INK CONTAINER WITH IMPROVED INK FLOW

Abstract

An ink container includes a housing, a print head, and a fluid chamber. The housing has two inclined walls formed to divide the fluid chamber into a center ink well and two side ink wells. The housing also has two side walls, each having an inclined inner surface. The center ink well is formed between the two inclined walls. Each side ink well is formed between an inclined wall and a side wall. The inner surface of each side wall has a greater inclination than those of the inclined walls, so that each side ink well has a width decreasing from top to bottom.

Description

Summary of Invention

[0009] It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide an ink container that improves ink flow from top to bottom.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an ink container comprising a housing having two side walls, each side wall having an inner surface, a print head installed at a bottom of the housing for ejecting ink onto a document, and an ink chamber formed inside the housing having two inclined walls for dividing the ink chamber into a center ink well and two side ink wells. The center ink well is formed between the two inclined walls and has a width decreasing from top to bottom, each of the two side ink wells is formed between an inclined wall and a corresponding side wall. The inner surface of at least one of the side walls has a greater inclination than that of the corresponding inclined wall, so that the side ink well formed between the side wall and the inclined wall has a width decreasing from top to bottom.

[0011] The present invention further provides an ink container that comprises a housing having two side walls, a print head installed at a bottom of the housing for ejecting ink onto a document, and an ink chamber formed inside the housing having two inclined walls for dividing the ink chamber into a center ink well and two side ink wells. The center ink well is formed between the two inclined walls and has a width decreasing from top to bottom. Each of the two side fluid wells is formed between an inclined wall and a corresponding side wall. The ink container further comprises a porous member positioned inside one of the side fluid wells for absorbing ink, and the porous member has a width increasing from top to bottom.

[0012] It is an advantage of the present invention that the bottom end of the porous member is compressed more than the top end, to improve ink flow from top to bottom.

[0013] These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0014] Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an ink container according to the prior art.

[0015] Fig. 2 is a sectional view of an ink container according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

[0016] Please refer to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of an ink container 50 according to the present invention. The ink container 50 comprises a housing 52 that has two side walls 54, each of which has an inner surface, a print head 56 that is installed at a bottom of the housing 52 for ejecting ink onto a document, and an ink chamber 63 that is formed inside the housing 52 and has two inclined walls 60 for dividing the ink chamber 63 into a center ink well 62 and two side ink wells 64. The center ink well 62 is formed between the two inclined walls 60 and has a width decreasing from top to bottom. Each of the two side ink wells 64 is formed between an inclined wall 60 and a corresponding side wall 54. The inner surface of at least one of the side walls 54 has a greater inclination than that of the corresponding inclined wall 60, so that the side ink well 64 has a width decreasing from top to bottom. Each of the three ink wells 62, 64 is employed to store one color of ink by way of a porous member 66, such as a foam that has a uniform width, to absorb ink.

[0017] The ink container 50 further comprises a center ink pipe 68 and two side ink pipes 72. The center ink pipe 68 fluidly connects the center ink well 62 and the print head 56. The side ink pipe 72 connects the side ink well 64 and the print head 56. A center filter 70 is horizontally installed on a top end of the center ink pipe 68 for filtering ink transmitted from the center ink well 62. Two side filters 74 are installed between the side ink well 64 and the corresponding side ink pipe 72, so that the width of the bottom portion of the side ink well 64 also decreases from top to bottom (W9>W10).

[0018] According to the present invention, the widths of the center ink well 62 and the side ink well 64 decrease from top to bottom, so that the bottom portion of the porous member 66 with uniform width is compressed more than the top portion. This causes ink inside the ink well to have a trend of being pushed down, and such a trend improves ink flow from the top end to the bottom end.

[0019] Please refer to Fig. 2 again, where the center ink well 62 with width decreasing from top to bottom (W5>W6) can be formed naturally in the molding process. Considering the side ink well 64, a rib 58 with width increasing from top to bottom is added to the inner face of the side wall 54 so as to form the side ink well 64 with width decreasing from top to bottom (W7>W8).

[0020] In contrast to the prior art, the present invention improves ink flow from top to bottom.

[0021] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Claims

1. What is claimed is:

2. The fluid container of claim 1 further comprising porous members positioned inside the center fluid well, the first side fluid well, and the second side fluid well for absorbing fluid.

3. The fluid container of claim 1 further comprising a center fluid pipe formed between the center fluid well and the print head for connecting the center fluid well and the print head.

4. The fluid container of claim 3 further comprising a center filter horizontally installed on a top end of the center fluid pipe for filtering fluid transmitted from the center fluid well.

5. The fluid container of claim 1 further comprising a second side fluid pipe formed between the second side fluid well and the print head for connecting the second side fluid pipe and the print head.

6. The fluid container of claim 5 further comprising a second side filter installed between the second side fluid well and the second side fluid pipe for filtering fluid transmitted from the second side fluid well.

7. The fluid container of claim 1 wherein the center fluid well, the first side fluid well, and the second side fluid well are used to store ink of three different colors.

8. A fluid container comprising:

9. The fluid container of claim 8 further comprising a center fluid pipe formed between the center fluid well and the print head for connecting the center fluid well and the print head.

10. The fluid container of claim 9 further comprising a center filter horizontally installed on a top end of the center fluid pipe for filtering fluid transmitted from the center fluid well.

11. The fluid container of claim 8 wherein a width of the center fluid well continuously decreases from top to bottom.

12. The fluid container of claim 8 further comprising a second side fluid well formed inside the housing, the second side fluid well being formed between the second inner wall and the second side wall.

13. The fluid container of claim 12 further comprising porous members positioned inside the center fluid well and the second side fluid well for absorbing fluid.

14. The fluid container of claim 12 wherein the center fluid well, the first side fluid well, and the second side fluid well are used to store ink of three different colors.

15. The fluid container of claim 12 further comprising a second side fluid pipe formed between the second side fluid well and the print head for connecting the second side fluid pipe and the print head.

16. The fluid container of claim 15 further comprising a second side filter installed between the second side fluid well and the second side fluid pipe for filtering fluid transmitted from the second side fluid well.

17. The fluid container of claim 16 wherein the second side filter is disposed such that a horizontal distance from the second side filter to the second side wall continuously decreases from top to bottom.