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US 10,377,144 B2Granted
Ink supply system and inkjet printer
AssigneeRoland Dg Corporation
InventorsNaoki Ueda, Yoshitaka Hatano, Kenji Seki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an ink supply system, an ink tank is connected with an inlet flow channel that is connected with a connection flow channel that is connected with an upstream flow channel, and the upstream flow channel is connected with an ink head. The ink head and the connection flow channel are connected with each other by a downstream flow channel. An upstream pump and an upstream damper are provided in the upstream flow channel, and a downstream pump and a downstream damper are provided in the downstream flow channel. A controller controls the upstream pump and the downstream pump.
Claims10
An ink supply system, comprising:
- an ink tank to store ink;
- an ink head to eject the ink toward a recording medium;
- an inlet flow channel including an end connected with the ink tank;
- an upstream flow channel connected with the ink head to allow the ink to flow into the ink head;
- a connection flow channel that connects the inlet flow channel and the upstream flow channel to each other;
- a downstream flow channel including a first end connected with the ink head and a second end connected with the connection flow channel;
- an upstream pump provided in the upstream flow channel to supply the ink to the ink head;
- a downstream pump provided in the downstream flow channel to allow the ink in the ink head to flow out;
- an upstream damper provided in the upstream flow channel at a position closer to the ink head than the upstream pump;
- a downstream damper provided in the downstream flow channel at a position closer to the ink head than the downstream pump;
- an air trap provided in the connection flow channel, the air trap including an air storage portion to store air in the ink and a discharge mechanism to discharge the air stored in the air storage portion to an exhaust liquid tank;
- and
- a controller to control the upstream pump and the downstream pump;
- wherein
- the upstream damper and the downstream damper each include:
- an ink storage chamber to store the ink;
- a damper film provided on the ink storage chamber so as to be deformable inward and outward with respect to the ink storage chamber based on an amount of the ink stored in the ink storage chamber;
- and
- a spring located in the ink storage chamber to provide the damper film with an elastic force.
16 more elements
An ink supply system, comprising:
- an ink tank to store ink;
- an ink head to eject the ink toward a recording medium;
- an inlet flow channel including an end connected with the ink tank;
- an inlet valve provided in the inlet flow channel and being o enable and closable;
- an upstream flow channel connected with the ink head to allow the ink to flow into the ink head;
- a connection flow channel that connects the inlet flow channel and the upstream flow channel to each other;
- a downstream flow channel including a first end connected with the ink head and a second end connected with the connection flow channel;
- an upstream pump provided in the upstream flow channel to supply the ink to the ink head;
- a downstream pump provided in the downstream flow channel to allow the ink in the ink head to flow out;
- an upstream damper provided in the upstream flow channel at a position closer to the ink head than the upstream pump;
- a downstream damper provided in the downstream flow channel at a position closer to the ink head than the downstream pump;
- an outlet flow channel including a first end connected with the connection flow channel and a second end connected with the exhaust liquid tank;
- and
- an outlet valve provided in the outlet flow channel and being openable and closable
- a controller to control the upstream pump and the downstream pump;
- wherein
- the upstream damper and the downstream damper each includes:
- an ink storage chamber to store the ink;
- a damper film provided on the ink storage chamber so as to be deformable inward and outward with respect to the ink storage chamber based on an amount of the ink stored in the ink storage chamber;
- and
- a spring located in the ink storage chamber to provide the damper film with an elastic force;
- and
- the controller includes a printing control processor to execute control in a printing state such that the inlet valve is opened and the upstream pump and the downstream pump are driven.
20 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.