank is sensed, and internal liquid leakage from the joint between the tank and the recording device, which is predicted by the external force applied to the tank when the tank is replaced or the recording device is operating, is reliably prevented, and further operation is performed. There was no clear case in regard to the structure in which a person did not sacrifice the space efficiency on the desk or the rack when installing the recording device and did not impair the operability when replacing the tank.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to record a plurality of large-capacity liquid storage tanks in an ink jet recording apparatus which mainly handles high-quality full-color pictorial images. To provide a tank device that is compactly housed in the device, adds added value such as sensing of the tank, reliably prevents internal liquid leakage from the joint part, and does not impair operability etc. when replacing the tank Especially.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus of the present invention is arranged on a carriage of the recording apparatus so as to be adjacent to the carriage traveling direction and is independent. A liquid storage tank device of a recording device having a plurality of replaceable ink jet recording heads, wherein each recording head is arranged on a carriage in which a recording direction of a recording head having a tubular internal liquid introducing portion is arranged to print downward. Correspondingly to an arbitrary replaceable tank disposed adjacently on the carriage, and a main portion for storing the internal liquid of the tank is disposed above the internal liquid introducing portion of the recording head, and the tank is mounted on the carriage. It has a means for vertically inserting and withdrawing it, and has a liquid storage tank and a light emitting and receiving means for sensing the liquid in the tank. It is.

For the recording head having a stepped cylindrical shape portion having a substantially cylindrical portion having a large outer diameter due to the tubular internal liquid introducing portion and the outer peripheral portion thereof, a female shape is substantially formed in comparison with the substantially cylindrical shape. It is effective to form a mechanical coupler having a male and female cylindrical cylindrical eye by forming a female concave portion having a cylindrical concave portion that projects from the bottom of the tank and assembling it to the recording head.

It is preferable to provide a slot in a part of an outer wall of a portion that projects from the bottom of the tank and forms the mechanical coupler.

It is preferable that the upper tank slotting portion and the rib integrally provided with the substantially cylindrical portion of the liquid tubular introducing portion inside the recording head have a saddle-eye structure.

The accuracy of the slits of the tank slot and the ribs is substantially cylindrical in the liquid tubular introducing portion inside the recording head at a portion which projects from the bottom of the tank and forms a male and female mechanical coupler with respect to the recording head by forming a concave portion inside the tank. It is better to set it to be equal to or lower than the accuracy of the eye shape with the reinforced portion of the shape.

It is preferable to chamfer or round the inner circumference of the outer wall of the portion forming the mechanical coupler protruding from the bottom of the tank.

It is preferable that a stepped notch is further provided at a portion where a part of the outer wall of the portion projecting from the bottom of the tank and forming the mechanical coupler is provided.

A tubular internal liquid introduction portion of the recording head and an elastic member having a prepared hole are provided in the internal liquid outlet portion of the tank, and the tank is inserted in a direction perpendicular to the carriage to move from the tank to the recording head. The internal liquid supply may be formed.

The outer shape of the tank is a flat rectangular parallelepiped, and the portion forming the internal liquid supply path of the recording head is a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape at substantially the center in the width direction and substantially at the end face with respect to the vertical dimension in the paper feeding direction. It is better to install it near

When a plurality of the above tanks are arranged adjacent to each other,
It is preferable to set the vertical and horizontal lengths of the flat shape so that the projected outermost line approximates a square.

It is preferable that the light receiving / reflecting portion of the tank is arranged at the bottom when the recording apparatus is mounted.

It is preferable that the sensor light receiving / reflecting portion of the tank is disposed near the tank internal liquid supply passage.

The light receiving / reflecting portion of the sensor of the tank and the internal liquid supply passage can be arranged in a portion having a small tank projected bottom area.

The light receiving / reflecting portion of the light emitting / receiving photosensor in the recording apparatus is provided at the bottom of the tank, and the light receiving / reflecting portion can be sensed at a position other than the center in the width direction on the bottom of the tank, and the paper feeding direction. With respect to the vertical dimension of (1), it is possible to perform sensing even if it is located closer to the center than the portion forming the mechanical coupler and the internal liquid supply passage.

