Ink ejection apparatus comprising entrained air removal means
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsTakuro Isayama, Hiromichi Komai, Hiroshi Yamazaki, Tsutomu Sato
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Abstract
An air removal unit (36) is disposed in a conduit (35) leading from an ink reservoir (34) to an ink ejection head (37). The amount of entrained air in the ink in the head (37) is sensed, and a heater (39) connected to the removal unit (36) is energized to heat the ink and boost the air removal efficiency when the amount of entrained air is above a certain value. The air removal unit (36) includes a container (47) and partitions (51), (52) provided in the container (47) to define chambers. The ink flows upwardly and downwardly through the chambers and the entrained air rises into a collection chamber (54) from which it is vented to the atmosphere.
Claims11
An ink ejection apparatus including an ink reservoir, an ink ejection head and a conduit connecting the reservoir to the head, characterized by comprising:
- air rremoval means disposed in the conduit for removing entrained air from the ink;
- booster means connected to the removal means for increasing the air removing ability thereof;
- and
- sensor means for sensing an amount of entrained air in the ink in the head and producing a signal when the amount of entrained air exceeds a predetermined value, the booster means being energized by the signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.