EP0813120A1 - Printer and its reservoir for consumables for bureau machines - Google Patents

Abstract

The evaluation involves a printing unit (4) supplied with toner from a reservoir (5). A new reservoir is associated with a card and memory chip (7,9) which initially carries the new amount of toner available for printing. The card (7) is detached from the reservoir (5) and connected to the printer central processing unit (2) via an interface (8). After each printing a calculator (10) in association with the central processing unit (2) estimates the actual amount of toner used and debits the memory chip (9)

Description

The invention relates to an office machine printer of the facsimile, photocopier, computer type, for example, the printing of which can be carried out by thermal transfer, by ink jet or by laser, with a consumable of the ink ribbon type, ink or toner.

The printing consumable is contained in a reservoir (roller, cartridge), intended to be introduced into a receiving housing provided in the printer.

Generally, when the consumable tank housed in the printer is almost empty, a control lamp, provided on a printer-user interface, lights up to inform the user that it is necessary to replace the tank.

Such a control device therefore does not make it possible to foresee a subsequent need for consumables, and the user can be caught off guard and run out of consumables in reserve.

US Pat. No. 5,283,613 discloses a printer assembly and its consumable reservoir for an office machine, comprising a central control unit and means for controlling the content of the consumable reservoir associated with memory means containing a balance of consumable account. Said control means comprise a central unit / memory means interface associated with means for managing said memory means integrating means for determining the content of the consumable reservoir.

The consumable account balance, corresponding to the printing capacity of the tank, is represented by a number of images remaining to be printed and reduced by the number of images printed during the successive printing of images.

Such an assessment of consumable consumption as a function of the number of images printed is very approximate and leads to an unreliable calculation of the account balance of the consumable.

The invention aims to overcome this drawback.

To this end, the invention relates to an assembly of the type defined above, characterized in that the management means comprise means, in cooperation with the central unit, for calculating flow rate to evaluate the consumption of consumable as a function of '' an estimated print quantity, and calculation of the remaining consumable account balance.

Thanks to the invention, the user can be informed at any time and with reliability of the value of the content of the consumable reservoir, the consumable account being debited in proportion to the consumption of consumable precisely evaluated during printing.

Advantageously also, the memory means contain means for authenticating said consumable.

In a preferred embodiment of the assembly of the invention, the memory means comprise an electronic chip and the central unit / chip interface comprises connectors for connecting the chip to the central unit.

Thus, the consumable account available to the user is materialized on a medium.

More preferably, said chip is carried by a card which is detachably attached to the consumable reservoir and to be introduced into means for receiving the printer.

In this case, said receiving means may comprise a sliding card support plate relative to a connector support gantry fixed and integral with the printer, or even a smart card reception slot, carrying said connectors on the one of its internal faces, the chip being intended to be connected by sliding.

In a variant of the invention, the chip is permanently fixed to the consumable reservoir, and the connectors are mounted on the internal face of a cover of a housing for receiving said consumable reservoir.

The chip can also act as a printer locking / unlocking key authorizing or not its operation.

Finally, the memory means and the central unit-chip interface can respectively comprise an electronic chip and a device intended to connect the chip to the central unit by a contactless link.

• la figure 1 représente un schéma bloc fonctionnel de la première forme de réalisation de l'ensemble;
• la figure 2 représente des moyens de réception d'une carte à puce de l'ensemble de la figure 1;
• la figure 3 représente une vue de dessous d'une partie de la figure 2; et
• la figure 4 représente des moyens de réception d'une carte à puce de la troisième forme de réalisation.

The invention will be better understood using the following description of three embodiments of the printer assembly and its consumable reservoir for an office machine, with reference to the appended drawing in which:

• FIG. 1 represents a functional block diagram of the first embodiment of the assembly;
• FIG. 2 represents means for receiving a smart card from the assembly of FIG. 1;
• Figure 3 shows a bottom view of part of Figure 2; and
• FIG. 4 represents means for receiving a smart card of the third embodiment.

The laser printer 1, for an office machine, here a photocopier, incorporates a central control unit 2, in this case a microprocessor, connected to a printing unit 3 comprising a printing member 4 on a paper printing medium for example, and a consumable reservoir 5, in this case, a toner reservoir for laser printing intended to supply toner to the printing member 4.

The reservoir 5 is associated with memory means comprising an electronic chip 9 with memory carried here by a card 7, of type and format telephone card, but which could be of another form. The consumable card 7 is detachably attached to the reservoir 5 as commercially available, and is to be inserted into the printer 1. The chip 9 contains in memory a consumable account balance, in other words a number of consumable units contained in the reservoir 5, a unit corresponding to a number of ink dots to be printed, as well as consumable authentication data in particular to refuse the card of an inadequate consumable.

• une interface 8 de lecture et d'écriture reliée d'un côté au micro-processeur 2, et pouvant être connectée, d'un autre côté, à la puce 9 par des connecteurs 23,
• un calculateur 10 de calcul de débit et de solde restant, et
• un écran d'affichage 11 d'une interface imprimante/utilisateur, relié au calculateur 10,

In the printer 1, the central unit 2 is also connected to a device 6 for controlling the consumable tank 5. This control device 6 comprises:

• a read and write interface 8 connected on one side to the microprocessor 2, and which can be connected, on the other hand, to the chip 9 by connectors 23,
• a calculator 10 for calculating debit and remaining balance, and
• a display screen 11 of a printer / user interface, connected to the computer 10,

the interface 8 and the computer 10 being both in connection with the central unit 2.

