JP2022123268A - Recording device and waste liquid storage container - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a recording device in which force required for attachment/removal operation of a waste liquid storage container can be reduced.SOLUTION: A recording device includes: a draining part 65 for draining waste liquid drained from a recording head discharging a liquid; and a waste liquid storage container 70 which has a connection part connectable to the draining part and is removably attached. One of the draining part and the connection part has a cylindrical member 80 on which a ring-like elastic seal surface 82 is formed, whereas the other one of the draining part and the connection part has a needle 66 which has an external surface fittable fluid-tightly to the seal surface, and in which a waste liquid flow channel is formed for circulating a liquid to the inside. Further, in the draining part or the connection part, a positioning member 67 is provided for positioning a center of the elastic member and a center of the needle before the cylindrical member and the needle are in contact at a connection between the draining part and the connection part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that ejects liquid for printing, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that includes a waste liquid storage container that stores waste liquid discharged during maintenance operations of a print head, and the waste liquid storage container.

In an inkjet printing apparatus that prints on a printing medium by ejecting ink from a printing head, in order to maintain good ejection performance of the printing head, it is common to perform maintenance work to eject a portion of the ink from the ejection openings of the printing head. done. Some of such printing apparatuses are detachably provided with a waste ink container (waste ink tank) for containing waste ink discharged from the print head.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-100002 discloses an inkjet recording apparatus having a detachable waste ink tank. In this inkjet recording apparatus, when the waste ink container is attached to the main body of the apparatus, the tubular discharge portion provided in the main body of the recording device is inserted into the opening formed in the waste ink container. This makes it possible to introduce the waste ink discharged from the discharge portion of the main body of the recording apparatus into the waste ink tank.

JP 2009-269202 A

The technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200002 adopts a configuration in which the seal portion of the waste ink tank is pressed against the discharge portion of the apparatus main body against the biasing force of the spring that supports the discharge portion. Therefore, in order to obtain high airtightness at the seal portion, it is necessary to increase the spring force, and a large operating force is required when attaching and detaching the waste ink tank. Further, since the waste ink tank and its holding portion continue to receive the urging force from the spring while the waste ink tank is attached, the waste ink tank needs to have high rigidity and strength.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus capable of reducing the force required to attach and detach a waste liquid storage container.

The present invention includes a discharge section for discharging waste liquid discharged from a recording head that discharges liquid, and a waste liquid storage container that has a connecting section connectable to the discharge section and is detachably mounted. In the recording apparatus, one of the discharge section and the connection section has a cylindrical member formed with an elastic annular sealing surface, and the other of the discharge section and the connection section includes: a needle having an outer surface that can be liquid-tightly fitted to the sealing surface and having a waste liquid flow path formed therein for circulating liquid; A positioning member is provided for positioning the center of the tubular member and the center of the needle before contact with the needle.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus capable of reducing the force required for attaching and detaching the waste liquid storage container.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a printing apparatus according to this embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1(a); FIG. 1B is a partial cross-sectional view of the housing taken along line III-III of FIG. 1B; 3 is a perspective view showing a maintenance cartridge according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the waste ink discharge portion, the tip portion of the maintenance cartridge, and the elastic member; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view showing a state in which the maintenance cartridge is inserted into the waste ink discharge portion; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view showing a state in which the positioning member and the guide member are aligned substantially concentrically; FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing a state in which the needle and connecting member are correctly positioned; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view showing a state in which the tip of the needle is inserted into the sealing surface of the elastic member; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view showing a state in which the maintenance cartridge is completely attached to the waste ink discharge section;

An embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are essential to the present invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same reference numbers may be given to the same or corresponding parts of the configuration, and redundant description may be omitted.

In this specification, "recording" includes not only the formation of significant information such as characters and graphics, but also the formation of unintentional information. It doesn't matter if it is or not. "Recording" includes not only the operation of forming an image, pattern, pattern, etc. on a recording medium, but also processing of the medium.

