Liquid dispensing device

Abstract

To provide a liquid discharge device which enables improvement of operability when a liquid is injected from a liquid injection port into a liquid storage chamber while inhibiting increase in the size of the device and inhibiting contamination of the exterior of the device by the liquid.SOLUTION: A printer 1 has: a scanner member 99 which partially covers an upper opening of a housing 11; and an upper cover 73 which may partially cover the upper opening of the housing 11 in a position which does not overlap with the scanner member 99 in a plan view and be opened or closed. An ink may be injected into an ink storage chamber 62a when an ink tank 61 is in an ink injection position E within the housing 11, and the ink injection position E is exposed to the outside in a state that the upper cover 73 is open.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device that includes a liquid storage section in which liquid is stored. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a liquid ejection device (liquid ejection device) that includes a housing, a liquid ejection head (liquid ejection head), and an ink tank (liquid storage unit) that contains ink to be supplied to the liquid ejection head. In the device of Patent Document 1, the inside of the housing is exposed when the top cover is opened, and ink is injected into the ink tank from a liquid injection port of the ink tank inside the housing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-69587 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the device of Patent Document 1, when injecting ink into the ink tank, the top cover that covers the entire top of the housing must be opened, and the open top cover gets in the way, making the device difficult to operate. It is also possible to provide a separate part on the outside of the housing for injecting ink into the ink tank. In this case, however, the device would become larger, and liquid would drip from the liquid inlet and reach the outside of the housing, contaminating the outside of the device.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejection device that improves operability when injecting liquid from a liquid inlet into a liquid storage chamber, while preventing the device from becoming larger and preventing contamination of the outside of the device by liquid. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The liquid ejection device of the present invention comprises a housing, a liquid ejection head disposed inside the housing and having a nozzle for ejecting liquid onto a recording medium, a liquid storage section disposed inside the housing and having a liquid storage chamber for storing liquid and a liquid injection port connecting the liquid storage chamber to the outside, a covering member partially covering an upper opening of the housing, and an openable and closable cover member partially covering the upper opening of the housing at a position that does not overlap with the covering member in a planar view, wherein liquid can be injected into the liquid storage chamber when the liquid storage section is at a liquid injection position inside the housing, and when the cover member is in an open state, the liquid injection position is exposed to the outside. Effect of the Invention

[0007] When attempting to expose the liquid injection position to the outside in order to inject liquid into the liquid storage chamber inside the housing, a configuration may be considered in which a cover member covering the upper opening of the housing is removed or the liquid storage section is pulled out to the outside of the housing. However, such a configuration increases the number of operation steps, resulting in poor operability. According to the present invention, it is possible to inject liquid into the liquid storage chamber from the liquid injection port at the liquid injection position exposed to the outside by opening the cover member. This improves operability when injecting liquid into the liquid storage chamber from the liquid injection port. In addition, since the liquid injection position is located inside the housing, it is possible to suppress an increase in size of the device, and since dripping of liquid from the liquid injection port can be contained inside the housing, contamination of the outside of the device by liquid can be suppressed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is an overall perspective view of the printer in FIG. 1 with its upper cover open. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic internal structure of the printer shown in FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a side view of the ink tank and the ink-jet head shown in FIG. 3. [Diagram 5]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the printer in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is an overall perspective view of a printer according to a modified example with its upper cover open. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] A printer 1 (liquid ejection device of the present invention) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 5. The up-down, left-right, and front-rear directions shown in Figure 1 are the up-down, left-right, and front-rear directions of the printer 1.

[0010] (Overall configuration of Printer 1) As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 has a housing 11 that is generally rectangular. An opening 12 is formed in the approximate center of a front wall 11a of the housing 11. A paper feed tray 15 and a paper discharge tray 16 are provided in the opening 12 in two stages, one above the other. The paper feed tray 15 is configured to be insertable and removable in the front-rear direction from the opening 12, that is, to be detachable from the housing 11. Paper P (recording medium of the present invention) of a desired size (e.g., A4 size) is placed on the paper feed tray 15. The printer 1 can be connected to an external device such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC). Then, the printer 1 executes a recording operation based on recording data from the PC or the like.

