| 摘要 |
A bottom of a buffer tank of an ink-jet recording apparatus is formed to have a substantially stepped structure. Ink contained in an ink cartridge is supplied to a lower step side of the stepped structure through an ink-introducing tube. The outside air is introduced into the ink cartridge through an outside air-introducing tube. The height of ink liquid surface is maintained slightly lower than in an upper step surface section of the buffer tank. The water evaporation from the ink liquid surface is suppressed by decreasing the ink liquid surface area while securing a large space on the upper side of the buffer tank. The lowering speed of the height is increased for a certain amount of the ink consumption, rapidly separating the ink liquid surface from the air-introducing tube to suppress erroneous judgment on the ink remaining amount due to fluctuation of the ink liquid surface.
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