CA2288730A1 - Intelligent printer components and printing system - Google Patents
Intelligent printer components and printing system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2288730A1 CA2288730A1 CA002288730A CA2288730A CA2288730A1 CA 2288730 A1 CA2288730 A1 CA 2288730A1 CA 002288730 A CA002288730 A CA 002288730A CA 2288730 A CA2288730 A CA 2288730A CA 2288730 A1 CA2288730 A1 CA 2288730A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- printer
- ink jet
- memory element
- flex circuit
- cartridge
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
- B41J2/17553—Outer structure
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
- B41J11/001—Handling wide copy materials
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
- B41J11/009—Detecting type of paper, e.g. by automatic reading of a code that is printed on a paper package or on a paper roll or by sensing the grade of translucency of the paper
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
- B41J11/36—Blanking or long feeds; Feeding to a particular line, e.g. by rotation of platen or feed roller
- B41J11/42—Controlling printing material conveyance for accurate alignment of the printing material with the printhead; Print registering
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J15/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in continuous form, e.g. webs
- B41J15/02—Web rolls or spindles; Attaching webs to cores or spindles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04553—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits detecting ambient temperature
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04566—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits detecting humidity
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
- B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
- B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
- B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
- B41J2/04586—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads of a type not covered by groups B41J2/04575 - B41J2/04585, or of an undefined type
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
- B41J2/17526—Electrical contacts to the cartridge
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
- B41J2/17543—Cartridge presence detection or type identification
- B41J2/17546—Cartridge presence detection or type identification electronically
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
- B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
- B41J2/17566—Ink level or ink residue control
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
- B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
Abstract
An ink jet printer with intelligent components includes an ink jet cartridge (74) and a roll of print media (81), each of which incorporate memory elements (78, 80). Environmental sensors (76) such as temperature and humidity sensors may also be provided. Data from the memory elements (78, 80) and environmental sensors (76) is used to optimize printer operations, and to provide additional information to printer operators.
Description
INTELLIGENT PRINTER COMPONENTS AND PRINTING SYSTEM
Background of the Invention 1. Field of the invention The invention relates to ink jet printers and consumable components used with them.
2. Related Art Recently, ink jet printers have become widely used in the graphic arts industry. This has been mainly due to continuing increases in quality and throughput achievable with ink jet printers at a cost which is competitive with more traditional graphic arts production processes.
It cart be appreciated that many different parameters affect the print quality achievable in ink jet printing.
These parameters include ambient environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. Also, the type of ink and type of media affect the results of the print process. In currently available ink jet printers. the user must consider these various parameters and adjust printer operation accordingly in order to maximize print quality.
Although an experienced user of such printers can produce high quality prints, and maximize print speeds, considerable training and experience is required to optimize print operations.
Some efforts have been made to address this problem. For example, a small amount of intelligence has been built into ink jet printer components, most commonly the ink cartridge itself. In these systems, information such as ink color, remaining ink volume, noule information, etc. is provided to the printer from a memory element on the ink cartridge itself.
In some proposed printing systems, selected aspect of a printer's configuration are automatically controlled based on sensed environmental conditions. One such system is described in U.S.
Patent No. 5,617,516 to Barton.
In this patent, some "operational subroutines" such as the frequency of printhead wiping and flushing are varied depending on current temperature and humidity values. U.S. Patent No.
5.428.379 to Kaneko, et al. describes a system using fuzzy logic to control printer operation in accordance with several sensed parameters.
Summary of the invention The present invention includes a printer having one or more intelligent components. With this system, the interaction between the ink, the media being printed on, and the environment are more fully addressed. Furthermore, the present system provides the user with desirable information regarding the status of the print job being performed, producing a more comprehensive printer gptimization system than has been previously available.
The intelligent components advantageously allow automatic andlor easy manual printer optimization as well as feedback to the printer operator regarding print status, run time, etc. A
printing system according to one aspect of the present invention thus retrieves information concerning ink and media characteristics as well as environmental parameters to automatically adjust aspects of the printing process in order to maximize print quality and optimae print speeds while reducing the required set up time and user training and education.
In one advantageous embodiment, the roll of media to be printed on has embedded intelligence in the form of a memory element, and the invention comprises an ink jet pr~ter having a roll of media mounted thereon, wherein the roll of media comprises a memory e~ment. Because the roll of media is in motion during the printing process, .2.
the memory element on the media roll holder advantageously comprises a writable RF identification tag embedded in an insert attached to an end of the roll holder. This eliminates any need to form electrical connections between an integrated circuit memory element and the printer electronics. An RF
transceiver incorporated into the printer reads the information coded in the identification tag and writes information about media use to the RF identification tag. The memory element may store information regarding compatibility with certain inks, the amount of media remaining, and the thickness of the media. This information, which is made available to the printer in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, provides the capacity for automatic printer optimizations which were previously unavailable.
Additionally, a printer according to the present invention may include environmental sensing devices such as a temperature andlor humidity sensor. From this information, dew points may be calculated, and suitable print speeds derived form the calculated dew point.
The intelligent components may also include one or more replaceable ink jet cartridges each having a memory element with ink information stored therein. When combined with an embedded memory element in the roll of media to be printed, inklmedia compatibility may be judged. In addition, with information about the ink, media, and environmental conditions, a variety of parameters can be automatically adjusted to optimize printer performance without user intervention.
In one embodiment, the memory element is a multi-bit binary code formed by traces on a flex circuit attached to the ink jet cartridge. This system stores a limited amount of information, but is especially inexpensive to produce, and requires modifications to existing ink jet cartridges which do not significantly impact the interface between the ink jet cartridge and the print carriage it mounts to.
In another embodiment of the invention, the memory element on the ink jet cartridge is an integrated circuit memory which interfaces with printer electronics with a two wire connection.
This embodiment allows a much wider range of information to be stored in the memory element. Preferably, the mounting of the memory element is such that a conductive connection between the memory element and the printer electronics is created automatically when the cartridge is installed in a "drop & click" type cartridge receptacle on a print carriage. Accordingly, the memory element may be mounted on a dedicated section of flex circuit which is secured to a face of the ink jet cartridge which interfaces with a mating segment of flex circuit secured to the print carriage. In such an embodiment, mounting is accomplished to minimize mechanical interference between the memory element and the print carriage when the cartridge is installed.
Advantageously, a variety of optimizations may be performed in an ink jet printer according to the present invention. Information regarding media can allow for adjustments in print carriage height, or can provide a basis for print data modification to correct for color aberrations produced by using different substrate colors. Also, inklmedia mismatches can be detected and an operator warned before proceeding.
Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of several structures of an ink jet printer.
Background of the Invention 1. Field of the invention The invention relates to ink jet printers and consumable components used with them.
2. Related Art Recently, ink jet printers have become widely used in the graphic arts industry. This has been mainly due to continuing increases in quality and throughput achievable with ink jet printers at a cost which is competitive with more traditional graphic arts production processes.
It cart be appreciated that many different parameters affect the print quality achievable in ink jet printing.
These parameters include ambient environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. Also, the type of ink and type of media affect the results of the print process. In currently available ink jet printers. the user must consider these various parameters and adjust printer operation accordingly in order to maximize print quality.
Although an experienced user of such printers can produce high quality prints, and maximize print speeds, considerable training and experience is required to optimize print operations.
Some efforts have been made to address this problem. For example, a small amount of intelligence has been built into ink jet printer components, most commonly the ink cartridge itself. In these systems, information such as ink color, remaining ink volume, noule information, etc. is provided to the printer from a memory element on the ink cartridge itself.
In some proposed printing systems, selected aspect of a printer's configuration are automatically controlled based on sensed environmental conditions. One such system is described in U.S.
Patent No. 5,617,516 to Barton.
In this patent, some "operational subroutines" such as the frequency of printhead wiping and flushing are varied depending on current temperature and humidity values. U.S. Patent No.
5.428.379 to Kaneko, et al. describes a system using fuzzy logic to control printer operation in accordance with several sensed parameters.
Summary of the invention The present invention includes a printer having one or more intelligent components. With this system, the interaction between the ink, the media being printed on, and the environment are more fully addressed. Furthermore, the present system provides the user with desirable information regarding the status of the print job being performed, producing a more comprehensive printer gptimization system than has been previously available.
The intelligent components advantageously allow automatic andlor easy manual printer optimization as well as feedback to the printer operator regarding print status, run time, etc. A
printing system according to one aspect of the present invention thus retrieves information concerning ink and media characteristics as well as environmental parameters to automatically adjust aspects of the printing process in order to maximize print quality and optimae print speeds while reducing the required set up time and user training and education.
In one advantageous embodiment, the roll of media to be printed on has embedded intelligence in the form of a memory element, and the invention comprises an ink jet pr~ter having a roll of media mounted thereon, wherein the roll of media comprises a memory e~ment. Because the roll of media is in motion during the printing process, .2.
the memory element on the media roll holder advantageously comprises a writable RF identification tag embedded in an insert attached to an end of the roll holder. This eliminates any need to form electrical connections between an integrated circuit memory element and the printer electronics. An RF
transceiver incorporated into the printer reads the information coded in the identification tag and writes information about media use to the RF identification tag. The memory element may store information regarding compatibility with certain inks, the amount of media remaining, and the thickness of the media. This information, which is made available to the printer in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, provides the capacity for automatic printer optimizations which were previously unavailable.
Additionally, a printer according to the present invention may include environmental sensing devices such as a temperature andlor humidity sensor. From this information, dew points may be calculated, and suitable print speeds derived form the calculated dew point.
The intelligent components may also include one or more replaceable ink jet cartridges each having a memory element with ink information stored therein. When combined with an embedded memory element in the roll of media to be printed, inklmedia compatibility may be judged. In addition, with information about the ink, media, and environmental conditions, a variety of parameters can be automatically adjusted to optimize printer performance without user intervention.
In one embodiment, the memory element is a multi-bit binary code formed by traces on a flex circuit attached to the ink jet cartridge. This system stores a limited amount of information, but is especially inexpensive to produce, and requires modifications to existing ink jet cartridges which do not significantly impact the interface between the ink jet cartridge and the print carriage it mounts to.
In another embodiment of the invention, the memory element on the ink jet cartridge is an integrated circuit memory which interfaces with printer electronics with a two wire connection.
This embodiment allows a much wider range of information to be stored in the memory element. Preferably, the mounting of the memory element is such that a conductive connection between the memory element and the printer electronics is created automatically when the cartridge is installed in a "drop & click" type cartridge receptacle on a print carriage. Accordingly, the memory element may be mounted on a dedicated section of flex circuit which is secured to a face of the ink jet cartridge which interfaces with a mating segment of flex circuit secured to the print carriage. In such an embodiment, mounting is accomplished to minimize mechanical interference between the memory element and the print carriage when the cartridge is installed.
Advantageously, a variety of optimizations may be performed in an ink jet printer according to the present invention. Information regarding media can allow for adjustments in print carriage height, or can provide a basis for print data modification to correct for color aberrations produced by using different substrate colors. Also, inklmedia mismatches can be detected and an operator warned before proceeding.
Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of several structures of an ink jet printer.
Figure 2 is a schematiclblock diagram of one embodiment of an ink jet printer according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a cartridge including a memory element according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a portion of a second embodiment of a cartridge including a memory element according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a third embodiment of a cartridge including a memory element according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a top view of a flex circuit adapted for attachment to a print carriage and including a two wire electrical interface for printer communication with the memory element illustrated in Figure 4.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a print carriage showing a "drop & click"
cartridge receptacle having the flex circuit of Figure 5 attached thereon.
Figure 8 is a front view of the print carriage of Figure 6.
Figure 9 is a perspective view of an end of a roll of paper media incorporating an embedded memory element.
Detailed Descriotion of the Invention Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying Figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used in the description presented herein is intended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner in accordance with its ordinary use in the art and in accordance with any overt definitions provided below.
The present invention is advantageously applied to ink jet printers.
Accordingly, an overall description of a typical contemporary large format ink jet printer as manufactured by Encad Inc., assignee of this patent application, is first described with reference to Figure 1. Referring now to this Figure, a printer carriage assembly 10 is supported on the top face of a printer housing 12, which is a part of a typical printer device. The housing 12 is supported by a pair of legs (not shown) and encloses various electrical and mechanical components related to the operation of the printerlplotter device.
