Patent ID: 6296354
Filing Date: 2001-10-02
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
An ink container comprising:at least one partition dividing said ink container into plural ink chambers including at least a first ink chamber and a second ink chamber, said partition defining an ink path connecting said plural ink chambers in series;an air vent for communicating said first ink chamber with atmosphere; andan ink supply port for supplying ink from said second ink chamber to outside;wherein said ink path includes an ink absorbing material and provides for an ink flow to said ink supply port that empties each of said plural ink chambers in said series sequentially as ink is supplied from said ink supply port,wherein said second chamber has a space that directly contains the ink and further has a wall, at least a portion of the wall comprising a light-transmissible material, andwherein said second ink chamber has a horizontally extending cross-sectional area which in use is smaller than that of at least one other of said plural ink chambers so that a change in an ink level in said second ink chamber due to consumption of the ink is greater than that in said one other chamber.