Holder for refilling and preserving an ink jet printhead

摘要

A holer (10) for refilling an ink jet printhead (11) comprises a box (21) and two covers (22, 23), pivoted upwardly on the box (21) for being rotatable reciprocally and with respect to the box (21). A first cover (22) is provided for positioning and locking the printhead (11) into the box (21). A second cover (23) is superimposable to the first cover (22) and is provided with a seat (30) for being coupled with a refill cartridge (34) so as to refill the printhead (11). A short tube (31) is mounted in the second cover (23) inside the seat (30) to allow ink to pass from the cartridge (34) to the printhead (11) for refilling the latter. Pivoting of the two covers (22 and 23) allows simple and exact positioning of the same covers with respect to the printhead (11), first to lock it into the box (21) and then to fill the printhead (11) with ink. According to another embodiment (20), an upper cover (123) provides sliding support for a sliding member (60) bearing a short tube (131). When the upper cover (123) is rotated and closed on a box (121), one end (133) of the tube (131) is brought into contact, without forcing it, with a sealing element (65) which seals a refill hole (18) in the printhead. Subsequently the cartridge (34) is pushed against another end (132) of the tube (131), resulting both in the tube (131) perforating the cartridge (34) and also expelling the sealing element (65) from the refill hole (18), thus allowing ink to be transferred from the cartridge (34) to the head (11) through the tube (131).