[0011] 1, an operation unit 13 is provided on the left part of the top surface of the housing 11. The operation unit 13 is composed of buttons operated for various settings, a liquid crystal display on which various information is displayed, and the like. In this embodiment, the operation unit 13 is composed of buttons operated for various settings. The operation unit 13 may be composed of a touch panel having both the functions of buttons and a liquid crystal display.

[0012] The top of the housing 11 is open. As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 1 has a scanner member 99 that partially covers the top opening of the housing 11. The scanner member 99 is capable of reading image information of a sheet of paper P. The information read by the scanner member 99 is temporarily stored in a RAM 133 of the control unit 40, which will be described later. When image data is saved with a name, the information may be saved in an EEPROM 134, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the scanner member 99 is a flatbed scanner.

[0013] As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the housing 11 has a scanner cover 14 that covers the entire upper part of the scanner member 99. The scanner cover 14 forms a ceiling part of the housing 11. The scanner cover 14 is configured to be rotatable around a rotation shaft (not shown) along the left-right direction at the rear end of the housing 11. As shown in Fig. 3, the scanner cover 14 is opened by rotating counterclockwise around the rotation shaft (not shown) at the rear end of the housing 11, and the scanner member 99 inside the housing 11 is exposed to the outside. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the scanner cover 14 has a notch formed at the left end part rearward of the center part in the front-rear direction.

[0014] In addition, an openable upper cover 73 (cover member of the present invention) is formed at a position that does not overlap with the scanner cover 14 in a plan view, and covers a part of the upper opening of the housing 11. The upper cover 73 does not overlap with the scanner member 99 in a plan view. The upper cover 73 is configured to be rotatable around a rotation shaft 74 that is aligned in the left-right direction at the rear and left part of the upper surface of the housing 11. The upper cover 73 can be opened and closed toward the outside of the housing 11 by rotating around the rotation shaft 74. As shown in FIG. 2, when the upper cover 73 is in an open state, a part of the upper cover 73 is located at a position that is the rear outside of the housing 11 when viewed from the top-bottom direction. The scanner cover 14 and the upper cover 73 cover the entire upper part of the housing 11.

[0015] (Internal structure of Printer 1) Next, a description will be given of the internal structure of the printer 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the printer 1 includes a transport mechanism 20, a recording unit 30, a bottle support unit 19, the above-mentioned scanner member 99, and a control unit 40.

[0016] The transport mechanism 20 has a feeding section 50, a transport path 52, a transport roller pair 53, and a paper discharge roller pair 54. As shown in FIG. 3, the feeding section 50 feeds the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 15 to the transport path 52. The transport roller pair 53 transports the paper P fed by the feeding section 50 to the recording section 30. The recording section 30 has a configuration of, for example, an inkjet recording system, and records an image on the paper P transported by the transport roller pair 53. The paper discharge roller pair 54 discharges the paper P recorded by the recording section 30 to the paper discharge tray 16.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 3, the feeding unit 50 is provided above the paper feed tray 15. The feeding unit 50 has a paper feed roller 50a and an arm 50b. The paper feed roller 50a is rotatably supported at the tip of the arm 50b. The arm 50b is rotatably supported on a support shaft 50c and is biased by a spring or the like to rotate the paper feed roller 50a downward so that the paper feed tray 15 comes into contact with the paper feed tray 15. The arm 50b is configured to be able to retract upward when the paper feed tray 15 is attached or detached. The paper feed roller 50a is driven to rotate by a paper feed motor 91M (see FIG. 5), and the paper P loaded in the paper feed tray 15 is fed to the conveying path 52.

[0018] 3, the paper feed tray 15 has an inclined wall portion 15a. The inclined wall portion 15a guides the paper P placed on the paper feed tray 15 to the transport path 52 when the paper P is fed by the paper feed roller 50a.

[0019] 3, the transport path 52 is formed inside the housing 11 and bends upward from the rear end of the paper feed tray 15 toward the front side of the printer 1. The paper P fed from the paper feed tray 15 is guided by the transport path 52 to make a U-turn from below to above, and reaches the recording unit 30.