In this specification, the term "recording medium" means not only recording paper used in general image forming apparatuses, but also cloth, plastic film (OHP), metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, etc. Also includes possible media. Furthermore, "ink" (sometimes called "liquid") means the formation of an image, design, pattern, etc., the processing of a recording medium, or the treatment of ink (for example, refers to a liquid that can be used to solidify or insolubilize the colorant in the applied ink.

(Configuration of embodiment)
The printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is an inkjet printing apparatus that performs printing by causing ink ejected from a printing head to land on a printing medium. 1A and 1B are perspective views showing the external appearance of the recording apparatus 1. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the front of the recording apparatus 1 as viewed obliquely from above, and FIGS. is a perspective view of the device viewed obliquely from above. In the following description, the direction of gravity is the Z direction, the upper side of gravity is the +Z direction, and the lower side of gravity is the one Z direction. The direction orthogonal to the front of the recording apparatus 1 is the Y direction, the direction from the front to the front is the +Y direction, and the direction to the rear is the 1 Y direction. Further, the right direction when viewed from the front of the recording apparatus 1 is the +X direction, and the left direction is the one X direction.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the printing apparatus 1 has a plurality of ink tanks 7B and 7C arranged on the front side. In this embodiment, a plurality of ink tanks 7C containing color inks such as cyan ink, magenta ink, and yellow ink are arranged on the front right side of the recording apparatus main body 1A, and an ink tank 7B containing black ink is arranged on the front left side. are placed. In the following description, the plurality of ink tanks 7B and 7C may be collectively referred to as the ink tank 7.

The plurality of ink tanks 7 have injection portions (not shown) for injecting ink. The user replenishes the ink tank 7 with ink by injecting the ink contained in the ink bottle or ink pack for ink replenishment into the ink tank 7 from the injection part. The ink stored in the ink tank 7 is supplied via a tube (not shown) to the recording head 3 mounted on a carriage 33 (see FIG. 2) capable of reciprocating in the main scanning direction (X direction). be done. A plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink (liquid) are formed in the print head 3 . An ejection element that generates ejection energy for ejecting ink is provided in each ejection port. Driving of each ejection element is controlled by control means (not shown) based on print data. By driving the ejection elements, ink is ejected from the ejection openings of the print head 3 and lands on the print medium. Thus, an image is formed on the recording medium. In this embodiment, the ink stored in the ink tank 7 is supplied through a tube. On the other hand, it is also possible to adopt a form in which the ink tank is mounted on the carriage and ink is supplied to the print head while the ink tank is moved in the main scanning direction together with the carriage and print head. Further, the ink tank 7 of the present embodiment is provided in the recording apparatus 1 and is in a form in which ink is injected from an injection portion. A tank 7 may be employed.

As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, a maintenance cartridge (waste liquid storage container) 70, which will be described later, is mounted on the rear surface of the housing 5 forming the outer shell of the recording apparatus main body 1A. A mouth 5a is provided. FIG. 1B shows a state in which the maintenance cartridge 70 is installed in the recording apparatus main body 1A, and FIG. 1C shows a state in which the maintenance cartridge 70 is removed from the recording apparatus main body 1A. The maintenance cartridge 70 is a waste ink storage container (waste liquid storage container) that stores waste ink (waste liquid) discharged by maintenance operations for maintaining and recovering the ink ejection performance of the recording head 3 . When the amount of waste ink contained in the maintenance cartridge 70 exceeds a certain level, the user removes the mounted maintenance cartridge 70 and inserts a new maintenance cartridge 70, as shown in FIG. 1(c). Mounting.

2 and 3, the schematic configuration inside the recording apparatus main body 1A will be described below. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line II--II in FIG. 1(a). In FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body 1A of the recording apparatus has a housing 5 as its outer shell. A paper feed cassette 6 for stacking sheet-like recording media 4 such as recording paper is detachably attached to the front of the housing 5 . The uppermost sheet of the recording medium 4 in the paper feed cassette 6 is separated by a feeding means 41 having a feeding roller 41a and a separation roller 41b, and is fed to a conveying path 42 for guiding the recording medium 4. sent.

