Patent ID: 7571995

Claim:
An ink cartridge refill system, comprising: a cartridge loading unit to load an ink cartridge therein, with an ink injection hole provided in the cartridge loading unit and communicating with a nozzle of the ink cartridge when the cartridge is securely loaded in the cartridge loading unit, wherein the ink injection hole is formed in an ink injection part which is in close contact with the nozzle of the ink cartridge, the ink injection part being detachably mounted to the cartridge loading unit, wherein the cartridge loading unit is configured such that a particular model of ink cartridge is loaded in the cartridge loading unit, and wherein the cartridge loading unit is provided with a sensor to detect whether an ink cartridge is loaded in the cartridge loading unit; an ink tank to store refill ink therein; a cylinder provided with an air pressure-actuated piston therein, thus receiving ink from the ink tank through an ink supply hose and supplying the ink to the ink injection hole through an ink injection hose; a compression pump connected to the cylinder through an air hose, thus providing a compression force to the piston; a vacuum pump connected to the cylinder through a first vacuum hose, thus providing a suction force to the piston, and connected to the ink injection hole through a second vacuum hose, thus drawing ink from the ink cartridge; a connection unit to connect both the ink injection hose and the second vacuum hose to the ink injection hole, wherein the connection unit comprises a body to be detachably mounted to the cartridge loading unit, with both an ink supply hole and an ink suction hole formed in the connection unit and joined together at a predetermined position to form an outlet port connected to the ink injection hole; a first auxiliary tank placed between the compression pump and the cylinder and temporarily storing therein pressurized air output from the compression pump; a second auxiliary tank placed between the vacuum pump and the cylinder and temporarily storing therein low pressure air output from the vacuum pump, wherein the ink supply hose to connect the ink tank to the cylinder is provided with an ON/OFF valve or a one-way valve, and the ink injection hose to connect the cylinder to the connection unit is provided with an ON/OFF valve or a one-way valve; and a sensor placed between the ink tank and the valve provided on the ink supply hose so that the sensor detects whether ink remains in the ink supply hose.