REPLENISHMENT OF RESERVOIRS

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for ensuring that the correct container (10) containing a replenishment fluid is connected to a vessel (26) for that fluid. The container carries one component (18) of a pair of axially engageable members (20), the other (28) is carried by the vessel (26, 30), notably around the necks extending therefrom, so that the members (20, 30) have to engage and nest so as to allow the necks of the container and the vessel to engage fully and thus mount the container on the vessel, one of the members (18, 28) being a moveable fit upon the container (10) or vessel (26), preferably by virtue of being a snap fit thereon, so that the member can be rotated to align its projections (20) with the recesses (30) on the other member. The invention is of especial application in ink jet printers to identify solvent and ink refill bottles and ensure that they are connected to the correct reservoir and by the use of the snap fit members allows a conventional refill bottle and reservoir to be used to achieve this.

Description: TITLE: REPLENISHMENT OF RESERVOIRS The present invention relates to the replenishment of reservoirs, notably to a method of ensuring that the correct bottle or other source of. replenishing ink or other fluid is fitted to a reservoir on a piece of equipment which has at least two reservoirs to be replenished with different substances supplied in replaceable containers. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION; Some pieces of equipment, for example ink jet printers, have to be replenished with more than one fluid. For example these fluids may be an ink and a separate top-up fluid which is a solvent or carrier for the ink to adjust the viscosity of the ink during operation of the printer. The replenishment fluids are conventionally supplied in plastic bottles, metal flasks or other containers, the neck or outlet of which is secured into a corresponding socket at the inlet to the reservoir or other vessel holding the supply of that fluid for use in the equipment. For convenience the term container will be used herein to denote in general the bottle, flask, etc in which the replenishment fluid is supplied to the equipment; and the term vessel will be used to denote the tank or other reservoir in which the fluid is stored in the equipment for use during the operation of the equipment. The container and the vessel are often constructed so as to allow the replenishment fluid to flow from the container into the vessel once the outlet of the container has been seated home upon the inlet to the vessel, for example by having suitable engaging valve members. Where the equipment uses a number of different fluids, for example inks and solvents or different coloured inks in an ink jet printer, it is necessary to ensure that the correct container is fitted to the correct vessel to avoid contamination of one fluid with another and possible damage to the equipment, for example by feeding corrosive concentrated solvent through an ink line. It has been proposed to colour code the cap or other closure of a container to identify the fluid contained therein and to colour code the vessels so that a user can readily see whic container should be fitted to which vessel. However, this does not physically prevent the wrong container from being connected to a vessel, notably by a person who is colour blind. It has therefore been proposed, as is acknowledged in US Patent no 4907019, to form the neck of the container with a series of axial flutes which engage with axial slots formed in the inlet bore of the vessel, so that a container can only be fitted to a vessel having the corresponding slots. This provides a physical barrier to fitting the wrong container to the inlet of a vessel which does not have the corresponding slot configuration. However, such a structure requires that the container outlets and the vessel inlets be especially manufactured to carry the flutes and slots, which adds to the cost and complexity of the equipment and restricts the freedom of a user to purchase replenishment fluids from alternative sources. Furthermore, if, as stated in the US Patent, a manufacturer produces a second generation of the equipment which requires a modified version of the replenishment fluid, it is necessary to structure the flutes/slots to prevent use of the first generation fluids on a second generation machine. In some cases the second generation fluids may be suitable for use in the first generation of machines, in " which case it may be desirable to permit this by further permutations of the flute/slot arrangements. The use of a flute/slot arrangement thus becomes complex and expensive and precludes alternative supply of fluids to an end user. We have now devised a form of identification means which reduces the above problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: Accordingly, the present invention provides a means for relating the identity of a container to a vessel to which the container is to be connected so as to discharge a replenishment fluid from the container to the vessel via an outlet from the container which engages with an inlet to the vessel, characterised in that the said inlet and outlet are each provided with one component of a pair of inter-engaging members, at least one of which is carried as a move-able fit upon either the container or vessel, whereby engagement of the members is required before the container can be secured in fluid flow communication with the vessel. Preferably, the inter-engaging members are provided as a ring or annular member mounted upon each neck member extending from the container and the vessel which contain the outlet and inlet respectively, one of the ring members carrying a circumferential or annular series of projections which engage in a corresponding series of recesses carried by the other ring member so that full axial engagement of the container with the vessel cannot be achieved until the projections engage with the recesses. