JP2000263809A - Liquid storage container and method for opening the container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid storage container with a drastically increased liquid storage amount with respect to conventional products without the risk of ink leakage at the time of opening, and a method for opening the same. SOLUTION: An ink tank 120 comprising a capillary force generating member storage room 101 for storing a capillary force generating member 104, provided with a supply opening 105 and an atmosphere communicating opening 106, and a liquid storage room 103 provided with a communicating hole 102 communicating with the capillary force generating member storage room 101, forming a substantially sealed space except the communicating hole 102, has a volume increase part 20 deformable only in the direction of increasing the volume in the liquid storage room. In the ink tank 120 with the supply opening 105 and the atmosphere communicating opening 106 sealed, and a limiting member 10 for limiting the volume increase in the volume increase part 20 mounted, after eliminating the regulating member 10, the seals on the supply opening 105 and the atmosphere communicating opening 106 are removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid storage container used in the field of ink jet recording and a method for opening the container at the start of use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ink tank as a liquid storage container used in the field of ink jet recording has a structure in which a negative pressure is generated in order to satisfactorily supply ink to a recording head for discharging ink. Is provided.

As one of the easiest methods for generating such a negative pressure, a porous body such as urethane foam or an ink absorber such as felt is provided in an ink tank, and the capillary force of the ink absorber ( (Ink absorbing power). The present applicant discloses in JP-A-7-125232, JP-A-6-40043 and the like that while using an ink absorber, the ink storage capacity per unit volume of an ink tank is increased, and a stable ink is obtained. An ink tank provided with a liquid storage chamber that can supply the ink is proposed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of an ink tank utilizing the above-described structure. The inside of the ink tank 100 is partitioned into two spaces by a partition wall (partition wall) 107 having a communication hole (communication portion) 102. One space is sealed except for the communication hole 102 of the partition wall 107 and a liquid storage chamber 103 for directly holding ink, and the other space is a capillary force generating member 104.
Is formed in a capillary force generating member storage chamber 101 for storing the above. An air communication port (atmosphere communication section) 106 for introducing air into the container accompanying ink consumption is provided on a wall surface forming the capillary force generating member storage chamber 101, and ink is supplied to a recording head (not shown). A supply port (liquid supply unit) 105 for supply is formed. In FIG. 8, a region where the capillary force generating member holds the ink is indicated by a hatched portion. In addition, the ink stored in the space is indicated by a shaded portion.

In the above-described structure, when the ink in the capillary force generating member 104 is consumed by the recording head (not shown), air is introduced into the capillary force generating member storage chamber 101 from the atmosphere communication port 106, and the partition wall 107 is communicated. The liquid enters the liquid storage chamber 103 through the hole 102. Instead, ink is filled from the liquid storage chamber 103 into the capillary force generation member 104 of the capillary force generation member storage chamber 101 through the communication hole of the partition wall (hereinafter, referred to as a gas-liquid exchange operation). Therefore, even if ink is consumed by the recording head, the ink is filled in the capillary force generating member 104 in accordance with the consumed amount, the capillary force generating member 104 holds a fixed amount of ink, and keeps the negative pressure on the recording head substantially constant. , The ink supply to the recording head is stabilized. Such an ink tank having both miniaturization and high use efficiency has been commercialized by the present applicant, and is still in practical use at present.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, an air introduction groove 108 is provided near the communicating portion between the capillary force generating member storage chamber and the ink storage chamber as a structure for promoting the introduction of air. A space (buffer chamber) 110 in which no capillary force generating member is provided by a rib 109 is provided near the communication portion. The supply port 105 is provided with an ink lead-out member 111 made of a fiber bundle, felt, or the like, and having a higher capillary force than the capillary force generating member 104.

On the other hand, in such an ink tank having an air communication port and a supply port, these openings are usually sealed with a film or the like in order to prevent ink from leaking during distribution or the like. It is generally opened when the tank is replaced. The present applicants have
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-290516 proposes a packaging structure configured to be opened from the air communication port before the supply port in order to prevent ink leakage from the supply port at the time of opening.

[0008]

In recent years, ink-jet recording apparatuses tend to consume a large amount of ink, such as large-format printing such as plotters and poster printings. Desired.

