Patent Publication Number: US-2009219337-A1

Title: Method of recycling container member

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-49541 filed on Feb. 29, 2008, Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-49542 filed on Feb. 29, 2008, Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-49543 filed on Feb. 29, 2008, Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-116109 filed on Apr. 25, 2008, Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-116110 filed on Apr. 25, 2008, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-116111 filed on Apr. 25, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member. 
     2. Related Art 
     In the past, for example, an ink jet printer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “printer”) was widely known as a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting a liquid to a target from nozzle openings formed in a liquid ejecting head. In such a printer, a so-called cleaning process of forcibly sucking and discharging thickened ink as waste ink (waste liquid) from a print head (liquid ejecting head) is performed to prevent the nozzle openings from clogging due to the thickened ink (liquid) and to discharge bubbles and dust mixed into the ink in the print head. 
     When the waste ink is discharged by the cleaning process, a waste ink tank (waste liquid collector) collecting the discharged waste ink is required. A waste ink absorbing member (waste liquid absorbing member) is contained in the waste ink tank. The waste ink tank contains the discharge waste ink. 
     Examples of the related art are disclosed in JP-A-2002-29065, JP-A-2006-142630, JP-A-5-162334, and JP-A-2007-130998. 
     The problem that the invention is to solve is as follows. 
     That is, the waste ink discharged in the cleaning process can be collected by providing the printer with the waste ink tank, but all the waste ink may not be collected when the waste ink tank is used for a long time. In this case, the waste ink tank should be replaced and the old waste ink tank obtained by the replacement is generally discarded. However, when a reusable container member of the waste ink tank can be reused, it is not necessary to produce a new container member and thus it is advantageous from the point of view of environment and economy. 
     SUMMARY 
     An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to reuse a container member. 
     The advantage is accomplished as follows. 
     According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member, the method including: removing at least a part of waste liquid from the waste liquid absorbing member having absorbed the waste liquid; and disposing the waste absorbing member, which at least a part of the waste liquid is removed from, in the container member. 
     The other features of the first aspect of the invention will become apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings. 
     The following description will become apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings: 
     a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member, the method including: removing at least a part of waste liquid from the waste liquid absorbing member having absorbed the waste liquid; and disposing the waste absorbing member, which at least a part of the waste liquid is removed from, in the container member. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to reuse the container member. 
     In the method of recycling a container member, it is preferable that the removing of at least a part of the waste liquid from the waste liquid absorbing member includes at least one of cleaning the waste liquid absorbing member, squeezing the waste liquid absorbing member, wiping the waste liquid absorbing member, and cleaning the container member as a whole with the waste liquid absorbing member contained therein. It is also preferable that the waste liquid absorbing member includes a plurality of waste liquid absorbing members and the waste liquid absorbing member from which the waste liquid is more removed is disposed in a lower part in the container member in the disposing of the waste liquid absorbing member, which at least a part of the waste liquid is removed from, in the container member. The waste liquid absorbing member from which a part of the waste liquid is removed and a non-used waste liquid absorbing member may be disposed in container member in the disposing of the waste liquid absorbing member, which at least a part of the waste liquid is removed from, in the container member. The outer shape of the non-used waste liquid absorbing member may be different from the outer shape of the waste liquid absorbing member from which a part of the waste liquid is removed. 
     It is preferable that the method may further include sealing at least a part of an opening of the container member. It is preferable that the sealing of at least a part of the opening of the container member includes at least one of shaving at least a part of a top portion of a side wall constituting the opening and attaching a sealing member to the top portion of the side wall, winding the sealing member around the container member, attaching the sealing member to a side wall surface of the container member, and providing a lid member inserted into at least a part of the top portion of the side wall of the container member. It is also preferable that the container member includes a memory device storing information on an amount of the collected waste liquid and that the method further comprises at least one of rewriting the information on the amount of collected waste liquid to the memory device and replacing the memory device with a new memory device. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to reuse the container member. 
     According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member, including: removing the waste liquid absorbing member absorbing a waste liquid from the container member; and disposing a different waste liquid absorbing member in the container member instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member. 
     The other features of the second aspect of the invention will become apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings. 
     The following description will become apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings: 
     a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member, including: removing the waste liquid absorbing member absorbing a waste liquid from the container member; and disposing a different waste liquid absorbing member in the container member instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to reuse the container member. 
     In the method of recycling a container member, it is preferable that the different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member has the same shape as the outer shape of the removed waste liquid absorbing member. The different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may have a shape different from the outer shape of the removed waste liquid absorbing member. The different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may have an outer shape larger than the inner shape of the container member. The different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be folded and disposed in the container member. 
     The different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be disposed in a part of the container member. The different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be divided into a plurality of waste liquid absorbing members and disposed in the container member. A connection port which a liquid passage can be inserted into and detached from may be formed in the container member and the different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be disposed close to the connection port in the container member. A connection port which a liquid passage can be inserted into and detached from may be formed in the container member and the different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be disposed close to a wall surface opposed to the connection port in the container member. A connection port which a liquid passage can be inserted into and detached from may be formed in the container member and the different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be disposed below the connection port in the container member. 
     The different waste liquid absorbing member disposed instead of the removed waste liquid absorbing member may be formed of a material different from that of the waste liquid absorbing member having absorbed the waste liquid. It is preferable that the method of recycling a container member further includes sealing at least a part of an opening of the container member. It is preferable that the sealing of at least a part of the opening of the container member includes at least one of shaving at least a part of a top portion of a side wall constituting the opening and attaching a sealing member to the top portion of the side wall, winding the sealing member around the container member, attaching the sealing member to a side wall surface of the container member, and providing a lid member inserted into at least a part of the top portion of the side wall of the container member. It is preferable that the container member includes a memory device storing information on an amount of the collected waste liquid and the method further comprises at least one of rewriting the information on the amount of collected waste liquid to the memory device and replacing the memory device with a new memory device. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to reuse the container member. 
     According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member, including: removing the waste liquid absorbing member having absorbed a waste liquid from an opening of the container member; and sealing at least a part of the opening of the container member from which the waste liquid absorbing member is removed. 
     The other features of the third aspect of the invention will become apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings. 
     The following description will become apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings: 
     a method of recycling a container member containing a waste liquid absorbing member, including: removing the waste liquid absorbing member having absorbed a waste liquid from an opening of the container member; and sealing at least a part of the opening of the container member from which the waste liquid absorbing member is removed. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to reuse the container member. 
     It is preferable that the method of recycling a container member further includes cleaning the inside of the container member after removing the waste liquid absorbing member. It is preferable that the sealing of at least a part of the opening of the container member includes at least one of shaving at least a part of a top portion of a side wall constituting the opening and attaching a sealing member to the top portion of the side wall, winding the sealing member around the container member, attaching the sealing member to a side wall surface of the container member, and providing a lid member inserted into at least a part of the top portion of the side wall of the container member. It is preferable that the container member includes a connection port which a liquid passage can be inserted into and detached from and a rib extending from the bottom of the container member to the vicinity of the connection port and the rib guides the liquid passage in a predetermined direction in the container member at the time of inserting the liquid passage. It is also preferable that the container member includes a memory device storing information on an amount of the collected waste liquid and the method further comprises at least one of rewriting the information on the amount of collected waste liquid to the memory device and replacing the memory device with a new memory device. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to reuse the container member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an ink jet printer according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a partially-omitted sectional view illustrating a housing in a printer. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a waste ink tank according to a first embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a tube supporting mechanism. 
         FIG. 5A  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism in a normal state and  FIG. 5B  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism in a state where a support member retreats. 
         FIG. 6  is a partially-omitted sectional view (first) illustrating the inside of a receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank. 
         FIG. 7  is a partially-omitted sectional view (second) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank. 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating a method of recycling a container member according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a state where a part of a film member is attached to the periphery of an opening. 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a state where the film member is welded to a part of the opening. 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member is wound around the container member. 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member is attached using a side wall of the container member. 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating a state where a lid member is attached to at least a part of the opening of the container member. 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a state where a connection terminal is detached from the container member. 
         FIG. 15  is a flowchart illustrating a method of recycling a container member according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a diagram illustrating a state where a piece of ink absorbing member is received in the container member. 
         FIG. 17  is a sectional view illustrating a state where an ink absorbing member is received on only the bottom surface of the container member. 
         FIG. 18  is a top view illustrating a state where plural ink absorbing members are received in the container member. 
         FIG. 19  is a top view illustrating a state where an ink absorbing member is received in the vicinity of a connection port of the container member. 
         FIG. 20  is a sectional view illustrating a state where the ink absorbing member is folded and contained. 
         FIG. 21  is a diagram illustrating a state where a part of a film member is attached to the periphery of an opening. 
         FIG. 22  is a diagram illustrating a state where the film member is welded to a part of the opening. 
         FIG. 23  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member is wound around the container member. 
         FIG. 24  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member is attached using a side wall of the container member. 
         FIG. 25  is a diagram illustrating a state where a lid member is attached to at least a part of the opening of the container member. 
         FIG. 26  is a diagram illustrating a state where a connection terminal is detached from the container member. 
         FIG. 27  is a flowchart illustrating a method of recycling a container member according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 28  is a diagram illustrating a state where a part of a film member is attached to the periphery of the opening. 
         FIG. 29  is a diagram illustrating a state where the film member is welded to a part of the opening. 
         FIG. 30  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member is wound around the container member. 
         FIG. 31  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member is attached using a side wall of the container member. 
         FIG. 32  is a diagram illustrating a state where a lid member is attached to at least a part of the opening of the container member. 
         FIG. 33  is a diagram illustrating a state where a connection terminal is detached from the container member. 
         FIG. 34  is a diagram illustrating a rib in the vicinity the connection port in the container member. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 2  is a partially-omitted sectional view illustrating a housing in the printer.  FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a waste ink tank.  FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a tube supporting mechanism.  FIG. 5A  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism and  FIG. 5B  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism in a state where a support member retreats. 
     Hereinafter, a waste liquid collecting system in an ink jet printer which is a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. “Front and rear directions”, “up and down directions”, and “right and left directions” in the following description means “front and rear directions”, “up and down directions”, and “right and left directions” indicated by arrows in  FIGS. 1 to 4 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , an ink jet printer (hereinafter, referred to as “printer”)  11  as a liquid ejecting apparatus according to this embodiment includes a frame  12  having a rectangular shape in a plan view. 
     A transport roller  13  extends in the right and left directions in the frame  12 . A printing sheet P is fed from the rear side to the front side by allowing the transport roller  13  to rotate by the use of a sheet feeding motor  14 . In addition, a guide shaft  15  extending in parallel to a longitudinal direction (the right and left directions) of the transport roller  13  is disposed above the transport roller  13  in the frame  12 . 
     A carriage  16  is supported by the guide shaft  15  so as to reciprocate along an axial line direction (the right and left directions) of the guide shaft  15 . A driving pulley  17  and a driven pulley  18  are rotatably supported at positions corresponding to both ends of the guide shaft  15  in the rear surface of the frame  12 , respectively. A carriage motor  19  serving as a driving source for allowing the carriage  16  to reciprocate is connected to the driving pulley  17 . A timing belt  20  fixing and supporting the carriage  16  is suspended between the pair of pulleys  17  and  18 . Accordingly, the carriage  16  moves in the right and left directions through the timing belt  20  by the carriage motor  19  while being guided by the guide shaft  15 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a print head  21  as a liquid ejecting head is disposed on the lower surface of the carriage  16 . On the other hand, plural ink cartridges  23  (five ink cartridges in this embodiment) for supplying ink as a liquid to the print head  21  are detachably mounted on the carriage  16 . The ink cartridges  23  individually correspond to plural nozzle opening lines (not shown) formed in a nozzle formation surface  21   a  (see  FIG. 2 ) which is the lower surface of the print head  21  and individually supply ink to the corresponding nozzle opening lines through ink passages (not shown) formed in the print head  21 . 
     A home position HP serving as a maintenance position where the carriage  16  is located at the time of turning off the printer  11  or maintaining the print head  21  is disposed in one end (the right end in  FIG. 1 ) in the frame  12 , that is, in a non-printing area which the printing sheet P does not reach. In addition, a maintenance unit  24  performing various maintenance operations is disposed below the home position HP so as to satisfactorily eject ink to the printing sheet P from the print head  21 . 
     The maintenance unit  24  includes a cap  25  having a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to the lower surface (the nozzle formation surface) of the print head  21  and an elevation mechanism (not shown) moving up and down the cap  25 . In addition, when the cap  25  moves up by the driving of the elevation mechanism (not shown) with the carriage  16  located at the home position HP, the cap  25  comes in contact with the nozzle formation surface  21   a  which is the lower surface of the print head  21  so as to surround the nozzle opening lines. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a housing  26  having a rectangular parallelepiped shape in the front and rear directions is formed at one end (the right end in  FIG. 1 ) in the frame  12  and below the home position HP. A receiving chamber  30  receiving a waste liquid collecting system  29  including a waste ink tank  27  as a waste liquid collector and a tube supporting mechanism  28  as a liquid passage forming unit is formed in the housing  26 . An attachment location  31  of the waste ink tank  27  is set in a lower portion of the receiving chamber  30 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the height (which is a distance between a bottom wall  32  and a top wall  33 ) of the receiving chamber  30  is set sufficiently higher than the height of the waste ink tank  27  so that the waste ink tank  27  can be tilted inside the receiving chamber  30 . 
     When the cap  25  moves up from the state shown in  FIG. 2  by the driving of the elevation mechanism (not shown) and comes in contact with the nozzle formation surface  21   a  of the print head  21 , a suction pump  42  is driven. Then, the thickened ink in the print head  21  is forcibly sucked and discharged (ejected) as waste ink into the cap  25  through nozzle openings (not shown) by a negative pressure generated in the cap  25 . When an idle suction state of sucking the atmospheric air is reached by exposing the inside of the cap  25  to the atmospheric air in a state where the suction pump  42  is being driven, the waste ink is discharged from the cap  25  to the waste ink tank  27 . 
     A rectangular attachment and detachment port  34  through which the waste ink tank  27  passes upon attaching or detaching the waste ink tank  27  to or from the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  is formed on the front surface of the housing  26 . A door  36  of which the upper end portion is rotatably supported on a pair of right and left shafts  35  formed at both ends of the upper edge of the attachment and detachment port  34  is disposed in the attachment and detachment port  34 . By grasping a knob  36   a  formed on the front surface of the door  36  and opening or closing the door  36  about the shafts  35 , the door  36  moves between a closing location indicated by a solid line and an opening location indicated a two-dot chain line in  FIG. 2 . 