A negative pressure generating system of the above-mentioned tank is a compartment or a compartment tank using a sponge, and a wall for partitioning a plurality of adjacent internal liquid chambers in series is longitudinally or laterally with respect to the outer width direction of the tank. It is possible to have partition walls arranged in any direction, diagonal direction, or any combination of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions.

The negative pressure generating method of the tank is a compartment tank using a compartment or a sponge, and the shape of the partition wall viewed from the plate thickness end face direction is a flat plate shape, a shape bent substantially at a right angle, or an arc shape. It can be a partition wall having a combination of these shapes.

When the tank is mounted on the recording apparatus, the thickness of the side wall or the upper wall of the tank can be made thicker or at least equal to that of the lower portion of the tank.

When the tank is mounted on the recording apparatus, the wall thickness of the internal partition wall of the tank can be made thicker at the upper portion than at the lower portion of the tank, or at least equal.

[0022]

In the liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above, the shape, size and structure of each part of the tank are examined, and they work effectively for each problem to achieve the object of the present invention. It was done like this.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure and operation of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the entire recording apparatus including a liquid storage tank and a recording head which mainly stores a liquid such as ink therein and supplies it to a liquid ejecting element. In order to store a plurality of large-capacity liquid storage tanks in the recording apparatus, the outer dimensions of the recording apparatus must be enlarged. Here, considering the case where the operator installs the recording device, FIG.
As shown in Fig. 5, the lateral width of the carriage is restricted and the tanks are arranged adjacent to each other to suppress expansion of the lateral width of the recording device, and the capacity is extended in the longitudinal direction. It is desirable from the standpoint of space efficiency of the printing apparatus to make the projected maximum outer shape close to a square when a plurality of tanks are arranged adjacent to each other by making the shape of the flattened rectangular parallelepiped by extending in the front-rear direction by utilizing the path depth.

In the case of an ink jet recording apparatus, since the recording head itself is small, it is possible to adopt a structure in which the tank is separated and replaced so that it is almost embedded in the carriage as shown in FIG. Space is not sacrificed. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the tank is inserted / removed by vertically operating the outer shape of the tank such as a constricted portion provided as a guide, so that the liquid from the internal liquid supply passage between the tank and the recording head, which will be described later, is supplied. The leak prevention structure is simplified and its operability is not impaired.

Further, since the internal liquid supply passage forming portion is provided at a position substantially at the center of the width of the tank and near the end face of the outer shape of the tank in the longitudinal direction of the paper feeding direction, as shown in FIG. I don't see dead space.

Next, the characteristic internal liquid supply passage forming portion will be described along with the outer shape of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, an elastic member is provided on the tank side as in the present embodiment by measuring a mechanical joint with male and female couplers or even when an on-off valve structure (not shown) is provided inside. In any of the configurations in which the tubular member is provided on the recording head side, the basic structures for preventing liquid leakage are ensured by ensuring the accuracy of hits with respect to the mutual axial centers.

In the elastic member on the tank side, the prepared hole is opened by cutting the meat without removing the meat with a prepared hole drilling jig having the same outer shape as the tubular member and having a sharp tip. A prepared hole that is later closed by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member is provided, and the recording head side is not a member such as an injection needle having a sharp tip, but is, for example, SUS.
Since it is a tubular member that is made by cutting a pipe made of aluminum and chamfering or rounding the end surface, if the axial centers of the pipes do not match at the time of connection, the elastic member prepared hole around the tubular member will not be uniformly closed due to the elastic restoring force, which is good. It is difficult to ensure watertightness and airtightness. If a member such as an injection needle with a sharp tip is provided on the recording head side and the elastic member on the tank side is not prepared, it is not necessary to stick to the accuracy of center axis accuracy, but in this case the operator's safety is secured. Therefore, a safety mechanism is required to prevent the needle tip from touching the tip of the needle, which is not preferable in terms of cost and space.

According to the present invention, a notch is further provided in the portion forming the coupler to receive an external force applied to the tank when the carriage is running or a force applied to the joint portion carelessly when the tank is inserted or removed, and the male member has a substantially cylindrical shape. In addition to the female coupler, the double mechanical connection structure with slits and ribs secures the strength of the joint part, and avoids double insertion and removal of force due to variations in component precision. In order to do so, the precision of the fitting eye by the slit and the rib is set relatively low.