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the ring member on the neck of the container is a snap fit upon the neck and is a rotatable fit upon the neck, whereby the ring member can be a snap fit post fitted accessory upon the neck of a conventional replenishment bottle or the like and allows the ring member to be rotated to align its projections with the recesses on the ring member carried by the vessel or vice versa and/or allows the container to be rotated once the projections " and the recesses have been engaged so as to screw or bayonet mount the container on the vessel. Similarly, the ring member on the vessel can be a snap fit so that the whole of the container/vessel identification means can be provided as a separate accessory which is post fitted to conventional containers and vessels with little or no modification thereof so that a user can readily modify existing equipment to ensure that the correct replenishment container is fitted to the correct reservoir or other vessel. It will be appreciated that the member carrying the projections can be carried by the vessel and the member carrying the recesses by the container or vice versa. Furthermore, the one of the members can be secured fixedly to the container and/or the vessel so that they become an integral part thereof, rather than being a snap fit or demountable fixing thereto. For convenience, the present invention will be described hereinafter in terms of a ring member carrying the projections which is fitted as a snap fit upon the neck of the container, with the ring or other member carried by the neck of the vessel being moulded integrally with the body and neck of the vessel during its manufacture. However, it will be appreciated that the member carried by the vessel can be a snap fit upon the neck of the vessel to provide the recesses into which the projections on the ring member carried by the neck of the container are to engage. The invention can be applied to a wide range of types of vessel and container. However, it is of especial application in securing the correct fitment of a plastic or similar bottle containing a replenishment solvent or ink to one of several reservoirs of such fluids in an ink jet.printer, notably to ensure that an ink refill bottle is fitted to the ink reservoir whereas a solvent top up bottle is fitted to the solvent reservoir. The invention therefore provides an ink jet printer containing "at least two reservoirs each adapted to receive a fluid from a replenishment bottle, characterised in that the inlet to the reservoir carries one member of the identifying means of the invention and the neck of the replenishment bottle carries the other member of the identifying means. Preferably each container ring member has at least one arm which extends parallel to the direction of coupling movement between the container and the vessel, and the ring on the neck of the vessel has a slot or slots corresponding in number and in angular spacing to the arm or arms on the container ring. Typically, the container and the vessel are coupled by axial movement of the container towards the vessel combined by rotation of the container so that a screw or bayonet mounting between the container and vessel can be achieved. The arms and slots or recesses therefore extend axially in such a form of mounting. However, the container may be mounted upon the vessel by transverse relative movement, as when the neck of the container has a radially extending lip or flange which engages in opposed slots carried by the neck of the vessel, in which case the inter-engaging members of the identifying means of the invention engage as the container and vessel move transversely. For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of a container which is an axial screw or bayonet fit on the neck of the vessel and the ring member on the neck of. the container permits relative rotation of the container and vessel to allow securing of the screw or bayonet mounting after the projections and recesses of the ring members engage. This feature is not possible with the fixed flute/slot design of the prior proposal and, coupled with the snap fit of the member onto the neck of the container provides a particularly versatile embodiment of the invention which can be applied to existing containers. The ring members can carry one or more arms and corresponding slots, for example the ring member on the vessel can carry three equi-angularly spaced slots, and the ring member on the container will have three arms at corresponding positions so that the arms and slots are in register when the container is coupled to the vessel and the two ring members can nest axially to achieve foreshortening of the ring members to allow the container to be pushed or screwed fully home upon the vessel. It will be appreciated that the arms need not be carried upon only the one ring member and that it is within the scope of the present invention for a ring member to carry both arms and slots. The possible permutations of slots and arms to identify co-operating containers and vessels can thus be extended by varying the number and position of the slots and arms on either or both of the ring members to ensure that a specific container/vessel combination has a unique identifying arm/slot combination. To further assist correct coupling of the container and vessel, the ring members and the closure cap for the containers and the inlet to the reservoir can be colour coded. As indicated above, the coupling action between the container and the reservoir may be by an axial push or screw-in movement, with the container being inverted so that its neck is downwards as the coupling action takes place.. Preferably, the neck of the container is closed by a frangible seal which is broken as the container is moved fully home onto or into the inlet of the vessel. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the top of a fluid container in accordance with the invention; Figures 2 and 3 are respectively perspective and plan views of a ring member for use with the container of Figure l; Figure 4 shows the container of Figure l with its screw closure cap removed and invented over a reservoir to be replenished from the container; Figure 5 is a plan view of the neck of the reservoir from Figure 4; Figure 6 is a view corresponding to Figure 4 but showing a different container and different reservoir; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the container ring member from Figure 6; and Figure 8 is a plan view of the reservoir neck from Figure 6. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: A replenishment container 10 is shown in Figure 1 with a screw top 12 and a ring member 14 around the neck of the container. The container contains a fluent material (either a fluid or a powder) which is to be charged to a reservoir on a piece of equipment, such as an ink jet printer. The cap 12 is screwed- onto a threaded neck 16 (see Figure 4), and the neck is sealed by an aluminium foil transverse membrane (not shown). The ring 14 is shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 3. The ring consists of an annular portion 18 which surrounds the neck 16 of the container, and two diametrically opposed axially extending arms 20. The inside of the annular portion 18 has a series of teeth 22 which are shaped so that they act as a ratchet as the ring is pushed onto the container neck 16 over the threads on the neck so that they engage the threads and prevent ready removal of the ring once in place. The ring 14 preferably rotates freely around the neck 16, so that as the cap 12 is unscrewed (as indicated by an arrow 24) the ring 14 will also rotate so that it does not obstruct the gripping of the cap 12 during unscrewing. Furthermore, where the container is secured on vessel 28 by a screw mounting, the rotation of ring 14 will allow the screw mounting to be achieved with ring 14 in place. The arms 20 are radially offset from the annular portion 18 of the ring member to allow the cap 12 to fit fully onto the threaded neck 16. The arms 20 can have simple square-cut ends or can have transversely extending feet as shown which can be angled to assist engagement of the arms into the slots in the neck of the vessel as described below. An ink jet printer consumes both top-up fluid and ink, and these fluids are contained in separate reservoirs 26, 27 which are mounted on the printer. These reservoirs have to be replenished from time to time as the fluids are used up, and it is conventional to supply the replenishment fluids in containers of the type shown in Figure 1 which are stored, in a sealed condition, where they are accessible to the operator of the machine. To replenish the fluid, the appropriate container 10 is taken and the cap 12 ' is unscrewed and discarded. At this point the contents of the container are still sealed into the container by the aluminium foil across the end of the container neck. The container is then inverted as shown in Figure 4 and the neck 16 is lowered onto the filler neck 28 of the appropriate reservoir 26 or 27. The neck 16 is a push or screw fit into the filler neck 28, and as this axial coupling between the container and the reservoir takes place, the arms 20 on the ring member 14 carried by the container enter the axial slots 30 in the filler neck 28. Provided that the number and position of the arms 20 corresponds with the position of the slots 30, then complete coupling between the container 10 and the reservoir 26 can take place. As indicated above, the container can be a screw mounting upon the vessel,1 in which case the engagement of the arms with the slots serves primarily to ensure that the correct container is being fitted to the vessel. However, the container can, as shown, be a simple axial push fit mount upon the vessel, for example where the neck of the vessel has a tapered bore into which the neck of the container fits. In this case it may be desirable for the engagement of the arms and the slots to serve the secondary function of locking the container in place once the arms and slots have been engaged. Thus, the slots 30 can be of a dog leg configuration and the feet of the arms 20 can be turned inwardly to engage the slot 30 in a bayonet type of -fitting. Within the filler neck 28 is a seal piercer 32 which is in the form of a hollow metal tube with its end cut off at an angle so that, as the container 10 is pushed or screwed into the filler neck 28, the piercer 32 will pierce the foil seal across the neck to allow the contents of the container 10 to flow into the reservoir 26. It will be appreciated that the piercer should not make contact with the foil seal until the arms 20 have entered the slots 30 and the correct matching of the container to the vessel is assured. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the slots 30 can be formed as an integral part of the neck 28 of the vessel 26. However, this need not be the case and the slots could be carried on a second ring member similar to the ring 14 carried by the neck of container 10. In this case the ring members can be fitted by a user to conventional containers and reservoirs to modify existing equipment to possess the identity means of the invention. Figures 6, 7 and 8 show a second reservoir 27. This reservoir is for containing ink rather than top-up fluid, and the filler neck 28a has three equi-angularly spaced slots 30a which are positioned and dimensioned so as to receive the three arms 20a on the register ring 14a fitted on the container 10a of ink. Because of the difference between the number and position of the arms 20 and 20a on the rings 14 and 14a and the number and position of the slots 30 and 30a, container 10 cannot be coupled to the filler neck 28a, and container 10a cannot be coupled to the filler neck 28. The arrangement just described therefore ensures that only the correct container is coupled to the correct reservoir and that an attempt to couple the wrong container to a reservoir will be physically prevented. Although the embodiment described uses a push-in coupling between the container 10 and the reservoir 26, 27 the invention can also be applied to a situation where there is a screw-in coupling between the two. Where there is a screw-in coupling, it would be necessary for either the register ring 14a or the outer rim of the neck 28, 28a to rotate during the coupling movement. The ring 14, 14a is preferably moulded from plastics and may be colour coded to assist in identifying the correct container-for the correct reservoir. The invention therefore also provides an assembly for modifying the container and the vessel of a combination of a vessel to which a container is to be connected so as to discharge a replenishment material from the container to the vessel via an outlet from the container which engages with an inlet to the vessel, characterised in that the said assembly comprises a pair of annular members adapted to be mounted one upon said inlet and the other upon said outlet, at least one of which is adapted to be mounted as a move-able fit upon either the inlet or outlet, the said annular members carrying one or more axially inter-engageable members whereby engagement of the inter-engageable members is required before the container can be secured in flow communication with the vessel.