METHOD OF ASSEMBLING SIMPLE PRINTHEAD FLUID DISTRIBUTION COUPLING
A method of assembling a coupling for distributing fluid to a printhead, the method having, mounting a seal member in a recess of a housing, inserting a shaft through a hole in the housing and the seal member, mounting a port plate on the shaft using a washer which is press-on mounted to the shaft and mounting a tube retainer for retaining fluid distribution tubes within a groove of the housing, the retainer having a plurality of holes aligned with respective ones of a plurality of ports in the port plate and a plurality of seals of the seal member for fluidically connecting the retained fluid distribution tubes with respective fluid spouts of the printhead, wherein the mounting of each of the seal member, port plate and retainer to the housing is achieved in a non-fastened manner.
1 . A method of assembling a coupling for distributing fluid to a printhead, the method comprising:
mounting a seal member in a recess of a housing;
inserting a shaft through a hole in the housing and the seal member;
mounting a port plate on the shaft using a washer which is press-on mounted to the shaft; and
mounting a tube retainer for retaining fluid distribution tubes within a groove of the housing, the retainer having a plurality of holes aligned with respective ones of a plurality of ports in the port plate and a plurality of seals of the seal member for fluidically connecting the retained fluid distribution tubes with respective fluid spouts of the printhead,
wherein the mounting of each of the seal member, port plate and retainer to the housing is achieved in a non-fastened manner.
2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the seal member has linking portions which link the seals together.
3 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein the seals are circular and the linking portions define an arc between each seal, and the recess comprises circular recesses into which the circular seals are received and curved recesses between the circular recesses into which the linking portions are received.
4 . A method according to claim 3 , wherein the recess has slots across the curved recesses which serve to capture and wick away any fluid present in the recess.
5 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the port plate has rims about the ports for compressing the respective seals of the seal member when pressed thereagainst by the spring.
6 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the washer is a groove-less ring which is press-on fitted on a reduced section of a cylindrical portion of the shaft.
7 . A coupling according to claim 1 , wherein the retainer is formed from resiliently flexible material.
8 . A coupling according to claim 7 , wherein the retainer has a rim about its circumferential edge having details, the rim being resiliently received within the groove of the housing and the details engaging with slots formed across the groove.