This invention relates to the art of ink jet printers and, more particularly, to an ink delivery system for the continuous refill of disposable ink jet cartridges.
Disposable ink jet cartridges are of course well known and are designed to operate for a useful life during which the head elements will function appropriately a very high percentage of the time during the life of the cartridge. To insure high performance, such cartridges have a predetermined amount of ink contained within the cartridge, and the amount of ink in the cartridge is a function of the quantity of printing that the printhead elements can do before failing to function at the high performance level. Once the ink in the cartridge is used, the cartridge is discarded. Most often, when such a cartridge runs out of ink the printhead is still adequately functional, whereby discarding the cartridge is wasteful. Moreover, the necessity to frequently replace inkjet cartridges is both time and labor intensive as well as expensive from the standpoint of product usage.
Systems have been provided heretofore for refilling ink jet cartridges in order to prolong the life thereof. These systems have included the manual refilling of cartridges, the refilling of cartridges through the use of systems of valves and pumps, as shown for example in Patent 4,680,696 to Ebinuma, et al., and continuous ink refill systems such as shown, for example, in patents 4,831,389 to Chan, 5,159,348 to Dietl, et al., and 5,469,201 to Erickson, et al. In a system such as that to which the present invention is directed, ink is continuously supplied to a cartridge from a remotely located ink reservoir through flexible tubing and wherein the reservoir is located in the printer below the cartridge and ink is drawn into the cartridge from the reservoir by a slight vacuum that is created as the ink within the cartridge is depleted. The reservoir is positioned below the cartridge to prevent flooding which can occur if the bag is positioned above the cartridge such that the head pressure of the ink in the supply line causes ink to be forced out of the cartridge nozzles and onto the surface of the nozzle plate. Such excess ink can adversely effect or even block the firing of the cartridge jet. At the same time, if the remote ink supply is positioned too far below the cartridge, the vacuum within the cartridge will not be sufficient to pull the ink into the cartridge from the reservoir. Accordingly, there is a fairly narrow operating window for the position of the reservoir relative to the cartridge. Since all of the ink in the reservoir must fall within the operating window, the size of the reservoir can be severely limited. Other concerns exist with respect to maximizing the utilization of space for the reservoir and maximizing the quantity of the volume of ink therein which is delivered or withdrawn from the reservoir. Moreover, in the systems heretofore provided, the connection of the supply tubing to the cartridge does not optimize protection of the latter from becoming disconnected from the cartridge during handling and/or is not routed relative to the cartridge so as to preclude interference with manipulation of the cartridge during insertion and removal thereof from a printer.
According to the present invention, an ink delivery system for the continuous refilling of an ink jet cartridge is provided which advantageously minimizes and/or overcomes the foregoing and other disadvantages encountered in connection with the use of such systems heretofore available. More particularly in this respect, a delivery system according to the present invention includes an ink reservoir in the form of a bag of flexible plastic sheet material having a structure which provides for containing a desired volume of ink for a given application and for optimizing depletion of the volume of ink from the bag during use such that a minimum amount of ink is left in the bag. Moreover, the structure provides a thin profile for the bag and thus a small head height variation over the life of the bag from the full to the empty condition thereof. In particular in this respect, the bag, when filled with ink, has length, width and height dimensions which provide an Aspect Ratio which, preferably, is in excess of four. The Aspect Ratio is the smaller of the length and width dimensions divided by the height. Accordingly, for example, if the bag has a length of 8 inches, a width of 3⅜ inches, and a height when filled of 3/4 inch the Aspect Ratio for the bag is 4.5. The low profile provided by an Aspect Ratio greater than four maximizes the quantity of ink delivered from the bag and, thus, minimizes ink loss through non-use. With respect to depleting the ink from the bag during use, the flexible sides of the bag collapse together as the bag is emptied and, as they collapse together, a thin channel is formed which permits the ink to flow by capillary action from all areas of the bag to the exit port thereof. The capillary action increases as the ink is depleted and the channel narrows.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the bag has separate fill and exit ports, and the exit port is connected by flexible tubing to an ink cartridge to provide a closed supply system which does not require any venting in the system, such as by a vent hole somewhere in the system, and the totally closed system eliminates any chance of spillage during handling by a user. The separate fill and exit ports advantageously facilitates filling the bag in a manner which minimizes air bubbles in the ink delivery system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the flexible supply tubing is coupled with the ink cartridge so as to minimize any interference with respect to manipulating the cartridge into and from its location in a printer and to minimize the application of any strain on the tubing which would potentially affect the fluid flow connection thereof with the cartridge. Preferably, with respect to these attributes, the cartridge has an inlet coupling having a leg parallel to the top wall of the cartridge, and the tubing extends upwardly along an end or side wall of the cartridge and through a tube clamping device mounted on the cartridge or an opening through the cartridge handle for connection with the leg of the inlet coupling. Accordingly, the tubing is closely adjacent to the top and walls of the cartridge and is associated therewith so as to allow full use of the cartridge handle for installing and removing the cartridge relative to a printer while being relieved of strain at the point of connection with the cartridge.
