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:
May. 12, 1998
Filed:
Feb. 04, 1994
Bruce Cowger, Corvallis, OR (US);
Ronald W Hall, Corvallis, OR (US);
Paul D Gast, Vancouver, WA (US);
Alan Shibata, Camas, WA (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
In a method and system for delivering ink within a printer, a reservoir and a portion of a tube are accelerated so as to generate an inertial flow of ink in the tube, where the tube is connected to the reservoir and in fluid communication with an ink supply. A valve is provided between the tube and the reservoir. The valve is closed to retain an amount of the inertial flow of ink in the reservoir when the inertial flow of ink is away from the reservoir. The tube is primed by moving the printer so as to elevate the ink supply relative to the reservoir in the printer. Foam may be provided within the reservoir which restricts the rate of flow by not allowing ink to be conducted from the reservoir when the foam is unsaturated.