Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Fluid pattern dispersing device making – e.g. – ink jet
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-10
2002-12-10
Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Fluid pattern dispersing device making, e.g., ink jet
C347S086000, C156S073600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06490792
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a replaceable-type ink-jet ink tank cartridge connected to an ink-jet head and storing the ink to be discharged from the ink-jet head, a method for manufacturing said tank, and a package container for the ink tank cartridge.
Also, the present invention relates to an ink-jet ink tank cartridge having a specific internal structure, and a manufacturing method thereof, as well as an ink-jet head using the ink tank cartridge, and a printer (recording apparatus). The present invention is applicable to recording apparatuses, communication equipments, business machines, composite apparatuses, and printers such as e.g., a copying machine or a facsimile apparatus, using an ink-jet technology.
In recent years, ink-jet recording apparatuses have been utilized for a great variety of applications, and there are uses for the output of high duty image of large size and graphics or photo grade, with increasing demands.
On one hand, there is rapidly increasing utilization for smaller or personalized output apparatuses, while having greater output frequency (use frequency), resulting in more and more increasing print volumes in those applications.
In any way, in the ink-jet print field, there is a tendency toward the larger size, higher duty, and higher use frequency, and due to increased ink consumption, there is increasing demand for the greater capacity of ink tank for the purposes of reducing the frequency of replacing the ink tank cartridge for use in the recording apparatus, and avoiding the damage of head filter. In particular, there is a demand to take not only a simple measure of increasing the size of ink tank cartridge, but also to create a larger capacity of ink tank for the recording apparatus for which the smaller and personalized constitution has been achieved, with the compatibility maintained, for which it has been contemplated that the size of tank cartridge is increased and the shape of tank is altered.
Herein, one form of the ink tank cartridge to increase the ink amount has been proposed in which a first storage chamber for containing the ink, and a second storage chamber for containing the ink, are formed, with a negative pressure generating member such as a sponge provided within the first storage chamber.
The first storage chamber having a negative pressure generating member is provided with an atmosphere communicating opening for communication with the atmosphere, in which an area around the atmosphere communicating opening within this first storage chamber is one where the negative pressure generating member does not hold the ink. Also, this first storage chamber is provided with an ink supply port for supplying the ink held within the negative pressure generating member to an ink-jet head of an ink-jet printing apparatus. The second storage chamber is in communication with the first storage chamber only via a fine communication channel provided at a position apart from the atmosphere communicating opening of the first storage chamber, and stores the ink in a substantially enclosed state. And when using an ink cartridge, the exchange of gas and liquid is made via the fine communication channel between the first and second storage chambers, so that the ink is refilled from the second storage chamber via the fine communication channel into the first storage chamber.
By the way, in the ink-jet printing apparatus, when a plurality of ink-jet heads are mounted on a carriage to reduce the number of line buffer memories, the distance between ink-jet heads is set to be smaller in a scan direction of the carriage in most cases, whereby there are necessarily limitations on the width of ink cartridge when the ink cartridge is mounted on the carriage. Hence, the ink capacity is increased in the height and depth directions of the ink cartridge. Also, to make the foot space of the ink-jet printing apparatus smaller, it is desirable that the ink capacity can be increased only by increasing the height of ink cartridge.
However, in an ink cartridge of the structure of holding the ink soaked within the negative pressure generating member, the water head applied on the ink-jet head is prone to rise in accordance to an increase in height, when the height of ink cartridge is increased, and to prevent this, if the density of negative pressure generating member is raised one-sidedly, the remaining ink amount not used within the ink cartridge increases, making it difficult to expect the effective increase of ink amount corresponding to the increased capacity.
Also, in making such ink tank cartridge of greater capacity, the following affairs may be apprehended.
(1) The air within the second storage chamber will expand due to changes in temperature or pressure when the ink within an ink cartridge is used partially, forcing the ink within the second storage chamber to be flowed into the first storage chamber. Then, it is impossible to expect that the negative pressure is generated by the negative pressure generating member within the first storage chamber, resulting in a positive pressure state. As a result, an adverse effect may be exerted on the formation of meniscus around the ink discharge orifices during the printing or recording or after a suction recovery operation. Herein, by the suction recovery operation is meant an operation of sucking and removing the thickened ink from the ink discharge orifices of ink-jet head.
(2) If the ink capacity is increased, the ink may swell out from the negative pressure generating member of the first storage chamber, mainly due to temperature change (particularly expanded ink volume at low temperatures) during the physical distribution of ink cartridges. Depending on the attitude of ink cartridge in the physical distribution, the ink may not return to the negative pressure generating member, when the temperature rises, accumulating around the atmosphere communicating opening, in which case the ink is more likely to leak and drip when the ink cartridge is unsealed. Also, it is apprehended that when the ink in the positive pressure state is supplied to the ink-jet head, an adverse effect may be exerted on the print performance such as recording.
(3) Even with a slight phenomenon of the above (2), in place of the ink forced from the second storage chamber into the first storage chamber, the air will be moved from the first storage chamber through the fine communication channel into the second storage chamber, by a corresponding amount of ink, whereby when the ink cartridge is unsealed after a rapid increase in temperature or a decrease in pressure, the ink forced from the second storage chamber into the first storage chamber due to expanded air can not be accepted by the negative pressure generating member, with a risk that the ink may exude outside via the atmosphere communicating opening. Also, when unsealing an ink supply port, a portion around the ink supply port within the first storage chamber is in positive pressure state, with a risk that the ink may also leak out of the ink supply port.
Also, if the ink tank cartridge is constructed in larger size (scale up), the negative pressure generating member is also increased in size, resulting in a greater distance from the ink storage chamber to the ink supply port. That is, the larger ink tank will have a greater distance from the communication channel to the supply port, and further be subjected to the influence from the uneven density accompanied by the larger size of the negative pressure generating member accommodated within the negative pressure generating member receiving portion, with a risk that the ink level is not stable, leading to an ink supply failure in worst cases.
Also, an non-ink region within the negative pressure generating member not containing the ink is intended to prevent the ink from leaking through the atmosphere communicating opening, when starting to use the ink tank, but this non-ink region occupies a large area with increasing size of the cartridge, thereby with a risk that the same problem of i
Ishinaga Hiroyuki
Kamiyama Yuji
Kaneko Hajime
Masuda Kazuaki
Blount Steven
Hughes S. Thomas
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