JP2008290405A - Cap for shipment, ink-jet recorder, and method for introducing ink - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly reliable ink-jet recording system by improving ink fillability. <P>SOLUTION: The ink-jet recorder comprises an ink-jet recording head and a cap for shipment. The cap 40 which plugs a plurality of ink discharge nozzles 3 provided in the ink-jet recording head is provided with protruding portions 42 each inserted into the plurality of nozzles 3. The cap is constituted so that at least the tip part of each of the protruding portions 42 contacts the ink when an ink is introduced into the ink-jet recording head. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a shipping cap, an ink jet recording apparatus using the cap, and an ink introduction method.

In recent years, inkjet printing has features such as low cost of the device itself, low running cost, and easy color recording, and has rapidly spread as a digital signal output device from computers, digital cameras, and the like.
There are various recording inks used in ink jet printers, such as inks in which a dye is dissolved in an aqueous medium or non-aqueous medium, inks in which pigments are dispersed in an aqueous or oily medium, or solid inks that can be thermally melted. A type of ink has been proposed.

  At present, the mainstream ink is one in which a dye is dissolved in an aqueous medium, and has characteristics such as beautiful coloring and high safety to human bodies and the environment. In recent years, inkjet printers that can be easily printed at home and in offices have become widespread, and image quality similar to silver halide photography has been developed.

  However, in the ink jet recording head, if the wettability of the ink flow path provided in the head is poor, there is a possibility that bubbles are generated in the ink flow path when the ink is filled. Further, the bubbles firmly adhere to the wall surface of the flow path, and cannot be easily discharged even when the discharge operation is performed by ink suction. If air bubbles remain in the ink flow path, specifically, there are problems such as inability to eject, troubles such as missing dots and printing disturbance, and deterioration of printing quality.

Conventionally, in order to improve the wettability of the constituent member of an ink jet head using a resin material, a method of imparting hydrophilicity by acid treatment or plasma treatment, a method of containing a filler imparted hydrophilicity by acid treatment, etc. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, in an inkjet head having a configuration in which the ink and the piezoelectric element are in direct contact as shown in Patent Document 2, the piezoelectric element is corroded and deteriorated by performing these hydrophilic treatments. Moreover, since the piezoelectric element is a fired member such as ceramic, the surface has a fine concavo-convex structure and is difficult to be filled with ink. If ink is not filled on the surface of the piezoelectric element that generates pressure and air bubbles remain, the generated pressure is not sufficiently transmitted to the ink, which causes ejection failure such as bending of the ink, a decrease in ejection speed, or non-ejection.
Further, in Patent Document 3, the ink has a viscosity equal to or less than that of the ink before the ink is introduced into the ink jet head, has a surface tension equal to or less than that of the ink, and has a foaming property of the Ross Miles method. Introducing liquid containing a water-soluble organic solvent having a foam height of 2 mm or less immediately after foaming at 25 ° C. and a foam height of 0 mm after 5 minutes and having a surface activity and lower volatility than water, and water A method for introducing ink into an ink jet head that fills the ink is proposed. However, when the ink is introduced, the introduction liquid needs to be discharged from the inkjet head, and since it is necessary to sufficiently replace the ink, in the case of a line head, the time loss becomes large. There is a problem such as the waste liquid coming out.
Japanese Patent No. 3454514 JP 2004-114308 A Japanese Patent No. 3596304

On the other hand, when an ink jet head is shipped without being filled with ink or introduction liquid and is filled with ink at the time of use, the ink introduced into the ink flow path is not quickly filled into the nozzle, and bubbles remain and ejection failure There was a problem that the nozzle of this occurred.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording system with improved ink filling properties and high reliability.