     A pressing member  134  pressing a front protruding portion  152  of the waste ink tank  27  from the upside is formed monolithically with the door  36 . Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the front side of the waste ink tank  27  from floating, by closing the door  36 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , in the receiving chamber  30  of the housing  26 , a front step surface  37 , a middle step surface  38 , and a rear step surface  39  are formed in a step shape on the upper surface of the bottom wall  32  from the front side to the rear side in the front and rear directions. The front step surface  37  has the same height as the lower edge of the attachment and detachment port  34 . A locking step  40  as a locking portion making the middle step surface  38  lower than the front step surface  37  is formed between the rear end of the front step surface  37  and the front end of the middle step surface  38  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     The middle step surface  38  has a length in the front and rear directions slightly smaller than the length of the waste ink tank  27  in the front and rear directions. The almost entire area of the middle step surface  38  and the rear half area of the front step surface  37  form the attachment location  31  of the waste ink tank  27 . The rear step surface  39  is slightly lower than the middle step surface  38  with a stepped portion  41  interposed therebetween. The tube supporting mechanism  28  supporting a flexible tube  43 , which discharges the ink forcibly sucked as the waste ink (waste liquid) from the cap  25  to the waste ink tank  27  by the driving of the suction pump  42 , is disposed on the rear step surface  39 . 
     The waste ink tank  27  will be described now. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the waste ink tank  27  includes a container member  44  having a bottomed box shape of which the top is opened, plural ink absorbing members (waste liquid absorbing members)  45   a  to  45   d  having an outer shape corresponding to the opening shape of the container member  44 , and a film member  46  as a gas-liquid non-transmitting member having an outer shape similarly corresponding to the opening shape of the container member  44 . The inside of the container member  44  serves as a receiving space  47  and the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are stacked and received in the receiving space  47 . The opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed by bonding (welding in this embodiment) the film member  46  to the container member  44  to cover the opening  48  of the container member  44  having received the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are received. An air hole  113  is formed at a position of the film member  46  bonded to the container member  44 . As described above, the front protruding portion  152  is formed in the container member  44  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     Ribs  52  having a thin plate shape are formed in the up and down directions in the inner surface of a rear side wall  49  of the container member  44 . Similarly, ribs  52   b  having a thin plate shape are formed in the up and down directions on right and left side walls  50  and  51 . Only one rib  52   a  on the rear side wall  49  and three ribs  52   b  on the right side wall  51  are shown in  FIG. 3 . In addition, cut-in portions  53  are formed in the outer edges of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  so as to correspond to the positions of the ribs  52   a  and  52   b.    
     A columnar post  54  is formed upright at a position slightly closer to the front than the center of the bottom surface of the container member  44 . Round holes  55  are formed at a position slightly closer to the front than the center of the ink absorbing members  45  so as to correspond to the post  54 . The corresponding ribs  52   a  and  52   b  are inserted into the cut-in portions  53  and the post  54  is inserted into the holes  55 , whereby the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are stacked and received in the receiving space  47  of the container member  44 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a concave portion  56  is formed in the rear-left corner of the container member  44 . As a result, the rear side wall  49  is divided into a main rear side wall  49   a  located on the relative rear side and a sub rear side wall  49   b  located on the relative front side and the left side wall  50  is divided into a main left side wall  50   a  located on the relative left side and a sub left side wall  50   b  located on the relative right side. 
     A round connection port  57  is formed in the main rear side wall  49   a . The connection port  57  has a diameter which gradually decreases from the opening edge to a deep side and has a function of guiding a member to a deep center of the connection port  57  when the member inserted into the connection port  57  from the outside comes in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the connection port  57  in the front and rear directions. Specifically, since the inner circumferential surface of the connection port  57  in the waste ink tank  27  is a tapered surface of which the diameter decreases to the deep side of the connection port  57 , a tubular body  73  of a support member  72  to be described later is slidably guided to the center of the connection port  57  as it is inserted into the connection port  57 . 
     The shape of the connection port  57  is not limited to the round shape. The connection port  57  may have, for example, a triangular shape, a polygonal shape, or an elliptical shape. In the drawing, the connection port  57  protrudes more than the rear side wall  49 , but may be formed not to protrude. 
     A cylinder portion  58  protrudes to the rear side from the sub rear side wall  49   b  and the hole of the cylinder portion  58  forms a positioning hole  58   a . As described later, a positioning pin  85  protruding from a brim portion  74  of the support member  72  is inserted into the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58 . Accordingly, the positioning pin  85  and the positioning hole  58   a  serve as a holding unit holding the waste ink tank  27  to regulate the movement thereof in the up and down directions and the right and left directions at the attachment location  31 . 
     When the shape of the positioning pin  85  is not cylindrical, the shape of the positioning hole  58   a  may not be cylindrical. For example, when the outer shape of the positioning pin  85  is rectangular, the positioning hole  58   a  may be a hole having a concave portion into which the pin is inserted. When the positioning pin  85  is a simple plate-like member, the positioning hole  58   a  may be a plate-like member capable of coming in contact with the pin to position the pin. 
     A connection terminal  59  having a circuit board storing various information of the waste ink tank  27  to be described later is mounted on the outer surface of the sub left side wall  50   b . A locking stepped portion  60  engaging with the locking stepped portion  40  formed on the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26  in the front and rear directions is formed at a position slightly closer to the rear end than the front end of the bottom surface of the container member  44  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , among the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d , the lowermost first ink absorbing member  45   a  and the uppermost fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  have the same thickness and the same shape and the second ink absorbing member  45   b  stacked as the second layer from the bottom and the third ink absorbing member  45   c  stacked as the third layer from the bottom have the same thickness. A through-hole  61  having a square shape is formed in a position slightly closer to the rear side than the center in each of the second ink absorbing member  45   b  and the third ink absorbing member  45   c . A cut-in groove  62  having a predetermined width is formed in the third ink absorbing member  45   c  in the front and rear directions from the rear edge to the through hole  61 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first ink absorbing member  45   a  stops the through hole  61  from the downside and the fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  stops the through hole  61  from the upside. When a front tubular portion  76  is inserted into the cut-in groove  62 , the waste ink discharged from the front tubular portion  76  drops on the top surface of the first ink absorbing member  45   a  and is absorbed therein. As the amount of waste ink absorbed increases, the waste ink slowly diffuses from the first ink absorbing member  45   a  to the upper ink absorbing members. 
     Here, when the amount of waste ink is great, the waste ink cannot diffuse into the first ink absorbing member  45   a . Accordingly, the through hole  61  temporarily stores the waste ink. That is, the discharged waste ink is stored until the waste ink is absorbed by the ink absorbing members (the waste ink diffuses into the ink absorbing members). Therefore, it is preferable that the through hole  61  has such a size to contain the discharged waste ink. When the container member  44  is detached and the posture of the container member  44  is upside-down in the state where the through hole  61  stores the waste ink, the fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  absorbs the waste ink stored in the through hole  61  to prevent the ink from leaking to the outside of the container member  44 . The fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  suppresses the discharged waste ink from vaporization. When the waste ink is vaporized, the ink absorbing member clogs due to the thickened ink and thus the waste ink discharged later hardly diffuses therein. The fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  stops the through hole  61  to suppress the waste ink from vaporization from the top surface of the first ink absorbing member  45   a  onto which the discharged waste ink drops and is located above the ink absorbing members  45   a ,  45   b , and  45   c  to suppress the waste ink from vaporization from the three ink absorbing members. 
     The waste ink tank  27  is constructed as described above. The ink absorbing members may be received in the container member  44  in a manner different from the above description. Similarly to the recycled waste ink tank  127  to be described later, the sealing member may seal at least a part of the opening of the container member  44  in a manner different from the above description. 
     The tube supporting mechanism  28  will be described now. As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the tube supporting mechanism  28  includes a base body  63  having a substantial ⊃ shape in a plan view in which a front end distance between both side walls having a rectangular shape is constant and in which the front ends of both side walls are connected to each other with a rectangular front wall. A horizontal plate  64  having a rectangular plate shape extends forward from the lower front end of the base body  63  and right and left screw holes  65  are formed in the horizontal plate  64 . The base body  63  is fixed to the rear step surface  39  of the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26  by screwing setscrews  66  to the screw holes  65  of the horizontal plate  64 , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , plural through holes  67 ,  68 , and  69  (three through holes in this embodiment) are formed in the front wall of the base body  63  so as to extend in the up and down directions. Among the through holes  67  to  69 , the central through hole  68  has such a height to be coaxial with the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  attached to the attachment location  31  of the receiving chamber  30 , when the base body  63  is fixed onto the rear step surface  39  of the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26 . An inward flange  70  (see  FIGS. 5A and 5B ) is formed at an intermediate position in an axial direction of the inner circumferential surface of each of the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69 . In addition, a substantially U-shaped tube fixing portion  71  through which the flexible tube  43  is inserted to be supported is formed in the substantially central portion of the upper end of the front wall of the base body  63 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , a support member  72  linearly supporting the flexible tube  43  is assembled with the front surface of the base body  63 . The support member  72  is a resin-molded product having rigidity, including a tubular body  73  as a main member which can be inserted into or detached from the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27 , and having a predetermined length in the front and rear directions. A brim portion  74  having a rectangular plate shape is monolithically formed at a position closer to the rear side (base end side) than the center in an axial direction of the tubular body  73 . In the support member  72 , a base-end tubular portion (second support member)  75  protruding more rearward than the brim portion  74  of the tubular body  73  has an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the intermediate through hole  68  of the base body  63  and an inner diameter into which the flexible tube  43  can be inserted. 
     On the other hand, in the support member  72 , a predetermined length portion of the tubular body  73  serving as a second support portion in front of (on the front side) the brim portion  74  has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the width of the cut-in groove  62  of the third ink absorbing member  45   c  received in the waste ink tank  27  and a length almost equal to the distance from the rear edge of the third ink absorbing member  45   c  to the center of the through hole  61 . In the predetermined length portion of the tubular body  73  in front of the brim portion  74 , a relatively-long tubular portion from the front tubular portion  76  to the rear brim portion  74 , except for the relatively-short front tubular portion  76  having a cylinder shape into which the front end as a downstream end of the flexible tube  43  is inserted, is formed as a non-tubular portion  77  in which about a half of the circumferential wall is cut out. In the inner surface of the non-tubular portion  77 , insertion claws (fixing portions)  78  forming pairs protrude from plural positions (three positions in this embodiment) in the axial direction of the tubular body  73  so that the distance from the opposite insertion claw  78  is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the flexible tube  43 . 
     In the support member  72 , when the base-side tubular portion  75  of the tubular body  73  is loosely inserted into the central through hole  68  of the base body  63 , the front-side predetermined length portion including the front end (downstream end) of the flexible tube  43  inserted from the base-side opening of the base-side tubular portion  75  is supported by the front tubular portion  76  and the non-tubular portion  77 . That is, the front tubular portion  76  in the tubular body  73  supports the front end of the flexible tube  43  in the inserted state since the inner diameter of the front tubular portion  76  is equal to the outer diameter of the flexible tube  43 . In addition, the non-tubular portion  77  fixes the flexible tube  43  by inserting the flexible tube  43  from the side so that the fixing claws  78  fix the plural locations (three locations in this embodiment) of the portion extending from the front end to the base end of the flexible tube  43 . Accordingly, the front-side predetermined length portion in the flexible tube  43  is supported by the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  so as to extend in a direction in which the front end of the flexible tube  43  is oriented. 
     A positioning pin  85  which can be inserted into or detached from the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58  of the waste ink tank  27  protrudes forward from the left edge of the front surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 . Likewise, a vertical plate portion  86  having a rectangular plate shape protrudes forward from a position below the positioning pin  85  in the left edge of the front surface of the brim portion  74 . A connection terminal  87  corresponding to the connection terminal  59  formed on the sub left side wall  50   b  of the waste ink tank  27  is mounted on one surface (right surface) of the vertical plate portion  86 . The connection terminal  87  is connected to a control unit (not shown) of the printer  11  through a harness (not shown). 
     On the other hand, a pair of upper and lower cylinders  79  that can be respectively inserted into the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  protrudes in parallel backward from two upper and lower positions of the base-side tubular portion  75  in the rear surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 . In addition, the upper and lower cylinders  79  are respectively inserted into the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  in a state where the cylinders  79  are put into coil springs  80  serving as an urging unit against the circumferential surfaces. In this case, the front ends of the coil springs  80  come in contact with the rear surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the rear ends thereof come in contact with the flanges  70  formed at the middle positions of the inner circumferential surfaces of the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69 , respectively. Screw holes (not shown) are formed on the front end surfaces of the cylinders  79 , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , an assembly plate  81  assembling the support member  72  into the base body  63  is disposed on the rear surface of the base body  63 . The assembly plate  81  has a rectangular plate shape coming in contact with the rear surface of the front wall when the assembly plate  81  is disposed between both side walls of the base body  63  having the substantial ⊃ shape in a plan view. A through hole  82  corresponding to the central through hole  68  of the base body  63  is formed in the substantial center of the assembly plate  81 . Screw insertion holes  83  are formed at two positions, which correspond to the upper though hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63 , above and below the through hole  82  in the assembly plate  81 . In addition, the assembly plate  81  is screwed to the cylinders  79  of the support member  72  of which the front ends protrude backward from the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  with setscrews  84  inserted into the screw insertion holes  83 . 
     A method of detaching the waste ink tank  27  from the printer  11  will be described now with reference to  FIG. 2  again. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the waste ink tank  27  attached to the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  is detached from the printer  11 , the door  36  of the attachment and detachment port  34  is opened and a user of the printer  11  puts his hand into the attachment and detachment port  34  and grasps the front end portion of the waste ink tank  27 . Then, the user lifts up the front end portion of the waste ink tank  27  to incline the posture of the waste ink tank  27  and thus unlocks the locking stepped portion  40  from the locking stepped portion  60 . In this state, since the urging force of the coil springs  80  acts on the waste ink tank  27  through the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  in the detachment direction (to the front side), the urging force assists the movement in the detachment direction and thus the waste ink tank  27  is easily detached through the attachment and detachment port  34 . 
     A method of attaching the waste ink tank  27  to the printer  11  will be described now. Here, a new waste ink tank  27  may be a waste ink tank  27  of which the container member  44  is recycled as described later. 
       FIG. 6  is a partially-omitted sectional view (first) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank  27 .  FIG. 7  is a partially-omitted sectional view (second) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank. 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is attached to the attachment location  31  of the receiving chamber  30 , first, the door  36  on the front surface of the housing  26  is opened. The waste ink tank  27  is inserted into the opened attachment and detachment port  34  from the rear end thereof where the connection port  57  is formed and the waste ink tank  27  is made to move to the rear side which is the attachment direction to the attachment location  31 . Then, as shown in  FIG. 6 , in the front step where the entire waste ink tank  27  is inserted into the receiving chamber  30 , the front tubular shape  76  of the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  in the tube supporting mechanism  28  is inserted into the connection port  57  of the main rear side wall  49   a.    
