Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser – Synthetic resins – Cellular products or processes of preparing a cellular...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-02
2002-01-08
Seidleck, James J. (Department: 1711)
Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser
Synthetic resins
Cellular products or processes of preparing a cellular...
C521S170000, C521S125000, C521S918000, C347S031000, C347S087000, C428S310500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06337354
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink wastage absorber and an ink supporter capable of improving the absorptivity for pigment ink or dye ink.
In recent years, along with the widespread use of personal computers, various kinds of printers have been available. The printing mechanism of these printers has been recently shifted from the wire-dot mode or ink-ribbon mode to the laser mode or ink-jet mode. In particular, the ink-jet mode lower in cost than the laser mode has been widely used. Dye ink has been generally used for the ink-jet type printer; however, along with the recent trend toward color printing, pigment ink has come to be used.
In the ink-jet type printer, excess ink which is accumulated in the printer by cleaning a printer head may flow therefrom and contaminate a portion near the printer head. To cope with such an inconvenience, an ink absorbing member for absorbing excess ink is laid at a portion corresponding to the printer head.
The ink absorbing has been initially made from non-woven fabric of pulps or fibers; however, since it has presented a problem associated with scattering of fibers due to fuzzing, a flexible polyurethane foam has recently come to be widely used. Along with the shifting from dye ink to pigment ink, attempts have been made to improve the ink absorptivity of the flexible polyurethane foam. In particular, since pigment ink is used in a state in which fine particles of, for example, a carbon as a pigment are dispersed in a solvent, it is different in ink absorptivity from dye ink. And, the conventional ink absorbing member may be clogged with particles of carbon or the like, thereby failing to sufficiently achieve the absorbing ability thereof.
Further, along with the demand toward the miniaturization and lightweightness of a printer, it becomes difficult to lay the ink absorbing member at a position being directly in correspondence with a printer head. To solve such a problem, there is adopted a method of laying the ink absorbing member at a position slightly separated from a printer head, and connecting the ink absorbing member to the printer head by means of an ink permeation member having a good ink absorptivity. In view of the foregoing, it is expected to provide an ink wastage absorber used as an ink permeation member or an ink absorbing member, which is further improved in its performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink wastage absorber having a good ability of absorbing dye ink or pigment ink, and a production process thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink supporter including an ink permeation member and an ink absorbing member.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink wastage absorber made from a flexible polyurethane foam having an air-permeability of 1.0 cc/cm
2
/sec or more.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink wastage absorber having a good ink absorptivity, which is made from a flexible polyurethane foam produced by using a foamable raw material for flexible polyurethane foam containing a polyol, an isocyanate, a catalyst, and a foaming agent, wherein the flexible polyurethane foam is impregnated with a surface active agent. The surface active agent is preferably sodium succinate.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process of producing an ink wastage absorber having a good ink absorptivity, which includes the steps of: preparing a flexible polyurethane foam by using a foamable raw material for flexible polyurethane foam containing a polyol, an isocyanate, a catalyst, and a foaming agent, and compressing the flexible polyurethane foam as needed; dipping the flexible polyurethane foam or the compressed foam in water in which a surface active agent is dispersed; and squeezing water from the flexible polyurethane foam thus treated and then drying the flexible polyurethane foam, to make the surface active agent adhere on the surface of the flexible polyurethane foam.
The ink wastage absorber can be applied to any one of the ink permeation member or the ink absorbing member provided at a portion corresponding to a printer head, or the ink absorbing member being in contact with the ink permeation member.
The ink wastage absorber of the present invention has a good ink (particularly, pigment ink) absorptivity, which is equal to or more than that of the existing ink absorbing member made from pulps or felts. The ink absorbing member made from pulps or felts is intended to improve the ink absorptivity by making use of the pillar phenomenon; however, if such an ink absorbing member is used for absorption of pigment ink, it may be clogged with particles of, for example, carbon as a pigment component, with a result that the absorbing ability of the member be significantly degraded.
To cope with such an inconvenience, the ink absorbing member is required to have an ability of readily absorbing and supporting pigment ink, and further the ink permeation member as a bridging member to the ink absorbing member must be smaller in pillar effect than the ink absorbing member for preventing the occurrence of clogging of ink upon drying (upon no use of the member) or a failure in absorption. In view of the foregoing, the ink wastage absorber of the present invention is intended to improve the absorptivity for pigment ink by impregnating a surface active agent in the main body of the ink wastage absorber.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink supporter including: an ink permeation member provided at a portion corresponding to a printer head, the ink permeation member being obtained by producing a flexible polyurethane foam by using a foamable raw material for flexible polyurethane foam containing a polyol, an isocyanate, a catalyst, and a foaming agent, and making the flexible polyurethane foam contain a surface active agent; and an ink absorbing member being in contact with the ink permeation member, the ink absorbing member being obtained by producing a flexible polyurethane foam by using a foamable raw material containing a polyol, an isocyanate, a catalyst, and a foaming agent, and thermally compressing the flexible polyurethane foam at a compression magnification of 2 to 20 times by a hot press. The ink absorbing member preferably contains a surface active agent.
The ink supporter having the above configuration exhibits a feature capable of readily absorbing and supporting ink, particularly, pigment ink. To be more specific, if the ink permeation member provided at a portion corresponding to a printer head is formed of an absorbing member having a good ink absorptivity due to the capillary phenomenon, which is obtained by hot-pressing a flexible polyurethane foam, such an ink permeation member may be clogged with particles of, for example, carbon as a pigment component, with a result that absorbing ability be significantly degraded.
Accordingly, the ink permeation member requires the ability of readily absorbing and supporting pigment ink, and also it must be lower in capillary effect than the ink absorbing member as a main body for preventing the occurrence of clogging of ink upon drying (upon no use of the member) and a failure in absorption. For this reason, according to the present invention, the flexible polyurethane foam for forming the ink permeation member is impregnated with a surface active agent for improving the absorptivity for pigment ink.
On the other hand, the ink absorbing member is thermally compressed, and is preferably made to contain a surface active agent, to thereby ensure a good ink absorptivity as well as a good ink supporting ability.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention provides an ink supporter including an ink permeation member provided at a portion corresponding to a printer head and an ink absorbing member being in contact with the ink permeation member, wherein ink which has flowed out
Katsumata Yoshihiro
Kinoshita Hideya
Bagwell Melanie
Bridgestone Corporation
Seidleck James J.
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