Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Controller
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-15
2001-10-09
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Controller
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299274
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally directed to ink jet printers, and is more particularly directed to an apparatus for encoding and translating encoded cartridge identification information for use by a printer controller.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Thermal ink jet printers apply ink to a print medium by ejecting small droplets of ink from an array of nozzles located in the printhead of a print cartridge. An array of thin-film resistors on an integrated circuit on the printhead selectively generates heat as current is passed through the resistors. The heat causes ink contained within an ink reservoir adjacent to the resistors to boil and be ejected from the array of nozzles associated with the resistor array. A printer controller determines which resistors will be “fired” and the proper firing sequence so that the desired pattern of dots is printed on the medium to form an image.
Conventional ink jet printers accommodate replaceable print cartridges containing either multiple colors of ink or a single color of ink. When the print cartridge is changed, information identifying the type of cartridge installed must be given to the printer so that the printer will function properly with the cartridge. User intervention is conventionally used to identify to the printer controller the type of cartridge installed.
In order to reduce the cost and complexity of print cartridge manufacturing processes, it is desirable for all cartridges used with a printer to be constructed with a similar configuration regardless of the type of cartridge or color of ink the cartridge contains. Thus it is desirable to maintain substantial overall uniformity of the cartridge shapes and sizes so that a single cartridge design can be used for multiple purposes. However, maintaining a uniform cartridge design makes it more difficult to easily identify the contents of the cartridge or the particular cartridge being used.
An object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive apparatus for encoding information on a replaceable print cartridge.
Another object of the invention is to provide cartridge-specific information, such as ink color and type of cartridge, directly on the cartridge in a manner that is detectable by the printer controller so that the controller may be automatically adjusted without the need for user intervention.
A further object of the invention is to provide a cartridge encoding system which can be configured for a wide variety of cartridge types.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With regard to the above and other objects, the invention provides an apparatus for supplying electrical information to a printer controller of a printer based on the identity of a replaceable accessory cartridge installed in the printer. The apparatus comprises a carriage which is laterally translatable relative to the movement of print media through the printer, a carriage translation means, a replaceable accessory cartridge removably attached to the carriage, the accessory cartridge selected from the group consisting of ink cartridges and scanner cartridges, at least one indicia device on the cartridge, the indicia device containing encoded information which identifies to the controller the accessory cartridge installed in the printer, the indicia device comprising optically-reflective images and optically-nonreflective images for reflecting or adsorbing of a first light signal, the reflected portions of the first light signal constituting a second light signal and a light signal reading device for reading the information encoded on the indicia device as the cartridge moves in a lateral direction relative to the reading device, the reading device producing an electrical output signal to the printer controller in response to reflected and/or absorbed light signals wherein the reading device comprises a light-emitting diode for emitting the first light signal toward the indicia device to illuminate the indicia device, at least one lens for focusing the first light signal onto the indicia device as the indicia device translates laterally in relation to the light signal reading device and a detector for receiving the second light signal reflected from the indicia device, and for producing the electrical output signal to the printer controller.
In another aspect, the invention provides a printer which includes an apparatus for controlling printer operation based on the identity of replaceable ink cartridges in a carriage for the ink. The apparatus comprises a carriage which is laterally translatable relative to the movement of print media through the printer and which contains two, three or four cartridge locations, a carriage translation means, two, three or four replaceable ink cartridges containing ink reservoirs and printheads removably attached to the carriage, at least one indicia device on the cartridge, the indicia device containing encoded information which identifies to the controller which ink reservoir is installed in which cartridge location of the carriage, the indicia device comprising optically-reflective images and optically-nonreflective images for reflecting or adsorbing of a first light signal, the reflected portions of the first light signal constituting a second light signal and a light signal reading device for reading the information encoded on the indicia device as the cartridges move in a lateral direction relative to the reading device, the reading device producing an electrical output signal to the printer controller in response to reflected and/or absorbed light signals wherein the reading device comprises a light-emitting diode for emitting the first light signal toward the indicia device to illuminate the indicia device, at least one lens for focusing the first light signal onto the indicia device as the indicia device translates laterally in relation to the light signal reading device and a detector for receiving the second light signal reflected from the indicia device, and for producing the electrical output signal to the printer controller.
The invention thus uses the linear motion of the carriage in combination with an optically readable indicia device on the cartridge to identify the type of cartridge, or to otherwise control various printer functions depending on the specifically encoded information and the location of the cartridge in the carriage. As the carriage containing the cartridge moves relative to substantially fixed code reader, information is extracted from the indicia device and translated into an electrical signal. For example, an ink jet print cartridge moves laterally relative to the movement of the print medium as the printhead ejects ink onto the medium to form printed characters. As the cartridge moves across the print medium, there is movement of the encoded indicia relative to the position of the code reader which remains relatively stationary during the printing operation.
For the purpose of simplifying the description, the invention is described in terms of a print cartridge which is attached to a carriage of a printer. However, the indicia device may be attached to a movable cartridge used to scan printed pages in order to translate a scanned image into a digital image, or to “read” or translate magnetic data or indicia on a medium into a digital input for a computer. Other types of cartridges or combinations of cartridges may be used with the carriage, indicia device, and code reader according to the invention.
An advantage of the indicia device and code reader according to the invention is that cartridge identification information may be easily applied to the cartridge at any point in the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the indicia device applied to the cartridge may be encoded for a wide variety of cartridge types, may be used to control various printer functions, and does not require physical connection between the encoded indicia and the code reader.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4411540 (1983-10-01), Nozaki et al.
patent: 4428694 (1984-01-01), Ragen
patent: 4741634 (1988-05-01), Nozaki et al.
patent: 4846593 (1989-0
Bolash John Philip
Edwards Mark Joseph
James, III Edmund Hulin
Parish George Keith
Barlow John
LaRose, Esq. David E.
Lexmark International Inc.
Pezdek John V.
Stephens Juanita
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