Ink jet system and method for removing air bubbles inside of an ink jet nozzle
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorsNaoaki Sakurai, Tsuyoshi Sato, Hiroyasu Kondo
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Abstract
An ink jet system according to the present invention is provided with an air bubble removing unit including: an ink jet body having a plurality of ink supply path; a nozzle plate connected to an end of the ink jet body and having a plurality of spaced nozzle holes therein; and a cap configured to cover the nozzle holes formed in the nozzle plate wherein a first ink channel space is formed continuous to the nozzle holes and the plurality of ink supply path, and a second ink channel space is formed between a recess of the cap and a surface of the nozzle plate, so that the second ink channel space and the first ink channel space are continuous through the nozzle holes.
Claims9
An ink jet system comprising:
- an air bubble removing unit including:
- an ink jet body having a plurality of ink supply paths;
- a nozzle plate connected to an end of the ink jet body and having a plurality of spaced nozzle holes therein;
- and
- a cap configured to cover the nozzle holes formed in the nozzle plate;
- wherein a first ink channel space is formed continuous to the nozzle holes and the plurality of ink supply paths, and
- a second ink channel space is formed between a recess of the cap and a surface of the nozzle plate, so that the second ink channel space and the first ink channel space are continuous through the nozzle holes,
- the air bubble removing unit further includes a plunger pump connected to the first ink channel space and configured to remove the air bubbles still remaining in the ink after reducing the number of air bubbles.
A method for removing air bubbles in an ink jet comprising an ink jet body having a plurality of ink supply paths and a nozzle plate connected to an end of the ink jet body and having a plurality of spaced nozzle holes therein, a first ink channel space is formed continuous to the nozzle holes and a second ink channel space is formed between a recess of a cap covering the nozzle plate and a surface of the nozzle plate, the second ink channel space and the first ink channel space are continuous through the nozzle holes;
- the method comprising:
- filling ink into the first ink channel space and the second ink channel space;
- applying a pressure to the ink, so as to dissolve air bubbles in the ink in accordance with Henry's law;
- and
- after applying the pressure to the ink, moderately decreasing the pressure from about 1 KPa/min. to about 100 KPa/min.;
- and
- detaching the cap when the pressure is 98 KPa or less.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.