EP0433280B1 - Arrangement for printing devices for monitoring printing medium containers - Google Patents

Abstract

Containers (11, 12) for printing devices, be they ink reservoirs, ribbon cassettes or toner reservoirs, are fitted with an electronic storage device (14) in the form of a chip in which the information on the current level of the container and/or other status data relevant to printer operation, e.g. expiry date of printing medium, are stored. The level of the printing medium is detected via the central control system (16) of the printing device and transmitted to the chip (14). The chip on the container monitors consumption until the level of the printing medium (ink, ribbon, toner) has fallen to the point at which the container needs to be changed. It is impossible to reprogram the chip and thus to refill the container.

Description

In office printing facilities, be it text systems or simple printing systems that work in conjunction with communication terminals, various printing principles are used. These printing principles are e.g. Ink printing, thermal transfer printing, needle printing or type printing with type plates and electrophotographic printing. All of these principles have in common that a printing medium contained in storage containers is applied to a recording medium depending on the character. The storage containers - be it containers containing writing fluid, ink ribbon cartridges or toner containers - are usually exchangeably fastened in brackets of the printing devices. They can be designed as disposable containers which are filled at the factory and which are replaced as a whole after the print medium has been used.

Such storage containers for ink printing devices are e.g. known from DE-PS 26 10 518, ribbon cassettes from DE-PS 32 14 548.

In order to ensure safe printing operation, it is customary to monitor the supply of pressure medium in the storage containers. This monitoring is particularly necessary in the case of ink writing devices in which the writing head consists of a mosaic writing head in which a plurality of writing nozzles are arranged. Due to the contraction processes taking place in these writing nozzles during writing, such a writing head independently supplies itself with writing liquid from an ink reservoir. If air penetrates the writing nozzles, it requires special flushing processes to remove the air. Such devices for monitoring the ink supply in ink writing devices are known for example from DE-B1-26 17 730.

DE-A1-3 405 164 describes an arrangement for ink printing devices in which an ink storage container is provided for receiving printer ink, the storage container can have an electronic storage device or a coding in which state data of the printer ink relevant for printing operation are stored indeletably . This data stored in a ROM or as coding (color marking) can be registered trademarks of the manufacturer or data about the type of ink used.

The data is entered once when the ink reservoir is manufactured and then queried when it is inserted into the printer. If the data does not match the data stored in a memory, printing is not carried out.

Ink printing devices are also particularly sensitive to the composition of the ink liquid used. If the ink does not match the ink printing system, the print head may be destroyed. For this reason, it is necessary to prevent used, uncontrolled, e.g. Ink tanks filled with ink of unknown composition from other manufacturers can be reused.

The same applies to ribbon cartridges of all kinds, here too an uncontrolled reuse of refilled ribbon cartridges with ribbons in which the specification of the ribbon, e.g. with regard to thickness and layer structure is not observed, lead to malfunctions in the printing operation.

Particularly sensitive to the composition of the printing medium are printing or copying devices which operate on the principle of electrophotography and in which a charge image is colored, for example with the aid of a developer mixture of carrier particles and toner particles. The colored charge image is in transferred to paper in a transfer printing station and fixed in a fixing station. During development, toner is constantly consumed, which is supplied to the developer station from storage containers. Interchangeable toner reservoirs are provided, particularly in low power electrophotographic printers such as office printers. If toner with the wrong composition is now added, the printer's operation can be considerably impaired.

To that extent, in the following, a printing device is understood to mean any type of printing device including copiers in which a printing medium is applied to a recording medium depending on the character.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide an arrangement for printing devices with which it is possible, on the one hand, to easily detect the supply of printing medium, on the other hand, it is possible to prevent unauthorized reuse of used storage containers, or to recognize refilled storage containers.

This object is achieved with an arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset according to the features of the first claim.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are identified in the subclaims.

According to the invention, a storage container for printing devices is assigned an electronic storage device in the form of an integrated circuit (chip), in which information about the current filling status of the storage container or other status data of the printing medium relevant to printer operation is stored via a detection arrangement. This status data can e.g. Information about the expiration date of the media.

With this arrangement, it is possible in a simple manner to detect the filling status of the storage container during printer operation. A drop below a minimum supply of printing medium can be recognized in good time. When the end of the supply or after falling below a minimum supply, a warning signal can be triggered via the control arrangement of the printing device and shown on a display, and it is possible to block the printing operation.

