Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7008051?dq=5251294
Timestamp: 2014-03-12 11:01:41
Document Index: 774193202

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 23', 'art 23', 'art 23', 'art 23', 'art 23', 'art 23']

Patent US7008051 - Expanded ink supply system for ink jet printers - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsThe invention provides an expanded ink supply system for inkjet printers. The expanded ink supply system fluidically supplies an ink cartridge, which is intermittently fluidically connected to an array of movable printheads. Described are various means for creating the necessary pressure to force the...http://www.google.com/patents/US7008051?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7008051 - Expanded ink supply system for ink jet printersAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7008051 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/680,149Publication dateMar 7, 2006Filing dateOct 8, 2003Priority dateOct 10, 2002Fee statusLapsedAlso published asUS20040125182Publication number10680149, 680149, US 7008051 B2, US 7008051B2, US-B2-7008051, US7008051 B2, US7008051B2InventorsPer G. AkermalmOriginal AssigneeAkermalm Per GExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (16), Referenced by (2), Classifications (9), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetExpanded ink supply system for ink jet printersUS 7008051 B2Abstract The invention provides an expanded ink supply system for inkjet printers. The expanded ink supply system fluidically supplies an ink cartridge, which is intermittently fluidically connected to an array of movable printheads. Described are various means for creating the necessary pressure to force the ink from the expanded supply to a print cartridge. In one described embodiment, the ink supply is in the form of a bag, placed at a level higher than the ink cartridge, thereby utilizing gravity to force the liquid ink via tubing into the ink cartridge's inner part fill port or alternatively, the cartridge's pump channel. Also described are steps to attach a fitting in the cartridge's inner part fill port or pump channel and steps for releasing trapped air from the ink supply system.
1. An expanded ink supply system for an inkjet printer having a print carriage and print heads that moves in relation to a print medium and at least one ink cartridge inside said printer, said print cartridge having an inner part holding a first quantity of ink an inner part ink fill port, comprising:
an ink container locatable outside said printer body for containing a second quantity of ink;
tubing means for transferring ink from said ink container to said cartridge via said cartridge fill port;
said tubing extending out through said fill port of said ink cartridge thereby fluidically connecting between said cartridge and said ink container at its location outside the body of said printer;
whereby said ink in said cartridge is supplemented by ink transferred from said ink container,
wherein said ink container is in the form of a bag and wherein said bag is adapted to be inserted underneath said printer whereby to apply the mass of said printer to said bag for delivery of ink therefrom to said cartridge.
9. The expanded ink supply as claimed in claim 1 including:
a fitting adapted to be inserted into the ink fill port in the print cartridge to allow the fluid conduit free passage.
15. An expanded ink supply system for an inkjet printer having a print carriage and print heads that move in parallel in relation to a print medium and a plurality of detachably removable print cartridges inside said printer, each of said print cartridges having a casing, an end cap and an inner part holding a first quantity of ink in a containment, the inner part further having a pump mechanism with a check valve and a depressible diaphragm for operating said mechanism, an inner part fill port blocked by
a stopper and a septum, and comprising a plurality of ink containers; tubings for transferring liquid ink from said containers to said inner part, a connection fitting in each said inner part fill port; said tubings being attached to said fittings to fluidically connect to said ink containers located outside the body of said printer;
wherein each said ink container is in the form of a bag and wherein said bag is supported whereby it is subjected to a mass weight for causing delivery of ink therefrom to said cartridge.
16. The expanded ink supply as claimed in claim 15, wherein said ink containers each comprise:
a collapsible bag with a bag outlet port located at a height above the inner part fill port of the cartridge; and means to support said ink containers adjacent to edge of said printer.
17. The expanded ink supply as claimed in claim 15 wherein said ink containers each comprises:
an ink bag with an outlet at a height below the inner part fill port of the print cartridge; mass means on said bag to force the liquid ink to the higher level of said inner part fill port.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an expanded ink supply for ink jet printers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to replaceable ink supply systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to expanded ink supply systems for inkjet printers generally comprising an array of detachably mounted print cartridges containing a limited amount of ink and an array of separate print heads mounted on a carriage that reciprocates across a print medium such as paper in an inkjet printer. For the purposes of this invention it is necessary to distinguish between cartridges with printheads that are affixed to a cartridge and cartridges with separate printheads.
Positive pressure conditions according to the present invention are accomplished by several means. The preferred embodiment of the invention uses the force of gravity to directly feed ink from an inkbag at a higher level than the ink cartridge inside the printer. Indirect use of gravity or the use of a bag to feed a cartridge is recited in U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,319 describing an arrangement in which the cartridge is fed at a pressure substantially close to zero by employing a float valve to regulate the flow to the cartridge, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,429 describes a system with an ink bag where the ink cartridge is kept at sub-atmospheric pressure and the printhead and cartridge are one unit. Several inventors (U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,074 to Barinaga, U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,073 to Rottman et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,740 to Namekawa et al.) describe mechanical or fluidic pressurizing systems for a printer using a rigid container around an inner deformable bag to feed a cartridge and where the printhead and cartridge also are one unit which thus�unlike the present invention�directly pressurizes the printhead.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the inkbag is pressurized by placing the printer itself over the inkbag. Typically, a printer relies on three ink colours (cyan, yellow and magenta) in addition to black ink and these inks are then stored in four separate bags. When the ink bags are pressurized by the mass of the printer itself, the inkbags according to the present invention are horizontally disposed between two surfaces of which at least one is compressible to equalize the variances in pressure in the inkbags. Using commercially available foam with a thickness of �″ to 1�″ as a compressible plate, a printer weighing 15�20 lbs typically forces the ink to a height 12 �18 inches above the level of the foam plate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention applies to an expanded ink supply for inkjet printers that have detachably removable cartridges and printheads separately mounted in a carriage transversing a medium such as paper. An expanded ink supply of the type here described comprises a collapsible bag containing ink, fluid conduit to continuously transfer the ink to an existing ink cartridge and means to attach said fluid conduit to an existing ink cartridge. In a first preferred embodiment, positive pressure is created by placing the bag at a higher level than the cartridge by suspending the bag from a stand. In a second alternative, positive pressure can be created by placing the printer over the cartridge. The coupling of the conduit to the cartridge is done by removing an elastic body inserted into the cartridge's inner part fill port by using a hook and then threading the inner part fill port with a tap. The fitting for the fluid conduit is then screwed into the threaded inner part fill port. Alternatively, the elastic body is removed with the hook and a barbed elbow or U-shaped fitting is then pushed into the inner part fill port.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, the expanded ink supply system comprises inkbags 3 suspended from stand 4, fluidically connected with tubing 5 to printer 1. Tubing 5 enters printer 1 under the partially open lid 2 b, which covers print cartridge compartment 2. As seen in FIG. 2, tubing 5 enters cartridges 6 through holes 7.