A pair of roll holders 14 are mounted to a rear side 16 of the housing 12 and are slidable to accept media rolls of various widths. The roll of continuous print media (not shown in this Figures is mounted on the roll holders 14 to enable a continuous supply of paper to be provided to the printerlplotter carriage assembly 10. Otherwise, individual sheets of paper may be fed into the rear side 16 of the housing as needed. A portion of a top side 17 ' of the housing 12 forms a platen 18 upon which the printinglplotting is performed by select deposition of ink droplets onto the paper. The paper is guided from the rear side 16 of the housing 10 under a support structure ZO and across the platen 18 by a plurality of drive rollers 19 which are spaced along the platen 18.
The support structure 20 is mounted to the top side 17 of the housing 12 with sufficient clearance between the platen 18 and the support structure 20 along a central portion of the platen 18 to enable a sheet of paper which is to be printed on to pass between the platen 18 and the support structure 20. The support structure .4.
20 supports a print carriage 22 above the platen 18. The support structure 20 includes a guide rod 24 and a coded strip support member 26 positioned parallel to the longitudinal.axis of the housing 12. The height of the carriage 22 above the print media is preferably controlled to a tight tolerance.
Accordingly, ink jet printers have been constructed to allow for manual or automatic adjustment of the carriage 22 height above the platen 18 in order to accommodate different paper thicknesses, and one embodiment of a printer according to the present invention includes such adjustability.
The print carriage 22 includes a plurality of printer cartridge holders 34 each with a printer cartridge 40 mounted therein. The print carriage 22 also includes a split sleeve which slidably engages the guide rod 24 to enable motion of the print carriage 22 along the guide rod 24 and to define a linear path, as shown by the bi-directional arrow in Figure 1, along which the print carriage 22 moves. A motor (not shown) and drive belt mechanism 38 are used to drive the print carriage 22 along the guide rod 24.
In a printer such as is illustrated in Figure 1, many different parameters affect print quality. These include ambient environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. Also, the type of ink and type of media affect the results of the print process. As mentioned above, in currently available ink jet printers, the user must consider these various parameters and adjust printer operation accordingly in order to maximize print quality. This requires a considerable amount of training and experience. It would therefore be desirable to incorporate into the printer itself sensing devices and intelligent components which communicate with electronics in the printer so as to automatically configure the printer for optimal operation. For example, measurements of ambient temperature and humidity, as well as information about ink and media type, can allow automatic calculation of appropriate ink densities, print speed, print carriage height, ink dry rate, and appropriate cutting pressure for an integral media cutting knife (not shown in Figure 11. Optimal operating parameters which are normally a part of an experienced users knowledge base, can be effectively programmed into the printer itself. In some preferred systems, this information can be coupled with information about the print data itself to produce additional information useful to the printer operator, such as job costing, print times, etc.
Illustrated in Figure 2 is a schematiclblock diagram of one embodiment of an ink jet printer incorporating the above described features. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that individual ones of the features illustrated may be separately utilized to improve at least some aspects of printer performance.
Referring now to Figure 2, a host computer 50 communicates with a processor 52 integral with the ink jet printer. Ink jet printer components illustrated schematically in Figure 2 including the components inside the dashed line 54. The host computer runs driver software which issues print commands and sends data to the ink jet printer.
As in conventional ink jet printers, the processor 52 communicates with a display and keypad 56, memory 58, and drive circuits 60 which control the print carriage motor 62 and paper motor 63, as well as an automatic cutting knife 64, a fan 66, a dryer 68, and a carriage height control 69. In addition, the processor 52 routes signals to print logic 70. which actuates the nozzles of the jet plate 72 of each ink jet cartridge, illustrated in Figure 2 by dashed line 74. In many embodiments of the present invention, the printer will include four ink jet cartridges, only one of which is illustrated in Figure 2. The ink jet cartridge 74 typically includes a small ink reservoir 75 in fluid communication with the jet plate 72. This small reservoir 75 may be in communication with a large remote ink reservoir 77. The large reservoir 77 may be integral with the printer housing, or may be a user replaceable reservoir which allows swapping different ink colors or compositions. Many implementations of large volume ink reservoirs and their interconnection to ink jet cartridges are known to those of skill in the art.
Some of these are described, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 5,686,947 to Murray et al. and 5,369,429 to Erickson. User swappable large volume reservoirs are described in Provisional Application Serial No. 601036,547. The disclosures of each of these documents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
In addition to the items set forth above, the processor also advantageously interfaces with environmental sensors 76, which preferably include either or both a temperature and a humidity sensor. One embodiment of the temperature sensor is an electronic temperature sensor which has a digital output indicative of the temperature of the device. Suitable temperature sensors of this nature are commercially available from Dallas Semiconductor as, for example, part number DS1820. Measuring both temperature and humidity allows a computation of the dew point at print time, and this allows a computation of ink dry time, which in turn can be used to set print speed such that adequate drying time is allowed for each print pass of the carriage 22 across the media.
In addition, the processor preferably communicates with a memory element 78 on each ink jet cartridge 74, a memory element 79 on each large volume ink reservoir 77, and a memory element 80 attached to the roll of media (indicated by dashed line 81 on Figure 2) being used to supply the substrate being printed on. The information from the memory elements is communicated to the processor via communication links 81, 82, and 83, which may take a variety of forms. As will be explained in more detail below with reference to Figures 3 through 5, the memory element on the cartridge may comprise simply a trace configuration on a flex circuit provided on the ink jet cartridge.
In this embodiment, the trace configuration defines a multi-bit binary code which may be interpreted by the processor.
Alternatively, the memory element may comprise an integrated circuit memory which may interface with the processor via a two wire electrical interface which allows both reading from and writing to the memory element 78 by the processor 52. The same alternatives may be suitable for the memory element 79 on the large volume ink reservoir 77.
Because the roll of media on the printer is in motion during the print process, the interface to the memory element 80 on the media roll advantageously includes a wireless link 84 which is driven by RF transceiver circuitry 86 integral to the ink jet printer stand (not shown(. This and alternative interfaces to the memory element 80 on the roll of media are described in more detail below with reference to Figure 9.
A perspective view of a portion of an ink jet cartridge according to one aspect of the present invention is shown in Figure 3. An ink jet cartridge 90 includes a housing 92 having a bottom surface 94 which provides a mounting surface for the jet plate 72 (also illustrated in Figure 2). The jet plate 72 is connected to a piece of flex circuit 100 which extends from the bottom surface 94 of the cartridge 90 around a corner to the rear surface 96 of the cartridge. Circuit traces toot shown) connect the jet plate 72 to contacts 97 which mate with contacts on the print carriage so as to connect the printer electronics with the jet plate. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, the memory element 78 comprises a multi-bit binary code defined by a trace configuration. In this embodiment, the memory element 78 comprises a first trace 88 connected to the ground connection points of the jet plate drive circuitry. Four separate output pads 89 may be selectively connected to the grounded trace 8B via connection points 91 which may be left open or bridged with solder during the manufacture of the ink jet cartridge. Alternatively, the pads 89 may be selectively connected to ground by laying traces only between specific desired pads 89 and ground during the original manufacture of the flex circuit 100.
Uia a mating flex circuit provided on the carriage which is described in more detail below, the output pads 89 are connected to four lines inside the printer which are tied to a positive potential through pull-up resistors.
Thus, depending on which pads 89 are pulled to ground with a connection to the grounded trace. different four bit codes are delivered to the printer electronics. This allows classification of cartridge into sixteen different types.
In some advantageous embodiments, the sixteen different codes represent different characteristics of ink in the cartridge. These characteristics may include color, indoorloutdoor suitability, aqueous or organic solvent based composition, etc. Of course, other cartridge parameters may also be coded into the present four bit code. It will also be appreciated that several alternative trace configuration based binary codings are possible in view of the specific implementation set forth above, including more or fewer bits, different detection circuits, etc.
Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, an ink jet cartridge incorporating a memory element comprising a memory integrated circuit is illustrated. In this embodiment, a second piece of flex circuit 102 provides a mount for the memory element 78. Formed on the second flex circuit 102 are conductive traces 103 forming a two wire interface with the memory element 78. As has been mentioned above, in some advantageous embodiments of the present invention, the memory element 78 has only two electrically active terminals, one comprising a signal terminal, and one comprising a ground terminal. Memory elements which are suitable for use in some embodiments of the present invention are commercially available, for example, as part number DS2430A from Dallas Semiconductor of Dallas, Texas. These devices include 256 bits of EEPROM memory which is serially written to and read from over the one signal terminal provided. These devices also include a 48 bit serial number so that individual memory elements can be connected in parallel to a single signal line and addressed separately by an external device. Thus, a single two wire bus can be used to communicate in parallel with each of the plurality of cartridges provided on the ink jet printer.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate different orientation of the flex circuit 102, depending on the configuration of the cartridge receptacle of the print carriage. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the flex circuit 102 is adhesively secured horizontally so as to extend across the rear surface 96 of the cartridge 90, and the memory element comprises an unpackaged die which is mounted to the flex circuit 102 and connected to the two wire interface.
In the configuration illustrated in Figure 5, the flex circuit 102 is mounted vertically, and the memory element 78 comprises a low profile surface mount package which is soldered to pads on the flex circuit 102. As will be explained in more detail below, these mounting methods help alleviate interference problems which may arise from the physical presence of the memory element as the cartridge is attached to the receptacle of a print carriage. In both instances, the flex circuit 102 includes two contacts 104 for establishing an electrical connection to memory element interface circuitry which is routed to the print carriage.
7.
Referring now to Figures 6 through B in addition to Figures 4 and 5, the ink jet cartridge rear surface 96 includes a carriage interface portion 98,_indicated in Figures 4,and 5 by a dashed fine on the rear surface 96 of the cartridge 90. The carriage interface portion 98 of this flex circuit 100 makes contact with another flex circuit 110, illustrated in Figure 6, which is mounted to the print carriage. The carriage mounted flex circuit 110 thus includes a printer IIO portion 112 at one end, and a cartridge interface portion 114 at the other end, which is Shawn in Figure 5 as bounded by a dashed fine. In some embodiments of the present invention, the flex circuit 110 further includes an aperture or cavity 116 to make space for the memory element 78 when the cartridge 90 is installed in the carriage. The flex circuit 110 also includes traces which form a portion of the two wire interface 82, and contacts 118 which connects to the contacts 104 on the cartridge flex circuit 102 which includes the memory element 78.
As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the flex circuit 110 is attached to the carriage such that the cartridge interface portion 114 is on a vertical surface at the rear of the cartridge receptacle. The remainder of the flex circuit 110 is threaded through a horizontally extending slot 120 in the carriage so that the printer 110 end 112 of the flex circuit 110 extends out the back of the carriage to interface with the printer electronics. It will be appreciated by examination of Figures 7 and B that when the cartridge 90 is installed into the carriage, the carriage interface portion 98 of the flex circuit 100 on the cartridge will contact the cartridge interface portion 112 of the flex circuit 110 on the carriage. This operation will connect the jet plate 72 to the printer electronics. and will also connect the two wire interface contacts 118 on the carriage to the two wire interface contacts 104 on the cartridge 90.
It can be appreciated that an integrated circuit memory element 78, being positioned on the rear surface 96 of the cartridge 90, could potentially interfere with the flex circuit 110 to flex circuit 100 contact. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate two alternative methods of addressing this issue. In the embodiment of Figure 4, the flex circuit 100 is mounted horizontally, and the memory element is placed so that it extends into the aperture 116 on the carriage flex circuit 110 when the cartridge and carriage are mated. It is accordingly preferable in this embodiment to additionaify include an indentation or recess in the carriage body beneath the aperture 116 so that there is sufficient space for the memory element 78 to rest between the cartridge 90 and the carriage without affecting the flex circuit mating. In the embodiment of Figure 5, the flex circuit is mounted vertically, and the memory element 78 is located above the carriage mating portion of the flex circuit 100. In this embodiment, the memory element is positioned vertically so that it resides in the slot 120 above the flex circuit mating region when the cartridge is installed. In this embodiment as well, therefore, the memory element does not interfere with flex circuit mating when the cartridges 90 are installed in the carriage.
Of course, these techniques of avoiding mechanical interference are not required for those cartridge embodiments having a trace configuration memory element as shown in Figure 3.
In these embodiments, the flex circuit 110 attached to the print carriage need only be provided with contacts positioned to mate with the output pads 89 so as to receive the multi-bit binary code from the cartridge. In general, the space constraints are also less severe for the provision of a connection between the memory element 79 on the large volume reservoir 77 and the .g.
internal printer electronics. A flex circuit mating configuration may be used in a manner completely analogous to that described above with respect to the.ink jet cartridges and the carriage.
Alternativey, widely available miniature connectors could be mounted to the housing of the large volume ink reservoirs 77 which mate with mating connectors on the printer when the reservoir 77 is installed.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that many different types of information may be stored in the memory elements 78 and 79. Information concerning cartridge volume, ink color and composition, as well as cartridge manufacturer identification and date of manufacture, may be stored.
