Claims
- 1. An ink-jet pen comprising:
- a printhead;
- an ink chamber coupled to said printhead and having a bottom wall and sidewalls extending upward from said bottom wall which define a center chamber and first and second oppositely arranged aide chambers, respectively;
- a body of resilient synthetic foam mounted in each of said center ink chamber and said first and second oppositely arranged side chambers; and
- a centrally located non-capillary ink conducting pipe having a first end coupled to said center chamber and a second end coupled to said printhead, said first end having a rectangular internal cross-section, said first end extending upwardly into compressive contact with said body of resilient synthetic foam in said center chamber and defining a transition region between a capillary fluid path in said body of resilient synthetic foam and a non-capillary fluid path in said non-capillary ink conducting pipe, said rectangular internal cross-section of said first end preventing air bubbles trapped in said non-capillary ink conducting pipe from occluding said non-capillary ink conducting pipe in said transition region; and
- wherein each of said first and second side chambers is connected to said printhead by a side ink pipe having a length which extends directly upwardly in a first direction of travel from said printhead and then outwardly in a generally perpendicular second direction of travel into its respective ink chamber into compressive contact with said body of resilient foam located therein.
- 2. An ink-let pen according to claim 1 further comprising a mesh filter attached to said non-capillary ink conducting pipe and also extending into compressive contact with said body of resilient synthetic foam in said center chamber.
- 3. An ink-jet pen for use in a printing system to be scanned in a scanning axis back and forth across a print medium, the pen comprising:
- a printhead oriented to eject ink droplets downward onto said medium;
- an ink chamber coupled to said printhead and having a bottom wall and sidewalls extending upward from said bottom wall which define a center chamber and first and second oppositely arranged side chambers, respectively;
- a rectangular non-capillary center ink pipe fluidically coupled to said printhead and having a rectangular opening extending upwardly into contact with said center chamber;
- a rectangular mesh filter mounted on said center ink pipe,
- a body of resilient compressible synthetic foam mounted in each of said center ink chamber and said first and second oppositely arranged side chambers between said chamber sidewalls, said center ink pipe and mesh filter extending upwardly into compressive contact with said foam in said center chamber, said opening of said center ink pipe contacting said foam, each of said first and second side chambers connected to said printhead by a side ink pipe having a length which extends directly upwardly in a first direction of travel from the printhead and then outwardly in a generally perpendicular second direction of travel into its respective ink chamber along at least a portion of its length; and
- a quantity of ink disposed within said foam in each of said center and oppositely arranged side chambers.
- 4. An ink-jet pen according to claim 3, wherein said mesh filter is a wire mesh.
- 5. An ink-jet pen according to claim 3 wherein the rectangular non-capillary ink pipe has a rectangular internal cross-section.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This case is a continuation of INK-JET PEN WITH RECTANGULAR INK PIPE, Ser. No. 08/331,777, filed Oct. 31, 1994, (John M. Altendorf et al.) now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of the following parent applications: COMPACT FLUID COUPLER FOR THERMAL INK JET PRINT CARTRIDGE INK RESERVOIR, Ser. No. 07/853,372, filed Mar. 18, 1992 (James Salter et al.), now issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,578; COLLAPSIBLE INK RESERVOIR STRUCTURE AND PRINTER INK CARTRIDGE, Ser. No. 07/929,615, filed Aug. 12, 1992 (George T. Kaplinski et al.), now abandoned; and INK CARTRIDGE FOR A HARD COPY PRINTING OR PLOTTING APPARATUS, Ser. No. 08/170,840, filed Dec. 21, 1993 (Brian D. Gragg et al.), now issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,118.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
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0139508 |
May 1985 |
EPX |
Related Publications (2)
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Date |
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929615 |
Aug 1992 |
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170840 |
Dec 1993 |
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Continuations (1)
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331777 |
Oct 1994 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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853372 |
Mar 1992 |
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