Ink delivery system adapter

• US 6,322,205 B1
• Filed: 08/07/1998
• Issued: 11/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Childers, Winthrop D., Pawlowski, Norman E. Jr., Gasvoda, Eric L., Talpos, Ovidiu, Bullock, Michael L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thinh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nghiem, Michael P.
• Application Number:
  US09/125,086
• Time in Patent Office: 1,208 Days
• Field of Search: 347/85, 347/86, 347/87, 347/19, 347/49, 347/7, 347/50
• US Class Current: 347/85
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17506 Refilling of the cartridge
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17509 Whilst mounted in the printer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17513 Inner structure
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1752 Mounting within the printer
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17523 Ink connection
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17526 Electrical contacts to the cartridge
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17546 electronically
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/1755 mechanically
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17553 Outer structure
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17556 Means for regulating the pressure in the cartridge
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17566 Ink level or ink residue control
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/17596 Ink pumps, ink valves
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/17569 based on the amount printed or to be printed
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/17573 using optical means for ink level indication
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2002/17576 using a floater for ink level indication
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 25/34 Bodily-changeable print heads or carriages

Abstract

A large variety of ink delivery systems for an existing ink-Jet printing system are provided. The ink delivery systems include ink reservoirs of varying configuration and size which are capable of accommodating a variety of ink use rates. Each ink delivery system also has an electrical connector and an information storage device which are suitable for the various ink use rates. The information storage device may be a memory device circuit that provides enabling information to the printing system.

Claims

1. An adaptive ink supply for a printing system for use in lieu of a first ink cartridge, the printing system having a receptacle for receiving the first ink cartridge, the receptacle containing an interconnect platform, a printing system electrical connector which protrudes from the platform, has at least two sides, and has an end containing a plurality of resilient electrical contacts protruding from the end, a controller which exchanges information with a first memory device mounted to the first ink cartridge containing information concerning ink in the first ink cartridge, an ink supply sleeve protruding from the platform and surrounding a hollow needle fluidically connected to a printhead, the adaptive ink supply comprising:

an ink reservoir containing a replacement ink;

a fluid outlet in fluid communication with the ink reservoir which is sized to be received by the ink supply sleeve and to receive the hollow needle to allow ink to flow from the ink reservoir to the printhead;

an adapter connector having a base, a plurality of electrical contact pads mounted to the base and spaced side-by-side for engaging the electrical contacts of the printing system electrical connector, the adapter connector having at least one guide member which engages at least one of the sides of the printing system electrical connector for repositioning the interconnect platform from which the printing system electrical connector protrudes so as to align into engagement the contact pads and the electrical contacts; and

a source of signals electrically connected to the contact pads of the adapter connector for exchanging information with the controller.

2. The ink supply of claim 1, wherein the adapter connector comprises a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, and wherein the contact pads are mounted to the housing.

3. The ink supply of claim 1, wherein the adapter connector comprises a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing, the housing having an opening adjacent to the contact pads;

and wherein

the ink reservoir along with the fluid outlet are slidably inserted into the housing, with the fluid outlet protruding through the opening.

4. The ink supply of claim 1, wherein the adapter connector comprises a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing;

wherein

the fluid outlet is secured to the housing; and

wherein

the ink reservoir is located exterior of the housing and connected to the fluid outlet by a conduit.

5. The ink supply of claim 1 wherein the printing system has an air supply sleeve protruding from the platform and a hollow needle surrounded by the air supply sleeve and leading to an air pressure source, and wherein the ink supply further comprises:

an air inlet which is sized to connect to the air supply sleeve, the air inlet having a distal end which is adapted to be received by the air supply sleeve and to receive the hollow needle.

6. The ink supply of claim 1 wherein the printing system has an air supply sleeve protruding from the platform and a hollow needle surrounded by the air supply sleeve and leading to an air pressure source, and wherein the adapter connector further comprises:

a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing, the housing having an opening adjacent to the contact pads;

a shell surrounding at least a portion of the ink reservoir, defining an air pressure chamber between the shell and the ink reservoir;

an air inlet extending from the shell which is sized to be received by the air supply sleeve and is adapted to receive the hollow needle delivering pressurized air from the hollow needle to the pressure chamber for pressurizing the ink reservoir; and

wherein

the shell, the reservoir, the fluid outlet and the air inlet are removably inserted into the housing, with the fluid outlet and air inlet protruding through the opening.

7. The ink supply of claim 1, further comprising a flexible conduit connected between the ink reservoir and the fluid outlet to allow the ink reservoir to be remotely located from the receptacle while the fluid outlet is connected to the ink supply sleeve.

8. The ink supply of claim 1 wherein one of the sides of the printing system electrical connector has a guide slot;

wherein

the contact pads are arranged along a line to define an x-axis direction;

the at least one guide member of the adapter connector is positioned to engage the guide slot to provide alignment between the contact pads and the resilient electrical contacts along the x-axis.

