JPH0929992A - Inkjet cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] To provide an inkjet cartridge capable of stable recording by aligning ejection characteristics of a plurality of inks. A liquid chamber for temporarily holding ink is provided,
The inkjet head has a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink, the inside is divided into a plurality of areas, the ink tanks for holding the inks to be supplied to the inkjet heads, and the areas for holding the inks are respectively provided. In an inkjet cartridge having a plurality of ink supply pipes arranged to guide the ink from an ink tank to an inkjet head, each region for holding ink is arranged in a line, and each ink supply pipe is arranged vertically in each region. To do.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image by ejecting ink onto a recording medium, and in particular, an ink jet head for ejecting ink and an ink tank for accommodating the ink are integrally attached. The present invention relates to the inkjet cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ink jet recording apparatus performs recording by ejecting ink from a recording means (hereinafter referred to as an ink jet head) onto a recording medium. The recording means can be easily made compact and high-definition images can be recorded at high speed. it can. In addition, plain paper can be recorded without any special treatment, running costs are low, the non-impact method produces less noise, and color images can be easily recorded using multicolor inks. It also has advantages. An electrothermal converter, which is an energy generating element for ejecting ink, is arranged in the ink jet head in correspondence with a flow path for guiding the ink to an ejection port for ejecting ink. When recording an image, heat energy is generated by applying a drive signal to each electrothermal converter that causes a rapid temperature rise exceeding nucleate boiling corresponding to the recorded information, and film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the inkjet head. To generate bubbles corresponding to the drive signal in the liquid (ink).
Liquid (ink) from the discharge port due to the growth and contraction of these bubbles
Is discharged to form an image. The inkjet cartridge is a combination of this inkjet head and an ink tank that supplies ink to the inkjet head.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of a conventional ink jet cartridge. FIG. 4 (a) is a front view, FIG. 4 (b) is a side view, and FIG. 4 (c) is a bottom view. 5A and 5B are views showing a color ink tank mounted on the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 4, in which FIG. 5A is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. 5B is a partially broken front view. ,
FIG. 3C is a bottom view.

In FIG. 4, an inkjet cartridge is an inkjet head 300 for ejecting ink.
And a color ink tank 451 containing three color inks of yellow (Y), cyan (C), and magenta (M).
And a black ink tank 401 that stores black ink, a color ink tank 451, and a holder 303 for holding the black ink tank 401.
An ink supply pipe 306B for guiding the black ink to the inkjet head 300, an ink supply pipe 306Y for guiding the yellow ink to the inkjet head 300, and a cyan ink for the inkjet head 30.
An ink supply pipe 306C for leading to 0 and an ink supply pipe 306M for leading the magenta ink to the inkjet head 300. The inkjet head 300 is provided with a nozzle portion 370 for ejecting ink of each color, and the nozzle portion 370 is formed with ejection port groups 370Y, 370M, 370C, 370B formed of a plurality of ejection ports corresponding to the respective inks. There is.

In FIG. 5, a color ink tank 451 is shown.
Has a housing 452 that contains ink, a lid member 453 that seals the housing 452, and an upper member 454 that is attached to the upper portion of the lid member 453. The upper member 454 is detachable from the holder 303. Picking portion 454 used when performing
a is provided.

The inside of the housing 452 is a partition member 46 arranged in a substantially T-shape for containing inks of three colors of yellow (Y), cyan (C) and magenta (M).
It is divided into three regions having substantially the same capacity by 6, 467. In these areas, an ink absorber 456Y that absorbs and holds yellow ink, an ink absorber 456C that absorbs and holds cyan ink, and an ink absorber 456M that absorbs and holds magenta ink.
Is stored. In addition, ink supply ports 458Y, 458C, 458M for leading out ink to the inkjet head (see FIG. 4) are formed on the bottom of the housing 452,
Around them, ribs 465Y, 465C, and 46, respectively.
5M is provided.