The foregoing advantages of the present invention, and others, will in part be obvious and in part pointed out more fully hereinafter in conjunction with the written description of preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention, an ink delivery system 10 in accordance with the present invention includes, primarily, an ink reservoir bag 12, an ink cartridge 14 and a flexible ink supply tube 16 connecting the cartridge with the reservoir bag as set forth hereinafter. Preferably, as is also set forth in greater detail hereinafter, the system further includes an enclosure for the reservoir bag which, in the embodiment of
As shown in
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, ink reservoir bag 12 has separate inlet and exit ports respectively defined by inlet and exit tubes 34 and 36 which extend between and are bonded to sheets 28 and 30 along the perimeter of the bag as defined by peripheral edges 28a and 30a of the sheets. Preferably the fill and exit ports extend through the periphery of the bag along one of the narrower dimensions as defined by width W and the tubes are bonded to the sheets such as by a heat seal or through the use of a suitable adhesive. The tubes have inner ends which open into chamber 32 and outer ends which extend a short distance beyond the outermost edges of peripheral edges 28a and 30a of the sheets. In a preferred embodiment, exit port tube 36 has an inner diameter of 0.17 inch, an outer diameter of 0.25 inch, and a length of 0.75 inch, and fill port tube 34 has an inner diameter of 0.24 inch, an outer diameter of 0.30 inch, and a length of 0.75 inch. Check valve 22 is interposed between tube 36 and tubing 16 and, in this respect, includes an inlet stem 38 received in the outer end of tube 36 and an outlet stem 40 received in supply tubing 16. Fill port tube 34 provides an injection sight for a lure lock component 42 having a stem 44 received in the outer end of tube 34. Preferably, supply tubing 16 has an inner diameter of 0.12 inch and is silicone tubing having a durometer hardness of 50. It will be appreciated, however, that PVC or vinyl tubing having durometer values in the range of 65-70 can be used as well as other tubing.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, and as mentioned above, a container comprising bottom and cover components 18 and 20, respectively, is provided for enclosing reservoir bag 12 to provide protection for the latter, including protection against the application of pressure on the bag during shipping, system installation and cleaning procedures. Moreover, the container facilitates stacking of the containers in a printer and adds aesthetically to the supply system. In the embodiment illustrated, bottom 18 is constructed from a sheet of suitable cardboard which is cut and folded to provide a bottom wall 46, opposite side walls 48 and opposite end walls 50, and the side walls and end walls are interconnected at the junctures therebetween by metal corner staples 52. Similarly, cover 20 is constructed from cardboard material which is cut and folded to provide a top wall 54 opposite side walls 56 and opposite end walls 58. Again, the side walls and end walls are interconnected at the junctures therebetween by metal corner staples 52, and it will be appreciated that top wall 54, side walls 56, and end walls 58 are dimensioned in length and width for cover 20 to receive bottom 18 therein with the side walls and end walls thereof within and facially engaging the corresponding one of the side walls and end walls of the cover. Preferably, the side walls and end walls of bottom 18 and cover 20 are of a height which provides for the bottom edges of the side walls and end walls of the cover to be generally coplanar with the outer side of bottom wall 46 of the bottom of the container. End walls 50 and 58 at one end of each of the bottom and cover components are each provided with a pair of spaced apart U-shaped slots 60 and 62 opening into the corresponding end wall from the free edge thereof. When the bottom and cover components are assembled with bag 12 therebetween, each of the pairs of slots 60 and 62 cooperatively provide a generally circular opening through which exit port 38 and fill port 34 extend, respectively, such that the check valve and lure lock components are outside the container. It will be appreciated, of course, that other container structures can be used. In this respect, for example, the bottom and top components can be constructed from plastic material, and with such a construction the top could be a flat sheet of plastic overlying and suitably supported on and/or interengaged with the bottom.
Ink cartridge 14 has a front wall 64, a top wall 70, and a rear wall 72 and, in a well-known manner, the cartridge is provided with a handle 74 at the juncture between top wall 70 and rear wall 72. As is further well known, the cartridge includes a printhead 76. Handle 74 facilitates introducing and removing the cartridge relative to a cartridge holder in a printer. As mentioned above, cartridge 14 includes an ell fitting 24 for connecting tubing 16 with the cartridge and a clamping device 26 which, in this embodiment, is operable to open and close tubing 16 to the flow of ink to and from the cartridge and, additionally, provides strain relief for the connection of tubing 16 to fitting 24. More particularly with regard to these features, fitting 24 includes first and second legs 78 and 80, respectively, and leg 78 extends downwardly through top wall 70 and is suitably interengaged with the cartridge for the inner end of the leg to open into the ink chamber of the cartridge. Second leg 80 is closely adjacent to top wall 70 and extends parallel thereto and toward handle 74 of the cartridge. The corresponding end of tubing 16 is attached to leg 80, and the disposition of leg 80 relative to top wall 70 of the cartridge advantageously enables maintaining a low profile for the cartridge and tubing as well as optimizing protection of the tubing. Clamping device 26 includes first and second clamping members 82 and 84, respectively, and member 82 is suitably mounted on the cartridge against displacement relative thereto. Clamping member 84 is mounted on member 82 for sliding interengagement therewith, and a spring 86 is interposed between the two members and biases member 84 to the position thereof shown in
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the structures of and structural interrelationships between the component parts of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated that other embodiments can be devised and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principals of the invention. In particular in this respect, it is to be understood that a bag formed by folding a sheet of plastic material to provide overlying sheets bonded about the periphery thereof is intended to correspond to a bag comprising two sheets of plastic material having peripheral edges bonded together as shown and described herein. Accordingly, it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation and that it is intended to include other embodiments and all modifications of the preferred embodiments insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.