Claims
- 1. A waste ink tank having a waste ink absorber for absorbing and retaining waste ink introduced into a predetermined waste-ink inlet position, comprising:a channel formed in the waste ink absorber, the channel extending along a bottom face of said waste ink tank from near one side of the waste ink tank to near another side of the waste ink tank to include the waste-ink inlet position, the channel leading to the bottom face of said waste ink tank, the bottom face being utilized to move the waste ink.
- 2. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the channel is a slit formed on a surface of the waste ink absorber and extending from the waste-ink inlet position at least in one direction.
- 3. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the channel is a slit passing through the waste ink absorber in a depth direction and extending from the waste-ink inlet position at least in one direction.
- 4. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the channel is a slit, at least part of which extends in a rectilinear manner.
- 5. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the channel is a slit, at least part of which extends in a curvilinear manner.
- 6. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waste-ink inlet position comprises a plurality of waste-ink inlet positions, and a plurality of channels are formed in correspondence to the plurality of waste-ink inlet positions.
- 7. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of channels are slits extending generally parallel to each other.
- 8. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of channels are slits at least partially continuous to each other.
- 9. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 6, wherein the channel is formed of a first slit section connecting the plurality of waste-ink inlet positions to each other and a second slit section branched from a mid-portion of the first slit section.
- 10. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 6, wherein the channel is formed of a plurality of slits extending from the plurality of waste-ink inlet positions, respectively, to concentrate to one point.
- 11. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein an opening of the channel, except for at least the waste-ink inlet position, is covered with another waste ink absorber capable of absorbing and retaining the waste ink therein.
- 12. A waste ink tank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waste ink absorber is accommodated in a top-opening tank case.
- 13. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording an image on a print medium by using an inkjet recording head capable of ejecting ink droplets, the apparatus comprising:a waste ink tank having a waste ink absorber for absorbing and retaining waste ink introduced into a predetermined waste-ink inlet position, wherein a channel is formed in the waste ink absorber, the channel extending along a bottom face of the waste ink tank from near one side of the waste ink tank to near another side of said waste ink tank to include the waste-ink inlet position and leading to the bottom face of said waste ink tank, the bottom face being utilized to move the waste ink; and a recovery means for sucking ink from the ink jet recording head and discharging the same as the waste ink into the waste ink tank.
- 14. An ink jet recording apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the recovery means is provided with a suction pump for sucking ink from ink ejection orifices of the ink jet recording head.
- 15. An ink jet recording apparatus as claimed in claim 13, further comprising:means for displacing the ink jet recording head in reciprocation in a primary scanning direction; and means for transporting the print medium in an auxiliary scanning direction transverse to the primary scanning direction.
- 16. An ink jet recording apparatus as claimed a claim 13, wherein the ink jet recording head has an electrothermal transducer for generating heat energy used for the ejection of ink.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
10-304955 |
Oct 1998 |
JP |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is based on patent application Ser. No. 10-304955 filed Oct. 27, 1998 in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
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