Combined ink family keying for an ink cartridge

Handling of a family of combined inks for an ink cartridge.

BACKGROUND

Inkjet printers work by ejecting small drops of ink from a print head onto a print medium, such as paper. The printhead generally includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles through which small droplets of ink are ejected onto the paper to collectively create an image. To deliver ink to the nozzles, the printhead includes ink shot chambers, each fluidically connected to an associated nozzle through a drill. Inside each firing chamber are a heat generating resistor that is selectively excited to heat the chamber's ink, which creates a bubble. When the bubble expands, part of the ink is forced through the hole out of the nozzle and onto the paper. Although specific printer configurations may vary, the printhead and nozzles are often incorporated into a printer carriage inside the printer. The printhead may be integrated into the carriage, or it may be a removably detached insert. In any case, the ink is supplied to the printhead by a cartridge that is inserted into the printhead and the carriage inside and is removably mounted therein. The carriage is fluidically and electrically connected to the printhead and the carriage through fluidic and electrical interfaces. The reliability of the cartridge and printhead assembly, and finally the quality of the printed image, depend in part on the proper alignment and coupling of the fluidic and electrical interfaces. A rough performance during insertion or removal of the cartridge by a user, or a slack between the cartridge and the printhead or the carriage, can cause a loss of communication (for example, a loss of print order signal) or a loss of print quality due to poor fluidic connection. To ensure the alignment and positioning of the cartridge within the carriage, known cartridge designs have a built-in reference feature that provides a reference point for ink cartridge insertion. In this way, the cartridge is properly positioned and coupled within the carriage and / or printhead assembly to provide adequate fluidic and electrical interconnections.

In addition to the reference features, known ink cartridges may include a handling feature to prevent the insertion of an incompatible ink cartridge. In some cases, ink cartridges are universal and can be used in a different number of printer families. However, some ink cartridges contain inks that may be chemically incompatible with other types of ink. If incompatible inks come into contact with each other, they may freeze and damage the printhead and nozzle assembly.

Although ink cartridges may vary with respect to size and shape, they have historically been large enough in width and surface area to accommodate both reference and handling characteristics. However, it has become increasingly important to design ink cartridges as narrow as possible because the overall width of the cartridge influences the width of the printer. With the birth of narrower ink cartridges, the necessary width for both reference and handling characteristics is no longer available.

The embodiments described below were developed in light of these and other drawbacks associated with the implementation of the incorporation of both reference and handling features in narrow-width inkjet cartridges. EP0818314 describes a liquid ejection head cartridge comprising a projection arranged to allow insertion of the cartridge into a fastener portion comprising a corresponding notch, and to prevent insertion of the cartridge into a fastener portion that does not It comprises a corresponding notch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an ink cartridge is provided comprising:

an insert key located on a rear edge portion of the ink cartridge, said insert key being configured to provide a pivotal reference point for inserting the ink cartridge into a carriage assembly; and

an insertion slot located in a front edge portion of said cartridge and ink, said insertion slot being configured to receive an alignment post located in said carriage assembly to secure said ink cartridge within said carriage assembly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a system is provided comprising:

a car set; a printhead assembly; and

one or more ink cartridges according to any preceding claim:

in which the carriage assembly is configured to accept the one or more ink cartridges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an example of an inkjet printer according to one embodiment;

Figure 2 illustrates an example of an isometric view of an ink cartridge according to one embodiment;

Figure 3 illustrates another example of an isometric view of an ink cartridge according to one embodiment;

Figure 4 illustrates the partial insertion of an example ink cartridge into a printhead and carriage assembly according to one embodiment;

Figure 5 illustrates an example of an ink cartridge fully inserted into a printhead and carriage assembly according to one embodiment;

Figure 6 illustrates an isometric view of a carriage and printhead assembly according to one embodiment; and

