Liquid discharge device, liquid recovery system, and liquid recovery container

Abstract

To provide a liquid discharge device which can recover a liquid remaining in a liquid tank with the liquid tank fixed to a housing of the liquid discharge device, and to provide a liquid recovery system and a liquid recovery container.SOLUTION: A liquid recovery system 10 includes: a liquid discharge device 11 including a liquid tank 18 having an injection port part 53; and a liquid recovery container 80. The liquid discharge device 11 includes: a liquid discharge part configured to discharge a liquid from the liquid tank 18; and a housing 20 which houses the liquid discharge part and the liquid tank 18. The liquid tank 18 has a discharge port part 73 capable of discharging the liquid. The liquid recovery container 80 has a recovery port part 85 connectable to the discharge port part 73. The housing 20 has an opening 20B which enables the discharge port part 73 of the liquid tank 18 to be exposed to the outer side of the housing 20. The liquid recovery system 10 has a positioning part 90 which positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port part 73 and the recovery port part 85 may be connected through the opening 20B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device in which a liquid tank that contains liquid to be supplied to a liquid ejection section is fixed to a housing, a liquid recovery system, and a liquid recovery container. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses, as an example of a liquid ejection device, an inkjet printing device that includes a liquid ejection unit that ejects liquid such as ink onto a medium such as paper. This type of liquid ejection device is equipped with a liquid storage container that stores the liquid to be supplied to the liquid ejection unit. As a liquid storage container, in addition to replaceable cartridges (such as ink cartridges), refillable liquid tanks (such as ink tanks) that have an inlet that allows the user to refill the liquid are also known.

[0003] Furthermore, some liquid ejection devices have a liquid tank that is attached to a housing with screws, etc. When the liquid in the liquid tank decreases or runs out, the user refills the liquid tank with liquid by, for example, connecting a liquid bottle to the inlet of the liquid tank.

[0004] When a liquid ejection device is discarded, the cartridge is often collected for recycling. Even if the liquid ejection device is discarded with the cartridge still attached, there is little risk of liquid leaking from the cartridge because the cartridge does not have an injection port.

[0005] In contrast, because the liquid tank is fixed to the housing, liquid ejection devices are often discarded without removing the liquid tank from the housing. However, if liquid such as ink remains in the liquid container, there is a possibility that the liquid in the liquid tank will leak from the inlet with a loose or detached cap if the liquid ejection device is tilted during disposal. The leaked liquid may not be treated and may cause environmental pollution. Therefore, when discarding a liquid ejection device equipped with a liquid tank, it is preferable for the user to collect the liquid in the liquid tank before discarding the liquid ejection device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-69717 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, liquid ejection devices equipped with a liquid refill type liquid tank are designed to make it difficult to remove the liquid tank from the housing. Specifically, the liquid tank is fixed to a metal plate or other part that constitutes the housing of the liquid ejection device with fixing parts such as screws. This provides a strong fixation that is unaffected by external shocks, for example, during transportation. For this reason, liquid ejection devices are often discarded with the liquid tank still fixed. Conventional liquid refill type liquid tanks do not take into consideration a configuration for draining or recovering liquid remaining in the liquid tank when the liquid ejection device is discarded.

[0008] For example, to drain or recover liquid from a liquid tank, it is necessary to disconnect the supply port of the liquid tank from a supply flow path such as a tube and then drain the liquid from the liquid tank through the supply port, or to drain the liquid from an inlet for refilling the liquid. Because these supply ports and inlet ports are not designed to allow for liquid drainage, there is a risk of liquid leaking or ink or other liquid adhering to fingers and causing stains during the draining process. Specifically, the supply port that supplies liquid such as ink from the liquid tank to the liquid ejection unit has a tube press-fitted into it, making it difficult to easily insert or remove. Therefore, removing the tube from the supply port could result in the liquid in the liquid tank leaking out. Therefore, there is a demand for a device that makes it easy to drain or recover liquid remaining in the liquid tank when disposing of a liquid ejection device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A liquid ejection device that solves the above problem comprises a liquid tank having an inlet portion into which liquid can be injected, a liquid ejection portion that ejects liquid supplied from the liquid tank, and a housing that houses the liquid ejection portion and the liquid tank, wherein the liquid tank has an outlet portion that can eject liquid to the outside, and the housing has an opening that can expose the outlet portion of the liquid tank to the outside of the housing.

[0010] A liquid recovery system that solves the above problem is a liquid recovery system comprising a liquid ejection device having a liquid tank with an inlet portion into which liquid can be injected, and a liquid recovery container, wherein the liquid ejection device comprises a liquid ejection portion that ejects liquid supplied from the liquid tank, and a housing that accommodates the liquid ejection portion and the liquid tank, wherein the liquid tank has an outlet portion that can discharge liquid to the outside, the liquid recovery container has a recovery port portion that can be connected to the outlet portion, and the housing has an opening that can expose the outlet portion of the liquid tank to the outside of the housing, and a positioning portion that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container and the liquid tank at a position where the outlet portion and the recovery port portion can be connected via the opening.

[0011] A liquid recovery container that solves the above problem is a liquid recovery container that recovers liquid remaining in a liquid tank of a liquid ejection device that houses a liquid ejection unit and a liquid tank in a housing, and is equipped with a liquid recovery unit configured to be able to store liquid recovered from an outlet unit of the liquid tank fixed to the housing of the liquid ejection device, and a recovery port unit that communicates with the liquid recovery unit, the liquid recovery unit having an inclined surface on which the liquid ejection device can be placed in an inclined position, the inclined surface positions the liquid ejection device in the inclined position so that the outlet unit and the recovery port unit can be connected via an opening that opens in the housing, the inclined position is a position in which the liquid ejection device is tilted in a direction such that the depth of the position of the liquid in the liquid tank corresponding to the outlet unit is deeper than the depth when the liquid ejection device is in a horizontal position, and the projection point of the center of gravity of the liquid ejection device in the inclined position projected in the direction of gravity onto an imaginary plane that includes the inclined surface is included within the area of ​​the inclined surface. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a liquid ejection device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the liquid ejection device when refilling the liquid container with liquid. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the internal configuration of the liquid ejection device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a liquid container and a liquid discharge portion. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a liquid container and a liquid discharge portion when the liquid container is being refilled with liquid. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a liquid ejection device. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a liquid recovery system. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the liquid ejection device. [Figure 9]FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the configuration of a second embodiment of a liquid recovery system. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the main part of the liquid ejection device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the main parts of the liquid recovery system. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a liquid recovery system. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing a liquid recovery system according to the third embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a liquid recovery system. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a schematic plan view showing a liquid recovery system. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a schematic side cross-sectional view showing a liquid ejection device according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a liquid recovery system. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the state before the liquid tank and the liquid recovery container are connected. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the connection state between the liquid tank and the liquid recovery container. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the state before the liquid tank and the liquid recovery container are connected. [Figure 21] FIG. 21 is a schematic front cross-sectional view showing the connection state between the liquid tank and the liquid recovery container. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] (First embodiment) A liquid recovery system according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The liquid recovery system recovers liquid remaining in a liquid tank that constitutes a liquid ejection device. The liquid ejection device of this embodiment ejects liquid such as ink onto a medium such as paper, thereby printing characters, images, etc. on the medium.

[0014] <Configuration of liquid ejection device 11> First, the liquid ejection device 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid ejection device 11 is, for example, an inkjet printer that ejects ink, which is an example of a liquid.

[0015] In FIG. 1, the liquid ejection device 11 is placed on a horizontal plane, and three mutually orthogonal directions are defined as the X direction, Y direction, and Z direction. The Z direction, which is parallel to the direction of gravity, is defined as the vertical direction Z. Two mutually orthogonal directions along the horizontal plane, the X direction and the Y direction, are defined as the width direction X and the transport direction Y, respectively. The X direction is the width direction of the liquid ejection device 11, and is therefore defined as the width direction X. The Y direction is parallel to the depth direction of the liquid ejection device 11. In the liquid ejection device 11 of this embodiment, the direction in which the medium M is transported at the printing position where printing is performed is parallel to the Y direction, and is therefore referred to as the transport direction Y. Furthermore, one end of the liquid ejection device 11 in the transport direction Y is also referred to as the front side, and the other end opposite to the one end is also referred to as the rear side. One end of the width direction X as viewed from the front side is also referred to as the right side, and the other end is also referred to as the left side. The actual transport direction of the medium M changes depending on the position of the medium M on the transport path. In addition, in this embodiment, when describing gravity, the Z direction is also referred to as the gravity direction Z.

[0016] The liquid ejection device 11 may be a multifunction device. The liquid ejection device 11, which is also a multifunction device, may include a device main body 12 and an image reading device 13 on top of the device main body 12. The liquid ejection device 11 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole.

[0017] The liquid ejection device 11 includes a liquid tank 18 and a liquid ejection unit 23. The liquid tank 18 contains a liquid such as ink. The liquid ejection unit 23 ejects the liquid supplied from the liquid tank 18. The liquid ejection device 11 prints characters or images on the medium M by the liquid ejection unit 23 ejecting the liquid such as ink toward the medium M. The liquid ejection device 11 of this embodiment is, for example, a serial printer in which the liquid ejection unit 23 prints while moving in the width direction X. Note that the liquid ejection device 11 may also be a line printer. A line printer prints by having the liquid ejection unit 23, which extends in the width direction X over a length longer than the width dimension of the medium M, eject a liquid such as ink toward the medium M, which is transported at a constant speed.

[0018] The liquid ejection device 11 of this embodiment is a so-called off-carriage type in which the liquid tank 18 is fixed at a position separate from the liquid ejection unit 23 within the device body 12. The liquid tank 18 and the liquid ejection unit 23 are connected via a supply flow path 24. The liquid ejection unit 23 ejects the liquid supplied from the liquid tank 18 via the supply flow path 24. The supply flow path 24 is, for example, a tube.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid ejection device 11 includes a housing 20. The housing 20 houses a liquid tank 18 and a liquid ejection unit 23. The housing 20 is composed of, for example, a housing main body and a lid. The housing main body is in the shape of a bottomed box with an opening that opens upward. The lid covers the opening of the housing main body in an openable and closable state. In the liquid ejection device 11, which is a multifunction device, the bottom of the image reading device 13 also serves as the lid. The housing 20 includes, for example, a metal frame structure and an exterior member made of synthetic resin. The exterior member covers the frame structure from the outside.

[0020] An operation panel 17 is provided on the front surface of the liquid ejection device 11. The operation panel 17 has an operation unit 15 and a display unit 16. The operation unit 15 includes buttons for performing various operations. The display unit 16 displays various information such as menus and the operating status of the liquid ejection device 11.

[0021] A storage section 19 is provided at the front end of the liquid ejection device 11. The storage section 19 may be located, for example, on the right side of the operation panel 17. The storage section 19 stores at least one liquid tank 18. In this embodiment, the storage section 19 stores multiple (five in this embodiment) liquid tanks 18. The storage section 19 forms part of the housing 20. In other words, the housing 20 includes the storage section 19 that stores multiple liquid tanks 18. The liquid tank 18 is of a liquid refill type that is configured to be refillable with liquid such as ink. In other words, the liquid tank 18 is, for example, an ink tank that can store ink as an example of a liquid.

[0022] The storage unit 19 includes a substantially box-shaped storage unit main body 19A with an opening that opens upward, and a lid 32. The lid 32 covers the opening of the storage unit main body 19A in an openable and closable manner. The storage unit main body 19A has a front portion 19B and two side portions 19C, 19D. The storage unit main body 19A has at least one viewing window 21 (five in this embodiment) in the front portion 19B. In other words, the housing 20 has the viewing window 21 in the front portion 19B of the storage unit 19. The user can visually check the amount of liquid in the liquid tank 18 through the viewing window 21.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the multiple liquid tanks 18 are arranged in a row in the width direction X within the storage section 19. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the multiple liquid tanks 18 are five in total, including one liquid tank 18A and four liquid tanks 18B. The liquid tank 18A has a larger capacity than the liquid tank 18B. The liquid tank 18A stores, for example, black ink. The four liquid tanks 18B store, for example, inks of different colors. The multiple liquid tanks 18 store, for example, cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and other inks. The inks may be pigment inks or dye inks. Furthermore, the liquid used for printing is not limited to ink, and may be a coating liquid or the like.

[0024] The two types of liquid tanks 18A, 18B have the same basic configuration except for different widths due to different capacities. Therefore, when there is no need to distinguish between the two types of liquid tanks 18A, 18B, they will simply be referred to as "liquid tanks 18."

[0025] The liquid ejection unit 23 includes an ejection head 25 and a carriage 26. The carriage 26 holds the ejection head 25 and is capable of moving back and forth along the width direction X (scanning direction). The liquid ejection unit 23 prints on the medium M by ejecting liquid from the ejection head 25 while moving in the width direction X.

[0026] The liquid ejection device 11 includes a scanning mechanism 27 in a housing 20 that moves (scans) the liquid ejection unit 23. The scanning mechanism 27 includes a guide shaft 28 that guides the carriage 26 so that it can move in the width direction X, a carriage motor 29 that serves as a drive source, a pair of pulleys 30, and an endless timing belt 31 wound around the pair of pulleys 30. One of the pair of pulleys 30 is fixed to the output shaft of the carriage motor 29. When the carriage motor 29 is driven in the forward direction, the liquid ejection unit 23 moves forward in the +X direction, and when the carriage motor 29 is driven in the reverse direction, the liquid ejection unit 23 moves backward in the -X direction.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 2, the image reading device 13 is configured to be openable and closable relative to the device main body 12 via a pivot mechanism 13A such as a hinge. The image reading device 13 functions as a lid. The image reading device 13 can be opened and closed between a closed position shown in FIG. 1 and an open position shown in FIG. 2. When the image reading device 13 is positioned in the open position, the lid 32 can be opened and closed. When the lid 32 is opened, the cap lever 33 attached to the liquid tank 18 (see FIG. 1) can be opened and closed. When the liquid tank 18 is replenished with liquid such as ink, the image reading device 13, the lid 32, and the cap lever 33 are all positioned in the open position as shown in FIG. 2. The liquid bottle 34 is in an inverted position with its supply port facing downward, and its supply port is connected to the fill port 53 (see FIG. 3) of the liquid tank 18. The lid 32 may be configured to be able to be opened and closed independently even when the image reading device 13 is closed.

[0028] <Internal configuration of liquid ejection device 11> Next, the internal configuration of the liquid ejection device 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the ejection head 25 has a nozzle forming surface 25A in which nozzles 25N open. In the example shown in Fig. 3, a plurality of nozzles 25N open in the nozzle forming surface 25A. The ejection head 25 is configured to be able to eject liquid from the plurality of nozzles 25N. For example, a plurality of nozzles 25N may be provided for each type (e.g., color) of liquid to be ejected.

[0029] The liquid ejection device 11 includes a maintenance device 35 that performs maintenance on the ejection head 25, and a liquid supply device 36 that supplies liquid from the liquid tank 18 to the ejection head 25. The maintenance device 35 includes a cap 37 that can be raised and lowered, and a discharge tube 38 connected to the cap 37. The cap 37 is configured to be movable between a retracted position shown in FIG. 3 where it is spaced apart from the ejection head 25, and a capping position (not shown) where it contacts the nozzle forming surface 25A of the ejection head 25 when it is in the standby position. The cap 37 is capable of receiving liquid that is ejected or discharged from the nozzles 25N for maintenance.

[0030] When the cap 37 is in the capping position, it forms a closed space between itself and the nozzle forming surface 25A, which communicates with the nozzles 25N. The maintenance device 35 is equipped with a suction pump 39 located midway along the discharge tube 38. The maintenance device 35 drives the suction pump 39 while the ejection head 25 is capped, thereby reducing the pressure in the closed space surrounded by the cap 37 and the nozzle forming surface 25A. This reduction in pressure causes foreign matter such as air bubbles to be sucked and discharged together with the liquid from the nozzles 25N of the ejection head 25. The liquid discharged from the nozzles 25N by this cleaning is collected in the waste liquid storage unit 40 via the cap 37 and the discharge tube 38.

[0031] 3 shows only one liquid supply device 36, but a plurality of liquid supply devices 36 are provided corresponding to the plurality of liquid tanks 18. The plurality of liquid supply devices 36 basically have the same configuration.

[0032] 3, the liquid supply device 36 includes a liquid tank 18 and a supply flow path 24 that supplies the liquid in the liquid tank 18 to the ejection head 25. The liquid refill type liquid tank 18 has an inlet portion 53 into which the liquid can be injected.

[0033] The supply flow path 24 may be, for example, a flexible tube. However, as long as the carriage 26 can move within its movement range, the supply flow path 24 may include a member other than a tube. A portion of the supply flow path 24 may be a pipe made of a hard resin material, or a flow path member formed by attaching a film to a flow path forming member having a groove formed therein.

[0034] If the liquid tank 18 is referred to as the first liquid tank 18, then the carriage 26 is equipped with a second liquid tank 60 that is different from the first liquid tank 18. The first liquid tank 18 is the main tank, and the second liquid tank 60 is a sub-tank. The amount of liquid that the second liquid tank 60 can store is smaller than the amount of liquid that the first liquid tank 18 can store. The second liquid tank 60 temporarily stores on the carriage 26 the liquid that is supplied from the first liquid tank 18 through the supply flow path 24. The second liquid tank 60 has a locking portion 61 that can be locked to the carriage 26. The second liquid tank 60 is fixed to the carriage 26 by locking via the locking portion 61.

[0035] An upstream end (one end) of the supply flow path 24 is connected to the first liquid tank 18. A downstream end (the other end) of the supply flow path 24 is connected to the second liquid tank 60. The second liquid tank 60 is connected to the upstream end of a flow path 41 that the carriage 26 has. A downstream end of the flow path 41 is connected to the ejection head 25. The liquid IL in the first liquid tank 18 is supplied to the ejection head 25 through the supply flow path 24, the second liquid tank 60, and the flow path 41. Note that hereinafter, when there is no need to particularly distinguish the first liquid tank 18 from the second liquid tank 60, the first liquid tank 18 will also be simply referred to as the "liquid tank 18."

[0036] The liquid tank 18 includes a tank body 50. The tank body 50 is configured as a case made of synthetic resin. This case may be made of transparent or translucent resin. Alternatively, the tank body 50 may be configured such that a film is adhered to one surface of a storage case having a storage chamber recess recessed into one surface, thereby forming a liquid storage chamber 55 surrounded by the film and the storage chamber recess. The storage case may be made of transparent or translucent resin. A viewing surface 22 on the front surface of the liquid tank 18 is exposed through the viewing window 21. A user can view the liquid level of the liquid IL in the liquid storage chamber 55 from outside through the viewing surface 22. In other words, the user can view the remaining amount of liquid IL in the liquid tank 18.

[0037] The liquid tanks 18 are fixed to the bottom 20A of the housing 20 via fastening parts 42. The fastening parts 42 may fix multiple liquid tanks 18 individually to the housing 20, or may fix multiple liquid tanks 18 collectively to the housing 20. The specific configuration of the fastening parts 42 will be described later.

[0038] The liquid tank 18 is positioned at a predetermined position relative to the bottom 20A of the housing 20 via a position restricting portion 43. The position restricting portion 43 restricts the position of the liquid tank 18 at a predetermined position relative to the bottom 20A. The liquid tank 18 is fixed via a fastening portion 42 to a predetermined position within the accommodation portion 19, the position of which is restricted relative to the bottom 20A.

[0039] 3, the liquid tank 18 includes a liquid storage portion 51, a supply port portion 52, and an injection port portion 53. The liquid storage portion 51 is configured to be able to store liquid. The injection port portion 53 is a portion through which liquid is injected into the liquid storage portion 51. The supply port portion 52 is a portion through which liquid is supplied to the liquid ejection portion 23. One upstream end of the supply flow path 24 is connected to the supply port portion 52.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, the ejection head 25 is positioned above the liquid level LP in the liquid tank 18 in the vertical direction Z. Specifically, the opening of the nozzle 25N is positioned above the liquid level LP when the liquid tank 18 is at its maximum height. Therefore, the liquid in the nozzle 25N receives a negative pressure as back pressure. This prevents the liquid from dripping from the nozzle 25N and forms a meniscus in the liquid in the nozzle 25N. The liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 is supplied to the ejection head 25 so as to make up for the amount of liquid consumed by the nozzle 25N due to the head difference between the liquid level and the meniscus in the nozzle 25N.

[0041] 3, the liquid ejection device 11 includes a control unit 200 that controls the operation of the entire device. The control unit 200 controls a carriage motor 29 that reciprocates the carriage 26, a transport unit (not shown) that transports the medium M, the ejection operation of the ejection head 25, and the cleaning operation of the maintenance device 35.

[0042] <Configuration of liquid tank 18> Next, the configuration of the liquid tank 18 will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. The two types of liquid tanks 18A, 18B have different width dimensions due to differences in capacity, but have the same basic configuration. Therefore, in the following, unless there is a need to distinguish between the two types, they will be described as liquid tanks 18.

[0043] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the liquid tank 18 includes a tank body 50. The tank body 50 has a liquid storage portion 51 and a protruding portion 56. The protruding portion 56 is a portion that protrudes upward from the liquid storage portion 51. The liquid storage portion 51 has a liquid storage chamber 55 in which the liquid IL is stored. The liquid storage chamber 55 may be divided into a plurality of compartments that communicate with each other by a plurality of ribs (not shown). This prevents the liquid in the liquid storage chamber 55 from shaking when the liquid ejection device 11 is transported, for example. This prevents air (air bubbles) from being mixed into the liquid due to foaming caused by shaking, etc.

[0044] 4 and 5, the supply port 52, the injection port 53, and the atmosphere-communicating portion 54 may be tubular and protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the tank body 50. The supply port 52, the injection port 53, and the atmosphere-communicating portion 54 are in communication with the liquid storage chamber 55. The injection port 53 and the atmosphere-communicating portion 54 are located, for example, above the highest position of the liquid level LP. The supply port 52 is located at a position where the liquid in the liquid storage chamber 55 can be supplied all the way to the end, and is in communication with the liquid storage chamber 55.

[0045] Inlet portion 53 is used to inject a liquid such as ink into liquid storage chamber 55. Inlet portion 53 and liquid storage chamber 55 are connected via a liquid flow path 57 and an air flow path 58. Both liquid flow path 57 and air flow path 58 extend along the vertical direction Z. The lower ends of both liquid flow path 57 and air flow path 58 are located at the highest position of the liquid level LP shown in FIG.

[0046] The atmosphere communication portion 54 connects the air area above the liquid level LP in the liquid storage chamber 55 to the atmosphere. The tank body 50 has a partition wall portion 51C that separates the liquid storage chamber 51 from the protruding portion 56. The communication path that connects the liquid storage chamber 55 to the atmosphere communication portion 54 includes a serpentine pore in part. This makes it difficult for the water in the liquid IL stored in the liquid storage chamber 55 to evaporate.

[0047] The liquid tank 18 has a flow path forming wall 51D extending downward from the partition wall 51C. The liquid storage chamber 55 is divided by the flow path forming wall 51D into an area where the liquid is stored and a flow path area that guides the liquid to the supply port 52. The height of the liquid level LP in the area where the liquid is stored changes as the liquid IL is consumed and replenished. Even if the height of the liquid level LP changes, the flow path area is filled with the liquid IL. The supply port 52 can supply the liquid until the height of the liquid level LP reaches the lower end of the flow path forming wall 51D. The end position of the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 is set to a position slightly higher than the lower end of the flow path forming wall 51D.

[0048] 4, the height position of the opening of nozzle 25N is located above the highest position of the liquid level LP. The liquid IL in the liquid storage chamber 55 is supplied to the ejection head 25 by a head pressure based on the difference in height (head difference) between the liquid level LP and the meniscus of the liquid in nozzle 25N. Note that a configuration may also be provided with a pump that sends the liquid IL in the liquid storage chamber 55 to the ejection head 25.

[0049] The liquid tank 18 is fixed to the housing 20 via a fastening portion 42. The liquid tank 18 is positioned relative to the housing 20 via a position restricting portion 43. The liquid tank 18 has a fixing portion 71 and a restricting portion 72 on its bottom surface 51A. The housing 20 has a fixed portion 76 and a restricted portion 77 on the upper surface side of the bottom portion 20A.

[0050] The fixing portion 71 may be a rib having a screw insertion hole. The fixed portion 76 may be a rib having a screw hole. The liquid tank 18 is fixed to the housing 20 via the fastening portion 42 by inserting a screw 44 into the screw insertion hole of the fixing portion 71 and threading it into the screw hole of the fixed portion 76. The restricting portion 72 and the restricted portion 77 may be L-shaped ribs that can be engaged with each other. The restricting portion 72 and the restricted portion 77 engage with each other, and the liquid tank 18 is positioned at a predetermined position relative to the housing 20. The liquid tank 18 is fixed by the fastening portion 42 to a predetermined position that is positioned by the position restricting portion 43 relative to the bottom 20A of the housing 20.

[0051] The structure for fixing the liquid tank 18 to the housing 20 is not limited to the fastening portion 42, but may be a locking structure. The locking structure may be, for example, a snap fit. Furthermore, the fixing destination on the housing 20 side may be a resin member that forms the exterior, or a metal frame.

[0052] 4, the liquid tank 18 has an outlet 73 that can discharge the liquid IL to the outside. The outlet 73 is used to recover the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18. In other words, the outlet 73 is a portion that discharges the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 to the outside when the liquid ejection device 11 is disposed of, for example. The outlet 73 may be provided at a position on the outer circumferential surface of the liquid tank 18 that can discharge almost all of the liquid within the liquid storage chamber 55. For example, the outlet 73 may be provided at a position that can discharge the liquid IL within the liquid tank 18, which is in a horizontal position, down to an amount less than the end, using only the head pressure.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 4 and other figures, the outlet portion 73 may be provided on the bottom surface 51A of the liquid tank 18. In this case, the outlet portion 73 is provided in a position that does not interfere with the fixing portion 71 and the restricting portion 72. The outlet portion 73 is not limited to being located on the bottom surface 51A, but may also be located on the lower part of the side surface 51B of the liquid storage portion 51. Furthermore, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4, the outlet portion 73 may be located on the lower part of the viewing surface 22, which is the front surface of the liquid storage portion 51. In short, the outlet portions 73, 75 may be located in any position that allows the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 to be discharged. Even when the liquid tank 18 is in the same position as when it is attached to the liquid ejection device 11 during liquid recovery, the liquid can be recovered from the outlet portions 73, 75 by hydraulic head pressure alone.

[0054] The discharge outlet portions 73, 75 are provided separately from the supply port portion 52 and are dedicated to recovery. The discharge outlet portion 73 may be, for example, cylindrical and protruding from the lower portion of the bottom surface 51A or the side surface 51B of the liquid tank 18. Alternatively, like the discharge outlet portion 75, it may be cylindrical and protruding from the lower portion of the viewing surface 22. A sealing member 74 such as a cap that seals the discharge outlet may be removably attached to the discharge outlet portions 73, 75. Note that the first embodiment shows an example in which the discharge outlet portion 73 is used to recover the liquid, and an example in which the discharge outlet portion 75 is used will be described in the second embodiment described later.

[0055] On the other hand, the second liquid tank 60 includes a locking portion 61, a liquid storage portion 62, a supply port portion 63, and a supply destination port portion 64. The upstream end of the supply flow path 24 is connected to the supply port portion 52, and the downstream end of the supply flow path 24 is connected to the supply destination port portion 64. The liquid IL in the first liquid tank 18 is supplied to the second liquid tank 60 through the supply flow path 24.

[0056] The liquid storage portion 62 stores the liquid supplied from the first liquid tank 18. The supply port portion 63 is connected to a connecting port portion 25B provided in the carriage 26. The liquid in the liquid storage portion 62 is supplied to the ejection head 25 via the connection between the supply port portion 63 and the connecting port portion 25B. The connecting port portion 25B communicates with a liquid chamber (not shown) in the ejection head 25 through a flow path 41 (see FIG. 3). The nozzle 25N communicates with this liquid chamber. The ejection head 25 ejects the liquid supplied from the liquid storage portion 62 from the nozzle 25N.

[0057] 4, the second liquid tank 60 is fixed to the carriage 26 by engagement between a locking portion 61 and a locked portion 26A. The locking portion 61 is, for example, a snap fit and has a locking protrusion 61A. The carriage 26 has a locked portion 26A that can be engaged with the locking protrusion 61A of the locking portion 61. The locked portion 26A is, for example, a locking recess.

[0058] <About refilling liquid> As shown in FIG. 5, when pouring liquid into the liquid tank 18, the liquid bottle 34 is in an upside-down position and the supply unit 34A is connected to the inlet 53. At this time, the interior of the liquid bottle 34 is in communication with the liquid storage chamber 55 through both the liquid flow path 57 and the air flow path 58. The liquid in the liquid bottle 34 is poured into the liquid tank 18 through the liquid flow path 57, while the air in the liquid storage chamber 55 is introduced into the liquid bottle 34 through the air flow path 58. This gas-liquid exchange allows the liquid to be continuously poured from the liquid bottle 34 into the liquid storage chamber 55. When the liquid level LP reaches the lower end opening of the air flow path 58, the gas-liquid exchange stops. As a result, the pouring of liquid from the liquid bottle 34 into the liquid storage chamber 55 stops. This makes it less likely that the liquid will spill when the user pours liquid into the inlet 53 of the liquid tank 18.

[0059] <Configuration of Liquid Recovery System 10> Next, the configuration of the liquid recovery system 10 will be described with reference to Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, etc. In the drawings relating to the liquid recovery system 10 below, the direction corresponding to the width direction X of the liquid ejection device 11 is indicated as direction A, and the depth direction of the liquid tank 18 is indicated as direction B. Figures 6 and 8 show side cross-sectional views of the liquid tank 18 taken along a plane intersecting with direction A. Figure 6 shows a first embodiment of the liquid ejection device 11. Figure 8 shows a second embodiment of the liquid ejection device 11. Figures 7 and 9 show side cross-sectional views of a liquid recovery container 80 taken along a plane intersecting with direction A. Figure 7 shows the first embodiment of the liquid recovery system 10. Figure 9 shows the second embodiment of the liquid recovery system 10.