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. An assembly for modifying the container and the vessel of a combination of a vessel to which a container is to be connected so as to discharge a replenishment material from the container to the vessel via an outlet from the container which engages with an inlet to the vessel, characterised in that the said assembly comprises a pair of annular members adapted to be mounted one upon said inlet and the other upon said outlet, at least one of which is adapted to be mounted as a move-able fit upon either the inlet or outlet, the said annular members carrying one or more axially inter-engageable members whereby engagement of the inter-engageable members is required before the container can be secured in flow communication with the vessel. 2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that one annular member carries an annular series of axial projections and the other annular member carries an annular series of corresponding axially extending recesses adapted to receive the projections of the other member whereby the assembly can be axially foreshortened when the projections are engaged in to the recesses. 3. An assembly as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 , characterised in that at least one of the annular members is provided with radially.inwardly projecting members adapted to engage the outer wall of the inlet or outlet upon which it is to be mounted. 4. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. 5. A means for relating the identity of a container to a vessel to which the container is to be connected so as to discharge a replenishment fluid from the container to the vessel via an outlet from the container which engages with an inlet to the vessel, characterised in that the said inlet and outlet are each provided with one component of a pair of inter- engaging members, at least one of which is carried as a move¬ able fit upon either the container or vessel, whereby engagement of the members is required before the container can be secured in fluid flow communication with the vessel. 6. A means as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the container and the vessel are each provided with a neck member extending therefrom which are provided with the said outlet and the said inlet respectively and the container is mounted upon the vessel by the axial engagement of the said necks; and in that at least one of the said inter-engaging members is provided as an annular member mounted upon one of said neck members, said annular member carrying either an annular series of axial recesses or an annular series of axial projections, the other of said series providing the other of the said iήter- engaging members; the series of recesses being configured so as axially to register with and receive the series of projections and thus allow axial nesting of the inter-engageable members to permit mounting of the container upon the vessel. 7. A means as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the annular member is carried externally by the neck of the container and the other inter-engageable member is provided externally around the base of the inlet to the vessel. 8. A means as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that the annular member is r tatable upon the neck of the container. 9. A means as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8, characterised in that the container and the vessel are each provided with a neck member extending therefrom which are provided with the said outlet and the said inlet respectively and the container is mounted upon the vessel by the axial engagement of the said necks; in that the inter-engaging members are formed as annular members carried by the said necks, one annular member carrying a circumferential series of projections which engage in a corresponding series of recesses carried by the other annular member so that full axial engagement of the container with the vessel cannot be achieved . until the projections engage with the recesses, the annular member on the neck of the container being a snap fit upon the neck and a rotatable fit upon the neck, whereby the annular member can be rotated to align its projections with the recesses on the ring member carried by the vessel or vice versa and/or to allow the container to be rotated once the projections and the recesses have been engaged so as to screw mount the container on the vessel. 10. A means as claimed in claim 5, substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to and as shown in any one of the accompanying drawings. 11. A means as claimed in any one of. claims 5 to 10, characterised in that the container contains a fluid ink or solvent for use in an ink jet printer and the vessel is a reservoir for that fluid in the ink jet printer. 12. An ink jet printer provided with means as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 11 for identifying which reservoir is to receive which container of replenishment fluid.

Inventors: BATES CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL, BATES, CHRISTOPHER, MICHAEL
Applicants: WILLETT INT LTD, WILLETT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B67D5
IPC codes: B41J2, B65D81, B67D5