The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 11, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 09, 1998
Junji Nakahara, Nagoya, JP;
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Abstract
A suction pump 42 includes a casing 52 and a pair of piston members 53, 54. The casing 52 has a suction port 52a connected to a suction cap 41 via a channel 55 and a discharge port 52b for discharging ink sucked in through the suction port 52a. The pair of piston members 53, 54 are independently movable within the casing 52 and define between themselves a pump chamber 52e having a volume changeable with relative position of the piston members 53, 54. First, the piston members 53, 54 are driven to increase the volume of the pump chamber 52e so that ink from a recording head in sealing connection with the suction cap fills the suction cap and the channel. Then while maintaining the ink in the suction cap 41 and the channel 55, the piston member 53, 54 are driven to reduce the size of the pump chamber 52e to a minimum to discharge the ink from the pump chamber 52e. Then the piston members 53, 54 are driven to increase the volume of the pump chamber 52e from the minimum volume at a predetermined stroke in order to suck a predetermined amount of ink from the recording head.