| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To prevent deterioration in ink quality and enable stable recording to be performed for a long period by replenishing periodically solvent which is volatilized during ink circulation and ink which is used for recording. CONSTITUTION:During normal recording (non-refill operation), a switching valve 17 is in 'ON' position. However, it is turned OFF and at the same time, a switching valve 18 is turned ON. This allows refill ink of an auxiliary ink container 23 to pass through an ink pump 15 and to be guided to a nozzle 1. Then non-recording ink particles 4 which are injected from the nozzle 1 and recovered by a gutter 7 instead of being used for recording are counted. Ink is made up until the count value reaches that of ink particles 4 used during the previous non-replenishment cycle. When the ink refill is completed, the switching valve 18 is turned OFF and the switching valve 17 also turned ON. At the same time, a solvent valve 19 is turned ON, starting solvent supply from a solvent container to a main ink container 22. |
