Patent Publication Number: US-11376860-B2

Title: Printing fluid container

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Printing fluid containers are used in many printer systems, including ink-jet printer systems. Printing fluid containers, such as ink reservoirs, may be filled with a colorant such as ink (or re-filled, after depletion) from a bulk source of printing fluid. Generally, such containers may have a recommended maximum fill level. It is generally undesirable to overfill a container: that is, to supply more fluid to the container than the recommended maximum fill level. Overfilling may negatively affect print quality, and/or cause fluid to leak out of the container onto a user or other components of the printer system. Similarly, it may be undesirable to underfill a printing fluid container. Underfilling may mean that a container is depleted more quickly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various features of the present disclosure will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate features of the present disclosure, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram showing an external perspective view of an ink container according to an example; 
         FIGS. 1B to 1E  are schematic diagrams showing elevation views of an internal surface of the ink container of  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIGS. 2A to 2D  are schematic diagrams showing perspective views of an ink container before and after supplying ink to the container according to an example; 
         FIG. 3A  is a schematic diagram of an external perspective view of an ink container according to another example; 
         FIG. 3B  is a schematic diagram showing a plan view of the ink container of  FIG. 3A ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram showing a method of manufacturing an ink container according to an example; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a printer system comprising printing fluid containers according to an example. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details of certain examples are set forth. Reference in the specification to “an example” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least that one example, but not necessarily in other examples. 
     Printing fluid containers (also referred to as ‘printing fluid reservoirs’), such as those for use with inkjet printers, are configured to contain a printing fluid which may be applied to a medium by a printing system, e.g. to provide an image on the medium. The term “printing fluid” includes all fluids that may be deposited on a print medium from a cartridge, including fluids such as ink, toner, varnish, gloss etc. For ease of explanation, an example of ink is used in descriptions herein; however, this should not be seen as limiting, and the examples may be applied to any printing fluid comprising a colorant. An ink may be an oil or water based ink with one or more colorants, e.g. inks may be supplied as cyan, magenta, yellow and/or black inks. Printing fluid containers containing or configured to contain ink may be referred to as ink containers, or ink reservoirs. A printing fluid container may comprise a part of a printing fluid cartridge. For example, an ink reservoir may comprise a part of an ink cartridge. In some print system examples, printing fluid containers according to the present disclosure may be arranged separately from a printhead apparatus. 
     Some printer systems may comprise a system configured to receive pre-filled ink containers. That is, containers may be filled with ink before sale, and the container inserted into the printer by a user. Once the container is depleted, the user may replace the empty or depleted container in the printer system with another pre-filled container. 
     Alternatively, some printer systems may comprise a system configured to receive refillable ink containers. For example, some printer systems may comprise a continuous ink supply system (CISS), wherein a user refills an empty ink container with ink from a bulk source, rather than replacing an empty container with a new, pre-filled ink container. 
     In both cases, it may be undesirable for the container to be overfilled or underfilled with ink. Accordingly, in certain examples, there are provided herein printing fluid containers which contain an indicator to show a user a predetermined ink fill amount, such as a recommended maximum ink fill amount. A user may supply ink to the container, and use the indicator as a guide to show when the recommended maximum ink fill level has been reached. The term “predetermined ink fill amount” does not refer to a dynamic measurement of an amount of ink present in the container. Rather, the term may be used to refer to a predetermined amount of ink which is to be communicated to a user. The predetermined ink fill amount is not dependent on the amount of ink disposed in the container. 
     According to the present disclosure, the indicator may comprise a channel (or portion of channel) on an internal surface of the ink container. The term “channel” may refer to a recess in a surface which extends in at least one direction. In some examples, the channel may be configured such that when ink is introduced to the channel, ink moves along the channel by capillary action so that ink resides within the channel. The channel may thus “self-color” with the ink introduced to the channel. 
       FIGS. 1A to 1E  show an ink container according to an example of the present disclosure.  FIG. 1A  is an external perspective view of ink container  100 . 
     Ink container  100  comprises a base  110 . The base is generally the bottom portion of the ink container, and ink may be disposed thereupon within the ink container. 
     The container  100  further comprises a side wall  120 . The side wall may extend substantially all the way around base  110 . The side wall  120  may comprise a number of sides (e.g. four are shown in  FIG. 1A ). The base  110  and side wall  120  together define a chamber  130 . Ink may be received and stored in chamber  130 , which may be referred to as an ink chamber. 
