JPH0930000A - Ink jet cartridge and recording device employing it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the occurrence of outward leakage of ink even in the event being subjected to a thermal impact or decompression state by forming in the proximity of an atmospheric communication port, a space of volume specific times as large as a space in the part of an ink blotting member not to be impregnated with ink. SOLUTION: In an ink jet cartridge, the ink blotting member 11 is shaped to form a space having a volume 0.5 time larger than the space volume in the part where ink is not impregnated in an ink blotting member 11 within the ink reservoir part 10 and in the proximity of an atmospheric communication port 13. Furthermore, in the ink blottering member 11, parts to be in contact with ribs as being inserted in the ink reservoir part 10 are cut off not to be in contact with the ribs, thereby, even in the case where the ink blotting member 11 is inserted into the ink reservoir part 10 under compression, avoiding the ink blotting member 11 from being compressed by the ribs 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet cartridge of an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink or the like onto a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by ejecting ink or the like onto a recording medium, a recording head section for forming ink droplets to be ejected onto the recording medium and an ink container are contained. An inkjet cartridge in which an ink tank portion that supplies ink to the recording head portion is integrated is applied.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of the structure of a conventional ink jet cartridge.

In this conventional example, as shown in FIG. 4, a recording head portion 27 for ejecting ink onto a recording medium (not shown).
And an ink tank portion 20 that stores the ink ejected from the recording head portion 27. Inside the ink tank portion 20, an ink absorbing member 21 that holds ink by an impregnation action, The ink supply port 22 for supplying the ink held in the ink absorbing member 21 to the recording head unit 27 and the atmosphere inside and outside the ink tank unit 20 are communicated with each other to prevent the internal negative pressure from rising excessively. And an atmosphere communication port 23 for the operation. In addition, on the inner wall surface of the ink tank portion 20, there is Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-10197.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1 (1998), by supplying the atmosphere introduced from the atmosphere communication port 23 to the ink absorbing members 21, the ink impregnated in the ink absorbing member 21 is evenly guided to the ink supplying port 22. Ribs 24 to 26 are provided. Here, in the portion of the rib 24 close to the atmosphere communication port 23, in order to reliably supply the atmosphere introduced from the atmosphere communication port 23 to the ink absorbing member 21, the height protruding from the wall surface inside the ink tank portion is set. It is higher than the other portions of the rib 24.

In the above-mentioned ink jet cartridge, the ink impregnated in the ink absorbing member 21 is supplied to the recording head portion 27 through the ink supply port 22 by the capillary force corresponding to the ink consumption of the recording head portion 27, and recording is performed. The ink is ejected from the head portion 27 onto the recording medium. Then, the atmosphere is introduced into the ink tank portion 20 from the atmosphere communication port 23 according to the consumed ink amount.

In order to retain the ink in the ink absorbing member 21, the amount of ink impregnated in the ink absorbing member 21 must be smaller than the volume of the ink absorbing member 21. Therefore, inevitably there is a space in the ink absorbing member 21 that is not impregnated with ink from the beginning. However, in this space, when it exists near the ink supply port 22, ink is supplied to the recording head unit 27. It's gone. Therefore, in order to prevent the space where the ink is not impregnated from existing in the vicinity of the ink supply port 22, the ink is injected from the vicinity of the ink supply port 22 in the manufacturing process.

The ink injected from the vicinity of the ink supply port 22 passes through the inside of the ink absorbing member 21, reaches the rib 26, passes through the gaps formed in the ribs 26, 25 and 24, and thereafter, the ink absorbing member. The whole of 21 is impregnated.

The ink absorbing member 21 is usually compressed and inserted into the ink tank portion 20.

[0009]

However, in the above-described conventional ink jet cartridge, since the atmosphere introduced from the atmosphere communicating port 23 is reliably supplied to the ink absorbing member 21, the atmosphere communicating port 23 of the rib 24 is provided. Since the height protruding from the wall surface inside the ink tank portion in the vicinity is higher than that of the other portion of the rib 24, when the ink absorbing member 21 is compressed and inserted into the ink tank portion 20, the above-mentioned is described. The portion B of the ink absorbing member 21, which is a part of the rib, is compressed more strongly than the other portions. Therefore, when the ink is injected into the ink absorbing member 21, a large amount of ink accumulates in the B portion. Further, according to the experiment, the ink is not impregnated into the part A from the beginning.

In actual use, there is no problem even in the above-mentioned state, but the ink jet cartridge is exposed to thermal shock or reduced pressure during distribution from the time it is manufactured until it reaches the user's hand. When this happens, the air near the A section expands, causing the ink that has gathered at the B section to be pushed out of the inkjet cartridge through the air communication port 13, causing the ink to leak when the user opens the package. There is a risk of soiling your hands and clothes.