The recording medium 4 fed to the transport path 42 is transported forward (+Y direction) along the upper surface of the platen 45 by transport means including a transport roller 43 and a pinch roller 44 facing the transport roller 43 . After that, the recording medium 4 is further transported forward by the paper ejection means driven in synchronism with the transport means, and is ejected onto an ejection tray (not shown). Note that the paper discharge means is composed of a discharge roller 46 that rotates in synchronism with the transport roller 43 and a spur 47 that presses against the discharge roller 46 .

A carriage 33 that reciprocates along the main scanning direction (X direction) is provided between the transport roller 43 and the discharge roller 46 in the front-rear direction (Y direction) of the recording apparatus 1 . The recording head 3 is mounted on the bottom of the carriage 33 and moves together with the carriage 33 in the main scanning direction (X direction). The bottom of the recording head 3 is formed with an ejection port surface 31 in which a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink are arranged. The ejection port surface 31 is arranged to face the recording medium 4 conveyed along the upper surface of the platen 45 with a predetermined gap therebetween. The ink ejected from the ejection port lands on the recording medium 4 to form an image.

The recording apparatus 1 also has maintenance means for performing maintenance operations for maintaining and recovering the ink ejection performance of the recording head 3 . In the present embodiment, as maintenance means, the suction recovery mechanism 64 forcibly sucks and discharges air bubbles present in the print head 3 and the ejection ports, thickened ink, and the like from the ejection ports, and A wiping mechanism (not shown) or the like for wiping off excess ink is provided. Depending on the recording apparatus 1, a pressure recovery mechanism may be provided as maintenance means for applying positive pressure to the inside of the recording head 3 to forcibly discharge ink from the ejection port. Since the ink discharged by the maintenance means is not suitable for image formation, it passes through the ink discharge path and is discharged into a waste ink container (maintenance cartridge 70), which will be described in detail later.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the suction recovery mechanism 64 and the maintenance cartridge 70 as maintenance means provided in the recording apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view. The suction recovery mechanism 64 is provided at a position (recovery operation position) outside the printing area (for example, the area through which the printing medium passes) inside the printing apparatus main body 1A. The suction recovery mechanism 64 includes a cap 10 that can be brought into close contact with and separated from the ejection port surface 31 of the recording head 3 , a suction pump 11 as negative pressure generating means for applying negative pressure to the cap 10 , a waste ink discharge section 65 , It has a tube and a joint that connect them.

The cap 10 is provided so as to come into close contact with and separate from the ejection port surface 31 of the print head 3 positioned at the recovery operation position. The cap 10 is configured to cover the ejection openings provided on the ejection opening surface 31 in a capping state in close contact with the ejection opening surface 31 . In this embodiment, the cap 10 is made of a non-breathable elastic material such as rubber, and has an annular sealing rib formed on its peripheral edge that can be brought into close contact with and separated from the discharge port surface 31 . ing. The close contact/separation of the cap 10 with respect to the discharge port surface 31 is performed by moving the cap 10 up and down by a lifting mechanism (not shown). When the recording operation is not performed, it is possible to protect the ejection openings and reduce the evaporation of the ink in the ejection openings by setting the capping state. Further, the cap 10 of the present embodiment includes a color cap that caps the ejection port surface 31 on which the ejection ports of the color ink are arranged, a black cap that caps the ejection port surface 31 on which the ejection ports of the black ink are arranged, including. The color cap and the black cap may be configured as separate parts, or may be configured to be separated by ribs or the like.

