Mobile telecommunication device with a printhead and media sheet position sensor

• US 20060250469A1
• Filed: 05/09/2005
• Published: 11/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia, Walmsley, Simon Robert
• Granted Patent: US 7,465,047 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 347/104
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/0095 Detecting means for copy material, e.g. for detecting or sensing presence of copy material or its leading or trailing end
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04573 Timing; Delays
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/0458 controlling heads based on heating elements forming bubbles
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04593 Dot-size modulation by changing the size of the drop
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/36 for portability , i.e. hand-held printers or laptop printers B41J3/4075 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/445 Printers integrated in other types of apparatus, e.g. printers integrated in cameras

Abstract

A mobile telecommunications device comprising: an inkjet printhead for printing to a media substrate; a media feed assembly for feeding the media past the printhead; a print engine controller for operatively controlling the printhead; and, a position sensor for providing the print engine controller with a signal indicative of the position of the media substrate relative to the printhead; such that, the print engine controller differentiates the signal to derive the speed of the media substrate relative to the printhead and adjusts the operation of the printhead in response to variations in the speed.

Claims

1. A mobile telecommunications device comprising:

an inkjet printhead for printing to a media substrate;

a media feed assembly for feeding the media past the printhead;

a print engine controller for operatively controlling the printhead; and

,

a position sensor for providing the print engine controller with a signal indicative of the position of the media substrate relative to the printhead;

such that,

the print engine controller differentiates the signal to derive the speed of the media substrate relative to the printhead and adjusts the operation of the printhead in response to variations in the speed.

2. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the media substrate is printed with encoded data and the position sensor optically reads the encoded data to generate the signal indicative of the position of the media substrate relative to printhead.

3. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the media feed assembly has a media feed roller with encoding, such that the position sensor optically reads the encoding to sense the number of complete and partial rotations of the media feed roller to generate the signal indicative of the position of the media substrate relative to the printhead.

4. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 3 wherein the printhead has an array of nozzles and a capper assembly movable between a capped position covering the printhead nozzles and an uncapped position spaced from the printhead nozzles, the capper assembly being adapted for engagement with the media substrate to move it away of the capped position and towards the uncapped position.

5. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 4 wherein the media substrate is a sheet with a leading edge that engages the capper assembly and a trailing edge that disengages from the media feed roller before it is printed and is projected past the printhead by its momentum such that the media feed roller accelerates from the reduction in load and the sheet decelerates from friction.

6. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 5 wherein the capper assembly lightly grips the sheet after it has been printed so that it partially extends from the mobile telecommunications device in readiness for manual collection.

7. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the media feed assembly has a drive shaft, the drive and the printhead being incorporated into a replaceable cartridge for insertion into a print media feed path within the mobile telecommunications device.

8. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the printhead has an array of ink ejection nozzles and is incorporated into a cartridge that further comprises at least one ink reservoir for supplying ink to the printhead for ejection by the nozzles, each of the at least one ink reservoirs including at least one absorbent structure for inducing a negative hydrostatic pressure in the ink at the nozzles, and a capping mechanism for capping the printhead when not in use.

9. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising:

(a) a print media feed path for directing print media past the printhead in a feed direction during printing;

(b) a capping mechanism including a capper moveable between a capping position in which the capper is urged into a capping relationship with the printhead, and an uncapped position in which the printhead is able to print onto the media substrate, wherein in the uncapped position the capper is displaced away from the printhead; and

,

(c) a force transfer mechanism connected to the capper and configured such that a force provided by an edge of the media substrate as it moves relative to the feed path is transferred to the capper by the force transfer mechanism, thereby to at least commence movement of the capper from the capped position to the uncapped position prior to the media substrate reaching the capper.

10. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising:

(a) a print media feed path for directing media substrate past the printhead in a feed direction during printing;

(b) a capping mechanism including a capper moveable between a capping position in which the capper is urged into a capping relationship with the printhead, and an uncapped position in which the printhead is able to print onto the media substrate, wherein in the uncapped position the capper is displaced away from the printhead; and

,

(c) a locking mechanism configured to hold the capper in the uncapped position until after a trailing edge of the media substrate is clear of the printhead.

11. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the media feed assembly has a drive shaft with a media engagement surface for enhanced contact friction with the media substrate.

12. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising a capping mechanism including a capper moveable between a capping position in which the capper is urged into a capping relationship with the printhead, and an uncapped position in which the printhead is able to print onto the media substrate, wherein the capper assembly is held in the uncapped position by the media substrate such that it moves to the capped position upon disengagement with the media.

13. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein the print engine controller has a light emitting beacon, and the printhead further comprises:

an array of nozzles for ejecting ink;

print data circuitry for providing the nozzles with print data; and

,

a sensor for receiving the print data from the beacon.

14. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 wherein

the media feed assembly has a drive shaft driven by a piezo-electric resonant linear drive system.

15. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising at least one ink reservoir, the at least one reservoir comprising:

a housing defining an ink storage volume;

one or more baffles dividing the ink storage volume into sections, each of the sections having at least one ink outlet for sealed connection to the printhead; and

,

at least one conduit establishing fluid communication between the ink outlets of adjacent sections.

16. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising:

a sensor for reading coded data on at least part of the media substrate and generating a signal indicative of at least one dimension of the sheet, and transmitting the signal to the print engine controller;

such that,

the print engine controller uses the signal to initiate the printing when the sheet is at a predetermined position relative to the printhead.

17. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 1 further comprising a dual sensing facility for reading coded data on at least part of the media substrate before, as well as after, it has past the printhead.