     The chamber  130  may have an opening. The opening may be blocked with a lid, for example (not pictured). In some examples, the container  100  may include a removable lid to block the opening to the cavity  130 , which may be removed by a user when supplying ink to the container  100 . In some examples, ink container  100  is refillable. In some examples, ink container  100  may be configured to be used in a continuous ink supply system (CISS). In some examples, ink container  100  may comprise part of an ink cartridge, the ink cartridge also comprising a printhead unit. 
     The side wall  120  has an internal surface  122  and an external surface  124 . The internal surface faces the chamber  130 ; the external surface is on the opposite side of the side wall  120 , facing away from the chamber  130 . 
     The side wall  120  is a light transmissive side wall. As used herein, “light transmissive side wall” refers to a membrane through which at least some visible light may pass. Put another way, when visible light is incident on one side of the membrane (internal surface  122 , for example), at least some may pass through the membrane such that it may be observed on the opposite side of the membrane (when observing external surface  124 , for example). 
     In some examples, a portion of the side wall is light transmissive. In these examples, another portion of the side wall may be opaque: that is, substantially no visible light incident on one side of the wall will pass through the opposite side of the opaque portion. In other examples, substantially all of the side wall may be light transmissive. 
     In some examples, a portion of the side wall may be transparent. That is, a portion of the side wall may allow light to pass therethrough substantially without scattering of the light. In further examples, substantially all of the sidewall may be transparent. 
     In other examples, a portion of the side wall may be translucent. That is, a portion of the side wall may allow at least some visible light to pass therethrough, and the light which passes through may be scattered by some amount. 
     The side wall  120  may comprise a plurality of planar portions, or faces. Faces of the side wall  120  may meet at corners  126 . Each face may have an internal surface and an external surface. The term “internal corner” may refer to the point at which internal surfaces of faces meet; the term “external corner” may refer to the point at which external faces meet. 
     The internal surface  122  comprises a channel  140 . The channel  140  comprises a portion  142  indicating a height from the base, the height representing a predetermined ink fill amount.  FIGS. 1B to 1E  show a face of internal surface  122 , extending to internal corners  126  of the side wall, indicating possible configurations of the channel  140 . 
     For example,  FIG. 1B  shows an internal surface  122  extending to internal corners  126 , the internal surface comprising a channel  140 , channel  140  comprising a portion  142  indicating height from the base  110 . The channel  140  is arranged in a single direction, substantially diagonal to base  110 , wherein the height is indicated by the end of the channel. 
       FIG. 1C  shows an internal surface  122  extending to internal corners  126 , wherein the internal surface comprises a channel  140 . The channel  140  comprises a portion  142  indicating height from the base  110  and a portion  144  extending from base  110 . In this example, the portion  144  extends from base  110  in a substantially perpendicular direction. Portion  144  may abut base  110 , or may be arranged apart from base  110 . The portion  142  indicating height from the base  110  is arranged substantially parallel to base  110 . The portion  144  extending from the base  110  bisects the portion  142  indicating height from the base. 
     The internal surface  122  may comprise a plurality of channels. For example,  FIG. 1D  shows an internal surface  122  extending to internal corners  126 , the internal surface comprising a first channel  140   a . The first channel  140  comprises a portion  142   a  indicating height from the base  110 . The internal surface  122  also comprises a second channel  140   b . The second channel  140   b  also comprises a portion  142   b  indicating a height from the base  110 . In the example shown in  FIG. 1D , each of the channels are arranged to indicate the same fill height, but in other examples a plurality of channels may be used to indicate a plurality of fill heights. In the example shown in  FIG. 1D , internal corners  126  may also correspond to portions  144   a  and  144   b  of the channels  140   a  and  140   b  extending from base  110 . Accordingly, channel  140   a  may comprise internal corner  126 ,  144   a  and portion  142   a  indicating fill height; channel  140   b  may comprise internal corner  126 ,  144   b  and portion  142   b  indicating fill height. In this example, when ink is introduced to the ink container  100 , the ink may move along the internal corners  126 ,  144   a ,  144   b  and into portions  142   a  and  142   b  by capillary action. 