  As a result of intensive research to solve the above problems, the present inventor used a cap having a plurality of protrusions to close the nozzles of the inkjet recording head before shipment, so that the ink was quickly transferred to the inkjet recording head during use. The present inventors have found a new fact that ink jet recording with high reliability can be realized without generating defective nozzles, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, the shipping cap of the present invention, the ink jet recording apparatus using the cap, the capping method, and the ink introducing method have the following configurations.
(1) A cap for closing a plurality of ink discharge nozzles provided in the ink jet recording head, the cap having protrusions fitted into the plurality of nozzles, respectively, and when ink is introduced into the ink jet recording head, A shipping cap for an ink jet recording apparatus, characterized in that at least the tip of each projection is in contact with ink.
(2) A cap for closing a plurality of ink ejection nozzles provided in the ink jet recording head, the cap abutting an uncured soft resin body on the nozzle side surface of the ink jet recording head, and a part of the cap The ink jet recording apparatus is configured to be cured in a state where it has entered into the nozzle of the ink jet, and the tip portion that has entered is configured to come into contact with the ink when the ink is introduced into the ink jet recording head. Cap.
(3) An uncured soft resin body for producing the cap according to (2).
(4) A part of the wall surface of the pressure chamber provided with the nozzle is formed of a piezoelectric element, and the piezoelectric element is actuated and deformed to cause a pressure wave to act on the ink in the pressure chamber. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink jet recording head that discharges water and a shipping cap described in (1) or (2).
(5) a step of inserting a protrusion of a shipping cap into each of a plurality of ink discharge nozzles provided in the ink jet recording head, a step of filling the ink jet recording head with the protrusion inserted, and an ink And a step of removing the cap after filling and pulling out the protrusion from the nozzle. A method of introducing ink into the nozzle of an inkjet recording head using a shipping cap.
(6) The shipping cap according to claim 5, further comprising a step of returning the cap from the insertion position within a range in which the protrusion maintains the insertion state when the ink jet recording head is filled with ink. A method for introducing ink into the nozzles of an inkjet recording head.

  According to the present invention, before shipment, the plurality of nozzles of the ink jet recording head are closed with caps that respectively close the nozzles, and each of the protrusions comes into contact with the ink filled in the ink flow path of the ink jet recording head. Since the ink jet recording head is filled with ink at the time of use and then the cap is removed, the ink is quickly filled into the nozzles without causing defective ejection nozzles. Ink jet recording can be realized.

Hereinafter, the shipping cap of the present invention, the ink jet recording head using the cap, and the ink introduction method will be described in detail.
(Inkjet recording head)
In an example of the ink jet recording head of the present invention, FIG. 1 shows a state before a piezoelectric actuator including a laminated piezoelectric element 8 and individual electrodes 9 is attached.
The ink jet recording head in the illustrated example has a plurality of dot forming portions including a pressurizing chamber 2 and a nozzle 3 communicating therewith arranged on a single substrate 1.
2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing one dot forming portion in a state where the piezoelectric actuator is attached in the ink jet recording head of the above example, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing one dot forming portion. It is a perspective view which shows the overlapping state of each part which comprises. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the nozzle 3 in FIG.

The nozzles 3 of the dot forming section are arranged in a plurality of rows in the main scanning direction (printing medium conveyance direction) indicated by white arrows in FIG. In the example shown in the figure, the lines are arranged in four rows, the pitch between the dot forming portions in the same row is 150 dpi, and 600 dpi is realized as a whole of the ink jet recording head.
Each dot forming portion is formed on the upper surface side of the substrate 1 in FIG. 2A and has a center at the center in the width direction of the rectangular portion, the diameter is equal to the width length, and the horizontal sectional shape is semicircular. The pressurizing chamber 2 having a flat plate shape with the end portions being at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the rectangular portion, and the semicircle and center of the end portion on the one end side of the pressurizing chamber 2 on the lower surface side of the substrate 1 Are connected to each other through a cylindrical nozzle passage 4 having the same diameter and the same center as the semicircle of the end portion, and the end on the other end side of the pressurizing chamber 2. A configuration in which the pressurizing chamber 2 is connected to a common flow path 6 formed in the substrate 1 so as to communicate with each dot forming portion via a cylindrical supply port 5 having the same center as the semicircle of the portion; It has become.

