Ink refill device and method

A device for providing ink to an ink cartridge comprising:

• an ink cartridge support area configured to receive at least a portion of an ink cartridge;
• an ink container connected to the ink cartridge support area, the ink container including multiple chambers for housing different colors of ink, wherein the ink container can be manually lowered from a cartridge loading position and locked in an ink delivery position, and wherein the ink container is configured to automatically raise from the ink delivery position back to the cartridge loading position, wherein each of the chambers in the ink container includes substantially the same volume;
• a plurality if ink delivery needles, wherein each of the chambers includes at least one ink delivery needle extended therefrom and wherein the ink delivery needles are configured to extend into an ink cartridge in the ink cartridge support area when the ink container is in the ink delivery position, and retract from the ink cartridge when the ink container is in the cartridge loading position;
• an ink delivery needle sealing unit positioned between the ink container and the ink cartridge support area, wherein distal ends of the ink delivery needles are contained within the sealing unit when the ink container is out of the ink delivery position;
• and
• a timing assembly for releasing the ink container from the ink delivery position after a preset period of time.

A method of refilling an ink cartridge comprising:

• positioning an ink cartridge in an ink refill station;
• moving a portion of the ink refilling station from a first position to a second position, thereby simultaneously initiating ink flow from an ink container into the ink cartridge and resetting a timer;
• and
• removing the filled ink cartridge after the portion of the ink refill station automatically moves from the second position back to the first position.