<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE ep-patent-document PUBLIC "-//EPO//EP PATENT DOCUMENT 1.4//EN" "ep-patent-document-v1-4.dtd"><!-- Disclaimer: This ST.36 XML data has been generated from A2/A1 XML data enriched with the publication date of the A3 document - March 2013 - EPO - Directorate Publication - kbaumeister@epo.org --><ep-patent-document id="EP98124023A3" file="EP98124023NWA3.xml" lang="en" doc-number="0924081" date-publ="19991013" kind="A3" country="EP" status="N" dtd-version="ep-patent-document-v1-4"><SDOBI lang="en"><B000><eptags><B001EP>ATBECHDEDKESFRGBGRITLILUNLSEMCPTIESILTLVFIROMKCYAL..............................</B001EP><B005EP>R</B005EP><B007EP>DIM360 (Ver 1.5  21 Nov 2005) -  1100000/0</B007EP></eptags></B000><B100><B110>0924081</B110><B120><B121>EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION</B121></B120><B130>A3</B130><B140><date>19991013</date></B140><B190>EP</B190></B100><B200><B210>98124023.7</B210><B220><date>19981217</date></B220><B250>en</B250><B251EP>en</B251EP><B260>en</B260></B200><B300><B310>35282297</B310><B320><date>19971222</date></B320><B330><ctry>JP</ctry></B330><B310>6895098</B310><B320><date>19980318</date></B320><B330><ctry>JP</ctry></B330></B300><B400><B405><date>19991013</date><bnum>199941</bnum></B405><B430><date>19990623</date><bnum>199925</bnum></B430></B400><B500><B510><B516>6</B516><B511> 6B 41J   2/175  A</B511></B510><B540><B541>de</B541><B542>Tintenbehälter</B542><B541>en</B541><B542>Ink container</B542><B541>fr</B541><B542>Réservoir d'encre</B542></B540><B590><B598>1A  </B598></B590></B500><B700><B710><B711><snm>Oki Data Corporation</snm><iid>02043760</iid><irf>E75672EP(KI/SK)</irf><adr><str>11-22, Shibaura 4-Chome,
Minato-ku</str><city>Tokyo 108-8551</city><ctry>JP</ctry></adr></B711></B710><B720><B721><snm>Muto, Eisaku
c/o Data Corporation</snm><adr><str>11-22, Shibaura 4-chome,
Minato-ku</str><city>Tokyo 108-8551</city><ctry>JP</ctry></adr></B721></B720><B740><B741><snm>Kirschner, Klaus Dieter, Dipl.-Phys.</snm><iid>00006507</iid><adr><str>Patentanwälte Kirschner &amp; Kurig,
Sollner Strasse 38</str><city>81479 München</city><ctry>DE</ctry></adr></B741></B740></B700><B800><B840><ctry>AT</ctry><ctry>BE</ctry><ctry>CH</ctry><ctry>CY</ctry><ctry>DE</ctry><ctry>DK</ctry><ctry>ES</ctry><ctry>FI</ctry><ctry>FR</ctry><ctry>GB</ctry><ctry>GR</ctry><ctry>IE</ctry><ctry>IT</ctry><ctry>LI</ctry><ctry>LU</ctry><ctry>MC</ctry><ctry>NL</ctry><ctry>PT</ctry><ctry>SE</ctry></B840><B844EP><B845EP><ctry>AL</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>LT</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>LV</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>MK</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>RO</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>SI</ctry></B845EP></B844EP><B880><date>19991013</date><bnum>199941</bnum></B880></B800></SDOBI><abstract id="abst" lang="en"><p id="pa01" num="0001">An ink container (1, 51) has an ink-holding space (9a, 89) maintained at substantially constant negative pressure until the ink contained in the ink-holding space (9a, 89) has been exhausted. The ink container (1, 51) includes a flexible wall (3, 55) and an urging member (5, 59, 76). The flexible wall (3, 55) forms a part of the ink-holding space (9a, 89) and the outer surface of the flexible wall (3, 55) is exposed to the atmospheric pressure. The urging member (5, 59, 76) takes the form of, for example, a spring. The urging member (5, 59, 76) is incorporated in the ink-holding space (9a, 89) and urges the flexible wall (3, 55) outwardly of the ink-holding space (9a, 89). The atmospheric pressure is exerted on the flexible wall (3, 55) so that the flexible wall (3, 55) is displaceable inwardly of the ink-holding space (9a, 89) as the ink is supplied from the ink-holding space (9a, 89) to an external device. The urging member (5, 59, 76) operates substantially in a plastic deformation region thereof.<img id="iaf01" file="imgaf001.tif" wi="63" he="127" img-content="drawing" img-format="tif" /></p></abstract><search-report-data id="srep" srep-office="EP" date-produced="" lang=""><doc-page id="srep0001" file="srep0001.tif" type="tif" orientation="portrait" he="297" wi="210" /><doc-page id="srep0002" file="srep0002.tif" type="tif" orientation="portrait" he="297" wi="210" /></search-report-data></ep-patent-document>