       FIG. 1E  shows another example of an internal surface  122  extending to internal corners  126 , the internal surface comprising a channel  140 . In this case, the channel  140  comprises a portion  142  indicating a height from the base  110 . Channel  140  also comprises a portion  144  extending from base  110 . In this example, the portion  144  extends from base  110  in a substantially perpendicular direction. The portion  142  indicating height from the base  110  is arranged substantially parallel to base  110 . Differing from the example shown in  FIG. 1D , channel  140  shown in  FIG. 1E  is arranged in a planar portion (face) of the internal surface. 
     As described with reference to the examples above, a predetermined ink fill amount indicator formed by a channel on an internal surface of the container may obviate the need for expensive or less accurate methods of indicating fill amounts, such as labelling or electronic monitoring. The channel may comprise an engraving or indentation in the internal surface that enables colored fluid held within a chamber of the container to move along the channel by capillary action, wherein a top of the channel indicates a predetermined measurement of fluid. 
       FIGS. 2A to 2D  show how an ink container  200  according to the present disclosure may look during an ink-filling process. For brevity, features in  FIG. 2  and the functions thereof that are the same as those features already described with reference to  FIGS. 1A to 1E  are given similar reference numerals to those in  FIGS. 1A to 1E  but increased by 100. 
       FIG. 2A  shows ink container  200  from a first perspective view, including an enlarged view of the area containing channel  240 . It can be seen that channel  240 , comprising portion  242  indicating a height from base  210  and portion  244  extending from base  210 , is a recess in the side wall  220 . For the avoidance of doubt, the channel does not extend through the whole thickness of the sidewall  220 . 
     Accordingly,  FIG. 2B  showing ink container  200  from a second perspective view, indicates that there is no impression in the external surface  224 . It may be possible for a user to see the shape of channel  240  when observing the corresponding portion of externals surface  224 , as indicated by dashed lines in  FIGS. 2B and 2D . 
       FIG. 2C  shows ink container  200  from the first perspective view when ink  250  has been introduced to chamber  230 . Ink  250  is disposed on base  210 , and is in fluid communication with channel  240 . Thus, ink  250  may be introduced to the channel upon supplying the container  200  with ink  250 . Ink  250  may move by capillary action along channel  240 , filling portions  242  and  244  with ink  250 . Thus, when a user begins pouring ink  250  into the container  200 , channel  240  may “self-color” or ‘wick’ along the channel, indicating the predetermined ink fill amount. The ink  250  residing in channel  240  may subsequently dry, leaving a visible ink fill indicator in the same color as the ink  250  in container  200 . This may be desirable in printer systems comprising a plurality of ink containers containing different colored inks, so that a user may readily recognize with which color ink each container should be filled, even when said container is fully depleted. 
       FIG. 2D  shows ink container  200  from the second perspective view when ink  250  has been introduced to cavity  230 . In these examples, the optical properties of side wall  220  (e.g. degree of light transmissivity) may be configured such that the ink  250  disposed in channel  240  may be visually discerned by a user when viewing the corresponding portion of external surface  224  of side wall  220  shown in  FIG. 2D . 
       FIG. 3A  shows an ink container  300  from a perspective view according to another example of the present disclosure;  FIG. 3B  then shows a plan view of the ink container  300 . For brevity, features in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  and the functions thereof that are the same as those features already described with reference to  FIGS. 2A to 2D  are given similar reference numerals to those in  FIGS. 2A to 2D  but increased by 100. 
     Ink container  300  comprises rounded corners  326 . In particular, container  300  comprises filleted internal corners. In one example, at least one of the internal corners is filleted. In another example, at least two, three or four of the internal corners are filleted. In another example, as shown in  FIG. 3A , all of the internal corners of container  300  are filleted. It may be that ink disposed in ink container  300  may not move by capillary action along filleted internal corners. In these examples, then, ink may move by capillary action through channel  340  but not along the corners. Ink containers that contain one feature through which ink may move by capillary action may indicate a predetermined ink fill amount to a user more clearly than a corresponding ink container which contains a plurality of features through which ink may move by capillary action (as a user may not be able to distinguish which feature is intended to indicate the predetermined ink fill amount). 
