Importance

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Abstract

A valving connector used in a thermal ink-jet printer for filling and draining ink from a manifold of the printbar. The valving connector has two positions depending on the operation of the printer. In the first position, the top portion of the manifold is filled with air, and the bottom portion of the manifold is connected to a vacuum. The ink is drained from the manifold until empty, then the printbar can be removed and replaced. In the second position, the top portion of a manifold is connected to the vacuum and the bottom portion of the manifold is connected to the ink supply. In this second position, the manifold is supplied with ink during printing operations. An ink handling system with such a valving connector delivers ink to the printbar on demand. The ink handling system has a replaceable ink supply and a diaphragm valve to regulate the flow of ink to the manifold. A needle assembly extracts ink from the ink supply and delivers the ink to the diaphragm valve. The needle assembly has a needle with a side inlet. An RTV valve slides over the needle inlet when replacing the ink container. Ink flow is initiated and maintained by the ink jet capillary forces, atmospheric pressure and gravity. The system is duplicated for each color of a multi-color printing device.

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First Claim