Patent Application
20090128609
The present invention relates to a liquid container and a liquid supplying system, more particularly, to a liquid container which is capable of notifying a state of the liquid container using light emitting means such as a LED, the state including an ink remaining amount of an ink container for ink jet recording.
With recent wider use of digital camera, the demand is increasing for printing with the digital camera being directly connected with a printer (recording device), that is, non-PC printing. Another increasing demand is for printing by setting a card type information memory medium detachably mountable to a digital camera directly in a printer to transfer the data, and printing them (another non-PC recording). Generally, the ink remaining amount in the ink container of the printer is checked on a display through a personal computer. In the case of the non-PC printing, this is not possible. However, capability of checking the ink remaining amount in the ink container is desired even in the non-PC printing. This is because if the user can be aware of the fact that ink remaining amount in the ink container is small, the user can exchange the ink container with a fresh one prior to stating printing operation, so that printing failure during the course of printing on a sheet can be avoided.
Use of a display element such as a LED is known to notify the user of such a state of the ink container. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Hei 4-275156 discloses that ink container which is integral with a recording head is provided with two LED elements, which are switched on depending on the ink remaining amount in two steps. Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2000-301829 also discloses that ink container is provided with a lamp which is switched on depending on the ink remaining amount. The same also discloses that four ink containers used with one recording device are provided with said lamps, respectively.
In addition, in order to meet a demand for high image quality, light magenta ink, light cyan ink and so on become used in addition to the conventional four color (black, yellow, magenta and cyan) inks. Furthermore, use of special color inks such as red ink or blue ink are proposed. In such a case, seven-eight color ink containers are used individually in an ink jet printer. Then, a mechanism for preventing the ink containers from being mounted at erroneous positions is desired. U.S. Pat. No. 6302535 discloses that engaging configurations of the carriage, the ink containers are made different from each other, so that erroneous mounting (incorrect position) is prevented, when the ink containers are mounted on the carriage.
Even when the ink container is provided with a lamp, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2002-301829, the main assembly side controller has to identify the ink container which is recognized as containing less ink. To do this, it is necessary to identify the ink container to which the signal for turning the right lamp on. If, for example, the ink container is mounted on a wrong position, there is a liability that small ink remaining amount is displayed for another ink container which contains a sufficient amount of the ink. Therefore, the emission control for the displaying device such as a lamp has to have correct information of the carried positions of the ink containers.
As to a structure for detecting the carried position of an ink container, there is a structure in which the mutual configuration relations between the carrying portions and the associated ink containers are made different depending on the carrying positions. However, in such a case, it is required to manufacturing ink containers which are different depending on the color and/or kind of the ink, with the result of disadvantages in terms of manufacturing efficiency and/or cost.
As another structure for accomplishing this, a signal line of a circuit which will be closed by connection between the electrical contact of the ink container and the main assembly side electrical contact at the carrying position of a carriage or the like, is provided substantially independently for each of the carrying positions. For example, the signal line for reading ink color information of an ink container out of the ink container, for controlling the actuation of a LED is provided for each of the carrying positions, by which if the read color information does not meet the carrying position, the erroneous mounting of the ink container is discriminated.
However, this structure result in increased number of signal lines. As mentioned hereinbefore, recent ink jet printers or the like use a greater number of kinds of inks to improve the image quality. The increase of the number of the signal lines increases the cost particularly in such printers. On the other hand, in order to reduce the number of wiring leads, it would be effective to employ a so-called common signal line using a bus connection, but simple use of such a common signal line as bus connection cannot determines the ink containers or the carrying positions of the ink containers.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a liquid container with which emission control is effected for displaying devices such as LEDs using a common signal line for a plurality of ink container carrying positions, and the carrying positions for the respective liquid containers (ink container) can be determined to effect the emission control of the displaying device for the respective liquid containers, despite the use of the common signal line.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention a liquid container detachably mountable to a recording apparatus to which a plurality of liquid containers are detachably mountable, wherein said recording apparatus includes apparatus electrical contacts corresponding to the liquid containers, respectively, photoreceptor means for receiving light, and an electric circuit connected with a line which is commonly connected with said apparatus electrical contacts, said liquid container comprising a container electrical contact electrically connectable with one of said apparatus contacts; an information storing portion capable of storing at least individual information of said liquid container; a light emitting portion; a controller for controlling emission of light of said light emitting portion in response to a correspondence between a signal indicative of individual information supplied through said container electrical contact and said information stored in said information storing means.
