Ink supply line support system for a continuous ink refill system for disosable ink jet cartridges

摘要

An ink supply line support system (100) for a continuous ink refill system (10) for an ink jet printer (90) having a print carriage (91) that traverses across a print bed (96) and is adapted to receive one or more disposable ink jet cartridges (12). The ink supply line support system (100) includes an elongate guide structure (102) having a first end (104) operably connected to the ink jet printer (90) at a fixed location (106) and a second end (108) operably connected to the print carriage (91). The second end (108) is movable relative to the first end (104) in a first orientation along the direction in which the print carriage (91) traverses across the ink jet printer (90), but is substantially rigid relative to the first end in a second orientation that is transverse to the first orientation. An attachment mechanism (110) is positioned along an exposed surface (111) of the guide structure (100) for detachably securing at least a portion of at least one ink supply line (16) to the guide structure (102). The ink supply line support system (100) is particularly adapted for large format ink jet printers (90) that are capable of producing high quality, full ink coverage prints on print beds (96) greater than 61 cm (24 inches) wide.