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:
Mar. 31, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 04, 1995
Glen E Schmidt, Corvallis, OR (US);
Mark J Green, Corvallis, OR (US);
Ronald W Hall, Corvallis, OR (US);
Truman Kenneth Jones, Corvallis, OR (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An ink supply container for an ink-jet printer is provided with a main reservoir, which is typically maintained at ambient pressure. The main reservoir is coupled to a variable volume chamber via a one-way valve which allows the flow of ink from the reservoir to the chamber and prevents the flow of ink from the chamber to the reservoir. The chamber is coupled to a fluid outlet which is normally closed to prevent the flow of ink. A fill port is provided for directing ink into the reservoir to fill the reservoir. The apparatus and method for filling the ink container includes a nozzle that seals around the fill port and that has valved fluid lines connected thereto for evacuating the container prior to filling and for directing ink into the evacuated reservoir. The nozzle surrounds a plug that is moved to seal the port while the nozzle is still sealed around the port immediately after the container is filled.