Patent attributes
The ink cartridge has a communication unit for allowing an ink storage chamber to communicate with a space outside a housing. The communication unit includes a communication port formed on an outside surface of the housing, a merging channel having an end which communicates with the communication port, and a plurality of branch channels, each having an end which communicates with the merging channel and the other end which communicates with the ink storage chamber. In the branch channel, while ink flows backward, the ink flowing from the merging channel branches into the first branch channel and the second branch channel. At the same time, a ratio (Q1/Q2) between an ink flow rate in the first branch channel and an ink flow rate in the second branch channel while the ink is supplied is smaller than that while the ink flows backward.
