Patent Publication Number: US-6705714-B1

Title: Ink cartridge having ink supply bag filled to less than capacity and folded in cartridge housing

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Reference is made to commonly assigned, copending applications Ser. No. 09/931,523, entitled INK CARTRIDGE WITH COLOR DISCRIMINATION STRUCTURE and filed Aug. 16, 2001 in the names of Trafton, Newkirk, and Robinson; Ser. No. 09/931,420, entitled INK CARTRIDGE WITH ALIGNMENT FEATURES AND METHOD OF INSERTING CARTRIDGE INTO A PRINTER RECEPTACLE and filed Aug. 16, 2001 in the names of Trafton, Newkirk, Robinson, and Gotham; Ser. No. 09/931,521, entitled INK CARTRIDGE WITH MEMORY CHIP AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING and filed Aug. 16, 2001 in the names of Trafton, Newkirk, and Robinson; and Ser. No. 09/931,313, entitled INK CARTRIDGE WITH INTERNAL INK BAG AND METHOD OF FILLING and filed Aug. 16, 2001 in the names of Trafton, Farnung, and Petranek. 
     Reference is also made to commonly assigned, copending applications Ser. No. 10/198,517, entitled INK CARTRIDGE HAVING CONNECTABLE-DISCONNECTABLE HOUSING AND INK SUPPLY BAG and filed Jul. 18, 2002 in the names of Perkins, Corby, Dietl and Petranek, and Ser. No. 10/198,515, entitled DISPOSABLE INK SUPPLY BAG HAVING CONNECTOR-FITTING and filed Jul. 18, 2002 in the names of Perkins, Corby, Dietl and Petranek. 
     Reference is also made to commonly assigned, copending application Ser. No. 10/224,805. entitled METHOD OF FILLING INK SUPPLY BAG FOR INK CARTRIDGE and filed Aug. 21, 2002 in the names of Whitlock and Petranek. 
     All of the cross-referenced applications are incorporated into this application. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to ink cartridges such as for ink jet printers, and in particular to an ink cartridge having an ink supply bag that is filled with a liquid ink. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The cross-referenced applications filed Aug. 16, 2001, particularly the one entitled INK CARTRIDGE WITH INTERNAL INK BAG AND METHOD OF FILLING, disclose a flexible bag filled with a liquid ink and a pair of housing halves that are connected together to contain the bag. 
     The bag when empty is placed in one of the housing halves. Then, the other housing half is connected to the one with the bag via an ultrasonic weld, and the bag is filled with the liquid ink. 
     The bag is filled to its capacity (its full volume) and is constrained in the cartridge housing by making contact with the cartridge housing at various spots. Since there are a number of spaces between the bag and the cartridge housing, there is room for the bag to expand. However, since the bag is filled to its capacity, the bag might possibly rupture if the cartridge housing is mechanically shocked, such as by dropping the cartridge housing onto a hard surface. 
     This problem is believed to be solved by the invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the invention, an ink cartridge comprising a flexible bag filled with a liquid ink, and a cartridge housing that holds the bag, is characterized in that: 
     the bag is larger than the housing, but is folded to fit in the housing; and 
     the bag is filled to a predetermined percentage of its full volume to fill the bag to less than its capacity in order to prevent the bag from rupturing, but is filled sufficiently to substantially occupy the housing when folded. Preferably, the bag has a width that is greater than a width of the housing and has a length that is less than a length of the housing so that the bag need only be folded widthwise to fit in the housing. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, a method of preparing an ink bag to fit in a housing of an ink cartridge comprises: 
     providing a bag that is larger than the housing; 
     filling the bag to a predetermined percentage of its full volume to fill the bag to less than its capacity in order to prevent said bag from rupturing, but filling the bag sufficiently to substantially occupy said housing when folded; and 
     folding the bag to fit in the housing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an ink cartridge including a pair of housing halves, a fitting including an egress snout for discharging an ink supply from a bag or alternatively for discharging a cleaner supply from the bag, and a collar that mates with the snout in any one of a number of allowable orientations to provide an identification of the ink supply; 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 are exploded perspective views of the egress snout and the collar as shown from opposite views; and 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, except that the cartridge is shown partially assembled; 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are exploded perspective views of a memory chip shown being inserted into a pocket in the housing halves; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 4, except that one of the housing halves is shown partially cut away to reveal stakes that are adhered to the fitting; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, except that a cap is mated with the snout in place of the collar when the cleaner supply rather than the ink supply is stored in the bag; 
