Combined media- and ink-supply cartridge
View Patent ↗A printing cartridge includes a hollow core. An ink supply is arranged within the core. A cylindrical former contains the core. A print media supply is wrapped around the former. A cover assembly contains the print media supply and defines a feed opening from which the print media supply is fed. A feed mechanism feeds the print media supply from the cover assembly.
1. A print cartridge for feeding print media supply to a print head of an inkjet printer, the print cartridge comprising:
a housing;
a cylindrical former located in the housing, the print media supply being wrapped around the former;
an ink cartridge supported within the former, the ink cartridge being arranged for supplying ink to the print head; and
a feed mechanism located in the housing,
wherein the former is slidably receivable over the ink cartridge and is rotatable relative thereto so as to allow the feed mechanism to feed printmedia to the printhead trough a feed opening in the housing.
2. A print cartridge as claimed in claim 1 , which includes an integrated circuit device that is configured to permit authentication of the ink cartridge and the print media supply.
3. A print cartridge as claimed in claim 2 , in which the integrated circuit device is an authentication chip mounted on the core and configured to engage a corresponding authentication device of the printer.
4. A print cartridge as claimed in claim 1 , in which the ink cartridge includes a number of ink chambers positioned in the core and an ink sponge positioned in each chamber, each sponge storing ink of a particular colour, a connecting arrangement being positioned on one end of the housing so that each chamber can be connected to an ink conduit and an air inlet arrangement at an opposite end of the housing so that air can enter the ink cartridge as ink is fed from the ink cartridge.
5. A print cartridge as claimed in claim 4 , in which the housing comprises a pair of cover members that are fastened to each other to enclose the print media supply, the cover members being shaped to provide access to the ink chambers.
6. A print cartridge as claimed in claim 1 , in which the feed mechanism includes a roller assembly that is positioned in the housing to receive the print media and to feed the print media out of the feed opening.
7. A print cartridge as claimed in claim 6 , in which the roller assembly includes a drive roller with a drivable end and a pair of pinch rollers that engage the drive roller, the print media being received between the pinch rollers and the drive roller, the pinch rollers being oriented to perform a de-curling operation on the print media as it is fed through the roller assembly.