Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.

Max Stephen Gunther

Elizabeth Zapata

Mark E Young

Erich E Coiner

Ronald D Stephens, Jr

David S Hunt

Robert R Giles

Felix Ruiz

Rosa Calatayud

Joseph Edward Scheffelin

Alfred U Zepeda

Ignacio Olazabal

Paul S Wu

George Sarkisian

Michael P Caren

Mohammad M Samii

Mark Young

Victor T Escobedo

Yinan Xu

Ignacio De Olazabal

Christopher J Shultz

Daniel L Briley

Sara E Schaeffer

John C Nadworny

Robert Joseph Katon

Embodiments of the present invention include hybrid ink delivery systems which allow a flexible arrangement of free ink supplies to be connected to multiple printhead assemblies, while preventing printhead deprime or drooling during setup, and provide control and verification of ink supply replacement through the use of integral memory components on the in supplies.

Hybrid ink delivery system

Techniques for liquid replenishment in a printer/plotter. An ink delivery system (IDS) is employed wherein the on-carriage spring reservoir of the print cartridge is manually and securely connected to the off-carriage reservoir. A pen cartridge that uses an internal spring to provide vacuum pressure is connected from an inlet port through a unitary coupler to an ink reservoir located off the scanning carriage axis. The coupler serves to align as well as to secure two mating valves to securely hold them together in an open latched position which is not intended to be modified or disconnected until the entire ink supply has been depleted. A replaceable ink supply module for providing replenishment of an inkjet printhead includes a collapsible bag, an enclosure box, a connective tube, and an on/off valve. These four components are incorporated into a composite sealed system which remains intact during shipment, storage, installation and operation. The collapsible bag is placed inside the protective enclosure box and has an end-connect outlet permanently attached to one end of the connective tube. The other end of the connective tube carries a permanently attached on/off valve designed for engagement with an inlet valve of an inkjet printhead.

Replenishment system with an open-valve printhead fill port continuously connected to a liquid supply

An inkjet printing system and method for printing using both pigmented inks and dye-based inks. A supply of pigmented ink of a certain color is provided, along with another supply of dye-based ink of the same color. A pigmented nozzle array controllably deposits drops of the pigmented ink of the certain color, while a dye-based nozzle array controllably deposits drops of the dye-based ink of the same color. A region of a media is printed with the color by depositing, as governed by a controller, drops from the pigmented supply and drops from the dye-based supply on different subregions of the region.

Inkjet printing using pigmented and dye-based inks

A ball check valve for use in a bulk ink supply system of an inkjet printing system, for disposal in an ink flow path between an ink reservoir and a printhead, so as to control back pressure at the printhead thereby reducing the occurrence of de-priming of the printhead, including a valve body defining a chamber with an inlet and an outlet; a ball disposed in the chamber, the ball having a diameter; a ball retainer disposed in the inlet, the ball retainer having an aperture with a diameter which is less than the diameter of the ball, wherein backflow of ink in the chamber causes the ball to seat against the ball retainer, placing the ball check valve in a closed position such that ink flow through the aperture is restricted.

Ball check valve for bulk ink supply system

A replaceable ink supply module which provides replenishment of an inkjet printhead includes a collapsible bag, an enclosure box, a connective tube, and an on/off valve. These four components are incorporated into a composite sealed system which remains intact during shipment, storage, installation and operation. The collapsible bag is placed inside of the protective enclosure box and has an end-connect outlet permanently attached to one end of the connective tube. The other end of the connective tube carries a permanently attached on/off valve designed for periodic engagement with an inlet valve of an inkjet printhead.

Replaceable ink supply module (bag/box/tube/valve) for replenishment of on-carriage inkjet printhead

An ink replenishment kit and method for an inkjet printer includes a replaceable ink supply module providing replenishment of an inkjet printhead, The module includes a collapsible bag, an enclosure box, a connective tube, and an on/off valve. These four components are incorporated into a composite sealed system which remains intact during shipment, storage, installation and operation. A coupler is provided to securely attach a print cartridge inlet with the on/off valve to hold them together in an open position allowing ink to be replenished into the print cartridge from the collapsible bag.

Assembly technique using modular ink delivery components for

An inkjet printing system provides an on/off valve adapted for periodic engagement with an inlet port on a print cartridge mounted in a carriage. The valve is connected to an ink supply which is located off the carriage. A manually actuated set of individual locking gates allows each valve to be separately mounted on a holder capable of carrying multiple valves. As the ink reservoir in the print cartridge is slowly depleted during operation of the printing system, a mechanism periodically moves the valves from a first passive position separated from the print cartridges to a second active position engaged with the inlet port of the print cartridges in order to allow replenishment without removing the print cartridges from the carriage.

