| 摘要 |
<p>A system and method is described for replenishing the ink in ink reservoirs (50) of the printhead cartridges (20, 22) on ink jet printers (10) is described. The ink-jet printer (10) includes a replenishing station (40) to which the pen carriage (16) can be moved whenever ink in one of the cartridge ink reservoirs (50) becomes exhausted or nears exhaustion. At the replenishing station (40), a plurality of container holders (59) serve to receive and hold one or more ink supply containers (70), which are sealed packages or cans containing an appropriate quantity of ink for refilling the ink reservoir (50) without overfill. A container (70) of the correct ink color is positioned in the appropriate holder (59) where it rests on a hydraulic coupling device (84) which is urged upwardly to a decoupled position by a spring (114). Downward pressure exerted on the container, preferably by the user closing the replenishing station cover (120), forces the container (70) downward onto a cutting blade (102) or other perforating device which breaks the seal on the container (70). Further downward pressure presses the coupling device (84) onto the printhead cartridge (20) completing a hydraulic connection from the interior of the container (70) through the coupling (84) to the cartridge (20). The downward pressure on the container (70) causes ink to flow under pressure from the container (70) through the coupling (84) to the refill port (54) and into the cartridge (20). The ink container (70) is designed to crush almost to zero volume, so that all the ink flows into the cartridge (20). Once refilling is completed, the cover (120) is raised, decoupling the hydraulic connection (84) and allowing the user to remove the crushed container (70). The system eliminates the need to remove the cartridge (20) from the printer for refilling and also eliminates all contact with the ink. <IMAGE></p> |
