Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
  • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
  • B41J2/01—Ink jet
  • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
  • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
  • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
  • B41J2/01—Ink jet
  • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
  • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
  • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
  • B41J2/17559—Cartridge manufacturing
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
  • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
  • B41J2/01—Ink jet
  • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
  • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
  • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
  • B41J2/17513—Inner structure
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
  • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
  • B41J2/01—Ink jet
  • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
  • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
  • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
  • B41J2/1752—Mounting within the printer
  • B41J2/17523—Ink connection

Definitions

• the present invention relates to ink jet print cartridges, and more particularly to techniques for employing a common cartridge body for multiple cartridge applications.
• Ink-jet printers are in widespread use today for printing functions in personal computer, facsimile and other applications.
• Such printers typically include replaceable or semi-permanent print cartridges which hold a supply of ink and carry the ink-jet printhead.
• the cartridge typically is secured into a printer carriage which supports one or a plurality of cartridges above the print medium, and traverses the medium in a direction transverse to the direction of medium travel through the printer.
• Electrical connections are made to the printhead by flexible wiring circuits attached to the outside of the cartridge.
• Each printhead includes a number of tiny nozzles defined in a substrate and nozzle plate structure which are selectively fired by electrical signals applied to interconnect pads to eject droplets of ink in a controlled fashion onto the print medium.
• each removable cartridge includes datum surfaces which engage against corresponding carriage surfaces to precisely locate the cartridge when inserted into the carriage. In this manner, when a cartridge ink supply is exhausted, the cartridge may be replaced with a fresh cartridge, and the printhead of the new cartridge will be precisely located relative to the carriage.
• Multicolor cartridges are a common, physically compact inkjet solution, but unless the user prints equal quantities of all colors, ink is discarded when the disposable cartridge empties any one color.
• a universal inkjet cartridge body with multiple ink reservoirs is described that can be used for single color or multiple color applications.
• the ink flow routing is accomplished by merely changing the printhead-to-body "gasketing" (adhesive pattern). This allows for all or some of the reservoirs' ink to be mixed at the head, or the respective inks can be directed to different parts of the printhead.
• a method for fabricating an inkjet printer cartridge comprising: providing a cartridge body having a plurality of compartments, each for holding a separate supply of ink, each compartment having an outlet port, the body further including isolated ink flow paths running leading from an outlet port to a printhead mounting region; selecting one of a plurality of cartridge configurations; based on the selected cartridge configuration, completing an ink flow path configuration between the respective ink flow paths and the printhead mounting region which determines whether each ink flow path remains isolated from other ink flow paths or is allowed to join with one or more of the other ink flow paths; and mounting an ink-jet printhead to the mounting region.
• FIG. 1 is an isometric, partially exploded and broken away view of a universal ink-jet printer cartridge in accordance with the invention.
• FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken through line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
• FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the cartridge body of FIG. 1 , illustrating features of the nose piece.
• FIG. 4 is an exploded diagrammatic illustration of the printhead die positioned away from the nose piece recess.
• FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show three different exemplary adhesive patterns for attaching the printhead to the nose piece.
• FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic illustration of a monochrome printhead.
• FIGS. 1-3 An ink-jet cartridge 20 embodying this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3.
• the cartridge has an external structure comprising multi-compartment main body 30, a top cap 40, and a nose piece 50.
• each of the members 30, 40 and 50 is a unitary molded part fabricated of a plastic material, such as injection molded polysulfone, PET, ABS and other polymers, both filled and unfilled with glass or other materials.
• the top cap 40 is attached to the main body 30 during an assembly process, e.g. by ultrasonic welding, adhesive or other suitable bonding technique.
• the top cap 30 is described more fully in the copending application entitled "Vent For An ink- Jet Print Cartridge, referenced above.
• the nose piece 50 is attached to the bottom of the main body during the assembly process, using a similar bonding technique.
• the main body 30 is of rectilinear cross-section, with opposed long side walls 32A, 32B, end walls 32C, 32D and a bottom wall 32E.