With this structure, the light emission of the light emitting portion is controlled on the basis of a signal inputted through a contact (pad) of an ink container (liquid container) connected with a contact (connector) provided in the main assembly side of the recording device and the information belonging to the ink container, so that even if the ink containers receive the same control signal through the common signal line, only the ink container having the matched individual information can be subjected to the light emission control. In this manner, the light emission control such as lightening of the light emitting portion can be effected for the matched ink container. As an additional feature, the light emission controller can sequentially actuate the light emitting portions of the ink containers carried on the carriage when the carriage is being moved, by providing means for detecting the light emission, and erroneous mounting of an ink container can be discriminated when the light is not detected at a position. By doing so, the user may be prompted to remount the ink container to a right position, and as a result respective carried positions of the ink containers can be detected.
Therefore, the use is made with a common signal line for a plurality of ink container carrying positions to control the light emission of displaying devices such as LEDs, even in such a case, the start effect controls of the displaying devices can be effected with the carrying positions of the liquid containers such as ink containers being specified.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The description will be made as to the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the following order:
1. Mechanical Structure:
2. Control System:
3. Other Embodiments:
1.1 Ink Container (
In
The bottom surface of the ink container 1 is provided with an ink supply port 7 for ink supply, which port is connectable with an ink introduction opening of the recording head which will be described hereinafter, by mounting of the ink container 1 to the container holder. A base member is provided on the bottom side of the supporting portion of the supporting member 3 at a position where the bottom side and the front side intersect with each other. The base member may be in the form of a chip or a plate. In the following description, it is called “substrate” 100.
The internal structure of the ink container 1 is not limited to such a partitioned structure in which the inside is partitioned into the porous member accommodating chamber and the reservoir containing the ink alone. In another example, the porous member may occupy substantially all of the inside space of the ink container. The negative pressure generating means is not limited to the one using the porous member. In another example, the ink alone is contained in a bladder-like member made of elastic material such as rubber or the like which produces tension in the direction of expanding the volume thereof. In such a case, the negative pressure is generated by the tension in the bladder-like member to retain the ink. In a further example, at least a part of the ink accommodation space is constructed by a flexible member, and the ink alone is accommodated in the space, wherein a spring force is applied to the flexible member, by which a negative pressure is generated.
The bottom portion of the ink reservoir chamber 11 is provided with a portion to be detected 17 at a position for facing a sensor (which is provided in the apparatus, as will be described hereinafter) for detecting an ink remaining amount when the ink container 1 is mounted in the apparatus. In this embodiment, the ink remaining amount detection sensor is in the form of a photo-sensor comprising a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion. The portion to be detected 17 is made of a transparent or semi-transparent material, and when the ink is not contained, the light from the light emitting portion is appropriately reflected toward the light receiving portion (which will be described hereinafter) by providing an inclined surface portion having a configuration, angle or the like for this purpose.
Referring to
The ink container 1 is securedly mounted in or to the holder 150 which is integral with the recording head unit 105 having the recording head 105, by engagements of the first engaging portion 5 and the second engaging portion 6 of the ink container 1 with a first locking portion 155 and a second locking portion 156 of the holder 150, respectively. At this time, a contact (connector) 152 provided in the holder 150, and a contact in the form of an electrode pad 102 ((b) of
A surface of the substrate 100 fading inwardly of the ink container 1 is provided with a first light emitting portion 101 such as a LED for emitting visible light and a control element 103 for controlling the light emitting portion, and the control element 103 controls the light emission of the first light emitting portion 101 in accordance with the electric signal supplied through the connector 152 and the pad 102. In
Here, as described hereinbefore, the substrate 100 is disposed at a lower portion of the supporting portion of the supporting member 3 adjacent the portion where the sides of the ink container 1 constituting the bottom side and the front side cross with each other. At this position, an inclined surface is provided between the bottom and front sides of the ink container 1. Therefore, when the first light emitting portion 101 emits light, a part thereof is emitted outwardly from the front side of the ink container 1 along the inclined surface.
By this disposition of the substrate 100, the information relating to the ink container 1 can be directly provided not only to the recording device (and to a host apparatus such as a computer connected thereto) also to the user, by the first light emitting portion 101 alone. As shown by (a) in
Here, the predetermined information of the ink container (liquid container) 1 includes at least one of properness of the mounting state of the ink container 1 (i.e. whether the mounting is mounting or not), properness of the position of mounting of the ink container 1 (i.e. whether or not the ink container 1 is mounted on the right position in the holder which is determined corresponding to the ink color), and sufficiency of the ink remaining amount (i.e. whether the remaining amount of the ink is sufficient or not). The information relating to them can be provided by emission or non-emission of the light and/or states of light emission (flickering or the like). The control of the light emission, the manners of providing the information will be described hereinafter in the description of the structure of the control system.