In order to prevent the negative pressure in the color ink tank 451 from rising due to ink being supplied to the lid member 453, an atmosphere communication port for communicating the air in the color ink tank 451 with the outside air. (Approximately 3% of the tank area
455Y, 455C, 455M (only 455Y is shown) are formed. Further, ribs are formed at predetermined portions inside the casing 452 and inside the lid member 453 to form ink absorbers 456Y, 456C, 456M and the casing 45.
2 and the ink absorbers 456Y, 456C, 456M and the lid member 453 form a predetermined space. This space is communicated with the outside of the ink tank 451 by the atmosphere communication ports 455Y, 455C, 455M, and this prevents ink from staying on the inner wall of the housing 452. There is no risk of ink leaking from 455Y, 455C, and 455M, and ink consumption efficiency improves.
Furthermore, even if the ambient temperature of the ink tank rises during recording of the image, the ink in the color ink tank 451 is not pushed out to the outside.

In such a structure, when the color ink tank 451 is mounted on the holder 303, the ink lead-out pipe (not shown) attached to the holder 303 is inserted into the ink supply ports 458Y, 458C, 458M to consume ink. In response to the ink supply tubes 306B, 306Y, 3
Inkjet head 300 via 06C and 306M
Ink is supplied to. At this time, the ink supply port 458
Ribs 465 around Y, 458C, 458M
Y, 465C, 465M receive the pressing force, and the holder 3
The elastic plate provided on the inner bottom portion of 03 is pressed into contact with the elastic plate and enters a state of biting. As a result, it is possible to prevent the ink from leaking outside from that portion.

Further, in the conventional ink jet cartridge, areas for holding inks of respective colors are arranged in a line,
There is disclosed a structure in which an ink jet head for ejecting ink is directly attached to an ink tank (see JP-A-63-87242). With such a structure, the ink supply pipe can be shortened, so that the flow resistance of the ink supply pipe is reduced and the ejection characteristics are improved.

[0010]

However, in the conventional ink jet cartridge as described above, since the lengths of the ink supply pipes corresponding to the respective colors are different, a difference in the flow resistance of the ink supply pipes occurs and the ejection characteristics of the respective inks. However, there was a possibility that stable recording could not be performed.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet cartridge capable of stable recording by aligning ejection characteristics of a plurality of inks. To aim.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, an ink jet cartridge of the present invention comprises an ink jet head having a liquid chamber for temporarily holding ink and having a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink. An ink tank that is divided into a plurality of areas and stores inks to be supplied to the inkjet heads, and a plurality of ink tanks that are arranged corresponding to the plurality of areas and that guide the inks from the ink tanks to the inkjet heads. In the ink jet cartridge having the ink supply pipe, the plurality of regions are arranged in a line, and the plurality of ink supply pipes are arranged vertically to the plurality of regions, respectively.

At this time, the plurality of ink supply pipes may be arranged in parallel at the ends of the plurality of regions near the ejection ports.

In each of the plurality of regions, an atmosphere communication port that communicates an internal space and an external space, an ink absorber that is housed in each region and absorbs and holds ink, and an inner surface of each region. May be provided with a rib for providing a space that is continuous from the atmosphere communication port to a position farthest from the position where the ink supply pipe is arranged, and at this time, The ink supply pipe may be arranged perpendicular to the compression direction of the ink absorber.

Further, in any of the above ink jet cartridges, the ink jet head has an energy generating element for generating energy for ejecting ink, and the energy generating element is driven based on an electric signal to discharge the ink. Recording may be performed by ejecting ink from an outlet, and an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ejecting ink may be provided as the energy generating element.

In the ink jet cartridge of the present invention configured as described above, the areas for containing the ink are arranged in a line, and the ink supply pipes are arranged vertically in the respective areas, whereby the ink supply pipes The length can be adjusted.

Further, at this time, by arranging the ink supply pipe at the end of each region near the ejection port, the length of the liquid chamber can be minimized.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of the ink jet cartridge of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of a cap member inserted into the air communication port of the color ink tank shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, an inkjet cartridge includes a color ink tank 10 that stores ink and an inkjet head 2 that discharges the ink.
0.