[0020] The conveying roller pair 53 has a conveying roller 53a arranged on the lower side and a pinch roller 53b arranged on the upper side. The conveying roller 53a is driven to rotate by a conveying motor 92M (see FIG. 5). The pinch roller 53b rotates with the rotation of the conveying roller 53a. The conveying roller 53a and the pinch roller 53b cooperate to sandwich the paper P from above and below, and convey the paper P to the recording unit 30.

[0021] The pair of discharge rollers 54 includes a discharge roller 54a disposed on the lower side and a spur roller 54b disposed on the upper side. The discharge roller 54a is driven to rotate by a discharge motor 93M (see FIG. 5). The spur roller 54b rotates with the rotation of the discharge roller 54a. The discharge roller 54a and the spur roller 54b cooperate to hold the paper P from above and below, and transport the paper P to the discharge tray 16.

[0022] In this embodiment, the conveying direction of the paper P is the direction in which the paper P is conveyed from the paper feed tray 15 by the conveying mechanism 20, and is the direction of the solid arrow in Fig. 3. Specifically, the conveying direction of the paper P is the direction in which the paper P is sent from the front to the rear by the paper feed roller 50a, guided to make a U-turn by the conveying path 52, and further sent from the rear to the front by the conveying roller pair 53 and the paper discharge roller pair 54.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, the recording unit 30 has an inkjet head 31 (liquid ejection head of the present invention), four ink tanks 61 (liquid storage units of the present invention), a carriage 70, a moving mechanism 71, and a platen 17. The carriage 70 moves back and forth in a scanning direction (a left-right direction intersecting with the conveying direction of the paper P). The inkjet head 31 and the ink tanks 61 are supported by the carriage 70. That is, the printer 1 in this embodiment is a so-called on-carriage type in which the ink tanks 61 and the inkjet head 31 are mounted on the carriage 70. The ink tanks 61 in this embodiment are entirely located above the inkjet head 31. However, this is not limited thereto, and a part of the ink tanks 61 may be located above the upper surface of the inkjet head 31, and the remaining part may be located below the upper surface.

[0024] The four ink tanks 61 are disposed inside the housing 11. As shown in FIG. 4, each ink tank 61 has a tank body 62, a valve 63, an air communication passage 64, and an electromagnetic valve 65. The tank body 62 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an ink storage chamber 62a (liquid storage chamber of the present invention) for storing ink therein is formed. The ink storage chamber 62a of each of the four ink tanks 61 stores magenta, cyan, yellow, and black (M, C, Y, B) ink. The tank body 62 is mainly made of a light-transmitting material (for example, a transparent or translucent resin). This allows the user to visually check the amount of ink in the ink storage chamber 62a.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 4, the tank body 62 has a through hole 62c penetrating its upper wall 62b. The through hole 62c is formed in the center of the upper wall 62b in the left-right direction, slightly toward the front. A cylinder 66 is fitted into the through hole 62c. The cylinder 66 has an ink inlet 67 (a liquid inlet of the present invention) at its upper end. The ink inlet 67 is an opening that opens upward (i.e., toward the outside). The inner circumferential surface of the cylinder 66 defines an ink supply path 66a that extends from the ink inlet 67 to the ink storage chamber 62a. The ink inlet 67 thereby communicates between the ink storage chamber 62a and the outside.

[0026] The valve 63 is a valve for opening and closing the ink inlet 67. The valve 63 is, for example, a two-way electromagnetic valve, and has a valve portion 63a and a solenoid portion 63b. The valve portion 63a is disposed in the ink storage chamber 62a, and has an internal flow path (not shown) that communicates with the ink inlet 67 and the ink storage chamber 62a, and a valve (not shown) that opens and closes the internal flow path. When the solenoid portion 63b of the valve 63 is driven under the control of the control unit 40, the valve portion 63a moves in the front-rear direction, opening and closing the ink inlet 67. When the valve 63 is in an open state, it is possible to inject ink into the ink storage chamber 62a through the ink inlet 67. When the valve 63 is in a closed state, the injection of ink into the ink storage chamber 62a through the ink inlet 67 is restricted.

[0027] 4, an atmosphere communication passage 64 is formed in the tank body 62, penetrating the upper wall 62b and connecting the ink storage chamber 62a to the outside. The atmosphere communication passage 64 is formed in the rear position, in the center in the left-right direction of the upper wall 62b.