Figure 7 illustrates an isometric view of a car having an alignment post according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An ink cartridge is provided that has combined reference and handling characteristics. The ink cartridge includes an ink supply port, an electrical interconnection and an out of ink prism. The combined reference and manipulation feature (ie, "the insert key") serves as a pivotal reference point to guide the positioning of the ink cartridge within a printer carriage. In this way, the ink supply port, the electrical interconnection and the spent ink prism are properly aligned with respect to the printhead assembly and the printer carriage, which ensures adequate fluidic and electrical communication.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of an exemplary inkjet printer 10 having at least one ink cartridge 12 mounted within a printhead assembly 14 and a carriage 16. Ink droplets are ejected onto a printing medium, such as a paper 18, through the printhead, which generally includes a plurality of nozzles. The printhead and the nozzles can be incorporated into the carriage 16, can be integrated into the ink cartridge 12 or, as shown in Figure 1, can be a removable insert 14 positioned within the carriage 16. In any case, the ink cartridge 12 supplies ink to the printhead assembly 14, which selectively ejects drops of ink onto the paper 18 when the carriage 16 moves back and forth from one side of the printer 10 to the other. in a bidirectional way.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of an isometric view of an ink cartridge 12 showing a front edge portion 20, a bottom surface 22 and a first side 24. The ink cartridge 12 includes an ink supply port 26, an interconnection electric 28 and a retention latch 30 to secure the ink cartridge 12 into the carriage 16 after insertion. In one embodiment, the retention latch 30 extends through at least the front edge portion 20 of the ink cartridge 12. In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, the retaining latch 30 is a one-piece molded structure that covers the length of the front edge portion 20 and extends through an upper surface 32. The ink supply port 26 and the electrical interconnection 28 are located on the bottom surface 22 and are connected together with reciprocal receptacles (not shown) located in the printhead 14 and the carriage 16, respectively. When coupled, the ink supply port 26 and the electrical interconnect 28 provide fluidic and electrical connectivity between the ink cartridge 12 and the printhead 14 and the carriage 16.

The lower surface 22 of the cartridge 12 further includes an exhausted ink prism 34 that works in combination with an optical sensor 36 (shown in Figures 1 and 6) in the carriage 16 to perceive when the ink cartridge 12 is out of ink. Specifically, the optical sensor 36 includes a transmitter and a detector, wherein the transmitter emits lights within one side of the prism. If ink is present in the cartridge 12, the emitted light is diffused by the ink and spreads inside the cartridge 12 preventing the light from being reflected back to the detector. If there is no ink present in the cartridge 12, the emitted light is reflected back to the detector indicating that the cartridge 12 is empty. In one embodiment, the spent ink prism 34 also includes a transparent window that allows a user to see the amount of ink inside the cartridge 12.

Figure 3 illustrates another example of an isometric view of an ink cartridge 12 that includes an upper surface 32 and a rear edge portion 38. The rear edge portion 38 includes an insert key 40 that provides a pivotal reference point for inserting the cartridge 12 into the carriage 16. The insertion of the cartridge 12 into the printhead assembly 14 and carriage 16 is generally shown in Figures 4 and 5, wherein Figure 4 illustrates the partial insertion of the cartridge 12 and Figure 5 illustrates the fully seated cartridge 12. Arrow 42 indicates the insertion path of the ink cartridge 12 being inserted into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assemblies, where the insertion key 40 fits into a keyway receptacle 44 and provides a reference point pivoting The ink cartridge 12 is then pivoted downward to engage with the retaining latch 30 in the fully seated position shown in Figure 5. The insert key 40 ensures proper alignment of the ink cartridge 12 within the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assemblies allowing adequate fluidic and electrical interconnections. For example, when properly positioned and fully seated, the ink supply port 26 is fluidly connected to a fluidic interconnection 46, which is located in the printhead 14. Similarly, in a fully seated position, the electrical interconnection 28 is electrically connected with an electrical interconnection 48, which is located in the carriage 16.

In addition to guiding the movement of the cartridge 12 within the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assemblies, the insert key 40 also provides a tampering feature to prevent the installation of an incorrect ink cartridge inside the carriage 16. In other words, the insert key 40 is configured such that the ink cartridge 12 can only be inserted and properly seated within the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assemblies if there is a receptacle having a conjugated reciprocal configuration. Figure 6 illustrates examples of printhead 14 and carriage 16 configurations in which the printhead assembly 14 is inserted into carriage 16. The insertion key 40, as shown in Figure 3, has an inverted T-shaped configuration that matches the key receptacle 44 located on a rear surface 50 of the carriage 16, as shown in Figure 16. A person skilled in the art will understand that the specific configuration of the insertion key 40 and the conjugate key receptacle 44 may vary and that the inverted T-shaped configuration of the insertion key 40, as shown in Figure 6, It is an example. For example, in an alternative embodiment, the insert key 40 and the conjugate key receptacle of the carriage 16 may have an L-shaped configuration.

Figure 7 illustrates an isometric view of an example carriage 16 in which a front end surface 52 of carriage 16 includes an alignment post 54. The alignment post 54 is used in conjunction with an insertion slot 56 in the cartridge 12 of ink (shown in Figure 2) to further guide the insertion of the ink cartridge 12 into the carriage 16. The alignment post 54 is particularly advantageous in printer configurations in which the width of the carriage is greater than the width of the ink cartridge 12. The protrusion out of the alignment post 54 is coupled with the insertion slot 56 to position and secure the ink cartridge 12 inside the carriage 16, regardless of the side walls 58 (shown in Figures 6 and 7) of the printhead. Print.

Although the present invention has been shown and described particularly with reference to the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed for the practice of the invention. without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.