Fluid containers are used to store fluid therein and supply the fluid to a respective fluid applicator such as a print head of an image forming apparatus. The fluid may be ejected from the print head onto a recording medium. The fluid containers may contain various colors of ink, respectively, and be removably installed in a respective receiver slot of a receiving unit of the image forming apparatus. The fluid containers may include a key set forming a key pattern conforming to a receiver key pattern of the respective receiver slot of the receiving unit. The key pattern and corresponding conforming receiver key pattern assists in having a respective fluid container containing an appropriately-colored fluid installed in the appropriate receiver slot of the receiving unit of the image forming apparatus.
Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure are described in the following description, read with reference to the figures attached hereto and do not limit the scope of the claims. In the figures, identical and similar structures, elements or parts thereof that appear in more than one figure are generally labeled with the same or similar references in the figures in which they appear. Dimensions of components and features illustrated in the figures are chosen primarily for convenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily to scale. Referring to the attached figures:
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is illustrated by way of illustration specific examples in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that other examples may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.
Fluid containers contain various colors of fluid such as cyan ink, yellow ink, magenta ink, black ink, and the like, respectively. Fluid containers may be removably installed and/or attached to a respective receiver slot of a receiving unit of an image forming apparatus such as an inkjet printer. A respective fluid container may include a key set having a key pattern that conforms to a receiver key pattern of the respective receiver slot of the receiving unit. The key set may correspond to a particular color of the fluid stored in a fluid container as well as the conforming receiver key pattern of the respective receiver slot to receive the fluid container. Thus, a fluid container containing one color of fluid, for example, yellow ink, is not inadvertently installed in a respective receiver slot configured to receive a fluid container containing another color of ink, for example, black ink.
Generally, however, the key set may be disposed on the fluid container in a manner in which a user may not be alerted in an early stage of the fluid container installation process of the nonconformity between the fluid container with respect to its respective color of fluid stored therein and the receiver slot. That is, nonconformity between the key set and the receiver key pattern may not be identified during installation of the fluid container until it is well within the respective receiver slot. At such time, the fluid container may be inadvertently wiggled and/or manipulated to allow a faulty installation of the fluid container in which improper fluid communication is established between the fluid container and the image forming apparatus. Such fluid communication, even for a short period of time, may damage the image forming apparatus due to exposure to fluid having an incompatible chemistry therewith.
In the present disclosure, faulty installation of the fluid container and/or improper fluid communication between the fluid container and the image forming apparatus is restricted. In examples of the present disclosure, a first key set and a second key set are disposed on the fluid container in a manner in which nonconformity is determined early on in the fluid container installation process between the receiver slot and the fluid container based on an inappropriate color of fluid being stored therein. That is, nonconformity between the first key set and the first receiver key pattern is identified before the fluid container is well within the receiver slot. Further, a second key set restricts the establishment of improper fluid communication between the fluid container and the image forming apparatus with fluid having incompatible chemistry damaging to the image forming apparatus. In examples, the second key set is disposed adjacent to a port located on a respective wall portion of the housing unit. Thus, in the present disclosure, inadvertent engagement of the port and establishment of an improper fluid communication is restricted.
Referring to
Each of the port engagement members 39 engages a respective port 77 (
The other wall portion 21b is a leading end of the housing unit 22 in the fluid container installation (
Referring to
Referring to
A respective conforming receiver key pattern 46 of the receiving unit 13 is a combination and/or sequence of at least one or more projections 25a and one or more projection receiving areas 25b complementary to the respective key pattern 45 of the fluid container 10. Accordingly, the respective conforming first combination receiver key pattern 46a (complement of the first combination key pattern 45a previously described) is a sequence of an initial three adjacent projection receiving areas 25b followed by three adjacent projections 25a as viewed from a front elevation view of the receiving unit 13 (
Consequently, a conforming receiver key pattern 46 and 58 allows the respective key set 25 and 27 to engage and/or continue past the respective receiver key set 35 and 37 along a respective installation path 36. Thus, if both the first receiver key set 35 and second receiver key set 37 are in conformity, the fluid container 10 may proceed along the respective installation path 36 in its entirety and properly attach to the receiving unit 13 resulting in a proper installation. In the present example, the first key pattern 45 corresponds to a respective color of the fluid stored in the fluid container 10. Thus, for example, the fluid containers 10a containing yellow ink will each have the same first key pattern 45. Also, in an example, at least a portion of the first key set 25 may be color-coded to correspond to a respective color of fluid in the respective fluid chamber 23. Thus, for example, the projections 25a of the first key set 25 corresponding to the fluid containers 10a containing yellow ink may be colored yellow, and so on.
In the present example, the second key pattern 57 (
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
At one point, the first key set 25 and the first receiver key set 35 approach each other. If the respective key patterns 45 and 46 are in conformity, the fluid container 10 proceeds along the respective installation path 36d until the second key set 27 and the second receiver key set 37 approach each other. If the respective key patterns 57 and 58 are in conformity, the fluid container 10 continues along the respective installation path 36 until the port 77 engages the respective port engagement member 39d and establishes fluid communication between the fluid chamber 23 and the image forming apparatus 100. Also, in the present example, the second key set 27 and the second receiver key set 37 engage each other. For example, the respective projection receiving area 25b of the second receiver key set 37 of the receiving unit 13 may be recessed to allow the respective projections to be inserted therein. Thus, completion of the fluid container installation is attained. If, however, either of the respective key patterns associated with the first key set 25 and the second key set 27 are not in conformity, completion of the fluid container installation is not attained. Thus, a faulty installation is restricted and no fluid communication is established between the fluid chamber 23 and the image forming apparatus 100.
Accordingly, the inclusion and positioning of the first key set 25 and the second key set 27 on the respective wall portions 21a and 21b of the fluid container 10 reduces faulty installations due to fluid containers 10 containing inappropriately-colored fluid and fluid containers 10 associated with inappropriate fluid container families. This may be accomplished, in part, by alerting a user in an early stage of the fluid container installation process of nonconformity between the fluid container 10 with respect to its respective color of fluid stored therein and the receiver slot 12. This may also be accomplished, in part, by also restricting at a later stage of the fluid container installation process improper fluid communication between the fluid container 10 and the image forming apparatus 100.
The present disclosure has been described using non-limiting detailed descriptions of examples thereof that are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood that features and/or operations described with respect to one example may be used with other examples and that not all examples of the present disclosure have all of the features and/or operations illustrated in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the examples. Variations of examples described will occur to persons of the art. Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have” and their conjugates, shall mean, when used in the disclosure and/or claims, “including but not necessarily limited to.”
It is noted that some of the above described examples that are illustrative and therefore may include structure, acts or details of structures and acts that may not be essential to the present disclosure and which are described as examples. Structure and acts described herein are replaceable by equivalents, which perform the same function, even if the structure or acts are different, as known in the art. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the elements and limitations as used in the claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2010/058323 | 11/30/2010 | WO | 00 | 5/9/2013 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2013/115753 | 8/8/2013 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140192119 A1 | Jul 2014 | US |