The color ink tank 10 is composed of a housing 100 for containing ink and a lid member 104 for sealing the housing 100. The inside of the housing 100 is divided into three regions by two partition members (not shown) arranged in parallel in order to store inks of three colors of yellow (Y), cyan (C), and magenta (M). An ink absorber 10 that is partitioned and absorbs and holds ink in each region
1, 102, 103 are stored. Three ink supply ports 105, 106 and 107 are provided on the ink jet head mounting surface 111 of the housing 100 so as to correspond to the respective areas. Further, in the housing 100, in order to prevent the internal negative pressure from rising when ink is supplied from each region, the atmosphere communication ports 108 and 109 that communicate the air inside each region with the outside air. , 110 are provided, and cap members 112 for preventing evaporation of ink as shown in FIG. 2 are inserted into the atmosphere communication ports 108, 109, 110, respectively. It should be noted that the cap member 112 is provided with pores, which ensures communication between the air in each region and the outside air.

The ink jet head 20 supplies ink from the color ink tank 10 with ink supply tubes 21, 22 and 23 and a flow for temporarily holding each ink and supplying the ink to an ink ejecting portion. The passage 24, a nozzle portion (not shown) in which an energy generating element that generates energy for ejecting ink is formed, and an ejection port (formed at the bottom portion: not shown) for ejecting ink. The ink supply pipes 21, 22 and 23 are inserted into the ink supply ports 105, 106 and 107, respectively, when the inkjet head 20 is attached to the color ink tank 10, and the tips thereof are brought into pressure contact with the ink absorbers 101, 102 and 103. . As a result, the ink absorbers 101, 1
02 and 103 are compressed and the capillary force is increased, so that each ink is stably fed from the housing 100.
Lead to zero.

Further, each ink supply port 105, 106, 1
Packings 31, 32, and 33 that close the gaps with the inserted ink supply tubes 21, 22, and 23 are attached to 07, and the ink supply port 1 is formed by the packings 31, 32, and 33.
It prevents the leakage of ink from 05, 106 and 107.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the areas for containing the ink are arranged in a line, and the ink supply tubes 21, 22,
Indicated at 23 are the ink supply ports 105 and 1 for the respective regions.
It is inserted vertically in 06 and 107. With such a configuration, the lengths of the ink supply tubes 21, 22, and 23 for supplying the ink to the inkjet head 20 can be made uniform. In addition, the ink supply pipe 21,
Color ink tank 1 in which the positions of 22 and 23 are close to the ejection port
By arranging them in parallel in the lower part of 0, the ink supply pipe 21,
The lengths of 22, 23 and the flow path 24 can be minimized.

Therefore, the ink supply pipes 21, 22, 2
There is no difference in the flow resistance due to the difference in the length of 3
Since it is possible to prevent the flow resistance from increasing, it is possible to stably supply the ink to the inkjet head 20, and it is possible to obtain stable ejection characteristics.

By the way, a rib 1001 is provided on the upper surface of each region inside the housing 100, and a partial rib 1041 is provided on the lid member 104. The rib 1001 is provided in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each region, and the partial rib 1041 is provided on the extension line of the rib 1001 on the inner surface of the lid member 104. By providing these ribs 1001 and partial ribs 1041, the ink absorbers 101, 102, 10
3 is prevented from sticking to the inner surface of each region,
From the air communication ports 108, 109, 110 to the ink supply port 1
A space communicating with the parts farthest from 05, 106, and 107 is formed.

As described above, the atmosphere communication ports 108, 109,
By connecting the space inside the housing 100 and the space outside through the ribs 1101, the ribs 1001, and the partial ribs 1041, ink does not stay on the inner wall of the housing 100, and the ink supply ports 105, 106, There is no risk of ink leaking from 107 or the air communication ports 108, 109, 110, and the ink consumption efficiency improves. Further, even when the ambient temperature of the color ink tank 10 rises during recording of an image, the ink in the housing 100 is not pushed out to the outside. Furthermore, since it is possible to reliably prevent the negative pressure in the housing 100 from rising, the ink supply ports 105, 1
For the ink farthest from 06 and 107,
More reliably each ink supply port 105, 106, 1
It is possible to lead to 07.