Characterized in that the electronic storage device is constructed in the form of an integrated circuit so that the electronic storage device after reaching the end of the supply cannot be re-programmed, an inadmissible reuse of used storage containers is reliably prevented or refilled storage containers can be clearly identified.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the electronic storage device contains a timer which can be preset in its basic setting, the count of which, starting from the basic setting, is irreversibly changed in accordance with the current shelf life of the printing medium. Damage to the printing device, e.g. due to outdated writing fluid or toner are reliably prevented.

• FIG 1 ein Blockschaltbild der erfindungsgemäßen Anordnung in einer Mehrfarben-Tintendruckeinrichtung und
• FIG 2 eine schematische Darstellung des konstruktiven Aufbaues einer Anordnung für einfarbigen Betrieb.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and is described in more detail below, for example. Show it

• 1 shows a block diagram of the arrangement according to the invention in a multicolor ink printing device and
• 2 shows a schematic representation of the structural design of an arrangement for single-color operation.

In an ink printing device (not shown in detail here), an ink mosaic print head 10 is moved line by line along a recording medium with the aid of a motorized device in the printing operation. The ink mosaic printhead is a multi-color ink mosaic printhead which works, for example, according to the bubble principle and which is supplied with writing fluid from two ink containers 11 and 12 via an ink supply system. The ink containers 11 and 12 can form a structural unit with the ink print head or they are arranged in a stationary manner and connected to the ink mosaic print head 10 via a flexible line. The ink reservoir 11 of the construction shown in FIG 2 Ink reservoir corresponds, contains two flexible supply bubbles for receiving the ink liquid, which are connected via corresponding connection elements 13 to the supply system for the nozzle elements of the print head. The storage bubbles of the ink reservoir 11 are filled with black ink. In the case of multicolored ink printing devices, a further ink reservoir 12 is arranged above the ink reservoir 11 and has three storage bubbles which are filled with colored inks (magenta, cyan, yellow). In pure black and white operation, the ink print head 10 is supplied solely from the ink reservoir 11, and ink is only removed from the ink reservoir 12 during color operation.

With the ink reservoirs 11, 12, e.g. connected by gluing or molding, is an electronic memory 14 in the form of an integrated circuit (chip), which may have a structure such as that e.g. in the case of so-called telephone cards, in which, after the card has been inserted into a public telephone, the charges are debited by bit-by-bit deletion of a memory bar contained in the chip card. The electronic memory 14 is connected to the central control 16 of the ink printing device via latchable connection elements (not shown here) and a line 15.

Each of the chips 14 connected to the ink supply containers serves to store the current filling state of the ink storage bubbles of the respective ink supply container in a storage area. For this purpose, each chip contains a memory bar 17 for each memory bubble contained, which can also be designed, for example, as an electronic counter and whose count or document status corresponds to the filling state of the assigned memory bubble. Thus, the ink supply container 11 with two storage bladders, two storage strips 17, contains the ink supply container 12 with three memory bubbles three memory bars 17. The function of these memory bars or counters will be explained later. In addition to these memory strips 17, so-called timers 18, ie timers, are provided. The timers 18 can also be designed as electronic counters. The timers 18 contain information about the expiration time of the ink liquid. They are activated when the ink supply container is inserted for the first time or already during production, ie they start to run or count up from this point in time, their counter reading corresponding to the storage time of the ink liquid. The timers are an option and they can be supplied with ink independently of the network from an energy source (voltage source) integrated in the chip 14 (not shown here).

Furthermore, there is a read-only memory 19 in the chips for receiving a code which identifies the ink reservoir. This code is burned into the read-only memory when the ink tank is manufactured. Its content is checked in the ink printing device after the ink reservoir has been installed. Only after a positive check is the printer operation released by the central control 16. The read-only memory is designed as a memory, the coding of which cannot be changed after the first programming. The code can represent information about the type and content of the ink supply containers, their date of manufacture and expiry date etc. When the ink supply containers are locked in the holding device of the printing device, this code is then checked by the central controller 16.

The central controller 16 is controlled by a microprocessor and contains a CPU, for example a microprocessor 80199, as a central unit. A character generator ZG in the form of a read-only memory, which can be generated with the aid of mosaic printing, is connected to the central unit via a data bus system BUS Contains character forms. Furthermore, a writable non-volatile memory (EE-PROM) SP which maintains its memory state even when the power supply is switched off. The memory SP serves, inter alia, as a buffer and contains a number of memory areas SP1 to SP5 corresponding to the number of memory bars 17, which interact with the memory bars 17 in a manner described later. The memory SP can also be designed as a program memory for the control program of the printing device.

An SCA input / output module is also coupled to the BUS system. This is a universal module which is common in printer control and which manages the communication of the printing device with the interface 20 at the data input of the printer device. This SCA input / output module also has the function of a converter for converting parallel data into serial data.

