Venting device for ink cartridge

摘要

A cartridge for an ink-jet printer is provided with vent passages (70,72) in the cartridge body for venting to the atmosphere a region around the nozzles (37-39) which is sealed when a maintenance cap (60) is moved into contact with a surface of the cartridge surrounding the nozzle plate. The vent passages are formed as grooves in a surface (48) of the cartridge body, the open sides of the grooves being closed by an adhesive preform (32) which attaches a tab circuit (20) to the surface. One end of each passage opens to the atmosphere at a second surface (84) of the cartridge body underneath a portion of the tab circuit which is not adhesively attached to the second surface. A second end of each vent passage extends into a region of the first surface that is not covered by the adhesive preform and tab circuit so that the passages communicate with the sealed region formed when the cap is moved into contact with the cartridge. <IMAGE>