Collapsible ink cartridge
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorsNorman E. Pawlowski, Jr., Bruce Cowger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ink cartridge has a body comprised of a plurality of wall panels that are resiliently hinged to adjacent wall panels. The wall panels define a cavity within the body for storing ink when the body is in a full configuration. The body collapses from the full configuration to an empty configuration as ink is removed from the body. The wall panels collapse inwardly about the hinges to lie flat against one another to reduce the cavity volume. A frame frames the plurality of wall panels of the body. The frame resiliently expands as the wall panels collapse flat together within the frame. The resilient expansion of the frame and the panel collapse about the hinges biases the body toward the full configuration.
Claims18
An ink cartridge for storing ink, comprising:
- a body having a plurality of wall panels selectively arranged in a nonplanar orientation to define a full configuration of the body wherein the wall panels define a cavity having a volume for storing ink, the wall panels being collapsible to transition the body from the full configuration to an empty configuration, the empty configuration being defined where the wall panels are collapsed inwardly into the cavity such that the volume of the cavity is diminished;
- and
- a resilient frame that surrounds and projects from the body, the body collapsing within the frame in the empty configuration, the frame resiliently expanding as the body collapses, resiliency of the frame urging the body toward the full configuration.
An ink cartridge for storing ink, comprising:
- a body having a plurality of wall panels extending symmetrically about a central plane of the body, each of the wall panels being resiliently attached to adjacent wall panels;
- the plurality of wall panels including triangular wall panels, the triangular wall panels being resiliently hinged together in pairs to define corresponding corner hinges, each triangular wall panel of a triangular wall panel pair extending symmetrically with another triangular wall panel of a triangular wall panel pair relative to a corresponding hinge, the triangular wall panels also being attached to other of the plurality of wall panels and forming comers of the body;
- the body having a full configuration wherein the wall panels define a cavity having a volume for storing ink within the body, and an empty configuration wherein the wall panels collapse inwardly to lie flat against opposing wall panels, the collapse of the body reducing the volume of the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.