     FIGS. 9,  10  and  11  are perspective views similar to FIGS. 2,  3  and  4 , except that the cap is shown rather than the collar; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 11, but as shown from an opposite view; 
     FIG. 13 is a section view of the housing halves, showing how protuberances on one of the housing halves are received within respective cavities in the other housing half in order to be welded to the other housing half; 
     FIG. 14 is a section view of the housing halves, showing a protuberance welded to the other housing half; 
     FIG. 15 is a section view similar to FIG. 13, showing arrows to indicate various dimensions; 
     FIG. 16 is an end view of the housing halves connected together; 
     FIG. 17 is a plan view of the bag when empty and shown bottom end down and top end up; 
     FIG. 18 is a plan view similar to FIG. 17, showing an air delivery nozzle blowing air into the bag to expand the bag substantially to its full volume; 
     FIG. 19 is a plan view similar to FIG. 17, showing a liquid delivery nozzle filling the bag with a liquid ink; 
     FIG. 20 is a plan view similar to FIG. 17, showing the bag filled to 65% of its capacity (its full volume) and being sealed; 
     FIG. 21 is a section view of the bag collapsed to 65% of its capacity and folded about 90° at opposite longitudinal edge portions; and 
     FIG. 22 is a section view of the housing halves connected together and containing the bag as shown in FIG.  21 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-22 show an alternative ink/cleaner cartridge  10  for an ink jet printer (not shown). 
     The cartridge  10  when used as an ink cartridge includes the following components: 
     a pair of plastic housing halves  12  and  14  that are connected together to form a cartridge housing; 
     a disposable flexible ink supply bag  16 ; 
     a plastic connector-fitting or fitment  18  having an integral ink egress snout  20  for discharging an ink supply from the bag  16 ; 
     a plastic single-part collar  22  for the snout  20 , which functions as an ink identifier to identify the ink supply in the bag  16  such as by color or type; and 
     a memory chip  24 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fitting  18  is attached via a thermal seal to the bag  16 , within an elongate opening  26  in the bag. During the thermal seal of the bag  16  to the fitting  18 , a small amount of melted material from the bag flows to between parallel ribs  28  along opposite longitudinal sides of the fitting  18  to provide an essentially leak-proof seal between the bag and the fitting. A rubber septum  30  is tightly inserted into an ink egress opening  32  in the snout  20  to plug the opening. Then, an aluminum or stainless steel cap  34  is press-fitted on the snout  20 . The cap  34  partially overlaps the septum  30  to capture the septum, and has a center opening  36  which allows a hollow needle (not shown) to pierce the septum in order to discharge an ink supply from the bag  16  when the cartridge  10  is used in an ink jet printer. 
     Collar  22  and Snout  20   
     The snout  20  has eight identical outer peripheral surfaces (sides) or facets  38  that project perpendicular from a longitudinal planar face  40  of the fitting  18  to form an octagon. See FIGS. 2 and 3. In a similar sense, the collar  22  has a center opening  42  that is circumscribed by eight identical inner peripheral surfaces (sides) or facets  44  that form an octagon. This mutual or complementary configuration allows the snout  20  to be received in the center opening  42  only when the collar  22  is in any one of eight allowable angular orientations 0° or 360°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, and 315°. Preferably, the eight surfaces  44  of the collar  22  are aligned with the eight surfaces  38  of the snout  20  to position the collar relative to the snout in a selected one of the eight orientations. Then, the collar  22  is mated with the snout  20  in the selected orientation. Respective contact between the eight surfaces  38  and the eight surfaces  44  prevents the collar  22  from being rotated about the snout  22  and thus serves to fix the collar in the selected orientation. The selected orientation provides a visible indication that serves to identify the ink supply in the bag  16  such as by color or type. 
     As described in the cross-referenced applications filed Aug. 16, 2001 and incorporated into this application, the collar  22  has a key slot or keyway  46  that is angular positioned in accordance with the selected orientation of the collar. The hollow needle (not shown) for piercing the septum  30  in order to discharge an ink supply from the bag  16  when the cartridge  10  is used in an ink jet printer, is mounted on a key assembly (not shown) having a key tab intended to be received in the key slot  46 . The particular orientation of the key assembly must match the selected orientation of the collar  22  in order for the key tab to be received in the key slot  46 . 