     In the tube supporting mechanism  28  according to this embodiment, the front end of the support member  72  is pivotable about the base end thereof. Accordingly, when the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  is inserted into the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  moving with its posture inclined, the support member  72  of the tube supporting mechanism  28  allows its front end to pivot to correspond to the inclination. Therefore, the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  in the support member  72  is inserted to the deep position of the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  without interference. 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is made to further move toward the deep position of the receiving chamber  30  from the state shown in  FIG. 6 , the rear side wall  49  of the waste ink tank  27  comes in contact with the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  reaches the position of the through hole  61  formed in the third ink absorbing member  45   c . In this case, when the rear side wall  49  of the waste ink tank  27  comes in contact with the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 , the positioning pin  85  protruding from the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  is inserted into the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58  disposed in the sub rear side wall  49   b  of the waste ink tank  27 , whereby the waste ink tank  27  is positioned in the up and down directions and the right and left directions relative to the attachment location  31 . 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is further pushed from this state so as to press the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 , the support member  72  further retreats while further compressing the coil springs  80 . When the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  retreats to the position closes to the front wall of the base body  63 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , the waste ink tank  27  is changed to a horizontal posture and the bottom surface of the container member  44  in the waste ink tank  27  is brought into surface contact with the middle step surface  38  which is a part of the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30 . At this time, the locking stepped portion  60  formed on the bottom surface of the container member  44  of the waste ink tank  27  is located at a position in the receiving chamber  30  deeper than the locking stepped portion  40  formed at the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30 . In other words, at this time, the waste ink tank  27  departs from the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  in the attachment direction. 
     When the force (for example, the force of the user&#39;s hand) acting to move the waste ink tank  27  in the attachment direction is released from the state shown in  FIG. 7 , the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  goes forward with the urging force of the compressed coil springs  80  and thus the waste ink tank  27  is pressed to the front side (that is, in the detachment direction of the waste ink tank  27 ) by the brim portion  74 . Then, the waste ink tank  27  slides forward over the middle step surface  38  of the attachment location  31  with the pressing force and the locking stepped portion  60  of the container member  44  is locked to the locking stepped portion  40  of the attachment location  31  as shown in  FIG. 2 . That is, the locking stepped portion  40  not lockable when the waste ink tank  27  moves in the attachment direction opposite to the detachment direction relative to the locking stepped portion  60  of the container member  44  serves as a locking unit regulating the movement in the detachment direction of the waste ink tank  27  when the waste ink tank  27  slides and moves in the detachment direction. 
     Accordingly, the urging force of the coil springs  80  is applied to the waste ink tank  27  from the rear side through the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the locking stepped portion  40  of the attachment location  31  is locked forward to the locking stepped portion  60  of the bottom surface of the container member  44 , whereby the waste ink tank  27  is positioned at the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  to be immovable in the front and rear directions as shown in  FIG. 2 . Accordingly, the locking stepped portion  40  serving as the locking unit to the coil springs  80  as the urging unit serves as a holding unit holding the waste ink tank  27  at the attachment location  31 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . When the door  36  of the attachment and detachment port  34  is returned to the closing location, the pressing member  134  presses the front protruding portion  152  from the upside so as to allow the waste ink tank not to move in the up and down directions. In this way, the attachment operation of the waste ink tank  27  to the attachment location  31  is finished. 
     A method of recycling the container member  44  according to this embodiment will be described now. As described above, when the waste ink tank  27  is used in the printer  11  and collects a predetermined amount of ink, the waste ink tank  27  is replaced. At this time, when the container member  44  of the waste ink tank  27  can be reused, it is not necessary to form a new container member  44 , which is advantageous in view of environment and economy. 
       FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating the method of recycling the container member  44  according to this embodiment. The method of recycling the container member  44  will be described now with reference the flowchart. 
     First, the waste ink tank  27  is detached and recovered from the printer  11  (S 102 ). The method of detaching the waste ink tank  27  is as described above. The waste ink tanks  27  of plural printers  11  may be recovered together. The container members  44  of the recovered waste ink tanks  27  may be reused together in a recycle plant. 
     The film member  46  is detached from the used waste ink tank  27  (S 104 ). The detachment of the film member  46  is performed by allowing a person recycling the waste ink tank  27  to grasp an end of the film member  46  and to peel off the film member from the container member  44 . The film member  46  was welded to the container member  44 . Accordingly, the welded portion of the film member  46  may be heated again to facilitate the peeling of the film member  46  from the container member  44  and then the film member  46  may be detached. In this way, it is possible to reduce the remainder of the film member at the position to which the film member  46  is welded. When a part of the film member remains in the opening  48 , the remaining may be shaved. 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a state where a part  147  of the film member is attached to the periphery of the opening  48 . When a part  147  of the film member remaining at the time of detaching the film member is attached to the periphery of the opening, a gap may be generated between the film member  46  and the container member  44  at the time of welding the film member  46  to the container member  44 . Accordingly, it is preferable that the periphery of the opening  48  should be shaved to flatten the surface to which the film member  46  would be welded before sealing at least a part of the opening  48 . Here, a part  147  of the film member remaining around the opening  48  is shaved. Accordingly, the opening is flattened. 
     The ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are taken out of the waste ink tank  27  and at least a part of the waste ink is removed from the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  (S 106 ). The removal of the waste ink can be carried out by cleaning the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d . At this time, the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  may be cleaned using a detergent or may be cleaned using a solvent. 
     The absorbed waste ink may be removed from the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  by squeezing the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d . The absorbed waste ink may be removed by wiping the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d.    
     After the waste ink tank  27  is detached from the printer  11  in step S 102 , the waste ink absorbed by the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  may be removed while cleaning the waste ink tank  27  as a whole. In this case, the film member  46  may not be detached. The waste ink tank  27  may be cleaned as a whole after the connection terminal  59  is demounted. Accordingly, it is possible to omit a process of detaching and then sealing again the film member  46  or a process of extracting and receiving again the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d.    
     When the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are extracted and cleaned, the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  from which at least a part of the waste ink is removed are received again in the container member  44  (S 108 ). In the order of receiving the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d , as shown in  FIG. 3 , the ink absorbing member  45   a  is received on the bottom of the container member  44  and then the ink absorbing members  45   b  to  45   d  are sequentially stacked and received in the container member  44 . 
     When the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are received again in the container member  44 , the ink absorbing member  45   d  may be received on the bottom of the container member  44  and the ink absorbing member  45   a  may be received on the upper portion of the container member  44 . It is considered that one of the used ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  received closer to the bottom of the container member  44  absorbs more waste ink. It is also considered that although a part of the waste ink is removed, the ink absorbing member located lower and having absorbed more waste ink has such an amount of waste ink not to be cleaned. 
     Therefore, the ink absorbing member  45   d  received in the upper portion of the container member  44  may be received on the bottom after cleaning. The ink absorbing member  45   a  received on the bottom of the container member  44  may be received in the uppermost portion after cleaning. Accordingly, since the ink absorbing member from which the waste ink is more removed can be disposed on the lower portion where more waste ink is collected, it is possible to absorb more waste ink after recycling. 
     Although it is described above that all the cleaned ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are returned to the container member  44 , at least one of the ink absorbing member  45   a  to  45   d  may be replaced with a non-used ink absorbing member and may be received in the container member  44 . For example, the first ink absorbing member  45   a  considered as absorbing the most ink may be replaced with a non-used ink absorbing member. The replaced non-used ink absorbing member may have an outer shape different from the outer shapes of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d.    
     In this case, some ink absorbing members hardly absorbing waste ink can be replaced with non-used ink absorbing members to recycle the waste ink tank capable of collecting more waste ink. 
     In this way, when the ink absorbing members are received in the container member  44 , at least a part of the opening  48  is sealed (S 110 ). 
       FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a state where the film member  146  is welded to a part of the opening  48 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the film member  146  is welded is shown. At the time of recycling the container member  44 , as shown in the drawing, the film member  146  may be thermally welded and attached to only a part of the opening  48 . In this case, it can be determined from the non-sealed portion whether the recycled waste ink tank  127  is a recycled product or a new product. By sealing only a part of the opening  48 , it is not necessary to form the air hole  113  in the film member. 
       FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a state where the container member  44  is wound by the film member  246 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which a film member  248  is attached is shown. At the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , as shown in the drawing, the film member  246  may be wound around the container member  44  so as to seal at least a part of the opening  48 . The end of the film member  246  may be fixed with an adhesive. By attaching the film member  246  in this way, the film member  246  can be easily attached to the container member  44  even when a part of the old film member remains around the opening  48 . It is possible to easily seal at least a part of the opening  48 . A food wrapping film may be used as the film member  246  wound on the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member  346  is attached using a side wall of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the film member  346  is attached is shown. At the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , as shown in the drawing, end portions of the film member  346  may be bonded to the side walls  50  and  51  of the container member  44 . By attaching the film member  346  in this way, the film member  346  can be easily attached to the container member  44  even when a part of the old film member remains around the opening  48 . 
       FIG. 13  is a sectional view illustrating a state where a lid member  446  is attached to at least a part of the opening  48  of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a section of a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the lid member  446  is attached is shown. As shown in the drawing, at the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , the lid member  446  fitted to the top portions of the side walls  50  and  51  of the container member  44  may be attached. By providing the lid member  446 , it is possible to easily extract the ink absorbing members from the opening  48  at the time of recycling the container member  44 . 
     Although at least a part of the opening  48  is sealed in step S 110 , the container member  44  receiving the ink absorbing members without sealing the opening  48  may be used as the recycled waste ink tank  127 . In this case, the processes of steps S 112  to S 114  described below may be performed without performing the process of step S 110  in  FIG. 8 . The sealing of at least a part of the opening  48  includes sealing the entire opening  48  as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     When a part of the opening  48  is sealed, the sealed part of the opening  48  is preferably a portion above the through hole  61 . In this case, since the discharged waste ink is suppressed from immediate vaporization, the ink absorbing members do not clog in the vicinity of the through hole  61  and thus the waste ink can easily diffuse into the ink absorbing members as a whole. In addition, since the waste ink is vaporized from the non-covered portion of the opening  48 , a more amount of waste ink can be collected. Accordingly, it is preferable that the non-covered portion of the opening  48  is apart from the discharge portion. However, when ink can diffuse as a whole in spite of the vaporization thereof, the sealed part is not particularly limited. 
     In this way, when the opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed, information on the waste ink tank is then rewritten to the circuit board of the connection terminal  59  (S 112 ). 
     The circuit board is formed in the connection terminal  59 . The circuit board includes an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) which information can be erased from and written to and stores a variety of information on the waste ink tank  127 . For example, the number of reusable times of the container member  44 , the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank, and the manufacturing date of the waste ink tank are stored in the circuit board. 
     The amount of collectable ink is predetermined for the waste ink  127 . Accordingly, whenever the waste ink is discharged to the waste ink tank  127 , the printer  11  counts the amount of discharged ink, subtracts the amount of discharge ink from the amount of collectable ink stored in the circuit board, and rewrites the result. Therefore, by allowing the circuit board to store the amount of collectable ink, the printer  11  can monitor the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank  127  so that the amount of discharged ink should not exceed the amount of collectable ink. 
     At the time of recycling the waste ink tank  127 , the stored amount of collectable ink can be rewritten to the circuit board so as to be the amount of collectable ink of a non-used waste ink tank  127 . For example, when the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank is reduced to 0 g by use, the amount of collectable ink is rewritten to the circuit board as 60 g which is the amount of collectable ink of a non-used waste ink tank. 
     Since the recycled waste ink tank  127  is a recycled product, a smaller amount of collectable ink may be rewritten. For example, 60 g is written to the circuit board as the amount of collectable ink of a new waste ink tank  127 , but 50 g may be rewritten as the amount of collectable ink to the circuit board of the recycled waste ink tank  127 . 
     The number of reusable times of the container member  44  may be stored in the circuit board and the number of reusable times of the container member  44  may be reduced and stored in the circuit board when ever the waste ink tank  127  is recycled. Accordingly, it is possible to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . For the following reason, it is necessary to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . 
     As described above, at the time of recycling the container member  44 , the welding surface of the film member may be shaved. Then, the amount of shaved portion increases with the increase of the number of reused times and thus the height of the container member  44  may be reduced. In this case, there is a problem in that the ink absorbing member having an expected size may not be received or only an amount of waste ink smaller than an expected amount of collectable ink can be collected. Accordingly, the number of reused times of the container member  44  is stored in the circuit board to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a state where the connection terminal  59  is demounted from the container member  44 . In this way, at the time of updating the details stored in the circuit board  59   a , the connection terminal  59  may be demounted from the container member  44 . The connection terminal  59  may be demounted from the container member  44  and then a new connection terminal may be mounted thereon. 
     As described above, when the waste ink tank  127  is recycled reusing the container member  44 , the recycled waste ink tank  127  is attached to the printer  11  (S 114 ). Since the recycled waste ink tank  127  is manufactured using the container member  44 , the outer shape thereof is almost the same as the old waste ink tank  27 . Accordingly, the recycled waste ink tank can be attached to the printer  11 , similarly to the old waste ink tank  27 . 
     The processes of steps S 104  to S 112  may be performed by a person other than the user. 
     Other modifications of the first embodiment of the invention will be described now. 
     Although an ink jet printer is embodied as a fluid ejecting apparatus having the recycled waste liquid collector (waste ink tank) reusing the container member in the above-mentioned embodiment, the invention may be applied to a fluid ejecting apparatus spraying or ejecting a liquid (including a liquid-like material in which particles of a functional material are dispersed and a colloidal material such as gel, in addition to the liquid) other than the ink or a fluid (such as solid that can be made to flow and ejected as a fluid) other than the liquid. For example, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid-like material ejecting apparatus ejecting a liquid-like material in which materials such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an electroluminescence (EL) display, and a surface-emission display are dispersed or melted, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting bio organics used for manufacturing a bio chip, or a liquid ejecting apparatus used as a precise pipette to eject a liquid as a sample. In addition, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting lubricant to a precise machine such as a clock or a camera by the use of a pin point, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting a transparent resin liquid such as a UV-curable resin onto a substrate to form a micro semi-circular lens (optical lens) used in an optical communication device, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting etchant such as acid or alkali to etch a substrate and the like, a colloidal material ejecting apparatus ejecting such as gel, or a powder-ejecting recording apparatus ejecting a solid such as toner powder. The invention can be applied to one of the above-mentioned ejecting apparatuses. 
