Xerox Corporation

Ivan Andrew McCracken

Chad David Freitag

David Lyell Knierim

Roger Gaylord Leighton

William Bruce Weaver

Antonio St Clair Lloyd Williams

Chad Johan Slenes

Tony Russell Rogers

Michael Kenneth Oehl

Shawn Michael Close

Larry Eugene Hindman

Steven L Estergreen

An imaging device includes at least one ink reservoir located within a housing in the imaging device. The housing at least partially encloses the at least one ink reservoir and includes a top, a bottom, and a plurality of side walls extending vertically between the top and the bottom of the housing. The side walls are spaced from the at least one reservoir to define a first air gap between each of the side walls and the at least one reservoir.

Melt reservoir housing

A check valve unit is provided for a high-speed phase change ink image producing machine between a reservoir for receiving and holding a volume of melted ink from a source and a receiving unit, which may be a printhead system. The check valve unit includes a plurality of ball elements trapped between upper and lower housings defining a like plurality of inlet and discharge passageways. The passageways are configured to optimize flow of melted ink through the unit during charging of the secondary reservoir. The check valve unit is scalable as to size and number of reservoirs for a particular application. The unit further incorporates features that simplify the manufacturing and assembly process while maintaining optimal performance.

Check valve unit for solid ink reservoir system

An ink umbilical provides different colors of heated ink to multiple print heads in an integrated structure. The ink umbilical includes a first plurality of ink carrying conduits mounted on one side of a heater and a second plurality of conduits mounted on a second side of the heater opposite the first side of the heater. The heater is operated to keep the ink in the conduits on each of the heater in a predetermined temperature range.

Heated ink delivery system

A probe assembly for use with an ink reservoir level sensing apparatus comprises an insulating support frame formed of an electrically insulating material. The insulating support frame includes a lower portion to be positioned in a lower portion of an ink reservoir and an upper portion configured to be positioned in an upper portion of the ink reservoir. The insulating support frame has a lower probe and an upper probe each partially encapsulated by the electrically insulating material of the insulating support frame such that the lower and upper probes are physically and electrically isolated from each other, and positioned with respect to each other such that at least a portion of the lower probe is positioned in the lower portion of the frame, and the upper probe is positioned above the lower probe in the support frame extending to the upper portion of the frame. An outer probe is attached to the insulating support frame using attachment features that are formed integrally with the insulating support frame. The outer probe is positioned on the insulating support frame extending from the lower portion of the frame to the upper portion of the insulating support frame.

Ink level sensor

A method of operating an imaging device comprises measuring an ink conductivity of an ink volume in an ink reservoir of an imaging device. The imaging device is operated in a conductivity fault tolerant mode in response to the measured ink conductivity being outside of a predetermined ink conductivity operational range. In the conductive fault tolerant mode, at least one parameter of a melt duty cycle for the ink reservoir is set to a corresponding conductivity fault tolerant (CFT) level.

Ink conductivity fault tolerant mode

A method for restoring ink conductivity of ink in an ink reservoir comprises detecting an ink conductivity of an ink volume in an ink reservoir, and comparing the detected ink conductivity to a predetermined ink conductivity operational range. A flush routine is performed in response to the measured ink conductivity being outside of the predetermined ink conductivity operational range. The flush routine includes: disabling ink supply operations to the ink reservoir; emptying the ink reservoir of ink; refilling the ink reservoir with ink; measuring an ink conductivity of an ink volume in the refilled ink reservoir; and comparing the detected ink conductivity to the predetermined ink conductivity operational range. The imaging device is returned to a normal operating mode in response to the measured ink conductivity being within the predetermined ink conductivity operational range after a flush routine has been performed.

Ink conductivity recovery method for an imaging device

An ink storage and supply assembly includes at least one ink reservoir configured to hold a quantity of liquid ink and to communicate the ink to at least one printhead of an imaging device. A housing at least partially encloses the at least one ink reservoir and includes a top, a bottom, and a plurality of side walls extending vertically between the top and the bottom of the housing. The plurality of side walls are spaced from the at least one reservoir to define a first air gap between each of the side walls and the at least one reservoir. At least one the side walls includes an inner wall and an outer wall spaced from each other to define a second air gap therebetween.

A circuit for conveying signals between one or more ink level sensors and a circuit includes a substrate having a circuit end, a sensor end, and an elongated body extending therebetween. The sensor end includes a bottom layer in which the first signal trace is routed and a top layer in which the second and third signal traces are routed. The sensor end includes a first, a second, and a third connector each extending through the top and the bottom layers that are electrically connected to a first signal trace, a second signal trace, and a third signal trace, respectively, in the substrate. The first connector, the second connector, and the third connector are configured for electrical connection to a first probe, a second probe, and a third probe, respectively, of the level sensor. A first ground trace is positioned in the sensor end that includes a first continuous guard ring in the top layer completely surrounding and spaced from the first connector, and a first segmented guard ring in the bottom layer including a plurality of segments that are each electrically connected to the first continuous guard ring and being spaced from the other segments in the first segmented guard ring. The first signal trace is routed in the bottom layer to the first connector via a space between the segments of the first segmented guard ring.

Circuit design to prevent false level sense readings

An ink umbilical provides different colors of heated ink to multiple print heads in an integrated structure. The ink umbilical includes a first and a second plurality of conduits, each conduit in the first and the second plurality of conduits having a flat surface between a first end and a second end of the conduit, and a heater having a first side and a second side, the flat surfaces of the conduits in the first plurality of conduits being coupled to the first side of the heater and the flat surfaces of the conduits in the second plurality of conduits being coupled to the second side of the heater to enable the heater to heat ink being carried between the first and the second ends of the conduits in the first and in the second plurality of conduits.

A valve assembly is provided for a high-speed phase change ink image producing machine between a first storage reservoir for receiving and holding a first volume of melted ink from a source and a second storage reservoir for holding a second volume of melted ink to be delivered under pressure to a printhead system. The valve assembly includes a passive valve disc movable from the closed position in which said disc abuts a valve seat in sealed contact, and an open position in which said valve disc is supported by an angled surface. An upper portion of the valve disc is unsupported and a flow director surface behind the disc directs fluid flow against the upper portion to assist in closing the valve. The surface characteristics of the valve seat are controlled to improve the 'crack' time of the valve disc when opening.

Rapid response one-way valve for high speed solid ink delivery

An ink umbilical provides different colors of heated ink to multiple print heads in an integrated structure. The ink umbilical includes a first plurality of conduits, each conduit in the first plurality having a first end and a second end, a second plurality of conduits, each conduit in the second plurality having a first end and a second end, and a heater having a first side and a second side, the first plurality of conduits being coupled to the first side of the heater and the second plurality of conduits being coupled to the second side of the heater so the heater generates heat for ink being carried between the first and the second ends of the first plurality and the second plurality of conduits.

An ink level sensing system and method of sensing that includes a lower probe positioned in a lower portion of an ink reservoir, an upper probe positioned above the lower probe and extending upward to an upper portion of the ink reservoir, and an electrode positioned next to the lower and upper probes. An electrical signal is driven to the electrode and current flows are detected from the electrode to the lower and upper probes. The current flows to the lower and upper probes are compared to determine a level of ink in the ink reservoir.

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Portland, OR, United States of America

Ivan Andrew McCracken