     The number of the surfaces  38  of the snout  20  and the number of the surfaces  44  of the collar  22 , need not each be eight (although they must be the same number). Preferably, the number of the surfaces  38  of the snout  20  and the number of the surfaces  44  of the collar  22  fall within the range 4-12. All that is necessary is that the number of the surfaces  38  of the snout  20  and the number of the surfaces  44  of the collar  22  form similar complementary polygons that permit the collar  22  to mate with the snout  20 . 
     L-Shaped Engageable-Disengageable Members  56 ,  58 ,  60 ,  62   
     The housing halves  12  and  14  at respective bottom wall portions  48  and  50  have opening halves  52  and  54  that form a single bottom opening when the housing halves are connected together. See FIGS. 1 and 4. The fitting  18  has a pair of L-shaped engageable-disenageable members or tabs  56  and  58  that project from respective areas of the face  40  (of the fitting) which are spaced from the snout  20 . In a similar sense, a pair of L-shaped engageable-disengageable members or tabs  60  and  62  project from an inner side  64  of the wall portion  50  and are spaced from the opening half  52 . The L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  56  and  58  extend in opposite directions as do the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  60  and  62 . This complementary arrangement or mutual configuration permits the L-shaped member  56  to engage the L-shaped member  60  and the L-shaped member  58  to engage the L-shaped member  62  when the bag  16  is placed on the housing half  14 . The bag  16  is thus secured in place. At the same time as shown in FIG. 4 an edge  65  of the opening half  54  is received in an outer peripheral groove  66  in the collar  22  to support the collar. Then, when the housing half  12  is connected to the housing half  14 , an edge  68  of the opening half  52  is received in the groove  66 . 
     When the bag  16  is emptied, it is possible to remove the bag (with the fitting  18 ) from the cartridge  10 . If the housing half  12  is disconnected from the housing half  14 , the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  56  and  58  are disengaged from the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  60  and  62 . Also, the collar  22  can be removed from the snout  20 . 
     Other L-shaped engageable-disengageable members can be provided on the fitting  18  and the housing half  14  in addition to the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  56  and  58  and the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  60  and  62 . Also, it is not necessary that these engageable-disengageable members be L-shaped. A number of known engagements or interlocks can be used instead, such as pins in holes, etc. 
     Pocket for Memory Chip  24   
     As shown in FIGS.  1  and  4 - 6 , the housing halves  12  and  14  at bottom wall portions  48  and  50  have respective pocket portions  70  and  72  which include slightly smaller and larger wall opening portions  74  and  76  and sleeve or channel portions  78  and  80 . Moreover, the bottom wall portion  48  at an inner side  82  and the bottom wall portion  50  at the inner side  64  have respective ink blocking shield segments  84  and  86  that project inwardly of the housing halves  12  and  14  from the inner sides. See FIGS. 5 and 6. The ink blocking shield segment  84  is an integral extension of the inner side  82  and extends across the wall opening portion  74 , and the ink blocking shield segment  86  is an integral extension of the inner side  64  and extends across the wall opening portion  76 . This is to isolate or seal the wall opening portions  74  and  76  from the interiors of the housing halves  12  and  14 . The wall opening portions  74  and  76  are necessary to permit electrical contact to be made with the memory chip  24  when the cartridge  10  is used in an ink jet printer. 
     When the housing halves  12  and  14  are connected together, the memory chip  24  is peripheral-edge supported in the channel portions  78  and  80  to hold the memory chip in the wall opening portions  74  and  76 . Also, the pocket portions  70  and  72  combine to form a single pocket including the wall opening portions  74  and  76  combining to form a single wall opening, and the ink blocking shield segments  84  and  86  abut end-to-end to seal the single wall opening. The ink supply bag  16 , which is between the housing halves  12  and  14 , might per chance leak ink. However, the ink blocking shield segments  84  and  86  which are then abutted end-to-end prevent any ink from entering the wall opening portions  74  and  76  and contaminating the memory chip  24 . 