9. The ink supply of claim 1 wherein the printing system electrical connector has opposite lateral sides;

wherein

the contact pads are located in a row defining two outer contacts on opposite ends of the row;

said at least one guide member includes at least one alignment member for engaging one of the opposite lateral sides.

10. The ink supply of claim 1, wherein the source of signals includes information regarding a volume of replacement ink in the ink reservoir.

11. The ink supply of claim 1, wherein the source of signals contains a memory device which has a write portion which is adapted to be updated by the controller to provide an estimate during usage of the quantity of replacement ink in the ink reservoir.

12. The ink supply of claim 1 wherein the source of signals is connected to the contact pads on the adapter connector by a flexible cable to enable the source of signals to be remotely located from the receptacle while the adapter connector is in engagement with the electrical contacts of the printing system.

13. The ink supply of claim 1, further comprising:

a flexible conduit connected between the ink reservoir and the fluid outlet to enable the ink reservoir to be remotely located from the receptacle while the fluid outlet is connected to the ink supply sleeve; and

a flexible cable between the contact pads on the adapter connector and the source of signals to enable the source of signals to be remotely located from the receptacle while the adapter connector is in engagement with the printing system electrical connector.

14. The ink supply of claim 1, wherein the adapter connector comprises:

a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing;

wherein

the fluid outlet is carried by the housing adjacent to the contact pads; and

a flexible cable connects the source of signals to the contact pads to enable the source of signals to be remote from the receptacle while the adapter connector is in engagement with the electrical connector of the printing system.

15. An adaptive ink supply for a printing system for use in lieu of a first ink cartridge, the printing system having a receptacle for receiving the first ink cartridge, the receptacle containing an interconnect platform, a printing system electrical connector which protrudes from the platform, has at least two sides, and has an end containing a plurality of protruding resilient electrical contacts protruding from the end, the electrical contacts including two pairs of volume sensing contacts, a controller which exchanges information with a first memory device mounted to the first ink cartridge concerning ink in the first ink cartridge, an ink supply sleeve protruding from the platform and surrounding a hollow needle fluidically connected to a printhead, the first ink cartridge having a pair of inductive coils for sensing ink quantity therein, each of the inductive coils adapted to be electrically connected to one of the pairs of the volume sensing contacts when the first ink cartridge is installed in the receptacle, the adaptive ink supply comprising:

an ink reservoir containing a replacement ink;

a fluid outlet in fluid communication with the ink reservoir which is sized to be received by the ink supply sleeve and to receive the hollow needle;

an adapter connector having a base and a plurality of electrical contact pads mounted to the base for engaging the electrical contacts of the printing system electrical connector;

a source of signals electrically connected to the contact pads of the adapter connector for exchanging information with the controller; and

a circuit connecting at least one of the pairs of the volume sensing contacts to each other for enabling a continuity check to be made by the controller once the adapter connector is connected to printing system electrical contacts.

16. The ink supply of claim 15, wherein the adapter connector comprises a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing, the housing having an opening adjacent to the contact pads;

and wherein

the ink reservoir along with the fluid outlet are slidably inserted into the housing, with the fluid outlet protruding through the opening.

17. The ink supply of claim 15, wherein the adapter connector comprises a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing;

wherein

the fluid outlet is secured to the housing; and

wherein

the ink reservoir is located exterior of the housing and connected to the fluid outlet by a conduit.

18. The ink supply of claim 15 wherein the printing system has an air supply sleeve protruding from the platform and a hollow needle surrounded by the air supply sleeve and leading to an air pressure source, and wherein the adapter connector further comprises:

a housing which is sized to be inserted at least partially into the receptacle, the contact pads being mounted to the housing, the housing having an opening adjacent to the contact pads;

a shell surrounding at least a portion of the reservoir, defining an air pressure chamber between the shell and the reservoir;

an air inlet extending from the shell which is sized to connect to the air supply sleeve, the air inlet having an end which is adapted to be pierced by the needle in the air supply sleeve for delivering pressurized air from the air supply sleeve to the pressure chamber for pressurizing the ink reservoir; and

wherein

the shell, the reservoir, the fluid outlet and the air inlet are removably inserted into the housing, with the fluid outlet and air inlet protruding through the opening.

19. The ink supply of claim 15, further comprising a flexible conduit connected between the ink reservoir and the fluid outlet to allow the ink reservoir to be remotely located from the receptacle while the fluid outlet is connected to the ink supply sleeve.

20. The ink supply of claim 15 further comprising at least one guide member which engages at least one of the sides of the printer electrical connector for aligning the contact pads into engagement with the electrical contacts.

21. The ink supply of claim 20 wherein the contact pads are arranged along a line to define an x-axis direction;

the at least one guide member of the adapter connector is positioned to engage at least one of the sides of the printer electrical connector to provide alignment between the contact pads and the resilient electrical contacts along the x-axis.