Special information concerning ink compatibility with various media types may also be included. With the provision of memory elements 78, 79 on both the large volume ink reservoirs 77 and the ink jet cartridges 74, the compatibility between large volume ink supply and the ink in the cartridge can be checked. Users may be warned in the event of a mistake in reservoir 77 or cartridge 74 installation which resuhs in ink incompatibility.
In preferred embodiments, the printer counts how many drops of ink have been ejected from the cartridge 74, and writes information to the memory element 78 on the cartridge 74 indicating the amount of ink which has been used. This information can be used to indicate when the cartridge is approaching empty, or when it contains insufficient ink to complete the next print. In printer systems with large volume ink reservoirs 77 external to the cartridges, the information regarding the amount of ink expelled by the cartridge is used to determine if the jet plate quality has degraded to the extent requiring cartridge replacement, an event which occurs after excessive ink has been ejected from the cartridge. The printer could be configured to read the information from the cartridge memory element prior to each print, and prevent the initiation of any new print job if the information contained is incompatible with pre-programmed requirements.
As described above, a significant feature of an embodiment of the invention is to provide the roll of media being printed with an associated memory element. As shown in Figure 8, a roll of media 128 according to one aspect of the present invention includes the media 130, which may be paper, vinyl, textile, or any other printable material. The media 130 is wound onto a center tube 132, which is typically rigid cardboard. In one embodiment, a molded plastic roll insert 134 is slidabiy inserted into the end of the roll 128 and is retained there with a friction fit. The insert 134 preferably includes an axially extending opening 136 so that the roll can be mounted onto a mandrel of the printer with the insert 134 in place on the end of the roll.
The roll insert 134 may extend the length of the roll. or a second roll insert may be installed in the roll on the other side so that the diameter of the central opening in the roll 128 is the same on both sides.
The insert 134 may include a flange portion 136 which abuts the end of the roll 128 when the insert 134 is installed. Preferably, the flange 136 incorporates a memory element 140.
One embodiment of the memory element 140 may comprise a two wire interface memory element similar in configuration to that described above which is mounted on the cartridge 90. However, because the media is in motion during the print process, this embodiment would also include a sliding or intermittent electrical contact between the stationary printer and the memory element on the moving paper. Such sliding contacts are not generally convenient and can lead to reliability problems.
Another embodiment of the memory element 140 may comprise a bar code label, although this alternative may be disadvantageous in that it is not a memory element which is capable of being written to when the roll is installed in a printer.
Accordingly, in the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a wireless connection is made to the memory element. One preferred embodiment comprises an RF !D tag embedded within the flange 136 of the insert 134. Such a tag has the capacity for receiving and storing information from the printer, as well as transmitting preprogrammed or stored information to the printer, all without a mechanical connection between the tag 140 and the stationary printer stand. The general properties of RF ID tags suitable for use with the present invention may be found in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,857,893 to Carroll and 5,528,222 to Moskowitz et al., the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. In addition, commercial RF ID tags suitable for use as described herein are available from for example, as the MICROSTAMP (TM), manufactured by Micron Communications of Boise Idaho.
In one embodiment therefor, the stand (not shown) of the printer includes an RF transceiver (designated 86 in Figure 21 which interacts with the memory element 140 as it passes by with each rotation of the roll 128.
In some embodiments, the memory element could be a "passive" RF ID tag device.
These devices interact with a magnetic field produced by the RF transceiver 86, and reflect a modulated signal which can vary depending on pre-programmed information stored in the memory element 140. The RF transceiver 86 receives this modulated signal and can read the stored information by analyzing the reflected signal. This system may be used to store information about the media itself, including its type, coating information, color, thickness. length, manufacturer and manufacturing date, lot number, etc. This system has the advantage that such passive read only RF ID tags are small and inexpensive devices.
The preferred embodiment includes a writable RF lD tag as the memory element 140. While such devices include more complex circuitry than the passive tags described above. they offer advantages such as storing information concerning the amount of media from the roll that has been used.
In a manner analogous to the analysis of information stored in the cartridge memory element 78 regarding the amount of ink expelled. this media information can be used to alert the user that there is insufficient media to product the next print. Keeping track of the amount of media that has been used can be done in a variety of ways.
The printer can keep track of how much paper has been advanced through the platen while the roll 128 has been installed. Alternatively, a mechanism can be incorporated into the stand to count how many revolutions the roll 128 has revolved since installation. This mechanism may comprise, for example, a reed switch mounted to the stand which is actuated each time a boss or tab (not shown) on the roll insert 134 passes the switch. Alternatively, a piece of reflective tape placed on the flange 136 of the roll insert 134 could be sensed optically by an LEDhight sensor mechanism in the stand. With ' this system, the number of revolutions performed is stored in the memory element 140.
Storage of this information in the memory element 140 (rather than simply in internal printer memory) provides a significant advantage. Thus, the roll may be removed before it is empty if it is desired to use the printer with other media, or the roll may be removed from one printer and used on a different printer. In these cases, the printer reads the information from the memory element attached to the media roil to obtain information regarding the amount of media remaining on the roll that has been installed, even if a portion of the paper has been used in prior operations on another printer.
Thus, a printer with intelligent cartridges, media, and environmental sensing can be used to reduce the investment in training and experience required to produce high quality prints with an ink jet printer. Parameters which may advantageously be automatically adjusted include, but are not limited to: setting the appropriate carriage height based on the media thickness, adjusting the cutting knife pressure, modifying the print data to correct for color based on substrate color, and adjusting the print speed depending on the temperature and humidity measurements. Furthermore, information may be made available to the operator (either through the host software or from an integral printer LCD display) concerning inklmedia compatibility, expected print times, print costs, etc.
Furthermore, the printer can prevent, for example, ink-media mismatch errors from being made, can prevent unacceptable cartridges or media from being used, and can prevent an operator from beginning a print jab that will not be completed without depleting the ink or media installed in the printer.
Although the various printer features described above are advantageously included in a single intelligent printer and can work together as an integrated printer system, it will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that individual aspects of the system described above, such as environmental sensing, or media or cartridge memory elements, for example, can each be individually utilized to improve printer performance separate from a single integrated system as well.
The foregoing description details certain preferred embodiments of the present invention and describes the best mode contemplated. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. It should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the present invention should not be taken to imply that the broadest reasonable meaning of such terminology is not intended, or that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. The scope of the present invention should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended Claims and any equivalents thereof.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a cartridge including a memory element according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a portion of a second embodiment of a cartridge including a memory element according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a third embodiment of a cartridge including a memory element according to one aspect of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a top view of a flex circuit adapted for attachment to a print carriage and including a two wire electrical interface for printer communication with the memory element illustrated in Figure 4.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a print carriage showing a "drop & click"
cartridge receptacle having the flex circuit of Figure 5 attached thereon.
Figure 8 is a front view of the print carriage of Figure 6.
Figure 9 is a perspective view of an end of a roll of paper media incorporating an embedded memory element.
Detailed Descriotion of the Invention Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying Figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used in the description presented herein is intended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner in accordance with its ordinary use in the art and in accordance with any overt definitions provided below.
The present invention is advantageously applied to ink jet printers.
Accordingly, an overall description of a typical contemporary large format ink jet printer as manufactured by Encad Inc., assignee of this patent application, is first described with reference to Figure 1. Referring now to this Figure, a printer carriage assembly 10 is supported on the top face of a printer housing 12, which is a part of a typical printer device. The housing 12 is supported by a pair of legs (not shown) and encloses various electrical and mechanical components related to the operation of the printerlplotter device.
A pair of roll holders 14 are mounted to a rear side 16 of the housing 12 and are slidable to accept media rolls of various widths. The roll of continuous print media (not shown in this Figures is mounted on the roll holders 14 to enable a continuous supply of paper to be provided to the printerlplotter carriage assembly 10. Otherwise, individual sheets of paper may be fed into the rear side 16 of the housing as needed. A portion of a top side 17 ' of the housing 12 forms a platen 18 upon which the printinglplotting is performed by select deposition of ink droplets onto the paper. The paper is guided from the rear side 16 of the housing 10 under a support structure ZO and across the platen 18 by a plurality of drive rollers 19 which are spaced along the platen 18.
The support structure 20 is mounted to the top side 17 of the housing 12 with sufficient clearance between the platen 18 and the support structure 20 along a central portion of the platen 18 to enable a sheet of paper which is to be printed on to pass between the platen 18 and the support structure 20. The support structure .4.
20 supports a print carriage 22 above the platen 18. The support structure 20 includes a guide rod 24 and a coded strip support member 26 positioned parallel to the longitudinal.axis of the housing 12. The height of the carriage 22 above the print media is preferably controlled to a tight tolerance.
Accordingly, ink jet printers have been constructed to allow for manual or automatic adjustment of the carriage 22 height above the platen 18 in order to accommodate different paper thicknesses, and one embodiment of a printer according to the present invention includes such adjustability.
The print carriage 22 includes a plurality of printer cartridge holders 34 each with a printer cartridge 40 mounted therein. The print carriage 22 also includes a split sleeve which slidably engages the guide rod 24 to enable motion of the print carriage 22 along the guide rod 24 and to define a linear path, as shown by the bi-directional arrow in Figure 1, along which the print carriage 22 moves. A motor (not shown) and drive belt mechanism 38 are used to drive the print carriage 22 along the guide rod 24.
In a printer such as is illustrated in Figure 1, many different parameters affect print quality. These include ambient environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. Also, the type of ink and type of media affect the results of the print process. As mentioned above, in currently available ink jet printers, the user must consider these various parameters and adjust printer operation accordingly in order to maximize print quality. This requires a considerable amount of training and experience. It would therefore be desirable to incorporate into the printer itself sensing devices and intelligent components which communicate with electronics in the printer so as to automatically configure the printer for optimal operation. For example, measurements of ambient temperature and humidity, as well as information about ink and media type, can allow automatic calculation of appropriate ink densities, print speed, print carriage height, ink dry rate, and appropriate cutting pressure for an integral media cutting knife (not shown in Figure 11. Optimal operating parameters which are normally a part of an experienced users knowledge base, can be effectively programmed into the printer itself. In some preferred systems, this information can be coupled with information about the print data itself to produce additional information useful to the printer operator, such as job costing, print times, etc.
Illustrated in Figure 2 is a schematiclblock diagram of one embodiment of an ink jet printer incorporating the above described features. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that individual ones of the features illustrated may be separately utilized to improve at least some aspects of printer performance.
Referring now to Figure 2, a host computer 50 communicates with a processor 52 integral with the ink jet printer. Ink jet printer components illustrated schematically in Figure 2 including the components inside the dashed line 54. The host computer runs driver software which issues print commands and sends data to the ink jet printer.
As in conventional ink jet printers, the processor 52 communicates with a display and keypad 56, memory 58, and drive circuits 60 which control the print carriage motor 62 and paper motor 63, as well as an automatic cutting knife 64, a fan 66, a dryer 68, and a carriage height control 69. In addition, the processor 52 routes signals to print logic 70. which actuates the nozzles of the jet plate 72 of each ink jet cartridge, illustrated in Figure 2 by dashed line 74. In many embodiments of the present invention, the printer will include four ink jet cartridges, only one of which is illustrated in Figure 2. The ink jet cartridge 74 typically includes a small ink reservoir 75 in fluid communication with the jet plate 72. This small reservoir 75 may be in communication with a large remote ink reservoir 77. The large reservoir 77 may be integral with the printer housing, or may be a user replaceable reservoir which allows swapping different ink colors or compositions. Many implementations of large volume ink reservoirs and their interconnection to ink jet cartridges are known to those of skill in the art.
Some of these are described, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 5,686,947 to Murray et al. and 5,369,429 to Erickson. User swappable large volume reservoirs are described in Provisional Application Serial No. 601036,547. The disclosures of each of these documents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
In addition to the items set forth above, the processor also advantageously interfaces with environmental sensors 76, which preferably include either or both a temperature and a humidity sensor. One embodiment of the temperature sensor is an electronic temperature sensor which has a digital output indicative of the temperature of the device. Suitable temperature sensors of this nature are commercially available from Dallas Semiconductor as, for example, part number DS1820. Measuring both temperature and humidity allows a computation of the dew point at print time, and this allows a computation of ink dry time, which in turn can be used to set print speed such that adequate drying time is allowed for each print pass of the carriage 22 across the media.
In addition, the processor preferably communicates with a memory element 78 on each ink jet cartridge 74, a memory element 79 on each large volume ink reservoir 77, and a memory element 80 attached to the roll of media (indicated by dashed line 81 on Figure 2) being used to supply the substrate being printed on. The information from the memory elements is communicated to the processor via communication links 81, 82, and 83, which may take a variety of forms. As will be explained in more detail below with reference to Figures 3 through 5, the memory element on the cartridge may comprise simply a trace configuration on a flex circuit provided on the ink jet cartridge.
In this embodiment, the trace configuration defines a multi-bit binary code which may be interpreted by the processor.
Alternatively, the memory element may comprise an integrated circuit memory which may interface with the processor via a two wire electrical interface which allows both reading from and writing to the memory element 78 by the processor 52. The same alternatives may be suitable for the memory element 79 on the large volume ink reservoir 77.
Because the roll of media on the printer is in motion during the print process, the interface to the memory element 80 on the media roll advantageously includes a wireless link 84 which is driven by RF transceiver circuitry 86 integral to the ink jet printer stand (not shown(. This and alternative interfaces to the memory element 80 on the roll of media are described in more detail below with reference to Figure 9.
A perspective view of a portion of an ink jet cartridge according to one aspect of the present invention is shown in Figure 3. An ink jet cartridge 90 includes a housing 92 having a bottom surface 94 which provides a mounting surface for the jet plate 72 (also illustrated in Figure 2). The jet plate 72 is connected to a piece of flex circuit 100 which extends from the bottom surface 94 of the cartridge 90 around a corner to the rear surface 96 of the cartridge. Circuit traces toot shown) connect the jet plate 72 to contacts 97 which mate with contacts on the print carriage so as to connect the printer electronics with the jet plate. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, the memory element 78 comprises a multi-bit binary code defined by a trace configuration. In this embodiment, the memory element 78 comprises a first trace 88 connected to the ground connection points of the jet plate drive circuitry. Four separate output pads 89 may be selectively connected to the grounded trace 8B via connection points 91 which may be left open or bridged with solder during the manufacture of the ink jet cartridge. Alternatively, the pads 89 may be selectively connected to ground by laying traces only between specific desired pads 89 and ground during the original manufacture of the flex circuit 100.
Uia a mating flex circuit provided on the carriage which is described in more detail below, the output pads 89 are connected to four lines inside the printer which are tied to a positive potential through pull-up resistors.
Thus, depending on which pads 89 are pulled to ground with a connection to the grounded trace. different four bit codes are delivered to the printer electronics. This allows classification of cartridge into sixteen different types.
In some advantageous embodiments, the sixteen different codes represent different characteristics of ink in the cartridge. These characteristics may include color, indoorloutdoor suitability, aqueous or organic solvent based composition, etc. Of course, other cartridge parameters may also be coded into the present four bit code. It will also be appreciated that several alternative trace configuration based binary codings are possible in view of the specific implementation set forth above, including more or fewer bits, different detection circuits, etc.
Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, an ink jet cartridge incorporating a memory element comprising a memory integrated circuit is illustrated. In this embodiment, a second piece of flex circuit 102 provides a mount for the memory element 78. Formed on the second flex circuit 102 are conductive traces 103 forming a two wire interface with the memory element 78. As has been mentioned above, in some advantageous embodiments of the present invention, the memory element 78 has only two electrically active terminals, one comprising a signal terminal, and one comprising a ground terminal. Memory elements which are suitable for use in some embodiments of the present invention are commercially available, for example, as part number DS2430A from Dallas Semiconductor of Dallas, Texas. These devices include 256 bits of EEPROM memory which is serially written to and read from over the one signal terminal provided. These devices also include a 48 bit serial number so that individual memory elements can be connected in parallel to a single signal line and addressed separately by an external device. Thus, a single two wire bus can be used to communicate in parallel with each of the plurality of cartridges provided on the ink jet printer.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate different orientation of the flex circuit 102, depending on the configuration of the cartridge receptacle of the print carriage. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the flex circuit 102 is adhesively secured horizontally so as to extend across the rear surface 96 of the cartridge 90, and the memory element comprises an unpackaged die which is mounted to the flex circuit 102 and connected to the two wire interface.
In the configuration illustrated in Figure 5, the flex circuit 102 is mounted vertically, and the memory element 78 comprises a low profile surface mount package which is soldered to pads on the flex circuit 102. As will be explained in more detail below, these mounting methods help alleviate interference problems which may arise from the physical presence of the memory element as the cartridge is attached to the receptacle of a print carriage. In both instances, the flex circuit 102 includes two contacts 104 for establishing an electrical connection to memory element interface circuitry which is routed to the print carriage.
7.
Referring now to Figures 6 through B in addition to Figures 4 and 5, the ink jet cartridge rear surface 96 includes a carriage interface portion 98,_indicated in Figures 4,and 5 by a dashed fine on the rear surface 96 of the cartridge 90. The carriage interface portion 98 of this flex circuit 100 makes contact with another flex circuit 110, illustrated in Figure 6, which is mounted to the print carriage. The carriage mounted flex circuit 110 thus includes a printer IIO portion 112 at one end, and a cartridge interface portion 114 at the other end, which is Shawn in Figure 5 as bounded by a dashed fine. In some embodiments of the present invention, the flex circuit 110 further includes an aperture or cavity 116 to make space for the memory element 78 when the cartridge 90 is installed in the carriage. The flex circuit 110 also includes traces which form a portion of the two wire interface 82, and contacts 118 which connects to the contacts 104 on the cartridge flex circuit 102 which includes the memory element 78.
As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the flex circuit 110 is attached to the carriage such that the cartridge interface portion 114 is on a vertical surface at the rear of the cartridge receptacle. The remainder of the flex circuit 110 is threaded through a horizontally extending slot 120 in the carriage so that the printer 110 end 112 of the flex circuit 110 extends out the back of the carriage to interface with the printer electronics. It will be appreciated by examination of Figures 7 and B that when the cartridge 90 is installed into the carriage, the carriage interface portion 98 of the flex circuit 100 on the cartridge will contact the cartridge interface portion 112 of the flex circuit 110 on the carriage. This operation will connect the jet plate 72 to the printer electronics. and will also connect the two wire interface contacts 118 on the carriage to the two wire interface contacts 104 on the cartridge 90.
It can be appreciated that an integrated circuit memory element 78, being positioned on the rear surface 96 of the cartridge 90, could potentially interfere with the flex circuit 110 to flex circuit 100 contact. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate two alternative methods of addressing this issue. In the embodiment of Figure 4, the flex circuit 100 is mounted horizontally, and the memory element is placed so that it extends into the aperture 116 on the carriage flex circuit 110 when the cartridge and carriage are mated. It is accordingly preferable in this embodiment to additionaify include an indentation or recess in the carriage body beneath the aperture 116 so that there is sufficient space for the memory element 78 to rest between the cartridge 90 and the carriage without affecting the flex circuit mating. In the embodiment of Figure 5, the flex circuit is mounted vertically, and the memory element 78 is located above the carriage mating portion of the flex circuit 100. In this embodiment, the memory element is positioned vertically so that it resides in the slot 120 above the flex circuit mating region when the cartridge is installed. In this embodiment as well, therefore, the memory element does not interfere with flex circuit mating when the cartridges 90 are installed in the carriage.
Of course, these techniques of avoiding mechanical interference are not required for those cartridge embodiments having a trace configuration memory element as shown in Figure 3.
In these embodiments, the flex circuit 110 attached to the print carriage need only be provided with contacts positioned to mate with the output pads 89 so as to receive the multi-bit binary code from the cartridge. In general, the space constraints are also less severe for the provision of a connection between the memory element 79 on the large volume reservoir 77 and the .g.
internal printer electronics. A flex circuit mating configuration may be used in a manner completely analogous to that described above with respect to the.ink jet cartridges and the carriage.
Alternativey, widely available miniature connectors could be mounted to the housing of the large volume ink reservoirs 77 which mate with mating connectors on the printer when the reservoir 77 is installed.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that many different types of information may be stored in the memory elements 78 and 79. Information concerning cartridge volume, ink color and composition, as well as cartridge manufacturer identification and date of manufacture, may be stored.
Special information concerning ink compatibility with various media types may also be included. With the provision of memory elements 78, 79 on both the large volume ink reservoirs 77 and the ink jet cartridges 74, the compatibility between large volume ink supply and the ink in the cartridge can be checked. Users may be warned in the event of a mistake in reservoir 77 or cartridge 74 installation which resuhs in ink incompatibility.
In preferred embodiments, the printer counts how many drops of ink have been ejected from the cartridge 74, and writes information to the memory element 78 on the cartridge 74 indicating the amount of ink which has been used. This information can be used to indicate when the cartridge is approaching empty, or when it contains insufficient ink to complete the next print. In printer systems with large volume ink reservoirs 77 external to the cartridges, the information regarding the amount of ink expelled by the cartridge is used to determine if the jet plate quality has degraded to the extent requiring cartridge replacement, an event which occurs after excessive ink has been ejected from the cartridge. The printer could be configured to read the information from the cartridge memory element prior to each print, and prevent the initiation of any new print job if the information contained is incompatible with pre-programmed requirements.
As described above, a significant feature of an embodiment of the invention is to provide the roll of media being printed with an associated memory element. As shown in Figure 8, a roll of media 128 according to one aspect of the present invention includes the media 130, which may be paper, vinyl, textile, or any other printable material. The media 130 is wound onto a center tube 132, which is typically rigid cardboard. In one embodiment, a molded plastic roll insert 134 is slidabiy inserted into the end of the roll 128 and is retained there with a friction fit. The insert 134 preferably includes an axially extending opening 136 so that the roll can be mounted onto a mandrel of the printer with the insert 134 in place on the end of the roll.
The roll insert 134 may extend the length of the roll. or a second roll insert may be installed in the roll on the other side so that the diameter of the central opening in the roll 128 is the same on both sides.
The insert 134 may include a flange portion 136 which abuts the end of the roll 128 when the insert 134 is installed. Preferably, the flange 136 incorporates a memory element 140.
One embodiment of the memory element 140 may comprise a two wire interface memory element similar in configuration to that described above which is mounted on the cartridge 90. However, because the media is in motion during the print process, this embodiment would also include a sliding or intermittent electrical contact between the stationary printer and the memory element on the moving paper. Such sliding contacts are not generally convenient and can lead to reliability problems.
Another embodiment of the memory element 140 may comprise a bar code label, although this alternative may be disadvantageous in that it is not a memory element which is capable of being written to when the roll is installed in a printer.
Accordingly, in the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a wireless connection is made to the memory element. One preferred embodiment comprises an RF !D tag embedded within the flange 136 of the insert 134. Such a tag has the capacity for receiving and storing information from the printer, as well as transmitting preprogrammed or stored information to the printer, all without a mechanical connection between the tag 140 and the stationary printer stand. The general properties of RF ID tags suitable for use with the present invention may be found in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,857,893 to Carroll and 5,528,222 to Moskowitz et al., the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. In addition, commercial RF ID tags suitable for use as described herein are available from for example, as the MICROSTAMP (TM), manufactured by Micron Communications of Boise Idaho.
In one embodiment therefor, the stand (not shown) of the printer includes an RF transceiver (designated 86 in Figure 21 which interacts with the memory element 140 as it passes by with each rotation of the roll 128.
In some embodiments, the memory element could be a "passive" RF ID tag device.
These devices interact with a magnetic field produced by the RF transceiver 86, and reflect a modulated signal which can vary depending on pre-programmed information stored in the memory element 140. The RF transceiver 86 receives this modulated signal and can read the stored information by analyzing the reflected signal. This system may be used to store information about the media itself, including its type, coating information, color, thickness. length, manufacturer and manufacturing date, lot number, etc. This system has the advantage that such passive read only RF ID tags are small and inexpensive devices.
The preferred embodiment includes a writable RF lD tag as the memory element 140. While such devices include more complex circuitry than the passive tags described above. they offer advantages such as storing information concerning the amount of media from the roll that has been used.
In a manner analogous to the analysis of information stored in the cartridge memory element 78 regarding the amount of ink expelled. this media information can be used to alert the user that there is insufficient media to product the next print. Keeping track of the amount of media that has been used can be done in a variety of ways.
The printer can keep track of how much paper has been advanced through the platen while the roll 128 has been installed. Alternatively, a mechanism can be incorporated into the stand to count how many revolutions the roll 128 has revolved since installation. This mechanism may comprise, for example, a reed switch mounted to the stand which is actuated each time a boss or tab (not shown) on the roll insert 134 passes the switch. Alternatively, a piece of reflective tape placed on the flange 136 of the roll insert 134 could be sensed optically by an LEDhight sensor mechanism in the stand. With ' this system, the number of revolutions performed is stored in the memory element 140.
Storage of this information in the memory element 140 (rather than simply in internal printer memory) provides a significant advantage. Thus, the roll may be removed before it is empty if it is desired to use the printer with other media, or the roll may be removed from one printer and used on a different printer. In these cases, the printer reads the information from the memory element attached to the media roil to obtain information regarding the amount of media remaining on the roll that has been installed, even if a portion of the paper has been used in prior operations on another printer.
Thus, a printer with intelligent cartridges, media, and environmental sensing can be used to reduce the investment in training and experience required to produce high quality prints with an ink jet printer. Parameters which may advantageously be automatically adjusted include, but are not limited to: setting the appropriate carriage height based on the media thickness, adjusting the cutting knife pressure, modifying the print data to correct for color based on substrate color, and adjusting the print speed depending on the temperature and humidity measurements. Furthermore, information may be made available to the operator (either through the host software or from an integral printer LCD display) concerning inklmedia compatibility, expected print times, print costs, etc.
Furthermore, the printer can prevent, for example, ink-media mismatch errors from being made, can prevent unacceptable cartridges or media from being used, and can prevent an operator from beginning a print jab that will not be completed without depleting the ink or media installed in the printer.
Although the various printer features described above are advantageously included in a single intelligent printer and can work together as an integrated printer system, it will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that individual aspects of the system described above, such as environmental sensing, or media or cartridge memory elements, for example, can each be individually utilized to improve printer performance separate from a single integrated system as well.
The foregoing description details certain preferred embodiments of the present invention and describes the best mode contemplated. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. It should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the present invention should not be taken to imply that the broadest reasonable meaning of such terminology is not intended, or that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. The scope of the present invention should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended Claims and any equivalents thereof.
Claims (5)
1. An ink jet printer comprising:
a printer frame providing printer control electronics for controlling print operations;
a moveable print carriage mounted to said frame;
a roll of print media mounted to said frame;
a first memory element mounted to said roll of print media and coupled to said printer control electronics;
a large volume ink reservoir mounted to said frame;
a second memory element mounted to said large volume ink reservoir and coupled to said printer control electronics;
an ink jet cartridge mounted on said moveable print carriage and in fluid communication with said large volume ink reservoir;
a third memory element mounted to said ink jet cartridge and coupled to said printer control electronics, wherein said printer control electronics is configured to control printer operations in response to data received from said first, second, and third memory elements, and wherein said third memory element interfaces with said printer control electronics through a portion of an electrical communication interface between said ink jet cartridge and said moveable print carriage, wherein said electrical communication interface comprises:
a first flex circuit mounted on said movable print carriage, said first flex circuit comprising a plurality of contacts having first and second portions;
a second flex circuit mounted on said ink jet cartridge, said second flex circuit comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to mate with said first portion of said plurality of electrical contacts on said first flex circuit when said ink jet cartridge is installed in said movable print carriage;
a third flex circuit mounted on said ink jet cartridge, said third flex circuit comprising a memory element and a plurality of electrical contacts, wherein said third flex circuit is mounted to said ink jet cartridge such that (1) said plurality of electrical contacts on said third flex circuit are configured to mate with said second portion of said plurality of electrical contacts on said first flex circuit, and (2) said memory element is positioned to avoid interfering with the mating of said pluralities of electrical contacts on said first, second, and third flex circuits when said ink jet cartridge is installed in said moveable print carriage.
a printer frame providing printer control electronics for controlling print operations;
a moveable print carriage mounted to said frame;
a roll of print media mounted to said frame;
a first memory element mounted to said roll of print media and coupled to said printer control electronics;
a large volume ink reservoir mounted to said frame;
a second memory element mounted to said large volume ink reservoir and coupled to said printer control electronics;
an ink jet cartridge mounted on said moveable print carriage and in fluid communication with said large volume ink reservoir;
a third memory element mounted to said ink jet cartridge and coupled to said printer control electronics, wherein said printer control electronics is configured to control printer operations in response to data received from said first, second, and third memory elements, and wherein said third memory element interfaces with said printer control electronics through a portion of an electrical communication interface between said ink jet cartridge and said moveable print carriage, wherein said electrical communication interface comprises:
a first flex circuit mounted on said movable print carriage, said first flex circuit comprising a plurality of contacts having first and second portions;
a second flex circuit mounted on said ink jet cartridge, said second flex circuit comprising a plurality of electrical contacts configured to mate with said first portion of said plurality of electrical contacts on said first flex circuit when said ink jet cartridge is installed in said movable print carriage;
a third flex circuit mounted on said ink jet cartridge, said third flex circuit comprising a memory element and a plurality of electrical contacts, wherein said third flex circuit is mounted to said ink jet cartridge such that (1) said plurality of electrical contacts on said third flex circuit are configured to mate with said second portion of said plurality of electrical contacts on said first flex circuit, and (2) said memory element is positioned to avoid interfering with the mating of said pluralities of electrical contacts on said first, second, and third flex circuits when said ink jet cartridge is installed in said moveable print carriage.
2. The ink jet printer of Claim 1, additionally comprising a temperature sensor coupled to said printer control electronics.
3. The ink jet printer of Claim 1, additionally comprising a humidity sensor coupled to said printer control electronics.
4. The ink jet printer of Claim 1, wherein said memory element is positioned to reside in a cavity provided in said first flex circuit.
5. The ink jet printer of Claim 1, wherein said electrical communication interface comprises a serial data transfer interface.
Applications Claiming Priority (5)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US4730497P | 1997-05-20 | 1997-05-20 | |
US60/047,304 | 1997-05-20 | ||
US09/030,631 US6227643B1 (en) | 1997-05-20 | 1998-02-25 | Intelligent printer components and printing system |
US09/030,631 | 1998-02-25 | ||
PCT/US1998/007324 WO1998052762A2 (en) | 1997-05-20 | 1998-04-09 | Intelligent printer components and printing system |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
CA2288730A1 true CA2288730A1 (en) | 1998-11-26 |
Family
ID=21948229
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
CA002288730A Abandoned CA2288730A1 (en) | 1997-05-20 | 1998-04-09 | Intelligent printer components and printing system |
Country Status (8)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US6227643B1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP0986479B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2002514142A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1257446A (en) |
AU (1) | AU744395B2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2288730A1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE69819496T2 (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998052762A2 (en) |
Families Citing this family (251)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6786420B1 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2004-09-07 | Silverbrook Research Pty. Ltd. | Data distribution mechanism in the form of ink dots on cards |
US6803989B2 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2004-10-12 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Image printing apparatus including a microcontroller |
US6618117B2 (en) | 1997-07-12 | 2003-09-09 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Image sensing apparatus including a microcontroller |
US6416154B1 (en) * | 1997-07-12 | 2002-07-09 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Printing cartridge with two dimensional code identification |
US6644771B1 (en) * | 1997-07-12 | 2003-11-11 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Printing cartridge with radio frequency identification |
US6547364B2 (en) * | 1997-07-12 | 2003-04-15 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Printing cartridge with an integrated circuit device |
US6565181B2 (en) * | 1997-07-12 | 2003-05-20 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Printing cartridge with switch array identification |
US6985207B2 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2006-01-10 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Photographic prints having magnetically recordable media |
US6624848B1 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2003-09-23 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Cascading image modification using multiple digital cameras incorporating image processing |
US6431669B1 (en) * | 1997-07-15 | 2002-08-13 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Method and apparatus for information storage in a portable print roll |
AUPO850597A0 (en) | 1997-08-11 | 1997-09-04 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Image processing method and apparatus (art01a) |
US6690419B1 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2004-02-10 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Utilising eye detection methods for image processing in a digital image camera |
AUPO802797A0 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 1997-08-07 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Image processing method and apparatus (ART54) |
US7110024B1 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2006-09-19 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Digital camera system having motion deblurring means |
US6948794B2 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2005-09-27 | Silverbrook Reserach Pty Ltd | Printhead re-capping assembly for a print and demand digital camera system |
US7325897B2 (en) * | 1997-07-15 | 2008-02-05 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Printing cartridge with pressure sensor array identification |
US6879341B1 (en) * | 1997-07-15 | 2005-04-12 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Digital camera system containing a VLIW vector processor |
US7705891B2 (en) | 1997-07-15 | 2010-04-27 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Correction of distortions in digital images |
AUPO798697A0 (en) * | 1997-07-15 | 1997-08-07 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Data processing method and apparatus (ART51) |
EP0963847B1 (en) * | 1998-05-13 | 2005-08-17 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Ink cartridge for ink-jet printing apparatus |
CA2660121C (en) * | 1998-05-18 | 2012-09-18 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Ink-jet printing apparatus and ink cartridge therefor |
MY125797A (en) * | 1998-05-25 | 2006-08-30 | Seiko Epson Corp | Ink cartridge, ink-jet printing apparatus, and refilling device |
US6724895B1 (en) | 1998-06-18 | 2004-04-20 | Supersensor (Proprietary) Limited | Electronic identification system and method with source authenticity verification |
US6312106B1 (en) | 1999-04-20 | 2001-11-06 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method and apparatus for transferring information between a replaceable consumable and a printing device |
US6585340B1 (en) * | 1998-09-03 | 2003-07-01 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Environmental and operational color calibration, with integrated ink limiting, in incremental printing |
US6494562B1 (en) * | 1998-09-03 | 2002-12-17 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method and apparatus for identifying a sales channel |
AUPP702098A0 (en) | 1998-11-09 | 1998-12-03 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Image creation method and apparatus (ART73) |
JP2002526796A (en) * | 1998-09-28 | 2002-08-20 | オーセ プリンティング システムズ ゲゼルシャフト ミットベシュレンクテル ハフツング | Printing or copying system with reusable containers for consumable materials and methods of using said containers |
MY125897A (en) | 1998-11-02 | 2006-08-30 | Seiko Epson Corp | Ink cartridge and printer using the same |
