Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Ejector mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-04
2001-09-25
Nguyen, Thinh (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Ejector mechanism
C347S019000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293645
ABSTRACT:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from my application entitled Device of Detecting Stopped Nozzles and Method Therefor filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Nov. 4, 1997 and there duly assigned Serial No. 97-57858 by that Office.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and a method for detecting a clogged nozzle in an ink cartridge and, more specifically, to a device and method for detecting a clogged nozzle and automatically unclogging the nozzles to allow the proper printing operation of the electrophotographic apparatus.
2. Background Art
Sometimes, one of a couple nozzles that are used in an ink cartridge is clogged and ceases to allow ink to be expelled from the cartridge. This can happen when foreign matter gets inside of a nozzle or when a nozzle is not used for a while.
Generally, one only detects that a nozzle is clogged when one visually detects voids in the printing that is performed on a cut sheet of paper. These spots that are formed by the failure of ink to appear on the paper indicates that at least one nozzle may be clogged. To clean the one nozzle that is clogged an electric signal must be sent to each nozzle causing the nozzles to eject ink. This can be inconvenient because it requires a user to check each printing visually to insure that every nozzle is working properly. This can slow down a user's efficiency at document production and lower consumer satisfaction with the purchased printer. Accordingly in a conventional case, there has been a problem that the existence of dot-open of printed papers must be checked one by one in order to detect clogged nozzles.
I believe that it may be possible to improve on the contemporary art by providing a method and a device for automatically detecting the clogging of a nozzle and then automatically sending the necessary signal to clear the nozzle and allow unimpeded printing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a device for detecting clogged nozzles in an ink-cartridge.
It is another object to provide a method and a device for detecting clogged nozzles in an ink-cartridge that can automatically send a signal to clear an individual nozzle when a clogged nozzle is detected.
It is another object to provide a method and a device for detecting clogged nozzles in an ink-cartridge that can automatically clear all the nozzles in an ink cartridge when a clogged nozzle is detected.
It is still another object to provide a method and a device for detecting clogged nozzles in an ink-cartridge that increases a user's efficiency of document production by simplifying the clearing of clogged nozzles.
To achieve these and other objects, a device and a method are provided for automatically detecting and clearing clogged nozzles. To detect clogged nozzles a device as constructed according to the principles of the present invention may be constructed using a print head controller that causes the print head to print on a sheet of cut paper by sending a number of electric signals that cause the print head to expel ink through a nozzle. The print head controller sends an electric-signal to cause a print head to print when a mode-signal is received that causes the controller to start the clogged nozzle detection process. A scanner, that may also be attached to the carriage that carries the ink cartridge, scans the area on the paper where the print head was supposed to have ejected ink. Then, an image processor converts the read data and converts it into binary data. The binary data is then analyzed by a detection processor that determines if there is any indication of missing ink drops. If missing ink drops are detected, a nozzle cleaning processor sends signals to the print head to cause the clogged nozzles to expel ink or to cause all of the nozzles to expel ink.
A method for determining whether a nozzle is clogged, starts with determining whether a clogged-nozzle-detection-mode is on. If the clogged-nozzle-detection-mode is off then the method is aborted. Otherwise, a printing operation is performed on a cut sheet of paper. Then, during the next step, the area of the paper that should have been printed upon is scanned. After, the read data is converted to image data. Then, during the next step, the binary data is analyzed to determine whether voids or imperfections existed in the printing. If the improper absence of ink is not detected then the method ends. If the binary analysis determines that there are areas devoid of ink, then an alert is sent to a user of the computer system. During the next step, signals are sent to the print head to cause the nozzles to clear any clogs that may exist.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4907013 (1990-03-01), Hubbard et al.
patent: 5387976 (1995-02-01), Lesniak
patent: 5798773 (1998-08-01), Hiramatsu et al.
patent: 559370 (1993-09-01), None
Bushnell , Esq. Robert E.
Nguyen Thinh
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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