Patent US3537735A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US4920362A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US4920362A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Volumetrically efficient ink jet pen capable of extreme altitude and temperature excursions
Assignee: HP Inc
•
Filing: 1988-12-16
•
Granted: 1990-04-24
•
Expires: 2008-12-16
Abstract
Abstract An ink jet pen having a drop generator, a catchbasin and a plurality of interconnected ink chambers comprises an ink reservoir coupled therebetween. The ink is distributed among the chambers so that, at any given time, only one contains both air and ink. The others contain either all ink or all air. Consequently, environmental excursions that cause expansion of air in the reservoir act to drive ink from only one of the chambers to the catchbasin. (The other chambers either have no air that can expand or no ink that can be driven therefrom.) The pen can thus be constructed with a smaller catchbasin than prior art pens, thereby increasing its volumetric efficiency. The catchbasin size can be reduced to an arbitrarily small volume by segregating the ink reservoir into an correspondingly large number of commensurately small chambers.
Inventors
- 👤 Bruce Cowger
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 02:21
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/17; B41J2/175; B41J2/17503; B41J2/17553; B41J2/17513; B41J2/19
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
48 words
An ink jet pen comprising: an ink reservoir comprised of a plurality of interconnected ink storage chambers; a drop generator coupled to one of said chambers; and accumulator means coupled to another of said chambers for accumulating ink expelled from the reservoir by the expansion of air therein.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
48 words
An ink jet pen comprising: an ink reservoir comprised of a plurality of interconnected ink storage chambers; a drop generator coupled to one of said chambers; and accumulator means coupled to another of said chambers for accumulating ink expelled from the reservoir by the expansion of air therein.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
19 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which the accumulator means comprises a chamber vented to ambient pressure.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which said chambers are interconnected by conduits extending therebetween.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The ink jet pen of claim 3 in which an end of each of said conduits is coupled to a chamber at a side thereof.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The ink jet pen of claim 3 in which the ink reservoir is divided into said plurality of chambers by one or more dividing walls and in which said conduits extend beneath said walls.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
43 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which the ink reservoir is divided into said plurality of chambers by one or more dividing walls, each of said dividing walls also defining an orifice that couples together two chambers bounded by said wall.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
45 words
The ink jet pen of claim 6 which further includes means for maintaining, during steady state printing conditions, a desired underpressure in each chamber in which the level of ink is above the level of the orifices coupling said chamber to others of the plurality.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
20 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which the ink reservoir comprises at least three interconnected ink storage chambers.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 which further comprises coupling means permitting ink to be returned from the accumulator means back to the reservoir.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
29 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 which further includes means for maintaining, during steady state printing conditions, a desired underpressure in the chamber coupled to the drop generator.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
15 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which the ink chambers are serially interconnected.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
46 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which said N chambers where N is greater than 2, and in which chamber number 1 is coupled to the drop generator, chamber N is coupled to ambient pressure and chambers 2 through N-1 are serially coupled therebetween.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
19 words
The ink jet pen of claim 1 in which said plurality of chambers are all substantially identical in volume.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3296624A
Cited
US3452361A
Cited
US4296421A
Cited
US4313124A
Cited
US4272773A
Cited
US4419678A
Cited
US4422084A
Cited
US4436439A
Cited
US4342042A
Cited
US4490728A
Cited
US4412232A
Cited
US4509062A
Cited
US4500895A
Cited
US4539568A
Cited
US4571599A
Cited
US4677447A
Cited
US4714937A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1993-04-23 | 1993-10-23 | 1994-04-24 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1997-04-23 | 1997-10-23 | 1998-04-24 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2001-04-23 | 2001-10-23 | 2002-04-24 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |