| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To propose a foam type ink tank equipped with a part to be detected which can correctly detect that ink runs out. SOLUTION: A sub ink chamber 30 is formed between a main ink chamber 5 and an ink take-out hole 7 of the foam type ink tank 1. When an amount of the air entering the sub ink chamber increases, reflecting faces 52a and 52b of a rectangular prism 52 which have been an ink interface return to reflecting faces and can accordingly detect an ink end. A foaming inhibitor and/or an antifoamer is injected inside the sub ink chamber 30 to supersaturate ink, and therefore an amount of bubbles to be generated in the sub ink chamber 30 is reduced. Generated bubbles disappear in a short time or generated fine bubbles disappear in a short time to gather in a large bubble. Accordingly, such trouble can be eliminated that rear faces of the reflecting faces 52a and 52b are kept covered with the ink held between the bubbles and a reflecting state of the reflecting faces 52a and 52b is unchanged in spite of an ink level decrease, resulting in a failure in detecting the ink end. COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO |
