The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 11, 1996
Filed:
Oct. 05, 1992
Marc A Baldwin, Corvallis, OR (US);
Ella M Duyck, Philomath, OR (US);
Mark L McCarty, Corvallis, OR (US);
Lowell R McDaniel, Corvallis, OR (US);
John M Altendorf, Corvallis, OR (US);
Joseph R Elliot, Corvallis, OR (US);
Bruce Cowger, Corvallis, OR (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
The back pressure of an ink pen is maintained by providing a capillary member adjacent a bubble generator. Regardless of the orientation of the pen, the capillary member maintains a quantity of ink adjacent an orifice defined by the bubble generator. The quantity of ink serves to supply a liquid seal formed in the orifice. As the back pressure within the ink pen rises to its maximum level, the liquid seal within the orifice is overcome and ambient air bubbles into the reservoir to lower the back pressure. As the back pressure returns to a desirable point, ink trapped by the capillary member enters the orifice to reseal the orifice.