[0028] The electromagnetic valve 65 is a valve for opening and closing the atmosphere communication passage 64. The electromagnetic valve 65 is disposed above the carriage 70. The electromagnetic valve 65 is a two-way electromagnetic valve, and has a valve portion 65a and a solenoid portion 65b. The valve portion 65a is disposed in the ink storage chamber 62a, and has an internal flow path (not shown) that communicates with the atmosphere communication passage 64 and the ink storage chamber 62a, and a valve (not shown) that opens and closes the internal flow path. When the solenoid portion 65b is driven under the control of the control unit 40, the valve portion 65a of the electromagnetic valve 65 moves in the front-rear direction, opening and closing the atmosphere communication passage 64.

[0029] The tank body 62 also has an outlet 62h formed therein, which penetrates a bottom wall 62g thereof and allows the ink in the ink storage chamber 62a to flow out to the inkjet head 31. The outlet 62h is located in the center of the bottom wall 62g in the left-right direction, near the front end portion.

[0030] The inkjet head 31 is disposed inside the housing 11. The inkjet head 31 has an internal flow path (not shown) to which ink is supplied from an ink tank 61. As shown in FIG. 4, the inkjet head 31 ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles 32 formed on a nozzle surface 31a, which is the lower surface of the inkjet head 31. More specifically, the nozzles 32 form a nozzle row that extends in the front-rear direction and along the transport direction of the paper P. Ink is ejected from the nozzles 32.

[0031] 4, the inkjet head 31 is connected to the ink tank 61 via a connection member 69. The connection member 69 is formed with a communication passage (liquid flow passage) 69a that connects the outlet 62h and an internal flow passage of the inkjet head 31. This allows ink stored in the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be supplied to the inkjet head 31.

[0032] The platen 17 is disposed below the inkjet head 31 and supports from below the paper P transported by the transport roller pair 53. The platen 17 is disposed in a portion of the reciprocating movement range of the carriage 70 through which the paper P passes. Since the width of the platen 17 is sufficiently larger than the maximum width of the paper P that can be transported, the paper P transported along the transport path 52 always passes over the platen 17.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 3, the movement mechanism 71 includes a pair of guide rails 72 and a belt transmission mechanism (not shown). The pair of guide rails 72 are disposed at a distance from each other in the front-rear direction and extend parallel to each other in the left-right direction. The carriage 70 is disposed so as to straddle the pair of guide rails 72. The carriage 70 is connected to a carriage motor 94M (see FIG. 5) via the belt transmission mechanism, and when the carriage motor 94M is driven, the belt transmission mechanism is driven. As a result, the carriage 70 moves in the scanning direction (left-right direction) along the pair of guide rails 72, and moves the inkjet head 31 along the left-right direction.

[0034] The inkjet head 31 ejects ink from the nozzles 32 under the control of the control unit 40 based on the recording data. In other words, the inkjet head 31 scans the paper P as the carriage 70 moves back and forth in the left-right direction, and ejects ink from the nozzles 32 to record an image on the paper P transported on the platen 17. A linear encoder (not shown) having a large number of light-transmitting sections (slits) arranged at intervals in the scanning direction is provided inside the printer 1. Meanwhile, the carriage 70 is provided with a transmission-type position detection sensor (not shown) having a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element. The printer 1 is capable of recognizing the current position of the carriage 70 in the scanning direction from the count value of the light-transmitting sections of the linear encoder detected by the position detection sensor while the carriage 70 is moving, and the rotational drive of the carriage motor 94M is controlled.

[0035] The bottle support 19 is a member that supports an ink bottle (not shown) that injects ink into the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the bottle support 19 is disposed above the carriage 70 and below the upper cover 73. As shown in Fig. 2, the bottle support 19 has a flat base 19a that extends along the front-rear and left-right directions, and four support parts 19b that are formed on the base 19a and can support the tip parts of the ink bottles. Each support part 19b supports the tip part of an ink bottle that contains the same type of ink as that contained in the ink tank 61 to be refilled among the four ink tanks 61. Then, the ink bottle supported by the support part 19b is attached to the ink inlet 67 of the ink tank 61, whereby ink is injected from the ink bottle into the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61.

