Ink Cartridges Club

Ink cartridges 10a to 10d have different patterns from each other in positional relationship between projections 12a to 12d and insertion parts 16a to 16d, respectively, and cartridge holders 20a to 20d have different patterns from each other in positional relationship between slits 22a to 22d and ink introducing tubes 21a to 21d, as seen from the direction on which the ink cartridges 10a to 10d are mounted on the cartridge holders 20a to 20d, respectively. At the same time, the respective patterns of the positional relationships in the ink cartridges and the cartridge holders coincide with each other per each of the four colors of black, cyan, yellow and magenta. Thus, any one of ink cartridges is prevented from inadvertently joined to any one of the cartridge holders to which the ink cartridge does not correspond to.

An ink cartridge refill system, comprising: a cartridge loading unit to load an ink cartridge therein, with an ink injection hole provided in the cartridge loading unit and communicating with a nozzle of the ink cartridge when the cartridge is securely loaded in the cartridge loading unit, wherein the ink injection hole is formed in an ink injection part which is in close contact with the nozzle of the ink cartridge, the ink injection part being detachably mounted to the cartridge loading unit, wherein the cartridge loading unit is configured such that a particular model of ink cartridge is loaded in the cartridge loading unit, and wherein the cartridge loading unit is provided with a sensor to detect whether an ink cartridge is loaded in the cartridge loading unit; an ink tank to store refill ink therein; a cylinder provided with an air pressure-actuated piston therein, thus receiving ink from the ink tank through an ink supply hose and supplying the ink to the ink injection hole through an ink injection hose; a compression pump connected to the cylinder through an air hose, thus providing a compression force to the piston; a vacuum pump connected to the cylinder through a first vacuum hose, thus providing a suction force to the piston, and connected to the ink injection hole through a second vacuum hose, thus drawing ink from the ink cartridge; a connection unit to connect both the ink injection hose and the second vacuum hose to the ink injection hole, wherein the connection unit comprises a body to be detachably mounted to the cartridge loading unit, with both an ink supply hole and an ink suction hole formed in the connection unit and joined together at a predetermined position to form an outlet port connected to the ink injection hole; a first auxiliary tank placed between the compression pump and the cylinder and temporarily storing therein pressurized air output from the compression pump; a second auxiliary tank placed between the vacuum pump and the cylinder and temporarily storing therein low pressure air output from the vacuum pump, wherein the ink supply hose to connect the ink tank to the cylinder is provided with an ON/OFF valve or a one-way valve, and the ink injection hose to connect the cylinder to the connection unit is provided with an ON/OFF valve or a one-way valve; and a sensor placed between the ink tank and the valve provided on the ink supply hose so that the sensor detects whether ink remains in the ink supply hose.

. A set of plurality of ink cartridges, wherein: each of the ink cartridges comprises: a first wall; an ink supplying part positioned at the first wall; a projection; a first member; and a second member connected to the first member; the cartridges have different patterns from each other in positional relationship among the ink supplying part, the projection and a center of the first wall, as seen from a direction perpendicular to the first wall; the projection is provided at the first member and the first wall is provided at the second member; the first member is common to each of the ink cartridges and the second member is common to each of the ink cartridges, and a positional relationship between the first member and the second member is different among the plurality of ink cartridges; and the first member has a first central axis and a rotational configuration of the first member with respect to the second member around the first central axis is different among the plurality of ink cartridges.
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Most users of inkjet printers prefer to refill and reuse ink cartridges rather than use new ink cartridges because the new ink cartridges are expensive. In an effort to satisfy the above-mentioned preference of the users of inkjet printers, some ink cartridge manufacturers have proposed and marketed ink cartridges that are provided with refill nozzles to allow users to refill ink cartridges through the refill nozzles. (more ink cartridges…)

Disclosed herein is an ink cartridge refill system for inkjet printers and a method of refilling ink cartridges using the system. The refill system includes a vacuum pump to supply ink from an ink tank into a cylinder and to forcibly draw ink from an ink cartridge, as well as an air compression pump to generate a compression force to inject ink from the cylinder into the ink cartridge through the nozzle of the cartridge. The cylinder is connected at the inlet end thereof to both the air compression pump and the vacuum pump, and is connected at the outlet end to both the ink tank and the ink cartridge. Both a compression pump line and a first vacuum pump line which pass through the cylinder are connected to the nozzle of the cartridge through an ink supply hose. The vacuum pump includes a second vacuum pump line directly connected to the ink cartridge, as is the first vacuum pump line passing through the cylinder. Both the ink supply hose and the second vacuum pump line are connected to the nozzle of the cartridge through a connection unit. The refill system can regulate the inner pressure of a refilled cartridge by removing predetermined small amounts of air and ink from the refilled cartridge, and can completely remove waste ink from the cartridge at the initial stage of a cartridge refill process when necessary.