Dual chamber ink-jet cartridge
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsBruce S. Jones, Stephen A. Anderson, Patrick D. Carter, William A. Putman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ink tank cartridge (A) includes a housing (10) having a bottom wall (28) and a plurality of side walls (12, 14, 16, 18) forming a cavity (20). A divider wall (22) is positioned within the cavity to divide the cavity into first and second chambers (24, 26). An ink supply port (42) projects from the bottom wall of the housing. A porous member (40) is accommodated in the chamber having the ink supply port. The other chamber is partially filled with ink. The divider wall has an opening (30) allowing ink to pass from one of the chambers to the other chamber. A cover (50) having a fill hole (94) is secured to the housing.
Claims18
An ink tank cartridge for an associated ink-jet type recording apparatus being removably mountable onto an associated ink supply needle of the ink jet type recording apparatus, said ink tank cartridge comprising:
- a housing having a cavity formed therein;
- a divider wall positioned within said cavity to divide said cavity into a first chamber and a second chamber;
- an ink outlet port extending through said housing at a bottom of said first chamber;
- a porous member accommodated in said first chamber, said porous member having ink impregnated therein and abutting the housing adjacent the ink outlet port;
- a recessed groove pattern formed in said housing at the bottom of said first chamber to direct and transfer ink from said porous member to said ink outlet port said recessed groove pattern including at least a first plurality of approximately parallel, equal width and equally spaced grooves;
- and
- a filter positioned between said ink outlet port and said porous member;
- wherein said second chamber is at least partially filled with ink, said divider wall having an opening allowing said ink to pass from said second chambers to said first chambers.
A method for making an ink tank cartridge for an ink-jet type recording apparatus, comprising the steps of:
- forming a housing defining a cavity therein with a divider wall positioned within said cavity to divide said cavity into a first chamber and a second chamber, said housing having a recessed groove pattern formed in a bottom interior surface of said first chamber, said recessed groove pattern including at least a first plurality of approximately parallel, equal width and equally spaced grooves, said housing having an ink outlet port extending through said housing at a bottom of said first chamber;
- inserting a filter into said cavity of said housing;
- holding the filter in place within the housing with negative pressure applied through an outlet port of the housing;
- sealing the outlet port with a seal member;
- inserting a porous member into the housing above the filter and ink outlet port;
- placing a cover on a top end of the housing and sealing the cover thereto;
- placing the cartridge under a negative pressure to substantially eliminate voids in the porous member;
- injecting degassed ink into the cartridge under pressure;
- and
- sealing the cartridge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.