Patent ID: 7651210

Claim:
A solid ink delivery system for use in a solid ink printer, said solid ink delivery system being configured to receive a solid ink stick and converting the solid ink stick to liquid ink that may be ejected onto media to form an image, said solid ink delivery system comprising: a guide configured to receive a solid ink stick and guide the solid ink stick in a prescribed path; a melting unit operably associated with said guide, said melting unit being configured to melt the solid ink stick to form liquid ink, said melting unit having a receiving surface that receives a first end of the solid ink stick, the receiving surface defining a plane that is positioned at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of said guide; and the solid ink stick having a first set of opposed surfaces and a second set of opposed surfaces, one of the surfaces in the first set of opposed surfaces defining a first stick surface plane that is positioned at an acute angle with the melting area plane when the solid ink stick is in the guide, and the second set of opposed surfaces being normal to the first set of the opposed surfaces of the stick with one surface in the second set of opposed surfaces defining a second stick surface plane that is positioned at a right angle to the plane of the melting area receiving surface.