The cap 10 and the suction pump 11 are also used for suction recovery processing or pressurization recovery processing, which are recovery processing for refreshing the ink in the ejection ports of the print head 3 . In the suction recovery process, the suction pump 11 is operated in a capping state in which the cap 10 is brought into close contact with the ejection port surface 31 to seal the ejection port, thereby generating a negative pressure in the cap 10 to remove air bubbles, dust, thickened ink, and the like. This is a process for forcibly sucking and discharging the contained ink from the ejection port. This suction recovery process replaces the ink in the ejection port with ink suitable for ejection. The waste ink sucked from the ejection openings of the recording head 3 is received by the cap 10, and then sent from the cap 10 through each tube described later to the waste ink discharge section 65 by the action of the suction pump 11, where the waste ink is discharged. It is sent from the unit 65 to a maintenance cartridge 70, which will be described later, and stored therein.

On the other hand, in the pressurization recovery process, a positive pressure is applied to the inside of the recording head 3 while the ejection port surface 31 faces the cap 10 or the ink receiver, and the ink is forcibly discharged from the ejection ports. This is the process of refreshing the ink. Further, as a process for refreshing the ink in the ejection openings, there is also a so-called preliminary ejection in which the ejection elements provided in the ejection openings are driven to eject ink into the cap 10 for the purpose of not printing. Preliminary ejection is normally performed toward the cap 10, and ink ejected to the cap 10 is ejected to the maintenance cartridge 70 through each tube and the waste ink ejection section 65 in the same manner as other recovery processes.

Various types of pumps can be used as the suction pump 11 as long as they generate negative pressure. In this embodiment, as the suction pump 11, a tube pump that generates negative pressure in the tube by crushing the tube communicating with the cap 10 with rollers is used.

Next, the path of waste ink from the cap 10 to the waste ink discharge portion 65 will be described. One ends of cap tubes 13 a and 13 b are connected to the cap 10 . The other ends of the cap tubes 13a, 13b are connected to one ends of inlet tubes 25a, 25b of the suction pump 11 via joints 12a, 12b. The other ends of inlet tubes 25 a and 25 b are connected to the inlet of suction pump 11 . One end of discharge tubes 26 a and 26 b is connected to the outlet of suction pump 11 , and the other end of discharge tubes 26 a and 26 b is connected to one end of drain tube 16 via joint 15 .

The other end of the drain tube 16 is connected to an inlet 66a (see FIG. 5A) of a waste ink discharge section 65 to which the maintenance cartridge 70 can be detachably attached. The waste ink discharge section 65 is supported by the bottom of the housing 5 . A specific configuration of the waste ink discharge section 65 will be described in detail later. Black ink discharged from the black cap flows through the cap tube 13a, the joint 12a, the inlet tube 25a, and the outlet tube 26a. On the other hand, the color ink discharged from the color cap flows through the cap tube 13b, the joint 12b, the inlet tube 25b, and the outlet tube 26b.

By operating the suction pump 11, the waste ink discharged into the cap 10 is introduced from the cap tube 13 into the suction pump 11 via the inlet tubes 25a and 25b. After that, the waste ink is sent from the suction pump 11 through the outlet tubes 26a and 26b, the joint 15 and the drain tube 16 to the waste ink discharge section 65, and discharged from the waste ink discharge section 65 to the maintenance cartridge . Further, the waste ink from each of the outlet tubes 26 a and 26 b is collected by the joint 15 and then discharged from one waste ink discharge section 65 to the maintenance cartridge 70 . By consolidating the points for introducing waste ink into the maintenance cartridge 70 in this way, it is possible to simplify the operation of attaching and detaching the maintenance cartridge and to reduce the risk of ink leakage.

