Needle and method of manufacturing thereof

#This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-202046, filed on Jul. 11, 2005, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a tubular needle and a method of manufacturing the needle. For example, the needle according to the present invention can be utilized for communicating inside to outside of a liquid housing body by penetrating an elastic body which blocks an opening of the liquid housing body. For example, the needle according to the present invention can be utilized for penetrating an elastic body which blocks an opening of an ink cartridge.

#FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an ink jet printer of an embodiment.

#FIG. 2 shows a part of a needle.

#FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of a III-III line in FIG. 2.

#FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an ink jet printer 1. The ink jet printer 1 has an ink jet head 2, a carriage 5, a conveyance mechanism 6 and a purge device 7. The ink jet head 2 has a nozzle 2a for discharging ink toward a recording sheet P. The carriage 5 transfers the ink jet head 2 in a direction which is perpendicular to a sheet of FIG. 1. The conveyance mechanism 6 conveys the recording sheet P in the horizontal direction in FIG. 1. The purge device 7 sucks air and high viscous ink in the ink jet head 2.

#The ink jet printer 1 has a space 18 for housing an ink cartridge 20. The ink cartridge 20 is disposed in the space 18. The ink cartridge 20 can be attached to or removed from the ink jet printer 1. The ink cartridge 20 stores the ink therein.

#The ink jet printer 1 has a needle 51 and a tube 15. The needle 51 is disposed at a position facing to the space 18. One end of the tube 15 is connected to the needle 51. The other end of the tube 15 is connected to the ink jet head 2. The ink cartridge 20 is in fluid communication with the ink jet head 2 through the needle 51 and the tube 15. The ink in the ink cartridge 20 is supplied to the ink jet head 2 via the needle 51 and the tube 15.