TED EUGENE DEUR
Pilots at Bagley Rd, Beaverton, OR

5386224, Jan 31, 1995

Apr 26, 1993

8/034915

Ted E. Deur - Hillsboro OR
Clark W. Crawford - Wilsonville OR
Brian J. Wood - Portland OR
Richard Marantz - Portland OR
James D. Buehler - Troutdale OR

Tektronix, Inc. - Wilsonville OR

B41J 2175

347 7

A discrete ink level sensing system according to the present invention includes a level sensing probe (130) with at least first and second level sensing pads (178, 180) that is placed in an ink reservoir (28). The level sensing system uses electrical conductivity of the ink to detect when the upper surface level of the ink is lower than the lowest points of the level sensing pads. The upper and lower level sensing pads are electrically connected by a sense resistor (182). A voltage sensor (174) detects across the sense resistor a voltage that depends on the ink conductivity and the position of an upper surface level of the ink with respect to the lowest points of the first and second level pads. The value of the voltage is sent to a CPU (154) that signals a user that a predetermined amount of ink should be added to the reservoir.

5276468, Jan 4, 1994

Oct 23, 1992

7/965812

Ted E. Deur - Hillsboro OR
Clark W. Crawford - Wilsonville OR
Brian J. Wood - Portland OR
Richard Marantz - Portland OR
James D. Buehler - Troutdale OR

Tektronix, Inc. - Wilsonville OR

B41J 217

346140R

A FRU assembly (10) comprises a melt chamber (20) including multiple subchambers (30) in which sticks of phase change ink (38, 40) are inserted and melted. Melted ink flows through apertures (54) to a reservoir (28) comprising multiple compartments (56). Each compartment contains a channel (90) and a siphon plate (114) that allow a siphon action that siphons melted ink in the compartments to an orifice (100) that leads to an ink jet print head (16). Heaters (52, 82, and 142) under the control of a CPU (154) melt the ink and keep the melted ink at a desired temperature during various modes of operation.

5184147, Feb 2, 1993

Apr 22, 1991

7/688758

Donald B. MacLane - Portland OR
Ted E. Deur - Hillsboro OR
Jeffrey J. Anderson - Camas WA
Donald R. Titterington - Tualatin OR
James C. Oswald - Beaverton OR
Richard S. Meissner - Portland OR

Tektronix, Inc. - Wilsonville OR

B41J 2165

346 11

An ink jet print head cleaning and maintenance system has a purge chamber for applying a vacuum to a nozzle orifice surface. A specialized baffle diverts ink entering the purge chamber away a vent port through which the vacuum is drawn. An elongated wipe engages and wipes the orifice surface and is preferably moved at an extremely slow rate across the surface to enhance the wiping operation. An air knife directs a narrow stream of air across a portion of the nozzle orifice surface with air from the air stream being scanned across the surface for cleaning purposes. A specialized drip edge is positioned beneath the orifice surface for directing drops of ink away from the ink jet print head, the drops of ink being generated during the cleaning procedures. A mechanically simple cam mechanism coupled to a rotatable drum of the printer may be used to shift the maintenance system against the nozzle orifice surface for cleaning purposes.