Xerox Corporation

Eastman-kodak Company

Kabushiki Kaisha Tec

Steven J Dietl

Michael Carlotta

Donald M Stevens

Kenneth W Altfather

Fred F Hubble, Iii

David A Cipolla

Dennis M Lengyel

David P Breemes, Sr

Richard A Morano

Kenneth D Corby

Diana C Petranek

Mark D Perkins

Vladimir M Kupchik

Gary Alan Kneezel

James Michael Chwalek

Dwight John Petruchik

Thomas N Taylor

David G Anderson

Tsutomu Yamaguchi

Brian Gray Price

Steven A Billow

Bernard Leibman

Mario Joseph Ciminelli

Shinya Nakamura

Richard Hiram Berg

Andrew S Yeh

Hiep H Nguyen

Steven L Moore

Charles T Facchini

Eduardo Mariano Freire

James Edward Vianco, Sr

Manfred H Goeserich

Vincent J Ouellette

Eric A Merz

Roger W Ellender

Darron D Lockett

James E Vianco, Sr

Stephen A Smith

Michael S Defilippis

Christopher A O'Dell

William E Bland

Holly M Williamson

Steven Lee Moore

An inkjet printhead includes a printhead die including an array of nozzles disposed along a nozzle array direction on a first surface, and an ink feed opening disposed on a second surface opposite the first surface, the ink feed opening being fluidically connected to the array of nozzles; a printhead chassis including an ink inlet port; a manifold affixed to the printhead chassis, the manifold including an ink outlet and an ink path that is fluidically connected to the ink outlet and to the ink inlet port of the printhead chassis; and a gasket that provides a fluidic seal between the ink outlet of the manifold and the ink feed opening of the printhead die.

Printhead assembly and fluidic connection of die

A carriage for conveying an inkjet printhead in a printer, the carriage including a holding receptacle for the inkjet printhead, the holding receptacle includes a first sidewall; a second sidewall opposite the first sidewall; and a bottom wall extending between the first sidewall and the second sidewall, the bottom wall including a frame surrounding an opening, wherein the frame is configured to be sealingly engageable with a face of the printhead.

Carriage with capping surface for inkjet printhead

A marking assembly includes a substrate and a marking device. The substrate includes a first portion made from a first material including a plurality of alignment features, and a second portion made from a second material affixed to the first portion of the substrate. The marking device is affixed to the second portion of the substrate and aligned to the alignment features of the first portion of the substrate.

Insert molded printhead substrate

A method for filling an ink tank to one of several selectable ink fill volumes, by providing an ink tank including an ink reservoir having a maximum fill volume V and selecting an ink fill volume Vto store in the ink reservoir. One subsequently determines a quantity of pellets to add to the ink reservoir, wherein the total pellet volume V&#x3e;(V&#x2212;V&#x2212;2) cubic centimeters. Upon adding the determined quantity of pellets to the ink reservoir, the ink reservoir is sealed with a lid. Whereupon, ink, in the amount V, is added to the ink reservoir.

Selectable fill volume for ink reservoir

A fluid ejection device and a printhead including one or more such fluid ejection devices are provided. The fluid ejection device includes a substrate having a first nozzle array and a second nozzle array, each array having a plurality of nozzles and being arranged along a first direction, the first nozzle array being arranged spaced apart in a second direction from the second nozzle array. A first fluid delivery pathway is in fluid communication with the first nozzle array, and a second fluid delivery pathway is in fluid communication with the second nozzle array. Nozzles of the first nozzle array have a first opening area and are arranged along the first nozzle array at a pitch P. Nozzles of the second nozzle array have a second opening area, the second opening area being less than the first opening area. At least one nozzle of the second array is arranged offset in the first direction from at least one nozzle of the first array by a distance which is less than pitch P. A printhead comprises one or more such fluid ejection devices arranged on a support member.

Fluid ejection device nozzle array configuration

An ink delivery apparatus for an inkjet printhead, comprising an ink reservoir for delivering some ink at a slight negative pressure to a printhead, and a pressure regulator and ink replenishment mechanism that maintains substantially constant negative pressure in the reservoir when some ink in the reservoir is delivered to the printhead and in response to the ink delivery replenishes some ink to the reservoir from an ink supply source, is characterized in that: the pressure regulator and ink replenishment mechanism includes a pressure regulator member that air-tightly covers an opening in the reservoir and is compliant to maintain substantially constant negative pressure in the reservoir, and a replenishment activator connected to the pressure regulator member outside the reservoir to avoid being exposed to the ink and which initiates ink replenishment to the reservoir when some ink in the reservoir is delivered to the printhead.

