Liquid supplying and collecting apparatus
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsAtsushi Kobayashi, Shinya Yamagata, Kiyoshi Mukaiyama, Steven Chen, Juliet Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ink supplying and collecting apparatus includes a case, ink cartridges detachably attached to the case, and a collecting container detachably attached to the case. The ink cartridges supply ink to a recording head of a printer via ink supply tubes. The collecting container collects ink drained from the recording head via an ink drain tube. The case is located outside of and is separate from the printer. Thus, the sizes and shapes of the ink cartridges and the collecting container can be freely designed.
Claims7
A liquid supplying and collecting apparatus for a liquid ejection apparatus having an outer case and a liquid ejection head located in the outer case, the liquid supplying and collecting apparatus comprising:
- a unit main body:
- a liquid supplying member provided in the unit main body, the liquid supplying member retaining liquid and supplying the liquid to the liquid ejection head via a liquid supply tube;
- and
- a liquid collecting member provided in the unit main body, the liquid collecting member collecting liquid drained from the liquid ejection head via a liquid drain tube,
- wherein the unit main body is located outside of and is separate from the outer case,
- wherein the outer case and the unit main body are located on a tray such that the relative positions of the outer case and the unit main body are maintained by the tray, and sections of the liquid supply tube and the liquid drain tube extending between the liquid ejection apparatus and the unit main body are covered by a cover.
A liquid ejection system comprising:
- a liquid ejection apparatus having an outer case and a liquid ejection head located in the outer case;
- a liquid supplying and collecting apparatus having a unit main body;
- the unit main body being located outside and being separate from the outer case;
- a liquid supplying member provided in the unit main body, the liquid supplying member retaining liquid;
- a liquid supply tube extending between the liquid supplying member and the liquid ejection head, the liquid supplying member supplying liquid to the liquid ejection head via the liquid supply tube;
- a liquid collecting member removably provided in the unit main body;
- a liquid drain tube extending between the liquid collecting member and the liquid ejection head, the liquid collecting member collecting liquid drained from the liquid ejection head via the liquid drain tube;
- and
- a support on which the outer case and the unit main body are supported independently from each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.