In general, the environment in which a printer is used varies greatly depending on the region. Therefore, when the air communication port and the supply port of the above-described container are sealed for the purpose of physical distribution or the like,
Generally, the temperature and pressure of the external environment at the time of opening are different from those at the time of sealing and during distribution. Also, during distribution, the liquid moves from the liquid storage chamber to the capillary force generating member due to external vibration, shock, change in temperature and atmospheric pressure,
Instead, air may accumulate.

Therefore, if the pressure of the external environment at the time of opening is lower than the pressure inside the ink tank before opening, the pressure inside the ink tank will become equal to the external pressure by opening the atmosphere communication portion or the supply port. Therefore, the air in the liquid storage chamber expands, and the ink in the liquid storage chamber moves to the capillary force generating member storage chamber. If the movement amount of the ink at this time is too large, the ink cannot be held by the capillary force generating member, and in the worst case, ink leakage may occur. For this reason, in the related art, in consideration of the amount of ink movement, the inner volume of the ink storage chamber cannot be increased as a result.

A first object of the present invention is to address the above-mentioned problems by a method different from that of the prior art, thereby making it possible to greatly increase the amount of liquid stored in an ink tank (liquid storage container). A liquid storage container is provided.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an opening method capable of opening the above-mentioned liquid container in which the air communication port and the supply port are sealed without leaking the liquid to the outside.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a liquid container according to the present invention contains a capillary force generating member and has a liquid supply section and an atmosphere communication section. A liquid storage chamber having a communication part communicating with the capillary force generating member storage chamber and forming a substantially sealed space excluding the communication part, wherein the liquid storage chamber is It is characterized by including a volume increasing portion that can be deformed only in a direction that increases the volume in the liquid storage chamber.

According to the above liquid storage container, the pressure inside the liquid storage chamber, which is substantially closed except for the communication portion, is communicated with the outside by deforming the volume increasing portion so as to increase the volume. When the pressure in the capillary force generating member storage chamber is made substantially equal, the amount of movement of the ink from the communicating portion to the capillary force generation member storage chamber can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide a liquid storage container that can solve the above-described problem and can increase the internal volume of the ink storage chamber as compared with the related art.

In the method for opening a liquid storage container according to the present invention, the liquid supply unit and the atmosphere communication unit are closed and the deformation of the volume increasing unit is inhibited. A step of preparing the liquid storage container to which the deformation inhibiting member is attached; a detaching step of removing the deformation inhibiting member from the liquid storage container; and after the detaching step, opening the air communication unit and the liquid supply unit. And an opening step.

According to the above-described method for opening the liquid container,
Even when the pressure of the external environment at the time of opening is lower than the pressure in the ink tank, the volume increasing portion can be deformed so as to increase the volume at the time of opening, and the pressure inside the liquid storage chamber can be changed to the outside. It is possible to make the pressure substantially equal to the pressure in the capillary force generation member storage chamber in the communicating state, and to reduce the amount of movement of the ink from the communication portion to the capillary force generation member storage chamber. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent the ink from being held by the capillary force generating member at the time of opening,
There is no risk of ink leakage.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, configurations having the same functions are given the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a liquid container according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1, an ink tank 120 as a liquid storage container includes a capillary force generation member storage chamber 101 having a supply port 105 and a supply port 105 and an atmosphere communication port 106, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. It has a communication hole 102 (communication part) for communicating with the capillary force generating member storage chamber and a liquid storage chamber 103 which forms a substantially closed space excluding the communication part. 107 is a partition plate which separates the capillary force generating member storage chamber and the liquid storage chamber and has a communication hole 102, and the supply port 105 is provided with an ink lead-out member 111 having a higher capillary force than the capillary force generation member 104. ing. The atmosphere communication port 106 is located above with the communication hole 102 located below, and a buffer chamber 110 is provided by a rib 109 in the vicinity thereof. In this posture, the supply port 105 is present on the bottom surface of the ink tank, and normally, in a state before the start of use, an area near the buffer space of the capillary force generating member does not hold ink.

In the ink tank 120 of this embodiment, unlike the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the liquid storage chamber 103 has a volume increasing portion 20 that can be deformed only in the direction of increasing the volume of the liquid storage chamber.
It has. The volume increasing portion of the present embodiment is a bellows-like member 21.
And a spring member 22 for restricting the deformation of the bellows-like member 21. The details of the structure will be described later.

