Liquid injecting apparatus
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsYoshiharu Aruga, Toshio Kumagai, Hitoshi Matsumoto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided is a liquid injecting apparatus equipped with a liquid injecting head, which is mounted on a carriage and moved reciprocally in a widthwise direction of a target, and a valve unit, which is mounted on the carriage to be supplied with liquid via a supply passage from a liquid retainer and to supply liquid to the liquid injecting head. The valve unit has a pressure chamber connected to the liquid retainer via the supply passage; a valve, which opens or closes the supply passage to supply liquid to the pressure chamber; and a flexible film member, which is displaced based on a negative pressure generated as liquid in the pressure chamber decreases to thereby operate the valve.
Claims5
A liquid injecting apparatus equipped with a liquid injecting head for injecting liquid, a liquid storing member for containing liquid, a liquid supply passage for supplying the liquid in the liquid storing member to the injecting head, and a valve mechanism provided in the liquid supply passage, the valve mechanism comprising:
- a pressure chamber which is provided in the liquid supply passage;
- a valve, which selectively opens and closes the liquid supply passage to supply the liquid to the pressure chamber;
- a flexible film member, which forms part of an outer wall of the pressure chamber and detects a negative pressure generated in the pressure chamber as the liquid is consumed by the injecting and the valve operates;
- and
- a negative-pressure holding spring, which urges the flexible film member in a direction to expand a volume of the pressure chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.