In
1.2 Modified Example (
The foregoing structures are examples and can be modified as long as the predetermined information relating to the ink container 1 can be given to the recording device and to the user by the first light emitting portion 101. The description will be made as to some modified examples.
In the example of (a) and (b) of
In the example shown in (a) and (b) of
With the above-described structures, the position and/or the configuration of a member or members which may block the light travelling along the optical axes, are appropriately selected, and an opening and/or light-transmissive are provided, so that optical axes directing toward the eyes of the user and toward the light receiving portion are positively assured. However, other arrangements are usable by which the light is directed to the eyes of the user and/or to the light receiving portion.
In
In the foregoing, the description has been made with various arrangements relating to the first light emitting portion 101 of the controller substrate, but the pad 102 can be appropriately arranged.
1.3 Mounting Portion of Ink Container:
The recording head unit 105 is generally constituted by a holder 150 for detachably holding a plurality (four, in the example shown in the Figure) of ink containers, and a recording head 105 disposed adjacent the bottom side (unshown in
An example of usable recording head 105 comprises a liquid passage constituting a nozzle, an electrothermal transducer element provided in the liquid passage. The electrothermal transducer element is supplied with electrical pulses in accordance with recording signals, by which thermal energy is applied to the ink in the liquid passage. This causes a phase change of the ink resulting in bubble generation (boiling), and therefore, abrupt pressure rise, by which the ink is ejected from the nozzle. An electrical contact portion (unshown) for signal transmission provided on the carriage 203 which will be described hereinafter, and an electrical contact portion 157 of the recording head unit 105, are electrically contacted to each other, so that transmission of the recording signal is enabled to the electrothermal transducer element driving circuit of the recording head 105 through the wiring portion 158. From the electrical contact portion 157, a wiring portion 159 is extended to the connector 152.
When the ink container 1 is mounted to the recording head unit 105, the holder 150 is brought to above the holder 150 ((a) in
When the upper surface of the second engaging portion 6 reaches a lower portion of the second locking portion 156, the supporting member 3 displaces in the direction Q′ by the elastic force of the supporting member 3, so that second engaging portion 6 is locked with the second locking portion 156. With this state ((c) in
The above-described uses the principle of “lever” during the mounting process shown in (b) of
Such structure, arrangement and mounting operation are therefore preferable in that such a member is elastically deformed by the relatively large force. When the mounting operation is completed, the first locking portion 155 engaged with the first engaging portion 5 and the second locking portion 156 engaged with the second engaging portion 6 are effective to prevent the ink container 1 from rising away from the holder, and therefore, the restoration of the elastic member is suppressed, so that the member is kept in an appropriately deformed elastically.
On the other hand, the pad 102 and the connector 152 (electrical contacts) are made of a relatively rigidity electroconductive material such as metal to assuring satisfy electrical connection property therebetween. On the other hand, an excessive contact force therebetween is not preferable from the standpoint of damage prevention and sufficient durability. In this example, they are disposed at a position as remote as possible from the fulcrum, more particularly, in the neighborhood of the front side of the ink container, in this example, by which the contact force is minimized.
To accomplish this, it is considered to place the pad of the substrate at a position very close to the front side on the bottom side of the ink container. Alternatively, it is considered to place the pad of the substrate on the front side of the ink container. In any case, however, some limitation is imparted to the disposition of the first light emitting portion 101 on the substrate, which should be selected such that light should properly reach the first light receiving portion 210 and the eyes of the user. In the case of placing the pad of the substrate at a position very close to the front side on the bottom side of the ink container, the pad 102 and the connector 152 approach to each other in a face-to-face fashion in the state immediately before completion of the mounting of the ink container 1, and they abut each other in such a state. A large mounting force is required in order to provide a satisfactory electrical connection irrespective of the surface conditions of the pad and the connector, with a possible result of excessive force applied to the pad and to the connector. In case the ink leaks out at the connecting portion between the ink supply port 7 and/or the ink introduction opening 107, the leaked ink might reach the pad and/or the connecting portion along the bottom side of the ink container. When the substrate is disposed at the ink container front side, the disengagement of the ink container from the main assembly of the apparatus may be difficult.
