Sealing member, sealing mechanism, liquid ejection apparatus and method of manufacturing sealing mechanism
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorSoji Kondo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sealing member, that is a resin molded product to be joined to a flow path forming member through which a fluid flows, has a surface including an opening constituting or including a portion of the flow path, a protrusion surrounding the circumference of the opening and a rib having one of its opposite ends connected to a part of the protrusion and the other end located inside or outside of the protrusion. The protrusion has at the top thereof a contact region to be pressed against and held in contact with the flow path forming member.
Claims20
A sealing member, being a resin molded product, to be joined to a flow path forming member for forming a flow path through which a fluid flows, the sealing member having a surface comprising:
- an opening constituting or including a portion of the flow path;
- a protrusion surrounding the circumference of the opening;
- and
- a rib having one of its opposite ends connected to a part of the protrusion and the other end located inside or outside of the protrusion,
- the protrusion having at the top thereof a contact region to be pressed against and held in contact with the flow path forming member.
A sealing mechanism comprising:
- a plurality of flow path forming members joined together and forming a flow path through which a fluid flows;
- and
- a sealing member joined to the flow path forming members,
- either at least one of the flow path forming members or the sealing member being a resin molded product having a surface comprising:
- an opening constituting or including a portion of the flow path;
- a protrusion surrounding the circumference of the opening;
- and
- a rib having one of its opposite ends connected to a part of the protrusion and the other end located inside or outside of the protrusion,
- the protrusion having at the top thereof a contact region pressed against and held in contact with the counterpart member joined to the member that is either at least one of the flow path forming members or the sealing member.
A liquid ejection apparatus comprising:
- a flow path through which a liquid flows, the flow path comprising flow path forming members joined together and a sealing member joined to the flow path forming members, the sealing member being a resin molded product and having a surface comprising:
- an opening constituting or including a portion of the flow path;
- a protrusion surrounding the circumference of the opening;
- and
- a rib having one of its opposite ends connected to a part of the protrusion and the other end located inside or outside of the protrusion,
- wherein the protrusion has at the top thereof a contact region pressed against and held in contact with the counterpart flow path forming member;
- a tank for storing the liquid;
- and
- a liquid ejection head for ejecting the liquid;
- wherein the sealing member is located between the tank and the liquid ejection head, and
- wherein the liquid flows through the flow path between the tank and the liquid ejection head.
A method of manufacturing a sealing mechanism including a plurality of flow path forming members joined together and forming a flow path through which a fluid flows and a sealing member joined to the flow path forming members, the method comprising molding either at least one of the flow path forming members or the sealing member by injecting a resin material into a cavity, wherein at the time of injecting the resin material:
- an opening constituting or including a portion of the flow path is formed by means of a pin arranged in the cavity;
- a protrusion surrounding the circumference of the opening is formed by means of a recess for forming a protrusion arranged around the pin;
- a rib having one of its opposite ends connected to a part of the protrusion and the other end located inside or outside of the protrusion is formed by means of a recess for forming a rib, the recess for forming a rib being connected to the recess for forming a protrusion;
- and
- gas remaining in the cavity moves from the recess for forming a protrusion to the recess for forming a rib as the recess for forming a protrusion is filled with the resin material injected into the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.