EP0315417A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Printer having identifiable interchangeable recording heads or pens
Assignee: HP Inc
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Filing: 1988-11-01
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-11-01
Abstract
Abstract A dot-matrix printer (1) is provided with different types of recording heads or pens (9) which are interchangeably attachable to the printer carriage (2). The pens (9) are provided with individual codes (13) which are read by the printer control system (7,12,14) and used to reconfigure its control function to suit the control requirements of the identified pen (9). Such a system may include a microprocessor (10) responsive to individual sets of instructions or programs (Inputs 1-9 of 12) providing new and different processing capabilities for printing control in response to the insertion of a new recording head or pen (9).
Inventors
- 👤 William A. Buskirk
- 👤 Carl J. Landsness
- 👤 John D. Rhodes
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 12:10
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/10; B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/21; B41J2/2132; B41J25/00; B41J25/34
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
119 words
A printer (1) having a pen carriage (2), means (3) for advancing a print medium in a direction orthogonal to carriage movement, and means (9a) for mounting different types of pens on the carriage, characterized by that it includes pen identification means (13 (Fig.1) or I1,I2 (Fig.5)) on each pen providing a unique code for each pen; motor means (4) for driving the pen carriage (2) to move the pen (9) across the print medium; a control system (7,8,10) for operating the pen (9) for printing on the print medium during carriage movement; and means (12,14) responsive to the code (13 or I1,I2) on said pen (9) for providing input to the control system (7,8,10) unique to said code.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
119 words
A printer (1) having a pen carriage (2), means (3) for advancing a print medium in a direction orthogonal to carriage movement, and means (9a) for mounting different types of pens on the carriage, characterized by that it includes pen identification means (13 (Fig.1) or I1,I2 (Fig.5)) on each pen providing a unique code for each pen; motor means (4) for driving the pen carriage (2) to move the pen (9) across the print medium; a control system (7,8,10) for operating the pen (9) for printing on the print medium during carriage movement; and means (12,14) responsive to the code (13 or I1,I2) on said pen (9) for providing input to the control system (7,8,10) unique to said code.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
A printer according to claim 1 where the printer (1) is a dot-matrix printer and the pen (9) is a thermal ink Jet pen.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
97 words
A printer according to claim 2 in which said thermal ink jet pen (9) includes a nozzle plate (30) having a plurality of nozzles (32) and means (20,23,24,26,27) for admitting ink to said nozzles (32); a resistor network (Fig.5) having a resistor (R) at each nozzle (32), which resistor (R) when energized heats and expells ink from the nozzle (32) thereat; pen identification means (I1,I2) comprising part of the resistor network (Fig.5); and switching means (7) forming part of said control system for energizing the pen identification means (I1,I2) to obtain electrical signals identifying the pen (9).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
63 words
A printer according to claim 3 in which the switching means (7) comprises resistor energizing means (36) for selectively energizing resistors (R) in said resistor network to cause expulsion of ink from nozzles (32) thereat for printing, and said pen identification means (I1,I2) is energized by the resistor energizing means (36) prior to printing to obtain said electrical signals identifying said pen (9).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
70 words
A printer according to claims 3 or 4 wherein there are provided individual contact pads (1-50) in the resistor network and individual circuits (C) connecting individual contact pads (1-50) to individual resistors (R); and one or more of the contact pads are pen indentification contact pads (I1,I2), each disposed between selected different pairs (47,49 and 48,50) of the contact pads (1-50), and forming part of a pen identification network (7,14).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
A printer according to claim 5 where there are a plurality of pen identification contact pads (I1,I2).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
A printer according to claims 5 or 6 where the pen identification network (7,14) includes at least two resistors (R47, R49 for I1 and R48,R50 for I2) for each pen identification contact pad (I1,I2).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
56 words
A printer according to claims 5-7 where there are provided means (7,10) for sending pulses of electrical energy at different times to each resistor (R) at each pen identification contact pad (I1,I2) to determine by the resulting voltage response, if an electrical connection between a resistor (R) and the associated pen identification contact pad (I1,I2) exists.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
A printer according to claim 8 where there are provided means (7,14) for utilizing the voltage responses to provide a code identifying said thermal ink jet pen (9).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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