Interchangeable fluid interconnect attachment and interface

An inkjet printing system provides an automated mechanism for the connection/disconnection of an ink supply valve to inkjet printheads without having to remove the printheads from a carriage. The automated mechanism includes a bracket for holding a plurality of ink supply valves in a passive first position displaced from a corresponding number of inlet ports on inkjet printheads mounted in the carriage which moves back and forth across a print zone. During normal printing operations there is no connection between the ink supply valves and the inkjet printheads. When it becomes necessary to replenish ink in the printheads from a supplemental ink container connected to the ink supply valve, the carriage comes to a rest position away from the print zone, and a motor causes the bracket to move toward the carriage so that an ink supply valve can directly engage an inlet port on the inkjet printhead. In an exemplary embodiment, an ink cartridge having a reservoir capacity of about 40 cc. can receive about 15 cc. of ink from the supplemental ink container through the ink supply valve during a relatively short time period of approximately two minutes. Since the bracket moves all the ink supply valves as a group, all of the printheads are replenished at the same time, even through only one printhead may have reached a threshold level which triggered the replenishment procedure.

Printer apparatus for periodic automated connection of ink supply valves

Ink cartridge for printers

Replaceable ink supply module (bag/box/tube/valve) for replenishment of

An inkjet printing system provides an on/off valve adapted for periodic engagement with an inlet port on a print cartridge mounted in a carriage. The valve is connected to an ink supply which is located off the carriage. As the ink reservoir in the print cartridge is slowly depleted during operation of the printing system, a mechanism periodically moves the valve from a first passive position separated from the print cartridge to a second active position engaged with the inlet port of the print cartridge in order to allow replenishment of the ink reservoir in the print cartridge without removing the print cartridge from the carriage.

Printing system with single on/off control valve for periodic ink

An inkjet cartridge is adapted to receive ink from an external ink supply reservoir. The inkjet cartridge includes an internal reservoir, printhead, housing, and fluid interface. The housing includes a first cylindrical port, a first connector and a second connector. The fluid interface provides fluid communication between the port and reservoir. An adapter secures a tube/needle valve from the supply reservoir to the port. The adapter includes a first member, a first protrusion and a second protrusion integrally formed as one structure. The first member defines an opening within which the needle valve is positioned. The first protrusion and second protrusion extend from the first member adjacent to the opening. The first protrusion engages the housing's first connector and the second protrusion engages the housing's second connector to attach the adapter to the housing. The valve mates to the port and a valve needle mates to the fluid interface.

Inkjet cartridge fill port adapter

This disclosure describes a headland design for adhesively attaching a printhead to a print cartridge which reduces dimple in the nozzle member and the attendant nozzle trajectory errors. In a preferred embodiment, a nozzle member containing an array of orifices has a substrate having heater elements formed thereon, affixed to a back surface of the nozzle member. Each orifice in the nozzle member is associated with a single ink ejection chamber and heating element formed on the substrate. The nozzle member is adhesively sealed with respect to the ink reservoir body by forming an ink seal circumscribing the substrate, between the back surface of the nozzle member and the headland area of the print cartridge. This method and design for a print cartridge headland which provides a seal directly between a nozzle member and an ink reservoir body. The above design provides reduced yield losses, and thus lower manufacturing costs, when manufacturing print cartridges.

Inkjet print cartridge design to decrease deformation of the printhead

This disclosure describes an improved ink seal between a print cartridge body and an inkjet printhead. In a preferred embodiment, a nozzle member containing an array of orifices has a substrate, having heater elements formed thereon, affixed to a back surface of the nozzle member. Each orifice in the nozzle member is associated with a single heating element formed on the substrate. The back surface of the nozzle member extends beyond the outer edges of the substrate. Ink is supplied from an ink reservoir to the orifices by a fluid channel within a barrier layer between the nozzle member and the substrate. The fluid channel in the barrier layer may receive ink fl owing around two or more outer edges of the substrate or may receive ink which flows through a hole in the center of the substrate. The nozzle member is adhesively sealed with respect to the ink reservoir body by forming an ink seal circumscribing the substrate, between the back surface of the nozzle member and the headland area of the print cartridge. This method and structure for a print cartridge headland for providing a seal directly between a nozzle member and an ink reservoir body has many advantages over other methods of providing a seal between a printhead and the ink reservoir body. One advantage is that such a structure reduces the occurrence of clogged nozzles during the adhesive sealing process. Another advantage is that there is a reduced occurrence of adhesive voids where the adhesive seal acts to encapsulate and protect the traces near the substrate which may come in contact with ink. A further advantage is that it is easier to control adhesive flow and bulges due to varying amounts and placement of adhesive. The above advantages provide reduced yield losses, and thus lower manufacturing costs, when manufacturing thermal inkjet print cartridges.

Growing community of inventors

La Jolla, CA, United States of America

Max Stephen Gunther