US-20260124835-A1 - TANK UNIT AND LIQUID EJECTION APPARATUS

US20260124835A1US 20260124835 A1US20260124835 A1US 20260124835A1US-20260124835-A1

Abstract

A tank unit includes a reservoir configured to store a liquid, an inflow section configured to cause the liquid to flow into the reservoir from a liquid container with a water head difference, and an atmospheric opening portion configured to open an inside of the reservoir to an atmosphere, wherein the reservoir includes a storage body configured to define a storage space in which the liquid is stored, and a partition plate configured to partition the storage space into a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber is a space that is located above the second chamber and communicates with the atmosphere with the atmospheric opening portion, the inflow section includes an inflow pipe which extends from the storage body toward an inside of the storage body and in which an inflow port communicating with the second chamber opens, and a through hole configured to communicate the first chamber and the second chamber with each other opens in the partition plate.

Inventors

Seiya Sato
Hiromichi TAKANASHI
Seiji Tojo

Assignees

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251107
Priority Date: 20241107

Claims (12)

1 . A tank unit configured to be supplied with a liquid from a liquid container and configured to store the liquid to be supplied to a head configured to eject the liquid, the tank unit comprising: a reservoir configured to store the liquid; an inflow section configured to cause the liquid to flow into the reservoir from the liquid container with a water head difference; and an atmospheric opening portion configured to open an inside of the reservoir to an atmosphere, wherein the reservoir includes a storage body configured to define a storage space in which the liquid is stored, and a partition plate configured to partition the storage space into a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber is a space that is located above the second chamber and communicates with the atmosphere with the atmospheric opening portion, the inflow section includes an inflow pipe which extends from the storage body toward an inside of the storage body and in which an inflow port communicating with the second chamber opens, and a through hole configured to communicate the first chamber and the second chamber with each other opens in the partition plate.
2 . The tank unit according to claim 1 , wherein the storage body includes an upper wall, a lower wall facing the upper wall, a coupling sidewall coupled to the upper wall and the lower wall, an opposed sidewall that is coupled to the upper wall and the lower wall and faces the coupling sidewall, a front wall coupled to the upper wall, the lower wall, the coupling sidewall, and the opposed sidewall, and a back wall that is coupled to the upper wall, the lower wall, the coupling sidewall, and the opposed sidewall and faces the front wall, the inflow pipe extends from the upper wall, and the through hole is located so as not to overlap the inflow port when viewing the storage body from a direction perpendicular to the front wall.
3 . The tank unit according to claim 1 , wherein the storage body includes an upper wall, a lower wall facing the upper wall, a coupling sidewall coupled to the upper wall and the lower wall, an opposed sidewall that is coupled to the upper wall and the lower wall and faces the coupling sidewall, a front wall coupled to the upper wall, the lower wall, the coupling sidewall, and the opposed sidewall, and a back wall that is coupled to the upper wall, the lower wall, the coupling sidewall, and the opposed sidewall and faces the front wall, the inflow pipe extends from the upper wall, and the through hole is located so as not to overlap the inflow port when viewing the storage body from a direction perpendicular to the coupling sidewall.
4 . The tank unit according to claim 1 , wherein the inflow pipe includes a tip portion located in the storage body, and the partition plate is continuous with the tip portion.
5 . The tank unit according to claim 1 , wherein the partition plate extends horizontally.
6 . The tank unit according to claim 2 , wherein the partition plate includes a first portion extending from the coupling sidewall to the inflow pipe when viewing the storage body from a direction perpendicular to the front wall, and a second portion extending from the opposed sidewall to the inflow pipe when viewing the storage body from the direction perpendicular to the front wall, the first portion is a portion longer than the second portion when viewing the storage body from the direction perpendicular to the front wall, and the through hole opens in the second portion.
7 . The tank unit according to claim 1 , wherein a volume of the second chamber is smaller than a volume of the first chamber.
8 . The tank unit according to claim 7 , wherein the storage body includes an upper wall, a lower wall facing the upper wall, a coupling sidewall coupled to the upper wall and the lower wall, an opposed sidewall that is coupled to the upper wall and the lower wall and faces the coupling sidewall, a front wall coupled to the upper wall, the lower wall, the coupling sidewall, and the opposed sidewall, and a back wall that is coupled to the upper wall, the lower wall, the coupling sidewall, and the opposed sidewall and faces the front wall, the inflow pipe extends from the upper wall, the opposed sidewall includes an upper sidewall configured to define the first chamber, and a lower sidewall configured to define the second chamber, and a distance from the coupling sidewall to the upper sidewall is longer than a distance from the coupling sidewall to the lower sidewall when viewing the storage body from the direction perpendicular to the front wall.
9 . The tank unit according to claim 2 , further comprising a coupling pipe which is configured to couple the reservoir to the head and in which a connection port opens, wherein the coupling pipe extends from the lower wall, and the through hole is located so as not to overlap the connection port when viewed from a vertical direction.
10 . The tank unit according to claim 9 , wherein a distance from the coupling sidewall to the connection port is longer than a distance from the coupling sidewall to the through hole when viewing the storage body from a direction perpendicular to the front wall.
11 . A liquid ejection apparatus comprising the tank unit according to claim 1 ; and the head.
12 . The liquid ejection apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the reservoir is a first reservoir, the atmospheric opening portion is a first atmospheric opening portion, the tank unit includes a second reservoir to which the liquid is supplied from the first reservoir, a joining flow path coupled to the first reservoir and the second reservoir, and a second atmospheric opening portion configured to open an inside of the second reservoir to the atmosphere, the liquid ejection apparatus further comprises: an opening-closing section configured to open and close the second atmospheric opening portion; and a controller, wherein the controller closes the second atmospheric opening portion by controlling the opening-closing section when the controller receives a transportation instruction.