Depending on the altitude of the place where the user uses the ink jet cartridge, the package may be opened under a low atmospheric pressure of about 0.7 atm. There is a risk of being pushed out of the cartridge.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-mentioned conventional technique, and does not cause ink leakage to the outside even when exposed to thermal shock or reduced pressure. The purpose is to provide.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a recording head section for recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and an ink tank section for holding the ink. And the ink tank portion includes an ink absorbing member that absorbs the ink, an atmosphere communication port for communicating the atmosphere between the outside of the tank and the inside of the tank, and the atmosphere introduced from the atmosphere communication port. In an ink jet cartridge comprising at least an internal rib for guiding the ink impregnated in the ink absorbing member evenly to the ink supply port by supplying the ink absorbing member to the ink absorbing member, When the ink absorbing member is inserted into the ink tank portion, a space of a portion of the ink absorbing member that is not impregnated with the ink is formed in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port. Characterized in that it is shaped to form a space that has at least 0.5 times the volume of the volume.

Further, the ink absorbing member is deleted so as not to come into contact with the rib for a predetermined length in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port.

The ink absorbing member is urethane foam.

The ink absorbing member is melamine foam.

Further, the invention is characterized in that the cartridge is provided, and recording is performed by ejecting ink or the like from the recording ink jet cartridge onto a recording medium.

(Operation) In the present invention configured as described above, when the ink absorbing member is inserted into the ink tank portion, a space of a portion of the ink absorbing member which is not impregnated with ink is located in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port. At least 0.5 of volume
Since it has a shape that forms a double space, even if the air contained in the ink absorbing member expands due to depressurization outside the ink tank portion and the expanded ink leaks out from the ink absorbing member, The leaked ink is accommodated in the space formed by, and the ink does not leak to the outside of the inkjet cartridge.

Further, since the ink absorbing member is removed so as not to come into contact with the rib for a predetermined length in the vicinity of the atmosphere communicating port, the ink absorbing member is compressed and inserted into the ink tank portion. In this case, the ink absorbing member near the atmosphere communication port is not compressed, and the ink does not collect near the atmosphere communication port.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the ink jet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ink jet cartridge shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a recording head portion 17 for ejecting ink onto a recording medium (not shown).
And an ink tank portion 10 that stores ink ejected from the recording head portion 17, and in the ink tank portion 10, an ink absorbing member 11 that holds ink by an impregnation action, The ink supply port 12 for supplying the ink held in the ink absorbing member 11 to the recording head unit 17 and the atmosphere inside and outside the ink tank unit 10 are communicated with each other to prevent the internal negative pressure from rising excessively. An atmosphere communication port 13 is provided for this purpose. Further, on the inner wall surface of the ink tank portion 10, by supplying the air introduced from the air communication port 13 to the ink absorbing member 11, the ink impregnated in the ink absorbing member 11 is evenly distributed to the ink supplying port 12. Ribs 14 to 16 for guiding are provided. Here, in the portion of the rib 14 near the atmosphere communication port 13, in order to reliably supply the atmosphere introduced from the atmosphere communication port 13 to the ink absorbing member 11, the height protruding from the inner wall surface of the ink tank portion is set. It is higher than other portions of the rib 14.

Further, in the ink absorbing member 11,
The portion of the rib 14 that comes into contact with the above-mentioned portion when it is inserted into the ink tank portion 10 is removed so as not to come into contact with the rib 14, whereby the ink absorbing member 11 is compressed and the inside of the ink tank portion 10 is compressed. The ink absorbing member 11 is not compressed by the ribs 14 even when it is inserted into.

In this embodiment, the volume occupied by the ink absorbing member 11 is 10.5 cc, and the injected ink is 8.1.
cc. Further, since the actual volume of the ink absorbing member 11 when contracted is 1.2 cc, the space volume of the portion not impregnated with ink is 1.2 cc.

When the above ink jet cartridge was put in a decompression test chamber at 0.67 atm, the ink did not leak out of the ink jet cartridge. Because the ink is hardly present in the B portion because the B portion is not compressed by the ribs 14, and even when the air in the A portion expands due to external pressure reduction, only the air is pushed out from the atmosphere communication port 13. This is because the ink remains impregnated in the ink absorbing member 11.

In general, in order to improve the permeability of the ink into the ink absorbing member 11, the ink is injected in the manufacturing process while the inside of the ink jet cartridge is sufficiently decompressed by a vacuum pump or the like. Therefore, the ink may be injected in a state where the pressure is not sufficiently reduced. In that case, since the injected ink does not immediately penetrate the ink absorbing member 11,
Even though the compression density of the B portion is low, the ink accumulated in the C portion is gradually impregnated into the B portion and becomes in an ink rich state. When the air of the above expands, there is a risk of leaking to the outside.

Therefore, in the manufacturing process of the ink jet cartridge of the present embodiment, an ink cartridge whose pressure reduction degree was intentionally lowered was manufactured and put into a pressure reduction test chamber of 0.67 atm. Then, in the inkjet cartridge of this embodiment, it was not confirmed that the ink leaked to the outside.

