Liquid storage container

Abstract

To provide a liquid storage container that can maintain high impact strength even when a recycled plastic material is used in the liquid storage container, which can contribute to achievement of a sustainable society such as a decarbonization / recycling-oriented society.SOLUTION: A liquid storage container includes: a storage member having a storage part storing liquid and a supply part for supplying the liquid stored in the storage part to the outside; and a protection member configured to be assembled to one end portion of the storage member. The protection member contains a recycled plastic material or a resin material mixed with a recycled plastic material, and has an opening configured such that the supply part is exposed. When the liquid storage container is viewed from a side provided with the supply part, a center part of a first side surface farthest from the supply part exposed from the opening among side surfaces of the protection member has a convex shape in a direction away from the supply part form an end portion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a liquid storage container capable of storing a liquid such as ink.

Background Art

[0002] From the perspective of environmental consideration, products using recycled plastic materials are being manufactured. In order to realize a sustainable society such as a decarbonized / circular society, it is preferable to change to recycled plastic materials as much as possible for members whose functions can be ensured without using new plastic materials (hereinafter also referred to as "virgin materials"). On the other hand, generally, as an issue of using recycled plastic materials during molding, it is cited that the shock absorption performance deteriorates when the recycled plastic material molded product is dropped and collided. In particular, when using recycled plastic materials for a large-capacity type liquid storage container of an inkjet recording apparatus (liquid ejection apparatus), the influence is great.

[0003] Recycled plastic materials are made from materials that have experienced at least some deterioration due to the thermal history during molding, stress, heat, light, solvents, etc. under such circumstances. It is known that the physical properties are different from those of virgin materials. For example, regarding the shock absorption property in which the molecular chain itself inside the material bends to relieve the force when an impact is applied, there is a tendency to deteriorate. This tendency can be confirmed by the Charpy impact test, and a molded material containing recycled plastic materials shows a lower impact strength than virgin materials. Such deterioration of shock absorption property is due to the fact that the original molecular chain has been cut due to the above-mentioned deterioration, resulting in a decrease in the shock relaxation effect of the molecular chain itself.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which a sufficient rigidity is provided to an ink cartridge body molded from a soft synthetic resin material. Specifically, while a ridge is projected at a corner of the peripheral wall of the ink cartridge body and the opening edge is formed to be thick, a ridge is projected in the longitudinal direction on the inner surface side of the lid body, and a protrusion is formed by protruding molding.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-16249 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When recycled plastic materials are used as the material for liquid storage containers, as mentioned above, the impact strength tends to be lower than that of virgin materials. In particular, as in Patent Document 1, if a liquid storage container has a protruding portion on its end, and the protruding portion receives a direct impact when the container is accidentally dropped, the protruding portion on the end may chip or crack. As a result, the connection with the inkjet recording device may become unstable.

[0007] The present disclosure aims to maintain high impact strength even when a liquid storage container is made of recycled plastic material. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A liquid storage container according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a liquid storage container having a storage member having a storage section for storing liquid and a supply section for supplying the liquid stored in the storage section to the outside, and a protective member configured to be assembled to one end of the storage member, wherein the protective member contains recycled plastic material or a resin material mixed with recycled plastic material and has an opening configured to expose the supply section, and when the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply section is provided, the central portion of a first side of the protective member that is exposed from the opening and is farthest from the supply section has a convex shape in a direction away from the supply section than the end portion.

[0009] Further, a liquid storage container according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a storage member having a storage portion for storing a liquid and a supply portion for supplying the liquid stored in the storage portion to the outside, and a protective member configured to be attachable to one end portion of the storage member. The protective member contains a recycled plastic material or a resin material mixed with a recycled plastic material, and has an opening configured such that the supply portion is exposed. When the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided, a bent portion is provided on a first side surface of the side surface of the protective member that is farthest from the supply portion exposed from the opening.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] Even when a recycled plastic material is used for the liquid storage container, it is possible to maintain a high impact strength.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the present disclosure, and not all combinations of the features described in the following embodiments are essential for the solution means of the present disclosure. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same components. In this specification, as an example of the use of the liquid storage container, the case of replenishing a liquid (ink) to a liquid ejection device (inkjet recording device) will be described, but the use of the liquid storage container is not limited to this. The liquid stored in the liquid storage container is not limited to ink, and may be, for example, a predetermined processing liquid or the like.

