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US 9,855,760 B2Granted
Liquid ejecting apparatus and pressure-regulating device
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsMasahiko Sato, Hitotoshi Kimura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid inflow unit provided in the liquid supply path which supplies a liquid to a liquid ejecting unit and into which the liquid flows, a liquid accommodation unit having a diaphragm section, a communication path through which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part communicate, and a pressure-regulating mechanism having an on-off valve which opens and closes the communication path in response to displacement of the diaphragm portion, and a pressing mechanism which puts the on-off valve in an open state regardless of the pressure in the liquid inflow unit by pressing the diaphragm portion.
Claims10
A liquid ejecting apparatus, comprising:
- a liquid supply path which is able to supply a liquid from a liquid supply source to a liquid ejecting unit which ejects the liquid from a nozzle;
- a pressure-regulating mechanism provided in the liquid supply path, the pressure regulating mechanism including
- a liquid inflow part into which the liquid supplied from the liquid supply source flows,
- a liquid accommodation part which is able to accommodate the liquid in the interior thereof, and for which the volume of the interior changes by displacing a diaphragm portion;
- a communication path through which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part communicate, and
- an on-off valve which enters an open state in which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part communicate from a closed state in which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part in the communication path do not communicate, when a pressure applied to a first surface which is an inner surface of the liquid accommodation part of the diaphragm portion is lower than the pressure applied to a second surface which is an outer surface of the liquid accommodation part of the diaphragm portion, and a difference between the pressure applied to the first surface and the pressure applied to the second surface is a predetermined value or more;
- and
- a pressing mechanism which is provided to be able to press the diaphragm portion in a direction in which the volume of the liquid accommodation part is reduced, and which puts the on-off valve in an open state regardless of the pressure in the interior of the liquid inflow part by pressing the diaphragm portion,
- wherein the pressing mechanism includes a pressure regulator which is able to regulate a pressure within a pressure-regulating chamber formed on the second surface side of the diaphragm portion.
6 more elements
A pressure-regulating device, comprising:
- a pressure-regulating mechanism provided in a liquid supply path which is able to supply a liquid from a liquid supply source to a liquid ejecting unit which ejects the liquid from a nozzle, the pressure-regulating mechanism including
- a liquid inflow part into which the liquid supplied from the liquid supply source flows,
- a liquid accommodation part which is able to accommodate the liquid in the interior thereof, and for which the volume of the interior changes by displacing a diaphragm portion;
- a communication path through which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part communicate, and
- an on-off valve which enters an open state in which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part communicate from a closed state in which the liquid inflow part and the liquid accommodation part in the communication path do not communicate, when a pressure applied to a first surface which is an inner surface of the liquid accommodation part of the diaphragm portion is lower than the pressure applied to a second surface which is an outer surface of the liquid accommodation part of the diaphragm portion, and a difference between the pressure applied to the first surface and the pressure applied to the second surface is a predetermined value or more;
- and
- a pressing mechanism which is provided to be able to press the diaphragm portion in a direction in which the volume of the liquid accommodation part is reduced, and which puts the on-off valve in an open state regardless of the pressure in the interior of the liquid inflow part by pressing the diaphragm portion,
- wherein the pressing mechanism includes a pressure regulator which is able to regulate a pressure within a pressure-regulating chamber formed on the second surface side of the diaphragm portion.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.