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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus in which a recording head, which ejects ink from its nozzle or orifices, and a sub-tank are arranged to be movable relative to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, recording apparatuses such as ink jet printers are required to record a larger amount of information on a recording medium at a higher speed. In order to accomplish the requirement, recording apparatuses with a plurality of recording heads arranged side by side have been adopted.
In such a recording apparatus, the recording heads are arranged side by side in the sub-tank, and are provided with an ink supply port from which the ink is supplied to each recording head. The ink supply port is provided at one end of the sub-tank in the direction in which the sub-tank is moved. The ink supply port is designed to be completely closed by a shutter when the sub-tank is moved and the recording heads eject ink.
However, the sub-tank is connected with the recording heads through long ink supply pipes and the ink supply pipes have flexibility. Thus, when the sub-tank is moved to change the position of the recording heads, the ink supply pipes change their shapes to obstruct the movement of the sub-tank. As a result, the shutter for closing the ink supply port is apt to be forced away from the ink supply port, allowing ink to leak from the ink supply port. When ink leak from the ink supply port, a meniscus of the ink in the ink supply port is broken and the ink is unable to maintain a stable state.
In order to prevent the ink from leaking from the ink supply port, the ink supply port is closed by a clip, or the inner wall of the ink supply pipe is coated with a special member. However, such measures increase the manufacturing cost of the recording apparatus.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an ink jet recording apparatus that can prevent ink from leaking from the ink supply port while the recording heads are moved.
According to a first aspect of the invention, an ink jet recording apparatus comprises: a recording head, having an ink supply port from which the ink is supplied to a recording head, and an ink ejection port from which the ink is ejected; an ink supply pipe connected with the ink supply port; a sub-tank arranged to be moved in a direction in which the recording head is moved; and an
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