[0013] The recycled plastic material described in this embodiment is used in a broad sense, including post-consumer materials (PCR materials) and pre-consumer materials. Post-consumer materials are materials obtained by collecting and recycling plastic products after they have been distributed in the market. For example, PCR materials are plastics prepared from cleaned and shredded waste items. PCR materials may also be thermoplastic plastics prepared from waste industrial plastics by parties other than the first processor. Pre-consumer materials are materials obtained by collecting and recycling waste plastics generated in the manufacturing process before they are distributed in the market. For example, pre-consumer materials are thermoplastic plastics prepared from cut-off or defective molded products that have been pre-processed by molding, extrusion, etc. in the factory of the processor and then re-processed within the same factory. In this embodiment, the recycled plastic material may be a PCR material, a pre-consumer material, or a mixture of both. That is, in this embodiment, it is sufficient to contain a recycled plastic material or a resin material mixed with a recycled plastic material.

[0014] As the recycled plastic material used in this embodiment, it is possible to use a material that has been determined to be a recycled plastic material suitable for use depending on the size of contamination (hereinafter referred to as "contamination"). For example, when a thin sample plate is formed and the size of the contamination on its surface is less than a predetermined value, it is determined to be a recycled plastic material suitable for use. This predetermined value is, for example, 1 mm 2 shall be assumed. Note that this value is just an example and is not limited to this value.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inkjet recording apparatus 100 which is a liquid ejecting apparatus using the liquid supply system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the inkjet recording apparatus 100 is configured to eject ink from a recording head 104 onto a recording medium S based on image data to record an image (including characters, symbols, etc.). The recording head 104 is mounted on a carriage 102. In the recording operation, the recording medium S is conveyed by a conveyance roller 3 in the conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) indicated by an arrow A, and at the same time, the carriage 102 is reciprocally moved in a direction (main scanning direction) intersecting the sub-scanning direction and indicated by an arrow B. In synchronization with the movement of the carriage 102, the recording head 104 is driven based on the image data, whereby ink is ejected from the recording head 104 onto the recording medium S. The recording medium S is conveyed by a conveyance roller 107 by a predetermined pitch, and the recording of the entire recording medium is performed by alternately repeating the conveyance by the predetermined pitch and the recording for one line. As the recording medium S, those of various materials as described above can be used, and usually, a sheet-like material such as recording paper or a plastic sheet is used.

[0016] On the ejection surface of the recording head 104 facing the recording medium S, an ejection port array composed of a plurality of ejection ports arranged in series in the sub-scanning direction is formed. The ejection port array is provided with a plurality of rows corresponding to the number of types of ink used. In color recording or gradation recording, a desired image is formed by ejecting different inks for each ejection port array. The ink supply to the recording head 104 is performed from an ink supply unit 105 to which a plurality of ink tanks 1 for each color ink are detachably attached through an ink supply path 106 such as a tube. In FIG. 1, an example in which four ink tanks 1 are mounted is shown, but the example of the ink tank 1 to be mounted is not limited to this, and it may be three or less colors, five or more colors, or one color. Further, it may be in a form of accommodating a liquid other than ink.

[0017] The inkjet recording apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is a so-called serial scanning type printer, and as described above, the recording head 104 is scanned in the main scanning direction (X direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (Y direction) in which the recording medium S is conveyed to record an image. Note that the inkjet recording apparatus may be an apparatus having a so-called line type recording head in which ejection ports extend in the width direction (X direction) of the recording medium S.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the ink tank 1 according to the present embodiment. The ink tank 1, which is a liquid storage container, stores, as a liquid, pigment ink of a color (for example, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) according to the configuration on the recording apparatus side. The ink tank 1 has a tank exterior 4 as a housing member for housing the liquid, and a tank cover (protective member) 5 configured to be attachable to one end of the tank outer layer. In FIG. 2, a state in which the tank cover 5 is attached to the ink tank 1 is shown. The tank exterior 4 of the ink tank 1 is formed by injection blow or the like using a virgin material resin such as a polypropylene material (PP material) or a polyethylene material (PE material). Further, each component of the ink tank 1 is assembled using techniques such as ultrasonic welding, thermal welding, adhesion, or fitting. [[ID=⑨]]

[0019] The tank exterior 4 functions as a container member (ink container) that directly stores liquid. The ink tank 1 of this embodiment has an ink storage capacity of approximately 2500 ml. The tank exterior 4 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The ink tank 1 of this embodiment is configured to be detachable from a fixed part (not shown) of the inkjet recording apparatus 100.