[0060] The liquid recovery system 10 includes a liquid ejection device 11 equipped with a liquid tank 18 having an inlet portion 53, and a liquid recovery container 80. With the liquid tank 18 fixed to a housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11, the liquid recovery container 80 is connected to the outlet portion 73 of the liquid tank 18 from outside the housing 20, thereby recovering the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 into the liquid recovery container 80.

[0061] As shown in Figures 6 and 8, the liquid tank 18 has an outlet portion 73 at its bottom that can discharge liquid to the outside. The outlet portion 73 has, for example, a portion (tubular portion) that extends cylindrically downward from the bottom surface 51A of the liquid tank 18. The opening on the outside of the cylindrical portion of the outlet portion 73 is the outlet. The outlet portion 73 has a valve body 78 inside the cylinder. The valve body 78 is biased in a direction toward the outlet of the outlet portion 73. When the valve body 78 is in the closed position shown in Figure 6, which is the position on the outlet side, it abuts against an elastic member (not shown), thereby restricting further outward displacement. When in the closed position, the valve body 78 closes the passage of the outlet portion 73.

[0062] The housing 20 is provided with openings 20B (FIGS. 6 and 7) and 20C (FIGS. 8 and 9) at locations corresponding to the discharge outlet 73. The openings 20B and 20C may be covered by covers 45 (FIG. 6) and 46 (FIG. 8). The user removes the covers 45 and 46, which are shown by two-dot chain lines in the drawings and cover the openings 20B and 20C, as shown by solid lines in the drawings. The user connects the liquid collection container 80 to the discharge outlet 73 on the liquid tank 18 side through the openings 20B and 20C of the housing 20. This connection point is difficult for the user to see because the discharge outlet 73 is located deep inside the openings 20B and 20C and is hidden by the liquid collection container 80 from the user's perspective. For this reason, the liquid collection system 10 of this embodiment has a positioning unit 90 that can position the liquid collection container 80 with respect to the liquid tank 18 in the liquid ejection device 11 so that the liquid collection container 80 can be connected to the discharge outlet 73 through the openings 20B and 20C.

[0063] The liquid ejection device 11 has an apparatus-side positioning portion that positions the liquid collection container 80 at a position where the collection port portion 85 (Figures 7 and 9) on the liquid collection container 80 side can be connected to the discharge port portion 73. The positioning portion 90 has an apparatus-side positioning portion and a container-side positioning portion. The positioning portion 90 has a guide portion and a guided portion that is guided by the guide portion. The apparatus-side positioning portion is one of the guide portion and the guided portion. The container-side positioning portion is the other of the guide portion and the guided portion. One of the guide portion and the guided portion may be a convex portion and the other a concave portion.

[0064] The liquid ejection device 11 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 6 has a guide portion 91 that constitutes the positioning portion 90 as the device-side positioning portion. The guide portion 91 is formed in the liquid tank 18. The guide portion 91 is, for example, a convex portion that protrudes from the outer surface of the liquid tank 18. The liquid ejection device 11 of the second embodiment shown in Figure 8 has a guide portion 93 that constitutes the positioning portion 90 as the device-side positioning portion. The guide portion 93 is formed in the housing 20. The guide portion 93 is, for example, a convex portion that protrudes from the outer surface of the housing 20. In this way, it is sufficient that the device-side positioning portion is provided in a part that constitutes the liquid ejection device 11.

[0065] The method for providing the liquid collection container 80 to the user can be selected as appropriate. The user obtains the liquid collection container 80 when collecting the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18. For example, the liquid collection container 80 may be included in the liquid ejection device 11 when the user purchases it. Alternatively, the user may obtain the liquid collection container 80 from a manufacturer or retailer, with or without payment, when disposing of the liquid ejection device 11. Furthermore, the liquid collection container 80 may be housed in a recess provided in the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. The opening of this recess may be covered with a cover. When disposing of the liquid ejection device 11, the user may remove the cover and take out the liquid collection container 80 from the recess for use.

[0066] The following describes in order the configuration of the first and second embodiments of the liquid recovery system 10. Note that the following description will focus on the configuration of the liquid recovery container 80 and the positioning unit 90. (First Example) First, the configuration of a first embodiment of liquid recovery system 10 will be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7. In the first embodiment, guide section 91 that constitutes positioning section 90 is provided in liquid tank 18.

[0067] 7, the housing 20 has an opening 20B that allows the outlet portion 73 of the liquid tank 18 to be exposed to the outside of the housing 20. In the first embodiment, the opening 20B opens to the bottom portion 20A of the housing 20. In the first embodiment, the liquid collection container 80 is inserted into the opening 20B up to the upper part of the liquid collection portion 81.

[0068] The opening 20B has a size (opening area) and shape necessary for connecting the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 to the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 inside the housing 20. In the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when the liquid recovery container 80 is connected to the liquid tank 18 via the opening 20B, a portion of the liquid recovery part 81 is inserted into the opening 20B. For this reason, in the configuration of the first embodiment in which the guide part 91 is provided on the liquid tank 18, the opening area of ​​the opening 20B tends to be large. A cover 45 that covers the opening 20B shown in FIG. 6 may be provided on the bottom 20A of the housing 20.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 6, the cover 45 has a lid portion 45A and a flange portion 45B. The lid portion 45A is a portion that is at least partially inserted or fitted into the opening 20B. The flange portion 45B restricts the lid portion 45A from moving into the opening 20B by more than a predetermined amount. Normally, the cover 45 covers the opening 20B as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6. When the liquid in the liquid tank 18 is to be collected, the cover 45 is removed from the housing 20.

[0070] The cover 45 may be plate-shaped and have no portion that fits into the opening 20B. The cover 45 may be plate-shaped and consist only of a lid portion 45A that fits into the opening 20B. The cover 45 may have a locking portion such as a snap fit that is locked onto the housing 20 side while covering the opening 20B. The locking portion may have an operating portion that is operated by the user to release the lock.

[0071] When not in use, opening 20B that opens into bottom 20A of housing 20 may be covered with cover 45. When disposing of liquid ejection device 11, for example, and recovering liquid IL remaining in liquid tank 18, the user may open cover 45 to expose outlet portion 73.

[0072] In the first embodiment, the liquid recovery container 80 is inserted into the opening 20B up to the upper part of the liquid recovery portion 81. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 7 where the upper part of the liquid recovery portion 81 is inserted, the opening 20B may have an opening size that allows a first gap to be formed between the outer peripheral surface of the upper part of the liquid recovery portion 81 and the inner peripheral surface of the opening 20B. In the state shown in FIG. 7 where the guiding portion 91 is guided by the guided portion 92, which is an example of a container-side positioning portion, a second gap between the guiding portion 91 and the guided portion 92 may be smaller than the first gap. During the process of connecting the recovery port 85 to the discharge port 73, the liquid recovery container 80 is positioned from a state where the first gap is large and there is play to a state where the second gap is small and there is play.

[0073] The liquid recovery container 80 includes a liquid recovery section 81. The liquid recovery section 81 is a storage box that has a recovery chamber 83 inside. The recovery chamber 83 may house a liquid holding member 84. The liquid holding member 84 may be a liquid absorbing member that can absorb and hold liquid. The liquid holding member 84 may be, for example, a nonwoven fabric or a porous material such as a sponge or foam material. The liquid holding member 84 may be capable of holding an amount of liquid equivalent to the maximum volume of the liquid tank 18. Because the recovered liquid is held in the liquid holding member 84, the liquid recovery container 80 will not leak even if it is tilted.

[0074] The liquid recovery container 80 has a recovery port 85 that can be connected to the discharge port 73. The recovery port 85 may be provided in an upper part 81A of the liquid recovery part 81. The liquid recovery container 80 may also have an atmosphere communication part 88 in the upper part 81A of the liquid recovery part 81. The recovery port 85 and the atmosphere communication part 88 are in communication with the recovery chamber 83. The liquid recovery container 80 may have the recovery port 85 in a position where the recovery chamber 83 can be located lower in the direction of gravity Z than the liquid storage chamber 55 when the recovery port 85 is connected to the discharge port 73. However, the upper end of the recovery chamber 83 and the lower end of the liquid storage chamber 55 may also be in a positional relationship where they partially overlap in the direction of gravity Z. In short, it is sufficient if the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 by head pressure alone.

[0075] The recovery port 85 has a shape that can be connected to the cylindrical discharge port 73. The recovery port 85 may be tubular or hole-shaped. For example, the recovery port 85 may be tubular and protrude from the upper portion 81A of the liquid recovery unit 81. The recovery port 85 may have, for example, a tubular needle 85A with a pointed tip. As shown in FIG. 7 , the recovery port 85 may be configured to open when the needle 85A presses the valve element 78 disposed in the flow path of the discharge port 73 against an urging force. The needle 85A may have a hole opening at the tip and a flow path extending axially therethrough that communicates with the hole. The liquid IL may be introduced into the internal flow path through the hole in the needle 85A, and then discharged into the recovery chamber 83 from the opening at the base end of the needle 85A. The discharge port 73 has an elastic member (not shown) such as a packing located closer to the discharge port than the valve element 78. The needle portion 85A is pressed into the elastic member and presses the valve body 78. Therefore, even if the flow path of the discharge port portion 73 is opened, the liquid IL will not leak from the connection portion between the discharge port portion 73 and the recovery port portion 85.

[0076] Next, the configuration of the positioning unit 90 will be described. The liquid recovery system 10 has the positioning unit 90. The positioning unit 90 positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge outlet 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20B. For example, the positioning unit 90 may position the liquid recovery container 80 relative to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge outlet 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20B. In other words, the positioning unit 90 may position the liquid recovery container 80 relative to the liquid ejection device 11 at a position where the discharge outlet 73 and the recovery port 85 of the liquid tank 18 can be connected via the opening 20B.

[0077] The positioning portion 90 includes a guiding portion 91 and a guided portion 92. The guiding portion 91 may be provided in at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18. The guiding portion 91 of the first embodiment may be provided in the liquid tank 18, as shown in FIG. 7. The guided portion 92 is provided in the liquid collection container 80, and is guided by the guiding portion 91.

[0078] 7, the guide portion 91 extends outward (downward) from a position on the bottom surface 51A of the liquid tank 18 corresponding to the opening 20B. The guide portion 91 may be, for example, a convex portion. The convex portion may be, for example, a rib. The rib may be two plate portions or a cylindrical portion.

[0079] 7, the guided portion 92 is, for example, a recess that is guided by the guide portion 91. The recess may be, for example, a guide groove. The guided portion 92 is recessed in the liquid recovery container 80 at a position that corresponds to the guide portion 91 on the liquid tank 18 side. By guiding the recess into the protrusion, the liquid recovery container 80 is positioned relative to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected.

[0080] The guiding portion 91 and the guided portion 92 may be a combination of a convex portion and a concave portion that can engage with each other. The combination of a convex portion and a concave portion may also be a combination of a cylindrical portion, one of which can be inserted into the other. The guiding portion 91 and the guided portion 92 may have a guiding function that guides the discharge port portion 73 and the recovery port portion 85 in the connection direction (e.g., the Z direction) and a rotation prevention function around an axis parallel to the connection direction. In this case, the guiding portion 91 and the guided portion 92 may be a combination of a convex portion and a concave portion whose cross-sectional shape, as viewed from the axial direction parallel to the connection direction, is I-shaped, Y-shaped, or X-shaped, thereby providing the rotation prevention function. The shape and number of the guiding portion 91 and the guided portion 92 can be appropriately selected as long as they can be positioned. The guiding portion 91 and the guided portion 92 may also be a combination of a plate portion and a concave portion.

[0081] (Second Example) Next, a liquid recovery system 10 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. In the second embodiment, a guide section 93 constituting a positioning section 90 is provided on the housing 20.

[0082] 8 and 9, the housing 20 has an opening 20C that can expose the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 to the outside of the housing 20. The opening 20C in the second embodiment opens to the bottom 20A of the housing 20. In the second embodiment, only the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 is inserted into the opening 20B.

[0083] The opening 20C has a size (opening area) and shape necessary for connecting the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 to the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 inside the housing 20. In the example shown in Fig. 9, only the recovery port 85 is inserted into the opening 20C, so the opening area of ​​the opening 20C is relatively small. A cover 46 that covers the opening 20C shown in Fig. 8 may be provided on the bottom 20A of the housing 20.

[0084] As shown in FIG. 8, the cover 46 has a lid portion 46A that is at least partially inserted or fitted into the opening 20C, and a flange portion 46B that prevents the lid portion 46A from moving more than a predetermined amount into the opening 20C. During normal operation, when liquid is not being discharged from the liquid tank 18, the cover 46 covers the opening 20C, as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 8. The cover 46 may be plate-shaped and have no portion that fits into the opening 20C. The cover 46 may also be configured with only the lid portion 46A that fits into the opening 20C. The cover 46 may have a locking portion, such as a snap fit, that locks to the housing 20 while covering the opening 20C. The locking portion may have an operating portion that is operated by the user to release the lock.

[0085] In the second embodiment, only the recovery port 85 of the liquid collection container 80 is inserted into the opening 20C. Therefore, the opening 20C may have an opening size that allows a first gap to be formed between the outer peripheral surface of the recovery port 85 and the inner peripheral surface of the opening 20C in the state shown in FIG. 9 where the recovery port 85 is inserted. The guide portion 93, which is an example of an apparatus-side positioning portion, guides the tubular portion 85B that constitutes the container-side positioning portion. In other words, the tubular portion 85B that surrounds the needle portion 85A functions as a guided portion. The tubular portion 85B also functions as a protective portion that protects the needle portion 85A. The outer peripheral surface of the recovery port 85 is formed by the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion 85B.

[0086] 9, the first gap, which is the gap between opening 20C and recovery port 85, may be the same size as the second gap between guide portion 93 and recovery port 85. The guide surface along which guide portion 93 guides tubular portion 85B may be the inner circumferential surface of opening 20C.

[0087] The liquid recovery container 80 basically has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. The liquid recovery container 80 includes a liquid recovery unit 81 consisting of a storage box having a recovery chamber 83. The recovery chamber 83 may house a liquid holding member 84. The liquid recovery container 80 has a recovery port 85 that can be connected to the discharge port 73. The recovery port 85 and the atmosphere communication unit 88 may be provided in an upper portion 81A of the liquid recovery unit 81. The recovery port 85 and the atmosphere communication unit 88 are in communication with the recovery chamber 83.

[0088] The recovery port 85 includes a needle 85A, as in the first embodiment. The basic configuration of the recovery port 85 is the same as in the first embodiment. The recovery port 85 of the second embodiment has a tubular portion 85B that surrounds the needle 85A. The tubular portion 85B is connected to the discharge port 73 with the discharge port 73 partially inserted. The engagement of the tubular portion 85B with the cylindrical discharge port 73 also positions the liquid collection container 80 in a position relative to the liquid tank 18 where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20C. The cylindrical discharge port 73 is the guiding portion, and the tubular portion 85B is the guided portion, constituting a positioning portion. In other words, in the second embodiment, the cylindrical discharge port 73 and the tubular portion 85B also constitute a positioning portion.

[0089] The liquid recovery system 10 of the second embodiment has a positioning unit 90 shown in Fig. 9. The positioning unit 90 positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge outlet 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20B. For example, the positioning unit 90 may position the liquid recovery container 80 relative to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge outlet 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20B.

[0090] The positioning portion 90 includes a guiding portion 93 and a guided portion 94. The guiding portion 93 may be provided in at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18. The guiding portion 93 of the second embodiment may be provided in the housing 20, as shown in FIG. 9. The guided portion 94 is provided in the liquid collection container 80, and is guided by the guiding portion 93.

[0091] In the example shown in FIG. 9, the guide portions 93 extend outward (downward) from both sides of the opening 20C on the bottom 20A of the housing 20 or at a position surrounding the opening. The guide portions 93 may be, for example, convex portions. The convex portions may be, for example, ribs. On the other hand, the guided portions 94 are, for example, concave portions that are guided by the guide portions 93. The concave portions may be, for example, guide grooves. By the guide portions 93 being guided by the guided portions 94, the liquid collection container 80 is positioned relative to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the collection port 85 can be connected.

[0092] As in the first embodiment, the guiding portion 93 and the guided portion 94 may also be a combination of a convex portion and a concave portion that can engage with each other. The combination of a convex portion and a concave portion may also be a combination of a cylindrical portion, one of which can be inserted into the other. The guiding portion 93 and the guided portion 94 may have a guiding function that guides the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 in the connection direction (for example, the Z direction), and a rotation prevention function. Furthermore, the position, shape, and number of the guiding portion 93 and the guided portion 94 can be selected as appropriate, as long as they can be positioned.

[0093] <Operation of the First Embodiment> The liquid recovery system 10 is used to recover liquid such as ink remaining in the liquid tank 18 into a liquid recovery container 80 when the user disposes of the liquid ejection device 11 or the like. When the user disposes of the liquid ejection device 11 or the like, the user prepares the liquid recovery container 80. If the liquid ejection device 11 has covers 45, 46 that cover the openings 20B, 20C that open to the bottom, the user removes the covers 45, 46 beforehand.

[0094] For example, the user lifts the front portion of the liquid ejection device 11 and sets the liquid recovery container 80 below the liquid ejection device 11. At this time, the liquid recovery container 80 is positioned by the positioning portion 90 at a position where the discharge port portion 73 and the recovery port portion 85 can be connected. For example, in the first embodiment, the guiding portion 91 is guided by the guided portion 92, so that at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid ejection device 11 is positioned relative to the other. For example, in the second embodiment, the guiding portion 93 is guided by the guided portion 94, so that at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid ejection device 11 is positioned relative to the other.

[0095] Then, at a position where the user is positioned along the guidance of the positioning unit 90, the user connects the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 to the discharge port 73 on the liquid tank 18 side via the openings 20B and 20C. Therefore, the connection between the recovery port 85 and the discharge port 73 via the openings 20B and 20C can be easily and reliably performed. Through this connection, the liquid recovery container 80 recovers the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18, which is fixed to the housing 20.

[0096] <Effects of the first embodiment> According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1-1) The liquid recovery system 10 has a positioning unit 90 that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20C. Therefore, the liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 while the liquid tank 18 remains fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. For example, the liquid ejection device 11 can be disposed of when there is no liquid left in the liquid tank 18.

[0097] (1-2) The positioning unit 90 includes guiding portions 91, 93 provided on at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18, and guided portions 92, 94 provided on the liquid recovery container 80 and guided by the guiding portions 91, 93. The guided portions 92, 94 are guided by the guiding portions 91, 93 to position the liquid recovery container 80 relative to the liquid tank 18, thereby connecting the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 via the opening 20C. Through this connection, liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 80. With this configuration, the guided portions 92, 94 are guided by the guiding portions 91, 93, so that at least one of the liquid tank 18 and the liquid recovery container 80, which are fixed to the housing 20, can be positioned so that the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected. Therefore, the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 can be easily and reliably connected to the discharge port 73 on the liquid tank 18 side via the openings 20B, 20C.

[0098] (1-3) The liquid ejection device 11 includes a liquid tank 18 having an inlet 53 into which liquid can be injected, a liquid ejection unit 23 that ejects the liquid supplied from the liquid tank 18, and a housing 20 that houses the liquid ejection unit 23 and the liquid tank 18. The liquid tank 18 has an outlet that allows the liquid to be discharged to the outside. The housing 20 has openings 20B and 20C that allow the outlet of the liquid tank 18 to be exposed to the outside of the housing 20. With this configuration, the liquid in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered from the outlet through the openings 20B and 20C to the outside of the housing 20. Any liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered to the outside of the housing 20 while the liquid tank 18 remains fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11.

[0099] (1-4) The openings 20B and 20C are formed in the bottom 20A of the housing 20. With this configuration, the liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered through the openings 20B and 20C in the bottom 20A of the housing 20.

[0100] (1-5) The liquid ejection device 11 may have a cover that covers the openings 20B, 20C. With this configuration, the openings 20B, 20C of the housing 20 are covered by the cover, which can prevent dust and other particles from entering the housing 20 through the openings 20B, 20C during normal operation other than when liquid is being collected from the liquid tank 18. For example, even if liquid were to leak from the outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18 for some reason, it is easy to prevent the leaked liquid from flowing out of the housing 20.

[0101] (1-6) A configuration in which the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 is connected to the discharge port via the openings 20B and 20C. An apparatus-side positioning unit may be provided to position the liquid recovery container 80 at a position where the recovery port 85 can be connected to the discharge port. With this configuration, the liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 while the liquid tank 18 remains fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. For example, the liquid ejection device 11 can be disposed of when there is no liquid in the liquid tank 18.

[0102] (Second embodiment) Next, a liquid recovery system 10 of a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 10 to 12. The liquid recovery system 10 comprises a liquid ejection device 11 equipped with a liquid tank 18 having an inlet portion 53, and a liquid recovery container 80. The basic configuration of the liquid ejection device 11 is similar to that of the first embodiment. Therefore, in the following, the basic configuration of the liquid ejection device 11 will be assigned the same reference numerals and explanations will be omitted, with differences being mainly described.

[0103] The liquid recovery system 10 of this embodiment has a positioning unit 100 that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20D. The positioning unit 100 of this embodiment is configured to be able to position the liquid tank 18 by moving it to a position for liquid recovery. In this embodiment, the positioning unit 100 corresponds to an example of an apparatus-side positioning unit.

[0104] As shown in Figure 10, the liquid tank 18 has an outlet 75 that can discharge liquid to the outside. In this embodiment, the outlet 75 is located at the lower front of the liquid tank 18. For example, the outlet 75 is located at a position on the viewing surface 22 that is lower than the area necessary for the user to visually check the liquid level. The outlet 75 protrudes forward from the lower front of the liquid tank 18. The outlet 75 has a cylindrical shape that protrudes forward.

[0105] The housing 20 has an opening 20D that exposes the discharge outlet 75 of the liquid tank 18 to the outside of the housing 20. The opening 20D opens to the front of the housing 20. In this embodiment, the opening 20D is a viewing window 21 that opens into the housing 20 and allows the liquid level in the liquid tank 18 to be visually confirmed. That is, in this embodiment, the viewing window 21 is used as the opening 20D for liquid recovery. As shown in FIG. 10 , the discharge outlet 75, which is located at the bottom front of the liquid tank 18, is not exposed from the viewing window 21. Therefore, visibility for the user to check the liquid level through the viewing window 21 is not impaired.

[0106] The positioning unit 100 of this embodiment is a movable mechanism 101 that moves the liquid tank 18. The movable mechanism 101 moves the liquid tank 18 from a first position P1, where the discharge outlet 75 is not exposed through the viewing window 21, to a second position P2, where the discharge outlet 75 can be exposed through the viewing window 21. The movable mechanism 101 normally positions the liquid tank 18 at the first position P1 shown in FIG. 10 , where the discharge outlet 75 is not exposed through the viewing window 21. On the other hand, when recovering liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18, the movable mechanism 101 positions the liquid tank 18 at the second position P2, shown in FIG. 11 , where the discharge outlet 75 can be exposed through the viewing window 21. In this embodiment, the movable mechanism 101 that moves the liquid tank 18 from the first position P1 to the second position P2 constitutes the positioning unit 100 that positions the discharge outlet 75 to a position where it can be connected to the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80.

[0107] <Configuration of Movable Mechanism 101> 10 and 11, the configuration of the movable mechanism 101 will be described. The movable mechanism 101 is attached to the lower side of the liquid tank 18 inside the housing 20. The movable mechanism 101 is an elevation mechanism that raises and lowers the liquid tank 18.

[0108] The movable mechanism 101 includes a link mechanism 102 and a support portion 103. The link mechanism 102 is, for example, a pantograph mechanism. The link mechanism 102 has two link members 104 and a pivot shaft 105. The two link members 104 are arranged to intersect. The two link members 104 are rotatably supported by the pivot shaft 105 at the intersecting position. Two lower end portions of the two link members 104 are rotatably connected to two movable portions 106. The two movable portions 106 are configured to be movable in the Y direction along rails 108 fixed to the upper surface of the bottom portion 20A. Note that the lower end portions of the two link members 104 may be configured to slide on the upper surface of the bottom portion 20A.

[0109] The support part 103 is supported horizontally on the upper end part of the link mechanism 102. The two upper end parts of the two link members 104 are rotatably connected to two movable parts 107. The two movable parts 107 are configured to be movable in the Y direction, for example, along rails 109 recessed in the lower surface of the support part 103. Note that the two movable parts 107 may also be configured to slide on the lower surface of the support part 103.

[0110] The liquid tank 18 is fixed to the upper surface of the support portion 103. More specifically, the liquid tank 18 is fixed to the support portion 103 via a fastening portion 42. The liquid tank 18 is also restricted to a predetermined position relative to the support portion 103 via a position restricting portion 43. The support portion 103 is a separate member formed from a portion of the housing 20. The liquid tank 18 is fixed to the support portion 103, which constitutes a part of the housing 20, via the fastening portion 42 at a predetermined position restricted by the position restricting portion 43. A fixing portion 71 and a restricting portion 72 are provided on the bottom surface 51A of the liquid tank 18. The support portion 103 is also provided with a fixed portion 76 and a restricted portion 77. The fastening portion 42 is formed by fastening a screw 44 to the fixing portion 71 and the fixed portion 76. The position restricting portion 43 is formed by engagement between the restricting portion 72 and the restricted portion 77.

[0111] As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the movable mechanism 101 has an operating lever 110 that allows the user to manually raise and lower the liquid tank 18. The operating lever 110 is fixed to, for example, one of the movable parts 106. The operating lever 110 may be configured so that a portion thereof extends outward from an opening in the housing 20, or may be exposed from the opening when a cover attached to the side of the housing 20 is removed. The user can raise and lower the liquid tank 18 between a first position P1 and a second position P2 by operating the operating lever 110 in the Y direction.

[0112] The movable mechanism 101 may also be electrically driven. For example, the movable mechanism 101 includes an actuator 111, which is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. 10 and 11. A liquid user issues a command to execute the liquid recovery mode by operating the operation unit 15 provided on the liquid ejection device 11. Upon receiving a command signal from the operation unit 15, the control unit 200 drives the actuator 111. The movable mechanism 101 is driven, and the liquid tank 18 moves from the first position P1 to the second position P2. As shown in FIG. 11, when the liquid tank 18 is in the second position P2, the outlet 75 is exposed through the viewing window 21. The outlet 75 of the liquid tank 18 can be accessed from outside the housing 20.

[0113] 12 shows a liquid recovery system 10 of this embodiment. The liquid recovery system 10 includes a liquid ejection device 11 having a liquid tank 18, and a liquid recovery container 80. The user connects the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 to the discharge port 75 exposed through the viewing window 21.

[0114] The discharge outlet portion 75 protrudes horizontally in a cylindrical shape forward from the lower front surface of the liquid tank 18, which is in the second position P2. The cylindrical discharge outlet portion 75 is exposed through the viewing window 21. The cylindrical discharge outlet portion 75 has a valve body 78 that can open and close the flow path within the cylinder. Before connection, the discharge outlet portion 75 is in a state in which the valve body 78, which is biased toward the outside of the discharge outlet portion 75, abuts against a valve seat (not shown), thereby closing the flow path within the discharge outlet portion 75.

[0115] The liquid recovery container 80 has a recovery port 85 that can be connected to the discharge port 75. The liquid recovery container 80 has a liquid recovery portion 81, a recovery port 85, and an atmosphere communication portion 88. The liquid recovery portion 81 has a recovery chamber 83. A liquid holding member 84 is housed within the recovery chamber 83. The recovery port 85 and the atmosphere communication portion 88 are in communication with the recovery chamber 83. The recovery port 85 extends horizontally in a cylindrical shape from an upper portion of the side surface 81B of the liquid recovery portion 81. The recovery port 85 has a cylindrical shape with an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion of the discharge port 73, and has a needle portion 85A inside the cylindrical portion, similar to that of the first embodiment.

[0116] As shown in FIG. 12 , when the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid discharge device 11 are placed on the same mounting surface, the recovery port 85 and the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 at the second position P2 may be set to be at the same height. In this case, for example, when the liquid recovery container 80 is slid on the mounting surface to bring the recovery port 85 close to the discharge port 75, the cylindrical discharge port 73 is inserted into the cylindrical recovery port 85. Through this insertion, the liquid recovery container 80 is positioned relative to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 75 and the discharge port 75 can be connected. In other words, a positioning unit 90 is configured in which the cylindrical portion of the discharge port 75 serves as a guiding portion and the cylindrical portion of the recovery port 85 serves as a guided portion. This positioning unit 90 corresponds to an example of an apparatus-side positioning unit. The positioning unit 90 positions the liquid tank 18 at the second position P2 and the liquid recovery container 80. Then, as the liquid recovery container 80 approaches the liquid tank 18 under the guided condition in which one of the cylindrical portions is inserted into the other, the recovery port portion 85 and the recovery port portion 85 are connected at the positioned position. Therefore, the recovery port portion 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 and the discharge port portion 75 of the liquid tank 18 can be easily and reliably connected. This connection causes the needle portion 85A of the recovery port portion 85 to push the valve body 78 of the discharge port portion 75 inward. As a result, in the connected state, the flow path within the discharge port portion 75 is opened. As shown in FIG. 12 , the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 is recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 through the connection between the discharge port portion 75 and the recovery port portion 85.