Another memory RAM, which is also connected to the input and output module SCA via the BUS system, serves as a buffer for the data arriving via the interface 20 before it is post-processed in the printer controller 16.

The actual communication between the central control 16, the ink head 10 and the electronic memories 14 takes place via a module labeled TI-ASIC. It contains a corresponding logic structure in order to take over the control data for the ink mosaic print head 10 from the BUS of the central control 16 in parallel and to convert them into control signals for the individual nozzles of the head 10.

The entire arrangement works according to the following principle:
The amount of ink ejected during the operation of ink printing devices can be determined by counting the individual droplets ejected. Each droplet has a certain constant volume, so that it is known how many droplets can be generated, for example, with the contents of a storage bladder of the ink reservoir. The droplets of each color ejected from the ink mosaic printhead are thereby detected by the detection arrangement of the central control 16 in the printing operation and, depending on the determined consumption, the information stored in the electronic storage device 14 about the filling state of the ink supply containers is adapted. This adaptation can take place, for example, by deleting the initially filled memory strips 17 bit by bit in accordance with the consumption.

The function of the arrangement in detail:
In the manufacture of the ink reservoir, the chip is activated when the electronic storage element (chip 14) is inserted into the ink reservoir. The timer 18 arranged in the chip 14, which can be supplied, for example, by a mains-independent energy source, not shown here, has a basic setting of its counter, the count of which corresponds to the permissible storage time of the ink liquid. This timer (timer) 18 is activated when the ink reservoir is manufactured and when it is assembled with the electronic storage element 14. If the timer has expired, there is a counter reading on the contacts on the container surface, ie on line 15, which corresponds to the information "ink end". This information is queried via the TI-ASIC module and a warning device, for example in the form of a lamp 21, is activated on the printing device. At the same time, the start of printing is prevented. However, it is also possible to arrange a separate warning lamp or a separate display device, which immediately indicates the expiration date of the ink tank.

With the first insertion of the ink reservoir 11, 12 in the ink printing device, the basic setting of the timer in the chip 14 is set to the time of use of the ink liquid in the device. This period of use can be less than the basic setting if the ink reservoir has been stored for a long time beforehand. After the timer has expired, "ink end" is shown via warning lamp 21 or a corresponding display, as already described.

In the write mode, the TI-ASIC module detects the drive pulses for the individual nozzles of the ink mosaic print head 10 and thus the number of the individual droplets ejected. The memory areas SP1 to SP5, which are designed as counters, are activated via the software. The counters SP1 to SP5 are assigned to the individual ink bubbles and thus to the different printing inks. The counters are circulation counters that return to their basic position after reaching a certain counter reading and start counting again. The counter capacity corresponds to a certain number of 10,000 ink droplets, for example. When the counters are reset, ie after the respective counting of 10,000 ejected ink droplets of each ink type (color), the corresponding assigned memory strip 17 of the electronic memories 14 on the storage containers is bit by bit deleted via the module TI-ASIC. This means that the counter reading of a counting device of the chip 14 assigned to the memory strip 17 is changed on the basis of a preset basic counter reading corresponding to the filled state of the storage container in accordance with the consumption of ink liquid. This change is irreversible, ie after the counter has expired or the bits on the data bar 17 have been "booked", reprogramming is not possible. Both the Counters in the device SP1 to SP5 as well as the counters in the chip 14 (data bar 17) are permanent, ie they are not reset when the power to the ink printing device is interrupted.

The amount of ink consumed during cleaning procedures is also taken into account when noting the number of ink droplets ejected.

If the counter reading in the chip 14 reaches one, e.g. A counter reading corresponding to a minimum stock quantity (fully debited bit string 17), this counter reading is detected by the component TI-ASIC and a warning device, e.g. activated in the form of a lamp 21. This can e.g. happen that a flashing signal is emitted via the lamp 21. With the minimum ink supply contained in the ink supply containers at this time, the writing operation can still be maintained for a certain time. After reaching a counter reading at the end of the ink, i.e. the complete consumption of ink corresponds to the ink supply (taking into account a safety reserve), further printer operation is prevented via the TI-ASIC module and via the lamp 21, which e.g. can then be switched to permanent light, this ink end is displayed.

As already described, the electronic memories are designed in such a way that reprogramming is not possible. If the used ink reservoir is refilled with ink in an impermissible manner, the electronic memory 14 remains in its state corresponding to the "ink end". When such a refilled ink reservoir is inserted into the ink printing device, the TI-ASIC module and the warning device 21 therefore indicate the ink end and prevents printing.

