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:
Sep. 01, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 05, 1995
Robert V Lorenze, Jr, Webster, NY (US);
Renato P Apollonio, Rochester, NY (US);
Xerox Corporation, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
A system is provided for refilling an ink reservoir associated with an ink jet printhead. The printhead is mounted on a movable carriage which, when refill is needed, and in a first embodiment, is automatically moved to a refill station. At the refill station, a refill ink source is brought into sealing engagement with the front nozzle face of the printhead. Ink from a refill container is forced into the printhead nozzles and flows through the nozzle channels back into the reservoir. The refill operation is then enabled by establishing a pressure gradient against the refill ink container forcing it through a pressure regulating drive seal, or a filter, into the nozzles. Alternatively, a vacuum is established through a vent tube connecting into the cartridge reservoir creating a negative differential at the vent hole and causing the ink from the refill container to pass through the nozzles into the supply reservoir. In another embodiment, a maintenance station wherein the printhead nozzles are periodically primed is selectively converted into a refill station under control of a system controller.