Further, by chamfering or rounding the inner surface of the cylindrical outer wall of the coupler so as to have the function of the insertion guide, there is an effect that the accuracy of the hit is secured and the function of suppressing an abnormal increase of the insertion / removal force is exerted. Further, the stepped notch is provided to escape the shape on the recording head side, and it is possible to secure the maximum length of the eye fit.

Further, the characteristic tank sensing portion along with the outer shape of the present invention will be described below. As shown in Fig. 1, a light emitting and receiving photo sensor is placed at the bottom of the tank,
Correspondingly, the tank is provided with a light receiving / reflecting portion at the bottom of the tank, and is provided in front of the internal liquid supply path portion in the longitudinal direction of the paper feeding direction to achieve a compact structure around the carriage.

However, taking the above-mentioned constitution makes it possible to detect not only the presence / absence of the tank but also the remaining amount of the liquid inside the tank in a so-called compartment type tank having a plurality of adjacent internal liquid chambers. Then, it is generally disadvantageous. As shown in FIG. 6, in a compartment tank, it is common to form a plurality of internal liquid chambers by partitioning the inside thereof with partition walls. Therefore, when the remaining amount detection accuracy that avoids the variation in the internal liquid volume accuracy of the internal liquid chamber 1 having the internal liquid lead-out portion is intended, the remaining amount detection portion must be provided in the internal liquid chamber 1 as well. The same applies when it is desired to issue a remaining amount warning when the remaining amount becomes very small.

When the light receiving / reflecting portion is simply provided in the compartment tank having the partition wall structure shown in FIG. 6 with the configuration according to the present invention, the light receiving / reflecting portion serving as the remaining amount detecting portion is the inner liquid chamber 2 or the inner liquid chamber. 3 is provided, it becomes impossible to intend the remaining amount detection accuracy and the remaining amount warning timing.

An embodiment of the present invention which solves this problem is shown in FIG.
Shown in In FIG. 6, the walls for partitioning a plurality of adjacent internal liquid chambers in series are arranged only in the lateral direction. On the other hand, the most characteristic point of the present invention is that by providing a partition wall in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to provide the internal liquid supply passage portion and the light receiving / reflecting portion in the internal liquid chamber 1. did. In addition, this configuration does not require the internal liquid supply formation and the light receiving / reflecting portion to be formed in a portion with a small projected bottom area even if the liquid tank is not a tank that divides the liquid chamber as a means for generating a negative pressure like a compartment tank. The effect of improving the remaining amount detection accuracy and the timing of the remaining amount warning with a small amount of unused ink is exhibited only by guiding the.

Further, according to this embodiment, since the light receiving / reflecting portion is arranged eccentrically from the central axis in the tank width direction, when a plurality of photosensors incorporated in the recording apparatus are arranged in the carriage base, electric wiring is provided. There is also a space efficiency advantage for the layout. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the case of the tank outer wall and the compartment type, it is an important point of the present invention to change the wall thickness including the partition wall. In the case of a tank with a different attitude during normal use, the upper part becomes a space as the internal liquid is consumed. In a tank or the like using a sponge, the internal liquid disappears from the atmosphere communication hole side. If the tank is left for a long period of time with a space that does not contain such internal liquid, oxygen and nitrogen in the outside air of the tank are likely to enter due to the osmotic pressure, which is closed especially in the tank of the compartment type or the like. In the case of a tank system that creates a closed space, there is a risk of causing ink leakage due to the expansion of air in the space, but this is not preferable, but it is inexpensive only with a thermoplastic resin or the like without using a member with a high gas barrier. This is an unavoidable problem when making tanks.

As a method for solving such a problem at low cost, the amount of oxygen and nitrogen invading the outside air due to the osmotic pressure depends on the wall thickness and time of the tank, and when used, the amount of oxygen and nitrogen is higher than the upper part of the tank liquid chamber. Due to the fact that the internal liquid gradually disappears, as a means to suppress the amount of intrusion per unit time by increasing the wall thickness and avoiding the decrease of the internal volume, for example, as shown in FIG. Was adopted. When the tank is mainly composed of two members, that is, a box and a lid, it is easy to take this configuration by utilizing the draft at the time of injection molding. In the tank that was actually manufactured, the outer shape has a slide structure and is divided into two in the width direction, so there is no draft on the slide surface, so there is a thick portion without reducing the tank outer dimension. It has become possible to secure volume efficiency.

