Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-05
2001-07-31
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
C347S085000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267474
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention a
The present invention relates generally to an ink-jet recording device for printing on a large-sized recording medium using an ink-jet recording head, and more specifically to an ink feeder.
2. Description of the Related Art
For an ink-jet recording device which prints in large quantity having a recording head to which ink is supplied from an ink supply source and which is reciprocated in the direction of the width of recording paper to print in the ink-jet recording device, a method of installing the ink supply source in the body and supplying ink to the recording head via a tube is adopted.
If bubbles are included in ink, pressure applied to ink is deteriorated and the performance of jetting an ink droplet is also deteriorated. Therefore, ink is sufficiently degassed in a factory and is housed in an ink cartridge or in an ink bag, and they are packed in a sealed container for shipping.
In an ink-jet recording device which prints on a large-sized recording medium, as a large quantity of ink is consumed in printing, an ink cartridge in which a flexible ink bag in which degassed ink is sealed and an ink end detecting plate based upon which an ink end detector is operated to detect a state near to the shortage of ink or a state in which ink is short are housed in a case and used for ink supply means.
The ink bag is composed of an aluminum laminated film obtained by putting aluminum foil as an intermediate layer between two films, for example an outside nylon film and an inside polyethylene film to function as a barrier to gas and functions as a bag flexibly deformed according to the quantity of ink without losing sealing performance.
However, as sufficient strength is required for a bag and a tank composing an ink reservoir in case when the quantity of ink is increased and the capacity of the bag is remarkably increased, there is a problem that the rigidity of the ink bag is increased, which makes it difficult to smoothly supply ink to a recording head. As a result, the maximum capacity is limited to approximately 500 cc and a frequent supply of ink is required in a large-sized ink-jet recording device.
To solve such a problem, a method of pumping up ink in a subtank, wherein a part of a surface thereof is composed of a flexible film, as disclosed in Japanese published unexamined patent application No. Hei9-234886, for example, and supplying ink to a recording head from the subtank is conceivable. However, there is a problem that the structure of the subtank is complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made in view of these conditions and the object is to provide an ink-jet recording device provided with a subtank which can stably supply ink to a recording head which consumes ink in large quantity without complicating the structure.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an ink filling method suitable for the above ink-jet recording device.
A third object of the present invention is to provide an ink supply method suitable for the above ink-jet recording device.
To achieve such objects, in the present invention, in an ink-jet recording device wherein a recording head for jetting an ink droplet corresponding to a printing signal is mounted on a carriage and ink is supplied from an ink reservoir to the recording head via an ink supply tube, a subtank composed of a flexible ink bag provided with an ink inlet on one side and an ink outlet on the other side is connected on the way of a passage connecting the ink reservoir and the recording head.
As ink in an ink reservoir is poured into a flexible bag and ink is supplied from the flexible bag to a recording head, performance equal to that of a case in which ink is supplied from a flexible ink bag with small capacity to a recording head can be achieved.
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Le N.
Seiko Epson Corporation
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Vo Anh T. N.
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