[0117] <Effects of the second embodiment> According to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects (1-1) to (1-3) of the first embodiment, the following effects (2-1) to (2-3) are also obtained. Note that the liquid recovery system 10 of the second embodiment, which achieves the same effect as effect (1-1), has positioning units 90, 100 that position at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge outlet 75 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20D. Furthermore, the positioning unit 90 of the second embodiment, which achieves the same effect as effect (1-2), includes a guiding unit (a cylindrical unit of the discharge outlet 75) that is included in at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18, and a guided unit (a cylindrical unit of the recovery port 85) that is provided on the liquid recovery container 80 and is guided by the guiding unit. In the second embodiment, which achieves the same effect as effect (1-3), the opening is the opening 20D that opens on the front surface of the housing 20.

[0118] (2-1) The liquid recovery system 10 has a positioning unit 100 that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 80 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 75 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20D. Therefore, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 while the liquid tank 18 remains fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. For example, the liquid ejection device 11 can be disposed of when there is no liquid left in the liquid tank 18.

[0119] (2-2) Opening 20D is a viewing window 21 that opens into housing 20 so that the liquid level in liquid tank 18 can be visually confirmed. Therefore, by utilizing viewing window 21 that opens into housing 20, liquid remaining in liquid tank 18 can be recovered into liquid recovery container 80. For example, it is not necessary to provide opening 20C in housing 20 that is dedicated to liquid recovery.

[0120] (2-3) The positioning unit is a movable mechanism 101 that moves the liquid tank 18 from a first position P1, where the discharge outlet 75 is not exposed through the viewing window 21, to a second position P2, where the discharge outlet 75 is exposed through the viewing window 21. According to this configuration, the movable mechanism 101 moves the liquid tank 18 from the first position P1, where the discharge outlet 75 is not exposed through the viewing window 21, to the second position P2, where the discharge outlet 75 is exposed through the viewing window 21. Therefore, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 using the viewing window 21, without impairing the visibility of the liquid amount in the liquid tank 18 from the viewing window 21 under normal circumstances.

[0121] (Third embodiment) Next, a liquid recovery system 10 according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 13 to 15. As shown in Figures 13 and 14, the liquid recovery system 10 includes a liquid ejection device 11 and a liquid recovery container 120. The liquid ejection device 11 is an off-carriage type having a liquid refill-type liquid tank 18 (see Figure 14). The basic configuration of the liquid ejection device 11 is the same as that of the first embodiment. The following description will focus on the configuration of an attitude change unit 122, which is an example of a positioning unit of this embodiment, and the liquid recovery container 120.

[0122] First, the configuration of the position changer 122 will be described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. The liquid recovery system 10 includes the position changer 122. The position changer 122 positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 120 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20C (see Figure 14).

[0123] The attitude changing unit 122 is configured to be able to tilt the liquid discharger 11 into an inclined attitude. The attitude changing unit 122 positions the liquid discharger 11 placed on the liquid collection container 120 by changing the attitude of the liquid discharger 11. The attitude changing unit 122 has an inclined surface 123 formed on the upper part of the liquid collection container 120 so that the liquid discharger 11 can be placed on it. The upper surface of the liquid collection container 120 includes the inclined surface 123.

[0124] 13 and 14, when the liquid collection container 120 is placed on a horizontal placement surface, the inclined surface 123 is inclined at a predetermined angle relative to the horizontal. This inclined surface 123 serves as the placement surface on which the liquid discharger 11 is placed when recovering liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18. The position changer 122 tilts the liquid discharger 11 into an inclined position using the inclined surface 123. The inclined position to which the position changer 122 tilts the liquid discharger 11 is a position in which the liquid IL at a position corresponding to the outlet 73 in the liquid tank 18 is inclined in a direction in which the depth of the liquid IL becomes deeper at the position corresponding to the outlet 73 in the liquid tank 18. In other words, the position changer 122 tilts the position of the liquid discharger 11 to the inclined position shown in FIG. 14, in which the liquid discharger 11 is inclined in a direction in which the depth of the liquid IL at the position corresponding to the outlet 73 in the liquid tank 18 becomes deeper than when the liquid discharger 11 was in the horizontal position before tilting.

[0125] As shown in Figures 13 and 14, the liquid recovery container 120 includes a liquid recovery part 121 and a recovery port part 85. The recovery port part 85 is provided on an inclined surface 123. The liquid recovery part 121 is configured to be able to contain recovered liquid. The liquid recovery container 120 has an atmosphere communication part 88. The recovery port part 85 and the atmosphere communication part 88 communicate with the interior of the liquid recovery part 121.

[0126] 14, the liquid recovery part 121 has a recovery chamber 83 therein. The recovery chamber 83 may house a liquid holding member 84. The recovery port part 85 and the atmosphere communication part 88 communicate with the recovery chamber 83. The liquid recovery part 81 includes an inclined surface 123 on its upper surface.

[0127] The housing 20 has an opening 20C that can expose the outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18 to the outside of the housing 20. The opening 20C is formed in the bottom 20A of the housing 20. The housing 20 has the opening 20C at a position on the bottom 20A that corresponds to the outlet 73. The liquid ejection device 11 may also include a cover 46 (see FIG. 8) that covers the opening 20C.

[0128] The opening 20C serves as a passage through which the convex recovery port 85 is inserted into the housing 20. The inclined surface 123 positions the liquid ejector 11 in an inclined position that allows connection between the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 via the opening 20C that opens in the housing 20. The inclined surface 123 is formed so as to tilt the liquid ejector 11 in a direction such that the depth of the liquid IL at a position corresponding to the discharge port 73 in the liquid tank 18 when the liquid ejector 11 is placed on the inclined surface 123 is deeper than the depth of the liquid IL when the liquid ejector 11 is placed on a horizontal surface. The inclined position is a position in which the liquid ejector 11 is tilted in a direction such that the depth of the liquid IL at a position corresponding to the discharge port 73 in the liquid tank 18 is deeper than the depth when the liquid ejector 11 is in a horizontal position. When placing the liquid discharger 11 on the inclined surface 123 , the liquid discharger 11 is placed on the inclined surface 123 with the front side of the liquid discharger 11 facing the higher side of the liquid collection container 120 .

[0129] As shown in Figures 13 and 14, the recovery port 85 has a convex shape that protrudes onto the inclined surface 123 of the liquid recovery container 120. The recovery port 85 protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the inclined surface 123. For example, the recovery port 85 may have a tubular shape that protrudes upward or perpendicular to the inclined surface 123. The recovery port 85 has, for example, a needle portion 85A. The needle portion 85A protrudes in a direction that allows it to be inserted into the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 in the liquid discharge device 11 that is placed in an inclined position on the inclined surface 123.

[0130] Note that Figure 13 shows an example in which one recovery port portion 85 is provided on the inclined surface 123 of the liquid recovery container 120, but as shown in Figure 15, a configuration in which a number of recovery port portions 85 equal to the number of discharge port portions 73 of the liquid tank 18 on the liquid ejection device 11 side are provided on the inclined surface 123 may also be used.

[0131] The atmosphere communication part 88 may be provided, for example, at the upper part of the side surface of the liquid recovery part 121. The atmosphere communication part 88 may be provided anywhere on the front, side, or top surface of the liquid recovery container 120. The atmosphere communication part 88 may be provided at a position on the inclined surface 123 that does not get in the way when the liquid ejection device 11 is placed. The atmosphere communication part 88 may be provided, for example, at the bottom of a recess formed on the inclined surface 123.

[0132] 14, the liquid ejection device 11 is placed in an inclined position by being placed on the inclined surface 123. The liquid ejection device 11 is inclined at an angle corresponding to the inclination angle of the inclined surface 123. The direction in which the liquid ejection device 11 is inclined is also the direction in which the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 flows by gravity toward the discharge outlet 73. For example, the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 is nearly deepest at a position corresponding to the discharge outlet 73.

[0133] Like the first embodiment, the liquid recovery system 10 also has a positioning unit 90, which is an example of an apparatus-side positioning unit. The positioning unit 90 positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 120 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20C.

[0134] The positioning portion 90 includes a guiding portion 93 provided on at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18, and a guided portion 94 provided on the liquid collection container 120 and guided by the guiding portion 93. In this embodiment, the guiding portion 93 is provided on the housing 20. The guiding portion 93 may also be provided on the liquid tank 18. The configurations of the guiding portion 93 and the guided portion 94 are the same as those in the first embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 14 , the guiding portion 93 is convex. The guided portion 94 is concave so as to be guided by the convex guiding portion 93. The guiding portion 93 and the guided portion 94 may also have a rotation prevention function, with a convex portion and a concave portion on their respective engaging surfaces.

[0135] The guided portion 94 is guided by the guiding portion 93, thereby positioning the liquid recovery container 120 with respect to the liquid tank 18. The liquid recovery container 120 is positioned with respect to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the recovery port 85 and the discharge port 73 can be connected. When the recovery port 85 is further guided in the positioned state, the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 are connected via the opening 20C, as shown in FIG. 14 . At the time of this connection, the needle portion 85A of the recovery port 85 pushes the valve body 78 inside the discharge port 73, thereby switching the flow path of the discharge port 73 from a closed state to an open state. Through this connection, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 120.

[0136] In this embodiment, when the liquid ejection device 11 is in an inclined position, the liquid in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 120 through the connection between the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85. Because the liquid tank 18 is in an inclined position, the liquid is deepest near the position of the discharge port 73. Therefore, almost all of the liquid IL in the liquid storage chamber 55 of the liquid tank 18 is recovered into the liquid recovery container 120. The liquid recovered in the liquid recovery container 120 is held in the liquid holding member 84.

[0137] 15 is a schematic diagram showing the liquid ejection device 11, as viewed from above, placed on the inclined surface 123 of the liquid collection container 120. The center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 passes through the inclined surface 123 of the liquid collection container 120. In other words, the point directly below the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 in the inclined posture is located within the placement area PA of the bottom surface 20E of the liquid ejection device 11, which is placed on the inclined surface 123. In other words, the projection point of the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 in the inclined posture, projected in the direction of gravity Z onto an imaginary plane VP including the inclined surface 123, is included within the area of ​​the inclined surface 123.

[0138] Therefore, the liquid ejection device 11 placed on the inclined surface 123 is stably held in an inclined position. For example, if the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 is off the inclined surface 123, there is a risk that the liquid ejection device 11 will lose its position or tip over from the inclined surface 123. In contrast, because the area directly below the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 is within the placement area PA on the inclined surface 123, it is possible to prevent the liquid ejection device 11 from losing its position or tipping over from the inclined surface 123. Therefore, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be stably recovered into the liquid recovery container 120.

[0139] <Effects of the third embodiment> According to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects (1-1) to (1-6) of the first embodiment, the following effects (3-1) to (3-5) are also obtained. Note that the liquid recovery system 10 of the third embodiment, which achieves the same effect as effect (1-1), has a positioning unit 90 that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 120 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20C. Furthermore, the positioning unit 90 of the third embodiment, which achieves the same effect as effect (1-2), includes a guiding unit 93 that is included in at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18, and a guided unit 94 that is provided on the liquid recovery container 80 and is guided by the guiding unit 93.

[0140] (3-1) The liquid recovery system 10 has an attitude changing unit 122 as a positioning unit that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 120 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 20C. Therefore, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 120 while the liquid tank 18 remains fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. For example, the liquid ejection device 11 can be disposed of when there is no liquid left in the liquid tank 18.

[0141] (3-2) The liquid recovery system 10 includes an attitude changer 122 that is configured to be able to tilt the liquid ejection device 11 to an inclined attitude in a direction that increases the depth of the liquid at a position corresponding to the discharge port 73 in the liquid tank 18. With the liquid ejection device 11 in the inclined attitude, the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 120 through the connection between the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85. With this configuration, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 tends to accumulate on the side of the discharge port 73, so that more of the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered. For example, the amount of liquid leaking from the inlet port 53 of the liquid tank 18 when the liquid ejection device 11 is discarded can be further reduced.

[0142] (3-3) The attitude changing unit 122 includes an inclined surface 123 formed on the top of the liquid recovery container 120 so that the liquid ejection device 11 can be placed thereon. The liquid ejection device 11 is placed in an inclined attitude by being placed on the inclined surface 123. With this configuration, the liquid ejection device 11 is placed on the inclined surface 123 of the liquid recovery container 120, so that the liquid IL can be recovered in an inclined attitude that is inclined at an angle relative to the horizontal that makes it easy to discharge the liquid. With the simple configuration of providing the inclined surface 123 on the top (placement unit) of the liquid recovery container 120, it is easy to recover every last bit of liquid IL in the liquid tank 18.

[0143] (3-4) When the liquid ejector 11 is in the inclined position, the area PA of the bottom surface 20E of the liquid ejector 11 that is placed on the inclined surface 123 is located directly below the center of gravity G of the liquid ejector 11. This prevents the liquid ejector 11 in the inclined position from losing balance on the inclined surface 123 and tilting to an inappropriate position.

[0144] (3-5) The liquid recovery container 120 includes a liquid recovery unit 121 and a recovery port 85. The liquid recovery unit 121 is configured to be able to store the liquid IL recovered from the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. The recovery port 85 communicates with the liquid recovery unit 121. The liquid recovery unit 121 has an inclined surface 123 on which the liquid ejection device 11 can be placed in an inclined position. The inclined surface 123 positions the liquid ejection device 11 in an inclined position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via an opening 20C that opens into the housing 20. The inclined position is a position in which the liquid ejection device 11 is tilted such that the depth of the position of the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 that corresponds to the discharge port 73 is deeper than the depth when the liquid ejection device 11 is in a horizontal position. The projection point of the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 in an inclined position, projected in the direction of gravity Z onto an imaginary plane VP including the inclined surface 123, is included within the area of ​​the inclined surface 123. According to this configuration, liquid is recovered with the liquid ejection device 11 placed on the inclined surface 123 of the liquid recovery container 120. At this time, the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 placed on the inclined surface 123 does not deviate from the inclined surface 123. This prevents the liquid ejection device 11 from being placed in an unstable state on the inclined surface 123 due to the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 being deviated from the inclined surface 123. For example, it is possible to prevent the liquid ejection device 11 on the inclined surface 123 from tilting into an improper position.

[0145] (Fourth embodiment) Next, a liquid recovery system 10 of a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 16 and 17. While the liquid recovery system 10 of the third embodiment tilts the liquid discharger 11 into an inclined position, the liquid recovery system 10 of this embodiment is configured to tilt the liquid tank 18 into an inclined position. The configuration of the position changer 125, which is an example of a positioning unit, differs from the position changer 122 of the third embodiment. Therefore, the following description will focus on the configuration of the position changer 125. Note that Figure 16 shows the liquid discharger 11 of the fourth embodiment.

[0146] The housing 20 has openings 20B, 127A that can expose the discharge outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18 to the outside of the housing 20. The housing 20 has an opening 20B in its bottom 20A. The opening 20B is formed to a size that allows at least a portion of the liquid recovery container 130 to enter the housing 20. In this embodiment, the opening 20B has an opening size that allows almost the entire liquid recovery container 130 to enter the housing 20. The housing 20 also has a movable support 127 that forms a part of it. The support 127 forms a part of the bottom 20A. The liquid tank 18 is fixed to the support 127. The support 127 has an opening 127A. The opening 127A serves as a passage when the convex recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 130 is connected to the discharge outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18.