Further, in the ink tank 120 of this embodiment,
When the initial ink filling of the ink tank is completed and the ink tank is ready to be shipped, the supply port 105 is sealed with the cap 30 and the air communication port 106 is sealed with the seal tape 10. In this embodiment, the sealing tape 10 also deforms by sealing the volume increasing portion 20 so that the volume increasing portion 20 does not increase in volume before opening the air communication port 106 and the supply port 105. It also plays the role of a deformation regulating member that regulates.

Next, regarding the volume increasing section 20 of the present embodiment,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a volume increasing portion of the liquid storage container shown in FIG.
(A) is a top view from the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, (b) is FIG.
It is a side view from the arrow direction of (a). Also, FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state when the sealing tape is peeled off from the state shown in FIG. 2 and the bellows-like member is deformed.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the volume increasing portion of this embodiment has a deformable bellows-like member 21 and a spring member 22 for regulating the deformation of the bellows-like member 21. Bellows-like member 21
The opening 21a is provided on the liquid storage chamber side and communicates with the liquid storage chamber. The inside of the bellows-like member 21 has an opening.
Since the closed space is formed except for the portion 21a, even if the liquid storage chamber is provided with the volume increasing portion, the state in which the substantially closed space is formed except for the communication hole does not change. And
When pressure is applied to the opening 21a, the bellows-like member expands (or contracts), and its internal volume can be changed.

On the other hand, the spring member 22 is provided so that the shape shown in FIG. 2A is symmetrical to the end of the circular bellows-like member 21, and a seal tape is adhered on the bellows-like member. It has a structure that allows it. 2 (b) and FIG. 3 correspond to the bellows of the bellows-like member.
b, 22c. The sealing member is removed and the opening 2
When pressure is applied to 1a, the bellows-like member in the folded state expands as shown in FIG. However, the operation in which the bellows-like member tries to return to the original folded shape (shrinkage)
It is regulated by the projections 22b and 22c of the spring member. Therefore,
The state shown in FIG. 3 does not return to the normal state shown in FIG.
The volume increasing portion has a structure that can be deformed only in a direction in which the volume increases.

Next, the opening operation of the liquid container of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4 to 6 show the opening operation of the liquid storage container of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram explaining in chronological order from FIG. 4 to FIG. 6.

First, in the ink tank 120 of this embodiment,
When the initial ink filling of the ink tank is completed and the ink tank is ready to be shipped, the supply port 105 is sealed with the cap 30 and the air communication port 106 is sealed with the seal tape 10. The sealing tape 10 allows the volume increasing portion 20
Is restricted. Ink tanks shipped in this state may be affected by environmental changes during distribution, shock, vibration, etc.
As shown in FIG. 1, an air layer is provided in the liquid storage chamber.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The restriction on the volume increasing portion is released by peeling off a part of the. In this embodiment, the volume of the volume increasing portion is increased mainly by the elasticity of the bellows-like member of the volume increasing portion, but the volume of the volume increasing portion does not need to increase in this state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the seal tape 10 is completely removed from the ink tank, and the air communication port 106 is opened. At this time, the pressure of the capillary force generating member storage chamber in the ink tank matches the pressure P of the external environment. When the pressure P2 in the liquid storage chamber before the opening of the air communication port is larger than a predetermined positive value with respect to the pressure P of the external environment of the ink tank, the volume increasing portion is opened when the air communication port is opened. The pressure is relaxed by deforming in the direction in which the volume of the gas increases. Therefore, since the movement of the ink into the capillary force generating member storage chamber through the communication hole when the atmosphere communication port is opened is restricted, the capillary force generating member does not hold ink at a level that cannot be held by the capillary force. . Then, FIG.
By opening the cap 30 as shown in (1), it becomes possible to mount the cap 30 on an ink jet recording apparatus (not shown).

In the ink tank according to the present embodiment, if the volume increasing portion is kept functioning while being regulated by a seal and is not operated, the difference between the pressure in the tank and the pressure of the external environment is equal to 0.
Above 25 atm, ink leaked from the supply port. On the other hand, the difference between the pressure in the tank and the pressure P in the external environment is
The material and structure (thickness and shape) of the bellows-like member and the spring member so that the volume of the volume increasing portion increases when the pressure exceeds 0.15 atm.
When the pressure difference was about 0.40 atm, no ink leakage from the supply port occurred.

