Method of warning a user of end of life of a consumable for an ink jet printer
First Claim
1. A method of informing a user of an ink jet printer of the end of life of a consumable, said consumable supplying ink to a printhead, said printhead including a plurality of ink ejection nozzles and an associated plurality of ink jetting actuators, each of said plurality of ink jetting actuators being addressable, said printhead including a plurality of address lines for facilitating selection of one or more of said plurality of ink jetting actuators, said method comprising the steps of:
- defining a notice threshold that is associated with a corresponding amount of ink remaining in said consumable;
providing control logic for selectively controlling said plurality of address lines;
determining whether said amount of ink remaining in said consumable has reached said notice threshold; and
upon reaching said notice threshold, reducing an image density of images formed by said printhead by selectively masking at least one of said plurality of address lines.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method informs a user of an ink jet printer of the end of life of a consumable. The consumable supplies ink to a printhead having a plurality of ink ejection nozzles and an associated plurality of ink jetting actuators, each of the plurality of ink jetting actuators being addressable. The printhead includes a plurality of address lines for facilitating selection of one or more of the plurality of ink jetting actuators. The method includes the steps of defining a notice threshold that is associated with a corresponding amount of ink remaining in the consumable; providing control logic for selectively controlling the plurality of address lines; determining whether the amount of ink remaining in the consumable has reached the notice threshold; and upon reaching the notice threshold, reducing an image density of images formed by the printhead by selectively disabling at least one of the plurality of address lines.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of informing a user of an ink jet printer of the end of life of a consumable, said consumable supplying ink to a printhead, said printhead including a plurality of ink ejection nozzles and an associated plurality of ink jetting actuators, each of said plurality of ink jetting actuators being addressable, said printhead including a plurality of address lines for facilitating selection of one or more of said plurality of ink jetting actuators, said method comprising the steps of:
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defining a notice threshold that is associated with a corresponding amount of ink remaining in said consumable;
providing control logic for selectively controlling said plurality of address lines;
determining whether said amount of ink remaining in said consumable has reached said notice threshold; and
upon reaching said notice threshold, reducing an image density of images formed by said printhead by selectively masking at least one of said plurality of address lines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An ink jet printer, comprising:
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a carriage for carrying a printhead, said printhead being connected in fluid communication with a consumable, said consumable containing a supply of ink, said printhead including a plurality of ink ejection nozzles and an associated plurality of ink jetting actuators;
a plurality of address lines connected to said plurality of ink jetting actuators for facilitating selection of one or more of said plurality of ink jetting actuators;
a switching unit connected to said plurality of address lines for selectively masking said plurality of address lines;
a device that determines an amount of ink remaining in said consumable;
a memory that stores a notice threshold associated with a corresponding amount of ink remaining in said consumable; and
a controller coupled to said switching unit, to said device and to said memory, said controller reading said amount of ink from said device and comparing said amount of ink with said notice threshold stored in said memory, and upon said amount of ink reaching said notice threshold, said controller supplying signals to said switching unit for selectively individually masking at least one of said plurality of address lines to reduce an image density of images formed by said printhead. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A printhead, comprising:
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a plurality of ink ejection nozzles;
a plurality of ink jetting actuators associated with said plurality of ink ejection nozzles;
a plurality of address lines connected to said plurality of ink jetting actuators for facilitating selection of one or more of said plurality of ink jetting actuators;
a switching unit connected to said plurality of address lines for selectively masking said plurality of address lines;
a device that determines an amount of usage of said printhead;
a memory that stores a notice threshold associated with a corresponding amount of ink remaining in a consumable; and
a controller connected to said switching unit, to said device and to said memory, said controller reading said amount of usage from said device and comparing said amount of usage with said notice threshold stored in said memory, and upon said amount of usage reaching said notice threshold, said controller supplying signals to said switching unit for selectively individually masking at least one of said plurality of address lines to reduce an image density of images formed by said printhead. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification