Patents by Inventor Gina M. Johns

Gina M. Johns has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8491107
    Abstract: A consumable supply item for an imaging device holds an initial or refillable volume of pigmented ink. Its housing defines an interior and exterior. The interior retains the ink and an exit port supplies it to an imaging device. Users orient the housing to deplete the ink in a direction of gravity toward a bottom surface of the interior en route to the exit port. The ink passes through a mixing chamber having inlet ports arranged to restrict to multiple different heights the entrance of the volume of ink from the interior. As ink draws from various heights into the chamber, sediments in the pigment mix together. The design overcomes settling. It also avoids mechanical stirring and other complex mixing techniques. Further embodiments include chamber shapes, configuration of inlet ports, and construction of the supply item, to name a few.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Neal D. McFarland, Gina M. Johns, Shirish Mulay, Robert Cornell, Nicholas Post, Kent Ubellacker, Edmund James, III
  • Publication number: 20120105555
    Abstract: A consumable supply item for an imaging device holds an initial or refillable volume of pigmented ink. Its housing defines an interior and exterior. The interior retains the ink and an exit port supplies it to an imaging device. Users orient the housing to deplete the ink in a direction of gravity toward a bottom surface of the interior en route to the exit port. The ink passes through a mixing chamber having inlet ports arranged to restrict to multiple different heights the entrance of the volume of ink from the interior. As ink draws from various heights into the chamber, sediments in the pigment mix together. The design overcomes settling. It also avoids mechanical stirring and other complex mixing techniques. Further embodiments include chamber shapes, configuration of inlet ports, and construction of the supply item, to name a few.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2010
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Inventors: NEAL D. MCFARLAND, Gina M. Johns, Shirish Mulay, Robert Cornell, Nicholas Post, Kent Ubellacker, Edmund James, III
  • Patent number: 7182447
    Abstract: Some embodiments of the present invention provide an inkjet printhead within which a removable ink cartridge can be installed. Upon installation, the ink cartridge can be coupled to one or more wicks in the printhead for establishing fluid communication between one or more chambers in the ink cartridge and nozzles through which ink exits the printhead during operation. The wick can extend from a cartridge receptacle to a filter in order to transport ink from the removable cartridge to the filter. In some embodiments, the wick is retained in place within the printhead by a cap, which can be coupled to one or more filter towers. The wick can have upstream and downstream interfaces that can be the same or different in shape and/or size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2007
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: James D. Anderson, Jr., Johnnie Coffey, David W. DeVore, Bruce Gibson, Trevor D. Gray, Gina M. Johns, Sam Norasak