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US 5,223,860 AGranted
Apparatus for supplying phase change ink to an ink jet printer
AssigneeTektronix, Inc.
InventorsDonald I. Loofbourow, Richard G. Chambers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A triggerable ink transfer system that simultaneously transfers ink from a plurality of ink preload chambers to corresponding load chambers and ink reservoirs is disclosed. The delivery system permits an untrained operator to safely load ink without inadvertently interchanging different types (e.g. colors) of ink, and without inadvertently overfilling any of the ink reservoirs. A processing unit that coordinates ink delivery system monitoring and control features is in communication with an operator interface unit that provides ink loading instructions to the operator.
Claims28
An ink transfer system comprising:
- a plurality of ink preload chambers, each of said plurality of ink preload chambers adapted to receive a solid phase ink stick and maintain the ink stick in the solid phase;
- a plurality of ink load chambers, each of said plurality of ink load chambers corresponding to and alignable with one of said plurality of ink preload chambers;
- means for detecting when a solid phase ink stick is positioned in at least one of said ink preload chambers;
- and
- a trigger means adapted to transfer a solid state ink stick from any one of said preload chambers to corresponding ink load chambers.
2 more elements
An ink transfer system comprising:
- an ink preload assembly including at least one ink preload chamber adapted to receive a solid phase ink stick and detection means for detecting when a solid phase ink stick is positioned in the ink preload chamber;
- an ink load chamber corresponding to and alignable with said at least one ink preload chamber;
- an ink reservoir corresponding to and in communication with each ink load chamber, each ink reservoir including an ink level sensing means;
- a processing unit in communication with said ink preload assembly and said ink reservoir and adapted to receive and process information from said detection means and said ink level sensing means;
- and
- an operator interface module in communication with said processing unit adapted to provide ink loading status information to an operator based upon information from said detection means and said ink level sensing means.
3 more elements
An ink transfer system comprising:
- a plurality of ink preload chambers, each ink preload chamber adapted to receive a solid phase ink stick and maintain the ink stick in the solid phase;
- a plurality of ink reservoirs adapted to maintain ink in a melted condition during operation of a printing apparatus, each reservoir corresponding to one of the ink preload cambers, and each ink reservoir alignable and in communication with the corresponding ink preload chamber;
- means for detecting when a solid phase ink stick is positioned in an ink preload chamber;
- and
- a triggerable ink transfer means capable of maintaining solid phase ink sticks in each of the plurality of ink preload chambers in a non-transfer condition and to transfer solid phase ink sticks located in each of the plurality of ink preload chambers to a corresponding ink reservoir in a transfer condition.
2 more elements
An ink transfer system comprising:
- an ink preload assembly including at least one ink preload chamber adapted to receive a solid phase ink stick and maintain the ink stick in the solid phase;
- ink stick detection means for detecting when a solid phase ink stick is positioned in at least one ink preload chamber;
- an ink reservoir corresponding to and alignable with said at least one ink preload chamber;
- ink level sensing means for detecting the level of ink in the ink reservoir;
- and
- an operator interface module in communication with the ink stick detection means and the ink level sensing means adapted to provide ink loading status information and instructions to an operator based upon information from the ink stick detection means and the ink level sensing means.
3 more elements
An ink transfer system comprising:
- a plurality of ink preload chambers, each ink preload chamber adapted to receive a solid phase ink stick and maintain the ink stick in the solid phase;
- a plurality of ink load chambers, each ink load chamber corresponding to and alignable with one of said plurality of ink preload chambers;
- a common door separating each of the plurality of ink load chambers from each of the plurality of corresponding ink load chambers;
- and
- a trigger means in communication with the common door to transfer a solid state ink stick from any of said preload chambers to corresponding ink load chambers.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.