In this example of the embodiment, the substrate 100 is disposed on the inclined surface connecting the bottom side of the ink container 1 with the front side of the ink container 1, namely, at the corner portion therebetween. When the balance of forces only at the contact portion in the state that pad 102 is contacted to the connector 152 immediately before the completion of mounting, is considered, it is such that reaction force (a upward force in the vertical direction) applied by the connector 152 to the pad 102, balancing with the mounting force applied downwardly in the vertical direction, involves a component force of the actual contact pressure between the pad 102 and the connector 152. Therefore, when the user presses the ink container down toward the mounting completion position, an addition of ink container mounting force for electrical connection between the substrate and the connector is small, so that operatively may be quite low.
When the ink container 1 is pressed down toward the mounting completion position where the first engaging portion 5 is engaged with each other, the second engaging portion 6 and the second locking portion 156 are engaged with each other, and there arises a component force (a force sliding the pad 102 on the connector 152) parallel with a surface of the substrate 100 by the urging force. Therefore, a good electrical connection property is provided and assured upon the completion of the mounting of the ink container. In addition, the electrical connecting portion is at a position high from the bottom side of the ink container, and therefore, the liability of the leaked ink reaching there is small. Furthermore, the optical axes toward the first light receiving portion 210 and toward the eyes of the user can be assured.
In this manner, the structure and arrangement of the electrical connecting portion described above is advantageous from the standpoint of assuring the optical path in the case that first light emitting portion 101 is used both for the first light receiving portion, for the eyes of the user, in addition, from the standpoint of the magnitude of the required ink container mounting force, assurance of the electrical contact state and the protection from contamination with the leaked ink.
The structure of the mounting portion for the ink container in the first embodiment or the modified example is not limited to that shown in
Referring to
As shown in
On the other hand, as shown by (b) in
With this structure, when the recording head unit 405 is mounted on the carriage 415, as shown by (b) in
1.4 Recording Apparatus (
As shown in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the recording head (unshown) is in the form of a chip mounted to the recording head unit 105, corresponding to the respective inks. The recording heads scan the recording material by the movement of the carriage 205, during which the recording heads eject the ink to effect the printing. To do this, the carriage 205 is slidably engaged with the guiding shaft 207 which extends in the moving direction thereof, is driven by a carriage motor through a drive transmission mechanism. The recording heads corresponding to the K, Y, M and C (black, yellow, magenta and cyan) inks eject the inks on the basis of ejection data fed from a control circuit provided in the main assembly side through a flexible cable 206. There is provided a paper feeding mechanism including a paper feeding roller, a sheet discharging roller and so on to feed the recording material (unshown) fed from the automatic sheet feeding device 202 to the sheet discharge tray 203. The recording head unit 105 having an integral ink container holder is detachably mounted on the carriage 205, and the respective ink containers 1 are detachably mounted on the recording head unit 105.
During the recording or printing operation, the recording head scan the recording material by the above-described movement, during which the recording heads eject the inks onto the recording material to effect the recording on a width of the recording material corresponding to the range of the ejection outlets of the recording head. In a time period between a scanning operation and the next scanning operation, the paper feeding mechanism feeds the recording material through a predetermined distance corresponding to the width. In this manner, the recording is sequentially effected to cover the entire area of the recording material. An end portion of the movement range of the recording head by the movement of the carriage, there is provided an ejection refreshing unit including caps for capping the sides of the recording heads having the ejection outlets. Therefore, the recording heads move to the position of the refreshing unit at predetermined time intervals, and are subjected to the refreshing process including the preliminary ejections or the like.
The recording head unit 105 having a holder portion for each ink container 1, is provided with a connector corresponding to each of the ink containers, and the respective connectors are contacted to the pad of the substrate provided on the ink container 1. By this, the control of turn-on and -off of each of the LEDs 101 in accordance with the sequence which will be described hereinafter in conjunction of
More particularly, at the container exchange position, when an ink remaining amount of an ink container 1 is short, the LED 101 of the ink container 1 is switched on or flickered. This applies to each of the ink containers 1. Adjacent to an end portion which is opposite the position where the refreshing unit is provided, a first light receiving portion 210 having a light receiving element is provided. When the LEDs 101 of the ink containers 1 pass by the light receiving portion 210 by the movement of the carriage 205, the LEDs 101 are switched on, and the light is received by the first light receiving position 210 so that positions of the ink containers 1 on the carriage 205 can be detected on the basis of the position of the carriage 205 when the light is received. In another example of the control for the turn-on of the LED or the like, the LED 101 of the container is switched on when the ink container 1 is correctly mounted at the container exchange position. These controls are executed, similarly to the control for the ink ejection of the recording head, by supplying control data (control signal) to the respective ink containers form the main assembly side control circuit through the flexible cable 206.
2.1 General Arrangement (
In
As schematically shown in
Each of the ink container 1, as described hereinbefore, is provided with the substrate 100 provided with the LED 101, the display control circuit therefor and the pad (electric contact) or the like. When the ink container 1 is correctly mounted on the recording head unit 105, the pad on the substrate 100 is contacted to the connector provided corresponding to each of ink containers 1 in the recording head unit 105. The connector (unshown) provided in the carriage 205, the control circuit 300 provided in the main assembly side, are electrically connected for transmission of signals through the flexible cable 206. Furthermore, by the mounting of the recording head unit 105 on the carriage 205, the connector of the carriage 205 and the connector of the recording head unit 105 are electrically contacted with each other for signal transmission. With such a structure, the signals can be transmitted between the control circuit 300 of the main assembly side and the respective ink containers 1. Thus, the control circuit 300 can perform the control for turn-on and -off of LED in accordance with the sequence which will be described hereinafter in conjunction with
The control of ink ejections of the recording heads 105K, 105Y, 105M and 105C, is carried out similarly through the flexible cable 206, the connector of the carriage 205, the connector of the recording head unit with the signal connection between the driving circuit and so on provided in the recording head, and the control circuit 300 in the main assembly side. Thus, the control circuit 300 controls the ink ejections and so on for the respective recording heads.
The first light receiving portion 210 disposed adjacent one of the end portions of the movement range of the carriage 205 receives light from the LED 101 of the ink container 1, and a signal indicative of the event is supplied to the control circuit 300. The control circuit 300, as will be described hereinafter, responds to the signal to discriminate the position of the ink container 1 in the carriage 205. In addition, an encoder scale 209 is provided along the movement path of the carriage 205, and the carriage 205 is correspondingly provided with an encoder sensor 211. The detection signal of the sensor is supplied to the control circuit 300 through the flexible cable 206, by which the movement position of the carriage 205 is obtained. The position information is used for the respective recording head ejection controls, and is used also for light validation process in which the positions of the ink containers are detected, which will be described hereinafter in conjunction with
2.2 Connecting Portion (
As shown in
Each of the substrates 100 of the ink containers 1 has a controller 103 which is responsive to the signal supplied through the four signal lines, and a LED 101 actuable in response to the output of the controller 103.
A LED driver 103C functions to apply a power source voltage to the LED 101 to cause it to emit light when the signal supplied from the I/O control circuit 103A is at a high level. Therefore, when the signal supplied from the I/O control circuit 103A is at a high level, the LED 101 is in the on-state, and when the signal is at a low level, the LED 101 is in the off-state.
As shown in
As shown in the Figure, the color information has a code corresponding to each colors of the ink, K, C, M and Y. The I/O control circuit 103A compares the color information indicated by the code with the color information stored in the memory array 103B of the ink container per se. Only if they are the same, the subsequent data are taken in, and if not, the subsequent data are ignored. By doing so, even when the data signal is supplied commonly to all of the ink containers from the main assembly side through the common signal line DATA held in
As shown in
The content indicated by the control code is not limited to the example described above, and, for example, control codes for verification command and/or continuous reading command may be added.
For the reading operation, the structure of the data signal is the same as in the case of the writing operation. The code of the start code plus color information is taken by the I/O control circuit 103A of all of the ink containers, similarly to the case of the writing operation, and the subsequent data signal are taken in only by the I/O control circuit 103A of the ink container having the same color information. What is different is that. the read data are outputted in synchronizm with rising of the first clock (13th clock in
As shown in
In the example of this Figure, the black (K) ink container which the leftmost data signal designates is first identified, and then, the LED 101 of the black ink K container is switched on. Then, the color information of the second data signal indicates magenta ink M, and the control code indicates actuation, and therefore, the LED 101 of the ink M container is switched on while the LED 101 of the ink K container is kept in ON state. The control code of the third data signal means instruction of deactuation, and only the LED 101 of the ink K container is deactuated.
