Ink jet marker
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A multiple color ink jet marker comprising:
- an elongate hand-held writing instrument body;
a removable cartridge, said cartridge including an ink jet print-head and a reservoir of ink provided as a unitary structure, said ink jet print-head disposed at one end of said instrument body in fluid communication with said reservoir when said cartridge is inserted into said instrument body, said ink jet print-head having a plurality of ejection nozzles in fluid communication with said ink reservoir, wherein desired ones of said ejection nozzles dispense a selected amount of ink of a first color upon receipt of first control signals and wherein other ones of said ejection nozzles dispense a selected amount of ink of a second color upon receipt of second control signals;
at least one color input control providing ready hand access to a user; and
an electrical circuit coupled to said ink jet print-head and said at least one input control including synchronization and selection circuit means for generating said first and second control signals to expel droplets of ink of said first and second colors in response to the receipt of input signals from said at least one input control, said ink droplets rendering a pattern of ink that is perceptible as a conventional marker to the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ink jet marker includes a writing instrument body with a cartridge disposed therein. A printing nozzle is coupled with said reservoir and receives control signals from an electrical control circuit to dispense ink droplets according to user input.
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Citations
76 Claims
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1. A multiple color ink jet marker comprising:
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an elongate hand-held writing instrument body;
a removable cartridge, said cartridge including an ink jet print-head and a reservoir of ink provided as a unitary structure, said ink jet print-head disposed at one end of said instrument body in fluid communication with said reservoir when said cartridge is inserted into said instrument body, said ink jet print-head having a plurality of ejection nozzles in fluid communication with said ink reservoir, wherein desired ones of said ejection nozzles dispense a selected amount of ink of a first color upon receipt of first control signals and wherein other ones of said ejection nozzles dispense a selected amount of ink of a second color upon receipt of second control signals;
at least one color input control providing ready hand access to a user; and
an electrical circuit coupled to said ink jet print-head and said at least one input control including synchronization and selection circuit means for generating said first and second control signals to expel droplets of ink of said first and second colors in response to the receipt of input signals from said at least one input control, said ink droplets rendering a pattern of ink that is perceptible as a conventional marker to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber supplied with ink from said ink reservoir, and a nozzle member including at least one nozzle associated with said heater element, through which droplets of ink are expelled toward said print medium when said heater element is actuated.
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9. The ink jet marker as in claim 1 wherein said circuit means applies control signals to desired ones of said ejection nozzles in response to user input concerning a desired color.
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10. An ink jet marker comprising:
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a longitudinally extending writing instrument body defining an inner cavity;
a replaceable cartridge disposed in said inner cavity and extending substantially the lengthwise dimension of said body, said cartridge including a plurality of ink reservoirs and an ink jet writing head fluidically coupled with and attached to said each of said reservoirs to form a unit that may be removed from said writing instrument body, said ink jet writing head dispensing a selected amount of ink of a plurality of colors upon receipt of control signals;
electrical control circuit means including a color selection input for providing said control signals based on selection by a user; and
electrical terminals coupling said electrical control circuit with said ink jet writing head. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A replaceable cartridge for use in a hand held ink jet writing instrument including a generally cylindrical writing instrument body with an opening at one end and an electrical circuit disposed to provide a plurality of control signals, said cartridge comprising:
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an enclosure containing a first reservoir of ink and a second reservoir adapted for placement within the writing instrument body;
an ink jet printing head including at least one ejection nozzle being in fluid communication with said first reservoir and being positioned in said body such that said at least one ejection nozzle extends through said opening to dispense a selected amount of ink upon receipt of said control signals; and
an electrical interconnect arrangement disposed to connect said ink jet printing head with the electrical circuit, said enclosure, said ink jet printing head and said electrical interconnect arrangement all provided as a single replaceable unit. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber supplied with ink from said ink reservoir, and a nozzle member including at least one nozzle associated with said heater element, through which droplets of ink are expelled toward said print medium when said heater element is actuated.
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25. A replaceable cartridge for use in a hand held ink jet writing instrument including a writing instrument body and an electrical circuit disposed to provide a plurality of control signals, said cartridge comprising:
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an enclosure containing a reservoir of ink adapted for placement within the writing instrument body;
an ink jet printing head including at least one ejection nozzle being in fluid communication with said reservoir and adapted to dispense a selected amount of ink upon receipt of said control signals;
a power supply; and
an electrical interconnect arrangement disposed to connect said ink jet printing head and said power supply with the electrical circuit, said enclosure, said ink jet printing head, said power supply and said electrical interconnect arrangement all provided as a replaceable unit. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 46)
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber supplied with ink from said ink reservoir.