     In this embodiment, the ink includes aqueous ink and oily ink. 
     The above-mentioned embodiment is intended for easy understanding of the invention, but not for definitely analyzing the invention. The invention can be modified and improved without departing from the gist thereof and equivalents thereof can be included in the invention. The embodiments are also included in the invention. 
     Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 2  is a partially-omitted sectional view illustrating a housing in the printer.  FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a waste ink tank.  FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a tube supporting mechanism.  FIG. 5A  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism and  FIG. 5B  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism in a state where a support member retreats. 
     Hereinafter, a waste liquid collecting system in an ink jet printer which is a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. “Front and rear directions”, “up and down directions”, and “right and left directions” in the following description means “front and rear directions”, “up and down directions”, and “right and left directions” indicated by arrows in  FIGS. 1 to 4 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , an ink jet printer (hereinafter, referred to as “printer”)  11  as a liquid ejecting apparatus according to this embodiment includes a frame  12  having a rectangular shape in a plan view. 
     A transport roller  13  extends in the right and left directions in the frame  12 . A printing sheet P is fed from the rear side to the front side by allowing the transport roller  13  to rotate by the use of a sheet feeding motor  14 . In addition, a guide shaft  15  extending in parallel to a longitudinal direction (the right and left directions) of the transport roller  13  is disposed above the transport roller  13  in the frame  12 . 
     A carriage  16  is supported by the guide shaft  15  so as to reciprocate along an axial line direction (the right and left directions) of the guide shaft  15 . A driving pulley  17  and a driven pulley  18  are rotatably supported at positions corresponding to both ends of the guide shaft  15  in the rear surface of the frame  12 , respectively. A carriage motor  19  serving as a driving source for allowing the carriage  16  to reciprocate is connected to the driving pulley  17 . A timing belt  20  fixing and supporting the carriage  16  is suspended between the pair of pulleys  17  and  18 . Accordingly, the carriage  16  moves in the right and left directions through the timing belt  20  by the carriage motor  19  while being guided by the guide shaft  15 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a print head  21  as a liquid ejecting head is disposed on the lower surface of the carriage  16 . On the other hand, plural ink cartridges  23  for supplying ink as a liquid to the print head  21  are detachably mounted on the carriage  16 . The ink cartridges  23  individually correspond to plural nozzle opening lines (not shown) formed in a nozzle formation surface  21   a  (see  FIG. 2 ) which is the lower surface of the print head  21  and individually supply ink to the corresponding nozzle opening lines through ink passages (not shown) formed in the print head  21 . 
     A home position HP serving as a maintenance position where the carriage  16  is located at the time of turning off the printer  11  or maintaining the print head  21  is disposed in one end (the right end in  FIG. 1 ) in the frame  12 , that is, in a non-printing area which the printing sheet P does not reach. In addition, a maintenance unit  24  performing various maintenance operations is disposed below the home position HP so as to satisfactorily eject ink to the printing sheet P from the print head  21 . 
     The maintenance unit  24  includes a cap  25  having a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to the lower surface (the nozzle formation surface) of the print head  21  and an elevation mechanism (not shown) moving the cap  25  up and down. In addition, when the cap  25  moves up by the driving of the elevation mechanism (not shown) with the carriage  16  located at the home position HP, the cap  25  comes in contact with the nozzle formation surface  21   a  which is the lower surface of the print head  21  so as to surround the nozzle opening lines. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a housing  26  having a rectangular parallelepiped shape in the front and rear directions is formed at one end (the right end in  FIG. 1 ) in the frame  12  and below the home position HP. A receiving chamber  30  receiving a waste liquid collecting system  29  including a waste ink tank  27  as a waste liquid collector and a tube supporting mechanism  28  as a liquid passage forming unit is formed in the housing  26 . An attachment location  31  of the waste ink tank  27  is set in a lower portion of the receiving chamber  30 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the height (which is a distance between a bottom wall  32  and a top wall  33 ) of the receiving chamber  30  is set sufficiently higher than the height of the waste ink tank  27  so that the waste ink tank  27  can be tilted inside the receiving chamber  30 . 
     When the cap  25  moves up from the state shown in  FIG. 2  by the driving of the elevation mechanism (not shown) and comes in contact with the nozzle formation surface  21   a  of the print head  21 , a suction pump  42  is driven. Then, the thickened ink in the print head  21  is forcibly sucked and discharged (ejected) as waste ink into the cap  25  through nozzle openings (not shown) by a negative pressure generated in the cap  25 . When an idle suction state of sucking the atmospheric air is reached by exposing the inside of the cap  25  to the atmospheric air in a state where the suction pump  42  is being driven, the waste ink is discharged from the cap  25  to the waste ink tank  27 . 
     A rectangular attachment and detachment port  34  through which the waste ink tank  27  passes upon attaching or detaching the waste ink tank  27  to or from the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  is formed on the front surface of the housing  26 . A door  36  of which the upper end portion is rotatably supported on a pair of right and left shafts  35  formed at both ends of the upper edge of the attachment and detachment port  34  is disposed in the attachment and detachment port  34 . By grasping a knob  36   a  formed on the front surface of the door  36  and opening or closing the door  36  about the shafts  35 , the door  36  moves between a closing location indicated by a solid line and an opening location indicated a two-dot chain line in  FIG. 2 . 
     A pressing member  134  pressing a front protruding portion  152  of the waste ink tank  27  from the upside is formed monolithically with the door  36 . Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the front side of the waste ink tank  27  from floating, by closing the door  36 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , in the receiving chamber  30  of the housing  26 , a front step surface  37 , a middle step surface  38 , and a rear step surface  39  are formed in a step shape on the upper surface of the bottom wall  32  from the front side to the rear side in the front and rear directions. The front step surface  37  has the same height as the lower edge of the attachment and detachment port  34 . A locking step  40  as a locking portion making the middle step surface  38  lower than the front step surface  37  is formed between the rear end of the front step surface  37  and the front end of the middle step surface  38  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     The middle step surface  38  has a length in the front and rear directions slightly smaller than the length of the waste ink tank  27  in the front and rear directions. The almost entire area of the middle step surface  38  and the rear half area of the front step surface  37  form the attachment location  31  of the waste ink tank  27 . The rear step surface  39  is slightly lower than the middle step surface  38  with a stepped portion  41  interposed therebetween. The tube supporting mechanism  28  supporting a flexible tube  43 , which discharges the ink forcibly sucked as the waste ink (waste liquid) from the cap  25  to the waste ink tank  27  by the driving of the suction pump  42 , is disposed on the rear step surface  39 . 
     The waste ink tank  27  will be described now. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the waste ink tank  27  includes a container member  44  having a bottomed box shape of which the top is opened, plural ink absorbing members (waste liquid absorbing members)  45   a  to  45   d  having an outer shape corresponding to the opening shape of the container member  44 , and a film member  46  as a gas-liquid non-transmitting member having an outer shape corresponding to the opening shape of the container member  44 . The inside of the container member  44  serves as a receiving space  47  and the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are stacked and received in the receiving space  47 . The opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed by bonding (welding in this embodiment) the film member  46  to the container member  44  to cover the opening  48  of the container member  44  having received the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are received. An air hole  113  is formed at a position of the film member  46  bonded to the container member  44 . As described above, the front protruding portion  152  is formed in the container member  44  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     Ribs  52  having a thin plate shape are formed in the up and down directions in the inner surface of a rear side wall  49  of the container member  44 . Similarly, ribs  52   b  having a thin plate shape are formed in the up and down directions on right and left side walls  50  and  51 . Only one rib  52   a  on the rear side wall  49  and three ribs  52   b  on the right side wall  51  are shown in  FIG. 3 . In addition, cut-in portions  53  are formed in the outer edges of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  so as to correspond to the positions of the ribs  52   a  and  52   b.    
     A columnar post  54  is formed upright at a position slightly closer to the front than the center of the bottom surface of the container member  44 . Round holes  55  are formed upright at a position slightly closer to the front than the center of the ink absorbing members  45  so as to correspond to the post  54 . The corresponding ribs  52   a  and  52   b  are inserted into the cut-in portions  53  and the post  54  is inserted into the holes  55 , whereby the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are stacked and received in the receiving space  47  of the container member  44 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a concave portion  56  is formed in the rear-left corner of the container member  44 . As a result, the rear side wall  49  is divided into a main rear side wall  49   a  located on the relative rear side and a sub rear side wall  49   b  located on the relative front side and the left side wall  50  is divided into a main left side wall  50   a  located on the relative left side and a sub left side wall  50   b  located on the relative right side. 
     A round connection port  57  is formed in the main rear side wall  49   a . The connection port  57  has a diameter which gradually decreases from the opening edge to a deep side and has a function of guiding a member to a deep center of the connection port  57  when the member inserted into the connection port  57  from the outside comes in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the connection port  57  in the front and rear directions. Specifically, since the inner circumferential surface of the connection port  57  in the waste ink tank  27  is a tapered surface of which the diameter decreases to the deep side of the connection port  57 , a tubular body  73  of a support member  72  to be described later is slidably guided to the center of the connection port  57  as it is inserted into the connection port  57 . 
     The shape of the connection port  57  is not limited to the round shape. The connection port  57  may have, for example, a triangular shape, a polygonal shape, or an elliptical shape. In the drawing, the connection port  57  protrudes more than the rear side wall  49 , but may be formed not to protrude. 
     A cylinder portion  58  protrudes to the rear side from the sub rear side wall  49   b  and the hole of the cylinder portion  58  forms a positioning hole  58   a . As described later, a positioning pin  85  protruding from a brim portion  74  of the support member  72  is inserted into the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58 . Accordingly, the positioning pin  85  and the positioning hole  58   a  serve as a holding unit holding the waste ink tank  27  to regulate the movement thereof in the up and down directions and the right and left directions at the attachment location  31 . 
     When the shape of the positioning pin  85  is not cylindrical, the shape of the positioning hole  58   a  may not be cylindrical. For example, when the outer shape of the positioning pin  85  is rectangular, the positioning hole  58   a  may be a hole having a concave portion into which the pin is inserted. When the positioning pin  85  is a simple plate-like member, the positioning hole  58   a  may be a plate-like member capable of coming in contact with the pin to position the pin. 
     A connection terminal  59  having a circuit board storing various information of the waste ink tank  27  to be described later is mounted on the outer surface of the sub left side wall  50   b . A locking stepped portion  60  engaging with the locking stepped portion  40  formed on the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26  in the front and rear directions is formed at a position slightly closer to the rear end than the front end of the bottom surface of the container member  44  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , among the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d , the lowermost first ink absorbing member  45   a  and the uppermost fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  have the same thickness and the same shape and the second ink absorbing member  45   b  stacked as the second layer from the bottom and the third ink absorbing member  45   c  stacked as the third layer from the bottom have the same thickness. A through-hole  61  having a square shape is formed in a position slightly closer to the rear side than the center in each of the second ink absorbing member  45   b  and the third ink absorbing member  45   c . A cut-in groove  62  having a predetermined width is formed in the third ink absorbing member  45   c  in the front and rear directions from the rear edge to the through hole  61 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first ink absorbing member  45   a  stops the through hole  61  from the downside and the fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  stops the through hole  61  from the upside. When a front tubular portion  76  is inserted into the cut-in groove  62 , the waste ink discharged from the front tubular portion  76  drops on the top surface of the first ink absorbing member  45   a  and is absorbed therein. As the amount of waste ink absorbed increases, the waste ink slowly diffuses from the first ink absorbing member  45   a  to the upper ink absorbing members. 
     Here, when the amount of waste ink is great, the waste ink cannot diffuse into the first ink absorbing member  45   a . Accordingly, the through hole  61  temporarily stores the waste ink. That is, the discharged waste ink is stored until the waste ink is absorbed by the ink absorbing members (the waste ink diffuses into the ink absorbing members). Therefore, it is preferable that the through hole  61  has such a size to contain the discharged waste ink. When the container member  44  is detached and the posture of the container member  44  is upside-down in the state where the through hole  61  stores the waste ink, the fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  absorbs the waste ink stored in the through hole  61  to prevent the ink from leaking to the outside of the container member  44 . The fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  suppresses the discharged waste ink from vaporization. When the waste ink is vaporized, the ink absorbing member clogs due to the thickened ink and thus the waste ink discharged later hardly diffuses therein. The fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  stops the through hole  61  to suppress the waste ink from vaporization from the top surface of the first ink absorbing member  45   a  onto which the discharged waste ink drops and is located above the ink absorbing members  45   a ,  45   b , and  45   c  to suppress the waste ink from vaporization from the three ink absorbing members. 
     The waste ink tank  27  is constructed as described above. The ink absorbing members may be received in the container member  44  in a manner different from the above description. Similarly to the recycled waste ink tank  127  to be described later, the sealing member may seal at least a part of the opening of the container member  44  in a manner different from the above description. 
     The tube supporting mechanism  28  will be described now. As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the tube supporting mechanism  28  includes a base body  63  having a substantial ⊃ shape in a plan view in which a front end distance between both side walls having a rectangular shape is constant and in which the front ends of both side walls are connected to each other with a rectangular front wall. A horizontal plate  64  having a rectangular plate shape extends forward from the lower front end of the base body  63  and right and left screw holes  65  are formed in the horizontal plate  64 . The base body  63  is fixed to the rear step surface  39  of the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26  by screwing setscrews  66  to the screw holes  65  of the horizontal plate  64 , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , plural through holes  67 ,  68 , and  69  (three through holes in this embodiment) are formed in the front wall of the base body  63  so as to extend in the up and down directions. Among the through holes  67  to  69 , the central through hole  68  has such a height to be coaxial with the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  attached to the attachment location  31  of the receiving chamber  30 , when the base body  63  is fixed onto the rear step surface  39  of the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26 . An inward flange  70  (see  FIGS. 5A and 5B ) is formed at an intermediate position in an axial direction of the inner circumferential surface of each of the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69 . In addition, a substantially U-shaped tube fixing portion  71  through which the flexible tube  43  is inserted to be supported is formed in the substantially central portion of the upper end of the front wall of the base body  63 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , a support member  72  linearly supporting the flexible tube  43  is assembled with the front surface of the base body  63 . The support member  72  is a resin-molded product having rigidity, including a tubular body  73  as a main member which can be inserted into or detached from the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27 , and having a predetermined length in the front and rear directions. A brim portion  74  having a rectangular plate shape is monolithically formed at a position closer to the rear side (base end side) than the center in an axial direction of the tubular body  73 . In the support member  72 , a base-end tubular portion (second support member)  75  protruding more rearward than the brim portion  74  of the tubular body  73  has an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the intermediate through hole  68  of the base body  63  and an inner diameter into which the flexible tube  43  can be inserted. 
