Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-09
2001-06-05
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241347
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to ink-jet printers/plotters, and more particularly to techniques in varying off-axis ink cartridge reservoir height to decrease on-carriage print cartridge refill time, ensure ink refill volume reliability and set print cartridge vacuum pressure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A printing system is described in the commonly assigned patent application entitled “CONTINUOUS REFILL OF SPRING BAG RESERVOIR IN AN INK-JET SWATH PRINTER/PLOTTER” which employs off-carriage ink reservoirs connected to on-carriage print cartridges through flexible tubing. The off-carriage reservoirs continuously replenish the supply of ink in the internal reservoirs of the on-carriage print cartridges, and maintain the back pressure in a range which results in high print quality. While this system has many advantages, there are some applications in which the relatively permanent connection of the off-carriage and on-carriage reservoirs via tubing is undesirable.
A new ink delivery system (IDS) for printer/plotters has been developed, wherein the on-carriage spring reservoir of the print cartridge is only intermittently connected to the off-carriage reservoir to “take a gulp” and is then disconnected from the off-carriage reservoir. No tubing permanently connecting the on-carriage and off-carriage elements is needed. The above-referenced applications describe certain features of this new ink delivery system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention optimizes the performance of this new off-carriage, take-a-gulp ink delivery system. In this type of IDS, a pen cartridge that uses an internal spring to provide vacuum pressure is intermittently connected to an ink reservoir located off the scanning carriage axis. Starting with a “full” pen cartridge, the printer will print a variety of plots while monitoring the amount of ink used. After a specified amount of ink has been dispensed, the pen carriage is moved to a refill station for ink replenishment. In the refill station, a valve is engaged into the pen, thus connecting the ink reservoir to pen cartridge and opening a path for ink to flow freely. Using only the vacuum pressure present in the pen cartridge, ink is “pulled” into the pen from the reservoir.
An inkjet printing system having a replaceable set of ink-related components which are installed together and replaced together as a single ink delivery system for each different color of ink. The set includes an ink printhead with an inlet port, an ink supply module, and a printhead service module, each of which is manually mountable by a user onto an inkjet printer. The ink supply module contains enough ink to completely replenish an entire printhead reservoir several times before the expected useful life of the printhead has expired, at which time a user can replace the entire set of ink-related components for a particular color. For example, the ink supply module can contain a volume of ink which is at least twice the capacity of the printhead reservoir. Similarly, the printhead service module is designed for reliable performance for the expected useful life of the printhead. This system enables the entire ink delivery system to be replaced for different printing needs, such as replacing indoor dye-based inks with outdoor pigment based inks.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4432005 (1984-02-01), Duffield et al.
patent: 5638099 (1997-06-01), Nguyen et al.
patent: 5745137 (1998-04-01), Scheffelin et al.
patent: 5874976 (1999-02-01), Katon et al.
patent: 5907336 (1999-05-01), Hayakawa
Becker Rick
Boutin Don
Canfield Brian
Garcia Jesus
Giles Robert
Hewlett--Packard Company
Le N.
Vo Anh T. N.
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