Digital BW, The Print

Hello all,

It's been quite some time since I posted, but after learning about the
current situation with the ITC ruling, I had an idea I thought I might
posit to the forum.

This may be a naive idea but here goes. Since the patents in question
pertain to the structure of the cartridges, what if one were to remove
them altogether from the equation?

From what I understand, the purpose of the cartridges is to provide a
supply of ink that does not readily flow unless there is enough
suction to draw air into the cart to replace the used ink. And as a
means of holding the cartridge's chip in place so as to make contact
with the printhead so it is recognized by the printer.

So, what if a CIS were designed to be attached to the printhead
directly via tubes/clamps of some sort and the dampening effect, to
control the flow of ink, were reproduced by some structure external to
the printer? And as for the chip, surely some adjustable structure
could be utilized to bring the chips (not patented) in contact with
the printhead.

Aside from the obvious benefit of completely avoiding Epson's patents
this system would also have the benefit of being universal to all
printers with the same number of ink channels.

Anyway, it's just an idea but maybe some of the more technical types
out there could take this and run with it.

Regards,

Eric Ashworth