     On the other hand, in the support member  72 , a predetermined length portion of the tubular body  73  serving as a second support portion in front of (on the front side) the brim portion  74  has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the width of the cut-in groove  62  of the third ink absorbing member  45   c  received in the waste ink tank  27  and a length almost equal to the distance from the rear edge of the third ink absorbing member  45   c  to the center of the through hole  61 . In the predetermined length portion of the tubular body  73  in front of the brim portion  74 , a relatively-long tubular portion from the front tubular portion  76  to the rear brim portion  74 , except for the relatively-short front tubular portion  76  having a cylinder shape into which the front end as a downstream end of the flexible tube  43  is inserted, is formed as a non-tubular portion  77  in which about a half of the circumferential wall is cut out. In the inner surface of the non-tubular portion  77 , insertion claws (fixing portions)  78  forming pairs protrude from plural positions (three positions in this embodiment) in the axial direction of the tubular body  73  so that the distance from the opposite insertion claw  78  is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the flexible tube  43 . 
     In the support member  72 , when the base-side tubular portion  75  of the tubular body  73  is loosely inserted into the central through hole  68  of the base body  63 , the front-side predetermined length portion including the front end (downstream end) of the flexible tube  43  inserted from the base-side opening of the base-side tubular portion  75  is supported by the front tubular portion  76  and the non-tubular portion  77 . That is, the front tubular portion  76  in the tubular body  73  supports the front end of the flexible tube  43  in the inserted state since the inner diameter of the front tubular portion  76  is equal to the outer diameter of the flexible tube  43 . In addition, the non-tubular portion  77  fixes the flexible tube  43  by inserting the flexible tube  43  from the side so that the fixing claws  78  fix the plural locations (three locations in this embodiment) of the portion extending from the front end to the base end of the flexible tube  43 . Accordingly, the front-side predetermined length portion in the flexible tube  43  is supported by the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  so as to extend in a direction in which the front end of the flexible tube  43  is oriented. 
     A positioning pin  85  which can be inserted into or detached from the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58  of the waste ink tank  27  protrudes forward from the left edge of the front surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 . Likewise, a vertical plate portion  86  having a rectangular plate shape protrudes from a position below the positioning pin  85  in the left edge of the front surface of the brim portion  74 . A connection terminal  87  corresponding to the connection terminal  59  formed on the sub left side wall  50   b  of the waste ink tank  27  is mounted on one surface (right surface) of the vertical plate portion  86 . The connection terminal  87  is connected to a control unit (not shown) of the printer  11  through a harness (not shown). 
     On the other hand, a pair of upper and lower cylinders  79  that can be respectively inserted into the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  protrudes in parallel backward from two upper and lower positions of the base-side tubular portion  75  in the rear surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 . In addition, the upper and lower cylinders  79  are respectively inserted into the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  in a state where the cylinders  79  are put into coil springs  80  serving as an urging unit against the circumferential surfaces. In this case, the front ends of the coil springs  80  come in contact with the rear surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the rear ends thereof come in contact with the flanges  70  formed at the middle positions of the inner circumferential surfaces of the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69 , respectively. Screw holes (not shown) are formed on the front end surfaces of the cylinders  79 , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , an assembly plate  81  assembling the support member  72  into the base body  63  is disposed on the rear surface of the base body  63 . The assembly plate  81  has a rectangular plate shape coming in contact with the rear surface of the front wall when the assembly plate  81  is disposed between both side walls of the base body  63  having the substantial ⊃ shape in a plan view. A through hole  82  corresponding to the central through hole  68  of the base body  63  is formed in the substantial center of the assembly plate  81 . Screw insertion holes  83  are formed at two positions, which correspond to the upper though hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63 , above and below the through hole  82  in the assembly plate  81 . In addition, the assembly plate  81  is screwed to the cylinders  79  of the support member  72  of which the front ends protrude backward from the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  with setscrews  84  inserted into the screw insertion holes  83 . 
     A method of detaching the waste ink tank  27  from the printer  11  will be described now with reference to  FIG. 2  again. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the waste ink tank  27  attached to the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  is detached from the printer  11 , the door  36  of the attachment and detachment port  34  is opened and a user of the printer  11  puts his hand into the attachment and detachment port  34  and grasps the front end portion of the waste ink tank  27 . Then, the user lifts up the front end portion of the waste ink tank  27  to incline the posture of the waste ink tank  27  and thus unlocks the locking stepped portion  40  from the locking stepped portion  60 . In this state, since the urging force of the coil springs  80  acts on the waste ink tank  27  through the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  in the detachment direction (to the front side), the urging force assists the movement in the detachment direction and thus the waste ink tank  27  is easily detached through the attachment and detachment port  34 . 
     A method of attaching the waste ink tank  27  to the printer  11  will be described now. Here, a new waste ink tank  27  may be a waste ink tank  27  of which the container member  44  is recycled as described later. 
       FIG. 6  is a partially-omitted sectional view (first) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank  27 .  FIG. 7  is a partially-omitted sectional view (second) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank. 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is attached to the attachment location  31  of the receiving chamber  30 , first, the door  36  on the front surface of the housing  26  is opened. The waste ink tank  27  is inserted into the opened attachment and detachment port  34  from the rear end thereof where the connection port  57  is formed and the waste ink tank  27  is made to move to the rear side which is the attachment direction to the attachment location  31 . Then, as shown in  FIG. 6 , in the front step where the entire waste ink tank  27  is inserted into the receiving chamber  30 , the front tubular shape  76  of the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  in the tube supporting mechanism  28  is inserted into the connection port  57  of the main rear side wall  49   a.    
     In the tube supporting mechanism  28  according to this embodiment, the front end of the support member  72  is pivotable about the base end thereof. Accordingly, when the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  is inserted into the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  moving with its posture inclined, the support member  72  of the tube supporting mechanism  28  allows its front end to pivot to correspond to the inclination. Therefore, the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  in the support member  72  is inserted to the deep position of the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  without interference. 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is made to further move toward the deep position of the receiving chamber  30  from the state shown in  FIG. 6 , the rear side wall  49  of the waste ink tank  27  comes in contact with the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  reaches the position of the through hole  61  formed in the third ink absorbing member  45   c . In this case, when the rear side wall  49  of the waste ink tank  27  comes in contact with the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 , the positioning pin  85  protruding from the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  is inserted into the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58  disposed in the sub rear side wall  49   b  of the waste ink tank  27 , whereby the waste ink tank  27  is positioned in the up and down directions and the right and left directions relative to the attachment location  31 . 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is further pushed from this state so as to press the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 , the support member  72  further retreats while further compressing the coil springs  80 . When the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  retreats to the position closest to the front wall of the base body  63 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , the waste ink tank  27  is changed to a horizontal posture and the bottom surface of the container member  44  in the waste ink tank  27  is brought into surface contact with the middle step surface  38  which is a part of the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30 . At this time, the locking stepped portion  60  formed on the bottom surface of the container member  44  of the waste ink tank  27  is located at a position in the receiving chamber  30  deeper than the locking stepped portion  40  formed at the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30 . In other words, at this time, the waste ink tank  27  departs from the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  in the attachment direction. 
     When the force (for example, the force of the user&#39;s hand) acting to move the waste ink tank  27  in the attachment direction is released from the state shown in  FIG. 7 , the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  goes forward with the urging force of the compressed coil springs  80  and thus the waste ink tank  27  is pressed to the front side (that is, in the detachment direction of the waste ink tank  27 ) by the brim portion  74 . Then, the waste ink tank  27  slides forward over the middle step surface  38  of the attachment location  31  with the pressing force and the locking stepped portion  60  of the container member  44  is locked to the locking stepped portion  40  of the attachment location  31  as shown in  FIG. 2 . That is, the locking stepped portion  40  not lockable when the waste ink tank  27  moves in the attachment direction opposite to the detachment direction relative to the locking stepped portion  60  of the container member  44  serves as a locking unit regulating the movement in the detachment direction of the waste ink tank  27  when the waste ink tank  27  moves in the detachment direction. 
     Accordingly, the urging force of the coil springs  80  is applied to the waste ink tank  27  from the rear side through the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the locking stepped portion  40  of the attachment location  31  is locked to the locking stepped portion  60  of the bottom surface of the container member  44 , whereby the waste ink tank  27  is positioned at the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  to be immovable in the front and rear directions as show in  FIG. 2 . Accordingly, the locking stepped portion  40  serving as the locking unit to the coil springs  80  as the urging unit serves as a holding unit holding the waste ink tank  27  at the attachment location  31 . When the door  36  of the attachment and detachment port  34  is returned to the closing location, the pressing member  134  presses the front protruding portion  152  from the upside so as to allow the waste ink tank not to move in the up and down directions. In this way, the attachment operation of the waste ink tank  27  to the attachment location  31  is finished. 
     A method of recycling the container member  44  according to this embodiment will be described now. As described above, when the waste ink tank  27  is used in the printer  11  and collects a predetermined amount of ink, the waste ink tank  27  is replaced. At this time, when the container member  44  of the waste ink tank  27  can be reused, it is not necessary to form a new container member  44 , which is advantageous in view of environment and economy. 
       FIG. 15  is a flowchart illustrating the method of recycling the container member  44  according to this embodiment. The method of recycling the container member  44  will be described now with reference the flowchart. 
     First, the waste ink tank  27  is detached and recovered from the printer  11  (S 202 ). The method of detaching the waste ink tank  27  is as described above. The waste ink tanks of plural printers  11  may be recovered together. The container members  44  of the recovered waste ink tanks  27  may be reused together in a recycle plant. 
     The film member  46  is detached from the used waste ink tank  27  (S 204 ). The ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are removed from the opening  48  of the waste ink tank  27  (S 206 ). The detachment of the film member  46  is performed by allowing a person recycling the waste ink tank  27  to grasp an end of the film member  46  and to peel off the film member from the container member  44 . The film member  46  was welded to the container member  44 . Accordingly, the welded portion of the film member  46  may be heated again to facilitate the peeling of the film member  46  from the container member  44  and then the film member  46  may be detached. In this way, it is possible to reduce the remainder of the film member at the position to which the film member  46  is welded. 
     Then, a non-used ink absorbing member is received in the container member  44  (S 208 ). At this time, a non-used ink absorbing member having a material different from that of the used ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  may be received in the container member  44 . High-density fiber-structured polyurethane, foaming material, and absorbent high-molecular polymer are used for the non-used ink absorbing member. Specifically, water-absorbing paper, felt, cellulose, polyvinylalcohol (PVA), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin (EVA), acrylic acid grafted starch, acrylic salt grafted starch, vinylalcohol acrylic block copolymer, cross-linked polyacrylic acid, cross-linked polycarylic salt, denatured PVA, polystylene sulfonic acid, cellulose ester, carboxymethyl cellulose, and the like may be used. 
     The non-used ink absorbing member received in the container member  44  may have the same outer shape as the used ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d . The non-used ink absorbing member may be a piece of non-used ink absorbing member as obtained by monolithically molding the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d.    
     The non-used ink absorbing member may have an outer shape different from that of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d . For example, the outer shape of the ink absorbing member may be greater than the inner shape of the container member  44 . As described below, the non-used ink absorbing member may have an outer shape different from that of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d.    
       FIG. 16  is a diagram illustrating a state where a piece of ink absorbing member  145   c  is received in the container member  44 . Four pieces of ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are used in the before-recycling waste ink tank  27 , but a non-used ink absorbing member received newly may be a piece of ink absorbing member  145   c . The non-used ink absorbing member  145   c  has a shape obtained by expanding the used ink absorbing member  45   c  in the height direction. Accordingly, similarly to the used ink absorbing member  45   c , cut-in portions  53 , a round hole  55 , a rectangular through hole  61 , and a cut-in groove  62  having a predetermined width are formed in the non-used ink absorbing member  145   c.    
     In this case, by allowing a sharp cutting edge to move in the height direction and to cut the ink absorbing member, it is possible to form the outer shape of the ink absorbing member. The width of the cut-in groove  62  of the non-used ink absorbing member  145   c  to be newly received may be made to be greater. 
     The ink absorbing member may be received in a part of the container member  44  as follows. 
       FIG. 17  is a sectional view illustrating a state where an ink absorbing member  345  is received in only the bottom surface of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a sectional view obtained by vertically cutting the container member  44  to pass through the center axis of the connection port  57  is shown. The circumferential shape of the ink absorbing member  345  is almost the same as the inner shape of the container member  44 . A through hole passing a columnar post is formed in the ink absorbing member  345 . The ink absorbing member  345  is disposed below the connection port  57 . 
     When the capillary force of the ink absorbing member is not large, the waste ink hardly reaches the ink absorbing member located at a high position in spite of the stacking of the ink absorbing members in the height direction. Then, the ink absorbing member at a high position may be wasted. Accordingly, in this case, the ink absorbing member  345  may be disposed in only the bottom of the container member  44 . 
     Accordingly, since the ink absorbing member is received in only a part of the container member  44 , it is possible to save the ink absorbing member, thereby providing a recycled waste ink tank with low cost. 
       FIG. 18  is a top view illustrating a state where plural divided ink absorbing members are received in the container member  44 . Here, the top view of the container member  44  before attaching the film member thereto is shown. Since an ink absorbing member having a simple rectangular shape can be more easily processed than an ink absorbing member having a complex shape, the shape can be formed with low cost. Accordingly, as shown in  FIG. 11 , plural ink absorbing members processed in a rectangular shape may be received in the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 19  is a top view illustrating a state where an ink absorbing member  145   a  is received in the vicinity of the connection port  57  of the container member  44 . Here, a top view of the container member  44  before attaching the film member thereto is shown. As shown in the drawing, when the ink absorbing member is divided in the front and rear directions of the container member  44  and is received in the container member  44 , the ink absorbing member  145   a  may be disposed close to the connection port  57 . 
     At this time, an ink absorbing member  145   b  may be disposed at a position most apart from the connection port  57 . The ink absorbing member  145   b  is preferably processed in such a size that the location thereof can be fixed by the columnar post  54  and the inner wall of the container member  44 . 
     The recycled waste ink tank is detached from the printer  11  while being inclined in the front and rear directions, similarly to the old waste ink tank. When the waste ink tank is inclined in the front and rear directions, the waste ink moves in the front and rear directions so as to lean to one side of the container member  44 . However, since the ink absorbing members  145   a  and  145   b  are disposed at the position close to the connection port  57  and at the position most apart from the connection port  57 , the leaning waste ink is absorbed by one of the ink absorbing members. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the waste ink from leaking at the time of detaching the waste ink tank. 
