Method and apparatus for detecting an exchange period for parts within an electrophotographic printing apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for monitoring an amount of use sustained by a replaceable part within an electrophotographic printing device, said apparatus comprising:
- first storage means permanently installed within said replaceable part for storing use data indicative of the amount of use sustained by said replaceable part, said replaceable part having a fixed operational lifetime;
means for incrementing said use data stored in said first storage means, said use data being incremented by one in response to each page printed by said electrophotographic printing device;
second storage means for storing predetermined replacement data, said predetermined replacement data indicative of how much use said replaceable part should sustain before replacement; and
control means for comparing a value indicated by said use data stored in said first storage means with a value indicated by said predetermined replacement data stored in said second storage means, said control means informing a user that said fixed operational lifetime of said replaceable part has expired when said value indicated by said use data one of exceeds and equals said value indicated by said predetermined replacement data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved method and apparatus for monitoring the amount of use sustained by a replaceable part within an electrophotographic printing apparatus is disclosed. In response to a print command, a controller reads data from a permanent memory within the replaceable part. The data, which indicates how much use the replaceable part has sustained, is then stored in a buffer within the controller. The data is then incremented by one for each page printed by the printing apparatus. Once the data equals or exceeds a predetermined use value indicative of the operational lifetime of the replaceable part, a user is informed of this condition through a replacement message.
56 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for monitoring an amount of use sustained by a replaceable part within an electrophotographic printing device, said apparatus comprising:
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first storage means permanently installed within said replaceable part for storing use data indicative of the amount of use sustained by said replaceable part, said replaceable part having a fixed operational lifetime; means for incrementing said use data stored in said first storage means, said use data being incremented by one in response to each page printed by said electrophotographic printing device; second storage means for storing predetermined replacement data, said predetermined replacement data indicative of how much use said replaceable part should sustain before replacement; and control means for comparing a value indicated by said use data stored in said first storage means with a value indicated by said predetermined replacement data stored in said second storage means, said control means informing a user that said fixed operational lifetime of said replaceable part has expired when said value indicated by said use data one of exceeds and equals said value indicated by said predetermined replacement data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for monitoring an amount of use sustained by a replaceable part within an electrophotographic printing apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:
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reading use data indicative of the amount of use sustained by said replaceable part from a memory portion within said replaceable part in response to a print command; increasing a value indicated by said use data by one for each page printed in response to said print command; comparing, after each said page printed, said value indicated by said use data with a predetermined replacement value, said predetermined replacement value indicating a number of pages that can printed by said electrophotographic printing apparatus before said replaceable part should be replaced; and informing a user that said replaceable part should be replaced when said value indicated by said use data one of exceeds and equals said predetermined replacement value. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for monitoring an amount of use sustained by a replaceable part within an electrophotographic printing apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:
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reading use data indicative of the amount of use sustained by said replaceable part from a memory portion within said replaceable part in response to a print command and storing said use data in a control buffer; incrementing a value indicated by said use data by one for each page printed in response to said print command; comparing, after each said page printed, said value indicated by said use data with a predetermined replacement value, said predetermined replacement value indicating a number of pages that can printed by said electrophotographic printing apparatus before said replaceable part should be replaced; and storing said value indicated by said use data in said memory portion within said replaceable part when said value indicated by said use data does not one of exceed and equal said predetermined replacement value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification