Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-17
2001-06-12
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244684
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and more particularly to an ink jet printer capable of causing a print head thereof to recover from defective ink ejection, a printing method practicable with the ink jet printer, and a storage medium storing the printing method.
An ink jet printer extensively used today drives a print head thereof in accordance with a signal received from a computer and thereby prints a text or a graphic on a recording medium. Conventional ink jet printers are generally classified into two types. One type of ink jet printer includes a print head portion and a replaceable or removable ink tank storing ink therein and allows, when the ink tank runs out of ink, the ink tank to be replaced alone. The other type of ink jet printer includes a print head and an ink tank constructed integrally with each other and causes, when the ink tank runs out of ink, the print head to be replaced together with the ink tank.
The problem with the printer including the replaceable ink tank is that at the time of replacement of the tank an ink feed section is exposed to the outside. As a result, bubbles and dust are introduced into the ink feed section and stop up an ink passage, making ink ejection defective. In light of this, it has been customary to arrange a filter in the ink passage and to compress or suck the ink with recovering means for thereby discharging the bubbles via the ends of nozzles. The recovering means, however, must repeat suction a number of times for fully discharging the bubbles from the ink passage, resulting in the wasteful consumption of ink.
Technologies relating to the present invention are disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 3-73354, 3-132357, 7-117240, 3-272861, 9-240019, and 10-34949.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet printer capable of obviating defective ink ejection without wasting ink and thereby enhancing printing quality, a printing method practicable with the ink jet printer, and a storage medium storing the printing method.
In accordance with the present invention, an ink jet printer includes a nozzle for ejecting ink, an ink passage fluidly communicated to the nozzle, an ink feed section for feeding ink to the ink passage, an ink tank removably mounted on the ink feed section and storing the ink, a print head including the nozzle, ink passage, and ink feed section, and a recovering device for causing the print head to recover from defective ink ejection. The recovering device sucks, at the time of recovery, the ink a plurality of times while varying a suction pressure acting on the ink. The ink feed section and ink passage may be communicated to each other via a filter;
REFERENCES:
patent: 5386222 (1995-01-01), Iwata
patent: 5448271 (1995-09-01), Yamaguchi et al.
patent: 5805180 (1998-09-01), Ebisawa et al.
patent: 0541519 (1993-05-01), None
patent: 0 865 924 (1998-09-01), None
patent: 373354 (1991-03-01), None
patent: 3-051137 (1991-03-01), None
patent: 3132357 (1991-06-01), None
patent: 3272861 (1991-12-01), None
patent: 5-116339 (1993-05-01), None
patent: 7117240 (1995-05-01), None
patent: 9240019 (1997-09-01), None
patent: 9-277559 (1997-10-01), None
patent: 1034949 (1998-02-01), None
European Search Report (in English) issued Mar. 16, 2000 in a related application. Ref# 3003 Appl# 99105394.3-2304.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 1998, No. 01, Jan. 30, 1993 & JP 09-240019 A (Ricoh Co Ltd), Sep. 16, 1997, *Abstract*. (A copy of this document is not included as JP 09-240019 was cited previously.).
Kokai Kuniaki
Tanaka Koichi
Hsieh Shih-Wen
Le N.
NEC Corporation
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
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