JP4314702B2 (en) | 1998-11-26 | 2009-08-19 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Printing apparatus, writing method, and printer |
JP4395943B2 (en) | 1998-11-26 | 2010-01-13 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Printing apparatus and information management method thereof |
JP2000301738A (en) * | 1998-11-26 | 2000-10-31 | Seiko Epson Corp | Method for judging suitability of ink container and printing apparatus judging suitability of ink container |
JP2001187457A (en) | 1998-11-26 | 2001-07-10 | Seiko Epson Corp | Printing device and cartridge |
JP2000218818A (en) * | 1998-11-26 | 2000-08-08 | Seiko Epson Corp | Ink container and printer using the same |
US6128448A (en) * | 1998-12-03 | 2000-10-03 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method and apparatus for toner level monitoring and motion sensing |
JP3447595B2 (en) | 1998-12-22 | 2003-09-16 | シャープ株式会社 | Image forming device |
US6254211B1 (en) * | 1998-12-22 | 2001-07-03 | Scitex Digital Printing, Inc. | Adjustable reliability parameters in ink jet printing systems |
DE69929849T2 (en) * | 1998-12-22 | 2006-10-26 | Eastman Kodak Co. | PRINTERS CONTAINERS FOR COLOR SUPPLIES AND RECEIVING MATERIAL WHICH ALLOW A PRINTER TO DOWNLOAD THE TYPE OF PRINTING MATERIAL PRESCRIBED IN IT AND METHOD FOR SET UP THE PRINTER AND THE RESERVOIRS |
EP1525991A1 (en) * | 1999-01-25 | 2005-04-27 | Fargo Electronics, Inc. | Method and apparatus for communicating between printer or laminator and supplies |
WO2000047417A1 (en) | 1999-02-15 | 2000-08-17 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Ink jet recorder |
US6106166A (en) * | 1999-04-16 | 2000-08-22 | Eastman Kodak Company | Photoprocessing apparatus for sensing type of photoprocessing consumable and method of assembling the apparatus |
US6302527B1 (en) * | 1999-04-20 | 2001-10-16 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method and apparatus for transferring information between a printer portion and a replaceable printing component |
US7110127B2 (en) * | 1999-04-20 | 2006-09-19 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Method and apparatus for product regionalization |
FI111880B (en) | 1999-04-26 | 2003-09-30 | Metso Paper Inc | Method and apparatus for monitoring and recording the properties and / or environmental conditions of various components of a paper / board or pulp or finishing machine and changes therein |
JP3804401B2 (en) * | 1999-05-20 | 2006-08-02 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Liquid consumption detection method and recording apparatus control method |
AUPQ056099A0 (en) | 1999-05-25 | 1999-06-17 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | A method and apparatus (pprint01) |
GB2351172B (en) * | 1999-06-14 | 2001-06-20 | Sony Corp | Printer system,printer apparatus,printing method,ink ribbon and printing medium |
US6938976B2 (en) * | 1999-06-16 | 2005-09-06 | Eastman Kodak Company | Printer and method therefor adapted to sense data uniquely associated with a consumable loaded into the printer |
US6644544B1 (en) | 1999-06-16 | 2003-11-11 | Eastman Kodak Company | Imaging apparatus capable of forming an image consistent with type of imaging consumable loaded therein and method of assembling the apparatus |
JP4106156B2 (en) * | 1999-07-07 | 2008-06-25 | 理想科学工業株式会社 | Stencil printing machine |
US6672695B1 (en) | 1999-08-31 | 2004-01-06 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Ink cartridge management system, printer, and ink cartridge |
ATE363988T1 (en) * | 1999-08-31 | 2007-06-15 | Seiko Epson Corp | PRINTING SYSTEM, INK JET PRINTER AND METHOD FOR MANAGING THE LIFE OF AN INK CARTRIDGE |
DE10040456B4 (en) * | 1999-10-01 | 2005-11-17 | Hewlett-Packard Development Co., L.P., Houston | Printer and method for providing data for optimization thereof |
JP4497689B2 (en) | 1999-10-01 | 2010-07-07 | キヤノン株式会社 | Printing device, exchange unit, and memory unit |
EP1136268B1 (en) * | 1999-10-04 | 2006-04-12 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Ink-jet recorder, semiconductor device, and recording head device |
US6155678A (en) * | 1999-10-06 | 2000-12-05 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Replaceable ink cartridge for ink jet pen |
CN1278862C (en) * | 1999-10-12 | 2006-10-11 | 精工爱普生株式会社 | Ink box for ink-jet printer |
US6302507B1 (en) * | 1999-10-13 | 2001-10-16 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method for controlling the over-energy applied to an inkjet print cartridge using dynamic pulse width adjustment based on printhead temperature |
US6499842B1 (en) * | 1999-10-15 | 2002-12-31 | Chocolate Printing Company | Foodstuffs imaging process and apparatus |
US6149327A (en) * | 1999-12-22 | 2000-11-21 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method and apparatus for determining and controlling inkjet printing drying time |
JP3872278B2 (en) * | 2000-01-19 | 2007-01-24 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Image forming system that provides benefits to users using cartridges |
US6785739B1 (en) | 2000-02-23 | 2004-08-31 | Eastman Kodak Company | Data storage and retrieval playback apparatus for a still image receiver |
JP3387890B2 (en) | 2000-03-31 | 2003-03-17 | キヤノン株式会社 | Liquid container and recording device |
CA2343853A1 (en) * | 2000-04-14 | 2001-10-14 | Muga Mochizuki | Semiconductor device, ink tank provided with such semiconductor device, ink jet cartridge, ink jet recording apparatus, method for manufacturing such semiconductor device, and communication system, method for controlling pressure, memory element, security system of ink jet recording apparatus |
US6527356B1 (en) * | 2000-06-02 | 2003-03-04 | Eastman Kodak Company | Printer capable of forming an image on a receiver substrate according to type of receiver substrate and a method of assembling the printer |
EP1160619A3 (en) | 2000-06-02 | 2002-04-17 | Eastman Kodak Company | Transmitting process parameters for imaging |
US6685296B2 (en) * | 2000-06-16 | 2004-02-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Ink tank and ink jet recording apparatus provided with the same |
ATE411900T1 (en) * | 2000-06-16 | 2008-11-15 | Canon Kk | SOLID STATE SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENT, INK TANK, INKJET RECORDING APPARATUS EQUIPPED WITH SUCH INK TANK AND METHOD OF USE |
US6351621B1 (en) * | 2000-06-26 | 2002-02-26 | Xerox Corporation | Wireless interaction with memory associated with a replaceable module for office equipment |
EP1297961A4 (en) * | 2000-07-03 | 2004-12-15 | Seiko Epson Corp | Ink-jet printer |
TW577816B (en) * | 2000-09-12 | 2004-03-01 | Canon Kk | Media pack, printer, and camera with printer |
US7768669B2 (en) * | 2000-09-12 | 2010-08-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Image processing apparatus, printer using this apparatus, digital camera using this apparatus, consumable material holder for printer, and printer for digital camera |
JP2002174879A (en) * | 2000-09-18 | 2002-06-21 | Eastman Kodak Co | Sheet medium package having radio frequency identification transponder |
JP2002207807A (en) * | 2000-09-19 | 2002-07-26 | Seiko Epson Corp | Separately sold parts of equipment, equipment having separately sold parts, access device, method for distributing separately sold parts, and ink cartridge |
US6735484B1 (en) * | 2000-09-20 | 2004-05-11 | Fargo Electronics, Inc. | Printer with a process diagnostics system for detecting events |
CN100415526C (en) * | 2000-10-11 | 2008-09-03 | 精工爱普生株式会社 | Ink cartridge and inkjet printer |
US7253919B2 (en) * | 2000-11-30 | 2007-08-07 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Printer with embedded retrieval and publishing interface |
US7128408B2 (en) * | 2000-12-05 | 2006-10-31 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Printing apparatus and ink cartridge therefor |
JP4023145B2 (en) * | 2000-12-05 | 2007-12-19 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Printing device, ink cartridge |
CN1401111A (en) * | 2000-12-15 | 2003-03-05 | 东方条带及卷筒公司 | Paper roll anti theft protection |
JP2002254673A (en) | 2000-12-25 | 2002-09-11 | Seiko Epson Corp | Ink cartridge for ink jet recorder |
JP3649123B2 (en) | 2000-12-26 | 2005-05-18 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Circuit board terminals |
EP1258366B1 (en) * | 2000-12-27 | 2007-09-05 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Printing device |
EP1250233A1 (en) | 2001-01-09 | 2002-10-23 | Encad, Inc. | Ink jet printhead quality management system and method |
JP4343481B2 (en) * | 2001-02-06 | 2009-10-14 | キヤノン株式会社 | Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording method |
WO2002068605A2 (en) * | 2001-02-26 | 2002-09-06 | The Regents Of The University Of California | Non-oligomerizing tandem fluorescent proteins |
US6886463B2 (en) | 2001-03-28 | 2005-05-03 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Printing apparatus, printing apparatus initializing method, printing apparatus error correcting method, printing apparatus initializing program, and printing apparatus error correction program |
CA2379725C (en) * | 2001-04-03 | 2007-06-12 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Ink cartridge |
US6568780B2 (en) | 2001-04-30 | 2003-05-27 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Environmental factor detection system for inkjet printing |
US6655776B2 (en) | 2001-05-15 | 2003-12-02 | Eastman Kodak Company | Media pack for combination image acquisition and printing device |
US20020181015A1 (en) * | 2001-06-04 | 2002-12-05 | Whale Margo N. | Printing device media identification and tracking |
US6688791B2 (en) | 2001-06-08 | 2004-02-10 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Roll paper printing system, method for managing remaining amount of roll paper, recording medium, roll paper with memory |
JP4123739B2 (en) * | 2001-06-19 | 2008-07-23 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Identification system and identification method for printing recording material container |
JP2003001876A (en) | 2001-06-19 | 2003-01-08 | Seiko Epson Corp | Printer for controlling printing according to printing environment |
US7161700B2 (en) | 2001-06-21 | 2007-01-09 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Print data providing service through network |
US6827418B2 (en) | 2001-06-28 | 2004-12-07 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Printing apparatus for controlling print according to printing media |
US6897466B2 (en) * | 2001-07-19 | 2005-05-24 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Instrument and method for measuring ejection velocity of liquid |
US6858860B2 (en) * | 2001-07-24 | 2005-02-22 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Apparatus and method for measuring natural period of liquid |
AU2005200191B2 (en) * | 2001-08-06 | 2005-10-20 | Zamtec Limited | Printing control based on radio frequency identification of printing cartridge |
AU2005200211B2 (en) * | 2001-08-06 | 2005-02-24 | Memjet Technology Limited | Printing device with printing control based on integrated circuit device of printing cartridge |
US20050162455A1 (en) * | 2001-08-06 | 2005-07-28 | Kia Silverbrook | Printing cartridge with an integrated circuit device |
US6505926B1 (en) | 2001-08-16 | 2003-01-14 | Eastman Kodak Company | Ink cartridge with memory chip and method of assembling |
US7137000B2 (en) * | 2001-08-24 | 2006-11-14 | Zih Corp. | Method and apparatus for article authentication |
US6604814B2 (en) | 2001-09-28 | 2003-08-12 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, Lp | Arrangements of interconnect circuit and fluid drop generators |
US6652072B2 (en) * | 2001-09-28 | 2003-11-25 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Interconnect circuit |
US20030061947A1 (en) * | 2001-10-01 | 2003-04-03 | Hohberger Clive P. | Method and apparatus for associating on demand certain selected media and value-adding elements |
US20030072027A1 (en) * | 2001-10-11 | 2003-04-17 | Haines Robert E. | Unique identifier for customer account and method |
US20030074547A1 (en) * | 2001-10-11 | 2003-04-17 | Haines Robert E. | Hardcopy output engine consumable supply management and method |
US20030074268A1 (en) * | 2001-10-11 | 2003-04-17 | Haines Robert E. | User and device interactions for web consolidation |
US7886026B2 (en) * | 2001-10-11 | 2011-02-08 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Hardcopy output engine configuration apparatus and method |
US7747655B2 (en) | 2001-11-19 | 2010-06-29 | Ricoh Co. Ltd. | Printable representations for time-based media |
US7424129B2 (en) * | 2001-11-19 | 2008-09-09 | Ricoh Company, Ltd | Printing system with embedded audio/video content recognition and processing |
US7415670B2 (en) * | 2001-11-19 | 2008-08-19 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Printer with audio/video localization |
US7314994B2 (en) * | 2001-11-19 | 2008-01-01 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Music processing printer |
US20040181815A1 (en) * | 2001-11-19 | 2004-09-16 | Hull Jonathan J. | Printer with radio or television program extraction and formating |
US7861169B2 (en) * | 2001-11-19 | 2010-12-28 | Ricoh Co. Ltd. | Multimedia print driver dialog interfaces |
US20030105970A1 (en) * | 2001-11-30 | 2003-06-05 | Phillip Yuan Pei Jen | Systems and methods for enforcing single computer use of software |
US6963351B2 (en) | 2001-12-21 | 2005-11-08 | Datacard Corporation | Radio frequency identification tags on consumable items used in printers and related equipment |
US7035877B2 (en) | 2001-12-28 | 2006-04-25 | Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | Quality management and intelligent manufacturing with labels and smart tags in event-based product manufacturing |
US7380213B2 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2008-05-27 | Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | User interface for reporting event-based production information in product manufacturing |
US7032816B2 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2006-04-25 | Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | Communication between machines and feed-forward control in event-based product manufacturing |
US7357298B2 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2008-04-15 | Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | Integrating event-based production information with financial and purchasing systems in product manufacturing |
US8799113B2 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2014-08-05 | Binforma Group Limited Liability Company | Quality management by validating a bill of materials in event-based product manufacturing |
US6968250B2 (en) * | 2001-12-28 | 2005-11-22 | Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | Intelligent agent system and method for evaluating data integrity in process information databases |
JP2003211802A (en) * | 2002-01-22 | 2003-07-30 | Dainippon Printing Co Ltd | In-mold molded part |
JP2003226002A (en) * | 2002-02-04 | 2003-08-12 | Seiko Epson Corp | Printer, body to be printed, storage element, computer program, computer system and printing method |
US6601934B1 (en) | 2002-02-11 | 2003-08-05 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Storage of total ink drop fired count in an imaging device |
JP3666491B2 (en) * | 2002-03-29 | 2005-06-29 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Ink cartridge and recording apparatus |
US7128380B2 (en) * | 2002-04-10 | 2006-10-31 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Recording liquid container, ink jet recording apparatus, and cartridge collecting apparatus |
JP3826062B2 (en) * | 2002-04-10 | 2006-09-27 | キヤノン株式会社 | ink cartridge |
US6712459B2 (en) | 2002-07-18 | 2004-03-30 | Eastman Kodak Company | Ink cartridge having shielded pocket for memory chip |
SG147312A1 (en) | 2002-07-18 | 2008-11-28 | Seiko Epson Corp | Cartridge and printing apparatus |
US6705713B2 (en) | 2002-07-18 | 2004-03-16 | Eastman Kodak Company | Disposable ink assemblage |
US6715864B2 (en) | 2002-07-18 | 2004-04-06 | Eastman Kodak Company | Disposable ink supply bag having connector-fitting |
US20040012660A1 (en) * | 2002-07-18 | 2004-01-22 | Eastman Kodak Company | Ink cartridge having connectable-disconnectable housing and ink supply bag |
US6702435B2 (en) | 2002-07-18 | 2004-03-09 | Eastman Kodak Company | Ink cartridge having ink identifier oriented to provide ink identification |
US7018118B1 (en) * | 2002-07-25 | 2006-03-28 | Sony Chemicals Corporation Of America | Hub and detectable spool |
US20040021904A1 (en) * | 2002-07-30 | 2004-02-05 | Skurdal Vincent C. | Device for printing and archiving images |
US6709093B2 (en) | 2002-08-08 | 2004-03-23 | Eastman Kodak Company | Ink cartridge in which ink supply bag held fast to housing |
US6755501B2 (en) | 2002-08-08 | 2004-06-29 | Eastman Kodak Company | Alternative ink/cleaner cartridge |
DE60314947T2 (en) * | 2002-08-12 | 2008-04-17 | Seiko Epson Corp. | Printing material container, detection technique for the information about the printing material in the container and technology for communication between the container and the printing device |
US6830323B2 (en) | 2002-08-13 | 2004-12-14 | Eastman Kodak Company | Restricting flash spread when welding housing halves of cartridge together |
US6705714B1 (en) | 2002-08-21 | 2004-03-16 | Eastman Kodak Company | Ink cartridge having ink supply bag filled to less than capacity and folded in cartridge housing |
US6837576B2 (en) | 2002-08-21 | 2005-01-04 | Eastman Kodak Company | Method of filling ink supply bag for ink cartridge |
US20040049733A1 (en) * | 2002-09-09 | 2004-03-11 | Eastman Kodak Company | Virtual annotation of a recording on an archival media |
EP1400358B1 (en) * | 2002-09-20 | 2006-09-20 | Océ-Technologies B.V. | Ink tank and mounting socket |
US20040062016A1 (en) * | 2002-09-27 | 2004-04-01 | Eastman Kodak Company | Medium having data storage and communication capabilites and method for forming same |
US7233498B2 (en) | 2002-09-27 | 2007-06-19 | Eastman Kodak Company | Medium having data storage and communication capabilities and method for forming same |
KR100456029B1 (en) * | 2002-11-14 | 2004-11-08 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Flexible Printed Circuit |
JP3624950B2 (en) * | 2002-11-26 | 2005-03-02 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | ink cartridge |
DE60314776T2 (en) * | 2002-11-26 | 2008-04-10 | Seiko Epson Corp. | Ink cartridge and identification element |
US6712446B1 (en) | 2002-12-12 | 2004-03-30 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Controlling printing in response to print media characteristics |
GB0230199D0 (en) | 2002-12-24 | 2003-02-05 | Esselte Nv | Information on consumables |
US7044574B2 (en) | 2002-12-30 | 2006-05-16 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Method and apparatus for generating and assigning a cartridge identification number to an imaging cartridge |
US6962399B2 (en) * | 2002-12-30 | 2005-11-08 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Method of warning a user of end of life of a consumable for an ink jet printer |
US7589850B2 (en) * | 2002-12-30 | 2009-09-15 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Licensing method for use with an imaging device |
US7245389B2 (en) * | 2003-01-23 | 2007-07-17 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Burst mode for printing devices |
JP2004237501A (en) * | 2003-02-04 | 2004-08-26 | Brother Ind Ltd | Carriage driving device and motor control method |
US6729706B1 (en) | 2003-02-14 | 2004-05-04 | Eastman Kodak Company | Large area marking device and method for printing |
JP2004291560A (en) * | 2003-03-28 | 2004-10-21 | Toshiba Tec Corp | Printing device and expendable supplies used for the same |
US6793322B1 (en) | 2003-05-15 | 2004-09-21 | Eastman Kodak Company | Method of printing multi-color image |
US6951375B2 (en) * | 2003-05-20 | 2005-10-04 | Eastman Kodak Company | Large area marking device and method for printing |
US6692104B1 (en) | 2003-05-21 | 2004-02-17 | Eastman Kodak Company | Method of printing multi-color composition |
US6975817B2 (en) * | 2003-06-11 | 2005-12-13 | Xerox Corporation | Printer module with on-board intelligence |
JP2005028779A (en) * | 2003-07-07 | 2005-02-03 | Canon Inc | Ink tank and ink tank holder |
US7275159B2 (en) * | 2003-08-11 | 2007-09-25 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Multimedia output device having embedded encryption functionality |
US7528977B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-05-05 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Printer with hardware and software interfaces for peripheral devices |
US8077341B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2011-12-13 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Printer with audio or video receiver, recorder, and real-time content-based processing logic |
US7508535B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-03-24 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Stand alone multimedia printer with user interface for allocating processing |
US7440126B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2008-10-21 | Ricoh Co., Ltd | Printer with document-triggered processing |
US7570380B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-08-04 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Printer user interface |
US7573593B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-08-11 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Printer with hardware and software interfaces for media devices |
US20050068573A1 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2005-03-31 | Hart Peter E. | Networked printing system having embedded functionality for printing time-based media |
US7864352B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2011-01-04 | Ricoh Co. Ltd. | Printer with multimedia server |
US20050071746A1 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2005-03-31 | Hart Peter E. | Networked printer with hardware and software interfaces for peripheral devices |
JP2005108230A (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2005-04-21 | Ricoh Co Ltd | Printing system with embedded audio/video content recognition and processing function |
US7528976B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-05-05 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Stand alone printer with hardware/software interfaces for sharing multimedia processing |
US7511846B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-03-31 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Printer having embedded functionality for printing time-based media |
US7505163B2 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2009-03-17 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | User interface for networked printer |
US20050071763A1 (en) * | 2003-09-25 | 2005-03-31 | Hart Peter E. | Stand alone multimedia printer capable of sharing media processing tasks |
US7934881B2 (en) * | 2003-10-20 | 2011-05-03 | Zih Corp. | Replaceable ribbon supply and substrate cleaning apparatus |
US7145464B2 (en) * | 2003-11-19 | 2006-12-05 | Eastman Kodak Company | Data collection device |
US7109986B2 (en) * | 2003-11-19 | 2006-09-19 | Eastman Kodak Company | Illumination apparatus |
US7009494B2 (en) * | 2003-11-21 | 2006-03-07 | Eastman Kodak Company | Media holder having communication capabilities |
JP2005153261A (en) * | 2003-11-25 | 2005-06-16 | Fuji Xerox Co Ltd | Parallel processing printer |
US6973277B2 (en) * | 2003-11-25 | 2005-12-06 | Eastman Kodak Company | Printing apparatus and method with improved control of airflow |
US7031633B2 (en) * | 2003-11-25 | 2006-04-18 | Eastman Kodak Company | Printing apparatus and method with improved control of humidity and temperature |
JP4717342B2 (en) | 2003-12-02 | 2011-07-06 | キヤノン株式会社 | Inkjet recording apparatus and method |
US7524046B2 (en) | 2004-01-21 | 2009-04-28 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Printhead assembly for a web printing system |
US20050157103A1 (en) * | 2004-01-21 | 2005-07-21 | Kia Silverbrook | Ink fluid delivery system for a printer |
US8274666B2 (en) * | 2004-03-30 | 2012-09-25 | Ricoh Co., Ltd. | Projector/printer for displaying or printing of documents |
US20050225588A1 (en) * | 2004-04-12 | 2005-10-13 | King David G | Method and apparatus for nozzle map memory storage on a printhead |
US7206010B2 (en) * | 2004-04-16 | 2007-04-17 | Zih Corp. | Systems and methods for providing a media located on a spool and/or a cartridge where the media includes a wireless communication device attached thereto |
US7401052B2 (en) * | 2004-05-05 | 2008-07-15 | Eastman Kodak Company | Method for validating warranty compliance and ink compatibility assurance |
US7609407B2 (en) | 2004-06-14 | 2009-10-27 | Chinwala Mukhtar A | Thermal printing system and method |
KR100850724B1 (en) | 2004-06-14 | 2008-08-06 | 센신 캐피탈, 엘엘씨 | Thermal printing system and method |
US9296214B2 (en) | 2004-07-02 | 2016-03-29 | Zih Corp. | Thermal print head usage monitor and method for using the monitor |
JP4576907B2 (en) * | 2004-07-13 | 2010-11-10 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Liquid ejecting apparatus and liquid ejecting head |
US7410097B1 (en) * | 2004-07-29 | 2008-08-12 | Diebold Self-Service Systems Division Of Diebold, Incorporated | Cash dispensing automated banking machine deposit printing system and method |
US7104627B2 (en) * | 2004-08-11 | 2006-09-12 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Varying printing speed based upon the differentiation between porous and swellable media via ink/toner dry time profiles |
US8035482B2 (en) * | 2004-09-07 | 2011-10-11 | Eastman Kodak Company | System for updating a content bearing medium |
EP2769850A3 (en) | 2004-11-30 | 2016-04-13 | Panduit Corporation | Market-based labeling systems and method |
US20060146100A1 (en) * | 2005-01-04 | 2006-07-06 | Dull Daniel J | Ink jet supply component including a secure memory serial device |
US20060190324A1 (en) * | 2005-02-24 | 2006-08-24 | Lexmark International, Inc. | Method for providing reduced cost imaging to customers |
US7372475B2 (en) * | 2005-03-09 | 2008-05-13 | Datamax Corporation | System and method for thermal transfer print head profiling |
JP4726195B2 (en) * | 2005-04-14 | 2011-07-20 | キヤノン株式会社 | Liquid discharge recording head and liquid discharge recording apparatus including the same |
US20060250434A1 (en) * | 2005-05-05 | 2006-11-09 | Smith David E | Determining an energy delivered to a fluid |
JP2007012899A (en) * | 2005-06-30 | 2007-01-18 | Brother Ind Ltd | Wiring board and ink jet head |
EP1745932B1 (en) * | 2005-07-22 | 2008-03-19 | Eastman Kodak Company | Method for validating warranty compliance and ink compatibility assurance |
US8917159B2 (en) * | 2005-08-19 | 2014-12-23 | CLARKE William McALLISTER | Fully secure item-level tagging |
US8721203B2 (en) * | 2005-10-06 | 2014-05-13 | Zih Corp. | Memory system and method for consumables of a printer |
US7469986B2 (en) * | 2005-12-30 | 2008-12-30 | Nu-Kote International, Inc. | Marking material cartridge with processor having configurable logic |
US7515837B2 (en) | 2007-01-17 | 2009-04-07 | Static Control Components, Inc. | System and methods for universal imaging components |
US20080223238A1 (en) * | 2007-03-15 | 2008-09-18 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, Lp | Systems and Methods for Reducing Output Delays Associated With Ink Drying |
US9524460B2 (en) * | 2007-05-30 | 2016-12-20 | Zih Corp. | System for processing media units and an associated media roll |
US8870478B2 (en) * | 2007-05-30 | 2014-10-28 | Zih Corp. | Media processing system and associated spindle |
US8956490B1 (en) | 2007-06-25 | 2015-02-17 | Assa Abloy Ab | Identification card substrate surface protection using a laminated coating |
US10295946B2 (en) * | 2007-07-31 | 2019-05-21 | Stephen L. Testardi | Warranty entitlement of image-forming device consumable item |