     Optional Stakes for Fitting  18   
     As shown in FIG. 7, the housing half  12  has at least two interior stakes  88  and  90  that project from the housing half and are parallel to the bottom wall portion  48  of the housing half. When the housing halves  12  and  14  connected together, respective tips  92  and  94  of the stakes  88  and  90  are melted preferably onto the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  56  and  58  of the fitting  18  to adhere the stakes to those L-shaped members. The stakes  88  and  90  thus hold the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  56  and  58  of the fitting  18  fast to the housing half  12 , and can be separated from those L-shaped members only by breaking the connection at the melted tips  92  and  94  (or by breaking the stakes and/or the L-shaped members). This positively ensures that the fitting  18  cannot shift, however slightly, when the L-shaped engageable-disengageable member  56  is engaged with the L-shaped engageable-disengageable member  60  and the L-shaped engageable-disengageable member  58  is engaged with the L-shaped engageable-disengageable member  62  as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7. Also, the fitting  18  cannot be removed from the housing half  12  without forcibly separating the stakes  88  and  90  from the L-shaped engageable-disengageable members  56  and  58 . 
     Alternatively, the tips  92  and  94  of the stakes  88  and  90  can be melted onto the L-shaped engageable members  60  and  62  of the housing half  14  to hold those L-shaped members fast to the housing half  12 . 
     Alternatively, the tips  92  and  94  of the stakes  88  and  90  can be melted onto both the L-shaped engageable members  56  and  58  of the fitting  18  and the L-shaped engageable members  60  and  62  of the housing half  14 . 
     The tips  92  and  94  of the stakes  88  and  90  can be melted onto the L-shaped engageable members  56  and  58  of the fitting  18  and/or the L-shaped engageable members  60  and  62  of the housing half  14  via a conventional vibration weld that melts the tips. 
     Cap  96   
     FIGS. 8-12 show the cartridge  10  when used as a cleaner cartridge instead of an ink cartridge. In this instance, the bag  16  is a cleaner supply bag instead of an ink supply bag, and a cap  96  is mated with the snout  20  in place of the collar  22 . The cap  96  must be removed from the snout  20  to allow a hollow needle (not shown) to pierce the septum  30  in order to discharge a cleaner material, e.g. a known cleaner solution, from the bag  16 . The cleaner material is intended to be applied in an ink jet printer instead of an ink supply, to clean the ink jet printer of any ink residue. 
     The cap  96  has the same diameter as the collar  22  and, like the center opening  42  in the collar, it has a center opening  98  for receiving the snout  20 . See FIGS. 3 and 10. Also, like the outer peripheral groove  66  in the collar  22 , the cap  96  has an outer peripheral groove  100  for receiving the edge  65  of the opening half  54  in the bottom wall portion  50  of the housing half  14  and for receiving the edge  68  of the opening half  52  in the bottom wall portion  48  of the housing half  12 . See FIGS. 1,  4  and  8 ,  11 . 
     As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom wall portion  48  of the housing half  12  has a pair of clearance recesses  102  and  104  at the edge  68  of the opening half  52 , and the bottom wall portion  50  of the housing half  14  has a pair of clearance recesses  106  and  108  at the edge  65  of the opening half  54 . The four clearance recesses  102 ,  104 ,  106  and  108  permit a pair of lugs  110  and  112  on the cap  96  to be admitted through the opening halves  52  and  54 . Then, when the cap  96  is rotated on the snout  20 , the lugs  110  and  112  engage with the bottom wall portions  48  and  50  at their inner sides  82  and  64 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 8 and 12, the inner side  82  of the bottom wall portion  48  has a cavity  114  adjacent the edge  68  of the opening half  52 , and the inner side  64  of the bottom wall portion  50  has a cavity  116  adjacent the edge  65  of the opening half  54 . The cavities  114  and  116  receive respective protuberances or bumps  118  and  120  adjacent the lugs  110  and  112  on the cap  96  when the cap is rotated on the snout  20  (with the lugs against the inner sides  82  and  64  of the bottom wall portions  48  and  50 ). The protuberances  118  and  120  in combination with the cavities  114  and  116  serve to prevent unintended rotation of the cap  96 . 
     Connecting Housing Halves  12  and  14  Together 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  5 ,  6  and  13 - 15 , a number of identical protuberances or tabs  122  project from an edge  124  along the housing half  14  and are to be received in respective cavities  126  in an edge  128  along the housing half  12 . 
     The protuberances  122  each have an original length  130  in FIG. 15, preferably about 1.38 mm, that is about 0.38 mm greater than the depth of each cavity  126  (the depth of each cavity is about 1.00 mm). Consequently, when the protuberances  122  are received in the cavities  126 , the edges  124  and  128  of the housing halves  14  and  12  are separated by a space or gap  132  in FIG. 15 which is about 0.38 mm. This prevents the edges  124  and  128  from abutting to form a seam  134  between the housing halves  14  and  12 . 
     To connect the housing halves  12  and  14  together, the protuberances  122  are welded at their tips  136  (within the cavities  126 ) to the housing half  12 , preferably by a known vibration welding process, as shown in FIG.  14 . The heat generated by the welding melts the tips  136  to reduce the length  130  of the protuberances  122  from about 1.38 mm to about 1.00 mm, i.e., about 0.38 mm. This eliminates the spaces  132 , which permits the edges  124  and  128  to abut to form the seam  134  between the housing halves  14  and  12 . See FIGS. 14 and 16. 
     As shown in FIG. 15, each protuberance  122  has a width  138 , preferably about 16.98 mm. Clearances spaces  140  of at least 0.33 mm exist between each side of a protuberance  122  and respective sides of a cavity  126 . Thus, the width of a cavity  126  is at least 17.31 mm. 
     When the protuberances  122  are welded at their tips  136  (within the cavities  126 ) to the housing half  12 , a flash  142  is formed at respective welds  144  between the tips and the housing half  12 . The flash  142  spreads from each weld  144  into the clearances spaces  140 . As shown in FIG. 14, the flash  142  only partially fills the clearance spaces  140 . Thus, the protuberance  122  and the cavities  126  are mutually dimensioned to restrict the flash  142  substantially to within the cavities. This prevents the flash  142  from spreading between the edges  124  and  128  of the housing halves  14  and  12 , since if the flash was to spread between the edges it could interfere with their abutting to form the seam  134 . Also, it prevents the flash  142  from bulging outward from the seam  134  including in the vicinity of the wall opening portions  74  and  76  (that combine to form a single wall opening for permitting electrical contact to be made with the memory chip  24 ), since if the flash was to bulge outward of the seam in the vicinity of the wall opening portions it might present an obstacle to making electrical contact with the memory chip. 
     Method of Filling Bag  16   
     A method of filling the bag  16  with the ink supply, preferably a known liquid ink  146 , is as follows. 
     In FIG. 17, the bag  16  is positioned vertically or erect with a bottom end  148  down and a top end  150  up. An intake/exhaust port  152  that is attached to the bag  16  at the top end  150  faces upward. Conversely, the fitting  18  that is attached to the bag  16 , including the snout  20  with the septum  30  and the cap  34 , faces downward. 
     In FIG. 18, an air delivery nozzle  154  is inserted at least into the port  152 , preferably through the port and into the bag  16  as shown. Then, air under pressure is flowed from an end orifice  156  in the air delivery nozzle  154  to expand the bag  16  substantially to its full volume. 
     In FIG. 19, the air delivery nozzle  154  is replaced in the port  152  with a liquid delivery nozzle  158 . The liquid delivery nozzle  158  is inserted through the port  152  and into the bag  16  to position an end orifice  160  in that nozzle deep inside the bag as shown. 
     Then, in FIG. 19, the liquid ink  146  is flowed from the end orifice  160  in the liquid delivery nozzle  158  to fill the bag  16  up to a fill line  162 . The fill line  162  is at 60%-75%, preferably 65%, of the full volume of the bag  16  in order to fill the bag to less than its capacity. The filling is done by flowing the liquid ink  146  from the end orifice  160  at an initial delivery velocity that is low enough to substantially prevent bubbles from forming in the delivered liquid in the bag  16 . After the liquid level  164  in the bag  16  rises to immerse at least the end orifice  160 , the delivery velocity is increased to speed up the fill rate for the bag. This is done only until the bag  16  is filled to the predetermined percentage of its full volume. 
     Alternatively, the bag  16  can be filled with the liquid ink  146  to the predetermined percentage of its full volume in a vacuum environment so that air need not be forced into the bag to expand the bag substantially to its full volume before the bag is filled as in FIG.  18 . 
     In FIG. 20, the liquid delivery nozzle  158  is removed from the port  152 , and any residual air that may be in the bag  16  is expelled through the port by squeezing the bag to raise the liquid level  164  in the bag at least into the port. (This need not be done if the bag  16  is filled with the liquid ink  146  to the predetermined percentage of its full volume in a vacuum environment.) Then, the bag  16 , which is now partially collapsed to conform substantially to the volume of the liquid ink  146  in the bag, is sealed at or near the port  152 , preferably using a known heat-clamp  166  to heat seal the port, and then using a cold-clamp (not shown) to uniformly cool the port. 
