Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-07
2004-03-30
Vo, Anh T. N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06712458
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART
The present invention relates to a replaceable liquid container, an elastic member for plugging the connective hole which connects the inside and outside of the container, and an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with a replaceable liquid container.
As a replaceable liquid container in accordance with the prior arts, the ink container for an ink jet recording apparatus, which is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open patent Application 5-162333, has been known. The drawings disclosed in this patent application are present in this specification, as
FIGS. 44
,
45
, and
46
, to depict an example of a conventional replaceable liquid container, or the replaceable liquid container in accordance with the prior arts.
As shown in
FIGS. 44-46
, in the case of the first example of the conventional liquid container, an ink drawing member
72
is held in the space formed by the recess
81
a
of the top portion
62
A of the liquid container shell, and the recess
83
of the retaining portion of the bottom portion of the liquid container shell, the ink drawing member
72
is placed in the recess
81
a
, and the top and bottom portions L
2
A and
62
B are joined in a manner to compress the ink drawing member
72
. The members in other examples of a conventional liquid container, and in the embodiments of the present invention, which are equivalent to the ink drawing member
72
in this first example of a conventional liquid container, will be referred to as “elastic member” to better describe them regarding their characteristics; a name “ink drawing member” is used in the description of the first example of a conventional liquid container, after the name used in the specification of the aforementioned patent application.
FIG. 44
is a perspective view of the ink drawing member
72
used for the first example of a conventional liquid container. This ink drawing member
72
has an ink drawing portion
72
f
through which the ink drawing needle on the main assembly side of a recording means is inserted into the liquid container, a positioning portion with a diameter larger than that of the ink drawing portion
72
f
, an ink pouch (unshown), and a connective portion
72
g.
Referring to
FIG. 44
, the diameter Y of the ink drawing portion
72
f
of the ink drawing member
72
is greater than that of the portion of the recess of the retaining portion of the bottom portion
62
B of the liquid container shell. Thus, when the top and bottom portions
62
A and L
28
are joined, the ink drawing portion
72
f
of the ink drawing member
72
is compressed only, or mainly, in its radius direction. After assembly, the liquid container is structured as shown in FIG.
46
.
The positioning portion
72
e
with the diameter accurately positions the ink drawing member
72
relative to the top and bottom portions
62
A and
62
B of the liquid container shell, and prevents the ink drawing member
72
from shifting.
FIGS. 47 and 48
show the second example of a conventional replaceable liquid container for an ink jet recording apparatus.
FIG. 47
is a sectional view of the ink container, at the plane which divides the ink container into two symmetrical portions, and shows the details thereof.
FIG. 48
is a schematic sectional view of the ink outlet portion of the ink container, more specifically, a plug for the connective portion, which connects the inside and outside of the ink container, and its adjacencies.
Referring to
FIGS. 47 and 48
, an ink container
100
has an ink storage chamber
101
and a waste ink storage chamber
102
. One end of the ink storage chamber
101
is provided with two rubber plugs, through which the ink drawing needle (unshown) is put. Similarly, one end of the waste ink storage chamber
102
is provided with one rubber plug
104
. These rubber plugs are parts of the connective portion. Except for the portion facing the ink passage portion
3
through which the ink drawing needle is put, each rubber plug
104
is confined by the wall of the rubber plug holding recess
105
and a rubber plug pressing member
107
.
The waste ink storage chamber
102
has two storage portions (top and bottom portions in
FIG. 47
) connected to each other at one end of the chamber. The aforementioned portion, through which the ink drawing needle for the waste ink storage portion is put, corresponds in position to the bottom storage portion. In other words, the waste ink delivery needle connected to the waste ink delivery path of an ink jet recording apparatus is put through, so that the waste ink discharged through an ejection performance recovery process or the like is allowed to flow into the bottom storage portion of the waste ink storage chamber
102
. Virtually the entire space of the waste ink storage chamber
102
is occupied by an absorbent member
108
. Thus, after flowing into the bottom storage portion of the waste ink storage chamber
102
, the waste ink is absorbed by the absorbent member
108
. As the waste ink flows into the waste ink storage chamber
102
, the waste ink gradually soaks the absorbent member
108
, and reaches the portion of the absorbent member
108
in the top storage portion, soaking this portion as well. Eventually, it begins to seep out of the absorbent member
108
. The top storage portion of the waste ink storage chamber
102
is provided with a partitioning wall
102
A, which is located close to the end of the absorbent member
108
. Thus, as long as the amount of the waste ink does not exceed the waste ink retaining capacity of the absorbent member
108
, the aforementioned waste ink which seeps out of the absorbent member
108
does not spill over into the space on the right side of the partitioning wall
102
A, that is, the portion of the top storage portion which does not contain the absorbent member
108
. As the cumulative amount of the waste ink exceeds the capacity of the absorbent member, the waste ink which seeps out of the absorbent member
108
spills over into the space on the right side of the partitioning wall
102
A, for the first time, and accumulates in the space. Eventually, the top surface of the body of the waste ink in the space on the right side of the partitioning wall
102
A reaches a waste liquid detection electrode (unshown) located at a predetermined level. As a result, it is detected that the waste ink storage chamber
102
is filled up with the waste ink. Then, a user is prompted to replace the ink container
100
. Further, the waste ink storage chamber
102
is provided with an air vent
109
, which is located in the top rear corner. The waste ink storage chamber
102
is allowed to breath through this air vent.
Referring to
FIG. 48
, before the placement of the rubber plug
104
in the recess
105
, the external diameter of the rubber plug
104
is greater than the internal diameter of the recess
105
. Thus, the rubber plug
104
is placed in the recess
105
in the direction indicated by an arrow mark B, while being kept compressed in its radius direction (indicated by an arrow mark A in
FIG. 48
) with the use of a predetermined apparatus.
In the case of the ink drawing member
72
in the first example of a conventional ink container, shown in
FIG. 44
, which is disclosed in the aforementioned patent application, however, its positioning portion
72
e
functions only to accurately position the ink drawing member
72
, and the ink drawing portion
72
f
remains compressed.
Further, the connective portion
72
g
simply connects the ink drawing portion
72
f
and ink pouch. In other words, only the ink drawing portion
72
f
contributes to the connection between the ink container and the main assembly of a recording apparatus.
The ink drawing portion
72
f
is compressed and confined by the top and bottom portions k
2
A and
62
B of the ink container shell during the manufacture of the liquid container. Therefore, even when the cylindrical needle is not penetrating the ink drawing portion
72
f
, compression pressure is always present in the ink drawing portion
72
f
. Thus, when the cylindrical
Hatasa Nobuyuki
Kohno Takeshi
Koshikawa Hiroshi
Nanjo Tatsuo
Shimizu Eiichiro
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Vo Anh T. N.
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