The space capacity of the portion C where the ink absorbing member 11 does not exist in this embodiment is 0.6 cc, which is 0.5 times the space volume of the ink absorbing member 11 which is not impregnated with ink of 1.2 cc. is there. That is, the expansion of the space volume of the ink absorption member 11 where the ink is not absorbed due to external pressure reduction is considered to be 1.5 times or less, and the space capacity in which the ink absorption member 11 does not exist is set to the ink absorption member 11 If the volume of the space not impregnated with ink is 0.5 times or more, the ink will not leak to the outside even when the air inside the ink absorbing member 11 expands due to an external pressure reduction or the like.

A recording apparatus equipped with the above-mentioned ink jet cartridge will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the form of a recording apparatus equipped with the ink jet cartridge of the present invention.

The ink jet recording apparatus shown in FIG. 3 includes a pickup roller 309 for feeding the recording medium P, a conveying roller 306 and a pinch roller 307, an ink jet cartridge 301 as recording means for recording on the recording medium P, and Both ends are fixed to a carriage 302 on which the ink jet cartridge 301 is mounted and a frame 304, and the carriage 302 slides in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium P and in a direction parallel to the surface of the recording medium P. A guide shaft 305 and a guide rail 312 that support the carriage 302, a carriage drive belt 311, a carriage drive motor 310, and a drive pulley 313 for reciprocating the carriage 302 in a linear direction,
Home position sensor 319 for controlling the stop position of carriage 302, pressure plate 308 and base 3
14 and at least.

A wiper 318 and a cap 317 for cleaning and capping the ink jet cartridge 301 are provided outside the recording area, and the power of a carry motor (not shown) is carried to one end of the carry roller 306. L to convey to roller 306
An F gear 321 is provided, and further, a clutch gear 3 is provided to transmit power from the LF gear 321 to the cap 317.
20 and a pump gear 322 are provided.

With the above structure, the pickup roller 309
When the conveyance roller 306 is rotated, the recording medium P is drawn and sent to a position facing the ink ejection surface of the inkjet cartridge 301. Then, the carriage drive motor 310 drives the carriage drive belt 311 to rotate, and the carriage 302 reciprocates linearly along the guide shaft 305 and the guide rail 312. At the same time, ink is ejected from the ink jet cartridge 301 mounted on the carriage 302 in accordance with a recording signal, so that the content to be recorded on the recording medium P is recorded.

[0035]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

(1) Due to the shape of the ink absorbing member, a space having a volume of at least 0.5 times the space volume of the ink absorbing member which is not impregnated with ink in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port when inserted into the ink tank portion. Is formed,
Even when exposed to thermal shock or reduced pressure,
By storing the ink leaking from the ink absorbing member in the space formed by the ink absorbing member, it is possible to prevent the ink from leaking to the outside of the inkjet cartridge.

(2) When the ink absorbing member is compressed and inserted into the ink tank portion because the ink absorbing member is deleted so as not to contact the rib for a predetermined length in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port. In addition, the ink absorbing member near the atmosphere communication port is not compressed and ink does not collect near the atmosphere communication port. Further, the air is smoothly introduced into the ink tank portion, the negative pressure is stabilized even when the ink is rapidly consumed, the printing quality is improved, and the ink is easily consumed from the portion far from the ink supply port. Therefore, the use efficiency of the ink absorbed by the ink absorbing member can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one example of an inkjet cartridge of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a recording apparatus equipped with the inkjet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a conventional inkjet cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Ink Tank Section 11 Ink Absorbing Member 12 Ink Supply Port 13 Atmosphere Communication Port 14, 15, 16 Rib 17 Recording Head Section 301 Inkjet Cartridge 302 Carriage 304 Frame 305 Guide Shaft 306 Conveying Roller 307 Pinch Roller 308 Pressure Plate 309 Pickup Roller 310 Carriage Drive Motor 311 Carriage drive belt 312 Guide rail 313 Drive pulley 314 Base 317 Cap 318 Wiper 319 Home position sensor 320 Clutch gear 321 LF gear 322 Pump gear P Recording medium

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording head section for recording by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and an ink tank section for holding the ink, wherein the ink tank section absorbs the ink. The ink absorbing member, the atmosphere communicating port for communicating the atmosphere between the outside of the tank and the inside of the tank, and the atmosphere introduced from the atmosphere communicating port to the ink absorbing member by supplying the atmosphere to the people of the ink absorbing member. In an inkjet cartridge having at least an internal rib for guiding the impregnated ink evenly to the ink supply port, the ink absorbing member is located near the atmosphere communication port when inserted into the ink tank portion. , Forming a space having a volume of at least 0.5 times the space volume of a portion of the ink absorbing member not impregnated with the ink. Ink jet cartridge which is a shape. 2. The ink jet recording cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the ink absorbing member is in the vicinity of the atmosphere communication port.
An ink jet recording cartridge, characterized in that it is removed by a predetermined length so as not to contact the ribs. 3. The inkjet cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ink absorbing member is urethane foam. 4. The inkjet cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ink absorbing member is melamine foam. 5. A recording apparatus comprising the inkjet cartridge according to claim 1, wherein recording is performed by ejecting ink or the like from the recording inkjet cartridge onto a recording medium. .