Ink pen assembly

An ink pen cartridge removably received within a printhead nest of a continuous ink jet printer, comprising:

• a pen body configured to be individually placed in electrical communication with the printhead nest such that the ink pen cartridge is individually removable from the printhead nest independently of other ink pen cartridges received within the printhead nest,
• a nozzle body connected to the pen body, the nozzle body defining an inlet configured to be placed in fluid communication with the printhead nest to receive ink from the printhead nest, the nozzle body further defining an outlet through which ink is jetted,
• a deflection electrode connected to the pen body for deflecting charged ink drops breaking off from the ink jetted from the nozzle body outlet, and
• an ink block actuator connected to the pen body, the ink block actuator being configured to be placed in mechanical communication with the printhead nest, movement of the ink block actuator relative to the pen body acting to adjust the position of an ink blocking element.

An ink pen assembly, comprising:

• an ink pen cartridge and a printhead nest,
• the ink pen cartridge including
• a pen body configured to be individually placed in electrical communication with the printhead nest such that the ink pen cartridge is individually removable from the printhead nest independently of other ink pen cartridges received within the printhead nest,
• a nozzle body connected to the pen body, the nozzle body defining an inlet configured to be placed in fluid communication with the printhead nest to receive ink from the nest structure, the nozzle body further defining an outlet through which ink is jetted,
• a charge electrode connected to the pen body for charging ink drops breaking off from the ink jetted from the nozzle body outlet, and
• a deflection electrode connected to the pen body for deflecting charged ink drops, the deflection electrode being configured and arranged such that charged ink drops are deflected along an axis generally transverse to a direction of travel of a substrate to be printed,
• the printhead nest including
• a housing defining an ink outlet for providing ink to the nozzle body inlet, and
• an electrical connection for interfacing with the pen body to control the charge tunnel and deflection electrodes,
• the ink pen cartridge being configured for placement in the printhead nest and removal from the printhead nest as a single unit.

A continuous ink jet printer, comprising:

• a printhead nest defining at least four ink outlets, the printhead nest being configured to deliver a different colored ink through each of four ink, outlets, and
• at least four ink pen cartridges individually removably received by the printhead nest,
• each ink pen cartridge defining an ink inlet, each ink inlet being aligned with one of the ink outlets for receiving ink from the printhead nest when the ink pen cartridges are received by the printhead nest,
• each ink pen cartridge including a charge electrode connected thereto for charging ink drops breaking off from the received ink, and a deflection electrode connected thereto for deflecting charged ink drops, each deflection electrode being configured and arranged such that charged ink drops are deflected along an axis substantially transverse to a direction of travel of a substrate to be printed, the charge electrode being adjustable to impart varying levels of charge to the ink drops such that different ink drops are deflected by different amounts by the deflection electrode to facilitate registration of the ink drops from the at least four ink pen cartridges on a substrate.

An ink pen cartridge removably received within a printhead nest of a continuous ink jet printer, comprising:

• a pen body configured to be placed in electrical communication with the printhead nest,
• a nozzle body connected to the pen body, the nozzle body defining an inlet configured to be placed in fluid communication with the printhead nest to receive ink from the printhead nest, the nozzle body further defining an outlet through which ink is jetted,
• a charge electrode connected to the pen body for charging ink drops breaking off from the ink jetted from the nozzle body outlet, and
• a deflection electrode connected to the pen body for deflecting charged ink drops, the deflection electrode being configured and arranged such that charged ink drops are deflected along an axis substantially transverse to a direction of travel of a substrate to be printed,
• wherein the pen body includes a barrier plate defining a drop charging chamber, the charge tunnel and deflection electrodes being located within the drop charging chamber and spaced from the barrier plate.