US 7,407,241 B2Granted

Ink-jet head device, ink-jet device, and ink-supplying method of ink-jet head device

AssigneeSharp Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsYoshinori Mutoh, Kaoru Higuchi

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Abstract

In an ink-jet head device, a main tank, a sub tank and an ink-jet head are mounted in this order in a carriage, with the main tank placed at the top. The main tank, sub tank and ink-jet head are connected to one another by a three-way ink conduit. At a junction of the ink conduit is disposed a three-way switching valve, which selectively switch a path connecting the sub tank to the main tank and a path connecting the sub tank to the ink-jet head, without causing the ink-jet head and the main tank to communicate with each other. As a result, an ink-jet head device and an ink-supplying method are realized, in which the ink-jet head can maintain suitable negative pressure and in which consumption of ink is reduced.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An ink-jet head device comprising:

an ink-jet head for jetting ink;
a sub-tank for reserving ink to be supplied to the ink-jet head;
a main tank for reserving ink to refill the sub-tank;
a movable carriage, including the ink-jet head;
and
a negative pressure generating unit connected to the sub-tank for generating negative pressure inside the sub-tank relative to the ink jet head;
a three-way flow path that connects the sub tank, the main tank, and the ink-jet head to one another, such that the sub tank is located above the ink-jet head and the main tank is located above the sub tank;
a flow path switching unit, disposed at a junction of the three-way flow path, for selectively switching a flow path connecting the sub tank to the main tank and a flow path connecting the sub tank to the ink-jet head, without causing the ink-jet head and the main tank to communicate with each other;
and
a flow path controller for controlling the flow path switching unit.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.