Further, even if the tank is of a structure such as a compartment system which does not form a closed space inside the tank, if the wall thickness is large, evaporation from the inside can be prevented, so that the ink amount is reduced due to evaporation such as long-term storage. This configuration is extremely effective for the countermeasures such as the above.

Next, FIG. 5 shows another embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the light receiving / reflecting portion provided at the bottom of the tank for tank sensing by the light emitting / receiving photosensor is not eccentric with respect to the lateral direction of the tank as shown in FIG. May be provided at the center in the width direction or almost all over the width direction. According to the tank of this configuration, even if the photo sensor is fixed to the home position or the like with respect to the carriage on which the tank is mounted, it is possible to perform sensing even if the stop position accuracy of the carriage is somewhat rough.

Although not shown, if the structure of the light receiving / reflecting portion of the tank is, for example, a structure having a stepped surface or an inclined surface, the photo sensor is made to scan the carriage in the moving direction to receive light from the tank.・
The reflection part will also be scanned with respect to the photo sensor, and stepwise or analog residual amount detection can be performed by detecting the difference in the liquid level of the internal liquid due to the presence or absence of reflected light or the difference in the amount of reflected light received by the sensor. It will be possible.

[0040]

As described above, by adopting the configuration according to the present invention, a plurality of large-capacity liquid storage tanks can be compactly housed in a full-color pictorial image recording apparatus, and moreover, the recording head must be attached to the carriage. Up to now, the tank can be exchanged, the basic performance as a replaceable tank is not impaired, and it can be manufactured at low cost even with added value such as sensing of the tank and liquid in the tank.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a recording apparatus using a liquid storage tank according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which liquid storage tanks according to the present invention are arranged adjacent to each other.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of a tank and an internal liquid supply passage forming portion of a recording head.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a partition wall of the compartment tank according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing another embodiment of the partition wall of the compartment tank.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a partition wall of a conventional compartment tank.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Tank 12 Carriage Base 13 Carriage Shaft 14 Recording Head 15 Photo Sensor 16 Photo Sensor Light-Receiving / Reflecting Section 17 Electronic Transmission Section 1 18 Electronic Transmission Section 2 19 Recording Device Cover 20 Depth 21 Width 22 External Constriction Section 30 Recording Head 31 Tubular Internal Liquid Introduction Site 32 Female concave portion 33 Cylindrical outer wall 34 Prepared hole portion 35 Elastic member 36 Rib integrated with tubular portion 37 Stepped notch 38 Outer wall slitting portion 39 Tank end face 40 Atmosphere communication hole 41 Upper thick wall outer wall 42 Upper side Thick wall 43, 46 Photo sensor light receiving / reflecting part 44 Internal liquid outlet 45 Partition wall arranged in the vertical direction 47 Surface with no draft and no decrease in external dimensions 48 Dividing slide direction 50 Partition with deformed shape Wall 51 Photosensor light-receiving / reflecting section arranged in the central portion in the width direction

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Morita Osamu Shimomaruko 3-30-2 Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Mineo Kaneko 3-30-2 Shimomaruko Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Within the corporation

