Hollow fiber membrane for the degassing of inks, ink degassing method, ink degassing apparatus, method for the fabrication of an ink cartridge, and ink

摘要

The present invention provides a gas-permeable hollow fiber membrane having an inner diameter of 50 to 500 mum and a membrane thickness of 10 to 150 mum, which is preferably a composite hollow fiber membrane having a three-layer structure consisting of a nonporous layer having porous layers disposed on both sides thereof. Dissolved gases present in an ink can be removed by passing the ink through the bores of hollow fibers comprising such a hollow fiber membrane, and evacuating the outer surface side of the hollow fibers. This method makes it possible not only to degas inks with a slight pressure loss, but also to degas inks stably even if pressure changes occur during degassing.