[0147] As shown in FIG. 16, a cover 45 that covers the opening 20B may be provided on the bottom 20A of the housing 20. The cover 45 has basically the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 6, except that it is sized to cover the opening 20B, the opening area of ​​which corresponds to the size of the liquid collection container 80. The cover 45 has a lid portion 45A and a flange portion 45B. Normally, the cover 45 is in a state in which it covers the opening 20B, as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 16. When collecting the liquid in the liquid tank 18, the cover 45 is removed from the housing 20. The cover 45 may be plate-shaped, or may not have the flange portion 45B. The cover 45 may have an engaging portion, such as a snap fit, that engages with the housing 20. The engaging portion may have an operating portion that is operated by the user to release the engaging portion.

[0148] As shown in FIG. 17, the liquid recovery system 10 comprises a liquid discharger 11 having a liquid tank 18, and a liquid recovery container 130 that recovers liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18. The liquid recovery system 10 also comprises an attitude changer 125 that changes the attitude of the liquid tank 18. While the attitude changer 122 in the third embodiment tilted the liquid discharger 11, the attitude changer 125 in this embodiment tilts only the liquid tank 18. As in the third embodiment, the liquid recovery system 10 also comprises two types of positioning units. One of the positioning units is the attitude changer 125 that is configured to be able to position the liquid tank 18 in a position suitable for liquid recovery. The other is the positioning unit 90.

[0149] The liquid ejection device 11 has an apparatus-side positioning portion that positions the liquid collection container 80 at a position where the collection port portion 85 on the liquid collection container 80 side can be connected to the discharge port portion 73. The positioning portion 90 has an apparatus-side positioning portion and a container-side positioning portion. The apparatus-side positioning portion is a guide portion 73A, and the container-side positioning portion may be a guided portion that is guided by the guide portion 73A. The guide portion 73A, which is the apparatus-side positioning portion, is a cylindrical portion of the discharge port portion 73.

[0150] First, the configuration of the attitude changer 125 will be described. As shown in Figure 17, the liquid recovery system 10 includes an attitude changer 125 that is configured to be able to tilt the liquid tank 18 into an inclined attitude. The attitude changer 125 is configured to be able to tilt the liquid tank 18 from a horizontal attitude to an inclined attitude within the housing 20. The attitude changer 125 includes a tilting mechanism 126 that supports the liquid tank 18 so that it can tilt, and an inclined surface 132 of the liquid recovery container 130. Here, the horizontal attitude is the attitude of the liquid tank 18 when the liquid ejection device 11 is used for printing. The inclined attitude is the attitude when recovering the liquid IL from the liquid tank 18.

[0151] As shown in FIG. 17 , the tilting mechanism 126 includes a support part 127 that supports the liquid tank 18, and a rotation shaft 128 that supports the support part 127 rotatably relative to the bottom part 20A of the housing 20. The support part 127 is rotatable around the rotation shaft 128 within a predetermined angular range. The support part 127 may have an operating lever 129. At least a portion of the operating lever 129 extends outward from an opening in the side of the housing 20. The user may be able to adjust the tilt angle of the liquid tank 18 fixed to the support part 127 by operating the operating lever 129 from outside the housing 20.

[0152] The position changer 125 tilts the liquid tank 18 to an inclined position such that the depth of a position corresponding to the discharge outlet 73 of the liquid IL within the liquid tank 18 becomes deeper than the depth when the liquid tank 18 is in the horizontal position. The liquid collection container 130 has an inclined surface 132 on whose upper surface the support part 127 to which the liquid tank 18 is fixed is placed. The inclined surface 132 is a placement surface on which the liquid tank 18 is placed in an inclined position via the support part 127. The position changer 125 includes the inclined surface 132 formed on the upper part of the liquid collection container 130 so that the liquid tank 18 can be placed thereon.

[0153] The inclined surface 132 is a surface that is inclined at a predetermined angle relative to the horizontal when the liquid recovery container 130 is placed on a horizontal surface. In other words, when the liquid recovery container 130 is placed on a horizontal placement surface, the liquid recovery container 130 has an inclined surface 132 on its upper surface that is inclined relative to the horizontal. This inclined surface 132 is used as a placement surface on which the liquid tank 18 is placed when recovering liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18. This inclination angle is an angle that makes it easy to drain all of the liquid IL from the liquid tank 18. The inclination angle is an acute angle. The inclination angle can be changed as appropriate.

[0154] As shown in FIG. 17 , the liquid recovery container 130 includes a liquid recovery part 131 and a recovery port 85. The recovery port 85 is provided on an inclined surface 132. The liquid recovery part 131 is configured to be able to contain recovered liquid. The liquid recovery container 130 has an atmosphere communication part 88. The recovery port 85 and the atmosphere communication part 88 communicate with the interior of the liquid recovery part 121. The liquid recovery part 121 has a recovery chamber 83 therein. The recovery chamber 83 may contain a liquid holding member 84. The recovery port 85 and the atmosphere communication part 88 communicate with the recovery chamber 83. The liquid recovery part 81 includes an inclined surface 132 on its upper surface. Although the object to be placed on the inclined surface 132 differs from that in the third embodiment, the inclination angle thereof is set for the same reason. The position changer 125 is configured to be able to tilt the liquid tank 18 to an inclined position in which the liquid is inclined in a direction that increases the depth of the liquid at a position corresponding to the outlet 73 in the liquid tank 18. The inclined surface 132 that constitutes the position changer 125 is formed at an inclination angle that allows the liquid tank 18 to be tilted to an inclined position in which the liquid is inclined in a direction that increases the depth of the liquid at a position corresponding to the outlet 73 in the liquid tank 18.

[0155] The liquid tank 18 is placed in an inclined position by being placed on the inclined surface 132. With the liquid tank 18 in an inclined position, the liquid in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 130 through the connection between the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85.

[0156] Next, the positioning unit 90 will be described. As shown in FIG. 17 , the positioning unit 90 positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 130 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 127A. The positioning unit 90 includes a guiding portion 73A of the liquid tank 18 and a guided portion 95 that is provided on the liquid recovery container 130 and guided by the guiding portion 73A. For example, the guiding portion 73A is cylindrical. For example, the guided portion 95 is cylindrical with an inner diameter that allows the guiding portion 73A to be inserted therein. The guiding portion 73A and the guided portion 95 may have a rotation prevention function, with a protrusion and a recess on their respective surfaces that engage with each other. The liquid recovery container 130 is positioned with respect to the liquid tank 18 by the guided portion 95 being guided by the guiding portion 73A. The positioning unit 90 positions the liquid recovery container 130 relative to the support unit 127, which is part of the housing 20 to which the liquid tank 18 is fixed, at a position where the recovery port 85 and the discharge port 73 can be connected via the opening 127A. With this positioning, the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 130 is connected to the discharge port 73 of the liquid tank 18 via the opening 127A. As a result, the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 are connected via the opening 127A. During this connection, the needle 85A of the recovery port 85 presses the valve element 78 inside the discharge port 73, switching the flow path of the discharge port 73 from a closed state to an open state. Through this connection, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 130.

[0157] In this embodiment, when the liquid tank 18 is in an inclined position, the liquid in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 130 through the connection between the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85. Because the liquid tank 18 is in an inclined position, the liquid in the liquid tank 18 is deepest near the position of the discharge port 73. Therefore, almost all of the liquid IL in the liquid storage chamber 55 of the liquid tank 18 is recovered into the liquid recovery container 130. The liquid recovered in the liquid recovery container 130 is held in the liquid holding member 84.

[0158] <Effects of the Fourth Embodiment> According to the fourth embodiment, in addition to obtaining the same effects as effects (1-1) to (1-6) of the first embodiment, the following effects (4-1) to (4-4) are also obtained. Note that the liquid recovery system 10 of the fourth embodiment, which obtains the same effect as effect (1-1), has a positioning unit 90 that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 130 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening 127A. Furthermore, the positioning unit 90 of the fourth embodiment, which obtains the same effect as effect (1-2), includes a guiding unit 73A that is included in at least one of the housing 20 and the liquid tank 18, and a guided unit 95 that is provided on the liquid recovery container 80 and is guided by the guiding unit 73A.

[0159] (4-1) The liquid recovery system 10 has an attitude changing unit 125 as a positioning unit that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container 130 and the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the openings 20B, 127A. Therefore, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered into the liquid recovery container 130 while the liquid tank 18 remains fixed to the housing 20 of the liquid ejection device 11. For example, the liquid ejection device 11 can be disposed of when there is no liquid left in the liquid tank 18.

[0160] (4-2) The liquid recovery system 10 includes an attitude changer 125 that is configured to be able to tilt the liquid tank 18 to an inclined attitude in a direction that deepens the liquid at a position corresponding to the discharge port 73 in the liquid tank 18. With the liquid tank 18 in an inclined attitude, the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid recovery container 130 through the connection between the discharge port 73 and the recovery port 85. With this configuration, the liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18 tends to accumulate on the side of the discharge port 73, so that more of the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 can be recovered. For example, the amount of liquid leaking from the inlet port 53 of the liquid tank 18 when the liquid ejection device 11 is disposed of can be further reduced.

[0161] (4-3) The posture changer 125 includes an inclined surface 132 formed on the top of the liquid recovery container 130 so that the liquid tank 18 can be placed thereon. The liquid tank 18 is placed in an inclined posture by being placed on the inclined surface 132. With this configuration, the liquid tank 18 is placed on the inclined surface 132 of the liquid recovery container 130, so that the liquid IL can be recovered in an inclined posture that is inclined at an angle relative to the horizontal that makes it easy to discharge the liquid. For example, when there is little liquid IL remaining in the liquid tank 18, it is easy to recover the liquid to the last drop. Furthermore, compared to the configuration of the third embodiment in which the liquid ejection device 11 is placed on the inclined surface 123, there is no need to worry about the liquid ejection device 11 tilting into an unstable posture.

[0162] (4-4) The attitude changing unit 125 includes a tilting mechanism 126 that supports the liquid tank 18 so that it can be tilted relative to the housing 20. Therefore, the liquid tank 18 of the liquid ejection device 11 can be selectively placed on the inclined surface 132 of the liquid recovery container 130. Therefore, it is possible to recover more of the liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 without having to worry about the liquid ejection device 11 losing its attitude.

[0163] (Fifth embodiment) Next, five embodiments characterized by the configuration of the liquid recovery container 80 will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21. The liquid ejection device 11 and the liquid tank 18 are the same as those in the above-described embodiments. The following description will be given using the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped liquid recovery container 80 of the first embodiment as an example. However, the present invention may also be applied to a liquid recovery container 80 in which the recovery port 85 extends laterally as in the second embodiment, or to liquid recovery containers 120, 130 having an exterior shape with inclined surfaces 123, 132 as in the third and fourth embodiments. The following description will focus on the characteristic configuration of the liquid recovery container 80, with the liquid tank 18 being given the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment and detailed description thereof being omitted. Note that the positioning unit 90 will be described as an example in which the device-side positioning unit is a guide unit 73A formed by a cylindrical portion, and the container-side positioning unit is a guided unit formed by a cylindrical portion 85B. However, the positioning unit 90 may have other configurations.

[0164] There are two types of configurations for liquid recovery container 80 in the fifth embodiment. One is a liquid recovery container 80 of a first example that has one recovery chamber 83 that can commonly contain liquid recovered from multiple liquid tanks 18. The other is a liquid recovery container 80 of a second example that has multiple recovery chambers 83 that can individually contain liquid recovered from multiple liquid tanks 18. Note that the housing 20 is omitted from Figures 18 to 21.

[0165] <First Example> First, the liquid collection container 80 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 18, the interior of the liquid collection container 80 is formed as a single space as a whole. The liquid collection container 80 has one collection chamber 83. A liquid holding member 84 may be enclosed in the collection chamber 83.

[0166] The liquid recovery container 80 has a plurality of recovery ports 85, the number of which is equal to or less than the number of liquid tanks 18. The number of recovery ports 85 may, for example, be the same as the number of liquid tanks 18. The plurality of recovery ports 85 are provided at intervals in the width direction X on the upper surface of the liquid recovery unit. These intervals correspond to the width dimensions of the plurality of liquid tanks 18. In other words, these intervals correspond to the intervals between the plurality of discharge port portions 73. Therefore, a plurality of liquid tanks 18 can be connected to the liquid recovery container 80 at the same time. At least one of the positioning portions 90 is composed of a guiding portion 73A made up of a cylindrical portion of the discharge port portion 73, and a guided portion made up of a cylindrical portion 85B of the recovery port portion 85 guided by the guiding portion 73A.

[0167] 18, the volume V1 of liquid that can be recovered in the recovery chamber 83 is larger than the total liquid volume V2, which is the total amount of liquid that can be held in the multiple liquid tanks 18. The volume V2a of liquid that can be held in the liquid tank 18A is taken as the volume V2a, and the volume V2b of liquid that can be held in the liquid tank 18B is taken as the volume V1 of the liquid recovery container 80 may be set to a value larger than the total liquid volume V2 (=V2a+4*V2b), which is the total volume of liquid that can be held in the multiple liquid tanks 18. Note that volume V1 is the volume of liquid excluding the volume of the liquid holding member 84.

[0168] As shown in FIG. 19, multiple liquid tanks 18 are connected together to a liquid recovery container 80. The discharge outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18 and the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 are connected via openings 20B and 20C (see FIGS. 7 and 9, etc.). Then, the valve element 78 is pressed by the needle 85A and displaces from the valve closed position to the valve open position, thereby connecting the discharge outlet 73 and the recovery port 85. The liquid in the liquid tanks 18 is recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 by hydraulic head pressure. Almost all of the liquid in the multiple liquid tanks 18 is recovered into a single recovery chamber 83. Even if all of the multiple liquid tanks 18 are full, the liquid recovery container 80 can recover all of the liquid into the recovery chamber 83. The liquid recovered in the liquid recovery container 80 is absorbed by the liquid holding member 84. Therefore, even if the liquid recovery container 80 is tilted, the liquid will not leak. The user discards the liquid discharger 11 when the liquid tank 18 is empty.

[0169] (Second Example) Next, a liquid recovery container 80 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. The configurations of the multiple recovery ports 85 and the positioning unit 90 are the same as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 18. The interior of the liquid recovery container 80 is partitioned into multiple recovery chambers 83 by partitions 86. The number of recovery chambers 83 is the same as the number of liquid tanks 18. The multiple recovery chambers 83 are connected to multiple recovery ports 85 protruding from the upper portion 81A of the liquid recovery unit 81, with the recovery chambers 83 located in corresponding vertical positions. The liquid recovery container 80 can be simultaneously connected to multiple liquid tanks 18 via connections between the discharge ports 73 and the recovery ports 85, which are each provided at equal intervals in the width direction X. An atmosphere communication unit 88 (see FIGS. 7 and 9) is provided for each recovery chamber 83 and communicates with the recovery chamber 83 at a position above the liquid level when the maximum amount of recovered liquid is collected.