In the example shown in the figure, each of the above parts includes a first substrate 1a in which the pressurizing chamber 2 is formed, a second substrate 1b in which an upper portion 4a of the nozzle channel 4 and a supply port 5 are formed, and a lower portion 4b of the nozzle channel 4. The third substrate 1c on which the common flow path 6 is formed and the fourth substrate 1d on which the nozzle 3 is formed as a nozzle plate are stacked and integrated in this order.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle 3 has an opening 30 at the tip on the ink droplet ejection side formed in a circle on the lower surface 1e of the fourth substrate 1d, which is the lower surface side of the substrate 1. At the same time, the nozzle 3 is formed in a tapered shape (conical shape) so that the opening 30 on the distal end side is smaller than the opening 31 on the pressurizing chamber 2 side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first substrate 1 a and the second substrate 1 b are connected to a common flow path 6 formed in the third substrate 1 c with piping from an ink cartridge (not shown) on the upper surface side of the substrate 1. The through-hole 11a for comprising the joint part 11 for doing is formed. Furthermore, each board | substrate 1a-1d consists of resin, a metal, etc., for example, and is formed with the plate-shaped body which has the through-hole used as said each part by the etching etc. which used the photolithographic method, and has predetermined thickness.

  On the upper surface side of the substrate 1, the laminated piezoelectric element 8 having a planar shape and a transverse vibration mode having a common electrode 7 having the same size as that of the substrate 1, and the addition of each dot forming portion. The piezoelectric actuator AC is configured by laminating individual electrodes 9 having the same plane shape, which are substantially rectangular and are individually provided at positions overlapping the central portion of the pressure chamber 2 in this order.

  Both the common electrode 7 and the individual electrode 9 are formed of a metal foil excellent in conductivity such as gold, silver, platinum, copper, and aluminum, a plating film made of these metals, a vacuum deposition film, or the like.

  As a piezoelectric material for forming the piezoelectric element 8, for example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), or one or more oxides of lanthanum, barium, niobium, zinc, nickel, manganese, etc. are added to the PZT. Examples thereof include PZT-based piezoelectric materials such as PLZT. In addition, lead magnesium niobate (PMN), lead nickel niobate (PNN), lead zinc niobate, lead manganese niobate, lead antimony stannate, lead titanate, barium titanate, etc. You can also.

  The piezoelectric element 8 is formed by, for example, bonding and fixing a chip having a predetermined planar shape obtained by sintering a sintered body formed by sintering the above piezoelectric material into a thin plate shape at a predetermined position, or a so-called sol-gel method. (Or by the MOD method), a paste formed from an organometallic compound that is the basis of the piezoelectric material is printed in a predetermined planar shape, and formed through drying, pre-baking, and firing steps, or a reactive sputtering method, It can be formed by forming a thin film of a piezoelectric material into a predetermined planar shape by a vapor phase growth method such as a reactive vacuum deposition method or a reactive ion plating method.

  In order to drive the piezoelectric element 8 in the transverse vibration mode, for example, the polarization direction of the piezoelectric material is oriented in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric element 8, more specifically in the direction from the individual electrode 9 to the common electrode 7. For this purpose, conventionally known polarization methods such as a high temperature polarization method, a room temperature polarization method, an alternating electric field superposition method, and an electric field cooling method can be employed. Moreover, you may age-treat the piezoelectric element 8 after polarization.

  The piezoelectric element 8 in which the polarization direction of the piezoelectric material is oriented in the above-described direction contracts in a plane orthogonal to the polarization direction by applying a positive drive voltage from the individual electrode 9 with the common electrode 7 grounded. To do. For this reason, the force when the bending occurs is transmitted to the ink in the pressurizing chamber 2 as a pressure wave, and the ink in the supply port 5, the pressurizing chamber 2, the nozzle flow path 4, and the nozzle 3 is transmitted by this pressure wave. Causes vibration. As a result of the vibration speed going outward from the nozzle 3, the ink meniscus in the nozzle 3 is pushed out from the opening 30 at the tip on the ink droplet ejection side to form an ink column. The vibration speed will eventually go in the nozzle, but the ink column will continue to move in the outward direction, so it will be separated from the ink meniscus and gathered into one or two ink drops that will fly in the direction of the paper. To form dots on the paper.

  The amount of ink that has decreased due to the flying ink droplets is reduced from the ink cartridge by the ink meniscus surface tension in the nozzle 3, the piping of the ink cartridge, the joint portion 11, the common flow path 6, the supply port 5, and the pressure chamber 2, and the nozzle 3 is refilled via the nozzle flow path 4.