     Method of Folding Bag  16  Filled with Liquid Ink  146  to Fit in Cartridge Housing  12 ,  14   
     The bag  16  is larger than the cartridge housing  12 ,  14  as can be seen in FIG.  1 . Specifically, as depicted in FIG. 17, the bag  16  has a width  168  that is greater than a width of the cartridge housing  12 ,  14  and has a length  170  that is less than a length of the cartridge housing. This allows the bag  16  to be folded widthwise to fit in the cartridge housing  12 ,  14 . 
     When the bag  146  is filled with the liquid ink  146  to the predetermined percentage of its full volume, and is partially collapsed to conform substantially to the volume of the liquid ink  146  in the bag and sealed at or near the port  152 , it is then folded widthwise as shown in FIG.  21  and placed in the housing half  14 . 
     As folded in FIG. 21, the bag  146  can substantially fit in the cartridge housing  12 ,  14  when the housing halves  12  and  14  are connected together. See FIG.  22 . 
     The bag  16  is folded widthwise along two opposite longitudinal edge portions  172  and  174  from a longitudinal center portion  176  between the longitudinal edge portions. See FIGS. 17 and 21. The longitudinal edge portions  172  and  174  are each folded about 85°-95°, preferably 90° as shown in FIG.  21 . 
     The longitudinal edge portions  172  and  174  each have a width  178  that is about 2%-5%, preferably 3%, of the width  168  of the bag  16 . The longitudinal center portion  176  has a width  180  that is about 97% of the width  168  of the bag  16 . 
     Since the bag  16  as folded has been filled with the liquid ink  146  to only a predetermined percentage of its full volume, the bag should not rupture if the cartridge housing  12 ,  14  is mechanically shocked, such as by dropping the cartridge housing onto a hard surface. 
     The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     PARTS LIST 
       10 . ink cartridge 
       12 . housing half 
       14 . housing half 
       16 . ink bag 
       18 . connector-fitting 
       20 . snout 
       22 . collar 
       24 . memory chip 
       26 . elongate opening 
       28 . ribs 
       30 . septum 
       32 . ink egress opening 
       34 . cap 
       36 . center opening 
       38 . eight surfaces or facets 
       40 . face 
       42 . center opening 
       44 . eight surfaces or facets 
       46 . key slot 
       48 . bottom wall portion 
       50 . bottom wall portion 
       52 . opening half 
       54 . opening half 
       56 . L-shaped engageable member 
       58 . L-shaped engageable member 
       60 . L-shaped engageable member 
       62 . L-shaped engageable member 
       64 . inner side 
       65 . edge 
       66 . groove 
       68 . edge 
       70 . pocket portion 
       72 . pocket portion 
       74 . wall opening portion 
       76 . wall opening portion 
       78 . sleeve or channel portion 
       80 . sleeve or channel portion 
       82 . inner side 
       84 . ink blocking shield segment 
       86 . ink blocking shield segment 
       88 . stake 
       90 . stake 
       92 . tip 
       94 . tip 
       96 . cap 
       98 . center opening 
       100 . groove 
       102 . clearance recess 
       104 . clearance recess 
       106 . clearance recess 
       108 . clearance recess 
       110 . lug 
       112 . lug 
       114 . cavity 
       116 . cavity 
       118 . protuberance 
       120 . protuberance 
       122 . protuberance 
       124 . edge 
       126 . cavity 
       128 . edge 
       130 . length 
       132 . space 
       134 . seam 
       136 . tip 
       138 . width 
       140 . clearance space 
       142 . flash 
       144 . weld 
       146 . liquid ink 
       148 . bottom bag end 
       150 . top bag end 
       152 . intake/exhaust port 
       154 . air delivery nozzle 
       156 . end orifice 
       158 . liquid delivery nozzle 
       160 . end orifice 
       162 . fill line 
       164 . liquid level 
       166 . heat-clamp 
       168 . bag width 
       170 . bag length 
       172 . longitudinal edge portion 
       174 . longitudinal edge portion 
       176 . longitudinal center portion 
       178 . longitudinal edge portion width 
       180 . longitudinal center portion width