HK1175748B - Combined ink family keying for an ink cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Combined ink system keying for ink cartridges

This application is a divisional application of a chinese patent application entitled "combined ink keying for ink cartridge", application No. 200880003360.X, filed on 17.1.2008, this prior chinese patent application is an application of an international patent application with application No. PCT/US2008/051262 to enter the chinese country phase.

Background

Inkjet printers operate by ejecting tiny droplets of ink from a printhead onto a print medium (e.g., paper). The printhead typically includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles through which fine ink droplets are ejected onto the paper to collectively produce an image. To deliver ink to the nozzles, the printhead includes a plurality of ink heating chambers, each fluidly connected to an associated nozzle by an aperture. Within each heating chamber is a firing resistor that is selectively energized to heat the ink within the chamber, which creates a bubble. As the bubble expands, some of the ink is forced out of the nozzle through the orifice and onto the paper. Although the specific printer configuration 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 may be a removable insert. In any case, ink is supplied to the printhead by an ink cartridge inserted into and detachably mounted in the printhead and the carriage. The ink cartridge is fluidly and electrically connected to the printhead and carriage through a fluid interface and an electrical interface. The reliability of the ink cartridge and printhead assembly, and the ultimate quality of the printed image, depend in part on the proper alignment and engagement of the fluidic and electrical interfaces. Rough handling by the user during insertion and removal of the cartridge, or gaps between the cartridge and the printhead or carriage, may result in communication loss (e.g., loss of print command signals) or loss of print quality due to poor fluid connection. To provide secure alignment and positioning of the ink cartridge within the carriage, known ink cartridge designs have integrated datum features that provide a reference point for insertion of the ink cartridge. In this way, the ink cartridge is properly positioned and engaged within the carriage and/or printhead assembly to provide satisfactory fluidic and electrical interconnection.

In addition to the datum feature, known ink jet cartridges may also include a keying feature to prevent insertion of an incompatible ink cartridge. In some cases, the ink cartridges are versatile and can be used on many different printer families. However, some cartridges contain inks that may be chemically incompatible with other ink types. If incompatible inks come into contact with each other, they may solidify and damage the printhead and nozzle assembly.

Although ink-jet cartridges can vary in size and shape, in the past they have had a width and surface area large enough to accommodate the datum and keying features. However, it has become increasingly important today to design ink jet cartridges as narrow as possible, since the overall width of the ink cartridge affects the width of the printer. With the start of use of narrower ink cartridges, there is no longer sufficient width available for both the datum and keying features.

The embodiments described below were developed in light of these and other shortcomings associated with incorporating both datum and keying features onto narrow width inkjet cartridges.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary inkjet printer, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary perspective view of an ink cartridge (or ink cartridge), according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary perspective view of an ink cartridge according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates partial insertion of an exemplary ink cartridge into a printhead and carriage assembly, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary ink cartridge fully inserted into a printhead and carriage assembly, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a carriage and printhead assembly, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a bracket with an alignment post, according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

An ink cartridge having a combined datum and keying feature is provided. The cartridge includes an ink supply port, an electrical interconnect, and an out-of-ink prism. The combined datum and keying feature (i.e., the "insertion key") acts as a pivotal reference point to guide the positioning of the ink cartridge into the printer carriage. In this way, properly aligning the ink supply ports, electrical interconnects, and ink-depleting prisms with respect to the printhead assembly and the printer carriage ensures proper fluid and electrical communication.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary inkjet printer 10 having at least one ink cartridge 12 mounted within a printhead assembly 14 and a carriage 16. Ink drops are ejected onto a print medium (e.g., paper 18) by a printhead, which typically includes a plurality of nozzles. The printhead and nozzles may be incorporated into carriage 16, integrated into ink cartridge 12, or as shown in FIG. 1, be a removable insert 14 disposed within carriage 16. In any event, ink cartridges 12 supply ink to printhead assembly 14, and printhead assembly 14 selectively ejects drops of ink onto paper 18 as carriage 16 traverses back and forth from side to side of printer 10 in a bi-directional manner.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary perspective view of the ink cartridge 12 showing the front edge portion 20, the bottom surface 22, and the first side 24. Ink cartridge 12 includes an ink supply port 26, an electrical interconnect 28, and a retention latch for securing ink cartridge 12 into carriage 16 after insertion. In one embodiment, the retention latch 30 extends across at least the front edge portion 20 of the ink cartridge 12. As shown in fig. 2, in another embodiment, the retention latch 30 is a one-piece molded structure that covers the length of the leading edge portion 20 and extends across the top surface 32. Accordingly, ink supply ports 26 and electrical interconnects 28 are disposed on bottom surface 22 and engagingly connect to complementary sockets (not shown) located within printhead 14 and carriage 16. When engaged, ink supply port 26 and electrical interconnect 28 provide fluid and electrical connections between ink cartridge 12 and printhead 14 and carriage 16.

