Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-15
2001-08-21
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276788
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to droplet-on-demand ink jet printing systems, and more particularly to replaceable ink supplies for multicolor ink jet printers which have a quick disconnect valve that enables insertion and removal in the printer without loss of ink thereby preventing printer contamination.
Current ink jet products have ink tanks with ink volumes less than 25 ml. As the ink jet market moves towards larger monthly print volumes and faster speeds, a high capacity, ‘off-carriage’ ink tank is necessitated. Such a high capacity ink tank cannot afford to provide added volume for foams and felt which carry ink as many of the current products do. These foams and felts also provide means to keep the installation and replacement of spent cartridges from leaking ink and causing contamination of the printers or soiling the hands of the user. This lack of ink leakage or spillage during the handling of the cartridges is sometimes referred to as a ‘white glove’ insertion and removal operation and of course is very desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,348 discloses an ink jet printer having a printhead assembly comprising a printhead and ink reservoir mounted on a scanning carriage for movement across a recording medium with an off carriage ink supply in the form of a flexible bag to replenish the ink used from the ink reservoir. Supply lines interconnect the ink supply with the ink reservoir. A pump is provided in the supply line for activation only during a priming operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,332 discloses an ink jet printer assembly comprising a printhead and ink reservoir mounted on a scanning carriage for movement across a recording medium. An off carriage ink supply bag is connected to the ink reservoir by tubing. The reservoir is arranged so that pressure applied to the ink supply bag forces ink into the reservoir and any air in the reservoir is expelled through the printhead nozzles, thereby priming both the printhead and the reservoir without the need for a vent in the reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,425 discloses an ink jet cartridge mounted on a scanning carriage for movement across a recording medium. The cartridge includes a printhead which is integrally fixed to an ink reservoir containing the typical absorbent material to hold the ink. One purpose of the absorbent material is to prevent sloshing of the ink in the reservoir during the back and forth scanning of the of the cartridge. This cartridge has a film member which completes the passageway between the reservoir and the printhead and concurrently provides the fluid seal between them and the means to adhere the printhead to the reservoir.
Most known ball valve connectors use a fitment with external threads which houses the ball and spring and a separate elastomeric washer as a valve seat. The ball valve connector uses a screw on cap with a centrally located aperture to fasten the connector together. The spring urges the ball against the washer to seal the cap aperture as illustrated in
FIG. 1
, discussed later, such as currently used in the fuser oil supply of the Xerox 4900 laser printer. A fixed probe in the 4900 machine moves the ball away from the elastomeric washer to enable fuser oil to be removed from the oil supply tank.
Other ink jet products utilize a flexible ink supply pouch with a sealed fitment, but the interconnection is by needle and septum and not by a spring loaded ball quick disconnect valve wherein the entire valve is sealed into the flexible pouch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a customer replaceable ink cartridge having a vent-free flexible pouch with a quick disconnect valve sealed into the pouch and a rigid housing to contain the pouch in a predetermined location therein which protects the flexible pouch from handling forces.
In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a customer replaceable ink cartridge for an ink supply station of an ink jet printer, the ink supply station having at least one fixedly mounted probe for releasable connection with the cartridge, the cartridge comprising: a vent-free flexible pouch containing ink; a fitment integrally attached to the pouch and having an end which extends therefrom; and a quick disconnect valve provided on the end of the fitment, said valve having a movable ball located therein and an aperture adapted for the insertion of said probe, the aperture being surrounded by an internal valve seat and the ball being resiliently urged against the valve seat to close the aperture, so that ink flows from the pouch only when said ball is moved from the valve seat by said probe.
In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a customer replaceable ink cartridge for an ink jet printer having an ink supply station for receipt of one or more ink cartridges, comprising: a vent-free flexible pouch having an opening therein; a fitment having opposing first and second ends, the first end being sealed into the pouch opening to provide a flow path for ink into and out of the pouch, said first end of the fitment which is sealed into the pouch opening preventing collapse of the pouch in the vicinity of the fitment, the fitment having an internal projection and an external protrusion at the opposing second end; a spring being inserted into the second end of the fitment to reside against the internal projection; a ball being located on said spring, so that said spring urges the ball in a direction away from the fitment; a releasable integral valve seat and cover having an aperture therein, the valve seat and cover being mounted on the second end of the fitment and held in place by the external protrusion, the valve seat being conical and having the aperture located therethrough, the valve seat confronting the ball, so that the spring urges the ball against the valve seat and seals off the aperture to provide a quick disconnect valve; a collar mounted on the second fitment end and having a shape to aid in subsequent assembly; and a rigid housing for containment of the pouch, fitment, and quick disconnect valve, the housing having a receptacle to receive the collar and enable alignment of the pouch, fitment, and quick disconnect valve therein, the housing having a key representative of a color, so that the cartridge must be inserted into the ink supply station in a specific location which has been allocated for the color of ink in the cartridge.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5138332 (1992-08-01), Carlotta
patent: 5159348 (1992-10-01), Dietl et al.
patent: 5519425 (1996-05-01), Dietl et ql.
patent: 5988802 (1999-11-01), Pawlowski et al.
patent: 5992987 (1999-11-01), Childers et al.
Arthur David J.
Le N.
Nghiem Michael
Xerox Corporation
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