Source: http://www.google.fr/patents/US7178912
Timestamp: 2013-06-20 06:44:05
Document Index: 130429876

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n7', 'art.\n8', 'art.\n15', 'art.\n16', 'art.\n24', 'art.\n25']

Brevet US7178912 - Liquid jet apparatus using a fine particle dispersion liquid composition - Google�BrevetsRecherche Images Maps Play YouTube Actualit�s Gmail Drive Plus » Recherche avanc�e dans les brevets | Historique Web | Connexion Recherche avanc�e dans les brevets BrevetsIn an apparatus producing a high-quality and high-resolution image having high water and light resistances with an orifice having a diameter less than φ25 μm (less than 500 μm2 in terms of cross-sectional area of the orifice) by use of a fine particle dispersion recording composition, nozzle clogging...http://www.google.fr/patents/US7178912?utm_source=gb-gplus-shareBrevet US7178912 - Liquid jet apparatus using a fine particle dispersion liquid composition Num�ro de publicationUS7178912 B2Type de publicationOctroi Num�ro de demande11/407,488 Date de publication20 f�vr. 2007 Date de d�p�t20 avr. 2006 Date de priorit�21 juil. 1998Autre r�f�rence de publicationUS6338545, US6554401, US6598959, US6871940, US7063415, US7578575, US7578577, US20020057310, US20020071001, US20020075353, US20030179263, US20050088487, US20060187286, US20070109379 Num�ro de publication11407488, 407488, US 7178912 B2, US 7178912B2, US-B2-7178912, US7178912 B2, US7178912B2 InventeursTakuro Sekiya Cessionnaire d'origineRicoh Company, Ltd.Citations de brevets (39), Classifications (18) Liens externes: USPTO, Cession USPTO, EspacenetLiquid jet apparatus using a fine particle dispersion liquid compositionUS 7178912 B2 R�sum� In an apparatus producing a high-quality and high-resolution image having high water and light resistances with an orifice having a diameter less than φ25 μm (less than 500 μm2 in terms of cross-sectional area of the orifice) by use of a fine particle dispersion recording composition, nozzle clogging can be prevented. A recording is accomplished by a liquid jet recording apparatus for ejecting a recording composition including dispersed fine particles from a small orifice toward a receiving medium, wherein a size Dp of the fine particles and a diameter D0 of the small orifice are determined by a relationship 0.001≦Dp/D0≦0.01.
1. An inkjet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium so as to cause the ink to be attached on the receiving medium, the ink containing pigments dispersed therein,
wherein the orifice has a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, and
each of the pigments has a size Dp equal to or larger than 0.03 μm so that the pigments are dispersed in a stable state, and the size Dp, is determined by a relationship Dp/D0≦0.01 so as to prevent clogging of the orifice, wherein D0 represents a diameter of the orifice.
2. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
3. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein die ink is attached on the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium.
4. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ink comprises a plurality of liquids, each of the liquids including the dispersed pigments corresponding to the respective liquid, the liquid being ejectable from the orifice corresponding to the liquid.
5. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a plurality of heads which eject the plurality of liquids and form a head unit.
6. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 5, wherein the head unit includes a nozzle pan and an ink reservoir part integrally formed with the nozzle part.
7. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 5, wherein the head unit includes a nozzle pan and an ink reservoir part separable from the nozzle part.
8. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 7, wherein the ink reservoir part is separable according to a kind of the ink.
9. An inkjet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium so as to cause the ink to be attached on the receiving medium, the ink containing pigments dispersed therein, wherein:
the orifice has a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2;
a content of the pigments in the ink is in the range from 2 to 10% by weight and a solid content of the ink including the pigments is less than 15% by weight; and
each of the pigments has a size Dp equal to or larger than 0.03 μm so that the pigments are dispersed in a stable state, and the size Dp is determined by a relationship Dp/D0≦0.01 so as to prevent clogging of the orifice, wherein D0represents a diameter of the orifice.
10. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 9, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
11. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 9, wherein the ink is attached on the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium.
12. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 9, wherein the ink comprises a plurality of liquids, each of the liquids including the dispersed pigments corresponding to the respective liquid, the liquid being ejectable from the orifice corresponding to the liquid.
13. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of heads which eject the plurality of liquids and form a head unit.
14. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 13, wherein the head unit includes a nozzle part and an ink reservoir part integrally formed with the nozzle part.
15. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 13, wherein the head unit includes a nozzle part and an ink reservoir part separable from the nozzle part.
16. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 15, wherein the ink reservoir part is separable according to a kind of the ink.
17. An inkjet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium on demand so as to cause the ink to be attached on the receiving, medium, pigments having a size Dp being dispersed in the ink, the at least one orifice being a tip of a passageway, wherein:
the orifice has a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2; and
wherein t is a length of the at least one orifice having a uniform cross-sectional area at an outlet portion.
18. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 17, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
19. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 17, wherein the ink is attached on the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium.
20. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a nozzle plate having at least one second orifice communicating with at least one passageway.
21. The ink,jet recording apparatus of claim 17, wherein a distance between the at least one orifice and a surface of the receiving medium is equal to or less than 100 t, and the ink is ejected from the at least one orifice in a direction of gravity approximately.
22. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a plurality of heads which eject a plurality of liquids and form a head unit.
23. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 22, wherein the head unit includes a nozzle pan and an ink reservoir part integrally formed with the nozzle part.
24. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 22, wherein the head unit includes a nozzle pan and an ink reservoir part separable from the nozzle part.
25. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 24, wherein the ink reservoir part is separable according to a kind of the ink.
