Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Processes – Filling dispensers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-02
2001-03-13
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Processes
Filling dispensers
C141S005000, C141S007000, C141S018000, C141S051000, C141S059000, C141S065000, C141S082000, C141S008000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199600
ABSTRACT:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from an application for APPARATUS FOR INJECTING WORKING LIQUID INTO MICRO-INJECTING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR INJECTING THE SAME earlier filed in the Russian Federation on the 3
rd
of Nov. 1998 and there duly assigned Ser. No. 98120475.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of micro-injecting devices and ink jet print heads, particularly to membrane-type micro-injecting devices, and more particularly to the method of filling these devices with working fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a micro-injecting device refers to a device which is designed to provide printing paper, a human body or motor vehicles with a predetermined amount of liquid, for example, ink, injection liquid or petroleum using the method in which a predetermined amount of electric or thermal energy is applied to the above-mentioned liquid, yielding a volumetric transformation of the liquid. This method allows the application of a small quantity of a liquid to a specific object.
Recently, developments in electrical and electronic technology have enabled rapid development of such micro-injecting devices. Thus, micro-injecting devices are being widely used in daily life. One example of the use of micro-injecting devices in daily life is the inkjet printer.
The inkjet printer is a form of micro-injecting device which differs from conventional dot printers in the capability of performing print jobs in various colors by using cartridges. Additional advantages of inkjet printers over dot printers are lower noise and enhanced quality of printing. For these reasons, inkjet printers are gaining immensely in popularity.
An inkjet printer generally includes a printer head having nozzles with a minute diameter. In such an inkjet printhead, the ink which is initially in the liquid state is transformed and expanded to a bubble state by turning on or off an electric signal applied from an external device. Then, the ink so bubbled is injected so as to perform a print job on a printing paper.
Many methods and apparatuses for injecting working liquid are disclosed. In one type of micro-injection device, the printing operation on printing paper is executed using the vibration of a membrane, to drive the ink. In this type of device, a working liquid having the property of readily generating vapor pressure fills a heating chamber and induces the vibration. An example of this type of printhead is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,259, to Kruger et al., entitled Ink Jet Printer With Bubble Driven Flexible Membrane.
In a conventional method of filling such an inkjet printhead with working fluid, to continuously supply the working liquid into the inner portion of the heating chamber, a working liquid injecting device is installed on a portion of a cartridge, another portion of which is adjacent to the ink-jet printhead. Thus, the cartridge is attached to the inkjet printhead and the cartridge is filled with ink in the inner portion.
A method for injecting working liquid by using the working liquid injecting device will be now be described in detail. The working liquid stored in a working liquid reservoir is rapidly injected into the inkjet printhead according to a predetermined pressure applied by a pressurizing device (not shown). Then, the working liquid flows via a working liquid supply pipe into a working liquid supply channel through a supply hole and fills each heating chamber. In the mean time, the working liquid which remains after filling each heating chamber through the above-mentioned process is returned to a working liquid return unit via a working liquid return pipe. Then, the working liquid injection is finished by sealing the heating chambers.
However, the above-mentioned conventional method for injecting working liquid into the inkjet printhead has some problems. For the purpose of injecting the working liquid into each heating chamber, the separate and additional working liquid injecting devices are installed on the cartridge and the working liquid is injected into the separate inkjet printhead by using the separate working liquid injecting devices. Accordingly, total manufacturing time for manufacturing products increases and total manufacturing processes are complicated. Moreover, the total production yield decreases according to the complexity of manufacturing processes.
Examples of contemporary techniques for filling liquids in devices and moulds are seen in the following U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,125, to Parsoneault et al., entitled Vacuum Fill Technique For Hydrodynamic Bearing, describes a method for filling a hydrodynamic bearing with oil. U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,711 to Paine, entitled Process And Apparatus For Metal Casting, describes a process for casting molten metal into a mould involving subjecting the poured metal in the mould to pressure to reduce the porosity of the cast product. However, these techniques are not directly applicable to micro-injection devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of filling an inkjet printhead with working fluid.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a less complicated method of filling an inkjet printhead with working fluid.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of filling an inkjet printhead with working fluid which requires less total manufacturing time.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a method of filling an inkjet printhead with working fluid with improved production yield.
It is a yet further object of the invention provide a method of filling an inkjet printhead with working fluid without the use of a cartridge having a working fluid injection tool.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects and other advantages in the present invention, a container filled with working liquid is arranged in a vacuum chamber connected to an air supply/evacuation device; the air supply/evacuation device is operated after inserting a plurality of cartridges having inkjet printheads into the container; the inner environment of the vacuum chamber is evacuated; accordingly, the working liquid in the container simultaneously fills the heating chambers of each inkjet printhead.
Preferably, the vacuum pressure of the inner portion of the vacuum chamber is in the range of from approximately 2×10
−1
mm Hg to 2×10
−3
mm Hg. More preferably, the vacuum pressure is approximately 2×10
−2
mm Hg.
Also, an outer wall of the container is wound by a cooling medium flow pipe, and the cooling medium flow pipe cools down the working liquid container by means of a cooling medium in the pipe. Preferably, the cooling medium flowing in the cooling medium flow pipe is a gas; more preferably, a gas comprising mainly nitrogen is used as the cooling medium.
Accordingly, the total manufacturing time of manufacturing products can be reduced and the total production yield of the products is improved.
REFERENCES:
patent: 994010 (1911-05-01), Langmuir
patent: 1345347 (1920-07-01), Chaney
patent: 1922458 (1933-08-01), Schaeffer
patent: 2679343 (1954-05-01), Smith et al.
patent: 3282306 (1966-11-01), Greenhut
patent: 4061163 (1977-12-01), Decker et al.
patent: 4099550 (1978-07-01), Matsuzaki et al.
patent: 4480259 (1984-10-01), Kruger et al.
patent: 4713925 (1987-12-01), Kafkis
patent: 5335711 (1994-08-01), Paine
patent: 5601125 (1997-02-01), Parsoneault et al.
Ahn Byung-Sun
Nikolaevich Dunaev Boris
Petrovich Lavrishev Vadim
Bushnell , Esq. Robert E.
Jacyna J. Casimer
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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