       FIG. 20  is a sectional view illustrating a state where an ink absorbing member  445  is folded and received. In the drawing, a sectional view of the container member  44  taken vertically to pass through the center axis of the connection port  57  is shown. Here, the width of the ink absorbing member in the right and left directions is almost the same as the lateral width of the inside of the main rear side wall  49   a . A hole passing the columnar post  54  is formed in the ink absorbing member  445  folded and received. 
     In this way, since the ink absorbing member  445  having almost the same size as the lateral width of the inside of the main rear side wall  49   a  is received, the ink absorbing member  445  is received in the container member  44  in a state where the ink absorbing member is nipped between the inner wall of the sub left side wall  50   b  and the inner wall of the right wall  51 . In this case, since the ink absorbing member  445  exists below the tubular portion  76  inserted through the connection port  57 , it is possible to effectively absorb the waste ink. 
     In this way, when the non-used ink absorbing member is received in the container member  44 , at least a part of the opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed with a sealing member (S 210 ). 
       FIG. 21  is a diagram illustrating a state where a part  147  of the film member is attached to the periphery of the opening  48 . When a part  147  of the film member remaining at the time of detaching the film member is attached to the periphery of the opening, a gap may be generated between the film member  46  and the container member  44  at the time of welding the film member  46  to the container member  44 . Accordingly, it is preferable that the periphery of the opening  48  should be shaved to flatten the surface to which the film member  46  would be welded before sealing at least a part of the opening  48 . Here, a part  147  of the film member remaining around the opening  48  is shaved. After the opening is flattened, the entire surface of the opening  48  can be sealed with a film member having the same outer shape as the film member  46  shown in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 22  is a diagram illustrating a state where the film member  146  is welded to a part of the opening  48 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the film member  146  is welded is shown. At the time of recycling the container member  44 , as shown in the drawing, the film member  146  may be thermally welded and attached to only a part of the opening  48 . In this case, it can be determined from the non-sealed portion whether the recycled waste ink tank  127  is a recycled product or a new product. By sealing only a part of the opening  48 , it is not necessary to form the air hole  113  in the film member. 
       FIG. 23  is a diagram illustrating a state where the container member  44  is wound by the film member  246 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which a film member  248  is attached is shown. At the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , as shown in the drawing, the film member  246  may be wound around the container member  44  so as to seal at least a part of the opening  48 . The end of the film member  246  may be fixed with an adhesive. By attaching the film member  246  in this way, the film member  246  can be easily attached to the container member  44  even when a part of the old film member remains around the opening  48 . It is possible to easily seal at least a part of the opening  48 . A food wrapping film may be used as the film member  246  wound on the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 24  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member  346  is attached using a side wall of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the film member  346  is attached is shown. At the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , as shown in the drawing, end portions of the film member  346  may be bonded to the side walls  50  and  51  of the container member  44 . By attaching the film member  346  in this way, the film member  346  can be easily attached to the container member  44  even when a part of the old film member remains around the opening  48 . 
       FIG. 25  is a sectional view illustrating a state where a lid member  446  is attached to at least a part of the opening  48  of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a section of a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the lid member  446  is attached is shown. As shown in the drawing, at the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , the lid member  446  fitted to the top portions of the side walls  50  and  51  of the container member  44  may be attached. By providing the lid member  446 , it is possible to easily extract the ink absorbing members from the opening  48  at the time of recycling the container member  44 . 
     Although at least a part of the opening  48  is sealed in step S 210 , the container member  44  receiving the ink absorbing members without sealing the opening  48  may be used as the recycled waste ink tank  127 . In this case, the processes of steps S 112  to S 114  described below may be performed without performing the process of step S 210  in  FIG. 15 . The sealing of at least a part of the opening  48  includes sealing the entire opening  48  as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     When the non-used ink absorbing members having the same shape as the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  shown in  FIG. 3  are received and a part of the opening  48  is sealed, the sealed part of the opening  48  is preferably a portion above the through hole  61 . In this case, since the discharged waste ink is suppressed from immediate vaporization, the ink absorbing members do not clog in the vicinity of the through hole  61  and thus the waste ink can easily diffuse into the ink absorbing members as a whole. In addition, since the waste ink is vaporized from the non-covered portion of the opening  48 , a more amount of waste ink can be collected. Accordingly, it is preferable that the non-covered portion of the opening  48  is apart from the discharge portion. However, when ink can diffuse as a whole in spite of the vaporization thereof, the sealed part is not particularly limited. 
     In this way, when the opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed, information on the waste ink tank is then rewritten to the circuit board of the connection terminal  59  (S 212 ). 
     The circuit board is formed in the connection terminal  59 . The circuit board includes an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) which information can be erased from and written to and stores a variety of information on the waste ink tank  127 . For example, the number of reusable times of the container member  44 , the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank, and the manufacturing date of the waste ink tank are stored in the circuit board. 
     The amount of collectable ink is predetermined for the waste ink  127 . Accordingly, whenever the waste ink is discharged to the waste ink tank  127 , the printer  11  counts the amount of discharged ink, subtracts the amount of discharge ink from the amount of collectable ink stored in the circuit board, and rewrites the result. Therefore, by allowing the circuit board to store the amount of collectable ink, the printer  11  can monitor the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank  127  so that the amount of discharged ink should not exceed the amount of collectable ink. 
     At the time of recycling the waste ink tank  127 , the stored amount of collectable ink can be rewritten to the circuit board so as to be the amount of collectable ink of a non-used waste ink tank. For example, when the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank is reduced to 0 g by use, the amount of collectable ink is rewritten to the circuit board as 60 g which is the amount of collectable ink of a non-used waste ink tank, at the time of recycling the waste ink tank  27 . 
     Since the recycled waste ink tank  127  is a recycled product, a smaller amount of collectable ink may be rewritten. For example, 60 g is written to the circuit board as the amount of collectable ink of a new waste ink tank  27 , but 50 g may be rewritten as the amount of collectable ink to the circuit board of the recycled waste ink tank  127 . 
     The number of reusable times of the container member  44  may be stored in the circuit board and the number of reusable times of the container member  44  may be reduced and stored in the circuit board when ever the waste ink tank  127  is recycled. Accordingly, it is possible to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . For the following reason, it is necessary to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . 
     As described above, at the time of recycling the container member  44 , the welding surface of the film member may be shaved. Then, the amount of shaved portion increases with the increase of the number of reused times and thus the height of the container member  44  may be reduced. In this case, there is a problem in that the ink absorbing member having an expected size may not be received or only an amount of waste ink smaller than an expected amount of collectable ink can be collected. Accordingly, the number of reused times of the container member  44  is stored in the circuit board to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 24  is a diagram illustrating a state where the connection terminal  59  is demounted from the container member  44 . In this way, at the time of updating the details stored in the circuit board  59   a , the connection terminal  59  may be demounted from the container member  44 . The connection terminal  59  may be demounted from the container member  44  and then a new connection terminal may be mounted thereon. 
     As described above, when the waste ink tank  127  is recycled reusing the container member  44 , the recycled waste ink tank  127  is attached to the printer  11  (S 214 ). Since the recycled waste ink tank  127  is manufactured using the container member  44 , the outer shape thereof is almost the same as the old waste ink tank  27 . Accordingly, the recycled waste ink tank can be attached to the printer  11 , similarly to the old waste ink tank  27 . 
     The processes of steps S 204  to S 212  may be performed by a person other than the user. 
     Other modifications of the second embodiment of the invention will be described now. 
     Although an ink jet printer is embodied as a fluid ejecting apparatus having the recycled waste liquid collector (waste ink tank) reusing the container member in the above-mentioned embodiment, the invention may be applied to a fluid ejecting apparatus spraying or ejecting a liquid (including a liquid-like material in which particles of a functional material are dispersed and a colloidal material such as gel, in addition to the liquid) other than the ink or a fluid (such as solid that can be made to flow and ejected as a fluid) other than the liquid. For example, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid-like material ejecting apparatus ejecting a liquid-like material in which materials such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an electroluminescence (EL) display, and a surface-emission display are dispersed or melted, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting bio organics used for manufacturing a bio chip, or a liquid ejecting apparatus used as a precise pipette to eject a liquid as a sample. In addition, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting lubricant to a precise machine such as a clock or a camera by the use of a pin point, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting a transparent resin liquid such as a UV-curable resin onto a substrate to form a micro semi-circular lens (optical lens) used in an optical communication device, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting etchant such as acid or alkali to etch a substrate and the like, a colloidal material ejecting apparatus ejecting such as gel, or a powder-ejecting recording apparatus ejecting a solid such as toner powder. The invention can be applied to one of the above-mentioned ejecting apparatuses. 
     In this embodiment, the ink includes aqueous ink and oily ink. 
     The above-mentioned embodiment is intended for easy understanding of the invention, but not for definitely analyzing the invention. The invention can be modified and improved without departing from the gist thereof and equivalents thereof can be included in the invention. The embodiments are also included in the invention. 
     Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the invention will be described. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an ink jet printer according to the first embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 2  is a partially-omitted sectional view illustrating a housing in the printer.  FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a waste ink tank.  FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a tube supporting mechanism.  FIG. 5A  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism and  FIG. 5B  is a partially-exploded front view illustrating the tube supporting mechanism in a state where a support member retreats. 
     Hereinafter, a waste liquid collecting system in an ink jet printer which is a kind of liquid ejecting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. “Front and rear directions”, “up and down directions”, and “right and left directions” in the following description means “front and rear directions”, “up and down directions”, and “right and left directions” indicated by arrows in  FIGS. 1 to 4 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , an ink jet printer (hereinafter, referred to as “printer”)  11  as a liquid ejecting apparatus according to this embodiment includes a frame  12  having a rectangular shape in a plan view. 
     A transport roller  13  extends in the right and left directions in the frame  12 . A printing sheet P is fed from the rear side to the front side by allowing the transport roller  13  to rotate by the use of a sheet feeding motor  14 . In addition, a guide shaft  15  extending in parallel to a longitudinal direction (the right and left directions) of the transport roller  13  is disposed above the transport roller  13  in the frame  12 . 
     A carriage  16  is supported by the guide shaft  15  so as to reciprocate along an axial line direction (the right and left directions) of the guide shaft  15 . A driving pulley  17  and a driven pulley  18  are rotatably supported at positions corresponding to both ends of the guide shaft  15  in the rear surface of the frame  12 , respectively. A carriage motor  19  serving as a driving source for allowing the carriage  16  to reciprocate is connected to the driving pulley  17 . A timing belt  20  fixing and supporting the carriage  16  is suspended between the pair of pulleys  17  and  18 . Accordingly, the carriage  16  moves in the right and left directions through the timing belt  20  by the carriage motor  19  while being guided by the guide shaft  15 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a print head as a liquid ejecting head  21  is disposed on the lower surface of the carriage  16 . On the other hand, plural ink cartridges  23  for supplying ink as a liquid to the print head  21  are detachably mounted on the carriage  16 . The ink cartridges  23  individually correspond to plural nozzle opening lines (not shown) formed in a nozzle formation surface  21   a  (see  FIG. 2 ) which is the lower surface of the print head  21  and individually supply ink to the corresponding nozzle opening lines through ink passages (not shown) formed in the print head  21 . 
     A home position HP serving as a maintenance position where the carriage  16  is located at the time of turning off the printer  11  or maintaining the print head  21  is disposed in one end (the right end in  FIG. 1 ) in the frame  12 , that is, in a non-printing area which the printing sheet P does not reach. In addition, a maintenance unit  24  performing various maintenance operations is disposed below the home position HP so as to satisfactorily eject ink to the printing sheet P from the print head  21 . 
     The maintenance unit  24  includes a cap  25  having a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to the lower surface (the nozzle formation surface) of the print head  21  and an elevation mechanism (not shown) moving up and down the cap  25 . In addition, when the cap  25  moves up by the driving of the elevation mechanism (not shown) with the carriage  16  located at the home position HP, the cap  25  comes in contact with the nozzle formation surface  21   a  which is the lower surface of the print head  21  so as to surround the nozzle opening lines. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a housing  26  having a rectangular parallelepiped shape in the front and rear directions is formed at one end (the right end in  FIG. 1 ) in the frame  12  and below the home position HP. A receiving chamber  30  receiving a waste liquid collecting system  29  including a waste ink tank  27  as a waste liquid collector and a tube supporting mechanism  28  as a liquid passage forming unit is formed in the housing  26 . An attachment location  31  of the waste ink tank  27  is set in a lower portion of the receiving chamber  30 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the height (which is a distance between a bottom wall  32  and a top wall  33 ) of the receiving chamber  30  is set sufficiently higher than the height of the waste ink tank  27  so that the waste ink tank  27  can be tilted inside the receiving chamber  30 . 
     When the cap  25  moves up from the state shown in  FIG. 2  by the driving of the elevation mechanism (not shown) and comes in contact with the nozzle formation surface  21   a  of the print head  21 , a suction pump  42  is driven. Then, the thickened ink in the print head  21  is forcibly sucked and discharged (ejected) as waste ink into the cap  25  through nozzle openings (not shown) by a negative pressure generated in the cap  25 . When an idle suction state of sucking the atmospheric air is reached by exposing the inside of the cap  25  to the atmospheric air in a state where the suction pump  42  is being driven, the waste ink is discharged from the cap  25  to the waste ink tank  27 . 
     A rectangular attachment and detachment port  34  through which the waste ink tank  27  passes upon attaching or detaching the waste ink tank  27  to or from the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  is formed on the front surface of the housing  26 . A door  36  of which the upper end portion is rotatably supported on a pair of right and left shafts  35  formed at both ends of the upper edge of the attachment and detachment port  34  is disposed in the attachment and detachment port  34 . By grasping a knob  36   a  formed on the front surface of the door  36  and opening or closing the door  36  about the shafts  35 , the door  36  moves between a closing location indicated by a solid line and an opening location indicated a two-dot chain line in  FIG. 2 . 
     A pressing member  134  pressing a front protruding portion  152  of the waste ink tank  27  from the upside is formed monolithically with the door  36 . Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the front side of the waste ink tank  27  from floating, by closing the door  36 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , in the receiving chamber  30  of the housing  26 , a front step surface  37 , a middle step surface  38 , and a rear step surface  39  are formed in a step shape on the upper surface of the bottom wall  32  from the front side to the rear side in the front and rear directions. The front step surface  37  has the same height as the lower edge of the attachment and detachment port  34 . A locking step  40  as a locking portion making the middle step surface  38  lower than the front step surface  37  is formed between the rear end of the front step surface  37  and the front end of the middle step surface  38  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     The middle step surface  38  has a length in the front and rear directions slightly smaller than the length of the waste ink tank  27  in the front and rear directions. The almost entire area of the middle step surface  38  and the rear half area of the front step surface  37  form the attachment location  31  of the waste ink tank  27 . The rear step surface  39  is slightly lower than the middle step surface  38  with a stepped portion  41  interposed therebetween. The tube supporting mechanism  28  supporting a flexible tube  43 , which discharges the ink forcibly sucked as the waste ink (waste liquid) from the cap  25  to the waste ink tank  27  by the driving of the suction pump  42 , is disposed on the rear step surface  39 . 