       FIG. 4  shows a method  400  of manufacturing an ink container according to an example. Method  400  includes block  410 , which comprising providing a light transmissive side wall for the ink container, wherein the side wall has an internal surface. Block  410  may comprise providing a pre-molded chamber or planar side wall portion. The side wall is provided such that the internal surface of the light transmissive side wall faces a cavity or chamber. The light transmissive side wall may be provided, for example, by molding a material to provide a cavity defined by a base and a light transmissive side wall (including injection molding), by assembling planar portions of material to provide a cavity defined by a base and a light transmissive side wall, or by ablating a top surface of a material to provide a cavity defined by a base and a light transmissive side wall. 
     Method  400  further includes block  420 , comprising forming a channel in the internal surface, the channel being such that when ink is introduced to the ink container, ink resides within the channel and indicates a predetermined ink fill amount in the ink container. 
     In some examples, block  420  may comprise engraving the internal surface of the side wall to provide the channel. Engraving may comprise ablating the surface of the side wall with a laser, for example. In other examples, block  420  may comprise etching the internal surface of the side wall to provide the channel. 
     In some examples, blocks  410  and  420  may be carried out at the same time. For instance, a chamber defined by a base and a side wall may be formed with a mold. Thus, the light transmissive side wall may be provided using a mold of the chamber. The mold may also comprise a feature corresponding to a channel, e.g. a protrusion in a planar surface of the mold that results in the formation of a channel. Accordingly, when providing the light transmissive side wall by molding material to make a chamber, a channel in the light transmissive side wall may be formed concurrently by a feature in the mold corresponding to the channel. 
       FIG. 5  shows a plan view of an example of a printer system  500  where printing fluid containers as described herein may be used. The printer system  500  may comprise an ink jet printer system. In  FIG. 5 , the printer system  500  comprises a plurality of printing fluid containers  510 A to D. Although four printing fluid containers are shown in  FIG. 5 , other numbers of printing fluid containers may be installable in practice. In the example of  FIG. 5 , each printing fluid container comprises a base, a side wall extending from the base to define a chamber, and an optional upper cover. The printing fluid containers may be used to hold a printing fluid having a colorant, such as ink or a colored gloss or varnish. The printing fluid containers  510 A to D may be ink reservoirs, for example. The chamber may be considered similar to the chamber  130 ,  230  and  330  shown in  FIGS. 1A, 2A and 3A , and in use contains printing fluid. The inner surface of the side wall facing the chamber may comprise the aforementioned channel  140 ,  240  or  340 . When printing fluid is disposed in the chamber, the printing fluid may move along the channel by capillary action. The printing fluid may be any of the printing fluid described hereinabove. In some examples, the colorant is an ink, such as a water-based ink. 
     The printing fluid containers  510 A to D may be arranged in the printer system such that, in use, the printing fluid containers remain in a fixed position. In an example, the printing fluid container s are not mounted in a component which moves when the printer is in use, such as a moveable carriage that scans across a print medium. 
     The printing fluid containers  510 A to D may be arranged in the printer system so that, in use, a user may view the light transmissive side wall of each printing fluid container, as indicated in  FIG. 5 . Accordingly, the printing fluid containers  510 A to D may be arranged so that a user may visually discern the portion indicating the height when viewing a corresponding portion of an external surface of the side wall of each printing fluid container. 
     The printer system  500  may comprise a plurality of printheads  520 A to D. The printing fluid containers  510 A to D may be arranged separately from printheads  520 A to D. Arranging the printing fluid containers  510 A to D and the printheads  520 A D separately may allow the containers to be refilled or replaced while a print job is in progress. 
     The printheads  520 A to D may be arranged in a print carriage  530 . The print carriage  530  may be a static print bar, e.g. in a page wide array printer system. Alternatively, the print carriage may be a moveable carriage that scans over at least a width of a print medium. 
     Each printhead  520 A to D may comprise a jetting mechanism, such as a piezo electric member and nozzle for ejecting drops of printing fluid supplied from the each printing fluid container  510 A to D. 
     Each printhead and printing fluid container may be connected by a conduit  540 A to D. A needle may be disposed at an end of each conduit  540 A to D, each needle being arranged in the chamber of each printing fluid container  510 A to D to collect printing fluid from the container. In examples wherein the printing fluid containers  510 A to D include an upper cover, the needle may pass through the upper cover into the chamber. A system configured as described hereinabove may be referred to as a continuous ink supply system (CISS). 
     The preceding description has been presented to illustrate and describe examples of the principles described. This description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one example may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with any features of any other of the examples, or any combination of any other of the examples.