26. Ink used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects the ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached to the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the orifice having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
the ink is formed by dispersing pigments into a liquid; and
each of the pigments has a size Dp equal to or larger than 0.03 μm so that the pigments are dispersed in a stable stare, and the size Dp is determined by a relationship Dp/D0≦0.01 so as to prevent clogging of the orifice, wherein Do represents a diameter of the orifice.
27. The ink of claim 26, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
28. Ink used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects the ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached on the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the orifice having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
the ink contains pigments dispersed into a liquid in the range from 2 to 10% by weight;
a solid content of the ink including the pigments is less than 15% by weight; and
each of the pigments has a size Dp equal to or larger than 0.03 μm so that the pigments are dispersed in a stable state, and the size Dp is determined by a relationship Dp/D0≦0.01 so as to prevent clogging of the orifice, wherein D0 represents a diameter of the orifice.
29. The ink of claim 28, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
30. Ink used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects the ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium on demand by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached to the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the orifice having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
pigments having a size Dp are dispersed in the ink; and
each of the at least one orifice is a tip of a passageway or formed at an end of the passageway, and Dp is determined by a relationship
31. The ink of claim 30, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
32. A receiving medium used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects ink from at least one orifice toward the receiving medium by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached to the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the orifice having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
33. The receiving medium of claim 32, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
34. A receiving medium used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects ink from at least one orifice toward the receiving medium by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached on the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the orifice having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm, wherein:
each of the pigments has a size Dp equal to or larger than 0.03 μm so that the pigments are dispersed in a stable state, and the size Dp is determined by a relationship Dp/D0 ≦0.01 so as to prevent clogging of the orifice, wherein D0 represents a diameter of the orifice.
35. The receiving medium of claim 34, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
36. A receiving medium used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects ink From at least one orifice toward a receiving medium on demand by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached to the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the orifice having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
37. The receiving medium of claim 36, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
38. An inkjet recording apparatus for ejecting ink from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium so as to cause the ink to be attached on the receiving medium, the ink containing pigments dispersed therein, wherein:
the orifice is formed of metal and has a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2; and
the metal has a hardness of Rockwell M140 or more.
39. The inkjet recording apparatus of claim 38, wherein each of the pigments has a diameter ranging from 0.02 μm to 0.6 μm.
40. Ink used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects a liquid from at least one orifice toward a receiving medium by pressure, so as to cause the ink to be attached to the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the at least one orifice being formed of metal having a hardness of Rockwell M140 or more and having a diameter equal to or less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
pigments are dispersed in the ink, and each of the pigments has a diameter ranging from 0.02 μm to 0.6 μm.
41. The ink of claim 40, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
42. A receiving medium used for an inkjet recording apparatus, which ejects ink from at least one orifice toward the receiving medium by pressure, so as co cause the ink to be attached to the receiving medium by applying droplets of the ink to the receiving medium, the at least one orifice being Formed of metal having a hardness of Rockwell M140 or more and having a diameter equal to or Less than 25 μm or an opening less than 500 μm2, wherein:
43. The receiving medium of claim 42, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus comprises one of an inkjet apparatus and an inkjet head.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Rule 1.53(b) continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/998,112, filed Nov. 24, 2004 now U.S. Pat No. 7,063,415, which is a Rule 1.53(b) continuation of application Ser. No. 10/385,105, filed Mar. 10, 2003 now abandoned, which is a Rule 1.53(b) continuation of application Ser. No. 09/988,928, filed Nov. 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,401, issued Apr. 29, 2003, which is a Rule 1.53(b) continuation of application Ser. No. 09/360,996, filed Jul. 8, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,545, issued Jan. 15, 2002, the entire contents of each of which are herein incorporated by reference.
To accomplish the above objects, there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a liquid jet recording apparatus wherein a recording composition satisfies a relationship 0.001≦Dp/D0≦0.01, where Dp is a size of a fine particle, and D0 is a diameter of a fine nozzle orifice, on the condition that the diameter of the nozzle orifice is less than φ25 μm. According to the present invention, a high-quality recording with high water and light resistances can be realized and a reliability of an ink-jet recording apparatus can be improved with the absence of nozzle clogging in the present recording apparatus.
Other features in the present invention will be described in the following. Since the recording head in the present invention can be applied to multicolor recording, a structure of the ink-jet recording head for multicolor recording will be-described as follows
In Table 9, mark ∘ indicates that a gap between a printed dot position and a desired dot position is less than a quarter dot, mark Δ indicates that the gap is more than a quarter dot and less than a half dot, and mark X indicates that the gap is more than a half dot. A size of the dot was approximately 60 μm diameter. From the results, even the present apparatus which has the small nozzle and has difficulty in ejecting droplets as compared to the conventional apparatus can eject ink droplets stably to produce a high quality recording image with a high dot positional precision under conditions that the distance L between the nozzle plane and the surface of the receiving member is less than 100 t. Especially, it is preferred that the ejection direction be vertical to avoid a recording position change due to gravity. The present invention is not necessarily limited by using a completely vertical direction of droplet ejection, and is still effective under a slight influence of gravity. When using the present invention, it is advantageous to eject droplets in a downward direction in a case of an absence of a completely vertical ejection direction due to a structural restriction of the printer.
More specifically, from Tables 11 and 12, the nozzle portion must be formed of resin materials which have a hardness of Rockwell M65 to M120 in order to prevent nozzle damage and wear problems when using the ink having the pigment diameter ranging from 0.02 μm to b0.2 μm. However, nozzle damage and wear is unlikely to occur when using the ink having the pigment diameter of 0.02 μm in combination with the nozzle portion formed of materials which have a hardness of less than Rockwell M65, thereby causing the absence of deterioration of ink ejection characteristics, but this is impractical because the ink used can be limited by the nozzle hardness.
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