  On the lower surface 1e of the fourth substrate 1d, which is the lower surface side of the substrate 1, as described above, an area A1 having a predetermined planar shape that is not subjected to water repellent treatment is provided at the tip of the nozzle 3 on the ink droplet ejection side. It is provided so as to overlap with the circular opening 30. That is, the water repellent layer 12 is laminated on the other surface 1e except the region A1, and the surface of the fourth substrate 1d is exposed without forming the water repellent layer 12 in the region A1. Thus, the water-repellent treatment is not performed.

  Although the thickness of the water repellent layer 12 is not specifically limited, It is preferable that it is 0.5-2 micrometers. If the thickness of the water-repellent layer 12 is less than this range, the water repellency is lowered, and there is a possibility that ink droplet ejection failure due to ink adhesion may occur. Further, the water repellent layer 12 having a film thickness exceeding 2 μm is not easily formed, and even if it can be formed, there is a possibility that no further effect can be obtained.

  The ink jet recording head of the present invention draws the ink meniscus in the nozzle by deforming the piezoelectric element 8 in the direction of expanding the capacity of the pressurizing chamber 2 immediately before the dot formation, and then reduces the capacity of the pressurizing chamber 2. By deforming the piezoelectric element 8 in the direction of reduction, the piezoelectric element 8 is deformed in the direction of reducing the capacity of the pressurizing chamber 2 when the ink droplet is separated from the ink meniscus and ejected, and at the time of dot formation. Thus, the ink meniscus in the nozzle 3 is pushed out, and then the piezoelectric element is deformed in the direction of expanding the capacity of the pressurizing chamber 2, thereby drawing the ink meniscus and separating the ink droplets from the ink meniscus and ejecting them. It may be driven by any driving method of the push type.

In the recording apparatus of the present invention, in order to achieve high-speed printing, the recording head has 500 or more nozzles, preferably 1000 to 3000 nozzles, the driving frequency is 15 kHz or more, and the recording head performs recording. Two or more, preferably 2-8, more preferably 2-4, may be connected in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the medium transport direction. Moreover, it can be used as a line head by connecting a plurality more than the width of the recording medium.
In the initial filling of the ink into the ink jet recording head, as shown in FIG. 1, the ink is pumped (not shown) between a pipe from an ink cartridge (not shown) and a joint portion 11 for connecting the pipe. The recording head is supplied through the joint portion 11. The pump can be used according to the purpose, such as a tube pump, a gear pump, or an electromagnetic pump.

  In the case of color printing, the ink is combined with the recording head to form a multicolor set, and usually an ink set including four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black is formed. It is preferable to use a recording apparatus that combines the ink and the recording head.

(Cap for shipping)
As shown in FIG. 4, the shipping cap of the present invention has a plurality of protrusions 42 formed on the surface of the substrate 41, and each protrusion 42 corresponds to a plurality of nozzles 3 positions of the ink jet recording head. Arranged. The capping of the cap 40 to the ink jet recording head is performed by inserting the projections 42 corresponding to the nozzles 3 of the ink jet recording head in a state where the ink before shipment is empty. The shape of the protrusion 42 is not particularly limited as long as it can be fitted into the nozzle 3, and examples thereof include a needle shape, a columnar shape, a rod shape, and a conical shape. Here, when the ink jet recording head is shipped in an unfilled state with ink or introduction liquid and the ink is introduced at the time of use, it is important that the tip of each protrusion 42 of the cap 40 comes into contact with the ink. Therefore, the outer diameter or thickness of the protrusion 42 should be approximately the same as the opening of the nozzle 3. For example, in the case of a cylindrical shape, the outer diameter is 20 μm or less, preferably 10 to 15 μm, and the height is It should be about the same as the thickness of the nozzle, and is 50 μm or more, preferably 60 to 80 μm. Moreover, when taking out the cap, the shape of the cap is preferably cylindrical so that the nozzle 3 can be taken out without applying a load.

  That is, when the cap 40 and the ink are in contact with each other, even if the ink cannot wet all the tapered portions of each nozzle 3, that is, even if there is a gap in the tapered portion, when removing the cap 40, The ink is guided to the taper portion by contacting each protrusion 42 and the ink. The height of each protrusion 42 of the cap 40 is determined by the wettability (easy to enter) of the taper of the ink, but the height that can come into contact with the ink when the ink is introduced. It is necessary to be. In the case where the thickness of the tapered portion is small and the ink easily flows into the tapered portion simply by introducing the ink, the height of each protrusion 42 can be reduced. However, if it is difficult for the ink to enter the tapered portion, it is necessary that each protrusion 42 of the cap 40 enters the ink flow path 4 beyond the tapered portion of each nozzle 3 and contacts the ink in the ink flow path 4. is there.

