Inkjet printer

摘要

An ink/air separator for an ink jet printer has one or more plates 77, 79, 81, 83 over which an ink/air mixture can spread. Preferably there is more than one plate, and the mixture overflows from one plate to the next. Preferably adjacent plates are spaced so that as the mixture passes between two plates it contacts the surface above it as well as the surface below it. The plates may be separated by a gap of 10 mm or less, e.g. a gap of 2 mm to 5 mm, where they overlap Preferably some or all of the plate surfaces contacted by the mixture are roughened. Interaction between the ink/air mixture and the plate surface tends to slow the flow of very small air bubbles and encourage them to accumulate and/or merge, so that they separate from the ink more quickly than individual small bubbles. The ink/air separator may be connected in the path of unused ink returned from the gutter 27 of a continuous ink jet printer to an ink tank 39, or may be placed inside the ink tank 39.

主权项

1. An arrangement suitable for use in an ink jet printer, for separating air, at least partially, from ink, the arrangement comprising:
a fluid inlet for receiving ink from which air is to be separated; a plate portion comprising a plurality of plates, including a first plate positioned below the fluid inlet so that ink that has been received by the fluid inlet flows onto an upper surface of the first plate and flows across at least a part of the upper surface; a space below the plate portion for receiving ink that has passed over at least the first plate; and a fluid outlet for ink that has been received in the said space, and in which the plurality of plates are arranged at least partially overlapping each other and one above the next so that ink that has been received by the fluid inlet flows across the top surface of a plurality of plates in turn before being received in the said space, and at least one pair of adjacent plates is are separated by a gap of 2 mm to 5 mm where they overlap.