[0036] In this embodiment, the ink bottle is a small disposable bottle, and when ink is injected from the ink bottle into the ink tank 61, the entire amount of ink in the ink bottle is injected.

[0037] The scanner member 99 is disposed in the left-right direction below the opening / closing cover 14 and above the carriage 70. The scanner member 99 is disposed at a position that does not overlap with the upper cover 73 in a plan view. When the ink tank 61 is below the scanner member 99 on the movement path of the ink tank 61, which moves left-right together with the carriage 70, the user cannot access the ink inlet 67. In other words, when the ink tank 61 is below the scanner member 99 on the movement path of the ink tank 61, the scanner member 99 restricts the injection of ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a.

[0038] The control unit 40 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 131, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 135, and a memory 140. The CPU 131, the ASIC 135, and the memory 140 are connected by an internal bus 137. The memory 140 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 132, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 133, and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) 134. The ROM 132 stores programs for controlling various operations of the printer 1. The CPU 131 executes the programs using the RAM 133 and the EEPROM 134.

[0039] The ASIC 135 outputs control signals to the inkjet head 31, the valve 63, the electromagnetic valve 65, the paper feed motor 91M, the transport motor 92M, the paper discharge motor 93M, the carriage motor 94M, etc., and controls their operations. For example, the control unit 40 controls the inkjet head 31, the paper feed motor 91M, the transport motor 92M, the paper discharge motor 93M, the carriage motor 94M, etc., based on recording data transmitted from an external device (for example, a PC or a smartphone), alternately performs a transport process and a recording process, and records an image or the like on the paper P. The ASIC 135 is also capable of receiving signals transmitted from the operation unit 13.

[0040] (Supply of ink to ink tank 61) Next, an example of a user's operation procedure and a process performed by the control unit 40 when filling the ink tank 61 with ink using an ink bottle in the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0041] When ink is discharged from the nozzles 32 of the inkjet head 31 and ink is consumed in the ink tank 61, the user needs to refill the ink tank 61 with ink. When the user wishes to refill any of the four ink tanks 61 with ink, the user operates the operation unit 13 to transmit an ink refill instruction signal to the control unit 40. For example, when refilling the ink tank 61 in which yellow ink is stored with ink, a signal of an ink refill instruction for yellow ink is transmitted to the control unit 40. The ink refill instruction may be transmitted from the operation unit 13 to the control unit 40 by a manual operation by the user, or may be transmitted from an external device to the control unit 40.

[0042] When the control unit 40 receives an ink replenishment instruction signal, it controls the moving mechanism 71 to move the ink tank 61 that is the target of ink replenishment for which the ink replenishment instruction has been issued to the ink injection position E (the liquid injection position of the present invention).

[0043] As shown in FIG. 2, the ink injection position E is located inside the housing 11, behind the operation unit 13, and closer to the rear end of the housing 11 than the front end. In this embodiment, the front end of the housing 11 is the end of the housing 11 in the direction in which the paper feed tray 15 is pulled out of the housing 11, and is the end of the housing 11 in the direction in which the paper P on which an image is recorded by the recording unit 30 is fed. The ink injection position E is located below the center of the upper cover 73 when the upper cover 73 is in the closed state. In this embodiment, the ink injection position E is the position of the ink tank 61 when the carriage 70 moves to the left end side in the left-right direction on its moving path. More specifically, the ink injection position E is the position of the ink tank 61 when the ink inlet 67 is located below the support portion 19b.

[0044] In this embodiment, when the control unit 40 receives an ink replenishment instruction signal, it controls the movement mechanism 71 so that the four ink tanks 61, including the ink tank 61 to be replenished, move to the ink injection position E. That is, at this time, it is possible to inject ink into the ink storage chambers 62a of the four ink tanks 61, including the ink tank 61 to be replenished.

[0045] Next, the user opens the upper cover 73 to expose the ink filling position E to the outside. At this time, the scanner cover 14 is maintained in a closed state. Then, the ink bottle is supported on the support portion 19b corresponding to the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink. Then, the control unit 40 opens the valve 63 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink, and attaches the tip of the ink bottle to the ink filling port 67 of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink. This allows ink to be filled from the ink bottle into the ink storage chamber 62a of the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink.

