Patent ID: 7761331

Claim:
A vending machine capable of refilling used ink cartridges and vending filled ink cartridges, said machine comprising: at least one cartridge receptacle for receiving an ink cartridge, said ink cartridge comprising a printhead having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets; a display unit configured to present to a user with the options of: (a) refilling a used cartridge, (b) purchasing a filled cartridge, and (c) returning a used cartridge in exchange for purchase rebate or discount voucher; a user interface; a nozzle health check module; a printhead servicing module; an ink reservoir; an ink refilling unit for adding ink from said ink reservoir to the cartridge; a compartment containing new ink cartridges; a compartment containing filled, second-hand ink cartridges; a recycle compartment for receiving discarded ink cartridges; a processor; a memory coupled to said processor, said memory storing program instructions for a refilling subroutine, a recycling subroutine, and a purchase subroutine, said program instructions being executable by said processor, wherein the program instructions for the refilling subroutine comprise checking the nozzle health of the ink cartridge using the nozzle health check module.