[0020] The ink tank 1 is formed with an alignment part 220 that aligns the ink connection port (supply part) 6 for leading out ink and a needle (not shown) on the inkjet recording apparatus side. In this embodiment, the ink connection port 6 and the alignment part 220 are arranged on the surface shown on the front surface in the mounting direction when the ink tank 1 is mounted on the inkjet recording apparatus. On the outer wall of the tank cover 5, a mismounting prevention part 310 for preventing mismounting of mounting the ink tank 1 at a wrong position of the inkjet recording apparatus is arranged on the front surface in the mounting direction. 1705469621121_0 In the example shown in FIG. 2, six columnar identification pins 320 protruding from the outer wall of the tank cover 5 are provided on the mismounting prevention part 310. Note that FIG. 2 shows a state after partial thermal processing and fixing. In this embodiment, the identification pins 320 preferably have a cylindrical shape. The number of the identification pins 320 may be plural, and the shape of the identification pins 320 is not limited to the above example and can be changed to various shapes.

[0021] The ink tank 1 can be prepared by performing injection molding or blow molding using a mold. In this case, as a material for forming the ink tank 1, a thermoplastic resin is preferably used. In the thermal processing step, 1705469621121_1 At least one pin other than the identification pins 320 shown in FIG. 2 is melted by heat to form the mismounting prevention part 310. Due to the thermal processing step, some of the identification pins 320 are crushed, so the mismounting prevention part 310 has one or a plurality of identification pins 320 and a processed part 330 crushed by thermal processing. 1705469621121_2 In the example shown in Figure 1, the third, fifth, and sixth identification pins from the left in the figure are crushed by thermal processing to form the processed portion 330. As the identification pins 320 are crushed, the height of the processed portion 330 decreases and the diameter expands, integrating the processed portion 330 with the outer wall of the ink cartridge 100. The identification pins 320 in the first embodiment are crushed by applying heat and melting them. Considering the processing time and ease of processing in the thermal processing step, it is preferable that the identification pins 320 have a hollow cylindrical shape. In other embodiments, the identification pins 320 may have a solid cylindrical shape. However, the shape of the identification pins 320 is not limited to this and may have various shapes such as a cone or a square prism. As an example, the identification pin 320 has a hollow cylindrical shape with a height of 13.5 mm, a diameter of 5 mm, and a wall thickness of 0.7 mm. The thermal processing can be performed using a thermal welding machine (impulse welder) as the thermal processing means. The processing horn of the thermal welding machine had a diameter of 8 mm and a recess height of 1.6 mm on the processing surface. It is preferable that the processing horn applies heat to the identification pin 320 while pressing the identification pin 320 from the tip of the identification pin 320 toward the outer wall of the ink cartridge.

[0022] The tank cover 5 is configured to protect functional parts such as the ink connection port 6 and electrical connection portion 7 of the ink tank 1 from external impact. If the ink tank 1 is accidentally dropped and receives a direct impact, this could lead to cracks in the functional parts, so it is preferable that the tank cover 5 is configured to protect the functional parts from such external impact. On the other hand, since the functional parts such as the ink connection portion 6 need to be able to connect to the inkjet recording device, the tank cover 5 has an opening 10, and is configured so that the functional parts such as the ink connection port 6 and electrical connection portion 7 are exposed through the opening 10.

[0023] Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tank cover 5 as seen from the end of the ink tank, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tank cover 5 as seen from the tank exterior 4 side. The tank cover 5 is made of a PCR material, which is a copolymer resin material of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene (hereinafter also referred to as "ABS material"). The physical properties of this PCR material include a Charpy impact value of 18kJ / m2 Above 25 kJ / m 2 It is preferably below. Also, the MFR value is preferably about 16 g / 10 min, and the flexural modulus is preferably about 2400 MPa. Regarding the Charpy impact value, the value of the virgin material is about 27 kJ / m 2 or so, and generally the PCR material may be lower than that of the virgin material in some cases. However, the PCR material is not limited to the ABS material, and it may also be a PE (polyethylene) material or a PP (polypropylene) material.