     The waste ink tank  27  will be described now. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the waste ink tank  27  includes a container member  44  having a bottomed box shape of which the top is opened, plural ink absorbing members (waste liquid absorbing members)  45   a  to  45   d  having an outer shape corresponding to the opening shape of the container member  44 , and a film member  46  as a gas-liquid non-transmitting member having an outer shape corresponding to the opening shape of the container member  44 . The inside of the container member  44  serves as a receiving space  47  and the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are stacked and received in the receiving space  47 . The opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed by bonding (welding in this embodiment) the film member  46  to the container member  44  to cover the opening  48  of the container member  44  having received the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are received. An air hole  113  is formed at a position of the film member  46  bonded to the container member  44 . As described above, the front protruding portion  152  is formed in the container member  44  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     Ribs  52  having a thin plate shape are formed in the up and down directions in the inner surface of a rear side wall  49  of the container member  44 . Similarly, ribs  52   b  having a thin plate shape are formed in the up and down directions on right and left side walls  50  and  51 . Only one rib  52   a  on the rear side wall  49  and three ribs  52   b  on the right side wall  51  are shown in  FIG. 3 . In addition, cut-in portions  53  are formed in the outer edges of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  so as to correspond to the positions of the ribs  52   a  and  52   b.    
     A columnar post  54  is formed upright at a position slightly closer to the front than the center of the bottom surface of the container member  44 . Round holes  55  are formed upright at a position slightly closer to the front than the center of the ink absorbing members  45  so as to correspond to the post  54 . The corresponding ribs  52   a  and  52   b  are inserted into the cut-in portions  53  and the post  54  is inserted into the holes  55 , whereby the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are stacked and received in the receiving space  47  of the container member  44 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a concave portion  56  is formed in the rear-left corner of the container member  44 . As a result, the rear side wall  49  is divided into a main rear side wall  49   a  located on the relative rear side and a sub rear side wall  49   b  located on the relative front side and the left side wall  50  is divided into a main left side wall  50   a  located on the relative left side and a sub left side wall  50   b  located on the relative right side. 
     A round connection port  57  is formed in the main rear side wall  49   a . The connection port  57  has a diameter which gradually decreases from the opening edge to a deep side and has a function of guiding a member to a deep center of the connection port  57  when the member inserted into the connection port  57  from the outside comes in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the connection port  57  in the front and rear directions. Specifically, since the inner circumferential surface of the connection port  57  in the waste ink tank  27  is a tapered surface of which the diameter decreases to the deep side of the connection port  57 , a tubular body  73  of a support member  72  to be described later is slidably guided to the center of the connection port  57  as it is inserted into the connection port  57 . 
     The shape of the connection port  57  is not limited to the round shape. The connection port  57  may have, for example, a triangular shape, a polygonal shape, or an elliptical shape. In the drawing, the connection port  57  protrudes more than the rear side wall  49 , but may be formed not to protrude. 
     A cylinder portion  58  protrudes to the rear side from the sub rear side wall  49   b  and the hole of the cylinder portion  58  forms a positioning hole  58   a . As described later, a positioning pin  85  protruding from a brim portion  74  of the support member  72  is inserted into the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58 . Accordingly, the positioning pin  85  and the positioning hole  58   a  serve as a holding unit holding the waste ink tank  27  to regulate the movement thereof in the up and down directions and the right and left directions at the attachment location  31 . 
     When the shape of the positioning pin  85  is not cylindrical, the shape of the positioning hole  58   a  may not be cylindrical. For example, when the outer shape of the positioning pin  85  is rectangular, the positioning hole  58   a  may be a hole having a concave portion into which the pin is inserted. When the positioning pin  85  is a simple plate-like member, the positioning hole  58   a  may be a plate-like member capable of coming in contact with the pin to position the pin. 
     A connection terminal  59  having a circuit board storing various information of the waste ink tank  27  to be described later is mounted on the outer surface of the sub left side wall  50   b . A locking stepped portion  60  engaging with the locking stepped portion  40  formed on the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26  in the front and rear directions is formed at a position slightly closer to the rear end than the front end of the bottom surface of the container member  44  so as to extend in the right and left directions. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , among the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d , the lowermost first ink absorbing member  45   a  and the uppermost fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  have the same thickness and the same shape and the second ink absorbing member  45   b  stacked as the second layer from the bottom and the third ink absorbing member  45   c  stacked as the third layer from the bottom have the same thickness. A through-hole  61  having a square shape is formed in a position slightly closer to the rear side than the center in each of the second ink absorbing member  45   b  and the third ink absorbing member  45   c . A cut-in groove  62  having a predetermined width is formed in the third ink absorbing member  45   c  in the front and rear directions from the rear edge to the through hole  61 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first ink absorbing member  45   a  stops the through hole  61  from the downside and the fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  stops the through hole  61  from the upside. When a front tubular portion  76  is inserted into the cut-in groove  62 , the waste ink discharged from the front tubular portion  76  drops on the top surface of the first ink absorbing member  45   a  and is absorbed therein. As the amount of waste ink absorbed increases, the waste ink slowly diffuses from the first ink absorbing member  45   a  to the upper ink absorbing members. 
     Here, when the amount of waste ink is great, the waste ink cannot diffuse into the first ink absorbing member  45   a . Accordingly, the through hole  61  temporarily stores the waste ink. That is, the discharged waste ink is stored until the waste ink is absorbed by the ink absorbing members (the waste ink diffuses into the ink absorbing members). Therefore, it is preferable that the through hole  61  has such a size to contain the discharged waste ink. When the container member  44  is detached and the posture of the container member  44  is upside-down in the state where the through hole  61  stores the waste ink, the fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  absorbs the waste ink stored in the through hole  61  to prevent the ink from leaking to the outside of the container member  44 . The fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  suppresses the discharged waste ink from vaporization. When the waste ink is vaporized, the ink absorbing member clogs due to the thickened ink and thus the waste ink discharged later hardly diffuses therein. The fourth ink absorbing member  45   d  stops the through hole  61  to suppress the waste ink from vaporization from the top surface of the first ink absorbing member  45   a  onto which the discharged waste ink drops and is located above the ink absorbing members  45   a ,  45   b , and  45   c  to suppress the waste ink from vaporization from the three ink absorbing members. 
     The waste ink tank  27  is constructed as described above. The ink absorbing members may be received in the container member  44  in a manner different from the above description. Similarly to the recycled waste ink tank  127  to be described later, the sealing member may seal at least a part of the opening of the container member  44  in a manner different from the above description. 
     The tube supporting mechanism  28  will be described now. As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the tube supporting mechanism  28  includes a base body  63  having a substantial ⊃ shape in a plan view in which a front end distance between both side walls having a rectangular shape is constant and in which the front ends of both side walls are connected to each other with a rectangular front wall. A horizontal plate  64  having a rectangular plate shape extends forward from the lower front end of the base body  63  and right and left screw holes  65  are formed in the horizontal plate  64 . The base body  63  is fixed to the rear step surface  39  of the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26  by screwing setscrews  66  to the screw holes  65  of the horizontal plate  64 , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , plural through holes  67 ,  68 , and  69  (three through holes in this embodiment) are formed in the front wall of the base body  63  so as to extend in the up and down directions. Among the through holes  67  to  69 , the central through hole  68  has such a height to be coaxial with the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  attached to the attachment location  31  of the receiving chamber  30 , when the base body  63  is fixed onto the rear step surface  39  of the bottom wall  32  of the housing  26 . An inward flange  70  (see  FIGS. 5A and 5B ) is formed at an intermediate position in an axial direction of the inner circumferential surface of each of the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69 . In addition, a substantially U-shaped tube fixing portion  71  through which the flexible tube  43  is inserted to be supported is formed in the substantially central portion of the upper end of the front wall of the base body  63 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , a support member  72  linearly supporting the flexible tube  43  is assembled with the front surface of the base body  63 . The support member  72  is a resin-molded product having rigidity, including a tubular body  73  as a main member which can be inserted into or detached from the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27 , and having a predetermined length in the front and rear directions. A brim portion  74  having a rectangular plate shape is monolithically formed at a position closer to the rear side (base end side) than the center in an axial direction of the tubular body  73 . In the support member  72 , a base-end tubular portion (second support member)  75  protruding more rearward than the brim portion  74  of the tubular body  73  has an outer diameter smaller than the diameter of the intermediate through hole  68  of the base body  63  and an inner diameter into which the flexible tube  43  can be inserted. 
     On the other hand, in the support member  72 , a predetermined length portion of the tubular body  73  serving as a second support portion in front of (on the front side) the brim portion  74  has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the width of the cut-in groove  62  of the third ink absorbing member  45   c  received in the waste ink tank  27  and a length almost equal to the distance from the rear edge of the third ink absorbing member  45   c  to the center of the through hole  61 . In the predetermined length portion of the tubular body  73  in front of the brim portion  74 , a relatively-long tubular portion from the front tubular portion  76  to the rear brim portion  74 , except for the relatively-short front tubular portion  76  having a cylinder shape into which the front end as a downstream end of the flexible tube  43  is inserted, is formed as a non-tubular portion  77  in which about a half of the circumferential wall is cut out. In the inner surface of the non-tubular portion  77 , insertion claws (fixing portions)  78  forming pairs protrude from plural positions (three positions in this embodiment) in the axial direction of the tubular body  73  so that the distance from the opposite insertion claw  78  is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the flexible tube  43 . 
     In the support member  72 , when the base-side tubular portion  75  of the tubular body  73  is loosely inserted into the central through hole  68  of the base body  63 , the front-side predetermined length portion including the front end (downstream end) of the flexible tube  43  inserted from the base-side opening of the base-side tubular portion  75  is supported by the front tubular portion  76  and the non-tubular portion  77 . That is, the front tubular portion  76  in the tubular body  73  supports the front end of the flexible tube  43  in the inserted state since the inner diameter of the front tubular portion  76  is equal to the outer diameter of the flexible tube  43 . In addition, the non-tubular portion  77  fixes the flexible tube  43  by inserting the flexible tube  43  from the side so that the fixing claws  78  fix the plural locations (three locations in this embodiment) of the portion extending from the front end to the base end of the flexible tube  43 . Accordingly, the front-side predetermined length portion in the flexible tube  43  is supported by the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  so as to extend in a direction in which the front end of the flexible tube  43  is oriented. 
     A positioning pin  85  which can be inserted into or detached from the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58  of the waste ink tank  27  protrudes forward from the left edge of the front surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 . Likewise, a vertical plate portion  86  having a rectangular plate shape protrudes from a position below the positioning pin  85  in the left edge of the front surface of the brim portion  74 . A connection terminal  87  corresponding to the connection terminal  59  formed on the sub left side wall  50   b  of the waste ink tank  27  is mounted on one surface (right surface) of the vertical plate portion  86 . The connection terminal  87  is connected to a control unit (not shown) of the printer  11  through a harness (not shown). 
     On the other hand, a pair of upper and lower cylinders  79  that can be respectively inserted into the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  protrudes in parallel backward from two upper and lower positions of the base-side tubular portion  75  in the rear surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 . In addition, the upper and lower cylinders  79  are respectively inserted into the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  in a state where the cylinders  79  are put into coil springs  80  serving as an urging unit against the circumferential surfaces. In this case, the front ends of the coil springs  80  come in contact with the rear surface of the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the rear ends thereof come in contact with the flanges  70  formed at the middle positions of the inner circumferential surfaces of the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69 , respectively. Screw holes (not shown) are formed on the front end surfaces of the cylinders  79 , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5A and 5B , an assembly plate  81  assembling the support member  72  into the base body  63  is disposed on the rear surface of the base body  63 . The assembly plate  81  has a rectangular plate shape coming in contact with the rear surface of the front wall when the assembly plate  81  is disposed between both side walls of the base body  63  having the substantial ⊃ shape in a plan view. A through hole  82  corresponding to the central through hole  68  of the base body  63  is formed in the substantial center of the assembly plate  81 . Screw insertion holes  83  are formed at two positions, which correspond to the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63 , above and below the through hole  82  in the assembly plate  81 . In addition, the assembly plate  81  is screwed to the cylinders  79  of the support member  72  of which the front ends protrude backward from the upper through hole  67  and the lower through hole  69  of the base body  63  with setscrews  84  inserted into the screw insertion holes  83 . 
     A method of detaching the waste ink tank  27  from the printer  11  will be described now with reference to  FIG. 2  again. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the waste ink tank  27  attached to the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  is detached from the printer  11 , the door  36  of the attachment and detachment port  34  is opened and a user of the printer  11  puts his hand into the attachment and detachment port  34  and grasps the front end portion of the waste ink tank  27 . Then, the user lifts up the front end portion of the waste ink tank  27  to incline the posture of the waste ink tank  27  and thus unlocks the locking stepped portion  40  from the locking stepped portion  60 . In this state, since the urging force of the coil springs  80  acts on the waste ink tank  27  through the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  in the detachment direction (to the front side), the urging force assists the movement in the detachment direction and thus the waste ink tank  27  is easily detached through the attachment and detachment port  34 . 
     A method of attaching the waste ink tank  27  to the printer  11  will be described now. Here, a new waste ink tank  27  may be a waste ink tank  27  of which the container member  44  is recycled as described later. 
       FIG. 6  is a partially-omitted sectional view (first) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank  27 .  FIG. 7  is a partially-omitted sectional view (second) illustrating the inside of the receiving chamber at the time of detaching the waste ink tank. 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is attached to the attachment location  31  of the receiving chamber  30 , first, the door  36  on the front surface of the housing  26  is opened. The waste ink tank  27  is inserted into the opened attachment and detachment port  34  from the rear end thereof where the connection port  57  is formed and the waste ink tank  27  is made to move to the rear side which is the attachment direction to the attachment location  31 . Then, as shown in  FIG. 6 , in the front step where the entire waste ink tank  27  is inserted into the receiving chamber  30 , the front tubular shape  76  of the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  in the tube supporting mechanism  28  is inserted into the connection port  57  of the main rear side wall  49   a.    