[0046] As described above, the printer 1 of this embodiment has the scanner member 99 that partially covers the upper opening of the housing 11, and the openable upper cover 73 that partially covers the upper opening of the housing 11 at a position that does not overlap with the scanner member 99 in a plan view. When the ink tank 61 is at the ink injection position E inside the housing 11, ink can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a, and when the upper cover 73 is in an open state, the ink injection position E is exposed to the outside. When attempting to expose the ink injection position E to the outside in order to inject ink into the ink storage chamber 62a inside the housing 11, a configuration is conceivable in which a covering member (such as the scanner member 99) that covers the upper opening of the housing 11 is removed or the ink tank 61 is pulled out to the outside of the housing 11. However, such a configuration increases the number of operation steps, resulting in poor operability. According to this embodiment, it is possible to inject ink into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink inlet 67 at the ink injection position E exposed to the outside by opening the upper cover 73. This improves operability when injecting ink into ink storage chamber 62a from ink inlet 67. In addition, because ink injection position E is located inside housing 11, the printer 1 can be prevented from becoming large, and because ink dripping from ink inlet 67 can be contained within housing 11, contamination of the outside of printer 1 by ink can be prevented.

[0047] The printer 1 of this embodiment further includes a scanner cover 14 that covers the top of the scanner member 99, can be opened and closed by rotating around a rotation axis along the top surface of the housing 11, and exposes the scanner member 99 to the outside when in the open state. The top cover 73 is disposed at a position that does not overlap with the scanner cover 14 in a plan view. The scanner member 99 is a member that reads the paper P, and since the reading accuracy is affected if dust or the like adheres to the scanner member 99, it is not desirable to expose the scanner member 99 to the outside at all times. For this reason, in a configuration having the scanner member 99, the scanner cover 14 that covers the top of the scanner member 99 is usually provided. In such a configuration, when the scanner cover 14 covers both the scanner member 99 and the ink injection position E, the scanner cover 14 needs to be in an open state in order to inject ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a. However, when the scanner cover 14 in the open state is present above the housing 11, the scanner cover 14 gets in the way, making it difficult to inject ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a. Even if the scanner cover 14 is opened to a position where it does not interfere with the injection of liquid, opening the scanner cover 14 to such a position is troublesome, and does not improve operability. According to this embodiment, in a configuration in which the scanner cover 14 covering the top of the scanner member 99 is openable and closable, when injecting ink from the ink injection port 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a, the injection operation can be performed by opening only the top cover 73 to expose the ink injection position E to the outside, without opening the scanner cover 14 to expose the scanner member 99 to the outside, thereby improving operability.

[0048] The printer 1 of this embodiment further includes a transport mechanism 20, a carriage 70 that supports the inkjet head 31 and the ink tank 61, and a movement mechanism 71 that moves the carriage 70 in the left-right direction. The ink injection position E is the position of the ink tank 61 when the carriage 70 moves to the left end side in the left-right direction on its movement path. This makes it possible to prevent the printer 1 from becoming large and to prevent contamination of the outside of the printer 1 by ink in a so-called on-carriage configuration in which the ink tank 61 is mounted on the carriage 70, while improving operability when injecting ink into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink inlet 67.

[0049] Furthermore, in this embodiment, upper cover 73 can be opened and closed towards the outside of housing 11 by rotating about rotation axis 74 along the top surface of housing 11, and when in the open state, a part of it is located at a position that is on the outside of housing 11 when viewed from the top and bottom. This makes it possible to prevent upper cover 73 from getting in the way when injecting ink into ink storage chamber 62a from ink inlet 67, further improving operability.

[0050] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the ink injection position E is located closer to the rear end than to the front end of the housing 11. In a configuration in which the ink injection position E is located closer to the rear end than to the front end of the housing 11, it is difficult to inject ink into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink inlet 67. According to this embodiment, even with such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the printer 1 from becoming larger and to prevent contamination of the outside of the printer 1 by ink, while improving operability when injecting ink into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink inlet 67.

[0051] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the center of the upper cover 73 is above the ink injection position E. Since the ink injection position E is below the center of the upper cover 73, the operability when injecting ink from the ink inlet 67 into the ink storage chamber 62a is further improved.

[0052] Moreover, the printer 1 of this embodiment further has an operation unit 13 provided at the front of the housing 11, and the ink injection position E is located behind the operation unit 13. The rear of the operation unit 13 is an empty space, and by locating the ink injection position E in this portion, it is possible to further prevent the printer 1 from becoming large.

[0053] (Modification) Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the patent invention.

[0054] In addition, in the present invention, the bottle support part 19 may not be provided, and the bottle 105 may be directly attached to the ink inlet 67. Hereinafter, a printer 101 having a configuration without the bottle support part 19 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In the following description, the same components as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state when the upper cover 73 is in an open state. In the printer 101, as shown in FIG. 6, each of the four ink tanks 61 has a cap 163 that can rotate around a rotation axis (not shown) along the left-right direction at the rear end of the upper surface. When the front end part of the cap 163 is lifted by the user, the cap 163 rotates around the rotation axis (not shown) and enters an open state. When the cap 163 is in a closed state, the cap 163 covers the entire upper part of the upper wall 62b of the ink tank 61. When the cap 163 is in an open state, the cap 163 exposes the ink inlet 67 to the outside.

[0055] 6, the printer 101 is formed with a plate-like member 121 disposed in the left-right direction at a position that does not overlap with the opening / closing cover 14 in a plan view and that covers an upper part of the movement path of the front end of the cap 163 that moves together with the ink tank 61. Also, a gap 171 is formed between the plate-like member 121 and the opening / closing cover 14 in a plan view, the gap 171 being larger than the left-right width of one cap 163 and smaller than the sum of the left-right widths of the two caps 163.

[0056] In the printer 101, the ink injection position E is the position of the ink tank 61 when the front end portion of the cap 163 is below the gap 171 between the plate-like member 121 and the opening / closing cover 14 when viewed from the top and bottom. When the ink tank 61 is in the ink injection position E, the user can lift the tip portion of the cap 163 of the ink tank 61 without being obstructed by the plate-like member 121. This makes it possible to inject ink into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink injection port 67 of the ink tank 61 with the cap 163 in the open state.

[0057] In the printer 101, the ink injection position E is a position where ink can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink inlet 67 of only one of the four ink tanks 61. Note that in the present invention, the plate-like member 121 does not have to be disposed. In this case, for example, the ink injection position E is a position where ink can be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a from the ink inlet 67 of each of the four ink tanks 61. Specifically, for example, the ink injection position E is a position on the movement trajectory of the ink tank 61 that does not overlap with the scanner member 99 in a planar view.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the upper cover 73 is rotatable about a rotation shaft 74 that runs along the left-right direction. However, the upper cover 73 may be configured to be rotatable about a rotation shaft that runs along the front-rear direction. In this case, the upper cover 73 is preferably capable of being opened and closed toward the outside of the housing 11 by rotating about the rotation shaft, and a part of the upper cover 73 is preferably located at a position that is on the left outside of the housing 11 when viewed from the top-bottom direction when in the open state.

[0059] In the above embodiment, the ink bottle is a small disposable bottle. However, the ink bottle does not have to be disposable, and may contain, for example, an amount of ink that allows ink to be injected into the ink storage chamber 62a in multiple batches. The ink bottle may have an atmosphere communication passage that communicates the inside with the outside, or may not have an atmosphere communication passage. However, if the ink bottle does not have an atmosphere communication passage, it is preferable that the ink tank 61 has an atmosphere communication passage 64. If the ink bottle has an atmosphere communication passage, the ink tank 61 does not have to have the atmosphere communication passage 64.

[0060] In the above embodiment, the ink injection position E can accommodate four ink tanks 61 including the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink. In the present invention, the ink injection position E may be a position where only the ink tank 61 to be replenished with ink can be positioned.

[0061] In the above embodiment, the covering member is a scanner member 99 capable of reading paper P. However, the printer 1 may not have a scanner member 99, and the covering member may be the top plate of the housing 11. In this case, the top plate may be openable or closed.

[0062] In the present invention, the ink tank 61 and the inkjet head 31 may be of an off-carriage type, in which they are not mounted on the carriage 70. The inkjet head 31 may also be of a line type, in which ink is ejected from nozzles while being fixed in position. In this case, the ink injection position E is the position of the fixed ink tank 61.