• Interior partition walls 34A, 34B extend across the interior of the body between side walls 32 A and 32B, and divide the interior volume of the body member 30 into three compartments 36A, 36B and 36C in this embodiment. Of course the particular number of compartments could be more or less than three.
• the bottom wall 32E has formed therein respective openings 38A, 38B and 38C to provide an ink flow path from the respective chambers 36A, 36B and 36C into the nosepiece 50.
• compressed foam elements are respectively inserted into the respective chambers 36A, 36B and 36C, to create via capillary action a negative ink pressure to prevent ink drooling from the printhead.
• Use of foam for this purpose is well known in the art.
• the nose piece 50 includes respective interior ink channels 52A, 52B and 52C which, when the part 50 is assembled to the body 30, lead from the respective openings 38A, 38B and 38C to respective outlet ports or openings 64A, 64B, 64C in the nose piece channel floors.
• the channels are constructed such that, when the cartridge is mounted in a printer carriage for printing, the floors of the respective channels drop slightly in elevation, so that any air bubbles in the liquid ink in each channel will flow away from the printhead.
• Each channel is defined by a channel wall structure which protrudes upwardly from the channel floor to a height sufficient to bond to the bottom surface of the floor 32E of the main body.
• FIG. 2 shows the relative orientation of the body compartments 36A, 36B, 36C, the openings 38A, 38B and 38C formed in the body floor and the channels 52A, 52B and 52C.
• FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the bottom of the nose piece 50, and shows the flat surface 58 with a shallow pocket or recess 60 formed therein.
• the pocket 60 receives the printhead substrate 80 (FIG. 4) during assembly.
• the pocket has a depth of 0.6 mm, but this of course will vary depending on the particular printhead substrate characteristics.
• the pocket has formed in each corner respective standoff structures 62 which define datum surfaces for precisely locating the substrate relative to the nose piece 50.
• the substrate 80 is mounted so that the facing surface of the substrate contacts the four datums FIGS.
• FIG 3 and 4 also show the respective openings 64 A, 64B and 64C formed in the nose piece 50, and which provide respective fluid communication paths through the surface 58, and between the channels 52 A, 52B, 52C and the pocket 60.
• the surface 58 and the channels provide a barrier structure which maintains separation between the respective inks from the compartments of the body in the interior of the nose piece.
• the nose piece itself does not prevent mixing of the inks.
• the openings 64A, 64B and 64C are pie or sector shaped openings with two flat sides joined by an arc portion.
• the openings are oriented so that a flat side of each opening is adjacent to a flat side of another opening. This configuration provides maximum flow area through the openings while still allowing reasonable area of the nose piece material between the openings to allow for adhesive application.
• a sealing structure is provided between the floor 60A (FIG. 4) of the pocket and the printhead substrate which adheres between the sub- strate and the pocket floor, and which defines a seal pattern or a gasket pattern which is dependent on the type of print cartridge to be manufactured.
• Each printhead substrate 80 has formed therein a nozzle array structure, comprising one or more nozzle arrays.
• substrate 80 in FIG. 4 is shown with three nozzle arrays 80A, 80B and 80C, each comprising one or more columns of nozzles.
• FIGS. 5-7 show different patterns of a gasket or adhesive structure.
• FIG. 5 illustrates a sealant pattern in the form of a "pretzel" shape, wherein each opening 64A-64C has a respective partition structure portion 90A-90C formed around it.
• This partition structure isolates each opening from the other openings, preventing color mixing in the pocket area.
• This partition structure can be used to direct ink of different colors to different ones of the nozzle arrays 80A-80C.
• FIG. 6 shows a partition structure 92 which includes a single partition structure portions surrounding all three openings 64A-64C.
• This partition structure permits ink from all three compartments to mix in the pocket region, and so is useful for a single color print cartridge structure.
• the substrate may include only a single nozzle array, or it may be identical to the nozzle array used with the partition structure of FIG. 5, with all three nozzle arrays used for the same color.
• FIG. 7 illustrates a partition structure 94 which defines two sub-partition structures 94A and 94B.
• the sub-partition structure surrounds just the opening 64 A, and so provides isolation for the ink in compartment 32A from the inks in the other compartments.
• the sub-partition structure 94B is large enough to encompass the two openings 64B and 64C, and so permits ink from compartments 32B and 34C to mix at the pocket region.
• This partition structure 94 is useful for a two color print cartridge, wherein ink of the same color, e.g. black, is held in compartments 32B, 32C, and ink of a different color is held in compartment 32A.
• the substrate 80 for this example includes at least two nozzle arrays, one positioned over the subpartition 94B, the other positioned over the sub-partition 94A.
• Typical adhesives suitable for fabricating the partition structures 90-94 include heat curable epoxies, applied from one needle or an array of needles in an automated tool.
• the needle or array of needles is mounted on a dispensing head, which is positioned with high precision by a vision assisted automated tool. When a single needle is used, the needle is moved through a path of movement to dispense a bead of adhesive or discrete drops of liquid or semi-liquid adhesive, to define the partition structure.
