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US 8,770,732 B2Granted
Inductive heater for a solid ink reservoir
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsBrent Rodney Jones, Edward Francis Burress
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A container for storing phase-change ink includes a housing that is comprised primarily of a thermally insulating material and an inductive heater element positioned within the housing. The inductive heater element is formed in a manner that increases the surface area of the heater and enables frozen ink in the vicinity of a reservoir outlet to melt quickly to enable printing operations.
Claims20
A container for melting solid ink in a solid inkjet printer comprising:
- a housing comprised of non-electrically conductive material, the housing having a volume of space internal to the housing, the volume of space having a height, a width, and a depth;
- an inductive heater element positioned within the volume of space of the housing to melt ink within the volume of space, the heater element being configured to have a surface area that is greater than an area defined by the height and width of the volume of space;
- a temperature sensor positioned within the volume of space to enable the temperature sensor to sense a temperature of ink stored in the volume of space within the housing, the temperature sensor being configured to enable a controller to be operatively connected to the temperature sensor for monitoring temperature within the housing;
- at least one retainer located on the housing to enable an electrical coil to be positioned proximate the housing.
1 more element
A printer comprising:
- an ink loader configured to receive solid ink;
- a melting device that is positioned to receive solid ink from the ink loader and is configured to heat the solid ink to a temperature for melting the solid ink and producing liquid;
- and
- a container fluidly connected to the melting device to receive melted solid ink from the melting device, the container comprising:
- a housing comprised of thermally insulating material, the housing having a volume of space internal to the housing, the volume of space having a height, a width, and a depth;
- an inductive heater element positioned within the volume of space of the housing to melt ink within the volume of space, the heater element being configured to have a surface area that is greater than an area defined by the height and width of the volume of space;
- a temperature sensor positioned within the volume of space to enable the temperature sensor to sense a temperature of ink stored in the volume of space within the housing;
- an electrical coil positioned in the printer proximate the container;
- an electrical power supply;
- a switch operatively connected to the electrical power supply and the electrical coil;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the temperature sensor and the switch to enable the controller to receive an electrical signal generated by the temperature sensor that corresponds to the temperature of the ink stored in the volume of space within the housing and to generate an electrical signal that operates the switch, the controller being configured to compare the electrical signal received from the temperature sensor to a predetermined threshold and to generate the electrical signal that operates the switch in response to the controller identifying the signal received from the temperature sensor as being less than the predetermined threshold, the electrical signal that operates the switch enables the switch to connect the electrical power supply to the coil selectively to enable an electromagnetic field generated by the electrical coil to induce electrical current in the inductive heater element and generate heat in the volume of space in the container.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.