Patent ID: 8075119

Claim:
A method of feeding ink sticks in an ink delivery system of a phase change ink imaging device, the method comprising: receiving a first solid ink stick on a feed path of an ink delivery system of a phase change ink imaging device, the first solid ink stick having a first contoured end and a second contoured end; receiving a second solid ink stick on the feed path of the ink delivery system of the phase change ink imaging device, the second solid ink stick having a first contoured end and a second contoured end, the first solid ink stick preceding the second solid ink stick on the feed path of the ink delivery system; nesting a plurality of bosses on the second contoured end of the first ink stick in a plurality of boss recesses on the first contoured end of the second ink stick and nesting a plurality of bosses on the first contoured end of the second ink stick in a plurality of boss recesses on the second contoured end of the first ink stick, the plurality of nested bosses and boss recesses acting to limit horizontal and vertical movement of the first and second ink sticks with respect to each other, and the contoured ends complementing the feed path to enable the first and the second solid ink sticks to resist buckling in response to another solid ink stick abutting the first contoured end of the first solid ink stick or the second contoured end of the second solid ink stick.