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US 5,280,300 AGranted
Method and apparatus for replenishing an ink cartridge
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsJon Fong, David Hunt, Michael Borer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates generally to refillable ink cartridges for computer controlled ink jet printers and more specifically to apparatus for refilling collapsible ink bags which are maintained at sub-atmospheric pressure within such equipment. A mass of porous capillary material disposed in an ink supply passageway provides a capillary valve which prevents flow of ink when one side of the valve is unwetted.
Claims12
A printer ink cartridge comprising:
- a) a rigid housing;
- b) a collapsible ink bag in said housing;
- c) an ink discharge head means in fluid communication with said ink bag for discharging printer ink from the cartridge;
- d) means for maintaining said collapsible bag under sub-atmospheric pressure by biasing flexible walls of the bag away from each other;
- e) means for replenishing ink to said ink bag;
- f) a fluid passageway interconnecting said ink bag and said means for replenishing;
- and
- g) a capillary valve in said passageway, said capillary valve having an inlet surface and an outlet surface and being comprised of an ink compatible material which permits fluid flow therethrough only when said inlet surface and said outlet surface are wetted and which has an effective capillary force greater than a capillary force of said ink discharge head.
5 more elements
A method of replenishing spent ink in a printer ink cartridge having a cartridge housing, comprising the steps of:
- a) filling an ink reserve chamber located remotely from said cartridge;
- b) drawing ink from said reserve chamber through an elongate tube having a pair of connectors therein and through a capillary filter located in at least one of said connectors into a collapsible ink bag located in said housing having opposed walls, said bag being maintained under negative pressure in said housing by moving said walls of said bag away from each other to expand a volume of the bag;
- and
- c) using said capillary filter as a valve to prevent air from entering said collapsible bag during said ink drawing step.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.