The bottom surface 20 of the ink cartridge 12 also includes an out-of-ink prism 34 that works in combination with an optical sensor 36 (shown in fig. 1 and 6) within the carriage 16 to sense when the ink cartridge 12 is out of ink. In particular, the optical sensor 36 includes an emitter and a detector, wherein the emitter emits light to one side of the prism. If ink is present in the cartridge 12, the emitted light will be diffused by the ink and spread into the cartridge 12, preventing the light from being reflected back to the detector. If there is no ink in the cartridge 12, the emitted light will be reflected back to the detector, indicating that the cartridge 12 is empty. In one embodiment, the out-of-ink prism 34 also includes a transparent window that enables a user to view the amount of ink within the ink cartridge 12.

Fig. 3 illustrates another exemplary perspective view of ink cartridge 12, which includes top surface 32 and rear edge portion 38. The rear edge portion 38 includes an insertion key 40 that provides a pivotal reference point for insertion of the ink cartridge 12 into the carriage 16. The insertion of ink cartridge 12 into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assembly is generally illustrated in fig. 4 and 5, where fig. 4 illustrates partial insertion of ink cartridge 12 and fig. 5 illustrates ink cartridge 12 fully seated. Arrow 42 indicates the insertion path of ink cartridge 12 inserted into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assembly, with insertion key 40 engaging keyway 44, providing a pivotal reference point. The ink cartridge 12 is then pivoted downward to engage the retaining latch 30 into the fully seated position as shown in fig. 5. Insertion key 40 ensures proper alignment of ink cartridge 12 into printhead 14 and carriage 16 assembly so that proper fluidic and electrical interconnections can be achieved. For example, when properly positioned and fully seated, the ink supply port 26 is fluidly connected to a fluid interconnect 46 located on the printhead 14. Similarly, with fully seated, the electrical interconnect 28 is electrically connected to an electrical interconnect 48 located on the carriage 16.

In addition to guiding the movement of ink cartridge 12 into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assembly, insertion key 40 also provides a keying feature to prevent the installation of an incorrect ink cartridge into carriage 16. In other words, insertion key 40 is configured such that ink cartridge 12 can only be inserted and properly seated into the printhead 14 and carriage 16 assembly if there is a receptacle with a matching complementary configuration. Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary printhead 14 and carriage 16 configuration in which printhead assembly 14 is inserted into carriage 16. As shown in FIG. 6, the insertion key 40 shown in FIG. 3 has an inverted T-shaped configuration that mates with the keyway 44 located on the rear surface 50 of the bracket 16. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the specific configuration of the insertion key 40 and the mating keyway 44 may vary, and that the inverted T-shaped configuration of the insertion key 40 as shown in FIG. 6 is merely exemplary. For example, in an alternative embodiment, the insertion key 40 and the mating keyway on the bracket 16 may be in an L-shaped configuration.

Fig. 7 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary tray 16, wherein a front end surface 52 of the tray 16 includes an alignment post 54. Alignment post 54 is used in conjunction with an insertion slot 56 (shown in fig. 2) on ink cartridge 12 to further guide the insertion of ink cartridge 12 into carriage 16. Alignment post 54 is particularly advantageous in printer configurations where the carriage width is greater than the width of ink cartridge 12. The outward projection of alignment post 54 engages insertion slot 56 to position and secure ink cartridge 12 within carriage 16 regardless of printhead side walls 58 (shown in fig. 6 and 7).

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments as described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that all methods and systems that fall within the scope of these claims, and their equivalents, be covered thereby. This description of the invention should be understood to include all novel and non-obvious combinations of elements described herein, and claims may be presented in this or a later application to any novel and non-obvious combination of these elements. The foregoing embodiments are illustrative, and no single feature or element is essential to all possible combinations that may be claimed in this or a later application. Where the claims recite "a" or "a first" element of the equivalent of the present invention, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.

Claims (1)

1. An ink cartridge (12) comprising:

an insertion key (40) located on a rear edge portion (38) of the ink cartridge (12), the insertion key (40) configured to provide a pivot reference point for insertion of the ink cartridge (12) into a carriage (16) assembly; and

an insertion slot (56) on a front edge (20) of the ink cartridge (12), the insertion slot (56) configured to receive an alignment post (54) on the carriage (16) assembly to secure the ink cartridge (12) in the carriage (16) assembly,

wherein the insertion key (40) is both a pivotal reference point to guide the positioning of the ink cartridge (12) into the carriage (16) and a keying feature.

2. The ink cartridge (12) according to claim 1, further comprising:

an ink supply port (26) configured to be fluidly connected to a printhead assembly (14); and

an electrical interconnect (28) configured to establish an electrical connection between the ink cartridge (12) and the carriage (16) assembly;

wherein the insertion key (40) is configured to selectively position the ink supply port (26) and the electrical interconnect (28) such that, upon insertion of the ink cartridge (12) into the carriage (16) assembly, the ink supply port (26) establishes a fluid interconnect (46) between the ink cartridge (12) and the printhead assembly (14) and such that the electrical interconnect (28) establishes an electrical connection between the ink cartridge (12) and the carriage (16) assembly.

3. The ink cartridge (12) of claim 1, further comprising an out-of-ink prism (34) for detecting an out-of-ink condition within the ink cartridge (12).