[0170] 20, the volumes V1a and V1b of the plurality of recovery chambers 83 that can contain liquid are set to be larger than the volumes V2a and V2b of the plurality of liquid tanks 18 that can contain liquid. Here, the volume V2a that can be contained in the liquid tank 18A is taken as the volume V2a, and the volume V2b that can be contained in the liquid tank 18B is taken as the volume V1a. The volume V1a of the first recovery chamber 83A in the liquid recovery container 80 is larger than the volume V2a of the liquid tank 18A. Furthermore, the volume V1b of the second recovery chamber 83B in the liquid recovery container 80 may be set to a value larger than the volume V2b of the liquid tank 18B. Note that the plurality of recovery chambers 83 do not contain liquid holding members 84.

[0171] The liquid recovery container 80 of this embodiment has the function of returning the liquid recovered from the liquid tank 18 back to the liquid tank 18. In addition to being used to recover the liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18, it can also be used when it is necessary to temporarily drain the liquid from the liquid tank 18 due to reasons such as transportation or maintenance of the liquid ejection device 11.

[0172] As shown in FIG. 20 , the liquid recovery container 80 has a liquid re-supply unit 87 that functions as a liquid supply port that returns the liquid recovered in the recovery chamber 83 to the liquid tank 18. The liquid re-supply unit 87 is provided at the bottom of the liquid recovery unit 81 and is configured to be connectable to the injection port 53. The liquid re-supply unit 87 has a tubular portion 87A and a valve 89. The tubular portion 87A is formed with an inner diameter dimension that allows it to be connected to the injection port 53 on the liquid tank 18 side. The valve 89 can open and close the flow path of the liquid re-supply unit 87. When the liquid re-supply unit 87 is connected to the injection port 53 of the liquid tank 18, the valve 89 switches from a closed state to an open state. When the liquid re-supply unit 87 is detached from the injection port 53, the valve 89 switches from an open state to a closed state due to a biasing force. The liquid re-supply unit 87 may also be provided at the bottom of the side of the liquid recovery unit 81.

[0173] As shown in FIG. 21 , the multiple liquid tanks 18 and the liquid collection container 80 are connected by connecting the multiple discharge port portions 73 and the multiple recovery port portions 85 via openings 20B, 20C (FIGS. 7, 9, etc.). Then, the valve element 78, pressed by the needle portion 85A, is displaced from the valve closed position to the valve open position, thereby connecting the discharge port portion 73 and the recovery port portion 85. The liquid in the liquid tank 18 moves to the liquid collection container 80 by hydraulic head pressure and is collected in the liquid collection container 80. The liquid in the multiple liquid tanks 18 is collected in multiple collection chambers 83 according to the type of liquid (for example, color). Note that the liquid in the multiple liquid tanks 18 may be collected into the liquid collection container 80 in units of a few or one at a time, less than the total number.

[0174] After the liquid recovery is completed, maintenance or transportation of the liquid ejection device 11 is performed. After the maintenance or transportation is completed, the user returns the liquid in the liquid recovery container 80 to the liquid tank .

[0175] The liquid re-supply unit 87 of the liquid recovery container 80 is connected to the inlet 53 of the liquid tank 18. At this time, the inlet 53 presses the valve 89, switching the valve 89 from a closed state to an open state. As a result, the liquid in the liquid recovery container 80 moves through the liquid flow path 57 into the liquid tank 18 due to hydraulic head pressure. In this way, the liquid in the liquid recovery container 80 is returned to the liquid tank 18. When the liquid re-supply unit 87 is removed from the inlet 53, the biasing force switches the valve 89 from an open state to a closed state. Leakage of liquid from the liquid re-supply unit 87 is suppressed both during liquid recovery by the liquid recovery container 80 and in the process of returning the liquid to the liquid tank 18 after liquid recovery. Note that a plurality of liquid recovery containers 80, or one at a time, may be connected to the liquid tank 18, less than the total number of containers.

[0176] <Effects of the Fifth Embodiment> According to the fifth embodiment, in addition to the effects of the previous embodiments, the following effects are also obtained.

[0177] (5-1) The liquid recovery container 80 has one recovery chamber 83 that can commonly store liquid recovered from multiple liquid tanks 18, or has multiple recovery chambers 83 that can individually store liquid recovered from multiple liquid tanks 18. With this configuration, the liquid in multiple liquid tanks 18 can be recovered into a common liquid recovery container 80, making the liquid recovery container easier to handle than when liquid in multiple liquid tanks is individually recovered to individual recovery destinations.

[0178] (5-2) When the liquid recovery container 80 is configured to have multiple recovery chambers 83, the recovered liquid can be reused by returning it to the recovery source or to another liquid tank 18. The liquid recovery container 80 can be used when temporarily recovering liquid remaining in the liquid tank 18 during maintenance or transportation of the liquid ejection device 11.

[0179] The above embodiment can be modified as shown in the following modified examples. Furthermore, the above embodiment and the modified examples shown below can be appropriately combined to form further modified examples, or the modified examples shown below can be appropriately combined to form further modified examples.

[0180] In the first embodiment, an opening may be provided in the front of the housing 20. For example, an opening may be provided in the front of the housing 20 below the viewing window 21. The opening may be covered with a cover. This opening is located opposite the discharge port 75 (see FIG. 5) of the liquid tank 18. With this configuration, when recovering liquid, the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 can be connected via the opening to the discharge port 75 that is exposed at the opening when the cover is removed. Furthermore, a positioning portion 90 may be provided. With this configuration, the liquid recovery container 80 can be positioned relative to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the discharge port 75 and the recovery port 85 can be connected via the opening.

[0181] In the first embodiment, when an opening is provided in the front portion of the housing 20, the opening may or may not be the viewing window 21. For example, a notch extending downward to a position facing the discharge port 75 may be provided so that the viewing window 21 faces the discharge port 75. Alternatively, an opening may be provided below the viewing window 21 at a position corresponding to the discharge port 75. In these cases, the discharge port 75 may be hidden by covering the notch or opening with a cover. The liquid recovery system 10 may include a positioning unit 90 that can position the liquid recovery container 80 relative to the liquid tank 18 at a position where the recovery port 85 and the discharge port 75 can be connected via the viewing window 21 or the opening. For example, the positioning unit 90 may be configured to include a guide unit provided in the front portion of the housing 20 or the liquid tank 18 and a guided unit provided around the recovery port 85 of the liquid recovery container 80. A configuration in which the guide unit on the housing 20 or the liquid tank 18 side is exposed when the cover is removed may also be used.

[0182] In the second embodiment, the movable mechanism 101 is not limited to a lifting mechanism using the link mechanism 102, and other known lifting mechanisms capable of raising and lowering the liquid tank 18 may be used. For example, a lifting mechanism capable of raising and lowering the liquid tank 18 along a lifting rail may be used. In this case, the driving source may be a motor or a cylinder. If a motor is used, the power transmission mechanism may be a belt type, chain type, wire type, ball shaft type, or the like. The movable mechanism 101 may also be a manual type.

[0183] In the second embodiment, a tilting mechanism may be provided that tilts the liquid tank 18 so that the outlet 75 side is lower after the liquid tank 18 has risen to the second position P2. For example, the liquid tank 18 may be tilted counterclockwise in FIG. 11 around a rotation axis near the outlet 75. The tilted liquid tank 18 assumes an inclined position in which the depth of the liquid IL at a position corresponding to the outlet 75 is deeper than when the liquid tank 18 is in a horizontal position. The outlet 75 may protrude horizontally from the front surface of the liquid tank 18 when the liquid tank 18 assumes an inclined position. This facilitates connection because the recovery port 85 and the outlet 75 can be connected by moving the liquid collection container 80 horizontally toward the liquid tank 18.

[0184] In the third embodiment, the liquid recovery container 120 may be configured so that the mounting area PA is not located directly below the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11. For example, one or more auxiliary stands with inclined surfaces may be provided. The liquid ejection device 11 may be placed on multiple inclined surfaces, straddling the liquid recovery container 120 and the auxiliary stand. The auxiliary stand may also be connected to the liquid recovery container 120 via rails, allowing it to move toward and away from the liquid recovery container 120. By separating the liquid recovery container 120 and the auxiliary stand during liquid recovery, the liquid ejection device 11 may be placed on two spaced-apart inclined surfaces. With these configurations, even if the area directly below the center of gravity G of the liquid ejection device 11 is not within the mounting area PA on the inclined surface 123, the liquid ejection device 11 can be maintained in a stable inclined posture.

[0185] In the third and fourth embodiments, the direction in which the liquid ejection device 11 and the liquid tank 18 are tilted may be set appropriately depending on the position of the outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18. For example, if the outlet 75 is located at the front end of the bottom surface 51A, the liquid ejection device 11 and the liquid tank 18 may be tilted in the opposite direction to that shown in Figures 14 and 17.

[0186] In the fifth embodiment, the liquid re-supply unit 87 may be eliminated from the liquid recovery container 80. For example, the recovery port 85 may be configured to be connectable to both the discharge port 73 and the injection port 53, and the liquid recovery container 80 may be in an upside-down position with the recovery port 85 connected to the injection port 53, returning the liquid in the liquid recovery container 80 to the liquid tank 18.

[0187] In the fifth embodiment, the number of recovery ports 85 and recovery chambers 83 in the liquid recovery container 80 may be less than the number of liquid tanks 18 or may be greater than the number of liquid tanks 18 .

[0188] In each of the above embodiments, a pump may be provided in the liquid recovery container 80. The liquid IL in the liquid tank 18 may be recovered into the liquid recovery container 80 by both hydraulic head pressure and the suction force of the pump. The positional relationship between the liquid storage chamber 55 and the recovery chamber 83 in the direction of gravity Z may be such that no hydraulic head pressure acts, as long as the liquid can be recovered by the suction force of the pump. For example, the recovery chamber 83 may be located at the same height as the liquid storage chamber 55, or at a higher position than the liquid storage chamber 55.

[0189] In each of the above embodiments, the opening may be formed by removing the entire bottom portion 20A from the housing 20. In this case, the fixed portion 76 and the regulated portion 77 in the first embodiment, and the rotation shaft 128 in the fourth embodiment, etc., are supported by a frame separate from the bottom portion 20A. When the cover that also serves as the bottom portion 20A is removed from the housing 20, the discharge port portion 73 is exposed from the opening. Even with such an opening, the discharge port portion 73 of the liquid tank 18 and the recovery port portion 85 of the liquid recovery container 80 can be connected via the opening.

[0190] The liquid recovery containers 80, 120, 130 may be provided with a sealing member that is detachably attached to the recovery port 85. The sealing member may be a cap member that seals the connection port of the recovery port 85. The sealing member can prevent the liquid inside the liquid recovery container 80 from leaking.

[0191] In each of the above-described embodiments, the on-off valve having the valve element 78 biased outward within the discharge port portion 73, 75 may be a manual on-off valve that is manually operated to open and close, or may be an electrically operated on-off valve that also has the function of a manual on-off valve.

[0192] Although the liquid ejection device 11 in the above embodiment is provided with multiple liquid tanks 18, the liquid ejection device 11 may be provided with only one liquid tank 18. For example, one liquid tank 18 may contain black ink as liquid, and the liquid ejection device 11 may be a printer dedicated to monochrome printing.

[0193] The liquid holding member 84 is not limited to nonwoven fabric or porous material, but may be a superabsorbent polymer (SAP). In each embodiment, the destination for collecting the liquid discharged from the outlet 73 of the liquid tank 18 is not limited to the liquid collection container 80, 120, or 130. For example, it may be another container provided by the manufacturer or prepared by the user. The other container may be, for example, an empty liquid bottle 34, a paper cup with a cap, a bottle with a stopper, a plastic bottle, etc.

[0194] In the liquid ejection device 11, the position of the liquid tank 18 is not limited to the front right side of the housing 20. For example, it may be on the front left side of the housing 20. Also, multiple liquid tanks 18 may be arranged on the left and right sides of the front of the housing 20. Furthermore, the liquid tank 18 may be arranged on the side or rear of the housing 20. Also, although the housing 20 in the above embodiment has a shape that protrudes at the portion of the storage section 19 in which the liquid tank 18 is stored, it may also have a shape that does not protrude at the portion of the storage section 19, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

[0195] The liquid ejection device 11 is not limited to an inkjet printer that prints on paper, but may also be a textile printing device. The medium M onto which the liquid ejection device 11 ejects liquid is not limited to paper or fabric, but may also be a synthetic resin film, a laminated medium including a synthetic resin layer and a metal layer, or a metal foil.

[0196] The liquid ejection device 11 may be a liquid ejection device that ejects liquids other than ink. The state of the liquid ejected as minute droplets from the liquid ejection device includes granular, teardrop-like, and string-like tails. The liquid referred to here may be any material that can be ejected from the liquid ejection device. For example, the liquid may be any state in which a substance is in a liquid phase, including fluids such as high or low viscosity liquids, sols, gel water, other inorganic solvents, organic solvents, solutions, liquid resins, and liquid metals (metal melts). The liquid includes not only liquids as a single state of matter, but also particles of functional materials made of solids such as pigments and metal particles dissolved, dispersed, or mixed in a solvent. Representative examples of liquids include inks and liquid crystals, as described in the above embodiments. Here, ink includes various liquid compositions such as general water-based inks and oil-based inks, as well as gel inks and hot-melt inks. Specific examples of liquid ejection devices include devices that eject liquids containing dispersed or dissolved materials such as electrode materials and color materials used in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays, electroluminescent (EL) displays, surface-emitting displays, and color filters. The liquid ejection device may also be a device that ejects bioorganic materials used in biochip manufacturing, a device used as a precision pipette to eject sample liquids, a textile printing device, a microdispenser, or the like. The liquid ejection device may also be a device that ejects lubricating oil with pinpoint accuracy onto precision machinery such as watches and cameras, or a device that ejects transparent resin liquids such as ultraviolet-curing resins onto substrates to form microscopic hemispherical lenses (optical lenses) used in optical communication devices, etc. The liquid ejection device may also be a device that ejects etching liquids such as acids or alkalis to etch substrates, etc. A liquid recovery system 10 including such a liquid ejection device and a liquid recovery container may also include positioning units 90, 100, attitude change units 122, 125, etc.

[0197] The technical concepts and effects that can be understood from the above-described embodiment and modified examples will be described below. (A) A liquid ejection device includes a liquid tank having an inlet into which liquid can be injected, a liquid ejection unit that ejects the liquid supplied from the liquid tank, and a housing that houses the liquid ejection unit and the liquid tank, wherein the liquid tank has an outlet through which liquid can be discharged to the outside, and the housing has an opening that exposes the outlet of the liquid tank to the outside of the housing. With this configuration, liquid in the liquid tank can be recovered from the outlet through the opening to the outside of the housing. Liquid remaining in the liquid tank can be recovered to the outside of the housing while the liquid tank remains fixed to the housing of the liquid ejection device.

[0198] (B) In the liquid ejection device described in (A) above, the opening may be formed in the bottom of the housing. With this configuration, liquid remaining in the liquid tank can be recovered through the opening in the bottom of the housing.

[0199] (C) The liquid ejection device described in (B) above may have a cover that covers the opening. With this configuration, the opening of the housing is covered by the cover, which prevents dust and other particles from entering the housing through the opening during normal operation other than when liquid is being collected from the liquid tank. For example, even if liquid leaks from outlet 73 of the liquid tank for some reason, it is easy to prevent the leaked liquid from flowing out of the housing.