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A liquid storage tank device for a recording device, comprising a plurality of inkjet recording heads which are arranged adjacent to each other on a carriage of the recording device in the traveling direction of the carriage, and which are independently replaceable. On a carriage in which the recording direction of the recording head having an internal liquid introducing portion is arranged to print downward, an optionally replaceable tank disposed adjacently on the carriage corresponding to each recording head, and A main part for storing the internal liquid is disposed above the internal liquid introducing part of the recording head, and the tank has means for vertically inserting and removing the liquid on the carriage, and the liquid storage tank and the liquid in the tank are sensed. Liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus including a light emitting and receiving means. 2. A recording head having a stepped cylindrical portion having a cylindrical outer diameter portion having a large outer diameter due to the tubular inner liquid introducing portion and the outer peripheral portion thereof, and a female cylinder to the cylindrical shape. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink-jet recording apparatus is formed of a portion having a concave portion having a cylindrical shape and protruding from the bottom portion of the tank, and is assembled to the recording head to form a mechanical coupler having a male and female cylindrical cylindrical eye. Liquid storage tank device. 3. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a slot is provided in a part of an outer wall of a portion that projects from the bottom of the tank and forms a mechanical coupler. 4. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the tank slot portion and the rib integrally provided with the cylindrical portion of the liquid tubular introduction portion inside the recording head have a hameai structure. . 5. The accuracy of the slits of the tank slot and the rib is such that the internal liquid tubular introduction portion of the recording head is a portion protruding from the bottom of the tank and forming a male / female mechanical coupler with respect to the recording head by forming a concave portion inside the tank. It is set equal or lower than the accuracy of the eye with the cylindrical reinforcing part,
A liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4. 6. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an inner periphery of a portion which protrudes from the bottom of the tank and serves as an outer wall of a portion forming a mechanical coupler is chamfered or rounded. 7. The stepped notch according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a stepped notch provided at a part where a part of the outer wall of the part projecting from the bottom of the tank and forming the mechanical coupler is provided. Liquid storage tank device for inkjet recording device. 8. A tubular internal liquid introduction portion of the recording head and an elastic member having a prepared hole are provided in an internal liquid lead-out portion of the tank, and the tank is inserted in a direction perpendicular to the carriage so that the recording head is removed from the tank. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an internal liquid supply unit is formed therein. 9. The outer shape of the tank is a flat rectangular parallelepiped, and the portion forming the internal liquid supply path of the recording head is at the center of the flat rectangular parallelepiped in the width direction and substantially at the end face with respect to the vertical dimension in the paper feeding direction. The liquid storage tank device for an inkjet recording device according to claim 1, which is provided at a close position. 10. The liquid for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 9, wherein when a plurality of the tanks are arranged adjacent to each other, the vertical and horizontal lengths of the flat shape are set so that the projected outermost contour lines approximate a square. Storage tank device. 11. The position of the light receiving / reflecting portion of the tank is
The liquid storage tank device for an inkjet recording device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank device is arranged so as to be located at a lower portion when the recording device is mounted. 12. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor light receiving / reflecting portion of the tank is arranged in the vicinity of the tank internal liquid supply passage. 13. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, 11 or 12, wherein the light receiving / reflecting portion of the sensor of the tank and the internal liquid supply passage are arranged in a portion having a narrow tank projected bottom area. 14. A light receiving / reflecting portion of a light emitting / receiving photosensor in the recording apparatus is provided at a tank bottom portion, and the light receiving / reflecting portion is capable of sensing at a position other than the center in the width direction at the tank bottom portion, and paper. The liquid storage tank device for an ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to perform sensing with respect to a vertical dimension in a feeding direction even when the liquid storage tank device is located closer to a center than a portion forming the mechanical coupler and the internal liquid supply passage. . 15. A negative pressure generating method of the tank is a compartment or a compartment tank using a sponge, and a wall for partitioning a plurality of adjacent internal liquid chambers in series is arranged in a longitudinal direction with respect to a width direction of the tank. Alternatively, the liquid storage tank device for an inkjet recording device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank device has a partition wall arranged in a horizontal direction, an oblique direction, or any combination of vertical, horizontal, and oblique directions. 16. The negative pressure generating method of the tank is a compartment tank using a compartment or a sponge, and the shape of the partition wall viewed from the plate thickness end face direction is a flat plate shape, a shape bent at a right angle, an arc shape, or The liquid storage tank device for an inkjet recording device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank device has a partition wall of any combination shape. 17. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, 15 or 16, wherein, when the tank is mounted on the recording apparatus, the wall thickness of the tank side wall or the upper wall is made thicker or at least equal to that of the tank lower portion. Liquid storage tank device. 18. The wall thickness of the inner partition wall of the tank is made thicker at the upper part than at the lower part of the tank or at least equal when the tank is mounted on the recording apparatus.
17. A liquid storage tank device for an inkjet recording device according to 15 or 16.