The arrangement according to the invention has been described above with reference to a storage container for an ink printing device. However, it can also be used on ribbon cartridges of all kinds, be it ribbon cartridges with thermal ribbons for thermal transfer printing devices or ribbons for impact printers. In the case of ribbon cartridges, a chip 14 (electronic storage device) with the corresponding structure described is attached to the ribbon cartridges in a manner not shown here, analogously to ink supply containers. A continuous transport monitoring of the ribbon takes place during the writing operation, e.g. by a device according to DE-PS 32 14 548. Depending on the number of individual points printed in mosaic printing devices or the number of characters printed in type printing devices, the ink ribbon in the ink ribbon cassette is moved from the supply reel to the unwinding reel. With the arrangement according to the invention, the ribbon consumption is recorded by the electronics of the printing device via the control pulses of the printing head and communicated to the electronic storage device 14 on the ribbon cassettes. The chip 14 (electronic storage device) counts the consumption until the ribbon supply is exhausted to such an extent that the ribbon cassette must be replaced. The consumption status of the ribbon cassette can be queried by the central control 16 at any time during printing operation. If the counter reading in the chip 14 indicates the used state of the ink ribbon cassette, the printer electronics interrupt another printout in the manner described and a corresponding fault message is set.

The arrangement described can also be used in electrophotographic or magnetic printing or copying machines. Modern printing or copying machines, which are designed for use in the office, have exchangeable toner storage containers which are replaced as a whole after the toner supply has been exhausted (DE-A-GM 87 05 870). Often is an exchange of the entire developer station including the photoconductor drum is also planned. Here, too, an electronic storage device can be arranged on the container in the manner described, which interacts with the central control of the electrophotographic printing or copying device. Since it is known how much toner is required on average for the coloring of a charge image, the toner consumption can be determined, for example, from the number of revolutions of the charge image carrier or from the degree of coloration of the characters by means of an optical sensor. The electronic storage device (chip) counts the consumption of toner until the toner supply is exhausted to such an extent that the toner supply cartridge must be replaced. The consumption status of the toner supply cartridge can be queried by the central control at any time during printing. If the counter reading in the chip shows the used state of the storage cassette, the central control system prevents further printing and, for example, a corresponding display is activated via a display.

Reference symbol list

10th

Ink printhead

11

Ink reservoir

12

Ink reservoir

13

Connecting element

14

electronic memory, chip with non-volatile memory

15

management

16

Central control

17th

Memory bar

18th

Timer

19th

Read-only memory

CPU

Central unit

BUS

Data bus

SP

Storage

SP1 to SP5

Memory areas, counters

SCA

I / O unit, standard cell array

20th

interface

R.A.M.

Storage

TI-ASIC

electronic control module

21

Warning device, lamp, display device

Claims (10)

1. An arrangement for printers comprising

   a) a supply container (11, 12) for the accommodation of a printing medium, where the supply container (11, 12) is provided with an electronic storage device (14) in which items of status data relating to the printing medium and relevant to the printing operation are stored,

   b) means (16) for detecting a current filling level of the supply container (11, 12) and for recording a storage value, corresponding to the current filling level, in the electronic storage device (14),

   c) means (TI-ASIC, 21) for detecting the storage value, corresponding to a minimum supply of the printing medium, of the electronic storage device (14) and for triggering a warning signal (21) and/or blocking the printing operation and

   d) means (14, 17) for suppressing the programmability of the electronic storage device (14) when the storage value which corresponds to a minimum supply of the printing medium has been reached.
2. An arrangement as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that information relating to the life of the printing medium is stored by way of status data.
3. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the storage device (14) is designed as a programmable, non-volatile data store.
4. An arrangement as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the storage device (14) comprises a counter (17) which is designed in such manner that, commencing from a initial basic count corresponding to the full state of the supply container (11, 12), this count is changed irreversibly in accordance with the consumption of printing medium.
5. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the storage device (14) contains a timer (18) which can be preset in respect of its basic setting and the count of which, commencing from the basic setting, is changed irreversibly in accordance with the current life of the printing medium.
6. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the storage device is provided with an energy supply which is independent of the rest of the printer.
7. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the supply container (11, 12) has the form of an ink supply container for an ink-jet printer.
8. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the supply container (11, 12) has the form of a toner supply container for a printer or copier.
9. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the supply container (11, 12) has the form of a ribbon cartridge.
10. An arrangement as claimed in one of Claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the storage device (14) comprises a ROM for the accommodation of a code which identifies the supply container and is detectable by the analysis arrangement.

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