As seen in the exploded view in FIG. 6, inkbag 3 is sealed at bag fill port 18 by bag fill port fitting 19 most advantageously, but not necessarily, utilizing the sealing method described herein and depicted in FIG. 10. Bag outlet port fitting 17 is inserted in bag outlet port 16. Tubing 5 is attached to bag outlet port fitting 17, inserted through casing opening 7 and continuously transfers ink via fitting 20, 20 a or 20 b via inner part fill port 21 to cartridge 6.
The parts of cartridge 6 are also depicted in the exploded view in FIG. 6. Casing 22, most advantageously, but not necessarily, made of transparent, polymeric material to reveal the quantity of ink left inside inner part 23, encloses inner part 23 together with end cap 24. Inner part 23 contains the first quantity of ink, while 8 b is the inner part container cover, which is flexible and bulges when the cartridge is filled and is flat when the cartridge is about to be depleted. Inner part fill port 21 in casing inner part 23 is advantageously, but not necessarily, threaded to accommodate threaded and barbed elbow fitting 20. Alternatively, inner part fill port 21 is not threaded to accommodate barbed elbow fitting 20 a or barbed U-shaped fitting 20 b, both fittings barbed at both ends. Pump mechanism 25 and septum 26 are permanently affixed to inner part 23.
Referring now to FIG. 9, another means to transfer ink to a printer 1 consists of using a part of a cartridge 6. New inner part configuration 23 a only includes part of original inner part 23 (as seen in FIG. 6) with said pump mechanism and septum assembly remaining intact and functional allowing pump channel fitting 37 to be inserted in pump channel 29. Pump channel fitting 37 to be inserted in pump channel 29 is advantageously, but not necessarily barbed. Alternatively, pump channel 29 can be threaded to accommodate a threaded fitting.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS4429320 *Sep 17, 1980Jan 31, 1984Canon Kabushiki KaishaInk jet recording apparatusUS4475116 *Sep 14, 1982Oct 2, 1984Olympia Werke AgInk printer equipped with an ink printing head and intermediate ink container disposed on a movable carriageUS4558326 *Sep 6, 1983Dec 10, 1985Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd.Purging system for ink jet recording apparatusUS4628332 *Jan 22, 1985Dec 9, 1986Canon Kabushiki KaishaInk printhead with holder mountUS4636814 *Jan 21, 1986Jan 13, 1987Canon Kabushiki KaishaPrinting apparatusUS4719472 *Mar 27, 1986Jan 12, 1988Canon Kabushiki KaishaInk jet recording headUS5369429 *Oct 20, 1993Nov 29, 1994Lasermaster CorporationContinuous ink refill system for disposable ink jet cartridges having a predetermined ink capacityUS5650811 *Mar 23, 1995Jul 22, 1997Hewlett-Packard CompanyApparatus for providing ink to a printheadUS5721576 *Dec 4, 1995Feb 24, 1998Hewlett-Packard CompanyRefill kit and method for refilling an ink supply for an ink-jet printerUS6030074Dec 10, 1997Feb 29, 2000Hewlett-Packard CompanyMethod and apparatus for delivering pressurized ink to a printheadUS6109740Dec 5, 1997Aug 29, 2000Sony CorporationMethod and apparatus for supplying ink to a printerUS6183073Jan 19, 1999Feb 6, 2001Xerox CorporationMethod and apparatus for positive pressure filling a printbarUS6264318 *Feb 9, 2000Jul 24, 2001Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.Ink-jet recording apparatus and ink storing deviceUS6283586 *Apr 16, 1999Sep 4, 2001Hewlett-Packard CompanyMethod and apparatus for refilling ink containers in a manner that preserves printhead lifeUS6805437 *Feb 6, 2002Oct 19, 2004Canon Kabushiki KaishaLiquid supply system, ink jet recording head, ink jet recording apparatus and liquid filling methodJPS61206660A * Title not available* Cited by examinerReferenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7377626Jul 9, 2004May 27, 2008Nukote International, Inc.External ink supply bag and method of filling the sameWO2006017146A2 *Jul 7, 2005Feb 16, 2006Holland Carl WInk delivery system for the continuous refill of ink jet cartridges* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification347/85International ClassificationB41J2/175, B41J29/13Cooperative ClassificationB41J2/17509, B41J2/17513, B41J29/13European ClassificationB41J29/13, B41J2/175C2, B41J2/175C1ALegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionApr 27, 2010FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20100307Mar 7, 2010LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesOct 12, 2009REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google