Graphic Controls Corporation

Ben H Nikkels

John M Hegarty

Gregory T Field

Richard T Reeves

Steven Rosone

An ink-jet bottle and valve system which delivers ink-jet ink to an ink-jet printer apparatus having an ink reservoir. The system has five, main components: (1) a bottle, (2) a housing, (3) a valve, (4), a cover, and (5) a vent tube. Coupled to the ink reservoir, the housing has a nozzle which extends into the ink reservoir and defines a channel through which ink may flow from the bottle to the ink reservoir. The top surface of the housing has a cutout defining a pair of valve rotation stops. The housing also has a bottom surface which includes a lower vent and a lower ink passage each opening to the channel of the nozzle. The valve fits snugly and rotatably within the housing. The internal surface of the valve is threaded to couple the valve to the threaded neck of the bottle. The bottom surface of the valve has an upper vent and an upper ink passage. Finally, a top surface of the valve has a projecting tab. The tab rests in the cutout of the housing and cooperates with the pair of valve rotation stops to limit axial rotation of the valve within the housing between (i) a first position where the tab abuts one valve rotation stop and in which the upper vent and the upper ink passage of the valve align with the lower vent and the lower ink passage, respectively, of the housing, and (ii) a second position where the tab abuts the other valve rotation stop and in which the upper vent and the upper ink passage of the valve are out of alignment with the lower vent and the lower ink passage, respectively, of the housing. The cover engages a flange on the housing and captivates the valve within the housing. Finally, the vent tube allows air, required to equalize the pressure in the bottle, to pass directly to the area at the top of the bottle above the ink and assure even ink flow.

Ink-jet bottle and valve system

A disposable blood sampling device for slicing a precise incision of predetermined length and depth in the skin of a patient. The device includes a hollow housing having a top surface with an opening, a front surface, a rear surface, and a bottom surface with an elongated slot adapted to contact the skin of the patient. A trigger is slidably disposed in the opening in the top surface of the housing. A single spring, only, is mounted in the housing in a relaxed, unstressed, and unbiased condition when the device is not actuated. The spring is extended by the trigger when the device is actuated. A cutting blade is coupled to one end of the spring and extends through the elongated slot in the bottom surface of the housing to incise the skin of the patient when the device is actuated. Finally, the device includes a plurality of discrete constraint and restraint elements, positioned in the housing, which collectively form an open guide surface directing the spring, and the blade coupled to the spring, along a predetermined incision path.

Growing community of inventors

Pitman, NJ, United States of America

Ben H Nikkels