As will be understood from the foregoing description, the flickering control of the LED is accomplished by the control circuit 300 of the main assembly side sending repeated actuation and deactuation control codes alternately for the identified ink container. The cyclic period of the flickering can be determined by selecting the cyclic period of the alternating control codes.
2.3 Control Process (
The process shown in
If the result of the discrimination is affirmative, step S203 is executed for ink container mounting confirmation control.
In step S302, a variable An of the flag relating to the order of mounting discrimination for the ink container is set to “1”, and in step S303, the mounting confirmation control is effected for the Ath ink container. In this control, the contact 152 of the holder 150 and the contact 102 of the ink container are contacted with each other by the user mounting the ink container to the right position in the holder 150 of the recording head unit 105, by which the control circuit 300 of the main assembly side, as described hereinbefore, identifies the ink container by the color information (individual information for the ink container), and the color information stored in the memory array 103B of the identified container is sequentially read out. The color information for the identification is not used for the already read out one or ones. In this control process, the discrimination is also made as to whether or not the read color information is different from the color information already read out after the start of this process.
In step S304, if the color information have been able to read out, the color information has been different from the already read out piece or pieces of information, it is then discriminated that ink container of the color information is mounted as the A-th ink container. Otherwise, it is discriminated that A-th ink container is not mounted. Here, the “A-th” represents only the order of discrimination of the ink container, does not represent the order indicative of the mounted position of the ink container. When the A-th ink container is discriminated as being correctly mounted, the flag F (A) (the flag satisfying k=An among the prepared flags flag F (k), k=1-4) is set to “1” in step S305, as described hereinbefore in conjunction with
Then, in step S306, the variable An is incremented by 1, and in step S307, the discrimination is made as to whether or not the variable An is larger than N set in the step S301 (in this embodiment, N=4). If the variable An is not more than N, the process subsequent to step S303 is repeated. If it is discriminated as being larger than N, the mounting confirmation control has been completed for all of four ink containers. Then, in step. S308, the discrimination is made as to whether or not the main assembly cover 201 is in an open position on the basis of an output of the sensor. When the main assembly cover is in a closed state, an abnormality state is returned to the processing routine of
When, on the contrary, the main assembly cover 201 is discriminated as being open in the step S308, the discrimination is made as to whether or not all of the four flags F (k), k=1−4 are “1”, that is, whether the LEDs 101 are all switched on or not. If it is discriminated that at least one of the LEDs 101 is not switched on, the process subsequent to the step S302 is repeated. Until the user mount or correctly remount the ink container or ink containers of which the LEDs 101 are not switched on, the LED of the ink container or containers is switched on, and the process operation is repeated.
When all of the LEDs are discriminated as being switched on, a normal ending operation is carried out in step S310, and this process operation is completed. Then, the process returns to the processing routine shown in
Referring back to
In
When the proper mounting or demounting process is discriminated in step S102, the process waits for the user to close the main assembly cover 201 in step S103, and the discrimination is made as to whether or not the cover 201 is closed or not in step S104. If the result of the discrimination is affirmative, the operation proceeds to light validation process of step S105. In this case, if the closing of the main assembly cover 201 is detected as shown by (b) in
The light validation process is intended to discriminate whether or not the properly mounted ink containers are mounted at the correct positions, respectively. In this embodiment, the structures of the ink containers are not such that configurations thereof are made peculiar depending on the colors of the ink contained therein for the purpose of preventing the ink containers from being mounted at wrong positions. this is for the simplicity of manufacturing of the ink container bodies. Therefore, there is a possibility that ink containers are mounted at wrong positions. The light validation process is effective to detect such wrong mounting and to notify the user of the event. By this, the efficiency and low cost of the ink container manufacturing are accomplished since it is not required to make the configurations of the ink containers different from each other depending on the colors of the ink.
As shown by (a) in
While moving the carriage 205, as shown by (b) in
On the contrary, if a cyan ink container 1C is erroneously mounted at a position for a magenta ink container 1M, as shown by (b) in
In this manner, the light validation process with the control circuit 300 described above is effective to identify the ink container or ink containers not mounted at the correct position. If the mounting position does not have the correct ink container mounted thereto, the color of the ink container erroneously mounted there can be identified by sequentially actuating the LEDs of the other three color ink containers.
