Patent ID: 6419350
Filing Date: 2002-07-16
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
An ink tank removably mountable with a carriage which scans in a scanning direction, said ink tank comprising:an absorbing member for holding ink to be supplied to a recording head for discharging ink to thereby effect recording, wherein said absorbing member comprises a fiber absorbing material in which a density of an outer peripheral portion thereof is higher than that of an interior portion thereof, and wherein said fiber absorbing material is comprised of a plurality of fibers bundled substantially in a common fibrous direction, and wherein said fiber absorbing material has a cut cross-section cut in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fibrous direction, and said cut cross-section is disposed in opposed relationship with a minimum area surface of an inner surface of said ink tank; a tank container containing said absorbing member therein, a buffer portion constructed to temporarily contain said ink therein, and an atmosphere communicating port disposed in said buffer portion and communicating an interior of said tank container with atmosphere, and a bottom surface buffer portion disposed between said absorbing member and a bottom surface of said tank container and constructed to temporarily contain said ink therein, wherein a clearance is provided between the cut cross-section and the inner surface of said ink tank, so as to communicate said buffer portion and said bottom surface buffer portion with each other, and wherein said buffer portion is disposed on a side portion of said absorbing member, and a direction from said absorbing member toward said buffer portion is a direction intersecting with the scanning direction of the carriage when said ink tank is mounted therewith.