Appeal No. 96-2416
Application 08/206,447
accumulator chamber, and (e) means 63, 119, 121, 131, etc. for
effecting operation of the pump in response to a change in volume
of ink in the accumulator chamber.
Cruz-Uribe, the primary reference, discloses an ink jet ink
delivery system comprising a printhead 12.1 - 12.3, an ink supply
22, and a pump 26 for pumping ink from the ink supply to the
printhead. The system of Cruz-Uribe further includes a pressure
regulator 36 “to maintain the input pressure [of the pump] at a
preset level relative to ambient pressure” (col. 3, lines 8-10).
The pressure regulator may use electromechanical elements such as
a transducer 50 for generating a pressure signal 52
representative of the pressure in the line downstream of the
pump, a source 58 for generating a reference signal 56, and a
comparator 54 for comparing the pressure and reference signals
and generating a difference or error signal 60 in response to the
pressure and reference signals. The error signal in turn varies
the speed of the pump in a direction to drive the error signal to
a minimum level (col. 3, lines 56-67).
Osaki pertains to an ink supply system for an ink jet
printer, and in particular to a system that compensates for
temperature variation. The system of Osaki comprises a constant
flow rate pump 10, a pressure accumulator 12 downstream of the
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007