Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-25
2001-09-11
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06286947
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns ink containers for ink jet printers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for inserting an absorbent to be impregnated with liquid ink into an ink container, wherein the absorbent is larger than the receiving space of the ink container. The present invention also relates to an ink container receiving the absorbent inserted by the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a printing device for a miniaturized ink-jet printing apparatus has been proposed in which an integral cartridge-type device includes a printing head and an ink container detachably mounted thereto. Such an integral cartridge-type device must apply a predetermined level of reduced pressure in the printing head with respect to the pressure in the ink container in order to obtain proper ink flow. One method for obtaining proper ink flow from the ink container to the printing head under such a reduced pressure is known in which the ink container receives an absorbent impregnated with ink.
In the process of manufacturing the above-described ink container, the absorbent is manually inserted into the ink container in a compressed state and then impregnated with ink. Such manual operation is time consuming and inadequate for high volume production. Also, the absorbent gets wrinkled when inserted and/or unevenly contacts the inner wall of the ink container.
As a result, the ink gathers in the wrinkles of the absorbent and/or in gaps between the absorbent and the inner wall of the ink container. The stagnant ink in the wrinkles and/or gaps remains unused, thereby preventing smooth ink flow and proper ink jetting for printing, thus deteriorating the print quality.
In order to overcome the above-described problem, a method is known in which the absorbent is evenly compressed by a jig before insertion into the ink container. This absorbent insertion method results in an evenly compressed absorbent that provides no room for ink to gather. However, the ink added to the absorbent still can not be efficiently supplied to the printer head.
In order to efficiently utilize the ink in the ink container, the density of the absorbent is preferably increased gradually toward the ink outlet to the printing head.
A method for producing a density distribution in an absorbent received in a container has been proposed in which the absorbent is inserted into the container through an opening where two pairs of opposing sides of the absorbent are evenly pressed by a pair of first pressing members and a pair of second pressing members respectively. The container is then moved to receive the absorbent while one of the remaining sides of the absorbent free from the first and second pairs of pressing members is pushed by a third pressing member. The first and the second pressing members are then removed in accordance with the timing of the third pressing member moving in.
Another method is also known for controlling the density distribution of the absorbent by the controlling the moving speed of the container and the friction coefficient between the absorbent and the pressing members.
In the above methods, however, the density distribution state in the absorbent is not readily stabilized. During repeated operation of the absorbent insertion process, the friction coefficient between the pressing members and the absorbent varies according to the amount of triboelectric charges produced by the friction between the absorbent and the pressing members and between the pressing members and the container and stored on the pressing members.
Moreover, these conventional methods do not sufficiently enable a desired density distribution in the absorbent to be obtained because the density distribution is intended to be produced by controlling only the timing of in-out movements of the pressing members.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for inserting an absorbent, and a container receiving an absorbent inserted thereby, in which, by removing the electric charges stored on the pressing members, friction coefficient fluctuation caused by the repeated insertion is suppressed, thereby stabilizing the received absorbent in the container. The removal of electric charges also serves to suppress the risk of receiving dust in the container by reducing the dust amount attracted to the pressing members in the absorbent insertion process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for inserting an absorbent into a container, as well as a container receiving the absorbent, wherein the absorbent is arranged before insertion into the container so that the absorbent has a desired density distribution.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for inserting an absorbent into a container that enables a desired density distribution in the absorbent to be maintained after repeated insertions of the absorbent arranged to have the desired density distribution.
In one aspect, the present invention is a method for inserting an absorbent into a container, wherein a receiving space for the absorbent is smaller than the absorbent, comprising the steps of compressing the absorbent with a pressing member, inserting the absorbent together with the pressing member into the container, and removing the pressing member from the container while the absorbent is held in the container, wherein the pressing member contacting the absorbent is diselectrified.
The absorbent to be inserted into the container by the above method may be made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, polypropylene, and polyethylene.
The container receiving the absorbent by the above method may be made of one of polypropylene, a polystyrene-based resin, and polyethylene terephthalate.
The pressing members for compressing the absorbent in the above method, may be coated with either polytetrafluoroethylene (hereinafter referred to as PTFE), or covered with a PTFE sheet thereon.
The pressing members for compressing the absorbent in the above method, may also be covered with a polyethylene film thereon.
Further, the pressing members for compressing the absorbent in the above method, may be coated with a fluorocarbon resin.
Further, the pressing members for compressing the absorbent in the method may be made of a PTFE resin.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a container receiving an absorbent is produced by a method for inserting an absorbent into the container wherein a receiving space for the absorbent is smaller than the absorbent, the method comprising the steps of compressing the absorbent with a pressing member, inserting the absorbent together with the pressing member into the container and removing the pressing member from the container while the absorbent is held in the container, wherein the pressing member contacting the absorber is capable of being diselectrified. The container may be made of one of polypropylene, a polystyrene-based resin, and polyethylene terephthalate, and the absorbent may be made of one of polyurethane, polypropylene, and polyethylene.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method for inserting an absorbent into a container comprises: a first step of compressing the absorbent with a pair of pressing members opposed to each other, a portion of the absorbent unevenly protruding from the pressing members; a second step of compressing the absorbent with a pair of pressing members opposed to each other, in a direction crossing the direction of the compression in the first step; a step of inserting the absorbent into the container together with the pressing members while maintaining the absorbent in a compressed state; and a step of removing the pressing members from the container while the absorbent is held in the container.
By this method, the density distribution of the absorbent varies depending on the portion thereof which is produced by preventing the compressive force from being evenly transmitte
Kitabatake Kenji
Koshikawa Hiroshi
Morita Osamu
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Le N.
Nghiem Michael
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