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38. The replaceable cartridge as in claim 25 wherein said control signals are applied to desired ones of said ejection nozzles in response to user input concerning a desired color.
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46. The ink jet marker as in claim 32 wherein said ink chamber is generally cylindrical and wherein said transducer element is disposed in surrounding relation to said ink chamber.
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39. An ink jet marker comprising:
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an hand-held writing instrument body;
a cartridge containing a plurality of reservoirs of ink disposed in said body, each of said reservoirs containing ink of a different color;
said cartridge further including an ink jet print-head disposed at one end of said instrument body when said cartridge is inserted into said writing instrument body, said print-head including a plurality of ejection nozzles, each of which is in fluid communication with a corresponding one of said reservoirs and adapted to dispense a selected amount of ink upon receipt of control signals; and
an electrical circuit coupled to said ink jet print-head disposed to provide said control signals to expel droplets of ink through desired ones of said ink jet print-head nozzles, said droplets of ink providing a pattern that is perceptible as a conventional marker. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber supplied with ink, and a nozzle member including at least one nozzle associated with said heater element, through which droplets of ink are expelled toward said print medium when said heater element is actuated.
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45. The ink jet marker as in claim 39 wherein said ink jet printing head further comprises a transducer element, an ink chamber in spaced relation from said transducer element, and an ejection orifice disposed at one end of said ink chamber, said ink chamber being in fluid communication with said reservoirs and dispensing a selected amount of ink through said ejection orifice upon receipt of said control signals by said transducer element.
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47. The ink jet marker as in claim 39 wherein each of said ejection nozzles comprises an ink chamber, an ejection orifice, and a transducer element.
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48. The ink jet marker as in claim 39 further comprising a flexible hose.
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49. The ink jet marker as in claim 39 wherein said enclosure further includes a third reservoir of a third ink and wherein said ink jet printing head includes a third ejection nozzle coupled with said third reservoir of ink and being adapted to dispense a selected amount of ink upon receipt of said control signals.
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50. The ink jet marker as in claim 49 wherein said third ink is of a third color.
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51. The ink jet marker as in claim 39 wherein said ink jet printing head includes:
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber.
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52. The ink jet marker as in claim 39 wherein said control signals are applied to desired ones of said ejection nozzles in response to user input concerning a desired color.
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53. A replaceable cartridge for use in a hand held ink jet writing instrument including a writing instrument body and an electrical circuit disposed to provide a plurality of control signals, said cartridge comprising:
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an enclosure containing a first reservoir of a first ink and a second reservoir of a second ink adapted for placement within the writing instrument body;
an ink jet printing head including a first ejection nozzle being in fluid communication with said first reservoir and a second ejection nozzle being in fluid communication with said second reservoir, each of said ejection nozzles adapted to dispense a selected amount of ink upon receipt of said control signals; and
an electrical interconnect arrangement disposed to connect said ink jet printing head with the electrical circuit. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber.
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68. The ink jet marker as in claim 53 wherein said control signals are applied to desired ones of said ejection nozzles in response to user input concerning a desired color.
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69. An ink jet marker comprising:
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an hand-held writing instrument body;
a cartridge provided as a separable, self-contained unit adapted to be inserted within the writing instrument body, the cartridge including a plurality of reservoirs of ink, each containing ink of a different color;
said cartridge further including a thermal ink jet print-head disposed at one end of said instrument body when said cartridge is inserted therein, said print-head including a plurality of ejection nozzles, each of which is in fluid communication with a corresponding one of said reservoirs of ink, said ejection nozzles projecting droplets of ink in accordance with control signals received by said ink jet print-head; and
a microprocessor-based electrical circuit coupled to said ink jet print-head disposed to provide said control signals to expel droplets of ink through desired ones of said ink jet print-head nozzles, said droplets of ink providing an image in the form of a colorized pattern onto a medium that is perceptible as a conventional marker to a user. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber.
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75. The ink jet marker as in claim 69 wherein said ink jet print head includes:
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at least one heater element, said heater element being disposed in a firing chamber supplied with ink from said ink reservoir, and a nozzle member including at least one nozzle associated with said heater element, through which droplets of ink are expelled toward said print medium when said heater element is actuated.
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76. The ink jet marker as in claim 69 wherein said electrical circuit provides control signals to desired ones of said ejection nozzles in response to user input concerning a desired color.
Specification