Ink jet printers operate by ejecting tiny drops of ink from a printhead onto a printing medium, such as paper. The printhead generally includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles through which tiny ink droplets are ejected onto the paper to collectively create an image. To deliver ink to the nozzles, the printhead includes a plurality of ink firing chambers, each fluidically connected to an associated nozzle through a bore. Within each firing chamber is a heat-generating resistor that is selectively energized to heat the ink in the chamber, which creates a bubble. As the bubble expands, some of the ink is forced through the bore out of the nozzle and onto the paper. Though specific printer configurations may vary, the printhead and nozzles are often incorporated into a printer carriage inside the printer. The printhead may be integrated into the carriage, or may be a removably detached insert. In any case, the ink is supplied to the printhead by a cartridge that is inserted into, and detachably mounted, within the printhead and carriage. The cartridge is fluidically and electrically connected to the printhead and carriage through fluidic and electrical interfaces. The reliability of the cartridge and printhead assembly, and ultimately the quality of the printed image, depends in part on the proper alignment and engagement of the fluidic and electrical interfaces. Rough operation during insertion or removal of the cartridge by a user, or play between the cartridge and the printhead or carriage, can cause communication loss (e.g., print command signal loss) or a loss in print quality due to a poor fluidic connection. To secure the alignment and positioning of the cartridge within the carriage, known cartridge designs have an incorporated datum feature that provides a point of reference for insertion of the ink cartridge. In this way, the cartridge is properly positioned and engaged within the carriage and/or printhead assembly to provide adequate fluidic and electrical interconnects.
In addition to datum features, known ink jet cartridges may include a keying feature to prevent the insertion of an incompatible ink cartridge. In some cases, ink cartridges are universal and can be used on a number of different printer families. Some ink cartridges, however, contain inks that may be chemically incompatible with other ink types. If incompatible inks come into contact with one another, they could congeal and damage the printhead and nozzle assembly.
Although ink jet cartridges may vary with respect to size and shape, they have historically been large enough in width and surface area to accommodate both datum and keying features. However, it has become increasingly important to design ink jet cartridges as narrow as possible because the overall width of the cartridge influences the width of the printer. With the onset of narrower ink cartridges there is no longer the width available for both the datum and keying features.
The embodiments described hereinafter were developed in light of these and other drawbacks associated with the implementation of incorporating both datum and keying features on narrow width ink jet cartridges.
The present embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
An ink cartridge having combined datum and keying features is provided. The ink cartridge includes an ink supply port, an electrical interconnect, and an out-of-ink prism. The combined datum and keying feature (i.e., “the insertion key”), serves as a pivotal reference point to guide the positioning of the ink cartridge into a printer carriage. In this way, the ink supply port, the electrical interconnect, and the out-of-ink prism are properly aligned with respect to the printhead assembly and the printer carriage, which assures proper fluidic and electrical communication.
The bottom surface 22 of cartridge 12 further includes an out-of-ink prism 34 that works in combination with an optical sensor 36 (shown in
In addition to guiding the movement of cartridge 12 into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assemblies, insertion key 40 also provides a keying feature to prevent the installation of an incorrect ink cartridge into carriage 16. In other words, insertion key 40 is configured such that ink cartridge 12 can only be inserted and properly seated into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assemblies if there exists a receptacle having a matching reciprocal configuration.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that the method and system within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby. This description of the invention should be understood to include all novel and nonobvious combinations of elements described herein, and claims may be presented in this or a later application to any novel and nonobvious combination of these elements. The foregoing embodiments are illustrative, and no single feature or element is essential to all possible combinations that may be claimed in this or a later application. Where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element of the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6142617 | Barinaga et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6273560 | Keefe et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6296345 | Kline et al. | Oct 2001 | B1 |
6422693 | Pawlowski, Jr. et al. | Jul 2002 | B2 |
6435662 | Kline et al. | Aug 2002 | B2 |
6454400 | Morita et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6471333 | Powell et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6502917 | Shinada et al. | Jan 2003 | B1 |
20010045977 | King et al. | Nov 2001 | A1 |
20040017448 | Murakami et al. | Jan 2004 | A1 |
20040114001 | Hayashi et al. | Jun 2004 | A1 |
20040183870 | Steinmetz et al. | Sep 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1346834 | Sep 2003 | EP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20080180495 A1 | Jul 2008 | US |