US8057006B2 (en) | 2007-10-24 | 2011-11-15 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Fluid ejection device |
US9415611B2 (en) * | 2007-12-19 | 2016-08-16 | Zih Corp. | Platen incorporating an RFID coupling device |
DE102008009460A1 (en) * | 2008-02-15 | 2009-08-20 | Pelikan Hardcopy Production Ag | Ink cartridge with printed circuit board element |
US20090311024A1 (en) * | 2008-06-13 | 2009-12-17 | Bandholz Brent A | System and method for monitoring and determining the amount of ribbon on a supply spool used in a printer |
TW201029850A (en) * | 2008-11-30 | 2010-08-16 | Xjet Ltd | Method and system for applying materials on a substrate |
GB2473642A (en) * | 2009-09-21 | 2011-03-23 | Anthony Miles | System for identifying compatibility of printing media and consumables |
US8226198B2 (en) | 2010-07-15 | 2012-07-24 | Xerox Corporation | Quiet operating mode management system for a printing device |
CN103180130B (en) | 2010-10-19 | 2016-06-29 | 派拉斯科技术公司 | For decorator component recognition and the selected method and system adjusted thereof |
US8663533B2 (en) | 2010-12-22 | 2014-03-04 | Stratasys, Inc. | Method of using print head assembly in fused deposition modeling system |
WO2012088257A1 (en) | 2010-12-22 | 2012-06-28 | Stratasys, Inc. | Print head assembly and print head for use in fused deposition modeling system |
US9238329B2 (en) * | 2010-12-22 | 2016-01-19 | Stratasys, Inc. | Voice coil mechanism for use in additive manufacturing system |
US8465111B2 (en) | 2010-12-22 | 2013-06-18 | Stratasys, Inc. | Print head for use in fused deposition modeling system |
DE102011013683B4 (en) * | 2011-02-01 | 2013-06-13 | Atlantic Zeiser Gmbh | Method and device for printing on a substrate |
US10214019B2 (en) | 2012-04-30 | 2019-02-26 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Flexible substrate with integrated circuit |
HUE035938T2 (en) | 2012-04-30 | 2018-05-28 | Hewlett Packard Development Co | Flexible substrate with integrated circuit |
CN105818542B (en) * | 2012-04-30 | 2018-10-30 | 惠普发展公司,有限责任合伙企业 | Flexible base board with integrated circuit |
CN102855102A (en) * | 2012-07-03 | 2013-01-02 | 上海绿度信息科技有限公司 | Internet of Things printing device capable of automatically and optimally printing two-dimension codes according to the detection of radio frequency identification (RFID) information |
CN104903111B (en) * | 2012-11-02 | 2017-08-15 | 静态控制元件公司 | Network printer system |
CN105027549B (en) | 2013-01-28 | 2018-02-27 | 惠普发展公司,有限责任合伙企业 | Printer apparatus and method |
US8845069B2 (en) * | 2013-01-28 | 2014-09-30 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Control signaling using capacitive humidity sensor |
AT13779U1 (en) * | 2013-04-22 | 2014-08-15 | Karl Gotschlich Maschb Ges M B H | Device for dispensing printed information carriers and method for operating the same |
US9317009B2 (en) * | 2014-02-19 | 2016-04-19 | Xerox Corporation | Systems and methods for mounting an externally readable monitoring module on a rotating customer replaceable component in an operating device |
JP6624801B2 (en) * | 2014-05-30 | 2019-12-25 | キヤノン株式会社 | Liquid ejection cartridge and liquid ejection device |
US10421238B2 (en) | 2014-12-31 | 2019-09-24 | Makerbot Industries, Llc | Detection and use of printer configuration information |
CN105459647A (en) * | 2015-12-04 | 2016-04-06 | 北海创思电子科技产业有限公司 | Automatic induction printer and control method therefor |
JP6930158B2 (en) * | 2017-03-17 | 2021-09-01 | コニカミノルタ株式会社 | Image forming apparatus, print control program and print control method |
EP3526049B1 (en) | 2017-05-21 | 2023-06-28 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Integrated circuit device for a replaceable printer component |
CN108490037A (en) * | 2018-02-09 | 2018-09-04 | 梧州井儿铺贸易有限公司 | A kind of printer that can show humidity |
CN110871625B (en) * | 2018-08-30 | 2021-03-16 | 森大(深圳)技术有限公司 | Method, device and system for adjusting driving waveform of spray head |
WO2020145968A1 (en) * | 2019-01-09 | 2020-07-16 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Determining a parameter for curing images |
CN113352768B (en) * | 2020-03-05 | 2022-07-12 | 珠海艾派克微电子有限公司 | Consumable and printing equipment |
US11089174B1 (en) * | 2020-03-12 | 2021-08-10 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Intelligent control of media unit output of a printer |
US10931842B1 (en) * | 2020-03-12 | 2021-02-23 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Intelligent control of feeding media units in a printer |
Family Cites Families (45)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4268861A (en) | 1978-09-18 | 1981-05-19 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology | Image coding |
US4500919A (en) | 1982-05-04 | 1985-02-19 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology | Color reproduction system |
US4509057A (en) | 1983-03-28 | 1985-04-02 | Xerox Corporation | Automatic calibration of drop-on-demand ink jet ejector |
JPH0725167B2 (en) | 1986-01-07 | 1995-03-22 | キヤノン株式会社 | Recording device |
EP0276112B1 (en) | 1987-01-19 | 1993-03-31 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | An image forming apparatus |
EP0660092B1 (en) | 1987-04-15 | 2003-07-30 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | A remain detector and a liquid injection recording apparatus having the detector |
US5365312A (en) | 1988-07-25 | 1994-11-15 | Mannesmann Ag | Arrangement for printer equipment for monitoring reservoirs that contain printing medium |
US4990004A (en) | 1988-10-12 | 1991-02-05 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Printer having head gap adjusting device |
US5345315A (en) | 1988-11-23 | 1994-09-06 | Imatec, Ltd. | Method and system for improved tone and color reproduction of electronic image on hard copy using a closed loop control |
US5049898A (en) | 1989-03-20 | 1991-09-17 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Printhead having memory element |
EP0402143B1 (en) | 1989-06-07 | 1994-08-31 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Image forming apparatus |
DE69033377T2 (en) | 1989-08-05 | 2000-06-29 | Canon Kk | Ink jet recording apparatus and ink cartridge therefor |
GB2239841B (en) | 1989-12-29 | 1994-08-17 | Canon Kk | Ink jet recording apparatus |
CA2035658A1 (en) | 1990-02-05 | 1991-08-06 | Zeev Smilansky | Apparatus and method for color calibration |
US5056042A (en) * | 1990-04-02 | 1991-10-08 | Calcomp Inc. | Media conductivity-based pulse controller for electrostatic printer |
DE4015799A1 (en) | 1990-05-14 | 1991-11-21 | Siemens Ag | Bi-directional serial ink-jet printer setting-up method - using test patterns with part of one lying symmetrically in space in other printed in opposite direction |
US5212546A (en) | 1990-07-03 | 1993-05-18 | Electronics For Imaging, Inc. | Color correction system employing reference pictures |
US5160938A (en) | 1990-08-06 | 1992-11-03 | Iris Graphics, Inc. | Method and means for calibrating an ink jet printer |
US5513017A (en) | 1990-09-28 | 1996-04-30 | Xerox Corporation | Automatic document imaging mode selection system |
US5185673A (en) | 1991-06-12 | 1993-02-09 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Automated image calibration |
US5227809A (en) | 1991-06-17 | 1993-07-13 | Tektronix, Inc. | Automatic print head spacing mechanism for ink jet printer |
IL98622A (en) | 1991-06-25 | 1996-10-31 | Scitex Corp Ltd | Method and apparatus for employing neural networks in color image processing |
US5289208A (en) | 1991-10-31 | 1994-02-22 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Automatic print cartridge alignment sensor system |
US5363134A (en) * | 1992-05-20 | 1994-11-08 | Hewlett-Packard Corporation | Integrated circuit printhead for an ink jet printer including an integrated identification circuit |
IT1256844B (en) | 1992-06-08 | 1995-12-21 | Olivetti & Co Spa | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE END-INK IN AN INK-JET PRINT HEAD. |
FI94562C (en) * | 1992-11-09 | 1995-09-25 | Tapio Robertsson | Roller identification device and method for its manufacture |
JPH06171120A (en) | 1992-12-11 | 1994-06-21 | Oki Electric Ind Co Ltd | Control device for impact printer |
US5518324A (en) | 1993-01-29 | 1996-05-21 | International Business Machines Corporation | Platen to print head gap adjustment arrangement |
ES2119928T3 (en) | 1993-04-30 | 1998-10-16 | Hewlett Packard Co | ALIGNMENT SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE INK JET PRINTER CARTRIDGES. |
US5796417A (en) | 1993-10-29 | 1998-08-18 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Compliant interconnect assembly for mounting removable print cartridges in a carriage |
US5471163A (en) * | 1993-11-16 | 1995-11-28 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Tab circuit fusible links for disconnection or encoding information |
US5519419A (en) | 1994-02-18 | 1996-05-21 | Xerox Corporation | Calibration system for a thermal ink-jet printer |
EP0668165B1 (en) | 1994-02-23 | 2000-12-27 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Method for optimizing printer operation |
US5488396A (en) | 1994-03-07 | 1996-01-30 | Tektronix, Inc. | Printer print head positioning apparatus and method |
JPH07264411A (en) | 1994-03-25 | 1995-10-13 | Canon Inc | Image forming device |
US5516219A (en) * | 1994-08-01 | 1996-05-14 | Lasermaster Corporation | High resolution combination donor/direct thermal printer |
US5610635A (en) * | 1994-08-09 | 1997-03-11 | Encad, Inc. | Printer ink cartridge with memory storage capacity |
US5646660A (en) | 1994-08-09 | 1997-07-08 | Encad, Inc. | Printer ink cartridge with drive logic integrated circuit |
AU3241795A (en) | 1994-08-09 | 1996-03-07 | Encad, Inc. | Printer ink cartridge |
US5592202A (en) | 1994-11-10 | 1997-01-07 | Laser Master Corporation | Ink jet print head rail assembly |
WO1996014989A2 (en) * | 1994-11-10 | 1996-05-23 | Lasermaster Corporation | Large format ink jet printer and ink supply system |
US5585825A (en) | 1994-11-25 | 1996-12-17 | Xerox Corporation | Ink jet printer having temperature sensor for replaceable printheads |
US5491540A (en) | 1994-12-22 | 1996-02-13 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Replacement part with integral memory for usage and calibration data |
US5812156A (en) | 1997-01-21 | 1998-09-22 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Apparatus controlled by data from consumable parts with incorporated memory devices |
US6137508A (en) * | 1999-02-04 | 2000-10-24 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Printhead de-multiplexing and interconnect on carriage mounted flex circuit |
-
1998
- 1998-02-25 US US09/030,631 patent/US6227643B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1998-04-09 CN CN98805294A patent/CN1257446A/en active Pending
- 1998-04-09 JP JP55035598A patent/JP2002514142A/en not_active Ceased
- 1998-04-09 WO PCT/US1998/007324 patent/WO1998052762A2/en active IP Right Grant
- 1998-04-09 EP EP98915507A patent/EP0986479B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1998-04-09 CA CA002288730A patent/CA2288730A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1998-04-09 AU AU69675/98A patent/AU744395B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1998-04-09 DE DE69819496T patent/DE69819496T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
2001
- 2001-02-23 US US09/792,229 patent/US6375298B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JP2002514142A (en) | 2002-05-14 |
AU744395B2 (en) | 2002-02-21 |
WO1998052762A3 (en) | 1999-03-11 |
US6227643B1 (en) | 2001-05-08 |
CN1257446A (en) | 2000-06-21 |
WO1998052762A2 (en) | 1998-11-26 |
US6375298B2 (en) | 2002-04-23 |
AU6967598A (en) | 1998-12-11 |
DE69819496D1 (en) | 2003-12-11 |
EP0986479B1 (en) | 2003-11-05 |
DE69819496T2 (en) | 2004-09-09 |
US20010007458A1 (en) | 2001-07-12 |
EP0986479A2 (en) | 2000-03-22 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
AU744395B2 (en) | Intelligent printer components and printing system | |
US6533383B1 (en) | Ink jet type printing apparatus ink cartridge therefor and method of controlling the printing apparatus | |
EP1060895B1 (en) | A printer and method adapted to sense data of a consumable loaded into the printer | |
JP3755755B2 (en) | An ink cartridge, an ink jet recording apparatus using the ink cartridge, and a method for determining whether an ink cartridge can be attached to the apparatus. | |
US6065824A (en) | Method and apparatus for storing information on a replaceable ink container | |
JP4572800B2 (en) | Inkjet recording device | |
EP1466741B1 (en) | Ink cartridge for ink-jet printing apparatus | |
US5806992A (en) | Sheet thickness sensing technique and recording head automatic adjusting technique of ink jet recording apparatus using same | |
US7841681B2 (en) | Signaling module, liquid container, recording apparatus, and control method | |
EP1060102B1 (en) | With a memory device equipped label-spool for a hand held labeller | |
EP1594702B1 (en) | Printer consumable having data storage for static and dynamic calibration data | |
EP1964683B1 (en) | Ink-jet recording apparatus | |
JP2002535182A (en) | Print medium for use in printing apparatus, detection system and method | |
WO2002053389A1 (en) | Printing device | |
US20030112286A1 (en) | Ink jet recording apparatus | |
EP1066975B1 (en) | Printer with variable platen pressure | |
US6000782A (en) | Ink-jet printer having multiple printer heads and related printing method | |
US6113213A (en) | Recording apparatus including identifiable recording head and recording head having identifiable function | |
JPH1191141A (en) | Ink jet recorder | |
JP2005119228A (en) | Recording device and cartridge identification system | |
JP2007001065A (en) | Ink cartridge and recorder | |
JPH1034965A (en) | Ink cartridge and detector for residual quantity of ink |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
FZDE | Discontinued |