Next, the configuration of the maintenance cartridge 70 in this embodiment will be described. 4 is a perspective view showing the maintenance cartridge 70. FIG. The maintenance cartridge 70 is detachably attached to the recording apparatus 1 and can be replaced by the user. The maintenance cartridge 70 includes a cartridge main body 70A that includes a case portion 71 with an open upper end and a cover portion 72 that covers the opening of the case portion 71 . The cartridge main body 70A has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the front-rear direction (Y direction) and short in the left-right direction (X direction). A waste ink absorber (not shown) capable of absorbing waste ink is housed inside the cartridge main body 70A. The front wall portion F1 of the cartridge main body 70A has a waste ink inlet port 74 for introducing the waste ink discharge portion 65 provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A into the cartridge main body 70A, and an attachment detection terminal (detecting means) provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A. 69 (see FIG. 7(b)) is arranged side by side in the X direction.

Here, referring to FIG. 5, the configuration of the waste ink discharge portion 65 provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A and the peripheral configuration of the waste ink introduction port 74 in the cartridge main body 70A will be described. FIG. 5(a) is a longitudinal side view showing the configuration of the waste ink discharge portion 65 provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5B is a longitudinal side view showing details of the configuration around the waste ink inlet 74 in the maintenance cartridge 70, and is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

In this embodiment, the waste ink discharge portion 65 has a needle 66 projecting in the -Y direction and a cylindrical positioning member 67 surrounding the needle 66 . The needle 66 has a hollow cylindrical shape with one end open, and a space formed in the center serves as a waste ink channel (waste liquid channel) for circulating waste ink. The inlet 66 a of the waste ink flow path is connected to the drain tube 16 described above, and the waste ink discharged from the drain tube 16 flows out from the outlet 66 b formed at the distal end of the needle 66 . The cylindrical positioning member 67 is formed integrally with the needle 66 , and its inner peripheral surface (positioning surface) is positioned concentrically with the outer peripheral surface of the needle 66 . The edge of the opening of the positioning member 67 protrudes from the tip of the needle 66 in the -Y direction. A disk-shaped mounting portion 66 c that intersects (perpendicularly in this example) the central axis of the needle 66 is provided at the base end portion of the waste ink discharge portion 65 . A peripheral portion of the mounting portion 66c is movably fitted into an annular fitting groove 68a provided in a support portion 68 of the recording apparatus main body 1A. Therefore, the waste ink discharge portion 65 is supported so as to be relatively movable along a plane orthogonal to the central axis of the needle 66 within the range of the fitting groove 68a.

On the other hand, the waste ink introduction port 74 of the maintenance cartridge 70 and its periphery are configured as shown in FIG. 5(b). The waste ink inlet 74 is a truncated cone-shaped inclined surface whose diameter is continuously reduced from the open end on the outer surface side to the open end on the inner surface side. Hereinafter, this inclined surface is referred to as an introduction inclined surface 74a.

In addition, in the maintenance cartridge 70, a cylindrical elastic member 81 into which the needle 66 of the waste ink discharge portion 65 is inserted is provided behind the introduction slope 74a. This elastic member 81 is shown in the vertical perspective view of FIG.5(c). The elastic member 81 is formed of an elastic member such as rubber, and an introduction hole 81a for introducing the needle 66 is formed therein. An annular seal surface 82 is formed on the inner surface of the introduction hole 81a on the distal end side so as to be in liquid-tight contact with the outer surface of the needle 66. As shown in FIG. The seal surface 82 is formed in a part of the inner surface of the introduction hole 81a, and its length in the Y direction (needle insertion direction) is shorter than the length of the inner surface other than the seal surface 82. As shown in FIG. An inclined surface 83 is formed between the tip opening of the elastic member 81 and the seal surface 82 to serve as a guide surface for inserting the needle 66 .

A cylindrical guide member 85 is fixed to the outer surface of the elastic member 81 to guide the positioning member 67 of the waste ink discharge section 65. A member 80 is constructed. The tubular member 80 functions as a connecting portion that can be connected to the waste ink discharging portion 65 provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A. The outer peripheral surface of the guide member 85 has a diameter that allows it to be smoothly fitted into the inner peripheral surface of the positioning member 67 without a gap. The tip of the guide member 85 is formed with an opening 85a that communicates with the opening 81b formed at the tip of the elastic member 81 . A flange portion 85b is formed at the rear end portion of the guide member 85. As shown in FIG. The collar portion 85b is supported by the cover portion 72 so as to be movable in the vertical direction (Z direction). Thereby, the guide member 85 and the elastic member 81 fixed thereto are supported by the cover portion 72 so as to be movable in the vertical direction (Z direction). In addition, 85c is a locking portion that prevents the cover portion 72 from coming off. A waste ink tube (not shown) is connected to the rear end of the elastic member 81 via a joint 87, and the ink discharged from the needle 66 passes through the waste ink tube to a waste ink absorber (not shown). is discharged to

Next, a procedure for mounting the maintenance cartridge 70 to the recording apparatus main body 1A will be described. When the maintenance cartridge 70 is to be mounted in the recording apparatus main body 1A, the front end portion (front wall F1 side end portion) of the maintenance cartridge 70 is inserted into the mounting opening 5a (see FIG. 1C) formed in the recording apparatus main body 1A. (insert in the +Y direction). When the maintenance cartridge 70 is inserted to a predetermined position, as shown in FIG. 6, the introduction inclined surface 74a of the waste ink introduction port 74 formed at the tip of the maintenance cartridge 70 reaches the waste ink inlet provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A. It abuts on the positioning member 67 of the ink discharge portion 65 . When the maintenance cartridge 70 is further inserted in the +Y direction, the positioning member 67 is guided by the introduction slope 74a. As a result, the waste ink discharge portion 65 is moved and equalized, and finally the inner peripheral surface of the positioning member 67 and the outer peripheral surface of the guide member 85 are aligned so as to be positioned substantially concentrically (FIG. 7A). reference). At this time, since the tip of the needle 66 is not in contact with the elastic member 81, positioning between the positioning member 67 and the guide member 85 is performed smoothly.

In the state shown in FIG. 7(a), the mounting detection terminal insertion opening 75 of the maintenance cartridge 70 is inserted into the maintenance cartridge 70 from the mounting detection terminal 69 provided in the recording apparatus main body 1A, as shown in FIG. 7(b). It is positioned on the front side in the mounting direction (on the front side in the +Y direction). 7(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. At the stage shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the mounting detection terminal 69 does not detect the detected portion 76 provided in the maintenance cartridge 70, and is connected to the mounting detection terminal 69 (not shown). determines that the maintenance cartridge 70 is not installed.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8A, the maintenance cartridge 70 is further inserted in the +Y direction, so that the outer peripheral surface of the guide member 85 is fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the positioning member 67 without any gap. As a result, the waste ink discharge portion 65 and the elastic member 81 are positioned relative to each other, and the needle 66 and the elastic member 81 are also positioned accurately. That is, the center of the needle 66 and the center of the elastic member 81 exactly coincide. However, even at this stage, the sealing surface 82 of the elastic member 81 has not reached the contact position with the tip of the needle 66 .

When the maintenance cartridge 70 is further inserted in the +Y direction from the state shown in FIG. 8, the tip of the needle 66 is inserted into the sealing surface 82 of the elastic member 81 as shown in FIG. 9(a). At this time, the contact between the positioning member 67 and the guide member 85 allows the needle 66 and the elastic member 81 to be accurately positioned with each other, so that the needle 66 can be smoothly inserted into the elastic member 81 with a small operating force. . In addition, since the seal surface 82 is in liquid-tight contact with the outer peripheral surface of the inserted needle 66 , the waste liquid does not leak from the connecting portion between the needle 66 and the elastic member 81 . At the stage shown in FIG. 9A, the discharge port 66b of the needle 66 has not yet been completely inserted into the insertion hole 81a of the elastic member 81, and the mounting detection terminal 69 is also in contact with the detected portion 76. not (see FIG. 9(b)). Therefore, the control means determines that the maintenance cartridge 70 is not installed even at this stage.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10A, the maintenance cartridge 70 is further pushed in the +Y direction, and when the needle 66 is completely inserted into the insertion hole 81a, mounting of the maintenance cartridge 70 is completed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10(b), the mounting detection terminal 69 and the detected portion 76 are brought into contact with each other, and a detection signal is output from the mounting detection terminal 69. Upon receiving the detection signal, the control means controls the maintenance cartridge 70 is determined to have been installed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the needle 66 and the elastic member 81 are liquid-tightly connected before it is determined that the maintenance cartridge 70 is attached. After that, the elastic member 81 continues to move to the installation completion position while contacting the peripheral surface of the needle 66, but since the sealing surface 82 is provided in the vicinity of the opening 85a by a predetermined length, insertion force does not increase. Further, the sealing surface 82 is configured to keep the tightness with the needle 66 by the elastic force of the rubber joint 71 itself. Therefore, after the maintenance cartridge 70 is installed, there is no need to provide a spring for maintaining airtightness or a special fixing member for securing the installation position, so that the configuration can be made simple and compact. .