  The cap 40 forms a putty-like resin on the surface of the substrate 41, for example, adds a curing catalyst to an uncured resin polymer (soft resin body), and presses this surface against the ejection surface of the inkjet recording head. The cap 40 may be formed with a protrusion 42 made of a resin elastic body so as to close the nozzle 3 after the resin is cured. The protrusions 42 may be formed of resin on the substrate 41. At this time, similarly to the above, each protrusion 42 of the resin elastic body in each nozzle 3 enters the ink flow path 4 beyond the taper portion of each nozzle 3 and contacts the ink in the ink flow path 4. It is necessary to.

  Ink is introduced into the ink jet recording head as follows. That is, first, capping is performed by fitting the shipping cap 40 into the plurality of nozzles 3 of the inkjet recording head in the inkjet recording head in which the ink is emptied [see FIG. 4A]. . Next, in use, the ink jet recording head is filled with ink while the shipping cap 40 is capped [see FIG. 4B]. In addition, when filling ink, it is preferable to provide an air flow path so that ink can be easily filled. Therefore, it is preferable to return the cap from the insertion position within a range in which the protrusions maintain the insertion state. After the ink is filled, the cap 40 is removed [see FIG. 4 (c)]. When the cap 40 is removed, the ink is drawn into the nozzles 3 along with the detachment of the protrusions 42 of the cap 40 that are in contact with the ink in the ink flow path 4 of the ink jet recording head. The ink is filled.

The material of the cap 40 is preferably a resin having good wettability with ink and no water repellency. The surface of the protrusion 42 may be coated with a resin having good wettability with ink. Examples of such resins include silicone resins, epoxy resins, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyethersulfone, cellulose acetate, and polyarylate. Preferably, a silicone resin or an epoxy resin is used. Examples of the curing catalyst or curing agent include titanium alkoxides, titanium chelates, and titanium organic compounds for silicone resins, and modified amines, polyfunctional phenols, and imidazoles for epoxy resins.
If the ink wettability is poor and water repellency is present, when the cap 40 is removed, the ink in contact with the projections 42 is drawn into the tapered portions of the nozzles 3 as the projections 42 are detached. It becomes difficult to be filled and the filling property is lowered.

  Hereinafter, the shipping cap and the inkjet recording head of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

(Preparation of ink)
As a colorant to be contained in the ink, C.I. I. Pigment Red 122 was used and a water-soluble resin was used to prepare a pigment dispersion as follows.
(Pigment dispersion)
C. I. Pigment Red 122 30% by mass
Jonkrill 61 (acrylic-styrene resin, manufactured by Johnson) 15% by mass
Glycerin 10% by mass
Ion-exchanged water 45% by mass
The mixture was mixed with the above composition, 0.5 mm zirconia beads were used, and dispersed with a ball mill until the average particle size became 100 nm. The average particle size was confirmed by diluting the pigment dispersion 5 times with ion-exchanged water and using a dynamic light scattering particle size distribution analyzer (LB-550, manufactured by HORIBA).

  20% by mass of the above magenta pigment dispersion was used, 5% by mass of hexylene glycol, 5% by mass of 2-pyrrolidone, 10% by mass of glycerin, and Olphine E1010 [EO (ethylene oxide) adduct of acetylenic diol as a surfactant. [Manufactured by Nissin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.] After mixing with a composition of 0.5% by mass and the remaining amount of water and stirring sufficiently, an ink was obtained using a filter having a pore size of 5 μm. The viscosity of the ink was 3.0 mPa · s.

(Preparation of recording head)
1 and 2 (a) and 2 (b). The dimensions are as follows: the area of the pressurizing chamber 2 is 0.2 mm ² , the width is 200 μm, the depth is 100 μm, and the nozzle channel 4 The diameter is 200 μm, the length is 800 μm, the diameter of the supply port 5 is 30 μm, the length is 40 μm, the length of the nozzle 3 is 30 μm, and the shapes of the ink discharge side opening 30 and the pressure chamber 2 side opening 31 are radii. A recording head having a circular shape of 10 μm and 20 μm, and 166 dot forming portions constituted by these portions per row and 664 dot forming portions in total (4 rows) arranged on the substrate 1 is used. It was.
The pitch between the dot forming portions in the same row was 150 dpi, and the adjacent rows were shifted by ½ pitch to make 600 dpi as a whole.

