Patent ID: 8469503

Claim:
A method of reducing an amount of air in an ink passageway in an inkjet printer, the method comprising: providing a thermally actuated degassing unit including: a body enclosing an air chamber; a check valve configured to allow air to vent from the air chamber to ambient when the pressure in the air chamber exceeds ambient air pressure by a predetermined pressure; a heating element inside the air chamber; and a membrane including a first side and a second side opposite the first side, wherein the first side faces the air chamber and the second side faces the ink passageway; providing a power supply connected to the heating element; applying power to heat the heating element during a first time interval to increase the pressure in the air chamber above ambient pressure; venting air from the check valve; allowing the heating element to cool during a second time interval to reduce the pressure in the air chamber below ambient pressure; and drawing air from the ink passageway through the membrane into the air chamber.