Patent ID: 7780283

Claim:
An ink loader for a phase change ink imaging device comprising: at least one guide member for maintaining alignment and orientation of ink sticks as the ink sticks are moved to a melt area of an ink loader; and a keyed opening having a key feature for interacting with a keying element of an ink stick to restrict insertion of ink sticks through the keyed opening to ink sticks having a keying element that is complementarily shaped and positioned to the key feature of the keyed opening, the keyed opening lying in a plane substantially transverse to the at least one guide member, the keyed opening having a guide element passage that is positioned with respect to the at least one guide member in the ink loader to align a guide element of an ink stick inserted though the keyed opening with the at least one guide member of the ink loader, the guide element passage being spatially separated from the key feature of the keyed opening.