Description

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2024-195132, filed Nov. 7, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a tank unit and a liquid ejection apparatus. 2. Related Art JP-A-2023-59392 describes a liquid ejection apparatus including a head that ejects a liquid and a tank unit that stores the liquid to be supplied to the head. The tank unit is coupled to a liquid container that contains the liquid. When a liquid level in the tank unit is lowered, the liquid is supplied from the liquid container to the tank unit. JP-A-2023-59392 is an example of the related art. In such a liquid ejection apparatus, the liquid level in the tank unit may be inclined in some cases due to a change in posture or an occurrence of acceleration or deceleration during transportation. In this case, there is a concern that the liquid is supplied more than necessary from the liquid container to the tank unit by the liquid level being lowered. When the tank unit stores a larger amount of liquid than usual, there is a concern that the ejection performance of the head may be affected by a change in the water head difference between the tank unit and the head. SUMMARY A tank unit that solves the problems described above is a tank unit configured to be supplied with a liquid from a liquid container and configured to store the liquid to be supplied to a head configured to eject the liquid, the tank unit including a reservoir configured to store the liquid, an inflow section configured to cause the liquid to flow into the reservoir from the liquid container with a water head difference, and an atmospheric opening portion configured to open an inside of the reservoir to an atmosphere, wherein the reservoir includes a storage body configured to define a storage space in which the liquid is stored, and a partition plate configured to partition the storage space into a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber is a space that is located above the second chamber and communicates with the atmosphere with the atmospheric opening portion, the inflow section includes an inflow pipe which extends from the storage body toward an inside of the storage body and in which an inflow port communicating with the second chamber opens, and a through hole configured to communicate the first chamber and the second chamber with each other opens in the partition plate. A liquid ejection apparatus that solves the problems described above includes the tank unit described above and the head. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a liquid ejection apparatus including a tank unit. FIG. 2 is a front view of the tank unit. FIG. 3 is a side view of the tank unit. FIG. 4 is a side view from an opposite side to the side of the view in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the line 5-5 shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tank unit shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a perspective view from an angle different from the angle of the view in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the tank unit showing insides of atmospheric opening portions. FIG. 9 is a perspective view from an angle different from the angle of the view in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a perspective view from an angle different from the angles of the views in FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 11 is a perspective view from an angle different from the angles of the views in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view along the line 12-12 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view along the line 13-13 shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing when the liquid level is inclined about an imaginary axis extending in a second direction. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing when the liquid level is inclined in an opposite direction to the inclination direction in FIG. 14. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing when the liquid level is inclined about an imaginary axis extending in a first direction. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing when the liquid level is inclined in an opposite direction to the inclination direction in FIG. 16. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An example of a liquid ejection apparatus including a tank unit will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings. The liquid ejection apparatus is an inkjet printer that ejects an image such as characters or photographs by ejecting ink, which is an example of a liquid, onto a medium such as paper, fabric, or a film. Liquid Ejection Apparatus As illustrated in FIG. 1, the liquid ejection apparatus 11 includes a head 12. The head 12 is configured to eject the liquid. The head 12 prints the image on the medium by ejecting the liquid onto the medium. The head 12 has a nozzle surface 14 on which one or more nozzles 13 open. The head 12 is configured so as to eject the liquid from the nozzle 13. In one example,