Patent ID: 6877847

Claim:
An ink tank for storing ink, which is constructed to be attachable to and detachable from an ink receiving tube as a beginning end of route introducing ink to an ink jet head, the ink tank having an outer shape oblong along a vertical direction when being used, comprising: an ink supply port into which said ink receiving tube is inserted; an atmosphere communicating portion which connects the inside of said ink tank to atmosphere; and a fibrous ink holding member, constructed by a fiber aggregate becoming a negative pressure source for holding ink to be supplied to the ink jet head; wherein said fibrous ink holding member is provided with first and second fibrous ink holding members, wherein the first fibrous ink holding member is disposed to face said ink supply port and abut on the beginning end of said ink receiving tube in a mounting state of said ink tank, the first fibrous ink holding member having an outer shape smaller than said second fibrous ink holding member and being partially abutted on a part of said second ink holding fibrous member, and wherein the second fibrous ink holding member is contained in a main region in an inside space of said ink tank, wherein said first fibrous ink holding member is constructed by a fiber aggregate having an arrangement direction component crossing to a pressing direction and parallel to the abutment direction on said ink receiving tube, and said second fibrous ink holding member is constructed by a fibrous aggregate having an arrangement direction component in a direction parallel to said pressing direction and parallel to the abutment direction on said ink receiving tube; wherein said ink supply port, said first fibrous ink holding member, and said second fibrous ink holding member have a positional relation so as to be disposed in a line on a line extending in an inserting direction of said ink receiving tube, and wherein an ink holding force of said first fibrous ink holding member is relatively higher than that of said second fibrous ink holding member.