     In the tube supporting mechanism  28  according to this embodiment, the front end of the support member  72  is pivotable about the base end thereof. Accordingly, when the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  is inserted into the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  moving with its posture inclined, the support member  72  of the tube supporting mechanism  28  allows its front end to pivot to correspond to the inclination. Therefore, the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  in the support member  72  is inserted to the deep position of the connection port  57  of the waste ink tank  27  without interference. 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is made to further move toward the deep position of the receiving chamber  30  from the state shown in  FIG. 6 , the rear side wall  49  of the waste ink tank  27  comes in contact with the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the front tubular portion  76  of the tubular body  73  of the support member  72  reaches the position of the through hole  61  formed in the third ink absorbing member  45   c . In this case, when the rear side wall  49  of the waste ink tank  27  comes in contact with the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 , the positioning pin  85  protruding from the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  is inserted into the positioning hole  58   a  of the cylinder portion  58  disposed in the sub rear side wall  49   b  of the waste ink tank  27 , whereby the waste ink tank  27  is positioned in the up and down directions and the right and left directions relative to the attachment location  31 . 
     When the waste ink tank  27  is further pushed from this state so as to press the brim portion  74  of the support member  72 , the support member  72  further retreats while further compressing the coil springs  80 . When the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  retreats to the position closes to the front wall of the base body  63 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , the waste ink tank  27  is changed to a horizontal posture and the bottom surface of the container member  44  in the waste ink tank  27  is brought into surface contact with the middle step surface  38  which is a part of the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30 . At this time, the locking stepped portion  60  formed on the bottom surface of the container member  44  of the waste ink tank  27  is located at a position in the receiving chamber  30  deeper than the locking stepped portion  40  formed at the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30 . In other words, at this time, the waste ink tank  27  departs from the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  in the attachment direction. 
     When the force (for example, the force of the user&#39;s hand) acting to move the waste ink tank  27  in the attachment direction is released from the state shown in  FIG. 7 , the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  goes forward with the urging force of the compressed coil springs  80  and thus the waste ink tank  27  is pressed to the front side (that is, in the detachment direction of the waste ink tank  27 ) by the brim portion  74 . Then, the waste ink tank  27  slides forward over the middle step surface  38  of the attachment location  31  with the pressing force and the locking stepped portion  60  of the container member  44  is locked to the locking stepped portion  40  of the attachment location  31  as shown in  FIG. 2 . That is, the locking stepped portion  40  not lockable when the waste ink tank  27  moves in the attachment direction opposite to the detachment direction relative to the locking stepped portion  60  of the container member  44  serves as a locking unit regulating the movement in the detachment direction of the waste ink tank  27  when the waste ink tank  27  slides and moves in the detachment direction. 
     Accordingly, the urging force of the coil springs  80  is applied to the waste ink tank  27  from the rear side through the brim portion  74  of the support member  72  and the locking stepped portion  40  of the attachment location  31  is locked to the locking stepped portion  60  of the bottom surface of the container member  44 , whereby the waste ink tank  27  is positioned at the attachment location  31  in the receiving chamber  30  to be immovable in the front and rear directions as shown in  FIG. 2 . Accordingly, the locking stepped portion  40  serving as the locking unit to the coil springs  80  as the urging unit serves as a holding unit holding the waste ink tank  27  at the attachment location  31 . When the door  36  of the attachment and detachment port  34  is returned to the closing location, the pressing member  134  presses the front protruding portion  152  from the upside so as to allow the waste ink tank not to move in the up and down directions. In this way, the attachment operation of the waste ink tank  27  to the attachment location  31  is finished. 
     A method of recycling the container member  44  according to this embodiment will be described now. As described above, when the waste ink tank  27  is used in the printer  11  and collects a predetermined amount of ink, the waste ink tank  27  is replaced. At this time, when the container member  44  of the waste ink tank  27  can be reused, it is not necessary to form a new container member  44 , which is advantageous in view of environment and economy. 
       FIG. 27  is a flowchart illustrating the method of recycling the container member  44  according to this embodiment. The method of recycling the container member  44  will be described now with reference the flowchart. 
     First, the waste ink tank  27  is detached from the printer  11  and the old waste ink tank  27  is recovered (S 302 ). The method of detaching the waste ink tank  27  is as described above. The container member  44  of the detached waste ink tank  27  is recycled as follows. The waste ink tanks  27  detached from plural printers  11  may be recovered together. The recovered waste ink tanks  27  may be recycled together in a recycle plant as follows. 
     The film member  46  is detached from the old waste ink tank  27  and the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are removed from the opening  48  (S 304 ). The detachment of the film member  46  is performed by allowing a person recycling the waste ink tank  27  to grasp an end of the film member  46  and to peel off the film member from the container member  44 . The film member  46  was welded to the container member  44 . Accordingly, the welded portion of the film member  46  may be heated again to facilitate the peeling of the film member  46  from the container member  44  and then the film member  46  may be detached. In this way, it is possible to detach the film member while minimizing the remainder of the film member in the top portion of the wall to which the film member  46  is attached. 
     Then, the inside of the waste ink tank  27  from which the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are removed is cleaned (S 306 ). Dirt may be attached to the inside of the used waste ink tank  27  due to the contained waste ink. The solidified waste ink may serve as an adhesive and thus may bond a part of the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  to the inside of the waste ink tank  27 . Here, the inside of the used waste ink tank  27  cleaned. At this time, the outside of the waste ink tank may also be cleaned. 
     Then, a part of the film member remaining in the opening  48  is shaved and removed (S 308 ) 
       FIG. 28  is a diagram illustrating a state where a part  147  of the film member is attached to the periphery of the opening  48 . When a part  147  of the film member remaining at the time of detaching the film member is attached to the periphery of the opening, a gap may be generated between the film member  46  and the container member  44  at the time of welding the film member  46  to the container member  44 . Accordingly, it is preferable that the periphery of the opening  48  should be shaved to flatten the surface to which the film member  46  would be welded before sealing at least a part of the opening  48 . Here, a part  147  of the film member remaining around the opening  48  is shaved. After the opening is flattened, the entire surface of the opening  48  can be sealed with a film member having the same outer shape as the film member  46  shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     Then, at least a part of the opening  48  is sealed with a new film member (S 310 ). In this embodiment, at least a part of the opening  48  is sealed without receiving a new ink absorbing member in the waste ink tank. This is because the waste ink can be stored in the container member  44  without using the ink absorbing member. At the time of sealing the opening  48 , the film member  27  can be welded to cover the entire surface of the opening  48  (similarly to the old waste ink tank  27 ). Only a part of the opening  48  may be stopped with the film member. 
       FIG. 29  is a diagram illustrating a state where the film member  146  is welded to a part of the opening  48 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the film member  146  is welded is shown. At the time of recycling the container member  44 , as shown in the drawing, the film member  146  may be thermally welded and attached to only a part of the opening  48 . In this case, it can be determined from the non-sealed portion whether the recycled waste ink tank  127  is a recycled product or a new product. By sealing only a part of the opening  48 , it is not necessary to form the air hole  113  in the film member. 
       FIG. 30  is a diagram illustrating a state where the container member  44  is wound by the film member  246 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which a film member  248  is attached is shown. At the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , as shown in the drawing, the film member  246  may be wound around the container member  44  so as to seal at least a part of the opening  48 . The end of the film member  246  may be fixed with an adhesive. By attaching the film member  246  in this way, the film member  246  can be easily attached to the container member  44  even when a part of the old film member remains around the opening  48 . It is possible to easily seal at least a part of the opening  48 . A food wrapping film may be used as the film member  246  wound on the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 31  is a diagram illustrating a state where a film member  346  is attached using a side wall of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the film member  346  is attached is shown. At the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , as shown in the drawing, end portions of the film member  346  may be bonded to the side walls  50  and  51  of the container member  44 . By attaching the film member  346  in this way, the film member  346  can be easily attached to the container member  44  even when a part of the old film member remains around the opening  48 . 
       FIG. 32  is a sectional view illustrating a state where a lid member  446  is attached to at least a part of the opening  48  of the container member  44 . In the drawing, a section of a recycled waste ink tank  127  to which the lid member  446  is attached is shown. As shown in the drawing, at the time of sealing at least a part of the opening  48 , the lid member  446  fitted to the top portions of the side walls  50  and  51  of the container member  44  may be attached. By providing the lid member  446 , it is possible to easily extract the ink absorbing members from the opening  48  at the time of recycling the container member  44 . 
     The sealing of at least a part of the opening  48  includes the sealing of the entire opening  48  as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     In this way, when the opening  48  of the container member  44  is sealed, information on the waste ink tank is then rewritten to the circuit board of the connection terminal  59  (S 312 ). 
     The circuit board is formed in the connection terminal  59 . The circuit board includes an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) which information can be erased from and written to and stores a variety of information on the waste ink tank  127 . For example, the number of reusable times of the container member  44 , the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank, and the manufacturing date of the waste ink tank are stored in the circuit board. 
     The amount of collectable ink is predetermined for the waste ink tank  127 . Accordingly, whenever the waste ink is discharged to the waste ink tank  127 , the printer  11  counts the amount of discharged ink, subtracts the amount of discharge ink from the amount of collectable ink stored in the circuit board, and rewrites the result. Therefore, by allowing the circuit board to store the amount of collectable ink, the printer  11  can monitor the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank  127  so that the amount of discharged waste ink should not exceed the amount of collectable ink. 
     At the time of recycling the waste ink tank  127 , the stored amount of collectable ink can be rewritten to the circuit board so as to be the amount of collectable ink of a non-used waste ink tank. For example, when the amount of collectable ink of the waste ink tank is reduced to 0 g by use, the amount of collectable ink is rewritten to the circuit board as 60 g which is the amount of collectable ink of a non-used waste ink tank, at the time of recycling the waste ink tank  27 . 
     Since the recycled waste ink tank  127  is a recycled product, a smaller amount of collectable ink may be rewritten. For example, 60 g is written to the circuit board as the amount of collectable ink of a new waste ink tank  27 , but 50 g may be rewritten as the amount of collectable ink to the circuit board of the recycled waste ink tank  127 . 
     The number of reusable times of the container member  44  may be stored in the circuit board and the number of reusable times of the container member  44  may be reduced and stored in the circuit board when ever the waste ink tank  127  is recycled. Accordingly, it is possible to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . For the following reason, it is necessary to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . 
     As described above, at the time of recycling the container member  44 , the welding surface of the film member may be shaved. Then, the shaved portion increases with the increase of the number of reused times and thus the height of the container member  44  may be reduced. In this case, there is a problem in that the ink absorbing member having an expected size may not be received or only an amount of waste ink smaller than an expected amount of collectable ink can be collected. Accordingly, the number of reused times of the container member  44  is stored in the circuit board to know the lifetime of the container member  44 . 
       FIG. 33  is a diagram illustrating a state where the connection terminal  59  is demounted from the container member  44 . In this way, at the time of updating the details stored in the circuit board  59   a , the connection terminal  59  may be demounted from the container member  44 . The connection terminal  59  may be demounted from the container member  44  and then a new connection terminal may be mounted thereon. 
     As described above, when the waste ink tank  127  is recycled reusing the container member  44 , the recycled waste ink tank  127  is attached to the printer  11  (S 314 ). Since the recycled waste ink tank  127  is manufactured using the container member  44 , the outer shape thereof is almost the same as the old waste ink tank  27 . Accordingly, the recycled waste ink tank can be attached to the printer  11 , similarly to the old waste ink tank  27 . 
     The processes of steps S 304  to S 312  may be performed by a person other than the user. 
       FIG. 34  is a diagram illustrating the ribs  52   a  in the vicinity the connection port  57  in the container member  44 . The ribs  52   a  extend from the inner bottom surface of the container member  44  and are connected to both lateral sides of the connection port  57 . 
     The cut-in groove  62  guiding the front tubular portion  76  and the non-tubular portion  77  to the center of the container member  44  is disposed in the ink absorbing member  45   c  of the old waste ink tank  27 . However, in the recycled waste ink tank  127  according to this embodiment, the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  are not received in the container member  44  and the cut-in groove  62  guiding the front tubular portion  76  to the center of the container member  44  does not exist. 
     In this case, since the ribs  52   a  are disposed in the container member  44 , the ribs  52   a  can guide the front tubular portion  76  and the non-tubular portion  77  to the center of the container member  44  after the front end of the front tubular portion  76  is inserted into the connection port  57 . Accordingly, even when the ink absorbing members  45   a  to  45   d  guiding the front tubular portion  76  do not exist, the front tubular portion  76  is effectively guided to the center of the container member  44 . 
     The ribs  52   a  contribute to an increase in strength of the container member  44 , which is the inherent purpose of the ribs. Particularly, since the waste ink tank  27  is disposed in the printer  11 , the insertion of the front tubular portion  76  into the connection port  57  is hardly visible to a user replacing the waste ink tank  27 . Therefore, at the time of attaching the recycled waste ink tank  127  into the printer  11 , the front tubular portion  76  may frequently collide with the periphery of the connection port  57 . In this case, since the ribs  52   a  reinforce the periphery of the connection port  57 , the container member  44  is not easily damaged and can be recycled. 
     In this way, the ribs  52   a  facilitate the installation of the waste ink tank  27  which is installed at a position not visible to a user and facilitates the recycling of the container member. 
     Other modifications of the third embodiment of the invention will be described now. 
     Although an ink jet printer is embodied as a fluid ejecting apparatus having the recycled waste liquid collector (waste ink tank) reusing the container member in the above-mentioned embodiment, the invention may be applied to a fluid ejecting apparatus spraying or ejecting a liquid (including a liquid-like material in which particles of a functional material are dispersed and a colloidal material such as gel, in addition to the liquid) other than the ink or a fluid (such as solid that can be made to flow and ejected as a fluid) other than the liquid. For example, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid-like material ejecting apparatus ejecting a liquid-like material in which materials such as an electrode material or a coloring material used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, an electroluminescence (EL) display, and a surface-emission display are dispersed or melted, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting bio organics used for manufacturing a bio chip, or a liquid ejecting apparatus used as a precise pipette to eject a liquid as a sample. In addition, the fluid ejecting apparatus may be a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting lubricant to a precise machine such as a clock or a camera by the use of a pin point, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting a transparent resin liquid such as a UV-curable resin onto a substrate to form a micro semi-circular lens (optical lens) used in an optical communication device, a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting etchant such as acid or alkali to etch a substrate and the like, a colloidal material ejecting apparatus ejecting such as gel, or a powder-ejecting recording apparatus ejecting a solid such as toner powder. The invention can be applied to one of the above-mentioned ejecting apparatuses. 
     In this embodiment, the ink includes aqueous ink and oily ink. 
     The above-mentioned embodiment is intended for easy understanding of the invention, but not for definitely analyzing the invention. The invention can be modified and improved without departing from the gist thereof and equivalents thereof can be included in the invention. The embodiments are also included in the invention.