Recycle ink tray

A recycle ink assembly for a fabric printing device, the fabric printing device comprising an ink nozzle array, the ink nozzle array comprising a plurality of nozzle groups, the recycle ink assembly comprising:

• a recycle ink tray comprising a perimeter wall and a plurality of partition walls, the perimeter wall and the plurality of partition walls together defining a plurality of partitioned ink pools, each partitioned ink pool configured to collect ink from an individual ink nozzle group and prevent ink collected from the ink nozzle group from mixing with ink collected from an adjacent ink nozzle group;
• a plurality of recycle ink storage containers, wherein each recycle ink storage container is fluidly connected to one of the partitioned ink pools defined by the recycle ink tray through a dedicated fluid line;
• and
• a plurality of filters, each filter arranged in-line with one of the dedicated fluid lines for filtering particles out of ink flowing therethrough.

A method of operating a fabric printing device comprising:

• providing ink of various colors to an ink nozzle array;
• moving the ink nozzle array to a standby position over a recycle ink tray, the recycle ink tray defining a plurality of partitioned ink pools, each partitioned ink pool associated with an ink nozzle group of the ink nozzle array;
• spraying ink from each ink nozzle group into its associated partitioned ink pool defined by the recycle ink tray such that the ink sprayed from each ink nozzle group is isolated from ink sprayed from the other ink nozzle groups;
• providing ink from each partitioned ink pool to one of a plurality of collection containers, each collection container dedicated to one of the partitioned ink pools defined by the recycle ink tray;
• and
• providing ink collected in each of the collection containers to an ink source of the fabric printing device.