(Production of shipping cap)
A plurality of shipping caps 40 are formed on the surface of a substrate 41 made of a silicone resin having a width of 30 mm, a length of 180 mm, and a thickness of 5 mm, with an outer diameter of 20 μm and a height of 50 μm aligned with the position of each nozzle 3. The prepared cap was made of silicone resin. Then, the surface of the cap 40 was brought into close contact with the ink discharge side surface of the recording head produced above and capped.

(Evaluation and results)
Using the ink, cap, and inkjet recording head obtained above, and a recording apparatus equipped with these, the shipping cap 40 was removed after ink filling, and ink droplets were ejected to examine the ejection state. That is, an ink jet recording head that is not filled with ink and introduced liquid is capped by the cap 40, and the ink jet recording head that has been capped after 30 days is pressure-filled from an ink tank using a gear pump at a pressure of 100 kPa. . At the time of pressure filling, in order to provide an air flow path, the cap is separated from the surface of the inkjet recording head by about 10 μm and ink filling is performed.
Next, 5 seconds after the cap 40 was completely removed, ink was ejected at a drive voltage of 20 V and a drive frequency of 15 kHz in an environment of 25 ° C. and 50% RH, and the filling rate was evaluated. The filling rate was defined as the ratio of the number of nozzles that could be printed out of 664 nozzles.
As a result, the filling rate was 1.0, indicating good ink filling properties.

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an ink jet recording head according to the present invention. (A) is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the ink jet recording head according to the present invention, and (b) is a bottom view of (a). It is an enlarged view of the nozzle part of Fig.2 (a). (A) a state in which a plurality of protrusions of the shipping cap of the present invention are fitted into a plurality of nozzles, (b) a state in which the ink jet recording head is filled with ink, and (c) a protrusion of the shipping cap of the present invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view showing typically each example of the state pulled out from the nozzle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Board | substrate 2 Pressurization chamber 3 Nozzle 4 Ink flow path 5 Supply port 6 Common flow path 7 Common electrode 8 Piezoelectric element 9 Individual electrode 11 Joint part 12 Water-repellent layer 30 Opening A1 area | region AC Piezoelectric actuator 40 Shipment cap 42 Protrusion part

Claims (6)

  A cap for closing a plurality of ink discharge nozzles provided on the ink jet recording head, the cap having protrusions respectively fitted into the plurality of nozzles, and each protrusion when the ink is introduced into the ink jet recording head A shipping cap for an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein at least a tip portion of the ink jet recording apparatus is in contact with ink.   A cap for closing a plurality of ink ejection nozzles provided in an ink jet recording head, the cap abutting an uncured soft resin body on the nozzle side surface of the ink jet recording head, and a part of the caps in the plurality of nozzles A shipping cap for an ink jet recording apparatus, wherein the ink is hardened in a state where the ink enters the ink jet head, and the front end of the ink enters the ink jet recording head so that the ink comes into contact with the ink when the ink is introduced into the ink jet recording head.   An uncured soft resin body for producing the cap according to claim 2.   A part of the wall of the pressure chamber provided with the nozzle is formed of a piezoelectric element, and the piezoelectric element is actuated and deformed to cause a pressure wave to act on the ink in the pressure chamber, thereby ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle. An ink jet recording apparatus comprising an ink jet recording head and the shipping cap according to claim 1.   A step of inserting a protrusion of a shipping cap into each of a plurality of ink discharge nozzles provided in the ink jet recording head, a step of filling the ink jet recording head with the protrusion inserted, and the step after filling the ink And a step of removing the cap and pulling out the protruding portion from the nozzle. A method of introducing ink into the nozzle of an ink jet recording head using a shipping cap.   The nozzle for an inkjet recording head using a shipping cap according to claim 5, comprising a step of returning the cap from the insertion position within a range in which the protruding portion maintains the insertion state when the ink is filled in the inkjet recording head. Ink introduction method.

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