22. The ink supply of claim 15 wherein the source of signals contains a memory device which has a write portion which is adapted to be updated by the controller to provide an estimate during usage of the quantity of replacement ink in the ink reservoir.

23. The ink supply of claim 15 wherein the source of signals is connected to the contact pads on the adapter connector by a flexible cable to enable the source of signals to be remotely located from the receptacle while the adapter connector is in engagement with the electrical contacts of the printing system.

24. A method for adapting an ink supply to a printing system which is configured to utilize a first ink cartridge which has a first memory device containing data concerning ink in the first ink cartridge, the printing system having an interconnect platform containing a fluid inlet with a hollow needle surrounded by a sliding biased sealing collar, a printing system electrical connector which protrudes from the platform, has at least two sides, and has an end containing a plurality of protruding resilient electrical contacts protruding from the end, the electrical contacts including two pairs of volume sensing contacts, a controller which exchanges information with the first memory device concerning ink in the first ink cartridge, the first ink cartridge having a pair of inductive coils for sensing ink quantity therein, each of the inductive coils adapted to be electrically connected to one of the pairs of the volume sensing contacts when the first ink cartridge is installed in the receptacle, the method comprising:

(a) providing an adaptive ink supply having an ink reservoir with a fluid outlet, an adapter connector having a plurality of contact pads for engaging the electrical contacts on the electrical connector, and a source of signals which contains electronic information which is readable by the controller to enable the printing system to operate;

(b) coupling the fluid outlet of the ink reservoir to the fluid inlet, depressing the sliding collar with an end of the fluid outlet and inserting the hollow needle of the fluid inlet into the fluid outlet to supply ink from the reservoir;

(c) engaging the adapter connector to the electrical connector of the printing system so that the contact pads engage the electrical contacts of the printing system electrical connector;

(d) electrically connecting the volume sensing contacts of at least one of the pairs to each other;

(e) receiving a continuity signal at the plurality of contact pads based upon an electrical continuity check performed at said at least one of the pairs; and

(f) providing a proper continuity response.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein:

step (a) includes providing the source of signals with a memory which contains information concerning the volume of the ink reservoir and which may be written to; and

step (b) includes by using the controller, reading the volume information and writing to the memory with a new estimate of volume during usage.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of locating the source of signals remotely from the printing system.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of locating the ink reservoir remotely from the printing system.

28. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of locating the source of signals and the ink reservoir remotely from the printing system.

29. An adaptive ink supply for a printing system having a receptacle containing a platform, the receptacle including an electrical connector which protrudes from the platform and has an end containing a plurality of resilient electrical contacts protruding from the end, the receptacle including a fluid inlet that includes a hollow needle surrounded by a sliding sealing collar, the fluid inlet includes an ink supply sleeve that surrounds the sliding collar and the hollow needle, the printing system includes printing system control electronics for controlling printing operations, the ink supply comprising:

a housing which is adapted to be at least partially inserted into the receptacle, the housing having a leading end;

a fluid reservoir for containing replacement ink;

a fluid outlet in fluid communication with the fluid reservoir, the fluid outlet including a distal end member which is sized to be received by the ink supply sleeve, the distal end member is adapted to depress the sliding collar and receive the hollow needle of the fluid inlet for supplying the replacement ink to the printing system;

a plurality of electrical contacts mounted to the housing for engaging the electrical contacts of the electrical connector;

an information storage device coupled to the contact pads for exchanging information with the printing system control electronics; and

a flexible cable which connects the information storage device to the contact pads to enable the information storage device to be located remotely from the receptacle while the contact pads are in engagement with the electrical connector of the printing system.

30. The ink supply of claim 29, wherein:

the fluid outlet is secured to the housing; and

the ink reservoir is located exterior of the housing and connected to the fluid outlet by a conduit.

31. An adaptive ink supply for a printing system having a controller for controlling printing operations and a receptacle including a spring loaded platform and a latch portion, the spring loaded platform having a fluid outlet and an electrical connector, the connector having a plurality of receptacle contacts, the adaptive ink supply comprising:

a housing adapted to be at least partially inserted into the receptacle in a first direction, the housing including a latch feature adapted for engaging the latch portion, the latch feature adapted to receive the latch portion in the first direction;

a fluid outlet adapted to engage the fluid inlet;

a plurality of container contacts adapted to engage the receptacle contacts; and

an ink supply circuit connected to the plurality of container contacts, the ink supply circuit provides signals to the controller indicative of a state of adaptive ink supply;

wherein the housing is adapted to depress the spring loaded platform such that the spring loaded platform exerts a force on the housing opposite to the first direction and wherein the latch feature provides a force in the first direction to balance the force of the spring loaded platform.

32. The adaptive ink supply of claim 31, wherein the housing has a trailing end relative to a direction of insertion of the housing into the receptacle, the latch portion is positioned near the trailing end of the housing, the latch portion extends downwardly relative to a gravitational frame of reference.