Further, the needle 66 is configured to be longer than the seal surface 82 in the attachment/detachment direction (Y direction) so as to pass through the seal surface 82 . Therefore, the sealing performance between the needle and the sealing surface does not vary depending on the position of the maintenance cartridge 70 in the attachment/detachment direction, and constant sealing performance can always be obtained.

Further, the positioning member 67 and the guide member 85 are positioned according to the length of the needle 66 in the attachment/detachment direction so that the needle 66 continues to be guided from before the needle 66 comes into contact with the seal surface 82 until the tip of the needle 66 completely penetrates the seal surface 82 . The length of member 67 is increased. That is, in the attachment/detachment direction, it is possible to accurately position the waste ink discharge portion 65 and the maintenance cartridge 70 throughout the attachment/detachment operation. Therefore, it is possible to keep the airtightness with the needle 66 while suppressing the area of the sealing surface 82, and it is possible to suppress the friction between the needle and the sealing surface, and it is possible to suppress the operating force in the attaching and detaching operation. become.

Thus, the lengths of the seal surface 82 , the needle 66 , the inner peripheral surface of the positioning member 67 , the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member, etc. It is set to be longer in order of the surface and the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member.

When removing the maintenance cartridge 70 from the main body 1A of the recording apparatus, the procedure described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10 is reversed. In this case, the connection between the waste ink discharge portion 65 and the maintenance cartridge 70 is released after the attachment detection terminal 69 and the portion to be detected 76 are separated. Therefore, it becomes possible to disconnect the maintenance cartridge 70 and the waste ink discharge section 65 in a state in which the discharge operation for discharging the waste ink is prohibited on the side of the recording apparatus main body 1A, resulting in accidental leakage of waste ink. can be suppressed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the guide member 85 is first brought into contact with the positioning member 67 to position the needle 66 and the elastic member 81, and then the needle 66 is inserted into the elastic member 81. take. Therefore, the mounting operation can be easily performed with a small operating force, and a user-friendly recording apparatus can be provided. Furthermore, since the ink discharge path is always kept sealed when it is determined that the maintenance cartridge 70 is attached, it is possible to provide a highly reliable recording apparatus that suppresses leakage of waste ink.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the waste ink discharge portion 65 having the needle and the positioning member 67 is provided on the recording apparatus main body 1A side, and the elastic member 81 and the guide member 85 are provided on the cartridge main body 70A. is not limited to It is also possible to adopt a form in which the cartridge main body is provided with a waste ink discharge section comprising a needle and a positioning member, while the recording apparatus main body is provided with a connection member and a guide member. It can exhibit the same effect as the form.

