Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-24
2003-10-28
Nghiem, Michael (Department: 2863)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06637872
ABSTRACT:
This application is based on Patent Application No. 2000-126598 filed Apr. 26, 2000 in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink tank, an ink jet recording head, an ink jet cartridge, and an ink jet recording apparatus.
The present invention is applicable to general print apparatuses as recording apparatuses, copiers, facsimile terminal equipment having a communication system, apparatuses such as word processors which have a print section, and industrial print apparatuses combined with various processing apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known serial-scan-based ink jet recording apparatuses comprise a carriage that is movable in a main scan direction, an ink jet recording head acting as recording means, and an ink tank acting as an ink container, both the ink jet recording head and the ink tank being replaceably mounted on the carriage. The recording head and the ink tank are connected together via an ink passage. In such a recording apparatus, an image can sequentially be recorded on a recorded medium such as recording paper by repeating a main scan of the carriage with the recording head and the ink tank mounted thereon and a subscan of the recorded medium.
On the other hand, a possible method of supplying an ink to the ink tank of the ink jet recording apparatus is, for example, to suck and supply the ink by pressurizing the ink to introduce negative pressure into the ink.
One configuration that can be used if the ink is sucked and supplied as described above will be described below as a method for supplying an ink to an ink tank a the recording head connected thereto.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, in, for example, a serial-scan-based ink jet recording apparatus, a storage ink tank
20
acting as a sub-ink tank has an ink jet recording head
20
a
(hereafter simply referred to as a “recording head”) capable of ejecting an ink for recording and is removably mounted on a carriage (not shown). The recording head
20
a
ejects the ink from the storage ink tank
20
through an ink ejecting port in a nozzle
44
based on image information. Further, the storage ink tank
20
has an ink supplying port
20
f
for supplying the ink from the storage ink tank
20
to the recording head
20
a
. The nozzle
44
in the recording head
20
a
includes an ejection energy generating means for generating energy required to eject the ink. The ejection energy generating means may comprise an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy. The carriage is moved by an appropriate movement mechanism in the main scan direction shown by arrows
28
and
35
. Further, recorded media are conveyed in a subscan direction crossing the main scan direction.
In such a recording apparatus, an image can sequentially be recorded on the recorded medium by repeating a main scan of the carriage with the recording head
20
a
and the storage ink tank
20
mounted thereon and a subscan of the recorded medium.
The storage ink tank
20
has a suction port
53
and an ink intake port
20
b
formed in a side thereof. The suction port
53
is in communication with the interior of the storage ink tank
20
via a suction passage
53
a
, and a gas transmitting member
48
is provided at the site of the opening of the suction passage
53
a
in the storage ink tank
20
. The gas transmitting member
48
has, as a gas-liquid separating means, a function of transmitting gases therethrough while not transmitting inks therethrough. For example, the gas transmitting member
48
preferably comprise a thin sheet formed of an ethylene tetrafluorice resin, a similar porous resin material, or the like. Additionally, the storage ink tank
20
has an ink absorber
41
a
accommodated therein, for sucking and holding the ink.
The storage ink tank
20
includes a filter
103
and a valve
104
in the supplying port
20
f
. The valve
104
is shaped like a seat and has its proximal end welded to the filter
103
. The valve
104
functions to open and close the supplying port
20
f
depending on the internal pressure of the storage ink tank
20
.
Further, a main tank
22
of the recording apparatus main body is disposed via a tube
21
a
with a supplying joint
101
, so as to be connectable to the ink intake port
20
b
in the storage ink tank
20
. The joint
101
and a joint
102
are disposed in the recording apparatus main body so as to lie opposite to the ink intake port
20
b
and the suction port
53
in the scan direction
35
of the carriage.
During a recording operation, the valve
104
is open and the ink is supplied from the storage ink tank
20
to the recording head
20
a
, as shown in FIG.
9
.
FIGS. 10
to
14
are views useful in explaining an operation of refilling the above described ink tank with the ink.
In ink refilling, the carriage is first moved in the direction of the arrow
28
to connect the ink intake port
20
b
and the suction port
53
to the corresponding joints
101
and
102
, as shown in FIG.
10
. Subsequently, the suction pump
31
performs a suction operation to suck air from the storage ink tank
20
via the gas transmitting member
48
to set the interior of the storage ink tank
20
at negative pressure. The negative pressure in the storage ink tank
20
causes the ink in the main tank
22
to be sucked to the interior of the storage ink tank
20
as shown in
FIGS. 11 and 12
.
In this case, the negative pressure in the storage ink tank
20
causes the valve
104
to operate in such a way as to close the supplying port
20
f
, as shown in
FIGS. 11 and 12
. Accordingly, the ink in the recording head
20
a
is not sucked to the interior of the storage ink tank
20
, and ink meniscus formed at the ink ejecting port in the recording head
20
a
is not destroyed. Further, air does not enter the recording head
20
a
or the storage ink tank
20
through the ink ejecting port. This ensures that the ink is sucked from the main tank
22
and supplied to the interior of the storage ink tank
20
.
Then, as shown in
FIG. 13
, when the level
41
b
of the ink in the storage ink tank
20
reaches the gas transmitting member
48
, the ink refilling is automatically stopped because the gas transmitting member
48
does not transmit liquids such as inks therethrough. Subsequently, as shown in
FIG. 14
, the carriage moves in the direction of the arrow
35
to separate the ink intake port
20
b
and the suction port
53
from the corresponding joints
101
and
102
, thereby completing the series of refilling operations.
The above-described conventional ink tank, however, has the following problems:
That is, as described above, when the level
41
b
of the ink in the storage ink tank
20
reaches the gas transmitting member
48
, the ink refilling is automatically stopped because the gas transmitting member
48
does not transmit liquids such as inks therethrough. For a certain gas transmitting member
48
, exerting a certain amount or more of negative pressure may destroy the gas transmitting member
48
to eliminate its inherent function of separating a gas and a liquid from each other, thus causing the ink, a liquid, to be also sucked. Consequently, a large amount of ink may be sucked from the storage ink tank
20
to waste the ink, the ink may flow into the suction pump
31
to destroy it, or a waste ink may contaminate the recording apparatus.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an ink tank, an ink jet recording head, an ink jet cartridge, and an ink jet recording apparatus which are durable enough to allow the ink tank to be refilled many times and which prevent the original gas-liquid separating function of a gas transmitting member as a gas-liquid separating means from being destroyed due to excessive negative pressure exerted on the gas transmitting means as described above, thereby achieving an appropriate ink refilling operation and a reliable ink sucking and supplying operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To attain the above object, the present invention p
Ara Yohji
Asaki Noriyasu
Fukazawa Hideo
Hayashi Hiroki
Hirano Hirofumi
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Nghiem Michael
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