When the difference between the pressure P in the external environment and the pressure in the tank is large, or depending on the structure of the volume increasing portion, the volume increasing portion is released when the regulation of the volume increasing portion is released in the opening step described above. May increase due to the pressure difference. In this case, a part of the liquid in the capillary force generating member storage chamber may temporarily move into the liquid storage chamber, but thereafter, even if the air communication port and the supply port are opened, the capillary force generation member cannot be held. Is no longer present in the capillary force generating member storage chamber. Therefore, the ink does not leak from the supply port or the like, and such a case is also included in the present invention.

In the above-described opening step, either the air communication port or the supply port may be opened first. However, when a buffer space is provided near the air communication port as in the present embodiment, the air communication port may be opened. By opening the communication port first, leakage of the stored ink to the outside can be more effectively prevented. Accordingly, it is desirable that the ink tank be packaged in such a manner that it can be positively opened first from the air communication port.

FIG. 7 shows a modification of this embodiment, in which an ink tank 120 having a cap 30 and a seal tape 10 is covered with a shrink film 40. In this modification, since the cap 30 is recovered by the main link member, the cap 30 cannot be operated until the shrink film 40 is broken by peeling off the seal tape 10. Thus, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-2905
Applying the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 16 to the present invention is a more desirable configuration because the above-mentioned synergistic effect can be expected.

In the present invention described above, the volume increasing portion is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be any type as long as it can be deformed only in the direction of increasing the volume of the liquid storage chamber. . Examples other than the bellows-like member include, for example, a syringe-like piston combined with a latch, and a one-way valve attached to a connection with a liquid storage container.

The ink contained in the liquid container of the present invention has been described by taking ink as an example. However, the storable liquid is not limited to ink, and includes a liquid such as a processing liquid for a recording medium. Things.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even when the pressure of the external environment at the time of opening is lower than the pressure in the ink tank, the volume increasing portion can be deformed so as to increase the volume at the time of opening, and the ink is supplied from the communication portion by the capillary force generating member. The amount of movement to the storage chamber can be reduced, and the pressure in the liquid storage chamber can be made substantially equal to the pressure in the capillary force generating member storage chamber in communication with the outside. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent the ink from being held by the capillary force generating member at the time of opening,
It is possible to provide a liquid storage container and a method for opening the liquid storage container that are not likely to cause ink leakage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an embodiment of a liquid container according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams for explaining a volume increasing portion of the liquid storage container shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2A is a top view from the arrow direction of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B is an arrow of FIG. It is a side view from the direction.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where the volume of a volume increasing portion of the liquid storage container illustrated in FIG. 1 is increased.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining an embodiment of the liquid storage container of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining an embodiment of the liquid container according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an embodiment of the liquid container according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view for explaining another embodiment of the liquid storage container of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a liquid storage container that is a premise of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seal tape 20 Volume increase part 30 Cap 40 Shrink film 100, 120 Ink tank (liquid storage container) 101 Capillary force generation member storage room 102 Communication hole (communication part) 103 Liquid storage room 104 Capillary force generation member 105 Supply port 106 Atmosphere Communication port

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A capillary force generating member storage chamber for accommodating a capillary force generating member and having a liquid supply section and an atmosphere communication section, a communication section communicating with the capillary force generation member storage chamber, and the communication section including And a liquid storage chamber that forms a substantially closed space except that the liquid storage chamber includes a volume increasing portion that can be deformed only in a direction that increases the volume of the liquid storage chamber. Characteristic liquid storage container. 2. The liquid container according to claim 1, further comprising a deformation inhibiting member that inhibits deformation of the volume increasing portion and is detachable from the liquid container. 3. The liquid storage container according to claim 2, wherein the atmosphere communication portion is closed by the deformation inhibiting member. 4. The capillary force generating member storage chamber includes the air communication part above the chamber with the communication part positioned below, and defines an area where the liquid is not filled in the vicinity of the air communication part. 4. The device according to claim 1, wherein
The liquid container according to any one of the above. 5. The method for opening a liquid storage container according to claim 1, wherein the liquid supply unit and the air communication unit are closed, and a deformation inhibiting member that inhibits deformation of the volume increasing unit is mounted. A step of preparing the liquid storage container, a detachment step of removing the deformation inhibiting member from the liquid storage container, and an unsealing step of opening the air communication unit and the liquid supply unit after the detachment step. A method for opening a liquid storage container, comprising: 6. The method for opening a liquid container according to claim 5, wherein, in the opening step, the supply port is opened after opening the air communication portion.