Ink delivery apparatus for inkjet printhead

A method of cleaning spaced nozzles in a printhead of a drop-on-demand inkjet printer in which a slight negative pressure is desired in an ink reservoir in order to prevent ink drool from the nozzles, comprises: deforming a compliant pressure regulator membrane that covers an opening in an ink reservoir, inwardly at the opening, to decrease the ink holding volume of the reservoir; deforming a compliant valve membrane that covers an opening in the ink reservoir and caps an ink conduit projecting into the reservoir, outwardly at the opening and away from the ink conduit, to uncap the ink conduit in order that the ink conduit can provide ink delivery at a positive pressure into the reservoir and out through the nozzles to clean the nozzles; returning the compliant valve membrane inwardly towards the ink conduit to recap the ink conduit in order to terminate ink delivery into the reservoir; and returning the compliant pressure regulator membrane outwardly to increase the ink holding volume of the reservoir in order to reduce ink pressure in the reservoir. Also, the method can further comprise: ejecting some ink from the nozzles by activating thermal or piezoelectric activators for the nozzles, in order to ensure a slight negative pressure in the reservoir.

Method of cleaning nozzles in inkjet printhead

A fitting is attached to a disposable ink supply bag and has an ink egress snout for discharging an ink supply from the bag. The fitting is configured to engage with a housing for the bag to permit the bag to be connected to the housing when the ink supply is to be discharged from the snout and to disengage from the housing to permit the bag to be disconnected from the housing in order to dispose of the bag when emptied.

Disposable ink supply bag having connector-fitting

An ink cartridge includes an ink supply bag, a fitting attached to the bag and including an integral ink egress snout, and a pair of housing halves that contain the bag and at respective wall portions have opening halves that form a bottom opening for the snout when the housing halves are connected together. The fitting and only one of the wall portions each have mutually engageable members that engage to connect the fitting and the one wall portion to secure the bag within the housing half that includes the one wall portion. The housing half that includes another of the wall portions has stakes that are adhered to the engageable members of the fitting and/or the engageable members of the housing half that includes the one wall portion.

Ink cartridge in which ink supply bag held fast to housing

An ink jet printhead has an upper substrate containing a reservoir with ink inlet and a lower substrate having a linear array of droplet generating elements and addressing electrodes thereon. At least two layers of polymeric material are serially deposited and patterned over the droplet generating elements and addressing electrodes prior to mating the two substrates. The patterned polymeric layers define an elongated opening containing an array of posts therein and a plurality of channels, each channel containing a droplet generating element. One end of the channels is open to serve as nozzles and the other end is in communication with the elongated opening with the array of posts. After the two substrates are aligned and mated, the reservoir is in communication with the elongated opening, so that the ink from the reservoir is filtered prior to entering the channels by passing between and over the posts in the elongated opening.

Ink jet printhead having an integral internal filter

An ink jet printing apparatus and method for ink jet printing is described. The apparatus includes an ink reservoir for containing a water based ink and a moisture barrier positioned between the ink in the ink reservoir and ambient air. The moisture barrier is formed of microencapsulated water beads adapted to provide a sustained release of the water into ambient air.

Controlled water evaporation from ink jet inks

An ink tank, having an ink reservoir separated from an ink supply chamber which contains at least one foam element, is provided with one or more pipes in the partition which separates the ink reservoir from the ink supply chamber. The pipes transport ink from the ink reservoir to a portion of the ink supply chamber which does not contain the at least one foam element. This results in both minimizing leakage from the ink tank when the ink tank's protective seal is removed prior to inserting the ink tank into a print engine, and in more predictable ink supply pressure and accuracy from the ink tank to a print device.

Ink tank construction to improve opening leakage and ink supply/ink sensing in an easily moldable design

A method and apparatus for priming a printhead. The method includes the steps of bringing a vacuum pump up to a predetermined speed and sealingly engaging a printhead with a capping mechanism after the pump reaches the predetermined speed. The pump is connected to the capping mechanism through a tube with a suitable volume. After a period of time long enough to prime the printhead, the capping mechanism is disengaged from the printhead.

Method and apparatus for priming a printhead

A positionable wiper blade is positioned by a translatable carriage contact and clean a printhead nozzle face. The carriage translates a removable ink tank support structure with an attached ink jet printhead from a printing location to a non-printing location where the positionable wiper blade is located. A replaceable ink supply tank is installed on the support structure and replaced when the ink is depleted. The wiper blade is moved into wiping position by movement of the carriage and when the carriage is translated away from the non-printing location towards the printing location, the wiper blade cleans the printhead nozzle face and flicks the ink removed from the nozzle face into a backstop receptacle. Continued translation by the carriage moves the wiper blade into contact with the backstop receptacle, which then cleans the wiper blade, and subsequently positions the wiper blade away from the wiping position when the carriage returns to the non-printing location, so that the wiper blade does not contact the backstop receptacle until after it cleans the printhead nozzle face.

Method and apparatus for cleaning residual ink from printhead nozzle faces

An improved ink blotter method system usable in a maintenance station of an ink jet printer including wiper blades positioned to clean the printheads and an assembly of absorbent materials to clean the wiper blades.

Ink blotter for an ink jet printer maintenance station providing increased ink carrying capacity

Growing community of inventors

Ontario, NY, United States of America

Steven J Dietl