Mechanical seal cap for ink cartridge
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsWilliam A Putman, Stephen A Anderson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ink tank cartridge (A) includes a housing (10) with a bottom wall (28) and a plurality of side walls (12, 14, 16, 18) forming a cavity (20). An ink supply member having a port extends from the housing. A seal member (60) is inserted into the ink supply member for sealing the port (40). A retaining cap (80) has an opening to provide access to the seal member. An ink supply needle passes through the cap opening to pierce the seam member (60). The retaining cap (80) has slots to receive ribs located on the outlet port (40).
Claims20
An ink cartridge being removably mounted onto an associated ink-jet supply needle of an ink-jet printer, said ink cartridge comprising:
- a housing having a chamber;
- an outlet port in communication with the chamber;
- a seal member received in the housing for sealing the outlet port;
- and,
- a retaining member having an aperture and being attached to the housing at the outlet port for retaining said seal member.
An assembly for sealing an outlet port of an ink cartridge being removably mounted onto an associated ink-jet supply needle of an ink-jet printer, the assembly comprising:
- a seal member disposed inside the port, for preventing the flow of ink through the outlet port;
- and,
- a cap having an opening attached to an outlet end of the port for retaining the seal member inside the port.
A annular cap for retaining a seal member inside an outlet port of an ink cartridge while the cartridge is being removed from an associated ink-jet recording apparatus, comprising a first wall having an opening and a second wall depending from the first wall.
An ink tank cartridge for an associated ink-jet printer removably mountable onto an associated ink-jet supply needle, the ink tank cartridge comprising:
- a housing having a bottom wall and a plurality of side walls forming a chamber;
- an ink supply member provided in the bottom wall of the housing having a port communicating with the chamber and a plurality of ribs extending along an outer surface of the ink supply member;
- a seal member inserted in the ink supply member, for preventing the flow of ink through the port until after the sealing member is pierced by the ink-jet supply needle and preventing the flow of ink through the outlet port other than through the ink supply needle;
- and
- an annular retaining cap attached to an outlet end of the ink supply member to retain the seal member, wherein the cap has an opening providing access to the seal member and a well with slots for engaging the ribs.
A method of sealing an outlet port of an ink cartridge comprising the steps of:
- placing a sealing member inside of the outlet port;
- and
- attaching a cap having an opening to an end of the outlet port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.