[0024] Figure 5 is a front view of the ink tank seen from the end side. As shown in Figure 5, the tank cover 5 has an opening 10 through which the ink connection port 6 and the electrical connection part 7 are exposed, and a bent part 11 is provided on the side farther from the opening 10. The bent part 11 is preferably bent in a direction away from the ink connection port 6 or the like. That is, among the side surfaces of the tank cover 5, the central part of the side surface (the first side surface) farthest from the ink connection port 6 exposed from the opening 10 has a convex shape in a direction away from the ink connection port 6 from the end. This bent part is likely to concentrate the load when an external impact occurs and is likely to crack. That is, it actively absorbs the external impact at the bent part, and as a result, suppresses the influence of the external impact on the parts close to the functional parts such as the ink connection port 6 and the electrical connection part 7.

[0025] The inner angle A of the bent part is preferably 175 degrees or more and less than 180 degrees, and more preferably 175 degrees or more and 177 degrees or less. Also in this embodiment, the inner angle A of the bent part is about 176°. The bent part may be one as shown in Figure 5 or a plurality may be provided.

[0026] As the physical property value of the recycled plastic material, the Charpy impact value is preferably 15 kJ / m 2 or more. Also, the MFR value is preferably 10 g / 10 min or more and 20 g / 10 min or less. From the viewpoint of further enhancing the effect of suppressing cracks due to drop impact, the flexural modulus is preferably 2000 MPa or more and 3000 MPa or less.

[0027] The technology described in this specification can contribute to the realization of a sustainable society such as a decarbonized / circular society.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0028] 1 Ink tank 4 Tank exterior (accommodation section) 5 Tank cover (protective member) 6 Ink connection port (supply section) 7 Electrical connection section 10 Opening 11 Bending section

Claims

1. A container member having a housing portion for containing a liquid and a supply portion for supplying the liquid contained in the housing portion to the outside, A protective member configured to be attachable to one end of the container member, A liquid storage container having, The protective member contains a recycled plastic material or a resin material mixed with a recycled plastic material, and has an opening configured such that the supply portion is exposed, When the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided, among the side surfaces of the protective member, the central portion of the first side surface that is farthest from the supply portion exposed from the opening is convex in a direction away from the supply portion from the end portion. A liquid storage container characterized by this.

2. A container member having a housing portion for containing a liquid and a supply portion for supplying the liquid contained in the housing portion to the outside, A protective member configured to be attachable to one end of the container member, A liquid storage container having, The protective member contains a recycled plastic material or a resin material mixed with a recycled plastic material, and has an opening configured such that the supply portion is exposed, When the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided, a bent portion is provided on the first side surface of the protective member that is farthest from the supply portion exposed from the opening. A liquid storage container characterized by this.

3. The liquid storage container according to claim 2, wherein when the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided, the bent portion of the first side surface is bent in a direction away from the supply portion.

4. The liquid storage container according to claim 2, wherein the inner angle of the bent portion when the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided is 175 degrees or more and less than 180 degrees.

5. The liquid storage container according to claim 2, wherein the inner angle of the bent portion when the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided is 175 degrees or more and 177 degrees or less.

6. The liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the liquid storage container is viewed from the side where the supply portion is provided, the second side surface of the protective member that is closest to the supply portion exposed from the opening is a surface facing the first side surface.

7. The Charpy impact value of the recycled plastic material is 15 kJ / m ２ or more, and the liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2.

8. The liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the MFR value of the recycled plastic material is 10 g / 10 min or more and 20 g / 10 min or less.

9. The liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bending elastic modulus of the recycled plastic material is 2000 MPa or more and 3000 MPa or less.

10. The recycled plastic material has a Charpy impact value of 15 kJ / m ２ The liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2, having a Charpy impact value of 15 kJ / m or more, an MFR value of 10 g / 10 min or more and 20 g / 10 min or less, and a flexural modulus of 2000 MPa or more and 3000 MPa or less.

11. The liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recycled plastic material contains any one of a polyethylene material, a polypropylene material, and a copolymer resin material of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene.

12. The liquid storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recycled plastic material contains a copolymer resin material of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene.

Images