Specialized inksets and alternative fluids and related systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12049567-B2
Application number	US-202117143724-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 7, 2021
Priority date	Jan 8, 2020
Publication date	Jul 30, 2024
Grant date	Jul 30, 2024

Abstract

Printer systems and associated ink cartridges can have specialized inksets and alternative fluids for use in printing. In such systems and cartridges, the inkset of a unique cartridge may be deliberately limited relative to traditional inksets that seek to have a wide color gamut such that chemistries having greater durability may be employed. Still further, such cartridges may include one or more functional inks that have a purpose other than merely coloration. Particularly in compact printers, for which space is limited, the system can be designed to accept various unique cartridges based on the intended printing application and print based on the characteristics of the received cartridge. Beyond this, the system may advise the user when a different cartridge is necessary and/or may be beneficially used for a particular application.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ink cartridge configured to provide ink to a printable medium, the ink cartridge comprising:
a first ink tank comprising a first ink comprising a process ink;
a second ink tank comprising a second ink;
a third ink tank comprising a third ink comprising a functional ink; and
one printhead, wherein each of the first ink tank, the second ink tank, and the third ink tank is coupled to the printhead.

2. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the functional ink comprises a conductive ink.

3. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the first ink, the second ink, and the third ink are configured to be applied to a printable medium, and wherein the functional ink comprises a clear ink configured to provide UV protection, abrasion/scratch resistance, gloss, or other beneficial attributes to the printable medium.

4. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the functional ink comprises a thermochromic ink configured to be applied to a printable medium, the functional ink being configured to change appearance in response to a change in temperature.

5. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the functional ink comprises traceable particles configured to emit an electromagnetic signal in response to stimulation.

6. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the second ink comprises a second functional ink.

7. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the first ink tank, the second ink tank, and the third ink tank are integral with the printhead.

8. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the printhead is a multi-color printhead.

9. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the functional ink is configured to provide UV protection.

10. The ink cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the ink cartridge comprises a memory having information about the first ink, the second ink, and the third ink stored thereon.

Assignees

• Brady Worldwide Inc

Inventors

• Sonntag Richard C
• Budney Peter A
• Naas James C
• Shay Timothy W
• Quinn Robert J

Classifications

• B41J2/005

  characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material (printing by selective application of impact or pressure on a printing or impression-transfer material B41J2/22) · CPC title

• B41J2/17

  characterised by ink handling {(cleaning by driving a fluid through the nozzles to the outside thereof B41J2/1652; for treating before, during or after printing or for uniform coating or laminating the copy material before or after printing B41J11/0015)} · CPC title

• B41J2/14

  Structure thereof {only for on-demand ink jet heads} · CPC title

• B41J2/17553

  Outer structure · CPC title

• B41M1/20

  by applying differently-coloured inks simultaneously to different parts of the printing surface · CPC title