• the needles are positioned in the configuration of the partition structure, and a single motion of the tool head can be used to dispense the adhesive material.
• the printhead substrate is positioned in the pocket, and the bottom surface of the substrate is brought into contact with the adhesive.
• the adhesive is then cured by application of heat in this exemplary embodiment.
• a universal cartridge body in accordance with an aspect of this invention can be used to serve several applications with a single tooling set, a single manufacturing line and a single set of components.
• a tri-reservoir body as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be used to make several different cartridges with many of the same components and processes.
• One cartridge variation is a tri-color, cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y), using a sealant structure illustrated in FIG. 5.
• the sealant structure shown in FIG. 5 has been in long use for dedicated tri-color cartridges with a tri-color printhead.
• Another cartridge variation is a full black (K) pen, with all three reservoir compartments used for black ink, using a sealant structure shown in FIG. 6.
• a third variation is a three-compartment cartridge with black ink in two of the reservoirs and with a spot color, say blue, in the third compartment, using a sealant structure shown in FIG. 7.
• the invention is not limited to use with a multiple nozzle array printhead as shown in FIG. 4.
• the sealant structure of FIG. 6 is suitable for use with a monochrome printhead such as printhead 80' illustrated in FIG. 8, with a single nozzle array 80D.
• the sealant structure 92 will deliver ink from all compartments of the body to the nozzle array.
• the printer will need to know which version of the cartridge is mounted in the printer, i.e. for the example illustrated, whether the cartridge is a monochrome version, a tri-color version, or a two-color version. This is so the printer driver will apply appropriate drive signals to the cartridge. This can be implemented by a manual command to the printer by the user, by printer software, or by an automatic reading of the cartridge type by the printer when the cartridge is installed, e.g., by reading cartridge version data stored on the cartridge. Encoding information on the cartridge for reading by the printer is known in the art.
• a universal body also delivers flexibility to balance colors to meet market needs without redesigning the cartridges and the corresponding manufacturing equipment and processes, including material handling process steps to accommodate different components.
• a black and red cartridge with a 4-reservoir body could be "adjusted" post-introduction to deliver the best balance of black and red. Having this "adjustability" can speed the design cycle by decoupling the design from color-balance usage research and estimations.
• a post-introduction redesign of the reservoirs using conventional methods would ripple through most of the ink delivery system and be very expensive (e.g., for an exemplary embodiment, requiring a new lid, lid weld, new foam, new foam stuff process, new nose piece and nose weld process).
• separate nose pieces can be employed for redistributing the ink flow upstream from the pocket area.
• the nose piece is modified from the fully isolated case, shown in FIG. 2, by removing a small area of material which separates the ink channels.
• the small wall portion 52A2 (FIG. 2) could be eliminated to allow ink flow and mixing between channel 52A and channel 52B.
• Wall portion 52B2 could be eliminated to allow ink flow and mixing between channel 52B and channel 52C.
• Wall portion 52C2 could be eliminated to allow ink flow and mixing between channel 52A and channel 52C.
• sealing structure pattern 90 FIG. 5 could be employed for all variations of the nose piece.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Ink Jet (AREA)
• Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
• Pens And Brushes (AREA)
• Perforating, Stamping-Out Or Severing By Means Other Than Cutting (AREA)

Priority Applications (10)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=23898734

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (17)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (36)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 2000
  • 2000-01-05 US US09/478,148 patent/US6290348B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-11-13 AU AU17629/01A patent/AU768505B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-11-13 CA CA002395270A patent/CA2395270C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-11-13 ES ES00980355T patent/ES2204725T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-11-13 CN CNB008181519A patent/CN1178789C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-11-13 EP EP00980355A patent/EP1246728B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-11-13 JP JP2001549844A patent/JP4210057B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-11-13 MX MXPA02006691A patent/MXPA02006691A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2000-11-13 WO PCT/US2000/031104 patent/WO2001049497A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-11-13 CZ CZ20022363A patent/CZ299204B6/cs not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-11-13 AT AT00980355T patent/ATE251991T1/de active
  • 2000-11-13 PL PL00355945A patent/PL195968B1/pl not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-11-13 RU RU2002120800/12A patent/RU2251488C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-11-13 BR BRPI0016981-1A patent/BR0016981B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-11-13 DE DE60006003T patent/DE60006003T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-11-13 KR KR1020027008701A patent/KR100710975B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-11-15 TW TW089124156A patent/TW495443B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (4)

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