The interface 8 microprocessor / chip 2/9 comprises a device 20 for receiving the chip card 7 comprising a card support plate 21 which can slide between an open position outside the printer and a closed position in the printer, relative to a gantry 22 supporting connectors 23, fixed and secured to the printer. In the closed position, the face of the plate 21 intended to carry the consumable card 7 is opposite the face of the gantry 22 carrying the connectors 23.

After detaching the smart card 7 from a new full tank 5, the user can insert the tank 5 into a receiving housing provided in the printer 1, and place the consumable card 7 on the open support plate 21 before closing it by sliding it into the printer. During sliding, the chip 9 is positioned on the connectors 23 of the gantry 22, the chip / microprocessor link 9/2 is thus established.

During each printing of paper, the reservoir 5 supplies the printing member with consumable 4. The computer 10 evaluates the consumption of consumable due to printing by determining a number of units of consumable to be debited according to a approximate number of ink dots printed.

Furthermore, the microprocessor 2 reads in the chip 9, using the interface 8, the value of the previous balance of the consumable account, then transmits it to the computer 10.

Depending on the number of consumable units to be debited D and the value of the previous balance S, and the number So of consumable units corresponding to the content of the full tank, the calculator 10 calculates, for example, the filling rate T of the consumable tank equal to: $$\text{T =}\frac{\text{SD}}{\text{So}}$$

The filling rate thus evaluated corresponds to the quantity of consumable remaining to be consumed in the tank 5.

In the second embodiment, the chip card 7 is to be inserted into a reception slot designed in the printer, the connectors 23 being mounted on one of the internal faces of the slot so that the chip 9 is also connects by sliding, when it is inserted into the slot.

In the third embodiment, the chip 30 is permanently fixed to the consumable tank 31, using a fixing support, and connectors 32 for connecting the chip to the microprocessor are mounted on the internal face 33 a cover 35 for housing 34 for receiving the tank 31. One could also envisage a chip fixed directly on the tank, without intermediate fixing support.

The format of the smart card presented in the description above is that of the telephone card type, but it could as well be that of the SIM card type, or other.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the introduction of the consumable chip card into the printer authorizes the operation of the printer, the card playing the role of locking and unlocking key.

In the above description, the connection between the chip and the printer is made by contact using connectors intended for come into contact with the chip, one could also consider such a connection being made without contact, by electromagnetic link, using a contactless connection device.

The printer which has just been described is a laser printer.

The invention could also be applied to any other printing technique, in particular inkjet. In this case, calculating the number of consumable units consumed amounts to evaluating the number of ink droplets consumed and the number of ink droplets remaining to be consumed.

Finally, in the case of a printer intended to print in color using several colored consumables, the printer could integrate a computer arranged to evaluate the respective consumptions of the various consumables, and the respective remaining quantities of consumables.

Claims (9)

Printer assembly (1) and its consumable reservoir (5; 31) for an office machine, comprising a central control unit (2) and means (6) for controlling the content of the consumable reservoir (5; 31), said unit reservoir (5; 31) being associated with memory means (9) containing a consumable account balance, and said control means (6) comprising an interface (8) central unit / memory means (2-9) associated with management means (10, 2) of said memory means integrating means (10) for determining the content of the consumable reservoir, characterized in that the management means (10, 2) comprise means (10), in cooperation with the central unit, calculating the flow rate for evaluating the consumable consumption as a function of an estimated printing quantity, and calculating the remaining consumable account balance. Assembly according to claim 1, in which the memory means (9) contain means for authenticating said consumable. Assembly according to either of Claims 1 and 2, in which the memory means (9) comprise an electronic chip (9) and the central unit / chip interface (8) comprises connectors (23) for connecting the chip (9 ) to the central unit (2). Assembly according to claim 3, in which said chip (9) is carried by a card (7) which is detachably fixed to the consumable reservoir (5) and to be introduced into means for receiving (21, 22) of the printer (1). An assembly according to claim 4, in which said receiving means (21, 22) comprise a sliding support card tray (21) and a gantry (22) fixed connector support (23) and integral with the printer (1), the card (7) being intended to be connected by sliding. The assembly of claim 4, wherein said receiving means comprises a smart card receiving slot, carrying said connectors on one of its internal faces, the chip being intended to be connected by sliding when it is inserted into said slot . An assembly according to claim 3, wherein said chip (30) is permanently fixed on the consumable tank (31), and the connectors (32) are mounted on the internal face (33) of a cover (35) of a housing (34) for receiving said consumable reservoir (31). Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 7, in which the memory means (9) are arranged to authorize the operation of the printer (1). Assembly according to either of Claims 1 and 2, in which the memory means comprise an electronic chip, and the central unit-chip interface comprises means of connection, without contact, from the chip to the central unit.

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