In the above description, the cap member 112 provided with the pores is connected to the atmosphere communication ports 108, 109, 110.
The case where the cap member 112 is inserted is shown as an example.
Is not always necessary, and as shown in FIG. 3, the pores 42, 43, 4 are directly provided in the casing 41 of the color ink tank 40.
4 may be provided.

[0028]

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

The areas for containing ink are arranged in a line,
By arranging the ink supply pipes vertically in each area, the difference in the flow resistance due to the difference in the length of the ink supply pipes is eliminated, so that it is possible to stably supply the ink to the inkjet head, and to achieve stable ejection. The characteristics can be obtained. In particular, by arranging the ink supply pipes in parallel at the ends of the respective regions near the ejection ports, the length of the liquid chamber can be minimized, and the flow resistance of the liquid chamber can be prevented from increasing.

Further, the plurality of areas are respectively provided with an atmosphere communication port which communicates the internal space with the external space, an ink absorber which is housed in each area and absorbs and holds ink, and an inner surface of each area. Prevent the ink absorber from sticking,
By providing a rib for providing a space that extends from the atmosphere communication port to a position farthest from the position where the ink supply pipe is disposed, it is possible to reliably prevent an increase in negative pressure in the ink tank. It is possible to more reliably guide the ink farthest from the ink supply pipe to each ink supply pipe.

Further, by arranging the ink supply pipe perpendicular to the compression direction of the ink absorber, the ink absorber is compressed and the capillary force is increased, so that each ink is stably guided to the ink jet head. Get burned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an inkjet cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a cap member that is inserted into an atmosphere communication port of the ink tank shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the atmosphere communication port of the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is replaced with a pore.

4A and 4B are views showing a configuration of a conventional inkjet cartridge, in which FIG. 4A is a front view, FIG. 4B is a side view, and FIG. 4C is a bottom view.

5A and 5B are views showing a color ink tank mounted on the inkjet cartridge shown in FIG. 4, in which FIG. 5A is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. 5B is a partially broken front view. The figure and the same figure (c) are bottom views.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 40 Color ink tank 20 Inkjet cartridge 21-23 Ink supply pipe 24 Flow path 31-33 Packing 41, 100 Housing 42-44 Pore 101-103 Ink absorber 104 Lid member 105-107 Ink supply port 108-110 Atmosphere communication port 111 Inkjet head mounting surface 112 Cap member 1001 Rib 1041 Partial rib

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A liquid chamber for temporarily holding ink,
An ink jet head having a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink, an ink tank that is divided into a plurality of regions inside and stores inks to be supplied to the ink jet head, and an ink tank that is arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of regions. In an inkjet cartridge having a plurality of ink supply pipes for guiding ink from the ink tank to the inkjet head, the plurality of regions are arranged in a line, and the plurality of ink supply pipes are provided in the plurality of regions, respectively. An ink jet cartridge characterized by being arranged vertically. 2. The inkjet cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of ink supply pipes are arranged in parallel at end portions of the plurality of regions near the ejection port. 3. The ink jet cartridge according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of regions has an atmosphere communication port that communicates an inner space with an outer space, and is housed in each region to absorb ink. In order to prevent the ink absorber from adhering to the inner surface of each region and the ink absorber to be held, a space is provided from the atmosphere communication port to a position farthest from the position where the ink supply pipe is arranged. An inkjet cartridge comprising a rib and a rib. 4. The ink jet cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the ink supply pipe is arranged perpendicular to a compression direction of the ink absorber. 5. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet head has an energy generating element that generates energy for ejecting ink, and the energy generating element is provided based on an electric signal. An ink jet recording apparatus, wherein recording is performed by driving an energy generating element and ejecting ink from the ejection port. 6. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the energy generating element includes an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy for ejecting ink.