Diaphragm cap system for ink-jet printers.

摘要

A bidirectionally movable carriage (12) in an ink-jet printer contains either a color or a black ink cartridge (14). When a color cartridge is mounted on the carriage, a rotatable service station (10) having both color (18) and black cartridge (20) service stations mounted thereon rotates to position the color service station adjacent the travel path of the color cartridge. A cap (66) on the color service station includes a lip (82) for sealing against the color cartridge and a flexible diaphragm (94) which flexes to minimize pressure differentials between the interior and exterior of the cap. Because ink vapor diffusion through the diaphragm is possible, a diffusion vent (102) is provided to a chamber (95) on the side of the diaphragm exposed to the exterior of the cap. The diffusion vent permits diaphragm flexing while inhibiting ink vapor diffusion from the cap. <IMAGE>