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EP0110499A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Ink reservoir with negative back pressure

Assignee: HP Inc
•
Filing: 1983-08-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-08-10
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Abstract

Abstract Apparatus for holding ink, and comprising a container (20) which incorporates a negative back pressure source coupled to a membrane wall (35) of the container to prevent ink leakage from an orifice (30), is disclosed. The back pressure is created by either a linear (40) or nonlinear (200) spring which can be either independent of, or integral with, the membrane. The result is freedom from ink leakage and improved quality printing when the reservoir is used in conjunction with an ink pen such as used in ink jet printing.

Inventors

  • 👤 Robert N. Low
  • 👤 Frank L. Cloutier
  • 👤 Gary Siewell

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 11:44
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/17; B41J2/175

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 57 words
Apparatus for holding liquid to be supplied through an ink jet, the reservoir comprising an open container (20,210) for the liquid, and the container having an outlet through which the liquid can flow, and being characterized by a flexible membrane (35,200) for closing the open container and for applying a negative pressure to ink in the container.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 57 words
Apparatus for holding liquid to be supplied through an ink jet, the reservoir comprising an open container (20,210) for the liquid, and the container having an outlet through which the liquid can flow, and being characterized by a flexible membrane (35,200) for closing the open container and for applying a negative pressure to ink in the container.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 31 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that spring means (40) is connected to said flexible membrane to exert a force on said flexible membrane thereby to create said negative pressure.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 32 words
Apparatus according to claim 2 characterized in that said spring means comprises a non-linear spring exerting a substantially constant force on said membrane regardless of the quantity of liquid in the container.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 33 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that the flexible membrane is shaped to comprise a resiliently-deformable dome-shaped portion which,independent of any deformation thereof, can exert a substantially constant force to resist deformation.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 20 words
Apparatus according to either one of claims 1 and 4 characterized in that the flexible membrane comprises a Belleville-like spring.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 18 words
Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that said flexible membrane is substantially non-porous.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 37 words
Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that said flexible membrane is formed of a material comprising plastics material or natural or synthetic rubber material, having chemical resistance to liquid in the container.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 21 words
Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the flexible membrane is made of silicone rubber material.

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