Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-31
2001-05-29
Le, N. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Fluid or fluid source handling means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06239822
ABSTRACT:
Other more recent co-pending commonly assigned related applications are application Ser. No. 08/726,587, filed Oct. 7, 1996, entitled INKJET CARTRIDGE FILL PORT ADAPTOR, by Max S. Gunther, et al.; application Ser. No. 08/810,485, filed Mar. 3, 1997, entitled INKJET PRINTING WITH REPLACEABLE SET OF INK-RELATED COMPONENTS, by R. Becker, et al.; application Ser. No. 08/805,860, filed Mar. 3, 1997, entitled SPACE-EFFICIENT ENCLOSURE SHAPE FOR NESTING TOGETHER A PLURALITY OF REPLACEABLE INK SUPPLY BAGS, by E. Coiner, et al.; application Ser. No. 08/810,840, filed Mar. 3, 1997, entitled PRINTING SYSTEM WITH SINGLE ON/OFF CONTROL VALVE FOR PERIODIC INK REPRENISHMENT OF INKJET PRINTHEAD, by M. Gunther et al.; application Ser. No. 08/805,861, filed Mar. 3, 1997, entitled PRINTER APPARATUS FOR PERIODIC AUTOMATED CONNECTION OF INK SUPPLY VALVES WITH MULTIPLE INKJET PRINTHEADS, by I. Olazabal et al.; and application Ser. No. 08/806,749, filed Mar. 3, 1997, entitled VARIABLE PRESSURE CONTROL FOR INK REPLENISHMENT, by M. Young et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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.
A replaceable ink supply module for providing replenishment of an inkjet printhead includes a collapsible bag, an enclosure box, a connective tube, and an on/off valve. These four components are incorporated into a composite sealed system which remains intact during shipment, storage, installation and operation. The collapsible bag is placed inside of the protective enclosure box and has an end-connect outlet permanently attached to one end of the connective tube. The other end of the connective tube carries a permanently attached on/off valve designed for periodic engagement with an inlet valve of an inkjet printhead.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 5745137 (1998-04-01), Scheffelin
patent: 5751319 (1998-05-01), Robertson et al.
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patent: 9300133 (1993-04-01), None
Calatayud Rosa
Coiner Erich
Giles Robert
Gunther Max S.
Ruiz Felix
Hewlett--Packard Company
Le N.
Vo Anh T. N.
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