In
In step S402, the discrimination is made as to whether the remaining ink amount is sufficient to the printing or not, on the basis of the confirmation process. If the ink amount is sufficient, the operation goes to the printing in step S403, and the displaying device of the operating portion 213 is lighted green at step S404 (normal ending). On the other hand, if the result of the discrimination at the step S402 indicates a shortage of the ink, the displaying device of the operating portion 213 is flickered orange in the step S405, and in step S406, the LED 101 of the ink container 1 containing the insufficient amount of the ink is flickered or switched on (abnormal ending). When the recording device is connected with a host PC which controls the recording device, the ink remaining amount may be displayed on the display of the PC, simultaneously.
In the first embodiment described in the foregoing, the first engaging portion 5 provided on the ink container rear side is inserted into the first locking portion 155 provided at the rear side of the holder, and the ink container 1 is rotated about the rotational pivot which is the inserted portion, while pushing the ink container front side down. When such a structure is employed, the position of the substrate 100 is, as described hereinbefore, the front side which is away from the rotational pivot, and the first light receiving portion 210, and the first light emitting portion 101 for directing the light toward the first light receiving portion 210, toward the user's eyes are integral with the substrate 100, accordingly.
However, in some cases, the preferable position of the substrate and the position required by the light emitting portion are different from each other, depending on the structures of the ink container and/or the mounting portion thereof. In such a case, the substrate and the light emitting portion may be disposed at proper positions. In other words, they are not necessarily integral with each other.
As shown by (a) in
As shown by (c) in
When the ink container 501 is mounted to the recording head unit 605, the user brings the ink container 501 to the front side of the holder 650, as shown by (b) in
The structures of the engaging portion 655 of the holder 650 and the locking portion 656 and the corresponding structure of the ink container 501 side, may be properly determined by one skilled in the art. In the example shown in the Figure, the substrate 600 is provided on the top surface of the ink container 501, and extends in parallel with the top surface, but this is not limiting, and it may be inclined as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the holder 650 and the structural members relating to it is not necessarily provided in the head unit.
The holder 650 may be provided with similar structures corresponding to such a structure. In this embodiment, the control circuit for the light emitting portion 601 disposed on the front side may be provided at a proper position on the head unit. For example, a control circuit is provided on the driving circuit substrate having an integral recording head 605′, and the wiring is extended to the light emitting portion 601. In such a case, a driving circuit for the recording head 605′ and the control circuit for the light emitting portion 601 are connected with an electrical contact portion on the carriage through an unshown electrical contact portion.
As shown in
In this embodiment, substrates 100-2 each having a light emitting portion 101 such as a LED is provided on the top portion of ink container front side. Similarly to the foregoing embodiment, the substrate 100 is provided on an inclined surface portion since doing so is preferable from the standpoint of satisfactory connection with the carriage side connector 152, the protection from the ink, and the substrate 100 is connected with the substrate 100-2 or the light-emitting portion 101 by wiring portion 159-2 so that electric signal can be transmitted therebetween. Designated by 3H is a hole formed in a base portion of a supporting member 3 to extend the wiring portion 159-2 along the ink container casing.
In this embodiment, when the light emitting portion 101 is actuated, the light is directed toward the front side. A light receiving portion 210 is disposed at a position for receiving the light which is directed to the right in the Figure adjacent an end of the scanning range of the carriage, and when the carriage faces such a position, the light emission of the light emitting portion 101 is controlled, so that recording device side can obtain the predetermined information relating to the ink container 1 from the content of the received light by the light receiving portion. When the carriage is at the center portion of the scanning range, for example, the light emitting portion 101 is controlled, by which the user is more easily able to see the state of lightening so that predetermined information relating to the ink container 1 can be recognized by the user.
In the structure shown in
In the foregoing embodiment, the liquid supply system is so-called continuous supply type wherein an amount of the ink ejected out is substantially continuously supplied to the printing head with the use of an ink container separably mounted to the recording head which reciprocates in a main-scanning direction. However, the present invention is applicable to another liquid supply system, wherein the ink container is integrally fixed to the recording head. Even with such a system, if the mounting position is not correct, the recording head receives data for another color, or the order of different color ink ejections is different from the predetermined order with the result of deteriorated recording quality.
The present invention is applicable to another continuous supply type, wherein the ink containers are separate from the recording heads, are provided at fixed positions in the recording device, and the fixed ink containers and the associated recording heads are connected by tubes to supply the inks to the recording heads. Intermediary containers which is fluidically between the ink container and the recording head may be carried on the recording head or carriage.
