Nu-kote International, Inc.

Seiko Epson Corporation

Pelikan, Inc.

Nu-kote Imaging International, Inc.

William Allen Putman

Stephen A Anderson

Bruce S Jones

Carl William Holland

Patrick D Carter

Carl D Massey

Thomas J Bush

Cecelia Dawn Moore

Graham Anthony

An enclosure for an ink reservoir bag in an ink delivery system for an ink cartridge comprises a tray and a cover for the tray. The tray includes a bottom wall having opposite ends and opposite sides, end walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall at the opposite ends and side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall along the opposite sides. One of the end walls of the tray has a pair of openings therethrough between the side walls to receive fill and exit ports of the reservoir bag.

Enclosure for ink reservoir bag

An ink jet cartridge lid has a body having a first planar side and a second planar side opposite the first side. The first planar side has a raised portion having a first angled end wall and a second angled end wall. A third, side wall and a fourth, side wall each connect the first end wall to the second end wall of the lid. The second planar side has a recess therein with projections for compressing a foam insert. The lid is installed onto an ink jet cartridge having an open-ended cavity and a foam insert disposed therein.

Ink cartridge replacement lid

An ink jet cartridge lid has a body having a first planar side and a second planar side opposite the first side. The first side has a raised portion having a first angled end wall and a second angled end wall. A third, side wall and a fourth, side wall each connect the first end wall to the second end wall of the lid. The lid is installed onto an ink jet cartridge having an open-ended cavity and a foam insert disposed therein.

A transport protector for protecting an inkjet cartridge wherein the inkjet cartridge includes a cartridge body, an inkwell extending from the cartridge body and a nozzle on the inkwell. The protector including a protector body shaped to receive at least a portion of the inkjet cartridge and including a section to allow UV radiation to penetrate the protector body and cure a UV sensitive material on the inkjet cartridge.

Protector for an inkjet cartridge and method of using the same

An ink reservoir bag of flexible, plastic sheet material for an ink delivery system for an ink cartridge is constructed of two sheets of plastic material having peripheral edges bonded together to provide an ink chamber therebetween and has separate fill and exit ports opening into the chamber and respectively defined by a fill tube and an exit tube bonded to the bag between the peripheral edges thereof. Flexible tubing is connected to the exit port through a check valve interposed between the port and tubing, and a lure lock is interconnected with the fill tube to provide an injection sight for filling the bag. The bag is filled by connecting the tubing to a vacuum source, evacuating air from the bag and tubing, connecting the fill port to a source of ink and using the negative pressure to draw ink into the bag and tubing.

External ink supply bag and method of filling the same

An ink jet cartridge comprising an outer housing and an inner ink chamber has adjacent housing and chamber wall portions, and a coupling member for communicating the ink chamber with an external source of ink has an inner end extending through an oversized opening in the housing wall portion and into threaded interengagement with an opening through the chamber wall portion. The outer end of the coupling is outside the housing wall portion for connection to a source of ink.

Tube coupling for ink jet cartridges

An ink jet cartridge for use in a continuous cartridge refill system has a top side, a front side, and a handle at the juncture therebetween. A flexible ink supply tube for connecting the cartridge with an ink reservoir extends through openings in the handle of the cartridge and is connected to a fitting on the top side of the cartridge which communicates the supply tube with the ink chamber of the cartridge. Routing of the tube through the handle provides strain relief for restraining the application of a pulling force on the tubing at the point of connection thereof with the coupling.

Strain relief for ink cartridge ink supply tube

A transport protector is provided for an inkjet cartridge wherein the inkjet cartridge includes a cartridge body, an inkwell extending from the cartridge body and a nozzle on the inkwell. The protector includes a protector body having a recess shaped to receive an inkwell of an inkjet cartridge and cover a nozzle of the inkjet cartridge. The protector further including a lid hingedly connected to the body. The lid pivots between an opened condition and a closed condition and engages the inkjet cartridge to evenly urge the cartridge into the recess when in the closed condition. The lid also includes a lid lock for releasably engaging the protector body to maintain the protector in the closed condition.

Transport protector for an inkjet cartridge

Ink supply bag

A method of filling ink into a dual chamber ink-jet cartridge for use with an ink-jet printer includes applying a vacuum to the cartridge through a fill hole of the cartridge to substantially eliminate air within an ink absorbing member of the cartridge. The fill hole is sealed and then ink is pressure filled into the cartridge through the fill hole. A vacuum is again applied to the cartridge to substantially eliminate any residual air in the cartridge due to the pressure filling of the ink. The fill hole may be positioned over a free ink chamber or over the ink absorbing member of the cartridge. The vacuum includes applying a negative pressure of about 27.5 in/Hg. The negative pressure is applied at a cycle rate of 5-30 seconds.

Pressurized ink filling method for dual compartment ink-jet cartridge used in ink-jet printer

An aperture provided in a bottom wall of an ink cartridge is designed to break the surface tension of the ink as the ink proceeds toward an outlet port. For example, serrated edges, tapering conformations, cruciform dividing walls, different diameter regions in the outlet passage, etc. are all designed to prevent the formation of large bubbles or preclude the migration of air bubbles to the region of the outlet passage where the print needle of an associated printer extends.

Base aperture in ink jet cartridge with irregular edges for breaking surface tension of the ink

An ink tank cartridge includes a housing with a bottom wall and a plurality of side walls forming a cavity. An ink supply member having a port extends from the housing. A seal member is inserted into the ink supply member for sealing the port. A retaining capis used to hold the seal member in place. The retaining cap has an opening to provide access to the seal member. An ink supply needle passes through the cap opening to pierce the seam member. The retaining cap has slots to receive ribs located on the outlet port.

Mechanical seal cap for ink-cartridge

An ink tank cartridge for an ink-jet type recording apparatus includes a housing with a plurality of walls forming a cavity and a bottom wall. A removable divider wall or spacer is inserted into the cavity which divides the cavity into first and second chambers. The spacer includes a wall section and a pair of legs extending from the wall which are spaced apart and are parallel to each other. The spacer is substantially U-shaped where the U-shape is formed by the legs and the wall section. A porous member is inserted into one of the chambers and resiliently abuts an opening of the supply port. The other chamber is at least partially filled with ink. The spacer has an opening to allow the ink to pass from the ink chamber to the foam chamber. The spacer is inserted into the chamber so that the opening is adjacent the bottom wall of the housing.

Dual chamber cartridge

An ink tank cartridge (A) includes a housing ( ) having a bottom wall ( ) and a plurality of side walls ( ) forming a cavity ( ). A divider wall ( ) is positioned within the cavity to divide the cavity into first and second chambers ( ). An ink supply port ( ) projects from the bottom wall of the housing. A porous member ( ) is accommodated in the chamber having the ink supply port. The other chamber is partially filled with ink. The divider wall has an opening ( ) allowing ink to pass from one of the chambers to the other chamber. A cover ( ) having a fill hole ( ) is secured to the housing.

Dual chamber ink-jet cartridge

An ink supply tank has a plurality of walls forming a cavity and a bottom wall formed with an ink outlet port. An ink absorbing member is disposed within the cavity positioned adjacent the ink outlet port. A plurality of grooves are recessed within the bottom wall and have a depth which gradually increases toward the ink outlet port. The grooves are approximately parallel to and are equally spaced apart from each other. The grooves extend along the longitudinal axis of the tank and are of the same width. A pair of grooves also extend along a transverse axis of the tank and are positioned on opposed sides of the ink outlet port and are parallel to each other. The transverse grooves have a width greater than the width of the longitudinal grooves.

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Franklin, TN, United States of America

William Allen Putman