Inventors:
Robert N. Low - Corvallis OR
Frank L. Cloutier - Corvallis OR
Gary Siewell - Albany OR
Assignee:
Hewlett-Packard Company - Palo Alto CA
International Classification:
G01D 1516
Abstract:
An ink reservoir which incorporates a negative back pressure source coupled to a membrane wall of the reservoir to prevent ink leakage from a reservoir orifice is disclosed. The back pressure is created by either a linear or nonlinear spring which can be either independent of, or integral with, the membrane. The result is freedom from ink leakage and improved quality printing when the reservoir is used in conjunction with an ink pen such as used in ink jet printing.