Patent ID: 8147047

Claim:
A liquid supply apparatus comprising: a container mounting portion; and a liquid container configured to be removably mounted to the container mounting portion, the liquid container comprising: a case configured to store liquid therein; a first movable member positioned in the case and configured to move relative to the case according to an amount of liquid stored in the case; a second movable member positioned on the case and configured to move relative to the case between a first position and a second position; and a retainer configured to retain the second movable member in the first position, wherein the first movable member and the second movable member comprise a pair of magnetic materials on which a magnetic force acts, such that the pair of magnetic materials attracts each other, when the second movable member is in the first position, the first movable member is in a fixed state in which the first movable member is immovably fixed to the case by the magnetic force acting between the pair of magnetic materials, when the second movable member moves from the first position to the second position, the first movable member is released from the fixed state, and the container mounting portion comprises a release member configured to release the second movable member from a retained state in which the second movable member is retained in the first position by the retainer, such that the second movable member moves from the first position to the second position, when the liquid container is mounted to the container mounting portion.