[0200] (D) The liquid ejection device described in any one of (A) to (C) above may be configured such that a recovery port of the liquid recovery container is connected to the discharge port via the opening, and may further include an apparatus-side positioning unit that positions the liquid recovery container at a position where the recovery port can be connected to the discharge port. With this configuration, the liquid remaining in the liquid tank can be recovered into the liquid recovery container while the liquid tank remains fixed to the housing of the liquid ejection device. For example, the liquid ejection device can be disposed of without any liquid remaining in the liquid tank.

[0201] (E) A liquid recovery system includes a liquid ejection device having a liquid tank with an inlet through which liquid can be injected, and a liquid recovery container. The liquid ejection device includes a liquid ejection unit that ejects liquid supplied from the liquid tank, and a housing that houses the liquid ejection unit and the liquid tank. The liquid tank has an outlet through which liquid can be discharged to the outside, the liquid recovery container has a recovery port that can be connected to the outlet, and the housing has an opening that exposes the outlet of the liquid tank to the outside of the housing, and a positioning unit that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container and the liquid tank at a position where the outlet and the recovery port can be connected via the opening. With this configuration, liquid remaining in the liquid tank can be recovered into the liquid recovery container while the liquid tank is fixed to the housing of the liquid ejection device. For example, the liquid ejection device can be disposed of without any liquid remaining in the liquid tank.

[0202] (F) In the liquid recovery system described in (E) above, the positioning unit may include a guiding unit provided on at least one of the housing and the liquid tank, and a guided unit provided on the liquid recovery container and guided by the guiding unit, the guided unit being guided by the guiding unit to position the liquid recovery container relative to the liquid tank, thereby connecting the discharge outlet and the recovery port via the opening, and liquid remaining in the liquid tank being moved to the liquid recovery container through this connection. With this configuration, the guided unit being guided by the guiding unit can position at least one of the liquid tank and the liquid recovery container fixed to the housing to a position where the discharge outlet and the recovery port can be connected.

[0203] (G) In the liquid recovery system described in (E) or (F) above, the liquid tank may be multiple, and the liquid recovery container may have a single recovery chamber that can commonly accommodate the liquid recovered from the multiple liquid tanks, or may have multiple recovery chambers that can individually accommodate the liquid recovered from the multiple liquid tanks. With this configuration, the liquid in the multiple liquid tanks can be recovered into a common liquid recovery container, making it easier to handle the liquid recovery container than if the liquid in the multiple liquid tanks were individually recovered to individual recovery destinations.

[0204] (H) In the liquid recovery system described in any one of (E) to (G) above, the opening may be a viewing window that opens into the housing so that the amount of liquid in the liquid tank can be visually confirmed. With this configuration, the viewing window that opens into the housing can be used to recover liquid remaining in the liquid tank into a liquid recovery container. For example, this eliminates the need to provide an opening in the housing specifically for liquid recovery.

[0205] (I) In the liquid recovery system described in (H) above, the positioning unit may be a movable mechanism that moves the liquid tank from a first position, where the discharge outlet is not exposed through the viewing window, to a second position, where the discharge outlet is exposed through the viewing window. According to this configuration, the movable mechanism moves the liquid tank from a normal position, where the discharge outlet is not exposed through the viewing window, to a recovery position, where the discharge outlet is exposed through the viewing window. Therefore, the visibility of the amount of liquid in the liquid tank through the viewing window in normal conditions is not impaired, and the liquid remaining in the liquid tank can be recovered into a liquid recovery container using the viewing window.

[0206] (J) The liquid recovery system described in any one of (E) to (G) above may further include an attitude changer configured to be able to tilt the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank into an inclined attitude in a direction in which the depth of the liquid at the position corresponding to the outlet in the liquid tank becomes deeper, and while the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank is in the inclined attitude, the liquid in the liquid tank moves to the liquid recovery container through the connection between the outlet and the recovery port. With this configuration, the liquid remaining in the liquid tank is more likely to accumulate on the outlet side, making it possible to recover more liquid from the liquid tank.

[0207] (K) In the liquid recovery system described in (J) above, the attitude changing unit may include an inclined surface formed on an upper portion of the liquid recovery container so that the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank can be placed thereon, and the liquid ejection device may be placed in the inclined attitude by being placed on the inclined surface. With this configuration, the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank is placed on the inclined surface of the liquid recovery container, so that the liquid can be recovered in an inclined attitude that is inclined at an angle relative to the horizontal that makes it easy to discharge the liquid.

[0208] (L) In the liquid recovery system described in (K) above, the attitude changing unit may be configured to place the liquid ejection device on the inclined surface, and the liquid ejection device in the inclined position may have a center of gravity directly below the center of gravity located within a mounting area of ​​the bottom surface of the liquid ejection device that is mounted on the inclined surface. With this configuration, the liquid ejection device placed on the inclined surface of the liquid recovery container tilts to an inclined position. The center of gravity of the liquid ejection device is located within the mounting area of ​​the liquid ejection device placed on the inclined surface. This prevents the liquid ejection device in the inclined position from losing balance and tipping over from the inclined surface or tilting to an inappropriate position.

[0209] (M) In the liquid recovery system described in (K) above, the position changer may be configured to place the liquid tank on the inclined surface, and the position changer may include a tilting mechanism that supports the liquid tank so that it can tilt relative to the housing. With this configuration, the liquid tank of the liquid ejection device can be selectively placed on the inclined surface of the liquid recovery container. This allows more liquid to be recovered from the liquid tank without worrying about the liquid ejection device losing its position.

[0210] (N) A liquid recovery container for a liquid ejection device that houses a liquid ejection unit and a liquid tank in a housing, the liquid recovery container recovers liquid remaining in the liquid tank, the liquid recovery container comprising: a liquid recovery unit configured to be able to store liquid recovered from an outlet portion of the liquid tank fixed to the housing of the liquid ejection device; and a recovery port portion communicating with the liquid recovery unit, the liquid recovery unit having an inclined surface on which the liquid ejection device can be placed in an inclined position, the inclined surface positions the liquid ejection device in the inclined position where the outlet portion and the recovery port portion can be connected via an opening that opens in the housing, the inclined position being a position in which the liquid ejection device is tilted in a direction such that the depth of the position of the liquid in the liquid tank corresponding to the outlet portion is deeper than the depth when the liquid ejection device is in a horizontal position, and the projection point of the center of gravity of the liquid ejection device in the inclined position projected in the direction of gravity onto an imaginary plane including the inclined surface is included within the area of ​​the inclined surface.

[0211] With this configuration, when recovering liquid with the liquid ejection device placed on the mounting portion of the liquid recovery container, the center of gravity of the liquid ejection device placed on the mounting portion does not deviate from the mounting surface. This prevents the liquid ejection device from being placed in an unstable state on the mounting portion due to the center of gravity of the liquid ejection device being deviated from the mounting surface. For example, this prevents the liquid ejection device from tilting into an inappropriate position when placed on an inclined surface. [Explanation of symbols]

[0212] 10...liquid recovery system, 11...liquid ejection device, 12...device main body, 13...image reading device, 13A...rotation mechanism, 15...operation unit, 16...display unit, 17...operation panel, 18...liquid tank (first liquid tank), 18A...liquid tank, 18B...liquid tank, 19...storage unit, 19A...storage unit main body, 19B...front part, 19C...side part, 19D...side part, 20...casing, 20A...bottom, 20B...opening, 20C...opening, 20D...opening, 20E...bottom, 21...viewing window, 22...viewing surface, 23...liquid ejection unit, 24...supply flow path, 25...ejection head, 25A...nozzle forming surface, 25B...connection Mouth portion, 25N...nozzle, 26...carriage, 26A...engagement portion, 27...scanning mechanism, 28...guide shaft, 29...carriage motor, 30...pulley, 31...timing belt, 32...lid body, 33...cap lever, 34...liquid bottle, 34A...supply portion, 35...maintenance device, 36...liquid supply device, 37...cap, 38...discharge tube, 39...suction pump, 40...waste liquid storage portion, 41...flow path, 42...fastening portion, 43...position control portion, 44...screw, 45...cover, 45A...lid portion, 45B...control portion, 46...cover, 46A...lid portion, 46B...control portion, 50...tank body Body, 51...liquid storage section, 51A...bottom surface, 51B...side surface, 51C...partition wall section, 51D...flow path forming wall, 52...supply port section, 53...inlet section, 54...atmosphere communication section, 55...liquid storage chamber, 56...protruding section, 57...liquid flow path, 58...air flow path, 60...second liquid tank, 61...locking section, 61A...locking protrusion, 62...liquid storage section, 63...supply port section, 64...supply port section, 71...fixing section, 72...regulating section, 73...outlet section, 73A...guiding section, 74...sealing member, 75...outlet section, 76...fixed section, 77...regulated section, 78...valve body, 80...liquid recovery container, 81...liquid recovery section, 81A...upper section, 81 B...side surface, 83...recovery chamber, 84...liquid holding member, 85...recovery port portion, 85A...needle portion, 85B...tubular portion, 86...partition portion, 87...liquid re-supply portion, 87A...tubular portion, 88...atmosphere communication portion, 89...valve, 90...positioning portion, 91...guiding portion, 92...guided portion, 93...guiding portion, 94...guided portion, 95...guided portion, 100...positioning portion, 101...movable mechanism, 102...link mechanism, 103...support portion, 104...link member, 105...rotating shaft, 106...movable portion, 107...movable portion, 108...rail, 109...rail, 110...operating lever, 111...actuator, 120...liquid recovery container,121...liquid recovery section, 122...position change section, 123...inclined surface, 125...position change section, 126...tilting mechanism, 127...support section, 127A...opening, 128...rotating shaft, 129...operating lever, 130...liquid recovery container, 131...liquid recovery section, 132...inclined surface, 200...control section, M...medium, IL...liquid, LP...liquid surface, P1...first position, P2...second position, PA...placing area, VP...imaginary plane, G...center of gravity, X...width direction, Y...transport direction, Z...vertical direction (gravity direction).

Claims

1. a liquid tank having an inlet into which a liquid can be poured; a liquid discharge unit that discharges liquid supplied from the liquid tank; and a housing that accommodates the liquid discharge unit and the liquid tank, the liquid tank has a discharge port that can discharge the liquid to the outside, The liquid ejection device is characterized in that the housing has an opening that allows the outlet portion of the liquid tank to be exposed to the outside of the housing.

2. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1 , The liquid ejection device is characterized in that the opening is formed in the bottom of the housing.

3. 3. The liquid ejection device according to claim 2, The liquid ejection device further comprises a cover for covering the opening.

4. The liquid ejection device according to claim 1 , a collection port of the liquid collection container is connected to the discharge port through the opening, The liquid ejection device further comprises an apparatus-side positioning section that positions the liquid recovery container at a position where the recovery port section can be connected to the discharge port section.

5. A liquid recovery system including a liquid ejection device having a liquid tank with an inlet into which a liquid can be poured, and a liquid recovery container, the liquid ejection device includes a liquid ejection unit that ejects liquid supplied from the liquid tank, and a housing that accommodates the liquid ejection unit and the liquid tank; the liquid tank has a discharge port that can discharge the liquid to the outside, the liquid collection container has a collection port portion connectable to the discharge port portion, the housing has an opening that allows the outlet portion of the liquid tank to be exposed to the outside of the housing, A liquid recovery system comprising a positioning section that positions at least one of the liquid recovery container and the liquid tank at a position where the discharge port and the recovery port can be connected via the opening.

6. 6. The liquid recovery system according to claim 5, The positioning unit is a guide portion provided on at least one of the housing and the liquid tank; a guided portion provided in the liquid collection container and guided by the guide portion, A liquid recovery system characterized in that the guided portion is guided by the guiding portion, thereby positioning the liquid recovery container relative to the liquid tank, thereby connecting the discharge outlet portion and the recovery outlet portion through the opening, and liquid remaining in the liquid tank moves to the liquid recovery container through this connection.

7. 6. The liquid recovery system according to claim 5, The liquid tank has a plurality of liquid tanks, A liquid recovery system characterized in that the liquid recovery container has one recovery chamber that can commonly accommodate liquid recovered from multiple liquid tanks, or has multiple recovery chambers that can individually accommodate liquid recovered from multiple liquid tanks.

8. 6. The liquid recovery system according to claim 5, A liquid recovery system, wherein the opening is a viewing window that opens into the housing and allows the amount of liquid in the liquid tank to be visually confirmed.

9. 9. The liquid recovery system according to claim 8, a movable mechanism that moves the liquid tank from a first position where the discharge port portion is not exposed through the viewing window to a second position where the discharge port portion is exposed through the viewing window, A liquid recovery system, wherein the positioning unit positions the liquid tank at the second position and the liquid recovery container.

10. 6. The liquid recovery system according to claim 5, a position changer configured to be able to tilt the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank to an inclined position inclined in a direction in which the depth of the liquid at a position corresponding to the outlet portion in the liquid tank becomes deeper, A liquid recovery system characterized in that, when the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank is in the inclined position, the liquid in the liquid tank moves to the liquid recovery container through the connection between the discharge outlet portion and the recovery outlet portion.

11. 11. The liquid recovery system according to claim 10, the position changing unit includes an inclined surface formed on an upper portion of the liquid collection container so that the liquid ejection device or the liquid tank can be placed thereon; The liquid recovery system is characterized in that the liquid ejection device is placed on the inclined surface and is thereby placed in the inclined position.

12. 12. The liquid recovery system of claim 11, the attitude changing unit is configured to place the liquid ejection device on the inclined surface, A liquid recovery system, wherein the liquid ejection device in the inclined position has a center of gravity directly below the center of gravity located within a mounting area of ​​the bottom surface of the liquid ejection device that is mounted on the inclined surface.

13. 12. The liquid recovery system of claim 11, the attitude changing unit is configured to place the liquid tank on the inclined surface, A liquid recovery system, wherein the attitude changing unit includes a tilting mechanism that supports the liquid tank so that the liquid tank can be tilted relative to the housing.

14. A liquid recovery container for recovering liquid remaining in a liquid tank of a liquid ejection device that houses a liquid ejection unit and a liquid tank in a housing, a liquid recovery section configured to store liquid recovered from a discharge port section of the liquid tank fixed to the housing of the liquid ejection device; a recovery port portion communicating with the liquid recovery portion, the liquid recovery unit has an inclined surface on which the liquid ejection device can be placed in an inclined position; the inclined surface positions the liquid ejection device in the inclined attitude in which the discharge port and the recovery port can be connected via an opening that opens in the housing; the inclined posture is a posture in which the liquid ejection device is inclined in a direction in which the depth of the liquid in the liquid tank at a position corresponding to the discharge port portion is deeper than the depth when the liquid ejection device is in a horizontal posture, A liquid recovery container characterized in that the projection point of the center of gravity of the liquid ejection device in the inclined posture, projected in the direction of gravity onto an imaginary plane including the inclined surface, is included within the area of ​​the inclined surface.

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