In this Figure, designated by 702 is a sheet feeding tray in the form of a cassette, and the recording materials are stacked thereon and is singled out during operation. It is fed along a folded-back feeding path to a recording region (unshown) where the recording head is carried on a carriage 803, then to a sheet discharge tray 703. The carriage 803 is supported, guided by a guiding shaft 807, reciprocates along the guiding shaft 807, during which the recording head effects scanning and recording operations.
The carriage 803 carries a recording heads of respective colors. The recording heads have intermediary containers 811K, 811C, 811M and 811Y containing black ink, cyan ink, magenta ink and yellow ink, respectively. The intermediary containers are supplied with the ink from relatively large capacity fixed containers 701K-701Y, respectively, which are detachably mounted at a fixed portion of the apparatus. Designated by 850 is a flexible follower which moves following the movement of the carriage 803. The follower includes electric wiring portion for transmitting electric signals to the respective recording heads carried on the carriage, and a group of ink supply tubes extending from the fixed containers to the intermediary containers. The group of the supply tubes is in fluid communication with the group of the fixed containers through unshown communicating tubes.
The recording operation in this embodiment is similar to that of the foregoing embodiment. In this embodiment, however, the light emitting portions 801 having the function similar to the above-described light emitting portions 101 are provided on the respective fixed containers 701K-701Y. Correspondingly, a light receiving portion 810 for detecting a state of light emission during the main-scanning operation, is provided on the carriage 803. With such a mechanism, the presence or absence of the ink, the presence or absence of the mounted ink container and/or the properness of the mounting of each of the fixed containers 701K-701Y is detected in the manner similar to those described in the foregoing, and the predetermined control operations are carried out. The user can observe the state of light emission of the light emitting portion 801, and therefore the information relating to each of the fixed container. The fixed container may be of a semi-permanent type which is not ordinarily detachable, and in such a case, the ink is replenished into the ink containers when the ink is short in the containers.
Such structures are applicable to an intermittent supply type or so-called pit-stop-supply type as well as to the continuous supply type using the tube. In the pit-stop-supply type, the recording head is provided with an accumulator for retain a relatively small amount of the ink, there is provided a supply system for intermittently supplying the ink at appropriate timing to the accumulator portion from an associated supply source which is fixed in the apparatus and which contain a relatively large amount of the ink.
The ink supply system may be connected only when the ink supply is necessary to the intermediary container from the fixed container. Alternatively, the intermediary container and the supply source container may be connected with each other through a solenoid valve or the like, which is controlled to be open and close to connect and disconnect them at proper timing. Another pit-stop type is usable wherein the intermediary container portion is provided with a gas-liquid separator film which passes gas but not liquid, the air in the container is suctioned through the film to supply the ink into the intermediary container.
The I/O control circuit 103A actuates the LED 101 in response to the control data supplied from the control circuit 300 provided in the main assembly side through the flexible cable 206.
A LED driver 103C functions to apply a power source voltage to the LED 101 to cause it to emit light when the signal supplied from the I/O control circuit 103A is at a high level. Therefore, when the signal supplied from the I/O control circuit 103A is at a high level, the LED 101 is in the on-state, and when the signal is at a low level, the LED 101 is in the off-state.
This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that there is not provided a memory array 103B. Even if the information (color information, for example) is not stored in the memory array, the ink container can be identified, the LED 101 of the identified ink container can be actuated or deactuated. newpa Referring to
An I/O control circuit 103A of the controller 103 of the ink container 1 receives start code plus color information, control code is supplied with clock signal CLK, from the main assembly side control circuit 300 through a signal line DATA (
The command discrimination portion 103D, as shown in
As a further alternative, the command including the color information and the control code sent from the main assembly side control circuit 300 to the ink container 1 may not be directly compared with the color information (individual information) in the ink container. In other words, the inputted command is converted or processed in the controller 103, and the value provided as a result of the conversion is compared with the predetermined value stored in the memory array 103B or the command discrimination portion 103D inner, and only when the result of the comparison corresponds to the predetermined relation, the LED is actuated or deactuated.
As a further alternative, the signal sent from the main assembly side is converted or processed in the controller 103, and the value stored in the memory array 103B or the command control portion 103D is also converted or processed in the controller 103. The converted ones are compared, and only when the result of the comparison corresponds to the predetermined relation, the LED is actuated or deactuated.
While the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purpose of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 435942/2003 filed Dec. 26, 2003, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-435942 | Dec 2003 | JP | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11016903 | Dec 2004 | US |
| Child | 12318706 | US |