[0063] The liquid ejection device according to the present invention can be applied to a multifunction machine, a copier, and the like in addition to the printer 1.

[0064] In the above embodiment, the valve 63 is an electromagnetic valve. However, the valve 63 does not have to be an electromagnetic valve. For example, the valve 63 may be a valve that opens and closes mechanically in conjunction with the attachment of the ink bottle 105 to the ink inlet 67.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the electromagnetic valve 65 for opening and closing the atmosphere communication passage 64 does not have to be electrically controlled to open and close, and may be, for example, a valve whose opening and closing is mechanically controlled depending on the presence or absence of contact with a protruding member. Also, the electromagnetic valve 65 does not have to be provided. In this case, a semipermeable membrane that blocks the passage of ink but allows the passage of gas may be formed to close the atmosphere communication passage 64. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 1. Printer 11. Cabinet 14 Scanner Cover 20 Conveyor mechanism 31 Inkjet head 32 Nozzles 40 Control section 61 Ink tank (liquid storage unit) 62 Ink storage chamber (liquid storage chamber) 67 Ink inlet (liquid inlet) 70 Carriage 71 Moving mechanism 73 Upper cover (cover part) 74 Rotational Axis 99 Scanner parts E Ink injection position (liquid injection position) P Paper (recording medium)

Claims

1. A housing and a liquid ejection head disposed inside the housing and having nozzles for ejecting liquid onto a recording medium; a liquid storage section disposed inside the housing and having a liquid storage chamber for storing a liquid and a liquid inlet communicating the liquid storage chamber with the outside; a cover member that partially covers an upper opening of the housing; an openable and closable cover member that partially covers the upper opening of the housing at a position that does not overlap with the covering member in a plan view; Equipped with a liquid can be injected into the liquid storage chamber when the liquid storage section is located at a liquid injection position inside the housing; When the cover member is in an open state, the liquid injection position is exposed to the outside, The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid injection position is located closer to a rear end of the housing than to a front end of the housing.

2. The cover member is a scanner member capable of reading the recording medium, a scanner cover that covers an upper portion of the covering member, that can be opened and closed by rotating about a rotation axis along a top surface of the housing, and that exposes the scanner member to the outside in an open state; The liquid ejection device according to claim 1 , wherein the cover member is disposed at a position that does not overlap with the scanner cover in a plan view.

3. a conveying mechanism that conveys the recording medium in a conveying direction; a carriage supporting the liquid ejection head and the liquid storage unit; a moving mechanism that moves the carriage in a scanning direction that intersects with the transport direction; Further equipped with 3. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid injection position is a position of the liquid storage section when the carriage moves to one end side in the scanning direction on its movement path.

4. The cover member is The housing can be opened and closed toward the outside by rotating around a rotation axis along the top surface of the housing, 4. The liquid ejection device according to claim 3, wherein, in the open state, at least a part of the opening is located outside the housing when viewed from above and below.

5. 5. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein a center portion of the cover member is located above the liquid injection position.

6. The device further includes an operation unit provided at a front portion of the housing, 6. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid injection position is located behind the operation unit.

7. A housing and a liquid ejection head disposed inside the housing and having nozzles for ejecting liquid onto a recording medium; a liquid storage section disposed inside the housing and having a liquid storage chamber for storing a liquid and a liquid inlet communicating the liquid storage chamber with the outside; a cover member that partially covers an upper opening of the housing; an openable and closable cover member that partially covers the upper opening of the housing at a position that does not overlap with the covering member in a plan view; an operation unit provided in the housing and capable of receiving operations from a user and displaying various information; Equipped with the covering member is a scanner member capable of reading the recording medium, a liquid can be injected into the liquid storage chamber when the liquid storage section is located at a liquid injection position inside the housing; When the cover member is in an open state, the liquid injection position is exposed to the outside, The liquid ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid injection position is located behind the operation unit.

8. The liquid ejection device according to claim 7 , wherein the operation unit includes a liquid crystal display or a touch panel.

9. A liquid ejection device as described in claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the operating unit is provided on the upper surface of the housing at a position that does not overlap with the cover member in a plan view.

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