Moreover, although an example in which the positioning member is provided integrally with the needle has been shown, it is also possible to provide the needle and the positioning member separately. That is, the positioning member may be separate from the needle as long as the positioning member can position the needle and the tubular member before they come into contact with each other. Further, the positioning member may be provided on either one or both of the cartridge main body and the recording apparatus main body.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the cylindrical elastic member 81 formed with the sealing surface 82 capable of coming into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the needle 66 and the cylindrical guide member 85 covering the outer peripheral surface of the elastic member 81 provide the tubular structure. An example of configuring the shaped member 80 has been shown. However, the cylindrical member 80 is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment. It is also possible to configure the cylindrical member only by the elastic member 81 without providing the guide member 85 . In this case, the elastic member 81 preferably has an outer peripheral surface that can reduce friction with the inner peripheral surface of the positioning member 67 . It is also possible to provide an elastic sealing surface on the inner surface of the rigid cylindrical member. Also in this case, it is desirable that the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member is formed of a smooth surface or the like that has little frictional resistance with respect to the positioning member 67 .

1 recording device 3 recording head 65 waste ink discharge section (discharge section)
66 needle 67 positioning member 70 maintenance cartridge (waste liquid container)
80 cylindrical member (connection)
82 sealing surface

Claims (11)

A recording apparatus comprising: a discharge section for discharging waste liquid discharged from a recording head that discharges liquid; and a detachably mounted waste liquid storage container having a connection section connectable to the discharge section. hand,
one of the discharge portion and the connection portion has a cylindrical member formed with an elastic annular sealing surface;
the other of the discharge portion and the connection portion has a needle having an outer surface that can be liquid-tightly fitted to the sealing surface and having a waste liquid flow path formed therein for circulating the liquid;
A recording device characterized by comprising a positioning member for positioning the center of the tubular member and the center of the needle before the tubular member and the needle come into contact in the connection between the discharging portion and the connecting portion. Device. 2. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said positioning member has an inner peripheral surface that can be fitted to an outer peripheral surface of said cylindrical member. Either the discharging portion or the connecting portion is provided so that the positioning member and the cylindrical member are positioned concentrically before the tip of the needle reaches the sealing surface when the waste liquid storage container is attached. 3. A recording apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an inclined surface for guiding the tape. The tubular member has a tubular elastic member formed with the seal surface capable of coming into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the needle, and a tubular guide member covering the outer peripheral surface of the elastic member,
3. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said positioning member is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of said guide member. The sealing surface is provided in an opening through which the needle is introduced in the tubular member, and is arranged such that the sealing surface, the needle, the inner peripheral surface of the positioning member, and the tubular member are arranged in the attachment/detachment direction of the waste liquid storage container. 5. A recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the length is formed in the order of the outer peripheral surface of the . 6. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said tubular member and said positioning member have a cylindrical shape. 7. A recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said positioning member and said tubular member are supported so as to be relatively movable in a direction along a plane intersecting the mounting direction of said waste liquid container. Further comprising a detecting means for detecting that the connecting portion is attached to the discharging portion,
7. The detecting means outputs a detection signal indicating that the discharging portion is connected to the connecting portion after the needle and the sealing surface are fitted together. 1. The recording device according to item 1. The apparatus further comprises control means for controlling the operation of discharging waste liquid from the discharge section, wherein the control means prohibits the operation of discharging waste liquid from the discharge section until a detection signal from the detection means is received, and the detection signal is output. 9. A recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the waste liquid is discharged from the discharge section after receiving. 10. A recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said connecting portion has said cylindrical member, and said discharge portion has said needle and said positioning member. A waste liquid storage container detachably attached to a recording apparatus having a discharge section for discharging waste liquid discharged from a recording head that discharges liquid,
A connecting portion connectable to the discharge portion,
The connecting portion has a cylindrical member formed with an elastic annular sealing surface,
The discharge part includes a needle having an outer surface that can be liquid-tightly fitted to the sealing surface and having a waste liquid flow path formed therein for circulating the liquid,
A waste liquid characterized by comprising a positioning member for positioning the center of the cylindrical member and the center of the needle before the cylindrical member and the needle come into contact in the connection between the discharging portion and the connecting portion. containment vessel.

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