Ink jet printer

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a print head that has at least one ink nozzle and performs printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head;
• an ink passage that is connected to the ink tank to supply ink from the ink tank;
• an air chamber that is connected to the ink passage and the print head to store air generated in the ink passage;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chamber from the ink nozzle;
• a wall that divides a lower portion of the air chamber into a first chamber at an ink tank side and a second chamber at a print ink head side in such a manner that the first and second chambers communicate at a upper portion of the air chamber;
• an ink hole that is disposed on the wall;
• and
• a valve member that opens the ink hole to pass the ink supplied from the ink passage there through when the print head performs printing and closes the ink hole to cut the ink flow when the purge device conducts the purging operation, wherein the air stored in the air chamber is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a print head that has at least one ink nozzle and performs printing to a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head;
• an ink passage that is connected to the ink tank to supply ink from the ink tank;
• an air chamber that is connected to the ink passage and the print head to store air generated in the ink passage;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chamber from the ink nozzle;
• and
• a wall member that divides a lower portion of the air chamber into a first chamber at an ink tank side and a second chamber at a print head side, wherein the lower portion of the air chamber has greater resistance to the ink flow than that of an upper portion of the air chamber, an inside wall of the top portion of the first chamber is in a taper shape to have a decreasing volume toward the top portion, the top portion connected to the second chamber, and the air is stored in the top portion of the air chamber when the print head performs printing and the air stored in the air chamber is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall member.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a print head that has at least one ink nozzle and performs printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head;
• an ink passage that is connected to the ink tank to supply ink from the ink tank;
• an air chamber that is connected to the ink passage and the print head to store air generated in the ink passage;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chamber from the ink nozzle;
• a wall member that divides a lower portion of the air chamber into a first chamber at an ink tank side and a second chamber at a print head side;
• and
• a permanent air chamber that stores a certain amount of air after the purge device operates the purging operation, wherein the lower portion of the air chamber has a greater resistance to the ink flow than that of an upper portion of the air chamber, and wherein the air is stored in the top portion of the air chamber when the print head performs printing and the air stored in the air chamber is discharged so as to keep the certain amount of air stored in the permanent air chamber when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall member.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a print head that has at least one ink nozzle and performs printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head;
• an ink passage that is connected to the ink tank to supply ink from the ink tank;
• an air chamber that is connected to the ink passage and the print head to store air generated in the ink passage;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chamber from the ink nozzle;
• and
• a permanent air chamber that stores a certain amount of air after the purge device operates the purging operation, wherein the permanent air chamber is located above the ink flow generated by the purge device, and the air is stored in the top portion of the air chamber when the ink head performs printing and the air stored in the air chamber is discharged so as to keep the certain amount of air stored in the permanent chamber when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall member.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a print head that has at least one ink nozzle and performs printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head;
• an ink passage that is connected to the ink tank to supply ink from the ink tank;
• an air chamber that is connected to the ink passage and the print head to store air generated in the ink passage;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chamber from the ink nozzle;
• a wall member that divides a lower portion of the air chamber into a first chamber at an ink tank side and a second chamber at the print head side;
• and
• a guide wall that divides the first chamber to create a third chamber but keeps the top portion of the first chamber open, wherein the lower portion of the air chamber has greater resistance to the ink flow than that of an upper portion of the air chamber, the air is stored in the top portion of the air chamber when the ink head performs printing and the air stored in the air chamber is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall member, and the guide wall guides pressure waves propagating from the ink passage to the top portion of the air chamber.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a plurality of print heads, each print head having at least one ink nozzle to perform printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• a plurality of ink tanks that store ink to be supplied to the print heads;
• a plurality of ink passages that are connected to respective ink tanks to supply ink from the ink tanks;
• a plurality of air chambers that are connected to the respective ink passages and respective print heads to store air generated in the respective ink passages;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chambers from the at least one ink nozzle of each print head;
• a wall member that divides a lower portion of each air chamber into a first chamber at an ink tank side and a second chamber at the print head side;
• and
• a connecting member that is provided with a plurality of a connecting ports, wherein the lower portion of the air chamber has greater resistance to the ink flow than an upper portion of the air chamber, the connecting ports of the connecting member are communicated with the respective ink passages, and the air is stored in the top portion of the air chamber when the ink head performs printing and the air stored in each air chamber is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall member.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a plurality of print heads, each print head having at least one ink nozzle to perform printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the at least one ink nozzle;
• a plurality of ink tanks that each stores an ink to be supplied to a respective print head of the plurality of print heads;
• a plurality of ink passages that are connected to respective ink tanks to supply ink from the respective ink tanks;
• a plurality of air chambers that are connected to respective ink passages and associated print heads to store air generated in the ink passages;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chambers from the at least one ink nozzle of each print head;
• and
• a connecting member that is provided with a plurality of a connecting ports, wherein the connecting ports of the connecting member are communicated with the respective ink passages, the air chambers are formed into one body, and the air is stored in the top portion of each air chamber when the ink heads perform printing and the air stored in the air chambers is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes over the wall member.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a plurality of print heads, each having at least one ink nozzle, to perform printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• a plurality of ink tanks, each ink tank storing an ink to be supplied to a print head of the plurality of print heads;
• a plurality of ink passages that are connected to respective ink tanks to supply ink from the ink tanks;
• a plurality of air chambers that are connected to respective ink passages and respective print heads to store air generated in the ink passages;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in each air chamber from the at least one ink nozzle of each print head;
• and
• a connecting member that is provided with a plurality of a connecting ports, wherein the connecting ports of the connecting member are communicated with the respective ink passages, and the air is stored in the top portion of each air chamber when the plurality of print heads perform printing and the air stored in the air chambers is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes faster than an ink flow generated when the print heads perform printing.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a plurality of print heads that have at least one ink nozzle each and perform printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the at least one ink nozzle;
• a plurality of ink tanks that store ink to be supplied to respective print heads;
• a plurality of ink passages that are connected to respective ink tanks to supply ink from the respective ink tanks;
• a plurality of air chambers that are connected to respective ink passages and respective print heads to store air generated in the respective ink passages;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in each air chamber from the at least one ink nozzle;
• and
• a connecting member that is provided with a plurality of a connecting ports, wherein the plurality of the air chambers are formed into one body, and the air is stored in the top portion of each air chamber when the plurality of print heads perform printing and the air stored in the air chambers is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes faster than an ink flow generated when the print heads perform printing.

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a print head that has at least one ink nozzle and performs printing on a recording medium by ejecting ink from the ink nozzle;
• an ink tank that stores ink to be supplied to the print head;
• an ink passage that is connected to the ink tank to supply ink from the ink tank;
• an air chamber that is connected to the ink passage and the print head to store air generated in the ink passage;
• a purge device that discharges the air stored in the air chamber from the ink nozzle;
• a first flexible wiring member that is connected with a driving element of the print head;
• a body on which the print head is mounted;
• a carriage on which the body is mounted that moves along the recording medium;
• a control circuit that controls the driving element of the print head;
• a second flexible wiring member that is connected with the first flexible wiring member and the control circuit;
• and
• an interface board that is connected with the first flexible wiring member and is placed substantially parallel to the body at a side of the air chamber opposite to the print head, wherein the interface board connects the first and second flexible wiring members, and the air is stored in the top portion of the air chamber when the ink head performs printing and the air stored in the air chamber is discharged when the purge device generates an ink flow that goes faster than an ink flow generated when the ink head performs printing.